If more of his teammates had showed even half the amount of commitment it could have been an entirely different story. Absolutely outstanding performance on a dark night for his team. A Cat swansong?
Jimmy Bartel - 7
Worked hard without having a major impact. Like many of his teammates a final possession count of 29 probably flatters a bit.
Shannon Byrnes - 5
Largely unsighted in the first half, but he’s not Robinson Crusoe there. Took a nice one-hander and converted from an acute angle for the Cats’ third goal.
Paul Chapman - 6
Disappointing game from the Norm Smith medallist. Wasn’t his side’s worst, but the Cats need him to be more than that to win.
Joel Corey - 7
Worked hard around the packs and had the most contested possessions on the ground with 14. Committed a heinous error early in the second term when he handballed back into his defensive 50 which allowed Steele Sidebottom to goal.
Corey Enright - 2
A shocker. Played on Alan Didak, who was among the Magpies’ best, wasn’t strong enough over the ball at times, turned the ball over and committed an under-15’s error when he stepped outside the interchange line to give away the free that put Dale Thomas on the goal line.
Tom Hawkins - 3
Started on the bench and should have stayed there. Bounced around like a Labrador puppy but wasn’t nearly as much fun to watch.
Josh Hunt - 4
Considered lucky by some to retain his spot after a couple of down weeks and did little to repay the coach’s faith.
Steve Johnson - 6
Didn’t get a kick in the first quarter and then tried a couple of cute things that look great when you’re up by plenty but look lairish when you’re down by lots. Worked into it late, but the horse was a dot on the horizon by then.
James Kelly - 5
Pushed off the ball by the imposing physical specimen that is ‘Daisy’ Thomas at one point. Had just 15 touches with 11 of those largely ineffective handballs.
Cameron Ling - 4
Finished with 29 touches, but was almost completely ineffective when the heat was on. Couldn’t find a match-up and played off a wing. Isn’t that where the fleet-footed fellas play?
Tom Lonergan - 3
Kept Andrew Mackie out of the side and got the big job on Travis Cloke, but wasn’t up to it.
Darren Milburn - 5
Looked sadly off the pace when young Steele Sidebottom ran away from him in the second quarter.
Cameron Mooney - 4
Bad day at the office for the big Cat. Struggled to shake Ben Reid and finished with one mark and one goal.
Brad Ottens - 3
His first stat was a free kick 20 minutes into the second term. Was kept fresh for the finals with an extra week or two added to his recovery from a mid-year injury. Needed longer.
James Podsiadly - 3
Couldn’t get near it in the first half and when he had the audacity to try to he attracted two or three angry black-and-white-clad young men. Eventually took a contested mark early in the last, but sprayed his shot badly. Managed one late.
Matthew Scarlett - 6
Showed little respect for Dayne Beams and Dale Thomas, who forced him to cough it up for Scott Pendlebury for the sixth goal of the first quarter. Often zoned off his opponent but his trademark ability to read the play was well off.
Joel Selwood - 5
Is said to get really down on himself after bad games and will probably give himself a stern talking to after this one.
Mathew Stokes - 4
Cost his team a goal when he didn’t go hard enough to shepherd through a Paul Chapman shot in the first quarter. Finished with two consolation goals which probably won’t be much consolation.
Harry Taylor - 5
His usual poise deserted him and he contributed to a bad night by the Geelong defence with a display that appeared tentative at times.
Travis Varcoe - 6
Ran hard to get on the end of a great passage of play for the Cats' first goal. Good in patches.
David Wojcinski - 6
His pace was meant to be one of the Cats’ weapons, but he wasn’t allowed the space to get a full head of steam up too often.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
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