All the Geelong Cats news ahead of round 22 clash with Gold Coast
Geelong may have to shuffle its ruck division on the eve of finals but the Cats are not worried about Rhys Stanley’s fitness before finals after he had another setback.
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Cats defender Zach Tuohy says this is the “most excited I have felt in my time at Geelong” after his team secured the minor premiership on Saturday.
Geelong can’t be passed on the AFL ladder this year after easily accounting for the Gold Coast by 60 points, marking 12 wins in a row.
The only sore point for the Cats in the thumping win was an adductor injury for big man Rhys Stanley.
The ruck will have scans on Monday but Geelong is confident it is a minor issue and he should be in line to play in a qualifying final.
Jonathon Ceglar is due to return next week after going through the concussion protocols and could replace Stanley in the side to face West Coast on Saturday.
Luckless midfielder Sam Simpson and youngster James Willis both picked up quad issues in the VFL on Saturday.
Tuohy hasn’t been a part of a winning streak as long as the dozen the Cats have put up in his six seasons at Kardinia Park, even though that includes three preliminary finals and a grand final, and he said the Cats are sailing at a higher plane than ever before.
“I think we are trending in a positive direction, it is hard to say exactly how we are from a few weeks ago but I certainly don’t think we are going backwards,” he said.
“There is so much to be done compared to a few weeks ago but I don’t think we are going backwards.
“In my time at Geelong, this is the most excited I have felt so it’s all going good.
“I think we have put some pretty compelling seasons together in the past and I think we get judged pretty harshly. I think the reality is if you offered any one of our last five or six seasons to about 16 other teams, the chances are they would take their hand off to have a season of that level.”
The Cats took some weeks to adjust to a new, more attacking game style earlier this season but have been firing over the last few months.
Again on Saturday, the Cats lit the Suns defence up, going inside-50 several times with ease and registering 29 shots on goal in the easy win.
“We have worked some new things into our game, that’s fairly well documented,” Tuohy said
“We were a bit scratchy as you would expect and now it just feels like it is coming together in the way some coaches thought it would when we started training in the pre-season.
“What we started training was pretty close to what we thought we would do even if it’s not just absolutely perfect just yet.”
Honest Dahlhaus admits he could be playing his final AFL games
Lacing up the boots on Saturday night, the thought crossed Luke Dahlhaus’ mind that he could be preparing for his final AFL game.
Chosen over fellow emergency Francis Evans to come in to the side cold only moments before the first bounce after Patrick Dangerfield had withdrawn due to calf tightness, the St Kilda win was the 225th match of Dahlhaus’ career, but only his ninth this season.
Often relegated to the VFL as the likes of Tyson Stengle, Brad Close and Gryan Miers own the small forward position in the senior side, the possibility that his 12th season could be his last isn’t lost on Dahlhaus.
But that doesn’t mean he is going down without a fight, as he prepares every day to earn his spot back and make an impact for a team that is favourite to go all the way.
“Before the game, I am a realist, I thought ‘this could be the last game you play in the AFL’,” Dahlhaus said.
“It’s sad but it’s reality. I went out with that do-or-die attitude and wanted to really show the coaches and players who do have trust in me, that I an bring that pressure around the ball and can have some influence, which I thought I did.
“Mentally it is pretty tough to know every week you are on that fringe. To be honest I have been lucky because I haven’t really been on that fringe for most of my career, but it has been tough (this year).
“In saying that, I am confident that as soon as I got the call up I would be able to play my role and have an impact and the body is feeling really good.”
Dahlhaus asked VFL coach Shane O’Bree to spend more time in the midfield this year in the reserves and he looked comfortable against the Saints in taking Dangerfield’s centre square minutes, picking up 18 disposals.
But with Dangerfield, Joel Selwood and Mark Blicavs to come back into the midfield, spots will be hard to come by in September.
At 29, Dahlhaus said his body is feeling strong but being out of the AFL side this year and out-of-contract at the end of the season, he knows its possible his career is in its final days.
With a carpentry qualification in his back pocket, the Leopold product believes he is ready for what comes next.
“You’re not human if you don’t (think about the end of your career), it’s something that’s always in the back of your head but I just rock up to training every day with a smile on my face and you probably just keep reminding yourself that you are training with an AFL club and with the best team in the league and you are pretty lucky to have this job,” he said.
“I think that whenever I get down, I remind myself that.
“Although this year has been tough, it has made me grow more as a person knowing I am on the fringe and I feel like I have matured more than ever so I feel like I am ready for whatever happens comes the end of the year.”
Cats with ‘good problem to have’ at selection
Geelong assistant coach Nigel Lappin said the Cats were facing a “good problem to have” with an abundance of talent fit and firing at the end of the season.
The Cats have made four confirmed changes ahead of the Saturday afternoon clash against the Suns on the Gold Coast, with star Pat Dangerfield returning, along with rested skipper Joel Selwood, midfielder Mark Blicavs and forward Gary Rohan.
Lappin said picking a finals side with a fit squad would be a “difficult challenge”.
“It’s obviously going to be a difficult challenge come the finals series when everyone is fit and healthy,” he said.
“Everyone says it’s a good problem to have and that’s the case unless you’re the coaches picking the team, but it is good, we’ve got a lot of depth.
“Brandon Parfitt, Sam Menegola are two that haven’t played a lot of footy this year but they’ve been in ripping touch the last couple of weeks.
“It’s going to make for some headaches over the next few weeks.”
Dangerfield was a late out against St Kilda in round 21 after failing a fitness test just 30 minutes before the bounce, but the 2016 Brownlow Medalist is “100 per cent right” to return against the Suns.
“He (Pat) thinks personally he probably could have played last week when you speak to him, but no-risk policy this time of the year with him,” Lappin said.
“He’s obviously an important player to us, he’s been in some really good form the last month when he’s been playing so we’re looking forward to him being out there tomorrow night.
“He’s 100 per cent right.”
Gold Coast have brought back Sam Day and Sam Flanders for the clash, with Jeremy Sharp dropped and Nick Holman out injured.
Lappin said Gold Coast, which beat the Cats by 23 points in round 1, were a dangerous opponent late in the season in expected wet conditions.
“They’ve got some really good, experienced players out of the team and they’re still doing really well in contested ball,” he said.
“They’ve got some big tall marking players that have been playing really well.
“They’re one of the best ground ball teams in the competition, in their front half in particular.
“It (the wet weather) suits us as well, we’ve got some big, strong bodies, so our guys really enjoy playing in the rain.”
‘I don’t think it hurts to dream’: Bews picturing premiership
JED Bews knows when he has them beat.
A small fake this way or that, a small shift in the hips, and he is gone.
Unheralded throughout his career, there are few players in the AFL harder to bring down in a tackle than the Geelong defender and after a subdued and patient start to his career, he has begun to show that confidence.
“I don’t mind taking it on a little bit, I have gotten better,” he said.
“Certainly when I was younger I was a bit more reserved and didn’t fight through the tackles as much. Now I am a bit bigger and have a little bit more power so I am able to get through those tackles. I try and give the first option if it’s there but if it’s not I give it a go.”
Often swooping on a loose ball on the half-back line, Bews has become a master of spotting a gap and accelerating through it.
“It happens so quick, if you see someone over commit then it’s natural to get around them but if they don’t then it can be a bit harder,” he said.
“I don’t really go in with a plan, if I go in with a plan it doesn’t work.”
Bews said it took him about 100 games to find the confidence to back himself in with ball in hand and now 145 games in, he has added more impact in the air to his game.
He took a number of intercept marks in wins over the Western Bulldogs and St Kilda, with one over fellow backman Mark O’Connor a personal highlight.
“It’s about getting in that position and just going rather than thinking ‘I am at ground level and defending those smalls on the ground’,” Bews said.
“I took a couple (against St Kilda) which was nice, took one on Mark O’Connor. I will have to get that blown up and put it on my locker.”
The way the Cats are tracking, Bews could walk away from this season with far better memorabilia than just that photo.
He said he is willing to imagine holding the premiership cup, if only for a moment.
“I don’t think it hurts to dream a little bit,” he said.
“Some people might not want to think about it at all but I think it’s healthy to see what it might look like so it isn’t too big of a shock if it does happen.”
‘Proud dad moment’: Cats father-son hopeful fires in hoops
Draft hopeful Osca Riccardi could not “have done much more” on his Geelong debut according to his father, ex-Cat star Peter Riccardi.
The lightly framed youngster pulled on the hoops for the first time as a player on Sunday in a VFL thriller, collecting 13 touches and kicking an important goal in a two-point win over Sandringham.
Weighing just 65kg, Riccardi threw himself at the footy and showed off his running prowess in an effort that impressed Cats officials.
The 17-year-old Newtown & Chilwell product is eligible for the draft this year and could be taken by the Cats as a father-son selection, given Peter’s illustrious 288-game AFL career with Geelong.
The Cats haven’t drafted a father-son since Oscar Brownless was taken in 2018.
Peter watched the game as part of a huge Riccardi clan and had a “proud dad moment” when Osca ran out in the hoops.
“He seemed pretty comfortable at the level which was good, he said it took him a little while to find his feet,” Peter said.
“It was a bit quicker than what he was used to but he really enjoyed it and played his part.
“I was quite surprised how he picked it up so quick.
“Only being 65kg, he is only a light-framed fella but that didn’t seem to worry him and when it was his turn to go, he went.”
While he is right-footed unlike his father, Riccardi showed glimpses of his old man as an outside runner and with a classy finish from 45m out in the third quarter, which resulted in a huge cheer from his large group of family and friends.
“They all erupted which was good,” Peter Riccardi said.
“It was a nice little dish from Shauny Higgins and then off a couple of steps he kicked it from 40-45m. It was really pleasing and he was rapt afterwards. I don’t think he could have done much more.”
Riccardi is part of a strong contingent of Geelong Falcons hoping to hear their names called on draft night this year, led by Jhye Clark and Olivier Northam.
“(Osca) is doing everything he can to fulfil that dream of his,” Peter said.
“His destiny is in his own hands and I don’t think he is doing anything wrong to give himself every chance.”
Suns to get ‘aggressive’ to free up Touk
Gold Coast is hoping to fight fire with fire on Saturday against high-flying Geelong as senior assistant coach Steven King says his Suns are planning to get aggressive with the ball to unlock star midfielder Touk Miller.
Clamped by Finn Maginness in a loss to Hawthorn last week, Suns workhorse Miller was limited to 21 disposals, of which only three were uncontested.
While King said Miller was more influential than the numbers showed, Gold Coast’s struggles to move the ball freely in the Launceston wind limited his chances.
Miller thrives at collecting handball receives and attacking through the middle, a style the Suns will prepare to ramp up to break through Geelong’s vaunted defence and cause an upset against the ladder-leading Cats.
“Being at Metricon (Stadium) this week it will be a bit more predictable in the environment and I hope we challenge Geelong a little bit more with the ball, which will help Touk get the ball in his hands a little bit more,” he said.
“As a group, we didn’t help Touk get his hands on the footy and we probably let him down a little bit (last week) but he certainly fought the game out and was pretty selfless for us.”
King, who looks after the Suns midfield, said he has been impressed by the shift in the Cats’ style this year, as they carry the ball forward quicker to find key forwards Tom Hawkins and Jeremy Cameron.
Thanks to that style the Cats are ranked third in the AFL for both points for and against.
“They are really sound around the contest with who they have got there and now with the potency up forward they have really found another gear now that they can punish you quickly when the game demands it so you can see the way they can move the footy if they are allowed to do so on their terms, it is elite,” he said.
“They have probably been a bit more attacking and aggressive with the ball.
“We are obviously going out to do our best and be really aggressive and win the game of footy but it is certainly going to be a challenge given the way they are going.”
Chris Scott says Geelong is not the best team in the AFL
Geelong coach Chris Scott has declared “we don’t think we are the best side in the comp” as he urges his side to improve in the final fortnight of the home-and-away season.
An 11-game winning streak has pushed the Cats to the top of the betting markets and they are the No.1 seed for the premiership in the eye of most pundits, sitting a game and percentage clear on top of the ladder.
While unexpected riser Collingwood has also won 11 games in a row, the Magpies aren’t seen as the same level of threat and reigning premiers Melbourne has lost six of its last 10 games.
Hesitant to put his team at the top of the pile as it prepares for a selection conundrum in the next month, Scott said there was too much work to be done before Geelong was considered the best team in the AFL.
“If we focus too much on ‘oh this is such a good team that it is hard to get in to’, we are losing sight of what is important and we need to improve,” he said.
“If this matters at all, we don’t think we are the best side in the comp. We need to improve a lot and really nail our game to really beat the teams we are going to come up against in September. If we start thinking that selection is our biggest issue, we are going to be in trouble.”
Asked last month if Geelong could win the flag, Scott said only “if we improve”.
When prompted on Wednesday to name who is ahead of his high-flying Cats, the 2011 premiership coach said the Demons and Magpies were right up there.
But echoing federal MP Bob Katter, Scott said he doesn’t “spend any time on it”.
“If you held a gun to my head, the incumbents tend to be the ones, so Melbourne for me, but Collingwood has won 11 straight,” he said.
“Fremantle look really solid, you can go down the list, Sydney, I don’t know.
“I don’t spend any time on it, I don’t really care. Everyone has been really keen to tell us that the team that was on top of the ladder at round 20 will be very quickly forgotten once the season is run and won.”
Smith to miss as Cats weigh up selection issues
Veteran Isaac Smith is set to miss the trip to face Gold Coast this weekend as Geelong scrambles to find room in its side for four important returning players.
Smith is poised to be rested from the Saturday twilight clash, which will be just the second game he has missed across 46 matches since he joined the Cats last year.
With Joel Selwood, Mark Blicavs (both managed last week), Patrick Dangerfield (calf) and Gary Rohan (concussion) all likely to return, Cats coach Chris Scott said his team was dealing with some selection headaches.
“We are just waiting on a bit of information,” Scott said before main training on Wednesday.
“I think at this stage it is unlikely Isaac Smith will make the trip, that is one we have some certainly on but the other selection issues we are working through at the moment.”
Scott has said repeatedly this year that the team Geelong picks each week isn’t a reflection of its absolute best-22.
While he admitted some tough calls are just around the corner with only two weeks to come before finals, Scott said the team picked for the qualifying final might not be the best available side either.
“One week we might need a taller player for example that trumps the smaller, running player and the week after it might be reversed,” he said.
“We obviously have a pretty good understanding of what it (our best team) looks like but that doesn’t mean it will be easy.”
Ruck Jonathon Ceglar will be sidelined this week after being concussed in the VFL on Sunday, an incident Scott said had thrown our Geelong’s plans for the ruck.
Ceglar has played just one AFL game this year after breaking his foot in early April but his latest setback hasn’t ruled him out of making a last-ditch bid for finals action in round 23 against West Coast.
“His intention all the way in coming back from injury was to give us an option and make it hard for us at selection, which he has done,” Scott said.
“So this is a bit of a short-term blip and he has a lot to look forward to over the next couple of months.”
Zach Guthrie happy to stay out of contract talks
Breakout Cat Zach Guthrie is happy to take himself out of talks on a new contract as he continues to bed down a spot in the Geelong defence before finals.
The springy defender is out of contract at the end of this season and has enjoyed his best campaign to date, playing a career-high 16 games for the ladder-leading Cats.
Guthrie has lived on the edge before and said he wasn’t fazed about nearing September without a deal for next year and was focused on Geelong’s impending finals run.
He is the youngest of the regular AFL Cats this season out-of-contract, a list that includes Isaac Smith, Joel Selwood, Tom Hawkins and Zach Tuohy.
“I have been focusing on footy each week as it comes at the moment,” Guthrie said.
“The relevant people might be dealing with that in the background for me, my role is to try and focus on what I can do each week to help the team and put some wins on the board, which will be my focus.”
The springy defender will notch his 50th AFL game on Saturday against Gold Coast, 1869 days since his debut midway through the 2017 season.
For context, Guthrie’s skipper Joel Selwood reached 50 games in just 756 days.
Guthrie’s 22 disposal, one goal effort in a win over St Kilda was his 13th consecutive game in the AFL, comfortably his longest streak, but he is not willing to stop improving.
“I have really enjoyed this period, just being able to play consistent games in a row,” he said.
“More than anything, I am not settling and have things to prove each week. I am not getting content.”
With two weeks to come before the pre-finals bye, Geelong has all but wrapped up the minor premiership.
Having fallen down in finals consistently over the past decade, Guthrie said the Cats would “double down” on their style to keep improving, starting with an away clash with the Gold Coast on Saturday.
“More than anything, it’s just about doubling down on the things you have done well,” he said.
“Nothing drastic needs to change, we have proven that some of our best footy can match it with the best teams so these next two weeks are a good chance to double down on the way we are playing.”
Cats to go ‘full throttle’ in last forntight before finals
It is “full throttle” for Geelong in the final two weeks of the home-and-away season, despite a softer draw leading into the finals.
Geelong is one of three sides – alongside Fremantle and Richmond – in the current top-eight to not meet a fellow finals-bound side in the final two weeks of the season, as the Cats finish face 11th-placed Gold Coast and West Coast (17th).
While Cats coach Chris Scott hinted on the weekend that one Geelong player would likely be rested against the Suns, otherwise he said the team would be “stable” as the Cats avoid tinkering on the eve of September.
The mantra within Kardinia Park has been to build form continuously before the finals and even with Geelong likely to claim the minor premiership, defender Jed Bews said there was no way the Cats would ease up in the next fortnight.
“It’s about the attention to detail and not lapsing because we are on top at the moment but you are only a game or two away from dropping that,” he said.
“It’s the time of the year when we are full throttle and want to hit that peak form going into finals, we think that’s pretty important.
“From my point of view it seems similar (to past years) but we just seem to be clicking, our form is really good at this time of the year. We want to be doing the right things at the right time.”
The Cats have shot to the top of the premiership betting market after their 11-game winning streak.
Bews said he doesn’t see a dominant side ahead of the pack at this point and the flag is up for grabs if his side gets it right when it counts.
“Last year Melbourne were ahead of everyone we felt and we thought our best was good enough but this year it is so even,” he said.
“Any team can beat you but we don’t feel like there is one team that is ahead of anyone.
“We just think it is so even and we have to do everything right but it is wide open for us.”
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Originally published as All the Geelong Cats news ahead of round 22 clash with Gold Coast
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