GEELONG coach Chris Scott was delighted that his team produced another stingy defensive performance against Melbourne at Simonds Stadium on Saturday.
The Cats conceded only 30 points and 19 inside-50s – an all-time record low – to the Demons as they defeated them by 68 points.
"We were conscious that we wanted to limit them getting inside 50," Scott said after Geelong's 13th win of the season.
"I wasn't aware of any historical factors, but the conditions made it difficult for both sides.
"We always have a focus on our defence, especially the last few weeks. We've worked on a few things and the results so far are promising."
Scott's men could have won by a much greater margin, given they finished with 70 inside-50s and took 11 marks inside 50 to one.
"We missed some shots, if you wanted to be ultra-critical," the coach admitted. "And we did fiddle around with the ball a little bit.
"But, in general, there's not a lot of coaching to be done on days like today, to be honest. It's just play the basics and do them better than the opposition.
"I don't think there's a whole lot you can glean from the game, to be honest. We did what we needed to do, and I'm pleased from that perspective.
"We've got to acknowledge that our players did read the conditions well and brought the right attitude to the game and implemented those basics well.
"We didn't rely on our senior players. I know I bring that up a little bit, but we had 11 players under 50 games today, and they all performed."
Josh Caddy was the best of those young players. The 20-year-old finished with 22 possessions, seven tackles and two goals, in what was his best performance since joining Geelong from Gold Coast late last year.
"It is really tough when the ball is that slippery," Caddy said. "It's like a bar of soap.
"Since I have been playing in the AFL, it is easily the worst conditions I have played in.
"Growing up in Melbourne, I had a few days like that back in junior footy and stuff, so I actually don't mind playing in that.
"The little bit slower guys like me, it suits us a little bit. It was good fun today.
"My main focus was just to be clean with the footy, keep my feet, which I think I did reasonably well."
Caddy now looks to have cemented himself in the Cats' line-up after being demoted to the VFL earlier this season.
"I would have loved to have had a great year full stop," he said. "But I would rather be playing good footy at this time of year than at the start and then fall away later in the year, which I probably did last year.
"I probably lost my way a little bit. Probably just over-thinking things and over analysing footy.
"At the end of the day it is a fairly simple game, and I was just probably getting a bit overawed by it all."
"I went back to VFL and got licence to play on instinct again: back myself in, stay in the middle, stay in the contest.
"I think it is working and I'm playing better footy."
