The Cats battled hard in the slippery conditions, overcoming torrential rain and hail in a valiant effort to overthrow the Roosters, as each side endeavoured to cement their spot in the upcoming finals.
Aided by a strong wind, the Cats burst out of the blocks in the first term, securing a five-goal haul and 24 entries to Ballarat’s single major score from a meagre 3 entries.
The clearly ruffled Roosters refused to concede defeat however, piling on 11 goals to Geelong’s 4 as Lachlan George and Mitch Wilkins reigned in the goal square.
A courageous final quarter effort was unfortunately ‘too little, too late’ as the Cats struggled to fight off the persistent tackling pressure of the Roosters, yielding to the defeat in the final moments of the match.
‘Considering we were going against a four goal breeze, it was quite significant to actually hit the front again and hold North Ballarat for a long period, but we just didn’t execute our game plan well enough in those second and third quarters which really hurt us.’ Coach Matthew Knights said after the game.
‘It’s a hard one to swallow in the sense that we started so well and finished so well. It was just the middle two quarters when we let the game slip. Communication amongst the players became an issue, and that’s what cost us the game.’
Dawson Simpson was a crucial loss against 197cm ruckman Eric Wallace in the centre, succumbing to back spasms in the first quarter and placing the ruck responsibility in the combined hands of Josh Walker and Matthew Sully.
‘It certainly made it hard with Dawson going out. He was well and truly on top early when he went off with the knock, while Walker was having a really good game up front marking and contesting. But Walker battled really hard and did a good job for us in the ruck.’
‘Dawson is pretty sore and stiff. But we know that with backs it’s hard to judge. They can release after a couple of days and he could be fine, so we just took a bit of a precaution and didn’t play him.’
Though shouldering the majority of the ruck work from the first quarter against a dominant Wallace with a surplus of 22 hit outs, Walker was determined to confirm his presence in each contest while finding 15 disposals of his own and a goal for a best on ground performance.
‘Walks’ work in the forward line and his ruck work was terrific today. He had to battle hard just to look to get the clearances from the second phase and repeat disposals after a contest, which I thought he did really well.’ Knights said.
Jordan Schroder was prolific once again, overcoming the slippery conditions and fluency issues through the middle to procure 22 disposals, 13 tackles and 5 clearances.
Jackson Thurlow, though quiet for much of the match, impressed in the final quarter on the wing, falling just shy of top disposals on 21 and 6 marks.
‘Jackson’s slowly getting better and progressing as a footballer. He got us going a little bit late, but his last quarter was significant on the wing, so it was pleasing to see him continue his development.’
After the loss to the fifth-placed Roosters Geelong now drop out of the eight into ninth position on the VFL ladder, and Knights is under no illusion as to the importance of the upcoming matches.
With the Cats’ finals campaign hanging precariously in the balance, the attention now turns to sixth-placed Collingwood who are currently sitting on a two win advantage and looking to cement their own position in the top eight. A visit to the Cattery will hopefully prove costly for the Magpies who will take on the Cats at 11am on Saturday the 16th of August.
‘We’ve lost a few games by small margins this season, and it was probably just the basics and fundamentals that lost it for us in those games. We’ll learn from that this week and all the academy coaches will have a real crack at working through what we did well and what we couldn’t quite nail.’
VFL - North Ballarat Roosters 12-9-(81) def. Bendigo Bank Cats 9-10-(64).
Goals: Hollmer 2, Lang, McCarthy, Brown, Gleeson, Thurlow, Atkins, Walker.
Best: Walker, Schroder, Thurlow, Sully, Sheringham, Kolodjashnij.
Injuries: Simpson (back). Reports: Nil. @ Eureka Stadium, Ballarat.
