It’s been a while since I took the drive down the highway to Kardinia Park, but given I received an invite from an old friend with great seats, I found the temptation too difficult to resist.
It was my first trip to the Cattery since the upgrades that seemed to take forever, but I have to say, the ground is pretty bloody nice, now. And even though this was a game with a less-than-inspiring build up, I was excited to take a seat and enjoy the spectacle of the Cats readying for their September charge.
We all know about the injury crisis at Essendon. Chances are the side doesn’t make finals even with a full list to choose from, however, the lack of players available for this club heading into Round 22 was amazing.
On the flip side, we were also well aware how well the Cats are going health-wise. I read with interest during the week, that Geelong were close to having a full list to choose from, which at this time of the year, seems crazy.
And when you get your preferred players out there, you know there are going to be some significant discrepancies between the teams.
The Cats won this game in the first quarter. It wasn’t by any means a dominant period of football, but they demonstrated enough control to leave no question in my mind that they’d win this game.
As a matter of fact, even as the Bombers closed to within 20 points in the third quarter, the chatter around me resembled frustrated contentment. There was still no question in the minds of the Geelong faithful that the Cats would find another gear, it was just a matter of when.
And these people seemed more interested in whether Jeremy Cameron was going to get off the chain, than whether the Cats would win.
The combination of Jayden Laverde and Mason Redman did an admirable job on Cameron through the first three quarters, restricting him to two snags and starving him of opportunity.
The real highlight for Geelong came at the opposite end of the ground, as the defence repelled everything Essendon could throw at them. The structure of the Cats’ back six is excellent, and the way they managed to work a man free in defence was exceptional. I would hasten to add that it is my belief that the Cats are the best at this in the league, and they have the perfect players to switch and create opportunities for intercept marks. Tom Stewart, Sam De Koning, and Jack Henry are now complemented by the presence of Connor O’Sullivan, who looks better every time I see him. All are wonderful overhead
That defensive structure, and those contained within it, restricted the Bombers to just two first-half goals. Again, despite their renewed second-half efforts, that basically killed Essendon off.
I got to sit in the passenger seat and write this one the way home, with notes pretty scant, and memories starting to fade. As such, I am leaving this open for all, as it will likely not contain the same level of detail as my other reviews.
THE JEZZA SHOW AND WHAT ABOUT SHANNON?
I don’t want to say it was genius, but if it was a coincidence that the Cats played directly through Shannon Neale to start the game, it was a pretty big one.
With all the chatter about how many goals Jeremy Cameron would kick this week against the undersized Bombers, the Cats saw Neale slot three goals before Jezza even had a sniff. It caused a shift in the Essendon defence, with Jayden Laverde quickly shifting across to curtail Neale.
I thought this may have opened the floodgates for Jezza, as he managed to slot two goals in the second, as the lead blew out to 37 points at the main break.
The Bombers were just too small in defence and even though they increased the pressure in the third term, and that resulted in limited opportunities for the Geelong forwards, you could see that the longer the game progressed, the more difficult it become to contain the Coleman leader.
Yeah, he probably should have kicked more than four for the game, missing several shots in the last quarter, but there was a bit of poetic justice to Jez missing a couple of those shots, particularly after being awarded a free kick for… what appeared to be nothing in a contest with Redman and Lachie Blakiston late in the game.
He remains on 79 goals for the season, and you have to wonder whether those misses may come back to haunt him as the Cats head into finals, and he closes in on the ton.
BAILEY SMITH JUST BURNS OFF ANYONE WHO DARES RUN WITH HIM.
Smith is incredible to watch live. And it is not what he does with the footy that catches the eye, as he tends to run past teammates and opponents alike, when he puts his foot down without the ball. It leads to him finding far more of the footy than he has any right to, simply because he puts the bloody work in when others slow down!
There was no 40+ possession game this time around, with Smith finishing with 31 for the game, but the bulk of his touches (18 of them) came in the first half, when the game was there to be won.
Smith is a line breaker. He flat out refuses to run at three-quarter pace when he can go flat-chat and get on the end of a second or third touch. I reckon the only other ball-winner in the league that does what he does, is Nick Daicos.
He had nine clearances for the game, but it was his three direct goal assists, including an absolute bullet to Jeremy Cameron in the second quarter, that placed his mark on this contest.
KAKO AT CENTRE BOUNCES, A KEY FORWARD WITH GOAL SENSE, AND A BIT OF MONGREL
It is interesting to watch how Brad Scott is handling this Essendon team as the season winds down. As mentioned, they are plumbing the depths of their talent pool, at the moment, as is evidenced by some of the players in their current best 22. However, these moments uncover some gems, and the Bombers are looking to see just what Isaac Kako can do in a midfield role.
For mine, he has a bit of work left to do, as he isn’t as clean with the footy as he needs to be, and I did see a couple of Cats wade through his tackles. That said, he did add some pace to the Essendon outfit, who had the shackles on Zach Merrett, courtesy of Oisin Mullin.
Up forward, the continued emergence of Liam McMahon was a highlight for the the Bombers. Too often, I see players trying to do a little too much in the forward line, feeding it backwards repeatedly, and giving ground unnecessarily. It leads to the eventual shot at goal being too far out. McMahon knows where the goals are and has a crack – I like that. A good forward needs a bit of selfishness about him. Not that I am calling him selfish, but there are times when you absolutely require players taking the responsibility. McMahon does that.
And finally, the Bombers would be pleased with the form of Archie Roberts, who definitely has some mongrel in him. He finds the ball, and whilst he makes some dumb mistakes, you can clearly see the oak tree in the acorn with him.
DEATH BY 1000 CUTS
Every time I watch the Cats, I am always impressed with their mosquito fleet. Blokes like Shaun Mannagh, Gryan Miers, and Brad Close cut teams to shreds with their ball use, and this game was no exception.
All three push up to the wings and through the middle, and offer the Cats a trio of excellent ball users. When you compare what they were doing with the footy to some of the Essendon smalls… it is a stark contrast.
Between them, they had 31 score involvements in this game, and all that was missing was Tyson Stengle getting involved to put some very nice icing on the cake. As I will look at below, he was very well held by a desperate Jayden Nguyen.
SHIEL IS COOKED
I don’t want to focus on the idiotic push he put on Mark O’Connor, that almost killed his own teammate in a sickening fall. Lemon Lual crashed to the deck after O’Connor took his legs out, but it was the push from Shiel that caused the fall. That could have been a disaster, and both Lual and Shiel should think themselves very lucky that it wasn’t worse.
The focus for me, however, was once again Shiel’s kicking and his penchant for throwing the ball onto his boot and hoping for the best.
He got plenty of the footy – the AFL app tells me had it 23 times – but he was also directionless with his kicking. He had six turnovers, officially, but I distinctly remember him having two in the first quarter, and the app tells me he had one, so either I am completely turned around, or they are being incredibly lenient with their assessment.
The thing is, even though a quarter of his touches went to the opposition, the ones that didn’t seemed to be more a result of luck than intent.
Shiel mostly played on the wing, and whilst he was not towelled up by Max Holmes, who seemed to be his direct opponent for long stretches, he was more his own worst enemy.
He has two games left in his AFL career. I cannot see anyone picking him up, given what he has demonstrated this season.
SOME QUICKIES
I touched on it above, but the close checking of Jayden Nguyen was something the Bombers will be pleased with. He gave Tyson Stengle very little room all evening.
Just the six tackles for Tom Atkins in this one, as he continues to move toward the all-time record set by Scott Selwood back in 2011. I am writing this bit at home as I watch the replay, and Gerard Whateley is yapping on about the record held by Matt Rowell.
What bloody record? Are we not counting finals now?
The record is held by Scott Selwood, and whilst Atkins, and probably Rowell as well, will surpass that number, it should not be discounted just so the Waylon Smithers of the AFL has something to yap about on TV.
13 years into his career, and people are still wondering what Mark Blicavs what position Mark Blicavs is best suited to. Truth is, the bugger plays everywhere and does everything.
He finished this one with two goals to go with 22 touches and two goal assists, as he played predominantly forward, but used that big tank of his to motor on up to stoppages and take the ruck. This was as good as I have seen him this season, and with 34 years behind him, he does not look like slowing down.
Lastly, I know I write a bit about him above, but Connor O’Sullivan is going to be something special. The Cats have been blessed over the years with a string of high-quality big defenders, and the more I watch O’Sullivan, the more I think he will be the player that underpins that defence for the next 10-12 years. With him and SDK down there… the Cats are set.
As always, massive thanks to those who support this work. You can see the amount of care that goes into it. I love footy, I love writing about it, and I hope you enjoy reading it. Without you, this whole thing falls over. Sincerely… thank you – HB
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