IT has been called the Kennett Curse. It should be labelled the Cat Trap.
GEELONG'S ability to shut down the potent Hawthorn forward-line with the reason behind the Cats stunning winning streak.
IT has been called the Kennett Curse. It should be labelled the Cat Trap.
Geelong’s amazing 11-game winning streak against powerhouse Hawthorn is not due to any mysterious outside force.
The Cats have won all 11 meetings between the clubs since the 2008 grand final because of their ability to stop the potent Hawks from scoring.
Hawthorn records nearly as many inside 50s against Geelong as it does against other sides but it just can’t get the ball through the big sticks.
The Hawks have averaged just 13 goals against the Cats in the past five years — down 2.6 goals on their average. They manage to kick a goal from only 24.5 per cent of their inside 50s against Geelong — four per cent worse than their average.
Hawthorn’s two lowest percentages of goals once inside 50 this year have both come against the Cats — 18.2 per cent in round one and a season-low 16.9 per cent in round 15.
In those two clashes, the Hawks kicked just 12 and 10 goals respectively, despite recording 66 and 59 inside 50s. That’s just 22 goals from 125 inside 50s — a shocking conversion rate.
On only one other occasion has Hawthorn failed to convert fewer than 24 per cent of its inside 50s into goals — against Richmond in round 19.
And you guessed it, it lost, booting a season-low nine goals. Hawthorn’s three lowest scores of the season resulted in its only three defeats.
The Hawks’ big-name forwards simply haven’t fired often enough against Geelong.
Superstar full forward Lance Franklin has booted 31 goals in 10 games in the 11-match losing streak but six times he has been kept to three goals or fewer. His best is five.
His key forward sidekick Jarryd Roughead has kicked 20 goals in 10 games and has been held to two goals or less seven times. Brilliant small Cyril Rioli is averaging less than a goal a game against the Cats, kicking just 10 in 11 matches, while sharpshooter Luke Breust has kicked just six majors in six games.
Former Crow Jack Gunston — a goalkicking revelation in his two years with the Hawks — has managed just five goals in four matches against Geelong.
The Cat Trap — built on defensive pressure all over the ground, the right match-ups and quality backmen in All-Australians Harry Taylor, Corey Enright and Andrew Mackie and the tight but unspectacular Tom Lonergan — has worked wonders.
But, giving Hawthorn renewed hope, there is a missing link in tonight’s preliminary final at the MCG. Five-times All-Australian Enright will be sidelined with a knee injury.