Coaching great Mick Malthouse breaks down why the Cats have been so successful and the best way to stop them

Where do you attack the ladder leading Cats? When a side is this dominant it can appear impenetrable, but there is always a flaw or a weakness to be found, writes Mick Malthouse.

Midway through the season and there is one team no one is worrying about right now. Geelong.

The Cats are that far in front, having lost only one game by four points, that there is little doubt they will finish in the top four and most likely on top of the ladder.

The clubs immediately behind Geelong — Collingwood, Greater Western Sydney and West Coast — will keep a very close eye on each other. They’re all vying for that coveted top-two finish with Adelaide, Brisbane Lions and Richmond also lurking.

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Geelong is in the luxurious position of being able to rest players ahead of September.

Richmond last year finished the home-and-away season on top with 18 wins, but late injuries had enough of an impact that when its form dropped off it couldn’t recover and it eventually stumbled in the preliminary final.

Looking after your players from numbers 23 to 30 on the list is so important at this stage of the year and this is where the Cats have an advantage. They have incredible depth.

Geelong has been highly resilient thus far with quality replacements at the ready to cover for injuries. It has used just 30 players, the equal least along with Collingwood, Fremantle, West Coast and Gold Coast.

Chris Scott should be all smiles with where the Cats are at. Picture: AAP Images

If it can maintain its intensity, then Geelong is the team to beat.

The Cats’ backline is highly organised. Tom Stewart has been wonderful again. Mark Blicavs always takes the tall or quick forward. Zach Tuohy is regaining form since his pre-season injury. And Harry Taylor and Jack Henry are so versatile.

The forward line is the most altered element of the Geelong game structure this year. Tom Hawkins is consistent. Gary Rohan adds versatility with speed, a good overhead mark and accuracy in front of goal. Luke Dahlhaus has been amazing with his pressure, ball-getting power and simple football know-how.

And Esava Ratugolea adds structural importance.

Perhaps the No.1 player who seems to inspire the Cats, and the crowd, like no other, is Gary Ablett. He has been a revelation this season.

I am not privy to what Chris Scott may have said to Ablett over the summer break, but I imagine there would have been some sort of disguised ultimatum given. And it has worked.

Ablett is not a player the Cats need in the middle all the time, so he has been given a role in the forward line and he is fulfilling it with aplomb.

His intensity at the ball and his goal-scoring assistance have been his biggest areas of improvement.

Geelong has a very impressive forward line and one that is hard to contain, especially when Patrick Dangerfield plays out of the goalsquare.

Rhys Stanley is impressive in the ruck and has a fine back-up in Zac Smith so the Cats’ midfield is also good. I don’t like to use the word “great” too often, but that doesn’t mean this midfield isn’t among the top echelon of the competition, it perhaps just lacks the same depth as Collingwood, and GWS to a degree, and West Coast on a good day.

So where do you attack the Cats?

Patrick Dangerfield is the ultimate midfield/forward. Picture: Michael Klein

When a side is so dominant it can appear impenetrable, but there is always a flaw or a weakness to be found.

Is it the personnel? No, it has wonderful talent.

Game style? No, it is well drilled in its structures.

Geelong’s biggest vulnerability is in how the opposition plays.

There is one standard procedure that can disrupt the Cats’ discipline and lines, and that is with the pace of ball movement.

The only time the Cats have looked out of sorts this season is when the opposition has moved the ball quickly and directly.

But, it is not easily done the right way.

If it’s too quick and the ball is bombed into the forward line it will be picked off by Stewart or Taylor in the air.

Geelong is equal to any team for being able to spoil the ball in the opposition’s forward line. I cannot remember the last time a contested mark was taken against the Cats’ defenders.

Tom Stewart is an intercept marking machine. Picture: Mike Dugdale

Mark Blicavs is one of the best defenders in the game. Picture: Michael Klein

Shallow entrances inside 50 are also a no go because it becomes a platform for their defenders to rebound the ball into a highly dangerous area.

To catch out a disciplined backline like the Cats, a quick ball must find a loose target directly, or at least be put to ground to cause a chaos ball.

You also cannot allow Geelong the luxury of a plus-one in its defensive arc without making better use of your own spare player.

The Cats have the wonderful ability to bind up the opposition’s plus-one as an extra defender or mid, thereby reducing their impact. It is a major flaw of many of Geelong’s opponents.

Instead, go in with an extra forward to hold the Cats’ plus-one accountable, or, make sure your plus-one is a ball magnet and a good user of the footy so you don’t lose possession once you have it. This player must be utilised as regularly as possible.

Most of the top teams, including Geelong, sweat on the opposition turning the ball over with the third or fourth possession — which inevitably happens with overuse — and then they pounce.

Overusing the ball against a highly-structured and disciplined Geelong leaves you a sitting duck.

You are far better off carrying the ball and not taking unnecessary risks that can open up the ground for the Cats to swoop.

Simply put, the methodology to beating Geelong is in the pace at which you move the ball, and where and how you use it.

But, good luck with that.

Originally published as Coaching great Mick Malthouse breaks down why the Cats have been so successful and the best way to stop them