James Kelly was pleased to have a good result against the Roos on his 250th game on Saturday night.

Kelly, who played all four quarters in defence, believes it was the Cats intensity up front that helped the backline to take control and hold down their men.  

“Yeah we thought we were pretty solid,” Kelly told Cats TV.

“I think the pressure up the ground really helped with that and most of the day we set up really early… and we kept six defenders at home most of the time which helped.”

With finals only four games away, the 250-game veteran was thrilled to see one of their youngest Cats, Jordan Murdoch, hitting his straps.

Saturday night the 22-year-old gathered 14 touches at 79% efficiency, plus three inside-50s and five tackles.

“Tonight he (Murdoch) was really strong in the contest - his pressure was fantastic and if he keeps doing that he’ll be a very important player for us in September,” Kelly said.

Another highlight from the Cats 32-point win was Josh Caddy and Allen Christensen’s powerful performance in the midfield.

Christensen had a best on ground performance with a game high of 29 touches, five clearances and one goal. Whilst Caddy delivered his best game of the year, collecting 18 disposals, eight marks, four clearances and two goals.  


“They were great in the forward line and in the midfield, we probably missed those guys not being up and about over the last few weeks… they add another string to our bow,” Kelly said.

This Saturday night Kelly says the Cats are excited to get up for another big challenge to avenge Fremantle at Simonds Stadium.

Although the Cats run home won’t be easy, Kelly says their upcoming schedule will enable them to be better prepared come finals.

“We coming into finals so we want to test ourselves against the best and we’ve got Fremantle (this Saturday) and Hawthorn in the next few weeks, so we’ll have a pretty clear picture of where we are after those games.”

For Round 20 Saturday night at 7:40pm, the Cats and the Dockers will go head-to-head at Simonds Stadium.

Click on the video above to catch the full post-match interview with James Kelly on Cats TV.

Also click here for Allen Christensen's interview.