Round 21 – Melbourne v Geelong
Pre Match:
• Another game with big consequences. The players were completely aware of this and keen for a positive outcome.
• Geelong would be a tough opponent – they are always difficult to beat at home and despite the negative hype about them have won 7 of their past 10 games which is just about as good a record as anyone in the competition at the moment. They also beat Sydney quite comprehensively last week and with the Bulldogs going down to the Saints on Friday night they still had a chance to keep their season alive. Getting away to a good start would be essential. It is every week but more so when you are playing on enemy territory against a team with nothing to lose.
• Lost Neita & Matthew Bate to short term injuries but on the upside Byron & Col Sylvia returned.
• Spent some time this week focussing on how to play the ground properly. Skilled Stadium is long and skinny and if you aren’t careful you can get bottled up out wide. We were keen to use the corridor & switch the play regularly to open up the ground. Plenty of run & carry would be essential.
• From a Geelong perspective we needed to keep Chapman, G.Ablett & S.Johnson under control particularly in the front half where their goal kicking abilities can be match winning. Our midfield needed to be honest against their midfield with the centre clearances particularly important to the outcome. Geelong’s zoning backs also needed to be kept on their toes by our forwards constantly making themselves dangerous.
During the Match:
• Got away with a good start with 5 goals to their 2 although we thought we could have made more of our chances up forward. Our forwards didn’t present to the ball enough and this brought the Geelong backs into play with the result that the ball was cleared too easily from our front half. Very pleased with our work around the midfield with our contesting & pressure excellent. It was the start we were after.
• Our second quarter was terrific – the forwards contested well, put on a lot of pressure and we were able to kick another 5 goals to extend our lead to 32 points. The midfield continued to win the ball out of the centre and our pressure all over the ground was forcing Geelong into error. We were playing the ground intelligently and our willingness to run & carry the ball through the lines was excellent.
• At half time the focus was on continuing with more of the same.
• The first half of the 3rd quarter was promising. We had 4 of the first 5 shots on goal to extend our lead to 38 points. Despite this had some concerns in the box that our run & intensity was diminishing as Geelong were starting to win more of the contested ball. In the final 10 minutes of the quarter these concerns were confirmed as Geelong kicked 5 quick goals to get themselves back into the game. During this time we attempted to slow the game down but just couldn’t get our hands on the ball enough to execute this. With the hometown crowd lifting their boys we would need to pick up our effort significantly to win the game. Coming off a 6 day turnaround this would be a great challenge.
• Geelong continued where they left off, winning the contested ball and continually thrusting the ball forward. Our backs did a tremendous job to repel many of these attacks but eventually were overwhelmed and the Cats took the lead. What was pleasing at this stage was that we continued to fight out the game and managed to get ourselves back in front after a terrific mark & goal to Mark Jamar. Then both teams had their chances to win as things became frantic in the dying stages. As fate would have it the siren went just before a Geelong player knocked the ball through the goals.
Post Match:
• It was the first draw I have been involved with in all my time at Melbourne so it was a strange feeling when the siren went.
• We were disappointed that after working so hard for 2 ½ quarters that we let the Cats back into the game in a 10 minute burst. At the same time I was proud of the way we hung in for a draw refusing to let our top 4 chances fade away.
• Fortunately our destiny as far as the top 4 goes still remains in our hands. We aren’t relying on results to go our way which is a great position to be in after 21 tough rounds of footy.
• Thought that for much of the game we played the ground very well and continued to play an attacking brand of footy. Guys like Aaron, Travis, Byron & Col Sylvia will be much better for the run although it was disappointing to lose Matty Whelan so early in the game. His availability in the second half may well have helped us keep an S.Johnson or a G.Ablett under control.
• Recovering well physically from this game is now a high priority. All teams have tired & injured players running around at this stage of the season and the teams who recover best and have the least injuries will have the best chance of success in September.
• On a sad note it was disappointing to see the unfortunate injury suffered by Geelong’s Tom Lonergan on Saturday. The bravery he showed going back into the pack was outstanding and didn’t deserve the injury that occurred. We wish him a positive recovery. It just goes to show what a tough & hard game AFL is!
• This will be the final match report of the season because as we approach the finals we are very keen to keep everything as “in house” as possible. I’m sure you can appreciate this decision. Hopefully you have enjoyed the reviews as much as I have enjoyed writing them. We’ll be aiming to give you & all our supporters’ good reason to be proud over the finals series.
