CATS BOMB OUT
June 28 2003

GEELONG displayed an acute lack of skill last night, going down to the Bombers by more than thirty points at Telstra Dome. Disposal skills, especially by foot, were lacking. In order to keep track of the number of times that Geelong coughed up the ball directly to their Essendon opponents, one stats man was seen taking off his trousers. Dashing Geelong backman Darren Milburn was a late change, being replaced by James Rahilly. Milburn was reportedly feeling a bit 'crappy' before the match.

A fantastic crowd of 48,374 witnessed the debut of Essendon player Jobe Watson. However it was Geelong sons of guns Gary Ablett and Matthew Scarlett who starred instead. Ablett booted Geelong's first goal of the match inside the first minute and was robbed of a second - 'Sir James' Hird fooling the umpires into awarding a behind.

Geelong's skill errors all night, seemingly picking off the Essendon defenders each time the Cats launched a salvo up forward, was what cost Geelong the match. Bomber forward Damien Cupido was exciting if not slightly painful to watch, booting five goals and having a hand in several others.

For loyal Geelong supporters, our reward for the season looks like being high draft picks. With the father-son rule changes, the Cats can now claim both Nathan Ablett and Mark Blake, sons of Gary and Rod respectively. Geelong need only give up their 2nd and 3rd round draft picks in exchange for the pair, who would surely be top ten picks otherwise.

Next week the Cats aim for just their forth win of the season, when they host the Port Power at Skilled Stadium. The Power, who defeated the Swans in front of a small crowd of 22,000 at RACV stadium last night, think they all but have their name on the 2003 Premiership cup. The Cats on the other hand have nine games left to try to salvage some respect.

ESSENDON: 8.3, 13.5, 16.6, 20.9 (129)
GEELONG: 4.0, 8.1, 12.2, 15.3 (93)

GOALS: Essendon: Cupido 5, Lucas 3, Bolton, Hille, Misiti 2, M Johnson, Ramanauskas, McVeigh, J Johnson, Lloyd, Barnard.
Geelong:S Johnson 3, Spriggs, Kingsley, Riccardi 2, Clarke, Corey, McCarthy, Ablett, Ling, Bartel.

THE CATTERY takes a holiday

That's right, your correspondent Ben Jensen will be taking a well earned break for a couple weeks. The site will be updated from Friday week (July 11th) onwards. In the meantime, visit Banana TV PCU each Tuesday night after 8PM week for all the latest news.