VFL Cats purring too

by AJ BRADY

IN round 19 VFL action, the Casey Radio 97.7FM 3SER team saw Geelong smash Werribee by 69 points in Werribee, on Saturday.

The stakes for this game were high coming in, with Werribee still having a very slim chance of scraping into the lower reaches of the top eight, while Geelong were looking to cement themselves in second position heading into the finals.

Fairly clear skies greeted players at the beginning of the match, with a deceptive wind sweeping across the ground and slightly favoring the Werribee RSL end, worth about two goals.

The terraces were fairly full, the crowd about 2500, the majority were Geelong AFL members, who had used their memberships to gain two-dollar entry into the game.

The toss was won by Werribee captain James Podsiadly, who elected to kick with the wind to the RSL end.

The game began at quite a frenetic pace, an excellent duel ensued in the ruck between Geelong's Trent West and Werribee's Liam Gardiner, with both midfields using the ball well.

Early stars for the Cats included Tim Callan and David Johnson in the centre, whilst Werribee were well served by Tim Sheringham and Gavin Hughes. With the Cats expected to jump out of the blocks early, people were a little surprised to see the Tigers stay with Geelong to quarter-time, scores being level at the break.

During the break, Werribee coach Simon Atkins praised his players efforts, saying they used the ball long and direct through the corridor, and gave the forwards a good chance one-out against their opponents. Atkins also said that, against the swirly breeze in the second quarter, the Tigers should just try to run and carry the ball a bit more, but keep playing as direct and through the corridor as much as possible.

The second quarter saw Geelong's advantage of extra AFL-listed players begin to come to the fore, as they began to win contested possessions and put pressure on Werribee forwards-of-centre. This resulted in many Werribee turnovers, major culprits being Jordan McMahon and Travis Baird.

Geelong's forward line began to get on top, with leading half-forward Todd Grima working hard across the forward flank to provide an option, and veteran Charlie Gardiner also chiming in inside the forward 50 arc.

This sparked a six-goal quarter by the Cats, who by half-time had careered away to a commanding 28-point lead.

The "Half-time with Tiger Pearce" segment saw injured Werribee player Scott Howard interviewed by Phil Pearce. Policeman Howard said that the Tigers needed to be more accountable if they were to peg back the Cats lead in the second half, plus they had to ensure that they both hit targets and chose the right options going forward, such as a one-on-one or better in favour of Werribee.

Unfortunately for Howard and the Werribee faithful, things didn't improve during the third quarter. McMahon and co. continued to cough up the ball coming out of defence, and with Geelong youngsters Chris Urie, Scott Thompson and Jackson Hollmer running rampant through the midfield, the Cats continued to push further ahead.

The work of Werribee defenders Andrew McDougall, Sam Wormald and Michael Rockefeller was good, but they were really up against it, as the ball was being continually pumped in by the Geelong centre-line.

At three-quarter time, despite a deficit of 39-points, Tigers coach Atkins was still very positive, telling the players they were still definitely in with a chance, but they had to run and break the lines as often as possible, be attacking, play with flair, and use their home ground knowledge to their advantage.

It turned out to be of no avail, as the Cats streaked away in the final term to post six goals to two for the term, and run out 69 points victors. Big Geelong forward Tom Hawkins came into the game late, as did young midfielder Jason Davenport and veteran half-forward Henry Playfair.

In interviews after the match, Geelong's Callan and Gardiner both told Phil Pearce how even this Cats team is, how hard each member works for each other and how committed everyone is to doing the one-percenters well. Also interviewed by Pearce was Geelong Football Manager Ben Waller, who said the advantage of having the majority of the Geelong team training together and associating together all the time helped create a team atmosphere that most other VFL teams couldn't replicate.

Better players for the Geelong team included firstly, the man voted Best-On-Ground in this K-Rock Cup clash, Grima, who starred across half-forward all day, running a number of opponents ragged, taking more than his share of contested marks, and finishing with a stunning six goals, who is now outright second on the goalkicking table with 46 for the season; Gardiner, who was quiet early, but came into his own in the second half, working hard to present up forward, and dominating once the Cats took control of the match, finishing with five goals; Johnson, who pushed his claim for a return to the Geelong AFL side with a commanding performance across half-back, running the ball out of defence well and providing many penetrating kicks into the Cats forward line; Callan, who was sensational all day, providing a lot of run through the midfield and finishing his disposals with a lot of polish; Thompson, who worked hard as a utility all day, winning many inside contested possessions and providing many ruck clearances for the Cats; and, Urie, who is beginning to find his feet at VFL level, working hard to spot up options backwards-of-centre and provide a lot of run for the Cats through the midfield.

For the beaten Tigers, their best included McDougall, who tried his best across half-back all day, providing some good defensive rebound, particularly early, and also worked hard to provide a contest during one-on-ones in the Cats forward half; Wormald, who worked tight in defence for the Tigers, providing a good contest and also working hard when the ball was brought the ground; Gardiner, who won the ruck contests for Werribee, providing first usage and many hit-outs to advantage all day for the Tigers; Cameron Wight, who also worked hard to provide a strong body-on-body contest backwards-of-centre; and, "The Plaza" Rockefeller, who worked diligently through the midfield, and provided a lot of run-and-carry for the Tigers all day.

In next weekend's final round of home-and-away action Werribee make the trip east to face the lowly Box Hill Hawks on Saturday, in what should be a last-round victory for the Tigers, whilst for the rampaging Cats, they'll face another huge match, this time at Queen Elizabeth Oval (ground surface permitting) against the Bendigo Bombers, who will also be desperately trying to secure a final eight berth. This game is also next Saturday.

In other round 19 VFL action a resurgent Williamstown smashed an increasingly disappointing Port Melbourne side by 115 points in front of a huge crowd, many of whom were there to see Collingwood star Nathan Buckley's return to senior football, Buckley didn't let them down either, being voted best-on-ground with 29 possessions and four goals in just over 80 minutes of game time; down Bass Strait Tasmania's woeful season continued, this time falling victim to Coburg by 63 points, Richmond-listed Jay Schulz starring with nine goals; in Sunday action, Sandringham continued their run to a fourth-consecutive premiership with a 63-point victory over North Ballarat at Trevor Barker Beach Road Oval, Fothergill-Round Medal favourite Shane Valenti being voted best; Bendigo kept their finals hopes alive with a stunning seven point win over Casey Scorpions at Casey Fields, James Flaherty voted best for the Bombers, whilst axed Essendon players David Hille and Damien Peverill also performed well; and, at Kars Street Oval in Frankston, the Dolphins minute finals hopes were dashed when they played out a thrilling draw against lowly Box Hill, young Hawthorn-listed Beau Dowler finishing with seven goals. The Northern Bullants had the bye.

The ladder at the end of the penultimate home-and-away round sees Sandringham secure the minor premiership, on top with 60 points, followed by Geelong on 52 points, then Coburg (48), Williamstown (40), North Ballarat (40), Casey Scorpions (34), Bendigo jump into seventh on 32 points, then Northern Bullants round out the top eight on 32 points. Then comes Port Melbourne, who drop out of the top eight, on 30 points, then Frankston (26), Werribee (24), Box Hill (18), and Tasmania secures the wooden spoon on eight points.

The final round of home-and-away action will be another beauty on your home of VFL football, Casey Radio 97.7FM. Next Saturday at 9am, join Chris Weaver and Kain Pollard for the VFL Saturday Morning Hour, then at 1.45pm, join the commentary team for the big clash at Casey Fields between the Casey Scorpions and Frankston. Tune in via 97.7FM in Melbourne, or over the web on www.3ser.org.au anywhere else, and hear Phil "Tiger" Pearce, Kain Pollard, Chris Weaver, Nick Nikolovski, Cameron Scott and Rebecca Beed, and we'll ensure all your VFL action is covered, like we have been for the past 15 seasons.

20 August 2007

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