Geelong lose by 63-points to Carlton as ruck, midfield headaches continue

It is clear that Geelong can’t be a premiership contender with this midfield profile, and the ruck headaches continue. Making things worse, the Cats’ captain is in hot water.

Patrick Dangerfield of the Cats and team mates look dejected after losing the round 15 AFL match between Carlton Blues and Geelong Cats at Melbourne Cricket Ground, on June 21, 2024, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Last week it was the game-defining Brodie Grundy monstering Rhys Stanley – not the first time the veteran has been exposed this season.

This week Geelong tried something different to solve their glaring ruck issue.

With Rhys Stanley suffering a knee tweak – but still named as an emergency and in the VFL – and Toby Conway also available, the Cats took the risk of going in without either for the first time this season.

It was thought Mark Blicavs would shoulder the load, but it was Sam De Koning who took the first ruck contest against his older brother Tom.

And the start of that brotherly duel resembled the pair’s backyard battles before Sam hit puberty.

The signs were concerning from the outset when the key defender turned ruckman was flicked to the ground with ease by the in-form Blue before snapping through Carlton’s first of the night.

Tom De Koning celebrates his goal. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

The Blues won the first six clearances of the match and by quarter time it was 14-6, with De Koning dominating as the top-ranked player on the ground.

Despite that contest dominance, the opportunistic Cats remained in the game at that point, and goals to Ollie Dempsey and Jeremy Cameron early in the second term brought the margin to within a goal – kicking a major from every 13 disposals.

But it is hard to score – and difficult to defend – when you can’t buy a clearance.

There was nowhere to hide against the midfield might of the Blues as Geelong’s achilles heel came back to bite them again.

What followed was another horror second quarter stretch, which have become all too familiar for the Cats – think the losses to Port Adelaide, GWS and Sydney.

Carlton kicked the next six goals of the game off the back of its clearance kings and the brilliance of De Koning. Game over.

The one-sided clearance battle was laid bare at the 19 minute mark of the second quarter, when Sam Walsh and Patrick Cripps had 13 clearances to Geelong’s 11.

Geelong did push Mark Blicavs into stoppages around the ground which allowed De Koning to float into defence to help with the mountainous task of containing Charlie Curnow (five goals) and Harry McKay (three).

Carlton piled on goals left, right and centre. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

But Blicavs’ impact was even more concerning, failing to register a disposal in the first quarter and managing another five in the second term as his 2024 decline continued.

To be fair to him, it is difficult to make an impact when your role changes by the minute, spending 33 per cent of gametime on the wing, 27 per cent in the ruck and 32 per cent in the midfield this season before this round.

The centre clearances were relatively even at the half, but alarmingly Geelong trailed stoppage clearances 24-6 at halftime. That is an annihilation.

The Blues scored five goals of their 11 first-half goals from stoppages.

While Sam De Koning had some promising moments in his new role, his brother had 16 hit-outs, 16 disposals, 15 contested possessions, six clearances and a goal in the first half alone.

He finished the game with 34 hit-outs, 25 disposals, 20 contested possessions, a goal and 177 SuperCoach ranking points, with Carlton winning clearances 50-39.

The main benefit from this experiment was giving Sam De Koning – who was the top ranked Cat with 20 hit-outs, 20 disposals, 19 contested possessions, a goal and 134 ranking points – some much-needed confidence, as he has been well below his best in defence.

Coach Chris Scott said as much post-game, also admitting it was a crative move to fill a hole.

“We are so optimistic about the player that he can be and in my mind he has been one of the really high-level players in the competition. But like us, he’s just not there at the moment and we felt that getting him up around the ball a little bit more might give him the spark that he needed,” Scott said.

“It is an aggressive move and not one without risk, but I think when we look back on it we won’t be thinking, ‘gee, it was the fact that we didn’t have our tall defenders there that cost us the game’.

“Even at halftime when we were being dominated, the stats weren’t too bad except in and around the clearances we were getting smacked.

“We were pleased with some of the signs we saw from him tonight against a really dominant team.”

Where do the Cats go from here after that dismal performance?

It is clear that they can’t be a premiership contender with this midfield profile, and the ruck headaches continue.

Do they continue to persist with De Koning? Or do they look to a more traditional set-up with Conway or Stanley against Essendon veteran Todd Goldstein next week?

With a returning Patrick Dangerfield in hot water for a dangerous tackle and Tanner Bruhn’s injury, it gets even tougher for their lacklustre on-ball brigade.

But the Cats won’t rest on their laurels in that department.

“I don’t think we will be passive and I don’t think we will be conservative — we’re not just going to roll out the same thing,” Scott said.

“If it doesn’t work out in the short-term, we are going to get some benefit out of what we are doing by giving those guys some exposure to make sure they are good players in the long-term.”

Scott even left the door open to exposing Cats that have been biding their time in the VFL.

“There might be a few things on the horizon where we’re looking to push some players in, but without losing our composure on what we can be as well,” Scott said.

A season-defining match-up with Essendon awaits next week at the MCG, and the Cats are staring down the barrel of seven losses from their last eight games if they can’t address their midfield woes.

Originally published as Geelong lose by 63-points to Carlton as ruck, midfield headaches continue