AFL Round 12: Geelong v Western Bulldogs latest news, stats and KFC SuperCoach scores
The Cats continue to prove the doubters wrong while the Dogs were left lamenting a slow start, hear what the coaches had to say after a game of ups, down and an alleged headbutt.
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Geelong are hopeful that star defender Tom Stewart won’t miss any games after being subbed out with concussion on Friday night in the second quarter of the Cats’ 13-point win over the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium.
Speaking after the game, Geelong coach Chris Scott said Stewart looked “symptom free” and had no issue concerning his jaw following his collision with Bulldogs midfielder Bailey Smith.
Stewart will enter the mandatory 12-day concussion protocols but given the fact that the Cats have the bye next week, Scott was optimistic that the triple All-Australian would be fit to take on West Coast on June 18.
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“He’s adamant that he’s fine and he was making sense to me and said that he thought he passed the (concussion) test, which is probably a sign he’s not quite right,” Scott laughed.
“But apparently the vision (of the incident) was the bit that was the nail in his coffin but the good news is, as far as he was concerned, and everyone else, besides the way the vision looked, he’s pretty much symptom-free.”
Smith was at the centre of another talking point on Friday night as he was reported for headbutting Zach Tuohy at three-quarter time. But Scott downplayed the incident, even though Smith looks set for a suspension.
“I made some gag about an Irishman and headbutts and they made me swear that I wouldn’t say it but it’s too late now,” Scott grinned.
“I spoke to ‘Reg’ (Tuohy) really, really briefly and he wasn’t worried about it … doesn’t have a problem with it.”
Looking further ahead, Scott was looking forward to getting a big group of key players available again, including Patrick Dangerfield, Jack Henry, Sam Menegola, Jake Kolodjashnij, Shaun Higgins and Jon Ceglar, after the bye.
The Cats continue to prove the doubters wrong, and will finish Round 12 in the top four, assuming Sydney don’t thump Melbourne on Saturday, but rather than take umbrage, Scott understood why his team has routinely been written off over the past decade.
“We’ve been a bit hard to work out and we’re certainly not shouting from the rooftops about where we are or how good we are or what’s possible for us, we’re just going about our business and trying to improve with our hand that we’ve been dealt,” Scott said.
But despite being undermanned in recent weeks, Scott praised his side for giving themselves a chance at perhaps winning their elusive 10th premiership after countless near misses since 2011.
And after so many September failures, he gave an insight into how his team would attack the second half of this season.
“We don’t have any interest in pushing some of our more experienced players who are really important to us through games when they’re less than their best physically,” he said.
“History is pretty clear that the team that gets on a roll and nails the last five or six weeks wins the whole thing.
“If you fall in and things go wrong and you have a bit of bad luck and muck a few things up, then you’ve just got to be so much better than everyone else and I don’t think that team exists, with the greatest respect to Brisbane, Melbourne and Freo who are going really well.
“Whoever wins it will need a combination of luck and the ability to hit their best form when it really counts – that’s what we’re trying to build but it’s more art than science. It’s really difficult.”
Scott hailed his decimated backline, led superbly by youngster Sam De Koning who shut down Bulldogs star forward Aaron Naughton, for their ability to restrict the Bulldogs to a score of 10.10 (70) despite winning the inside-50 count 56-48.
“I’ve always had this view that you can’t replace your best players,” Scott said.
“When Kolodjashnij went out (late due to Covid), we didn’t have an option to bring in a key defender – we don’t have any.
“Then when we lost our best player (Stewart) at quarter-time, it looked like being a real challenge for that back half.
“It speaks to the quality of our defenders down there, especially De Koning.”
And Scott was full of praise for matchwinner Jeremy Cameron who kicked six goals.
“When the scoreboard is tight and you get the shot, his kicking is just a beautiful thing to watch,” Scott said.
“He’s just as straight a left-foot kick as I can remember. But there’s one thing having that technique and having that ability, but the mental resolve to finish when the game’s at that stage is something I really admire. He was fantastic again.”
BEVERIDGE: WE’LL LEARN A LESSON FROM FIRST QUARTER BLITZ
Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge says his side will learn a “pretty harsh lesson” after a horror opening term proved costly in Friday night’s loss to Geelong.
The Bulldogs trailed by 33 points at quarter-time and a game-high 40 points at the five-minute-mark of the second quarter as the Cats dominated possession and had the upper hand in the aerial battle early.
Geelong picked apart the Bulldogs defence to boot seven goals in the opening term, three coming off the boot of Jeremy Cameron.
The flat start came on the back of a 101-point win over West Coast for the Bulldogs the previous week.
“They were pretty good in the clenches early and we took a backward step from what we’d been producing in that early part of the game,” Beveridge said.
“I was really proud of the boys after that, the way that they dug in and played some pretty good footy without capitalising. We created enough opportunities without connecting well enough and even just kicking that extra goal or two just to get us get our noses in front. But to their credit, they steadied and held sway. I don’t think we ran out of energy. I don’t think we ran out of juice in the comeback. But we will learn a pretty harsh lesson from that first quarter.”
Connectivity going forward was again an issue for the Bulldogs, who won the inside-50 count 57-48 but registered a score from just 33 per cent of their entries for the night.
“To not capitalise on that landslide in the differential, that frustrates everyone and whether they are shot misses or whether they are not kicked to advantage or whether our forwards have been able to get off the defender on turnovers where we should have,” Beveridge said.
“The connection and the chemistry wasn’t quite there tonight. But (we played) some productive and impressive footy at times to get them on edge enough. Just in the end, winners are grinners and we’re not grinning tonight.
Beveridge said he was unaware of Bailey Smith’s report for headbutting Geelong’s Zach Tuohy when asked about the incident post-match.
“I’m aware that something’s happened but I have got no detail on it and I haven’t seen it,” he said.
“I’ve spoken to the group but I haven’t spoken to any individuals so if this is something that’s happened, I’ll be briefed on it at some point soon. But hopefully there’s nothing in it, whatever it was.”
‘NOTHING IN IT’: CATS SHAKE OFF MAD HEADBUTT AND DENY DOGS
Western Bulldogs star Bailey Smith faces a stint on the sidelines after being reported for headbutting in a moment of madness during Friday night’s 13-point loss to Geelong.
Smith was involved in a heated exchange with Geelong’s Zach Tuohy during the three-quarter-time break at Marvel Stadium, which escalated to the Bulldogs wingman being put in the book by field umpire Andrew Stephens.
Tuohy clutched his head after Smith’s headbutt appeared to make contact with his forehead.
The Cats backman was sporting a noticeable red bump on his head after the exchange, which followed a brief physical tussle between the pair.
Tuohy and Smith embraced after the final siren in a sign of no hard feelings.
“Emotions were obviously getting the better of both of us,” Tuohy said of the incident.
“There’s not much in it. It was all love in the end.”
Later in a post-match interview with Seven’s Brian Taylor, the defender played down the mark on his forehead even further when he claimed he “just scratched my head on the grass”.
Smith faces a one-week ban if the headbutt is classified as intentional, low impact and high contact by AFL match review officer Michael Christian.
A grading of medium impact could see Smith miss two matches.
Fremantle forward Michael Walters had a one-match ban overturned for headbutting Melbourne’s Jay Lockhart overturned by the AFL tribunal in 2019, with the Dockers successfully arguing the light contact made was incidental rather than intentional.
However, the Bulldogs would struggle to mount a similar case for Smith.
Brisbane champion Jonathan Brown said the headbutt was an unusual sight in the modern game.
“Absolute brain snap,” Brown said on Fox Footy.
“The old Liverpool kiss. We don’t see it very often. I can’t think of any teammates that have done it.
“What’s the AFL going to say about that? They called Buddy Franklin’s act cowardly. Jeez, that’s worse.”
Luke Beveridge’s side has a bye next week, before games against Greater Western Sydney and Hawthorn kick off a big back half of the season.
Smith, who missed the previous week’s win over West Coast through illness, had played a key role in getting his side back in the game after Geelong opened up a 40-point lead early in the second quarter.
What the hell was he thinking?
— Glenn McFarlane (@MaccaHeraldSun) June 3, 2022
3-4 weeks for Bailey Smith, you can’t go head butting people.
— Dale Perkins (@perko1313) June 3, 2022
Bailey Smith is getting weeks! That was filth.
— Corey Norris (@coreynorris9) June 3, 2022
Bailey Smith reported for headbutting.
— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) June 3, 2022
Tensions HIGH at 3QT 🤯
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The 21-year-old logged 15 disposals across the second and third quarters of the match, after managing just two touches in the opening term.
He has averaged 31.6 disposals across his 10 matches this season.
Geelong lost key defender Tom Stewart to a concussion during the second term, when he collided with Smith’s shoulder as he attempted to lay a tackle.
However, Stewart will be out of the AFL’s 12-day concussion protocols in time for the Cats’ next match against West Coast in Round 14, given the side has a bye next week.
Jezza masterclass keeps Dogs at bay
Another Jeremy Cameron masterclass has helped Geelong stave off a brave Western Bulldogs counteroffensive in an action-packed contest which saw Dogs star Bailey Smith reported at Marvel Stadium on Friday night.
Cameron finished the game with six goals to re-take the Coleman Medal lead and guide the Cats to a hard-fought 13-point win after they almost saw their early 40-point lead totally whittled away when the Dogs got within five points in the final term.
But after playing an instrumental role in putting Geelong in a commanding position early in the game with three first-quarter goals, Cameron stood tall at the end as well, booting another three majors in the final term when the Bulldogs threatened to complete a remarkable comeback win.
Compounding things for the Dogs is Smith facing a suspension after headbutting Zach Tuohy during a three-quarter time scuffle and splitting the Geelong veteran’s forehead open.
After the Cats opened up a seemingly matchwinning lead early in the second quarter, the game was turned on its head when star Geelong defender Tom Stewart was subbed out due to concussion.
Stewart looked set for another monster game with nine touches and six marks already to his credit at quarter-time, as he teamed up with young apprentice Sam De Koning to make the Dogs pay for their careless forward entries.
But when Stewart was subbed out, it seemed to give the Bulldogs a spark as they got back on top in the middle of the ground and did the majority of the attacking.
The Dogs looked more threatening when going forward as they capitalised on Stewart’s absence to trim the margin to 11 points at three-quarter time after kicking five goals in a row.
The Cats ground to a complete halt as the Bulldogs dominated play for much of the middle two periods, enjoying sizeable leads in inside 50s (33-19) and disposals (230-155).
But despite keeping Geelong goalless for 80 minutes, the Dogs were still inefficient going forward and didn’t make the most of their huge territory advantage. They got within five points in the final term, but the Cats superior attacking efficiency held them in good stead as Cameron stood in the way of a famous Bulldogs win.
In the end, the Bulldogs had 20 scoring shots from 56 inside 50s at a rate of 36 per cent, compared to Geelong’s 23 from 48 at 48 per cent.
De Koning continued to enhance his standing as one of the game’s most exciting young key defensive prospects with a superb shutdown job on Bulldogs star forward Aaron Naughton, while Mitch Duncan (29 disposals and one goal) and Rhys Stanley, with 16 touches and 23 hit-outs, were also pivotal to the result.
For the Bulldogs, Tom Liberatore was outstanding with 30 disposals and two goals while Tim English (20 touches, 17 hit-outs and one goal) had a great duel with Stanley in the ruck and Caleb Daniel (31 touches) was also damaging.
The 12.11 (83) to 10.10 (70) result saw Geelong re-enter the top four and string together three wins in a row for the first time this season, while the Dogs could now be tipped out of the top eight by the end of the round.
CATS’ HOT START
Geelong burst out of the blocks, kicking the first six goals, and dominated the airways, with 14 of the first 17 marks.
The Bulldogs kept bombing it long, which played beautifully into the hands of the Cats who were set up beautifully behind the ball. Conversely, Geelong were hitting up targets inside forward 50 with ease as they transitioned from one end of the ground to the other often unimpeded, and Cameron was the main beneficiary.
Geelong smashed the Dogs in disposals (103-76) and contested possessions (36-26) in the first quarter, yet still laid more tackles (12-9), showing up the Dogs in the hardness department on the way to their best quarter-time score against the Bulldogs in 15 years.
500 UP FOR JEZZA
Cameron became the 62nd player to kick 500 career VFL/AFL goals, and he brought up the milestone 20 minutes into the game with a beautiful snap set shot from 30m out on the boundary line. Goal No. 501 was one of the easiest of his career as Daniel attempted to rush a behind but didn’t realise how close Cameron was behind him and the big Cat zoomed past Daniel to soccer through the bouncing, loose ball and extend Geelong’s lead to 28 points.
DALE’S DEFENSIVE BLUNDER
Bailey Dale would’ve wanted to crawl into a hole and hide early in the second quarter when his attempted pass to a teammate deep in defence horribly missed its target and from the ensuing chaos, Tom Hawkins collected the crumbs and snapped truly from 30m out to propel the Cats to a 40-point lead.
SCOREBOARD
BULLDOGS 1.5, 4.6, 6.9, 10.10 (70)
CATS 7.2, 8.6, 8.8, 12.11 (83)
LERNER’S BEST
Bulldogs: Liberatore, English, Daniel, Macrae, Dale, Bontempelli, Gardner.
Cats: Cameron, De Koning, Duncan, Stanley, Z.Guthrie, Atkins, Selwood.
GOALS
Bulldogs: Liberatore 2, Weightman 2, Bontempelli, Khamis, McNeil, Dale, Naughton, English. Cats: Cameron 6, Hawkins 2, Atkins, Rohan, Close, Duncan.
INJURIES
Bulldogs: Nil.
Cats: Stewart (concussion).
LATE CHANGE
Jake Kolodjashnij (Covid) replaced in Geelong’s selected side by Luke Dahlhaus.
REPORT
Bailey Smith (Bulldogs) for headbutting Zach Tuohy (Geelong) at three-quarter time.
UMPIRES
Donlon, Stephens, Williamson
VENUE
Marvel Stadium
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
LERNER’S VOTES
3 J.Cameron (Geel)
2 S.De Koning (Geel)
1 T.Liberatore (WB)
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