After a few disappointing results, the
pressure was on as Geelong played host to the Western Bulldogs at the new and
improved Insert Sponsor’s Name Here Stadium Kardinia Park. Four quarters
and a club record 134 tackles later, the Geelong show was back on the road, as
the Cats ran out 23-point winners.
Channel Seven’s telecast began to notice
the tackle count shortly before the midpoint of the first term, and despite two
goals from Patrick Dangerfield and a stunner from Mark Blicavs, the Bulldogs
went into the first change with a nine-point lead, a figure which might have
been higher had Lin Jong and Marcus Bontempelli been less wasteful in front of
goal.
Harry Taylor opened the second quarter with
the first of his five goals, but Geelong were dealt a blow with the withdrawal
of Nakia Cockatoo with an injury to his right hamstring. Dangerfield, Taylor,
and Zach Tuohy all majored before the hosts cruised into half-time with a
26-point lead, their Taylor-less defence having conceded just four inside 50s
in the quarter.
But the reigning premiers were far from
beaten, having entered the sheds with their own club record for most first-half
tackles. Mitch Wallis, straight outta the VFL, kicked two of his side’s six
goals for the term, the second coming from a set shot as the young midfielder
won a sensational holding-the-ball free in his attacking fifty. The margin was
back to nine in favour of i tricolore,
and the sight of Jason Johannisen’s hair marauding from the half-back line was
starting to unnerve the Geelong faithful.
Joel Selwood got the Pivotonians back into
the contest with a set shot from outside fifty, and then assisted his brother
Scott to give Geelong the lead. The Dogs held on until late in the final
stanza, but the door was slammed shut when Marcus Adams was pinged for holding
the ball, Taylor converting the resulting free kick. With 134 tackles (71 of
them in the first half) and 12.0 from set shots, this was a footballing
masterclass, although Footscray by no means performed badly.
The three Brownlow votes, the first awarded
in front of the new Charles Brownlow Stand, seem destined for the boy from
Moggs Creek: thirty-six disposals, twelve tackles, ten clearances, four goals.
Next up on Thursday night at the same venue
is Port Adelaide, fresh off a bye after their Big Win in Little China. With los porteños known around the League for
their intensity and athleticism, this could be one hell of a game of footy.
Geelong 16.8.104 (Taylor 5,
Dangerfield 4, Menzel 2, Blicavs, Hawkins, J. Selwood, S. Selwood, Tuohy) – Western Bulldogs 12.9.81
(Boyd 2, Dickson 2, Redpath 2, Smith 2, Wallis 2, Cloke, Webb)
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