The Bendigo Bank Cats face another tough test when they tackle Box Hill in a curtain raiser at Skilled Stadium on Saturday.
In what is pitted as the starkest contrast of season fortunes, the top of the table Cats will face the Hawthorn-aligned Box Hill who is yet to set foot off the bottom this season.
Statistically, it is the best attack verses the worst attack and the best percentage verses the worst percentage.
The Hawks benefit from seasons of low finishes from Hawthorn, bursting with an abundance of top line draft picks on the fringe of AFL selection.
“They’ve got some good players, Xavier Ellis has been playing well, Beau Dowler, Jarryd Roughhead, Jarryd Morton, Matthew Little – who’s their main goal kicker – they’ve got some good players down there,” Tudor said.
“I know they’re on the bottom of the ladder, but there’s a lot of top draft picks in there and they’re pretty young.
“Last week their second half was very good – they outscored the (Northern) Bullants.
“We’re going to have to start really well and play a four-quarter game to make sure we beat them.”
Geelong’s scintillating start to the season has captured the attention of the VFL, with six players in line for representative honours next weekend.
Jason Davenport, Todd Grima, James Byrne and Phil Read have been named in the extended Victorian squad to take on Western Australia at TEAC Oval next Saturday.
VFL-listed have Shane Mumford and Drew Barnes have been selected for North Victoria in the Victorian Under-23 representative match.
The Under-23 representative match is intended to give one last platform in the spotlight to talented mature-aged recruits who had initially missed their break at cracking the big time.
The Cats are still refining their art and Tudor believes there is scope for improvement.
“We’ve had an emphasis on starting well – I think we’re still working on that,” Tudor said.
“Our fitness has been good this season and I think we’re averaging 13 goals after half time every game, which has been really good.”
A hallmark of the Cats form this season has been the application of senior players complemented by the fierce competition for a game from VFL listed players.
“We haven’t had a lot of injuries, so we’ve had a lot of AFL experience – 16/17 AFL guys every week, and we’ll probably have the same (number of AFL players) this week so we’d expect a good showing again,” Tudor said.
“Steven (King)’s been really good. His ruck work in the first game was very good and this week his ruckwork was excellent again.
“(Last week) he was starting to find a lot of the footy around the ground. He was taking contested marks at full forward and kicked four goals so he’s well on the way to having confidence in his body and working through games.”
The action gets underway from 10.40am on Saturday.
