Esava Ratugolea breaks ankle in Geelong victory over Carlton

Ben Jensen 26 May 2018, AFL Round 10 2018, Geelong Cats v Carlton Blues GEELONG defeated Carlton in a match fairly forgettable, notable only for two events at opposite ends of the spectrum- first gamer Jamaine Jones beginning his career in the best way possible kicking the opening goal of the match, but by half time ruckman Esava Ratugolea was on his way to hospital with a suspected broken leg. All three Geelong sides won, the VFL and VFL Women’s teams defeating their Williamstown and Carlton opponents earlier in the day at the same venue (GMHBA Stadium, Kardinia Park Geelong). Sam Menegola livened up proceedings with a cracker of a goal late in the game, see the video below.

The Cats kicked the first four goals of the match but did not kick another one until well into the second quarter, the margin not drifting out beyond about two goals for most of the game thereafter. A Carlton goal midway through the final term brought the margin to just over one goal, silencing the crowd. The Blues came close to kicking another just after but Tom Stewart got a hand to it first, the Cats soon rebounding and ran out winners by 28 points booting the final three goals of the game including two to Tom Hawkins. Interestingly Carlton’s final score of five goals fifteen behinds is exactly the same as Collingwood managed against the Cats two weeks ago.

Ratugolea was later confirmed to have broken his right ankle, not the fibula and tibia as initially reported, but still a significant injury. We wish him well in his recovery and hope he is given the best medical care possible. The other injury on the night was Carlton’s Patrick Cripps who had a leg heavily strapped but will probably be OK for next week – he hobbled back on but left the field when the result was beyond doubt after copping a poke in the eye.

We popped in to see some of the VFL earlier today, the match beginning at 11am, and like other observers noticed neither George Horlin-Smith and Aaron Black were playing while the other two emergencies Ryan Abbott and Jackson Thurlow were. Word was Harry Taylor’s troublesome foot was playing up again, with experimental backman Black to come in – and so it was, Horlin-Smith having the week off. The Cats defeated the Seagulls by 34 points, better players we saw included Timm House, Mark O’Connor and Quentin Narkle while Wylie Buzza made the most of his chances. Dumped AFL players Zac Smith and Thurlow did not seem in good form and down on confidence while James Parsons had a better game. In the VFLW the Cats beat the Blues by 7 points.

How good is that?

Jamaine Jones kicks his first League goal inside his first three minutes.#AFLCatsBlues pic.twitter.com/GdsoFGFP7z

— AFL (@AFL) 26 May 2018

MENEGOLA! 😱#AFLCatsBlues pic.twitter.com/3eSF0oQ4Pm

— AFL (@AFL) May 26, 2018

GEELONG: 4.0, 5.3, 7.5, 11.7 (73) DEFEATED
CARLTON:  2.1, 2.7, 4.11, 5.15 (45)

GOALS
GEELONG: Hawkins 3, Menegola 2, Jones, Ablett, Murdoch, Crameri, Cunico, Dangerfield
CARLTON: C.Curnow, McKay, Kerr, Cuningham, Wright

BEST
GEELONG: Stewart, Dangerfield, Menegola, Henry, Duncan, Hawkins
CARLTON: Cripps, Simpson, Kreuzer, E.Curnow

INJURIES
GEELONG: Esava Ratugolea (broken right ankle)
CARLTON: –

CHANGES
GEELONG: Harry Taylor replaced in selected side by Aaron Black
CARLTON: –

REPORTS
GEELONG: –
CARLTON: –

UMPIRES: Foot, Glouftsis, Mollison

CROWD: tba at GMHBA Stadium, Geelong

GEELONG TEAM
IN: Esava Ratugolea, Rhys Stanley, Jamaine Jones, Brandan Parfitt
OUT:  James Parsons (Omitted), Zac Smith (Omitted), George Horlin-Smith (Omitted), Jackson Thurlow (Omitted)

B: Tom Stewart, Harry Taylor, Jack Henry
HB: Zach Tuohy, Jake Kolodjashnij, Jed Bews
C: Mark Blicavs, Joel Selwood, Jordan Cunico
HF: Jordan Murdoch, Esava Ratugolea, Gary Ablett
F: Cory Gregson, Tom Hawkins, Stewart Crameri
FOLL: Rhys Stanley, Patrick Dangerfield, Tim Kelly
INT: Mitch Duncan, Jamaine Jones, Sam Menegola, Brandan Parfitt
EMER: Ryan Abbott, Aaron Black, George Horlin-Smith, Jackson Thurlow

CARLTON BLUES TEAM
IN: Jacob Weitering, David Cuningham, Ed Curnow, Charlie Curnow
OUT:  Marc Murphy (Injured), Nick Graham (Omitted), Jarrod Garlett (Omitted), Aaron Mullett (foot)

B: Kade Simpson, Jacob Weitering, Lachie Plowman
HB: Dale Thomas, Sam Rowe, David Cuningham
C: Lochie O’Brien, Ed Curnow, Darcy Lang
HF: Jed Lamb, Charlie Curnow, Zac Fisher
F: Paddy Dow, Harry McKay, Matthew Wright
FOLL: Matthew Kreuzer, Patrick Cripps, Sam Petrevski-Seton
INT: Liam Jones, Cameron O’Shea, Sam Kerridge, Pat Kerr
EMER: Aaron Mullett, Nick Graham, Andrew Phillips, Cameron Polson

VFL 2018 – ROUND 8
GEELONG CATS V WILLIAMSTOWN SEAGULLS
SATURDAY 26 MAY 2018, 11:30 AEST
GMHBA STADIUM

GEELONG: 2.5, 4.7, 8.11, 9.17 (71) DEFEATED
WILLIAMSTOWN:  0.3, 3.4, 5.5, 5.7 (37)

GOALS
GEELONG: G. Miers 2, W. Buzza 2, R. Gardner, S. Simpson, L. McCarthy, J. Parsons, J. Tsitas
WILLIAMSTOWN: Kickers: S. Dunell 2, B. Cavarra, L. Schultz, J. Dorgan

BEST
GEELONG: M. O’Connor, T. House, J. Keras, T. Atkins, R. Abbott, J. Parsons
WILLIAMSTOWN: B. Bewley, B. Myers, J. Tippett, M. Gibbons, L. Schultz, B. Jolley

VFL WOMENS 2018 – ROUND 4
GEELONG CATS V CARLTON BLUES
SATURDAY 26 MAY 2018, 16:30 AEST
GMHBA STADIUM

GEELONG: 2.1, 2.2, 5.2, 8.3 (51) DEFEATED
CARLTON:  2.1, 3.2, 5.2, 7.2 (44)

GOALS
GEELONG: M. Fedele 3, K. Darby 2, D. Orr, M. Clifford, I. Currenti
CARLTON: D. Vescio 3, K. Harvey, T. Hanks, B. Moody, C. Dalton

BEST
GEELONG: M. McMahon, M. Fedele, D. Orr, R. Cranston, M. Clifford, R. Garing
CARLTON: J. Hosking, K. Harvey, C. Dalton, K. Cox, K. Harrington, T. Hanks