All the news as Geelong faces round 2 test against Carlton
Geelong stopped to a crawl against Collingwood last week and Chris Scott says his coaches could have done more to help. Here’s how he is planning to turn things around against Carlton.
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Chris Scott has taken the blame for Geelong’s fade out against Collingwood and he is “looking forward to a response” by his midfielders against Carlton on Thursday.
The Cats struggled around the ball in the second half against the Magpies, with Scott bemoaning a lack of inside-50s as Collingwood piled on the last eight goals of the game.
Scott said his coaches could have helped his midfielders out as his side prepares for another test against the Patrick Cripps-led Blues.
“We think we could have helped our guys around the ball a little bit more from the box (against Collingwood) and we have obviously reviewed that pretty hard and are confident a few tweaks will see us perform a bit better there,” the Cats coach said.
“But Collingwood plays differently to Carlton and it is a bit of a trap if you keep looking back, you can find yourself chasing your tail if you’re always looking at the previous week.
“If we are poor (in the midfield) and the ball is played in our back-half it is going to be much, much harder (to win).
“We are looking forward to a response. We’ve got confidence in our guys who have done it for a long period of time, one 20 minute patch here or there is not enough for us to hit the panic button.”
After declaring the controversial MCG surface an “own goal” last week as Tom Stewart and Sam De Koning picked up knee issues during the Collingwood, Scott stayed away from the debate on Wednesday.
“I don’t want to get involved in it at all, I am confident that a week later (from round 1) it will be even better,” he said.
“At its best it is the greatest place in the world to play footy.”
Cooper Whyte to make AFL debut against Carlton
A “beautiful ball user”, young Geelong defender Cooper Whyte has been tapped to fill Tom Stewart’s hole in the backline and make his AFL debut against Carlton on Thursday night.
Recruit Jack Bowes will also face the Blues in his first appearance with the Cats since crossing from Gold Coast over the off-season.
Possessing a laser-like left-foot, Whyte, 20, wowed Cats coaches in his first pre-season before the 2022 campaign with his footy smarts and kicking but injury derailed his maiden season.
The Grovedale junior played the second-half of Geelong’s pre-season game against Brisbane and showed strong attack on the ball that convinced Cats coach Chris Scott he was ready to cover for Stewart, who will miss multiple weeks with a knee injury.
With first-choice defenders such as Stewart, Jack Henry (foot), Jake Kolodjashnij (concussion) and Mitch Duncan (calf) out, Scott said Whyte stepping up was important for the club’s depth.
“From that moment (against the Lions) we were confident that if a spot came up he could play a role,” Scott said.
“It just adds that little bit of depth, which we need at the moment.
“When we brought him in we didn’t necessarily earmark him in a specific position. We thought one of his strengths would be as a flexible player, he is a beautiful ball user so he is the type of guy you want with the ball in his hands but he also has some speed and footy smarts as well.”
Whyte played four GFL senior games at Grovedale in 2021 around Geelong Falcons duty before being taken with pick No.64 atthat year’s draft.
Grovedale coach Daniel Fraser said the youngster showed even then he was going places.
”You could see he didn’t mind winning his own ball, he was tidy on the outside and didn’t take any backwards steps. You couldtell he was a footballer,” Fraser said.
“He did have a piercing left foot, that was something that caught my eye and back then when I was taking over at Grovedale I thought ‘that is a player you could build a side around’ but he has obviously taken his footy to higher levels.
“He comes from a great family and he is a really good kid. It’s a great story.”
Scott didn’t reveal where Bowes would line up against the Blues and instead said “we would prefer to keep that to ourselves”.
The former Sun impressed in a role at half-forward in Geelong’s pre-season hitout against Hawthorn.
“We brought him in thinking his best spot would be as an inside midfielder … I think he will be in there a little bit but he will be in other spots as well,” Scott said.
Forward Tom Hawkins has been cleared to play after picking up knocks on his calf and knee last week, while Sam De Koning (right) was also passed fit.
Scott hinted that utility Mark Blicavs would play a big role in Geelong’s effort to limit the impact of Carlton big men Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow.
“The way he will help us defend those big key forwards in particular is going to be an important part of the game,” Scott said.
Isaac Smith floats change to father-son rule
Dual-club flag winner Isaac Smith has floated a tweak to the AFL’s father-son rule, arguing all premiership players should be eligible no matter how many games they have played.
The hard-running winger will bring up 50 club games with Geelong on Thursday night against Carlton but it is unlikely the 34-year-old will reach the 100-game threshold that could see his son Emmett qualify to play for the Cats.
With 210 games and three premierships under his belt at previous club Hawthorn, Smith has already reached that qualification, while his Cats-fan daughter Isla would be free to choose between clubs given the father-daughter qualification is one single game.
Smith said he was unsure if his children will follow him into footy but a fair qualification for the father-son rule would be a premiership medal, given the impact a flag has on a club.
“I always said when you play in a premiership for a club you should fall under the father-son realm because once that happens, you are forever connected to an organisation and I’m lucky that has happened at both clubs,” he said.
“I know my daughter, who is three-and-a-half is an avid Cats fan but when the Hawks were running around on Sunday she said she ‘didn’t like Cats anymore dad’, as she was wearing Cats attire.
“I still very much enjoy watching the old club (Hawthorn) run around and feel very proud to be a part of the Geelong footy club.”
Despite turning 34 over summer, Smith’s form remains as strong as ever, having won the Norm Smith Medal in last year’s grand final and being among Geelong’s best in round 1.
The durable veteran has played 49 of 51 possible matches since joining the Cats as he remains remarkable injury-free.
The left-footer is out of contract at the end of this season but said he hadn’t thought yet about whether he would play on into a 14th season.
“We will just see how it unfolds, I am fortunate enough that I am in a good position of having a great career and we will just see how that unfolds as there is no stress around that,” he said.
Patched up Cats look good at training
They might have been patched up but there were little concerns about Geelong’s running wounded on Tuesday morning.
As always, last to leave the race as training got rolling was veteran Tom Hawkins, who sported dense strapping on his right calf, having copped a knee to his lower leg in Friday’s loss to Collingwood.
The big man was moving freely as he went for run-throughs as part of a group of senior players taking it easy during the six-day break.
Zach Tuohy started the session doing the same, with Jeremy Cameron also striding out.
There were few concerns about Sam De Koning, as he sported fresh tape on his right knee, and appeared to move without any issues as he looks set to take on Carlton on Thursday night.
Recruit Jack Bowes remains in line for a club debut after playing some time in a VFL practice match on Saturday, with the former Sun showing no signs of a sore calf.
Forward Tyson Stengle was also taking part in training with no concerns despite copping a couple of knocks against the Pies.
The other calf worth watching at Geelong, Mitch Duncan gave a strong thumbs up as he pushed through some hard running while he works to a return in coming weeks.
Watching on from the boundary were defenders Tom Stewart (knee) and Jack Henry, with Henry’s left foot still firmly in a moon boot after recent surgery.
The most popular man on track, as usual, was hydration expert Sam Moorfoot, who received plenty of hi-fives on World Down Syndrome Day.
No ‘panic stations’ for Cats despite early season wobble
Premiership Cat Isaac Smith says there will be no “panic stations” if Geelong falls to 0-2 on Thursday night as he backs his side to pull off a similar build in form that led to last year’s flag.
Both Geelong and Carlton will enter Thursday’s MCG clash desperate for a win, having walked away from round 1 with just two points between them after the Cats fell to Collingwood and the Blues drew with Richmond.
As they built into form last year and eventually romped to the premiership, Geelong had a stop-start early season and sat with a 5-4 record after round 9.
The Cats didn’t lose again from there and four-time flag winner Smith, who picked up three titles with Hawthorn, said early form wasn’t everything.
“Ideally after our start we would go to 1-1 but Carlton will be looking to win as well (on Thursday),” he said.
“I don’t think 0-2 is panic stations, I think once you get to round 8 or 9 you want to be 4-4 or 5-4, that is probably the ideal satiation.
“You don’t want to be firing all your shots early but to be able to bank four points and put yourself in position to be towards the top of the ladder in the midway point of the year, that is where you want to be.
“It won’t be panic stations if we don’t win on Thursday night but like every game, we do want to win and put ourselves in a good position for the end of the year.
“We are under no illusions we wouldn’t be playing our best football early on but the aim is that we get it up and going as quick as possible and put ourselves in a position to really challenge at the back end of the year.”
Geelong hasn’t conceded a score higher than Collingwood’s total of 125 on Friday night since the 2017 preliminary final against Adelaide.
While Smith said the frenetic round 1 clash was played “probably a bit quicker than we wanted”, he had no concerns about the team’s defence.
The Cats will have to tighten up this week against star Blues Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow without All-Australian defender Tom Stewart, who will miss multiple weeks with a knee injury.
“It was disappointing we lost, I thought Collingwood’s hands were really slick and they caught us off-side a few times and they were probably just up and going a bit more than we were,” Smith said.
“It will be disappointing not to have Tom out there but it gives someone else an opportunity.”
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