The Cats had weathered the Power onslaught early but were outscored six goals to one in the second term.
Speaking after the match, the Geelong coach said that he had emphasised the importance of a good start in the week leading up to the game and admitted to being caught off-guard by the ferocity of the second-term Power attack.
“My biggest concern was the start of the game and I thought we started quite well,” he said.
“We had a lot of guys win the ball and we had good movement of the ball and we were chipping away at our game. The real surprise was the second quarter. I thought, ‘well the pre-game nerves are out of the way now … let’s get into gear and just see what we can do,’ and ‘bang’ we just got blown away.
“We came in at half time and you could see that a few of our boys were distressed about the whole situation and what had just gone on.”
Thompson admitted to being disappointed at his side’s capitulation but paid tribute to the Power post-match.
“I am disappointed (but) in saying that Port Adelaide are a very experienced side,” he said.
“They’ve ended up on top of the ladder for the last three years – there’s a reason why they played like that today. They’re a pretty experienced finals unit (but) I thought we could have played better.”
It wasn’t all doom and gloom, however, with Thompson taking some heart from the fact that Geelong outscored the Power in the third term.
“I was really pleased with the third quarter – I think we won it by 10 points,” he said.
“It’s great that we were in a (tough) position over here in South Australia, we’re playing in a final, we’re playing against a very good side and I just asked the boys to stand up and I think there was quite a few that did. For that to happen and take place was something we can look forward and take into next week.”
Thompson also dismissed the notion that his players would be mentally scarred by the mauling and is confident of rebounding strongly next week against Essendon.
“We’ve had some losses this year and we’ve turned it around pretty quick,” he said.
“I would expect that we’re every chance to turn the boys’ form around.”
