Seven Lives: the Cats cough up another fur ball
April 22nd 2008 02:46
Geelong have no-doubt proven that they are just as much the team to beat in 2008 as they were in 2007. They have convincingly won every game they have played this year, and twenty five of their last twenty six. Port Adelaide, struggling this year with only one win, defeating the lifeless West Coast Eagles on Sunday by fourteen points, were the last to overcome the Cats, by five points, in the late stages of last season. What the football world is waiting in anticipation for is the next team to stand up and to prove that a cat’s lives are limited.
I would only tip three teams in the competition to achieve the seemingly unachievable: Sydney, Hawthorn, and St Kilda. Sydney gave it their best on Saturday afternoon and was able to prevent the Cats from pouncing for most of the game. However, once Geelong found their comfort zone they started kicking goals out of every centre bounce, winning the game by a handy forty-two points. Hawthorn, who maintained their undefeated season by beating Brisbane by twelve points in a high scoring, Buddy/Bradshaw, fest on Saturday night, will have their chance in round seventeen. In recent years, St Kilda has entered every season as the ‘in form’ team to beat, but then seem to fold under the pressure and fall short of any final glory. Like Carlton, on paper the Saints are a team rich in talent and experience. However, the two teams struggle to put theory to practice and it might be a while before St Kilda is a strong enough unit to defeat the hungry cats.
In the end, that is what it comes down to: the unit, the team. Geelong, who is not shy of their own home grown talents, has been dubbed as the most unselfish team in the competition. This was exemplified on the weekend against Sydney when Mathew Stokes, taking a mark well inside fifty, handpassed the ball to Cameron Moody, who had endured an uneventful four quarters, who kicked through an open goal. Shortly after, Moody marked just outside fifty and returned the favour by opting to kick short to Stokes, who extended Geelong’s lead. While many teams in the competition rely on one player with a magic boot, Geelong relies on eighteen players with a head for the game and a shared, impenetrable bond.
If Geelong stays hungry they will be the unrivalled owners of the 2008 premiership flag and will be well on track to cementing their name in the League’s record books.
I would only tip three teams in the competition to achieve the seemingly unachievable: Sydney, Hawthorn, and St Kilda. Sydney gave it their best on Saturday afternoon and was able to prevent the Cats from pouncing for most of the game. However, once Geelong found their comfort zone they started kicking goals out of every centre bounce, winning the game by a handy forty-two points. Hawthorn, who maintained their undefeated season by beating Brisbane by twelve points in a high scoring, Buddy/Bradshaw, fest on Saturday night, will have their chance in round seventeen. In recent years, St Kilda has entered every season as the ‘in form’ team to beat, but then seem to fold under the pressure and fall short of any final glory. Like Carlton, on paper the Saints are a team rich in talent and experience. However, the two teams struggle to put theory to practice and it might be a while before St Kilda is a strong enough unit to defeat the hungry cats.
In the end, that is what it comes down to: the unit, the team. Geelong, who is not shy of their own home grown talents, has been dubbed as the most unselfish team in the competition. This was exemplified on the weekend against Sydney when Mathew Stokes, taking a mark well inside fifty, handpassed the ball to Cameron Moody, who had endured an uneventful four quarters, who kicked through an open goal. Shortly after, Moody marked just outside fifty and returned the favour by opting to kick short to Stokes, who extended Geelong’s lead. While many teams in the competition rely on one player with a magic boot, Geelong relies on eighteen players with a head for the game and a shared, impenetrable bond.
If Geelong stays hungry they will be the unrivalled owners of the 2008 premiership flag and will be well on track to cementing their name in the League’s record books.
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