All the Geelong Cats news ahead of the clash with Port Adelaide
Geelong’s midfield eyeballed each other at the three quarter-time huddle and worked out how to reverse a disastrous third term and pick up a stunning win.
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The blowtorch was put on Geelong’s engine at three quarter-time on Saturday and Tom Atkins says he was proud of how the Cats’ midfield men lifted to get over Port Adelaide.
Down by seven points after a blistering third quarter in which the Power booted eight goals and dominated out of centre bounces, the Cats spoke extensively about their set ups and the need to get the ball going forward at the final break.
Atkins was essential to that, and he begun the final term by winning the first centre clearance, setting up a Jeremy Cameron goal.
He said the third quarter “wasn’t at the level we wanted to be” but the Cats turned the tide at the Adelaide Oval, leading to a thrilling 12-point win.
“It was definitely around the contest, that was where the conversation was centred at three quarter-time,” Atkins said.
“I felt like we lifted in there. Sometimes it is something simple that we needed to try and fix up and it was around the contest and securing the ball and getting it going our way.
“In our set ups we were probably getting on the move a bit too much and gambling so (the Power) were able to get out the front of us and get some (forward) entries with no pressure on.”
The Cats have made a habit of turning around tough situations this year, having now run over the top of Collingwood, Richmond and Port Adelaide.
Atkins said he could feel the belief growing in the Cats team that they were capable of stepping up when it counts.
“Probably in the past we have folded,” he said.
“I know at this ground (Adelaide Oval) we have been challenged a lot and haven’t come through. I think the old heads have always had that resilience but the middle group is really developing that now and we have seen in games like this that everyone is able to make the right decisions in those big moments and to be honest that just comes with experience.
“Maybe in the first couple of years (the younger players) weren’t at the level in those moments but this year we have really stood tall.”
HAVE CATS MISSED THE BOAT ON RESTING PLAYERS?
Having spoken at length this year about easing its players through the season to have them cherry ripe for September, Geelong’s window to find rest for its durable stars is suddenly closing.
The Cats were clear at the start of the year that they thought they had a deep list and would use it, yet even with some injury worries in the early part of 2022, they have deployed just 34 players.
Only Melbourne (33) has used less this year, while St Kilda has also fielded 34.
Where the Cats have nine players who have played all 17 games so, justsix Demons and seven Saints can match that feat.
Included in those nine enduring Cats are Cam Guthrie, Zach Tuohy, Isaac Smith, Mark Blicavs, Jeremy Cameron and Tom Hawkins, senior players who have plenty of miles on the clock and could use a breather.
Smith himself said mid-season: “I think it is silly if you don’t manage your players and manage your list”.
Fellow veteran Mitch Duncan has played 16 matches, while all-important youngster Sam De Koning has 15 to his name.
Just because these players have played a lot of matches this year doesn’t necessarily mean they are worn down.
Guthrie, De Koning and Blicavs are in spectacular form, Tom Atkins and Tyson Stengle have also played every match and don’t look like the need any form of a break.
But the Cats are determined to ensure they don’t limp into finals this year and instead charge in at full speed.
If there is a time to rest players, is is now. This week, Chris Scott acknowledged management would have to come “in the next three weeks, not the next five” given the looming pre-finals bye sucks away the need for time off late in the home-and-away season.
Yet the Cats didn’t pull that lever this week, choosing to take a full-strength side to Adelaide, so much so that Brandan Parfitt couldn’t break into the starting 22.
Aa tricky match-up with the Western Bulldogs awaits next week, even if it is at home.
Time does not slow down though and soon we will be in August, where teams have traditionally bedded down a best-22 and picked up steam.
Geelong has excellent availability right now, with Shannon Neale and Esava Ratugolea on hand if either Hawkins or Cameron needs a break.
The likes of Quinton Narkle, Cooper Stephens and Luke Dahlhaus are all performing strongly in the VFL and waiting to give the midfield a chop-out.
Jonathan Ceglar has two games under his belt and could allow Rhys Stanley or Blicavs a holiday.
While Joel Selwood and Patrick Dangerfield have been carefully managed and defenders like Jed Bews and Jake Kolodjashnij have been named as medical-subs, resting has been minimal.
The clock continues to tick and a July freshen up could mean so much more come September.
‘RIPPED OFF’: WHY MAX HOLMES HAS NO RISING STAR NOM
Rising onballer Max Holmes says he has felt the pressure gauge light up in the Cats midfield during its eight-game win streak.
After a disappointing loss to St Kilda in round 9, Geelong sat down and acknowledged its pressure wasn’t where it needed to be.
From round 11 onwards, the Cats have averaged a rating of 183 on Champion Data’s pressure gauge, good for fifth in the league, and Geelong hasn’t lost a game in that run.
“I think we have had really great pressure,” Holmes said.
“It is build on the back of everyone trying to do the team thing. Everyone is willing to lay a tackle or put on some pressure. I think as a collective we are going really well and can’t narrow it down to one individual, so hopefully we can keep it flowing.”
Holmes, who signed a contract extension this week that will tie him to Geelong until the end of 2024, said it isn’t a numbers thing but more feel when he knows the Cats are bringing the heat.
“It’s less about the numbers, it is kind of when you are getting to quarter-time and you talk about that ‘we are getting on top of them here’, let’s keep it rolling,” he said.
A joker around the club, Holmes laughed that he had been “ripped off a few times” by not being nominated for the AFL Rising Star.
The speedy winger is ineligible this season after playing more than 10 games in his debut 2021 season.
But three of those games came when he was named medical-sub and he didn’t actually step on the field.
When asked if it was fair he couldn’t be nominated the quick-witted 19-year-old said “I’m not here to start fights with the AFL”.
Holmes said he was “excited" to face Port Adelaide on Saturday, one of five teams he is yet to play against in his 23-game career, with Adelaide Oval another venue he hasn’t played at after he was an emergency during two trips there in 2021.
NEALE COMFORTABLE STUCK BEHIND STAR CATS
Stuck behind two of the best key forwards in the game, Shannon Neale is loving being the spearhead in Geelong’s VFL side.
The West Australian is in the unenviable position of being a key forward stuck behind Tom Hawkins and Jeremy Cameron in the pecking order.
Not only are Hawkins and Cameron arguably the two best forwards in the AFL, neither has missed a single game this year, limiting Neale to just one senior appearance.
But after signing a contract extension to keep him in Geelong until the end of next year, Neale is happy to keep learning all he can off his star teammates.
“I guess I got drafted as a developing prospect, for me it is about continuing to develop,” he said.
“With two Coleman leaders (ahead of me) it is a bit hard but that just says ‘you have learnings’ written all over it.
“You have two of the best so I can soak that up, pick their brain and just continue.”
Neale has particularly enjoyed working with Hawkins on the physical side of being a key forward, given bodywork has been a trademark of the veteran Cat for 15 years.
“The key to my improvement is doing that physical side and that contest work and (Hawkins) brings that and it is one of his strengths,” Neale said.
“While he is here … I will just pick his brain and hopefully it can translate into my game.”
While he battled with the frigid temperatures in Geelong this week, Neale said he has had no thoughts about returning West and was instead happy to commit to the Cats.
He has been a constant spearhead and a leader in Geelong’s VFL side, with his 28 goals ranked fifth in the competition.
“I think no matter what is going on in the game you can always have an impact, whether that is verbally or physically,” he said.
“I love being that spearhead in the forward line.”
NO PRESSURE ON RUCK PROSPECT CONWAY
The pressure is right off growing Geelong ruck prospect Toby Conway as the Cats continue to assure him of his future potential as the club’s No.1 big man before he makes his AFL debut.
Drafted last year, a cautious approach taken with a hip injury kept Conway out of the first half of the year and he has since played six VFL games.
With just five AFL matches remaining until finals and veteran big man Jonathan Ceglar now back to full fitness behind first-choice ruck Rhys Stanley, Conway is resigned to waiting until 2023 to make his senior debut.
But that hasn’t stopped the Cats from investing in the St Mary’s product, signing Conway to an extension that will tie him to the club until the end of 2025.
“I couldn’t see myself playing anywhere else, I am really happy here,” he said.
“It (the extension) also takes the pressure off for me with any injures, having an extra three years gives me a lot of confidence in myself and my body and just knowing I have the time to get my body right.”
Cats coach Chris Scott has been vocal about his optimism for Conway after the teen impressed against Stanley and Ceglar in pre-season and he said the No.1 ruck mantle is there for him to take up if he continues to improve.
“It is certainly an option to us if he plays well enough and we could foresee that happening,” Scott said.
“I think (the extension) is also a nod to the fact with young key position players, and especially ruckmen, it does take some time and we understood that completely when we invested our first (draft pick last year) in Toby.
“We don’t think he should feel the pressure in one or two or even three years that he has to be our No.1 ruckman, we are optimistic he will be a good player for us into the future.
“Toby being a local boy, I think there is something in that as well. I would love to see Toby play his whole career as an important player for the Geelong Football Club.”
Conway said he believed the best thing for his football would be to get consistent gametime in after a difficult start to the season.
He is not only growing as a footballer but literally as a person, having put on just under 1cm of extra height this year to now stand at 205cm.
CATS CAN WIN THE FLAG BUT NEED TO KEEP GROWING: SCOTT
Geelong coach Chris Scott says his side can win it all this year but the Cats will “be in trouble” if they don’t keep improving before finals.
While the ladder-topping Cats are still behind Melbourne on the second line of premiership betting with most bookies, wise heads across the AFL have acknowledged they are the form side and the team to beat right now, having won their past eight outings.
Scott said while his side is capable of lifting the cup, he refused to see his team as the finished product and said it would be left in the dust if it stagnated.
“If we improve (we can win the premiership), if we stay where we are I don’t think that will be good enough,” he said.
“It is just do hard to judge where we are going to be, much less where the other good teams are going to be as well.
“I think history is a pretty good guide, you need to flush the last six weeks.
“You need to nail it and we are just trying to set up all the pieces to give ourselves a chance to do that.”
Scott said it was “our hope” to be playing at the level of the past eight weeks but he wouldn’t read into where the Cats would sit in another two months.
“It was put to me on Monday night (on Fox Footy’s AFL 360) that maybe we have peaked too early but we just see so much improvement in not only what we can do but what we need to do to compete with the best teams,” he said.
“We expect all the best teams to all get better in the next couple of months and if we don’t at least keep up with that, we are going to be in trouble.”
Geelong will travel to face Port Adelaide on Saturday and Scott said he was always wary coming up against Ken Hinkley’s Power.
“I always find it a challenge coaching against Ken and Port Adelaide because they throw some challenges against you that are unique in the competition,” he said.
HENRY LIKES IDEA OF FORWARD ROLE
Like most defenders, Jack Henry is open to the idea of booting goals and collecting the adulations often reserved for his forward teammates.
The glamour players of football, the goalkickers have always been the stars, standing on the heads or fooling defenders at ground level in the highlights remembered forever.
Most of Henry’s 99 games have come as a defender but he turned the hero in round 15 against Richmond, soaring in the air at the MCG to take a huge mark and kick the matchwinning goal, outshining superstars Jeremy Cameron and Tom Hawkins.
The casual Henry was only thrown forward minutes before that match when Gary Rohan pulled out late with illness but he enjoyed the taste of star status and would be happy to get moved up the field again.
“More than happy, it is quite fun,” he said.
“Up there you get all the glory and playing up alongside Hawk and Jez is nice.
“I don’t think it will happen heaps to be honest. I am pretty comfortable in the backline and everything is going pretty well down there but obviously if I am called upon I am happy to do so (go forward).”
The St Mary’s boy with a high leap will pass one of his goals on Saturday against Port Adelaide when he plays his 100th AFL game.
Henry will become the first player in the Geelong’s storied history to notch triple figures in the No. 38 guernsey.
Before the defender came along, Austin McCrabb held the record among Cats players in the high number with 36 appearances.
Others, mostly forgotten to history, sit down the list such as John Preen (32 games), Peter Zychla (12) and Jackson Sheringham (12).
Henry has a long way to go to break the AFL record in the number – held by Western Bulldogs stalwart Dale Morris with 253 games – but by reaching 100 matches, his name will be stencilled on the No.38 locker at Kardinia Park forever.
“It means a lot really,” he said.
“It is exciting, since I have started playing I have wanted to get my name on the locker for 100 games. There has been no-one for (No.) 38 so I am the first.”
A stringy but athletic local taken in the 2016 rookie draft, Henry spent a full season in the reserves before his debut in round 2, 2018.
He has been a best-22 Cat ever since and finished second in the club’s best-and-fairest last year, but it took time to find his feet.
“It does take a while to feel comfortable at that level, I entered the club idolising a few guys like Harry Taylor and Lachie Henderson,” he said.
“I entered the team with those boys to teach you the way (as a defender), it was a bit of a ‘pinch yourself’ type of moment.
“When you play a few finals and a few big games and you are doing your job well, that is when you start to feel like an AFL player.”
Holmes, Conway among five contract extensions
Geelong has locked away important young gun Max Holmes for the next two years and shown an enormous amount of faith in burgeoning ruck Toby Conway by locking in the local prospect until the end of 2025.
Holmes and Conway led a handful of young Cats locked in by the club with first-choice defender Mark O’Connor also handed a two year deal.
Rookie goalsneak Ollie Dempsey has been handed a one-year extension, alongside tall forward prospect Shannon Neale.
Drafted by Geelong in late 2020 after the Cats traded up to snare Holmes off little junior football form with the youngster breaking into the team last year before entrenching himself as an integral part of Geelong’s midfield.
The Cats were keen to lock away the 19-year-old from the start of the season and he initially put off contract talks in a bid to settle his spot in the team before beginning talks in May.
“I love playing at Geelong and I love playing with the boys, so I am sure in good time it will unfold,” he said in April.
A dependable lockdown defender, O’Connor has played 79 games since his 2017 debut and was a former member of Geelong’s leadership group.
“Max and Mark both have outstanding character and take ownership over driving our club standards,” Cats footy boss Simon Lloyd said.
Drafted last year, Geelong’s high hopes for Conway have been backed up by a long-term deal.
Injury prevented the Geelong College alumn from playing any footy early in the season but he did enough to impress the coaching staff that he would be ready to play if required this season.
With Jonathan Ceglar back from injury and Rhys Stanley enjoying possibly his finest season of his career, Conway may have to wait until 2023 for an AFL debut but the extension on his deal indicated Geelong’s faith that he will soon be the club’s No.1 big man.
Neale and Dempsey both made their AFL debut this season and have been limited to one appearance each, but have shown signs of being future goalkicking talents.
“For Ollie, Shannon and Toby, while limited in their AFL experience so far, they have all shown strong signs at VFL level and we are excited to see them take the next step in their development,” Lloyd said.
Several Cats remain without deals after this year including Brandan Parfitt, Zach Guthrie, Zach Tuohy and Isaac Smith.
HOW GEELONG’S DEFENCE STACKS UP WITH THE PAST
Geelong’s stark defensive improvement has come down to chemistry among its backman according to high-flyer Jack Henry, as the Cats continue to ride its stingy defence to the top of the ladder.
Geelong kept Carlton’s vaunted attack out of the contest on Saturday night, keeping the Blues to just two goals across the middle two quarters to set up a 30-point win.
The shutdown job carried on Geelong’s brilliant improvement defensively over the past eight matches, as they went on a convincing winning streak to climb up the ladder.
Starting in round 11, Geelong has conceded just 60.6 points per game, comfortably the best mark in the league during that time.
The Cats have tightened up in conceding scores from stoppages in the two-months of domination, allowing just 24.4 points per game from clearances, ranking second in the league.
Before round 11, Geelong ranked 11th in the AFL, conceding 32.2 points per game form that source.
But nothing dramatic has changed for the Cats pillars according to Henry, as new defensive names like Sam De Koning and Mitch Duncan gelled with their teammates.
“I think we have a pretty new group, there are a few of us that have played a fair bit of footy together but our turnover of players in the past few years has been pretty substantial, we are probably just getting used to each other and working well collectively,” Henry said.
“I don’t think there are any drastic changes or anything.
“It felt pretty clinical and a complete performance (against Carlton), we are starting to get our game going at the moment which is really nice.”
A drastic change is looming for the Cats in round 20 when defensive ace Tom Stewart is due back from his four-week suspension.
Without him the Cats have barely missed a beat but Henry said he was excited to welcome the All-Australian back.
“He is one of the best defenders in the league so to get him back is great, I personally love playing with him,” Henry said.
“He is a great friend and one of the best defenders in the league.”
Geelong will head interstate to face Port Adelaide on Saturday and Henry said his Cats were wary of the improved Power.
After a disastrous 0-5 start to the season, the Power has gone 8-4 to keep slim finals hopes alive.
The Cats could be boosted by the return of Brandan Parfitt, who was back at training on Tuesday after missing last weekend’s action due to Covid protocols.
Parfitt last played in round 12, when he broke his right hand against the Western Bulldogs.
“(Port Adelaide is) going to really want to fight hard because they are still in finals contention and sitting around the mark, it is a difficult match-up and will be a good challenge for us so I’m looking forward to it,” Henry said.
CATS ON VERGE OF PREMIERSHIP MILESTONE
Geelong will have a chance to reach a milestone the club has not accomplished since its last premiership season when the top-of-the-ladder side faces off against the Power in round 19.
The Cats last won eight consecutive games in 2019 when they finished first on the ladder, with that streak of wins ending at Adelaide Oval at the hands of Port Adelaide.
If they triumph against Port Adelaide next week it will be the first time since 2011, the year they last won a premiership, that the Cats have won nine games in a row.
Geelong forward Tyson Stengle said Port Adelaide would provide stiff competition, despite the Power struggling with an inconsistent season.
“They’re a good side, but if we go and play how we’ve been playing we’ll have a good chance,” he said.
“The atmosphere around the club at the moment is really good, and we’re playing good footy at the moment.
“Everyone is enjoying their footy, taking it week-by-week and just focusing on the game ahead.”
Stengle will likely match up on Power defenders Riley Bonner or Darcy Byrne-Jones in the clash, with the Cats holding top spot of the AFL ladder.
With no games against teams currently inside the top eight, Geelong has a relatively simple run to finals and potentially a minor premiership.
Stengle, who has kicked 33 majors this season and is currently third in the competition for goals among small forwards, said the forward line was functioning “really well”.
“We’re building good team chemistry, everything is working really well up forward,” he said.
“We’ve got those big guys in Tom (Hawkins) and Jezza (Cameron) who can kick goals, but then we’ve got the other small forwards who are working really well together.
“Coming towards the end of the season, we’ve found out how to play together, so it’s going to be good to get that form right for finals.”
Originally published as All the Geelong Cats news ahead of the clash with Port Adelaide
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