AFL 2025: The drop-off, lapses Geelong must address ahead of crunch Collingwood clash, defining month

Geelong knocked off Collingwood in their last encounter, but concerning lapses and a big drop-off work right into the Magpies’ hands. And the Cats must address these issues fast.

Geelong needs to address key areas of its game, and fast.

Thrilling wins over Adelaide and Hawthorn papered over the cracks of an underwhelming start to the season, before they were shown up last week against Carlton — ho had only beaten North Melbourne and West Coast to that point.

The Cats have one of the toughest tests in footy on Saturday night in Collingwood at the MCG as the start of a tough month.

Geelong’s quick ball movement has been a feature of their game in recent seasons, but the Cats’ ability to restrict sides going the other way ultimately got them to a preliminary final last year.

The Cats were the second best side in the competition for their work without the footy in 2024 according to Champion Data, as they ranked fourth for forward half intercepts and fifth for inside 50s conceded from defensive 50.

Put simply, they made it difficult for opposition sides to score and turned defence into attack by winning the ball back.

This season, they are in the bottom-six for both of those statistical indicators, with Tom Stewart playing hurt clearly impacting their intercept game.

Tom Stewart hasn’t had his usual influence this season. Picture: Michael Klein

Alarmingly, the five-time All-Australian is averaging 43 per cent less intercept possessions and 48 per cent less intercept marks than last season, and he will hopefully be better for the rest this weekend.

“We try to avoid situations where we think, ‘Collingwood are on top of the ladder and it’s a really big game’,” Chris Scott said on leaving Stewart out.

“With the greatest respect to them, they deserve it, I’m not sure they’re that much better than anyone else.

“We’re in a difficult part of the draw, it seems. But I suspect that means everyone else is as well.”

Excluding Geelong’s big win over Fremantle, they have the seventh worst without the footy rating over the past six weeks – Collingwood is the No.1 side in this category over the same six week period.

Chris Scott’s men will be put to the test against Collingwood on Saturday night who are firing on all cylinders, ranking sixth for their attacking game and third for scores from clearance.

Scott believes it is too small a sample size to compare Geelong’s defensive system to 2024 and that it can turn quick.

He referenced attacking powers Adelaide and GWS playing in one of the lowest scoring games of the season a few weeks back.

But he admitted their team defence wasn’t up to scratch in their loss to Carlton.

“I just would prefer not to look at it, these things are at the margin,” Scott said.

“You can improve a little bit and go from fourth in the comp to first overnight.

“We thought defensively we should have been stronger against Carlton and what better to test ourselves against than the attacking power of Collingwood.”

The Cats’ clearance game has let them down in the past fortnight with some major lapses.

Geelong still took the lead against Hawthorn despite being -10 for clearances, -8 for first possessions and -4 for inside 50s.

Against Carlton that slump went for three quarters, with the Blues winning +16 clearances, +20 inside 50s and +19 first possessions.

The Cats still managed to lead Hawthorn and remain in the contest last weekend despite their opponents dominating the clearance and territory battle for those periods.

Geelong went on to win 13 more clearances in the final quarter against a red-hot Blues midfield of Sam Walsh, Patrick Cripps, George Hewett and Adam Cerra, which will fill them with some confidence ahead of their clash with the Pies.

Reigning best and fairest Max Holmes gives them enormous drive out of stoppages but won just one clearance last week.

The Cats gamebreaker picked up a Brownlow vote the last time these two sides met in round 18 of 2024, and they will need another big performance from the speedster, who has been down on form in the past fortnight..

Max Holmes will need to be at his best. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos earned two Brownlow votes, but that wasn’t a true reflection of his impact.

He won 32 disposals and 11 clearances for just 86 SuperCoach ranking points, with his elite disposal nullified by tackling machine Tom Atkins. The Cats should look to send the tough Cat to him again.

A loss won’t be the end of the world considering Collingwood looks every bit a premiership contender, but the Cats need to ensure these stoppage and defensive concerns don’t become serious problems.

Otherwise a 4-3 record could soon go pear-shaped with GWS, an away clash against Port Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs to come.

Originally published as AFL 2025: The drop-off, lapses Geelong must address ahead of crunch Collingwood clash, defining month