Geelong claim second straight 100-point win after giving Gold Coast Suns a football lesson
IS A combined winning margin of 235 points in your final two games the right finals preparation? Just like they did seven days earlier, Geelong bullied and humiliated a much inferior opposition.
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IS A combined winning margin of 235 points in your final two games the right finals preparation?
For much of a beautifully sunny afternoon at GMHBA Stadium, that was the question being debated given the training drill which was happening on the field.
Just like they did seven days earlier, Geelong bullied and humiliated a much inferior opposition.
AFL BLOG: RE-CAP ALL THE SUPER SATURDAY ACTION
MATCH CENTRE: CATS, SUNS SUPERCOACH POINTS
Last week it was Fremantle to the tune of 133 points, this time it was the Gold Coast Suns by 102 points.
So two floggings and then a week off will be the Cats preparation leading into an elimination final.
The positive slant is that every player in the team will go in feeling happy with the world given they’ve had plenty of touches and kicked a stack of goals over the past fortnight.
Those who enjoyed the feast the most included Cam Guthrie who played one of his best games for the season before a corked thigh saw him rested late.
Patrick Dangerfield kicked four goals from 34 possessions - 20 of those contested - while Tim Kelly continued his incredible time of it with three goals and 23 touches.
The usual suspects in Mitch Duncan, Joel Selwood, Scott Selwood (mainly as a forward) and Gary Ablett all had 25 or more possessions.
What Chris Scott and his coaching panel would have focused on was the process and how defensively his team reacted even if at times it was a glorified training drill.
The stats said that was on point. For example at the 17 minute mark of the second quarter the inside 50 count was 13 to 1 for the term.
What the Geelong defence - which has only allowed eight goals in the past two weeks - will look like in a couple of weeks is one of the more intriguing questions.
For the second week in a row Harry Taylor played full-back with Lachie Henderson and Mark Blicavs further up the ground.
The shuffling meant Jake Kolodjashnij moved up to the wing given Irishman Mark O’Connor kept his spot in the back six.
Can this tall line-up work in a final?
Scott has two weeks to figure that one out and it may have a bit to do with who the Cats come up against in the elimination final.
The negative approach to consecutive thumpings is that it may provide a false sense of security about what you can and can’t do in a couple of weeks.
A measure of the amount of pressure Gold Coast put on the home team can be best summed up by saying the Cats pre-game warm-up among themselves had more heat in it.
Bad habits can sneak in if things are too easy.
There was a perfect example late in the third quarter when Blicavs’ attempted kick in to Ablett 15 metres away went straight to Gold Coast’s Brayden Crossley who was on the mark.
The buzz word around the club over the past month has been momentum.
Despite the ladder showing them they weren’t going to be guaranteed a spot in the finals until the final round, the belief in the playing group has been rock solid that they have the tools to challenge.
That final quarter comeback against Richmond back in Round 20 told the football world the threat is real if the Cats catch fire.
The Holy Trinity will enter September in form. Dangerfield took the opportunity to play a lot of time forward and could have kicked eight goals rather than four given he sprayed some easy chances in the first half.
Ablett had tagger Touk Miller for company in the first half but broke free for two second-quarter goals.
He combined with Dangerfield for one of the plays of the day early in the last quarter when he streamed through the middle of the ground and put the ball to the advantage of his teammate in the forward pocket.
By this stage Dangerfield was pulling all his tricks out and this one was a juggling one-handed mark while falling to the ground.
The third member, Joel Selwood, was typically hard and clean all day.
If you’re looking for a lowlight and it’s a stretch to call it this but Hawkins’ chase for the Coleman Medal never really caught fire given he kept giving away goals to his teammates.
He ended with 2.2 but should have All-Australian honours bestowed on him next week to help ease his pain.
GEELONG 4.6 12.8 17.8 22.10 (142)
GOLD COAST 2.3 3.2 4.8 5.10 (40)
BEST
Cats: Dangerfield, Ablett, Kelly, J Selwood, S Selwood, Stewart, Duncan, Guthrie.
Suns: Barlow, Sexton, May, Ah Chee.
GOALS
Cats: Dangerfield 4, Kelly 3, Hawkins 2, Ablett 2, Menzel 2, Menegola 2, Murdoch 2, Abbott, Blicavs, S Selwood, Tuohy, Duncan.
Suns: Sexton, Scheer, Schoenfeld, Crossley, Lyons.
INJURIES
Cats: Guthrie (leg)
Suns: Ainsworth (hip) replaced in selected team by Schoenfeld; Leslie (knee)
UMPIRES
Donlon, Gavine, Williamson
CROWD
28,004 at GMHBA Stadium
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