Cats and downpour leave Dockers all at sea
Fremantle and the wet weather made it a hard game to watch, but Geelong rose to the challenge.
Fremantle and the wet weather made it a hard game to watch, but Geelong rose to the challenge and walked out of a drenched Optus Stadium in Perth with an important four points, winning a gruelling Monday night slog by 32 points.
With an undermanned and undersized defence, the plucky Dockers crowded the Cats’ forward line and prevented the match from ever opening up as the Cats won 6.12 (48) to 2.4 (16).
The loss for the Dockers was compounded by a hamstring injury to important midfielder Darcy Tucker, while star Michael Walters limped off with help from the trainers late in the clash.
Geelong adapted quickest to the conditions, with heavy rain bucketing down for the entire first half, allowing the Cats’ bigger bodies, including returning midfielder Mitch Duncan (26 disposals and one goal) to shine.
Duncan stepped up as Patrick Dangerfield battled a hard tag from first-year Docker Caleb Serong, whose goal in the game’s final minute helped the Dockers avoid kicking the lowest score in their history.
The first two quarters were a slog that saw Geelong kick only two goals yet lead by 18 points at the main break.
While dominating possession and field position, the Cats did themselves no favours, missing several gettable chances as they kicked nine straight behinds before returning midfielder Mitch Duncan broke the run.
Cats defender Jake Kolojashnij was among those to spray gettable shots on goal, leaving him without a career major after 98 games.
The Dockers would have loved to be handed such chances, but instead entered the main break with 0.3, just the second time they have gone into halftime goalless.
Mature-age Geelong rookie Brad Close waited years for his AFL chance, but it took just one minute on debut for his first career goal.
The small forward was hit up on the lead by teammate Gary Rohan and converted his set shot from 45m, making an instant impact in a game that quickly deteriorated.
With Luke Dahlhaus (ankle) and Gary Ablett (personal reasons) unavailable, Close had an opportunity to settle into the Cats’ forward line and looked comfortable at the top level.
The Dockers unveiled a debutant of their own, Tobe Watson, although not in ideal circumstances.
The only recognised tall defender in Fremantle’s 22, Brennan Cox was withdrawn pre-game, handing the 190cm Watson his first game and leaving the Dockers scratching for a match-up on 198cm star Tom Hawkins.
They settled on 186cm half-back Luke Ryan, who has been forced to fill a key post in the absence of Alex Pearce (ankle), Joel Hamling (ankle) and Griffin Logue (toe).
Watson made a quick impact himself, running on at the eight-minute mark, taking an intercept mark and pumping the ball inside 50.
NCA Newswire