The Bendigo Bank Cats have sounded an ominous warning to the competition after an impressive 37-point victory over Coburg at Skilled Stadium on Saturday.
The Cats unloaded one of their most impressive performances of the season to reaffirm their credentials as a genuine premiership threat and advanced back into second position on the ladder.
Second-year gun Ryan Gamble produced what coach Leigh Tudor described as “probably his best game of the year,” in a dominant four-goal performance that showcased his uncanny abilities.
Charlie Gardiner was superb in attack, presenting tirelessly all afternoon and pushed up the ground to provide another versatile option through the centre.
Tudor said it was an even spread of contributors that paved the way for the Cats to topple the second-placed Tigers, who before Saturday’s match, had won five consecutive matches.
“Captain James Byrne was good (33 possessions), Charlie Gardiner had lots of the ball (30 possessions, 15 marks), Ryan Gamble probably played his best game of the year (28 possessions, nine marks), and obviously Tim Callan (21 possessions, seven marks) and Henry Playfair (21 possessions, eight marks) down back were very good and solid for us,” he said.
The Cats broke the game wide-open midway through the second quarter, unleashing six unanswered goals in a pulsating 15 minutes of ruthless and enterprising football.
In a glowing testament to the second-quarter display, Tudor said it was the best football the side has played all season.
“It was as good as they have played all year in that second quarter,” he said.
“The way we just used the ball, the decisions they made, their hardness at the ball was really good. They were really tough.
“I think the boys worked hard all day, we had a lot of rotations, the boys were pretty fresh, it was a good result, we ran the game out pretty well.”
After skipping out to a seemingly unassailable 49-point lead in the third quarter, Coburg capitalised on a lack of accountability by the Cats’ midfielders and surged back into the contest with four consecutive goals.
“We let it slip for ten minutes there, we didn’t go to our direct opponent, but Coburg’s a good side, if you don’t concentrate for four quarters, they’re going to kick goals,” Tudor said.
“So I think there was only a ten minute patch in that third quarter when we got a bit slack, but the last quarter we got back to working hard, so it was a good result in the end.
Tudor praised the clinical performance of VFL listed youngster Jack Hollmer, who relished the assignment of negating Alistair Neville, arguably the best youngster in the VFL.
“I thought Jack Hollmer was outstanding all day on Alistair Neville,” he said.
“He gave Neville nothing all day and in the end he was kicking goals on him, so it was a fantastic game from Jack Hollmer.”
Tudor said the performance of Trent West, stepping up to fill the void left by Steven King, was promising.
“Westy was okay today, he got a lot of hit outs (22) on Adam Patterson who has played a lot of games as an AFL ruckman, and his center bounce work was okay,” he said.
Dynamic midfielder Kane Tenace sustained a hamstring strain and was the only injury concern for the Cats.
He will have scans today, but is expected to miss at least a fortnight.
Sam Hunt returned from a six weeks out with a finger tendon injury and got through unscathed.
The Cats face North Ballarat at Austar Arena next Saturday from 1.10pm. The match will be televised on ABC TV from 1pm.
Geelong: 1.2, 8.6, 12.10, 18.14 (122)
Coburg: 1.2, 3.4, 7.10, 12.13 (85)
Best: R. Gamble, J. Hollmer, C. Gardiner, T. Callan, H. Playfair, J. Byrne
Goals:: R. Gamble 4, J. Hollmer 2, M. Spencer 2, C. Urie, 2, T. Grima 2, J. Byrne, K. Tenace, S. Thompson, C. Gardiner, N. Butler, D. Barnes.
