CATS OFF TO PURFECT START
Ben Jensen 26 February 2007

By Ben Jensen GEELONG fans eventually overcame comical scenes to see the Cats defeat the Tigers by 43 points at Skilled Stadium yesterday. Big Cats Brad Ottens and Cameron Mooney bagged four goals apiece, the former dominating play in the first half.

Darren Milburn was accidentally kicked in his right eye by Richmond's Andrew Krakouer in the second quarter and was taken to hospital where he received stitches from a plastic surgeon. While he received no fractures he will not travel to Darwin this Saturday to face Port Adelaide Power. Although obviously an accident, Krakouer has been given a three match sentence from the AFL Match Review Panel, to be reduced to one week should he enter a guilty plea.

Joel Selwood's debut was solid but not spectactular; he got enough of the ball and moves to all the right spots but still has to work on his foot skills. David Wojcinski was a welcome sight in the backline and looks set for a great season off a back flank, pocket or wing.

Matthew Richardson kicked two early goals before pulling a hamstring just before half time. Richmond kicked five goals in the final term, including one super goal, to peg the final margin back to just forty-three points after trailing by sixty-one points at three quarter time.

Next Saturday night Geelong travel to Darwin to face Port Adelaide, who had a gutsy three point win over Adelaide on Saturday night.

GEELONG 1.6.2 2.11.3 3.16.8 3.17.10 (139) DEFEATED
RICHMOND 0.2.0 0.6.0 0.10.0 1.14.3 (96)

GOALS:
GEELONG: Nine-point goals: Bartel, Prismall, Enright. Goals: Ottens 4, Mooney 4, Gardiner 2, G Ablett 2, Byrnes, N Ablett, Stokes, Prismall, Milburn.
RICHMOND: Nine-point goal: Tivendale. Goals: Deledio 3, Brown 3, Richardson 2, Tuck 2, Pettifer, Meyer, Foley, Hyde.

BEST:
GEELONG: Ling, Ottens, Byrnes, Selwood, Wojcinski, Enright.
RICHMOND: Foley, Bowden, Brown.

REPORTS:

Andrew Krakouer, Richmond, has been charged with a Level Three engaging in rough conduct offence against Darren Milburn, Geelong, during the second quarter of the Round One NAB Cup match between Richmond and Geelong, played at Skilled Stadium on Sunday February 25, 2007.

In summary, his existing five-year good record means that he can accept a one-game penalty after being assessed with a three-game sanction.

The incident was assessed as negligent conduct (one point), high impact (three points), and high contact (two points). This is a total of six activation points, which relates to a Level Three offence, drawing 325 points and a three-game sanction. He has an existing five-year good record, which reduces his penalty by 25 per cent to 243.75 points and a two-match sanction. An early plea reduces the penalty by 25 per cent to 182.81 points and a one-game sanction.

MEDIA RELEASE FROM THE AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE

AFL Chief Executive Officer Andrew Demetriou today said he had received a detailed report from the AFL's Football Operations Department regarding the delays for supporters entering yesterday's Round one NAB Cup match between Geelong and Richmond, played at Skilled Stadium.

Mr Demetriou said the AFL wished to apologise to those spectators who were inconvenienced by the long queues in the lead-up to the game.

"The AFL expected a much smaller crowd for this match, judged by the numbers of tickets that had been pre-sold," Mr Demetriou said.

"The walk-up crowd on the day numbered more than 10,000 and, with the lateness of many people arriving, the numbers of ticket staff working were unable to cope due to the time it takes to sell tickets individually.

"In a normal regular season game, the vast majority of fans are immediately able to enter the ground using their home and away membership, without this delay, and the decision was made to open the gates after the game had begun so that supporters were able to see their teams.

"Nearly all of the available ticket windows were open on the day and, even if all ticket sellers had been working on the day, we would still not have been able to admit that number of patrons arriving just before the game, without taking the action we did.

"We would like to thank those supporters who supported both clubs so strongly for their patience on the day."

Mr Demetriou said the AFL would not be providing refunds to those spectators who had purchased tickets before the game started, but again wished to apologise for the frustrations caused on the day.

CLICK HERE FOR GEELONG'S 2007 DRAW AND TV SCHEDULE