All Eyes on… the Top Four

While mid-season reviews are aplenty this time of the year, it's a pretty simple equation for Geelong. After the shock loss to Adelaide in Round 1, the Cats went on to win eight of their next ten, the only real blemish being a 25 point loss to the ladder-leading Demons. We won’t discuss the Sydney game. But the Cats do sit comfortably in the top 4, the place you want to be at this point of the season.

While some games have been a bit of a slug-fest, the team looks to be steadily building and banking the wins. On the flip side, there have been some breakout performances where they’ve played some genuinely electric football against some very handy opposition.

See the 13 goals to two second half against the reigning premiers and in particular, the 19 goals after quarter-time epic against the Eagles. Cameron Ling told the To the Final Bell podcast the following week that it was the loudest he’d heard GMHBA Stadium since 2011. Click here if you need more evidence.

Speaking of the Geelong faithful, the club cracked its all-time membership record ahead of RD 10 which is a tribute to the commitment and loyalty of our members. With all of the uncertainty around this year, it’s a stunning effort and worth a tip of the hat. 

All Eyes on… the Next Month

Premierships aren’t won in June, but we might know a bit more about our September prospects by the time tax time officially rolls around.

Assuming the fixture were to remain unchanged, the Cats’ next month looks like this:

• Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval
• Western Bulldogs at GMHBA Stadium
• Brisbane Lions at The Gabba
• Essendon at GMHBA Stadium

Port and Brisbane currently sit below and above us on the ladder respectively, and while Port continues to spoil INXS’ Never Tear us Apart, it does whip the locals into a bit of a frenzy and make it tough, tough venue to win at. As for the Gabba, it’s not referred to the Gabbatoir these days for nothing.

While the Dogs stumbled against Melbourne, most teams have so far this year, and you expect they’ll be there at the pointy end, and the Baby Bombers 2.0 have struck some very good form. 

Challenges don’t come much tougher than June.

All Eyes On… The Bye

You can set your watch to talk of Geelong’s post-bye round record each year. It’s not untrue. After the Round 14 loss to Port Adelaide back in 2019, the club sat at 0-8 after a bye since 2012, not including the pre-finals bye. However, if you prefer to walk on the sunny side of the street, the club had gone 7-0 in the week after the week after the bye, the best of all 18 teams. Hopefully, you’re still following.

Thanks to Twitter wizard @sirswampthing for that one.

The only home and away round bye since then was ahead of the Round 16, 2020 clash against the Bombers where the Cats emerged 66 point winners, but then lost the following week against Richmond by 24, effectively turning the theory on its head.

So what does it all mean? Probably nothing.

All Eyes On…. Returning Cats

Whatever you think of post-bye statistical wizardry, one thing that can’t be debated is that a week off will give a few fallen Cats an extra few days to get themselves right, and hopefully make their way into the team for the run home.

We won’t know for sure who is in or out until Thursday week (welcome back Thursday night teams), but as it stands right now we could be seeing Mitch Duncan, Cam Guthrie, Mark O’Connor, Mark Blicavs, and just maybe Patrick Dangerfield all available to face Port Adelaide. 

Dangerfield himself has said he’s hopeful he’ll return for the Power clash, but Chris Scott has flagged the possibility of the club being a bit more cautious. Whether Danger makes the trip or not, that’s a formidable list of potential Ins.