“We made some errors early with the way we structured up. Took a few educated risks and I thought that destablised us a bit,” Scott said. “As always, when you don’t get the outcomes you are after it’s a little bit the players and a lot the way you set up.”
The Cats coach praised the Giants’ performance, saying the quality of their midfield was always going to present a challenge for the Cats who, in their planning for the game, emphasised the need to attack the game rather than be reactive.
Jesse Hogan was the matchwinner for the Giants with seven goals.Credit: Getty Images
Hogan cashed in on the Giants’ aggressive ball movement through the middle of the ground that gave them quality entries inside their forward 50 metres. They kicked their winning score despite managing just 46 inside 50s to the Cats’ 61.
Hogan said there was no secret formula to their success at the venue, but the group was galvanised by time on the road and enjoyed entering into such one-eyed territory. “It’s probably viewed as one of the hardest away games, so I think we lift for the occasion,” Hogan said.
Kingsley said he could not precisely explain why his team had such success at the venue, but noted his players gained confidence during the week from their winning history. “We come in with a really clear plan against Geelong and we’ve managed to just get over the line,” he said.
The Giants set up the contest when they jumped from the blocks, with their midfield exposing the Cats’ lack of depth in that area.
It brought the Cats back into the game, and they hit the lead in the second quarter, but the Giants refused to die, particularly with Hogan in such hot form inside his team’s forward 50 metres. They lost Jake Stringer to a hamstring injury before half-time but kept coming.
Hogan was brilliant, not only adding to the scoreboard but opening up opportunities for his successor Aaron Cadman to mark as Hogan drew all the attention. Hogan has now kicked at least one goal from his past 40 matches but admitted post-game he had not been happy with his recent form.
In the third term the Giants cracked the game open, their orange tsunami flooding the middle of GMHBA Stadium with piercing handballs cutting through the Cats’ defence as they stretched their lead out to close to two goals.
Across the match, they kicked 9.2 (56) from plays that started in their back half, rattling the Cats, who also conceded goals through poor mistakes, including an instance when Shannon Neale beltedg the ball out of bounds on the full from a boundary throw-in to give Giant Tom Green a free kick. He duly converted from the boundary line to keep his team on top.
Geelong’s Bailey Smith under pressure from GWS’s Finn Callaghan.Credit: Getty Images
Despite the errors, the Cats refused to yield.
They scratched and scraped goals with forward pressure and centre clearances to be the first to reach 100 points – usually a good indicator of which team wins – when Tyson Stengle missed a set shot.
Loading
But the margin was only one behind when Patrick Dangerfield missed a pass inside forward 50 metres. It gave the Giants a chance to settle and Jake Riccardi became the matchwinner as he crumbed a marking contest to kick the winning goal.
Geelong expect to regain Lawson Humphries and Stewart next week, while Henry remains a chance to play.
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.
