All Eyes On… The Full Litter

Gary Rohan’s head was everywhere on Friday night. The second he took the grab all 6583 phones at GMHBA Stadium came out to try and catch the game-winner as it happened. Here’s proof:

But if you want to taste the real secret sauce, watch the final 50 seconds and you'll see a conga line of Cats each doing something a little bit special to ensure the ball got to where it did in the dying seconds.

Witness Pat Dangerfield’s clearance, Joel Selwood’s contested ball win, and then Dart’s feed to a still running Danger, whose kick lands in front of Luke Dahlhaus and Bulldog Zane Cordy one out at half forward.

If Dahl doesn’t drag Cordy down the way he did, the ball does not land anywhere near Cam Guthrie, but he does, and it did. Without Guthrie’s quick-step to his left, there’s no space to find Issac Smith whose perfectly weighted kick finds Rohan.

Straight poetry.

All Eyes On… Stewy’s Century

Tom Stewart plays his 100th game this weekend.

Zach Tuohy told ABC Radio post-match that the two-time All-Australian is the best defender in the game, and it’s hard to argue after the masterpiece he submitted on the weekend.

He had 27 touches, six score involvements, a team-leading 697 metres gained, and oh yeah, his 10 intercept marks tied the record for the most by a player in the last 20 years. Read that again.

He also had 15 intercept possessions in total.

Twitter user @MitchKeat probably summed it up best when he said: “71% of the earth is covered by water. Tom Stewart covers the rest”. Bravo Mitchell.

But if you really want to know what the soon to be 100 gamer is all about, he said this after the game:

“95% is my teammates who allow me to fly and impact.. the other 5% is dumb luck.”

Go well, Stewy.

All Eyes On… Issac Racking them Up

It’s time to talk about Issac Smith.

He was literally everywhere on Friday night (53% in the back half/47% in the forward half), including in the stands retrieving errant footballs, and his 30 touches (at 90%) were a team-high.

Most fans knew he could play – Cats fans saw plenty of those Hawthorn teams – but he’s been a revelation this season in the hoops. He’s rated above average for disposals (22.7) and score involvements (5.4) and is elite for kicks (15.5) and metres gained (458.4). With Sam Menegola, he is forming possibly the best wing combination in the game.

As mentioned above, his kick to Gary Rohan with 31 seconds on the clock could not have been delivered any better. And he did that with a total of 16.1km already in his legs, second only to Jake Kolodjashnij’s 16.2.

All Eyes On… Our Newest Rivalry

The Cats are 21-3 against the Lions since 2006 and 12 of those wins have been decided by more than 40 points but as we have seen over the last 18 months, Chris Fagan has turned the current crop of Lions into a formidable unit.

Presently they sit fourth on the ladder with a percentage of 128.4, and if not for a certain contentious umpiring decision, they’d be in third, shunting the Cats down a spot. They would also have played off in a Grand Final on the Gabba last season if they didn’t run into Geelong in the preliminary final.  

In short, there’s a rivalry brewing here and you’d expect the niggle we saw back in Round 2 at GMHBA Stadium to return in full force.

Find a TV, this one will be on from the bounce.  

Go Cats!

GEELONG's six game winning streak has come to an end after going down to Brisbane by 44-points at the Gabba on Thursday night.

The Lions' 13.16 (94) to 7.8 (50) victory sees them leapfrog the Cats into third spot on the ladder, with Geelong back to fourth place.

Joe Daniher kicked four goals and Charlie Cameron three as Brisbane's slick ball movement gave the usually stingy Geelong defence headaches all night.

The Lions kicked the first five goals of the game, and despite a brief Cats fightback in the second quarter, were never troubled.

It's just the second time in the past 14 matches between the clubs Brisbane has come out on top.

Daniel Rich (25 disposals, 641m gained) was the early architect, pulling the trigger on a number of aggressive kicks into the corridor as the home team regularly swept the ball from one end of the ground to the other.

Captain Dayne Zorko was magnificent, setting a defensive tone with 12 tackles that his teammates followed. He was also influential in attack, gathering 24 disposals and using his penetrating kicking to get the ball deep inside 50.

The result was plenty of space for Brisbane's dangerous forwards.

It was a different story at the other end of the ground, with Geelong's potent triumvirate of Tom Hawkins, Jeremy Cameron and Gary Rohan kept to just two final quarter goals between them.

Marcus Adams was particularly impressive in his 50th game, not only nullifying Hawkins but racking up a game-high 10 intercepts.

Cam Guthrie (34 disposals) was Geelong's best, while Patrick Dangerfield showed some improvement in his third game back from injury with 23 touches and a goal.

Brisbane was on the job from the opening minute, picking apart Geelong's defence and kicking four unanswered goals in the first term.

Former Cat Lincoln McCarthy had two, the first following a sizzling Dan McStay pass and the second coming after sublime transition that involved perfect kicks from Rich and Zorko.

The second quarter started similarly as Cameron kicked a second goal on Tom Stewart, but the Cats battled back as they got on top around the contest.

Zach Tuohy, Dangerfield and Isaac Smith kicked goals within the space of four minutes to halve the lead to 18 points.

Tempers began to fray with an incredible 37 free kicks whistled in the first half, but Daniher steadied the ship for the Lions after the siren, threading the needle with an exquisite set shot from close to the left boundary line.

Geelong will look to return to the winner's list when they take on the Bombers next week at GMHBA Stadium.

Lachie back from the brink

Midway through the first quarter it looked like Brisbane's Brownlow medallist was done for the night. Neale was tackled by Jeremy Cameron and put his right arm out to brace for contact, but the result was not what he hoped for. The champion midfielder got up clutching his right shoulder, which appeared to have popped out. He went straight to the rooms but returned just minutes later. Clearly hampered, Neale got better as the night went on, finishing with 24 disposals despite being tagged by Mark O'Connor again.

Charlie takes the chocolates in pivotal battle  

Having another incredible season, two-time All Australian Tom Stewart was the focus of much of the build-up ahead of his 100th game. Following his 10 intercept marks against the Western Bulldogs last week, Stewart's job against the Lions was to tame Charlie Cameron. It didn't quite go according to plan for the Cats defender with Cameron beating him on the lead and when the ball hit the ground. The Lions livewire finished with 3.3, eventually having Jed Bews moved over to take the job from Stewart.

Three-headed monster tamed

During its eight previous matches together Tom Hawkins, Jeremy Cameron and Gary Rohan had put opponents to the sword, combining for 64 goals. Against the Lions though they barely got near it. Marcus Adams took Hawkins, Harris Andrews took Cameron and Brandon Starcevich blanketed Rohan. The Geelong trio combined for just two final quarter goals as Brisbane defended Geelong's 50 inside 50s superbly.

BRISBANE     4.7       8.9       11.13  13.16 (94)
GEELONG       0.1       3.5       5.6       7.8 (50)

GOALS  
Brisbane: Daniher 4, Cameron 3, Hipwood 2, McCarthy 2, Coleman, Lyons
Geelong: Smith 2, Tuohy 2, Hawkins, Rohan, Dangerfield

BEST  
Brisbane: Cameron, Rich, Zorko, Adams, Daniher, Andrews, Starcevich, McInerney
Geelong: Dangerfield, Guthrie, Tuohy, Smith

INJURIES  
Brisbane: Birchall (ill) replaced in selected side by Payne; Neale (shoulder)
Geelong: Nil

SUBSTITUTES  
Brisbane: Rhys Mathieson (unused)
Geelong: Quinton Narkle (unused)

Crowd: 29,024 at the Gabba