All the Geelong Cats news ahead of a clash with the Western Bulldogs
Finishing off an outstanding evening, Jeremy Cameron slotted three crucial final quarter goals under immense pressure. But the man himself wasn’t feeling the heat when lining up.
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Friday is Jeremy Cameron’s favourite day of the week and the relaxed superstar was as happy as anybody to do his job under crunch pressure to deny a charging Western Bulldogs.
On two occasions in the final quarter, Cameron marked with the margin at seven points and he twice converted pressure shots to extend the margin.
He then put the finishing touches by slotting his sixth major in a matchwinning haul in the dying moments of the match as the Cats got home by 13 points.
Walking back to take those set shots, Cameron joked that there wasn’t too much going through his head.
He just wanted to do his job.
“I am pretty easy going sort of bloke, I understand there is a lot of pressure involved but that is what I have been in the team to do for a number of years now,” he said post-match.
“I really enjoy the moment, it can be easy to dwell on it when you do miss … but to kick the goals in the last quarter is really rewarding for the team.
“That’s my job, that’s (Tom Hawkins’) job and we really love doing it.”
Cameron said he kicked just “13 footballs all week” but was salivating at the prospect of facing the Dogs and delivering under the bright lights.
“It is the best day of the week, Friday night footy against good opposition and I love it,” he said.
“What could be better?”
Facing a week off as the Cats enter the mid-season bye with a 8-4 record, Cameron is set to spend his time off playing golf with teammate Brad Close in Tasmania.
Cameron’s second goal of the opening quarter on Friday night took him past the 500 goal mark but he said he didn’t dwell on milestones.
“It’s more so friends and family that let you know (about milestones), it is just another one for me and I look forward to hopefully kicking a few more,” he said.
DEJA VU AS WOODVILLE-WEST TORRENS ADDS ANOTHER GEELONG FORWARD
It was a sense of deja vu for Woodville-West Torrens coach Jade Sheedy on Wednesday night as he lost another electric small forward to Geelong.
After the Cats swooped on premiership Eagle Tyson Stengle late last year, they again nabbed a goalsneak from Woodville-West Torrens by snaring Zane Williams in the mid-season draft.
The speedster flew out of South Australia at 4am on Thursday morning and made it to GMHBA Stadium in time to pull on a jumper and join in Thursday’s Captain’s Run with his new AFL teammates and will wear the No.41 jumper in the hoops.
A junior at Woodville South Football Club, Williams worked through the age groups to the SANFL club but by his own admission had an average year last year.
Williams, 20, came back ready to fire after a big off-season, put on 6kg of muscle and cut 20 seconds off his 2km time trial.
“He is a highly motivated kid but I think he has taken a more relaxed approach to footy this year and focused on doing the small things in his game and he has been rewarded,” Sheedy said.
Much like Stengle, Sheedy described Williams as having “a bit of x-factor”, “electric speed” and “he knows where the goals are”.
And just like Stengle, the youngster has shown an ability to be just as good giving away goals as he is kicking them himself.
“He has some good forward craft, whether that be entering it in advantage side of another forward or being able to hit the scoreboard himself,” Sheedy said.
“He has got some good connection with a few of our forwards and he built that over the summer and into the year.
“He is a good player but he is a good kid most importantly.”
Having now given away two small forwards to Geelong, Sheedy said he wasn’t sure he had more goalsneaks to send east.
“I don’t think so, there are a couple of good ones in the reserves who are young kids that are playing well that might get an opportunity at (SANFL) level now,” he said.
CATS SWOOP ON WILLIAMS IN MID-SEASON DRAFT
Geelong has swooped upon clever forward Zane Williams with its first modern mid-season pick, snaring the goalkicker with the 12th overall selection in Wednesday night’s draft.
A 183cm dasher from Woodville-West Torrens, Williams, who will turn 21 on Sunday, has shown smarts around goals in eight SANFL games this season, averaging 1.9 goals per game.
Williams described himself as a quick player with goal sense.
“I’m a small forward and I think that suits me and I am blessed to have a little bit of speed,” he told SEN SA on Wednesday.
Overlooked in last year’s AFL Draft, Williams said he didn’t speak to any AFL clubs then as he had an “average year” but three clubs showed interest this time around.
Williams was at training ahead of a clash with South Adelaide on Wednesday night when his name was called out and he will be headed to Victoria on Thursday.
The Cats have had recent success with Woodville-West Torrens forwards, having taken Tyson Stengle from the SANFL club last year.
Grovedale will never see its recruit Oskar Faulkhead on the GFL field after he was selected by Gold Coast with pick No.7.
Faulkhead was aligned to Grovedale and had played with the Bendigo Pioneers and the Geelong VFL side this year.
CATS EYE RETURN OF KEY PAIR FOR DOGS CLASH
Geelong is set to welcome back two key players ahead of an important Friday night clash with the Western Bulldogs in round 12.
Starting ruck Rhys Stanley and small forward Gary Rohan are “likely” inclusions for the Cats, as the side prepares for its final game before the mid-season bye.
Geelong coach Chris Scott said he expected both to come into the side.
“Potentially (we get) Rhys Stanley, and I think Gary Rohan will play, I think there’s even more certainty around that,” he said.
“Those two are likely, but really the bulk of those guys that are missing at the moment will be a post-bye proposition.
“There’s a big cohort of them … we just need to think through exactly how we reintroduce those guys, quite a few of them would be okay to play next week.
“The quandary for us is with four, five, six guys available, bringing them all back at once does present a challenge for cohesion.”
With a forward and ruck expected to come back into the senior side, pressure has mounted on first-gamer Shannon Neale.
The tall forward had seven disposals, two marks, three tackles and three hit outs in his debut against Adelaide in round 11.
Scott said it was “not a foregone conclusion” that Neale would make way at the selection table.
“If we have two in, two will have to go out, but it’s not necessarily that the ruckman in Stanley would come in for … Shannon,” he said.
“He’s as much a forward as he is a ruckman, but all those things are in the mix.
“It’s not a foregone conclusion that he’ll be one of the two that come out if those two come in.”
Mid-season draft no guarantee for Cats
THERE is no guarantee Geelong will use its first modern AFL mid-season draft pick on Wednesday night, with the Cats open to passing their choice up.
Having never had a choice in the mid-season draft, the Cats are currently slated to pick at No. 12 on Wednesday night after leaving a list spot open over the off-season.
Geelong has drawn up a list of players it would take with their selection but if those players have already been snapped up when it becomes their turn, the Cats are willing to wave their pick through.
Leaving the spot open on their list will mean the Cats don’t secure any help on-field in 2022 but it could ease a squeeze on list spots as Geelong continues talks with managers about re-signing its out-of-contract players.
“We are well prepared for (the draft), it doesn’t necessarily mean we are going to pick a player but if the right player for us comes through to us we will have done our homework on him,” Cats recruiting boss Stephen Wells said.
CHECK OUT THE 19 LOCAL GEELONG HOPEFULS AT THE MID-SEASON DRAFT
Wells said the Cats haven’t planned to fill any need with their draft choice.
Despite injuries plaguing Geelong’s ruck division, all of Rhys Stanley (ankle), Jonathon Ceglar (foot) and Esava Ratugolea (ankle) are closing in on returns from injuries, while teen ruck Toby Conway has played two strong games in the VFL.
“In conjunction with our list management team we have a bit of a plan of a group of players we think might get through to our pick,” Wells said.
“We will just see how that all plays out.
“We keep our options open at the moment, we haven’t got a particular need that we are going to be addressing through the mid-season draft. In the end, we will be crossing off a lot of names before we take our pick and see who is there for us to choose from tomorrow.”
Across the two mid-season drafts held in 2019 and 2021, some clubs have picked up future prospects, such as North Melbourne’s No. 1 choice last year in Jacob Edwards, while others have chosen players who made impacts that year such as Richmond’s Marlion Pickett.
Wells said the Cats could still swing either way on that spectrum.
“We really value every spot on our list whether that be a No. 1 pick or a rookie spot so we will be trying to find a player who can really help us and have a good AFL career,” he said.
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