The Cats will be shooting for 11 straight wins when St. Kilda come to town on Saturday afternoon, a team desperate to hold onto their finals hopes.
The Saints are sitting in 8th spot on the ladder after a fast start to the season made way for some inconsistent footy mid-way through the season and now face a tough run home, starting with Geelong at GMHBA Stadium this weekend.
With their season on the line, you can expect the Saints to throw everything at the ladder-leading Cats when the ball is bounced at 7.25pm.
A couple of things to keep an eye on:
Battle of the Big Men
Jonathan Ceglar has held onto his spot in the Cats 22 this weekend despite Rhys Stanley making a rapid recovery from a knee complaint and coming straight back into the side, which will again free Mark Blicavs up to run around the ground and do Mark Blicavs things.
St. Kilda will be without Paddy Ryder which will put some pressure on Rowan Marshall to make his mark at a venue where first use is king. Last week’s win over the Hawks was built off of stoppage dominance led by Marshall, who had 30 disposals, 35 hitouts, and seven clearances, and Brad Crouch (30 disposals), Jack Steele (31 disposals), and Dan Hannebery (27 disposals) were the beneficiaries.
The Danger Zone
Geelong was ruthless last weekend against the Bulldogs. The visitors through their absolute best at the Cats before the home team shifted gears and piled on eight goals to nothing in the third quarter to put the game away.
With Patrick Dangerfield starting to flex his considerable midfield muscle and Cam Guthrie a virtual lock to get his hands on the footy over 25 times, the St.Kilda defence will need to be at their absolute best with the ball coming in as fast and often as it has been lately.
Dougal Howard couldn’t come back at a better time to play his 100th game when the stats sheet says Jeremy Cameron (2.6) and Tom Hawkins (2.4) generally have an impact when they play the Saints.
Milestone Men
Another week and another milestone at the Cattery with Jake Kolodjashnij and Brad Close set to play their 150th and 50th game respectively.
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Kolodjashnij Humbled by Milestone
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Humble Close A Key Cat