Geelong veteran Mark Blicavs says Cats must remain positive and hungry to claim top-four spot after disappointing loss

Geelong missed a chance to secure a top-four spot, but the Cats have another big opportunity next week. An All-Australian Cat assesses the loss and where they go from here.

Patrick Dangerfield after the loss. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Geelong veteran Mark Blicavs said remaining positive and hungry will be pivotal after the Cats’ disappointing loss to St Kilda on Saturday, with their top-four hopes hinging on a win over West Coast next week.

Geelong dominated the first half at Marvel Stadium but the Saints came from nowhere to pull off a devastating 51-point turnaround after the main break that the Cats had no answer for.

The shock loss saw them relinquish a chance to secure a home qualifying final but the Cats can still secure a double chance just by defeating West Coast next Saturday at GMHBA Stadium.

However, a loss would see them slide down the ladder with Brisbane, the Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn within striking distance.

Coach Chris Scott said the players were disappointed given the stakes but the key would be not allowing it to “snowball” further.

Blicavs, 33, said their nailbiting win over Fremantle last week in the west was no excuse for their fade out and that St Kilda’s ability to keep the ball off them and win the ball at the source were reasons for their lapse.

He echoed Scott’s sentiment that momentum swings and fluctuations in form have plagued all sides this year.

“It is a tough game, so we’ve got to learn from it and keep working on it, but we’ve got to stay positive because we are still in with a great chance of that top four and that’s the goal,” Blicavs said.

“We’ve got to obviously assess the game, but we’ve got to stay positive and come in hungry because there’s a job to do next week.

“It a sign of the whole season I think for everyone. It is a bit up and down, so that lapse in the second half hurt us tonight but the goal still remains the same and we’ve got to come in and keep trying to improve because we have got no other choice.

“They are in really good form, they are playing really, really well and they’ve been really consistent over those last couple of weeks – which we knew going into the game.

“I thought we started off that first half well but it all changed in that second half, but got to stay positive.”

While they will enter their final home-and-away clash heavy favourites, Blicavs said Geelong won’t be taking West Coast lightly.

“No one is an easy beat in this comp, so we’ll prepare well, we’ll respect every opposition and they will come down. Last game of the season they will be up and about and want to end their season on a positive so we’ll make sure we’re ready to play,” Blicavs said.

“We’ll just review (the Saints game) like we normally do. I feel the good thing, whether we win or we lose, we stay relatively constant with our approach each week and that’s what we’ll do again next week.”

Blicavs has been below his best this season – averaging the lowest SuperCoach ranking points since his debut season and 25 less than last year – and had 10 touches and eight hitouts on Saturday night.

The versatile utility has been forced to play in a variety of roles from the ruck to in defence – something the dual best-and-fairest winner has become accustomed to.

“Different roles depending on who we’re playing and that’s sort of how we’ve been going each week. It will be more of the same,” Blicavs said.

Originally published as Geelong veteran Mark Blicavs says Cats must remain positive and hungry to claim top-four spot after disappointing loss