Geelong with the aid of a handy breeze got off to a good start kicking four goals to two in the first quarter to take a 14 point lead into quarter. Joel Bowden was trying to roughen up the young Geelong players but Ben Johnson wasn’t having any of it showing Bowden that the young Cats are here to play. Geelong’s tackling pressure was fantastic in the first quarter having 11 more than their opponents. Motlop and Varcoe demonstrated this to great effect putting pressure on Coburg when they were trying to break away out of defence. Podsiadly collected eight touches and was well supported by Raidme and Donohue who collected seven touches each for the quarter. Podsiadly and Moles both kicked two each for the quarter.
The second quarter was a complete opposite to the first as the tigers kicked three goals to nil in the term to be leading by five points at the main break. Geelong just couldn’t get it in their forward 50 losing that stat 17-8. The backline worked tirelessly and this showed in the leading possession getters for the quarter with Donohue collecting 12 possessions for the corner and Firman and Laidler collecting nine each for the quarter.
Geelong took full advantage of the wind in the third quarter kicking five goals to two for the quarter to open up a 14 point leading at three quarter time. Moles ran hard for the quarter collecting nine touches whilst Donohue collected eight touches for the quarter.
Geelong needed to lift their intensity and pressure as they knew Coburg were kicking with a strong breeze and they didn’t let their supporters or coaching staff down as they piled on the first three goals of the quarter with Motlop kicking his first goal in Geelong colours with a checkside from directly in front on the run showing some exciting skills that will have the fans wanting to see more of him in the future. Although Coburg kicked the last three goals it wasn’t enough as Geelong held on for a gutsy 17 point win to make it four wins in a row. Podsiadly had 10 touches for the quarter and was well supported by Donohue, Blake and Tutangi who all had seven touches for the quarter.
Podsiadly kicked four goals for the Cats whilst Moles kicked two in the first quarter. Better players for Geelong were Podsiadly who had 28 touches and kicked four goals, Donohue who collected 34 touches and 19 hand ball receives, Blake who had 21 touches and 32 hit outs and Tutangi who had 19 touches, eight clearances and nine tackles. Other notable performers where Raidme with 26 touches and Moles 25 touches and two goals.
After last week’s game Amos said this game was a test to see how far they have come and this is what he had to say.
“I feel like the group has developed a fair bit and I’m looking forward to seeing if they continue to play this way. We’ve had a good contribution from our VFL players, they are really important for us, we had quite a few in today. It was a really important win for us today and they played really well I was proud of the way went about it.”
The team morale for the Cats is really high and the self belief amongst the team is really good. Talking to Donohue after the game this is what he had to say about the good feeling in the side and his form over the last month.
“Coming into this game we know it was a massive game, we all knew it was an eight point game, to get that wine specially where we were at three quarter time two goals up going into a stiff breeze it was a great win and the feeling amongst the group is really good.
The key to my footy is that I just go to the game and feel comfortable as a leader and that gives me confidence which I have used the last two games and my confidence is sky high at the moment which is real good.”
