A GROWING confidence in his own game and the hard work that was done over the summer, allowed creative forward Travis Varcoe to turn his game around in the second half of Friday night’s thrilling win over Carlton.

At half time, Varcoe had just six handballs to his credit and the silky forward was inexplicably without a shot on goal. All that changed within the opening minute of the third term.

The Cats had grabbed the lead for the first time in the game, when an Allen Christensen point broke the half time deadlock. The midfield was clawing back Carlton’s ascendency and Varcoe began to find space. Running into an open goal just one minute into the third quarter, allowed the confidence to soar.

“I just couldn’t get anywhere near it in the first half,” Varcoe said after the match. “I just felt like if I could get my hands on it once everything would flow on from there, and that’s exactly what happened. I knew that, with our preseason we have done the work so I knew I had the legs, but I just needed that one touch to get that confidence.’’

His second goal came a minute later and the third, at the 16 minute mark of the quarter, a glorious snap across this body under pressure gave the Cats the two goal buffer that was so necessary in the frantic final moments of the match.

“There was a lot of pressure, it was a credit to them because we knew they were going to bring the heat and we had to keep grinding it out,” Varcoe said. “In the end our game plan held up and we have a lot of confidence in what we do.’’

By the end of the night, Varcoe had nine kicks, seven handballs and most importantly three goals to help secure the emotional, thrilling two point victory in the week the club said goodbye to its greatest legend Bob Davis.

But the Cats had put themselves under pressure with yet another slow start to the match. Carlton had jumped out of the blocks kicking three goals before Brad Ottens could score Geelong’s first major of the night. Early match lapses are something the Cats are aware of and intend to set right, according to Varcoe.

“Slow starts have been our problem,” Varcoe said. “Nobody cracked, occasionally there were lapses by both teams and that is something we need to work on during the week and try to stamp out before next week”, when the Cats take on the Gary Ablett led Gold Coast for the first time.

With the AFL celebrating Indigenous Week in round nine, Varcoe said he had thought about the great Aboriginal players who had forged the way and allowed others to follow.

“It’s a great we for us to recognise the people who have left their prints and allow us to play in this great game but it’s not different to any other game week. We cherish it and I guess maybe you look for a little bit more, but you have to do your best for the team.”