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AFL ROUND 10 2006: GEELONG V WEST COAST;
CATS CULL LIST - NATHAN ABLETT BACK IN TEAM; MATCH PREVIEW AND TEAM LIST By Ben Jensen GEELONG hosts West Coast in what will either be a resurrection or a crucifixion. After an unexpectedly shocking start to the season, with just three wins from nine games, the Cats' season is all but over. JUMP TO TEAM LISTINGS Split Enz's Neil Finn told himself 'History Never Repeats' - but does it? The Cats are quite a good chance to knock off the Eagles at home. History is on their side; last season with the backs to the proverbial wall, Geelong spanked the Eagles to the tune of 75 points. The winner will be awarded the United Way Shield. Cameron Mooney plays his hundredth game for the Cats - Mooney played his first season with the Kangaroos and not only played 11 games but won a premiership and score a tattoo on his backside. Returning to the side is Nathan Ablett, Tim Callan, Mark Blake and Tom Harley. Dropped are Kent Kingsley, David Wojcinski, Paul Koulouriotis and Henry Playfair. All bar Kingsley are named as emergencies and are a chance to play after all. Matthew Stokes retains his place in the side after replacing Peter Riccardi last week. Riccardi remains injured and will not play this week. Koulouriotis replaced Tom Harley last week, who is back in the side. Riccardi, like skipper Steven King, has a calf strain. For the Eagles Chris Judd is their only change - he pulled a hamstring last week in their narrow win over the Dees at Subiaco. Despite trumping Steven King and Kane Tenace's chances of playing last week, neither are named this week. Not surprising considering their injuries, but you wonder why the club persists with the dodgy injury reports. Tenace injured his knee in the big loss to Collingwood, the game King injured his calf. In the VFL the Bendigo Bank Cats visit AUSTAR Arena to play Kangaroos affiliate North Ballarat to play for the United Way Cup. With three wins on the trot, the Cats are finally back in form after a year in the wilderness, winning the wooden spoon last season. JUMP TO VFL TEAM LIST TIP? MY MRS ASSURES ME THE CATS WILL GET UP - GEELONG BY 29 POINTS
LAST TIME THESE TWO TEAMS CLASHED NATHAN ABLETT BROKE OUT OF HIS SHELL WITH FOUR GOALS |
GEELONG V WEST COAST 2:10 PM SATURDAY 3 JUNE 2006 SKILLED STADIUM TV: CHANNEL TEN VFL ROUND 9 - SUNDAY 4 JUNE 14:00
UNFORTUNATELY MS TWIGLEY WON'T BE MAKING THE TRIP TO GEELONG THIS WEEKEND
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IN: Blake, N.Ablett, Callan, Harley B: Milburn, Scarlett, J.Hunt |
WEST COAST IN: R.Jones B: Chick, Glass, Wirrpanda |
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LAST TIME ROUND 21 2005 GEELONG: 5.4, 10.7, 12.12, 16.13 (109) DEFEATED GEELONG have all but secured a place in September after trouncing Premiership favorite and ladder leader the West Coast Eagles by 76 points at Skilled Stadium today. Geelong lead at every change and won every quarter, and were strong all over the ground. In other good news, Geelong's extremely undermanned VFL side had a win over Bendigo. Boosted by the return of captain Steven King and key defender Tom Harley after a long absence, Geelong had a much stronger unit on paper. However that was weakened before the first bounce, with forward Paul Chapman ruled out with an existing hamstring injury while Josh Hunt was hit with a more serious ailment. On Friday night Hunt underwent surgery to remove his appendix. Last Saturday against the Demons Hunt vomited while off the field but played on. He felt pain in his abdomen some time after training and was soon admitted to hospital. Hunt will probably miss the rest of the season but will be back in 2006. The team sung We Are Geelong behind closed doors and once media were admitted, they didn't receive a warm welcome from coach Mark Thompson, who was notably agitated towards interviewer Andrew Maher and later the entire press conference. Bomber will probably be a bit embarrassed watching the footage tonight, but it is understandable; he was under siege this week after last week's one-point loss to Melbourne. Such 'experts' as Robert Walls and Gary Ayres effectively called for him to be sacked. On a lighter note, Bomber did manage to exchange some banter with The Cattery correspondent Mark Heenan at Friday afternoon's press conference, so it can't be all bad! The star of the first half today was Nathan Ablett. Playing just his second game, Ablett kicked three goals in the opening term and four for the first half, as the Cats raced to a forty-six point lead. By the start of the second quarter, Ablett already had his third opponent of the day, after taking five marks in the first quarter. Nathan could have had five but gave one away to Cameron Ling in the goalsquare in the first quarter.
Brother Gary also had a good day, helping himself to the one goal and setting up countless others, mostly using his left boot. Father Gary Senior was in attendance (in case you were unaware; he was shown on television every minute or two) and enjoyed the spectacle. Ablett attended most of Gary Junior's games in his debut season (2002) but has been keeping his distance for health reasons the past couple seasons. Matthew Scarlett, who gave a rare interview this week with the Herald Sun (Read it here) relished the chance to once again play alongside mate Harley. Harley made an immediate impact, with several bone-crunching tackles to halt Eagles' forays up forward. After trailing by forty-six points at half time, West Coast did not even score in the third quarter, while the Cats consolidated their lead with another two goals and five behinds. By the start of the final quarter, Eagles coach John Worsfold put the proverbial cue in the rack and conceded the match, starting with reigning Brownlow medallist Chris Judd and this year's Brownlow favorite and Eagles captain Ben Cousins on the interchange bench. Geelong kicked another four goals to win by seventy-six points. Geelong now sit in sixth position with eleven wins, ten losses and a healthy percentage of 112%. While all players performed well, special mention must be made for Harley, the Abletts, Scarlett, Matthew Egan, Cameron Mooney, Shannon Byrnes, Jarad Rooke, Jimmy Bartel and Steve Johnson. Delivery by foot by Steve Johnson and Gary Ablett was unbelievable. While Johnson still got the jitters when faced with set shots in front of goal, some of his ball delivery to teammates around the ground was stunning. Likewise, Gary Ablett's delivery was very accurate when under extreme pressure of approaching opponents. Next week Geelong host Richmond to shore up their position in the final eight, but can't miss the finals now. Of course, that's only a good thing if we can do some damage and not just go out in straight sets!
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ROUND 9 - SUNDAY 4 JUNE 14:00 The Bendigo Bank Cats visit Austar Arena to play Kangaroos affiliate North Ballarat to play for the United Way Cup. With three wins on the trot, the Cats are finally back in form after a year in the wilderness, winning the wooden spoon last season.
GEELONG B Sheringham S. Hunt Slade |
NORTH BALLARAT B Lower Ewart Clark |
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