Ten in a row for Cats after third quarter blitzkrieg

Geelong Cats v Western Bulldogs, AFL 2022 round 20 Ben Jensen GEELONG were challenged by the Western Bulldogs but after holding their own in the second quarter launched what can only be described as a blitzkrieg in the third term, booting eight unanswered goals to turn an eleven point deficit at half time into a thirty-six point lead at the final break. Veteran midfielder Patrick Dangerfield was a unanimous best afield, picking up a maximum ten votes in the AFL Coaches Association (AFLCA) awards. The Cats ended up winning by 28 points [just short of The Cattery’s 29 point prediction], celebrating Geelong skipper Joel Selwood’s 350th AFL match in style, taking a minor role on the night but still in the thick of the action.

Beyond the Cats, in the AFLCA awards the Gold Coast Sun’s Touk Miller with 86 votes now has a two point lead over Melbourne’s Clayton Oliver with fellow Demon Christian Petracca three votes further behind in third place. Lachie Neale (79), Patrick Cripps and Connor Rozee (both 75) round out the top five. Jeremy Cameron is the best placed Geelong player in eighth place with 67 votes. The Cats’ next match is at the same time and same venue playing St Kilda who have snuck into the top eight with half a game lead over Richmond and a full game ahead of the Bulldogs.

AFL 2022 ROUND TWENTY
GEELONG CATS V WESTERN BULLDOGS
SATURDAY 30 JULY 2022, 19:25 AEST
GMHBA STADIUM

GEELONG CATS: 1.2, 4.6, 12.8, 14.10 (94) DEFEATED
WESTERN BULLDOGS: 4.3, 6.5, 6.8, 9.12 (66)

AFL COACHES ASSOCIATION VOTES:

10 Patrick Dangerfield (Geelong), 4 Sam De Koning (Geelong), 4 Cameron Guthrie (Geelong), 4 Mark Blicavs (Geelong), 3 Ryan Gardner (Bulldogs), 2 Isaac Smith (Geelong), 2 Ed Richards (Bulldogs), 1 Brad Close (Geelong)

GOALS
GEELONG CATS: Cameron 2, Hawkins 2, Guthrie 2, Rohan 2, Stengle 2, Close, Dangerfield, Miers, Smith
WESTERN BULLDOGS: Weightman 3, Dunkley 2, Ugle-Hagan 2, English, Johannisen

BEST
GEELONG CATS: Dangerfield, Smith, Guthrie, Stewart, Close, Duncan, Stengle
WESTERN BULLDOGS:
Richards, Dunkley, Liberatore, Dale, Bontempelli

INJURIES
GEELONG CATS: Gary Rohan (concussion)
WESTERN BULLDOGS: Nil reported

CHANGES
GEELONG CATS: Nil
WESTERN BULLDOGS: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
GEELONG CATS: Brandan Parfitt (replaced Gary Rohan in the third quarter)
WESTERN BULLDOGS: Lachie McNeil (no used)

REPORTS
GEELONG CATS: Nil
WESTERN BULLDOGS: Nil

CROWD: 22,106 at GMHBA Stadium

UMPIRES
FIELD Andrew Stephens, Hayden Gavine, Mathew Nicholls EMER: Nicholas Jankovskis
BOUNDARY Christopher Gordon, Matthew Tomkins, Shane Thiele, Matthew Jenkinson
GOAL Michael Craig, Matt Maclure EMER: David Rodan

Ben – Cats 29 points
Oscar – Bulldogs 8 points
Cassie – Cats 36 points

GEELONG CATS – SELECTED SIDE
IN: Stewart, Ceglar
OUT: Tuohy (Covid), Stanley (knee), Neale (last week’s sub)
B: O’Connor, De Koning, Z.Guthrie
HB: Kolodjashnij, Stewart, Henry
C: Duncan, Selwood, Smith
HF: Rohan, Cameron, Dangerfield
F: Close, Hawkins, Stengle
FOLL: Ceglar, C.Guthrie, Atkins
INT: Bews, Holmes, Blicavs, Miers
EMER: Neale, Menegola, Dahlhaus, Parfitt

WESTERN BULLDOGS – SELECTED SIDE
IN: Cordy, Daniel
OUT: Keath, McNeil (both omitted), Treloar (injured)

B: Williams, Gardner, Khamis
HB: Hannan, Cordy, Dale
C: Richards, Liberatore, Smith
HF: Johannisen, Bruce, Dunkley
F: Weightman, Naughton, Ugle-Hagan
FOLL: English, Bontempelli, Macrae
INT: West, McComb, Daniel, Garcia
EMER: Martin, McNeil, Cleary, Keath