The Cats will take a lot out of their four-point loss to Hawthorn in last week’s JLT Community Series fixture, but midfielder Sam Menegola says some tough questions have to be asked.

The Hawks led by 41 points at half time before Geelong came roaring back with a run of eight consecutive goals in the third term. At the final change, it was the Cats up by five points before a Kade Stewart goal on the siren gave Hawthorn the win.

One of his side’s better players on the night with 24 disposals and seven tackles, Menegola says it was a reminder of just how necessary a four-quarter effort really is.

“There will be a lot out of the review that we’ll need to cover,” Menegola told the Geelong Advertiser post-match.

“The result was disappointing but I guess it’s probably more that patch late in the first quarter and the whole second quarter that is more disappointing.”

“But it is good to learn those things now … we were able to really flick the switch in the second half, which is a good reminder that we can be a really good side when we get things, that we know work, right.”

“What happens when we don’t get them right is that we fall behind pretty quickly, so it’s a good reminder and good that we got that [Friday night] and not in round one.”

In what was truly a game of two halves, the Cats struggled for composure early and gave the Hawks far too much space and time in the opening two stanzas.

That the side was able to self-correct via the half time break, and ultimately get back into the contest, is certainty one positive to come from their first pre-season hit out.

“We talked about that [lack of pressure] at half time. A lot of it was we just weren’t getting set up correctly and it is really hard to adjust from there when the ball is in play,” Menegola said.

“We just had to get back to getting our structures stronger and that was a pretty big part of what got us back in the game.”

“Obviously the challenge for us is just getting that consistency which we’ve spoken about and we’re working on. We don’t want to have flat patches like you saw, but we do think our best footy stands up and I guess that [the third quarter] is a glimpse of that.” 

The Cats will face Adelaide at Richmond Oval in South Australia on Sunday March 5 as the JLT Community Series continues.