A 10 goal first quarter proved the catalyst for Geelong to claim its biggest scalp of the season, with the Cats comprehensively beating the top-four aspiring Casey Scorpions at Skilled Stadium last Saturday as Kane Hunkin reports.
Frustrated by a final quarter fade-out in their last-start away loss to Bendigo, Geelong played in an impassioned and determined manner to gain early momentum against a Scorpions side coming off the bye.
A goal in the first two minutes of play to co-captain Troy Selwood set the scoreboard rolling, with Geelong kicking an unblemished ten straight majors in the first term - five of those coming from the boot of Selwood.
Casey attempted to bridge the gap in the second term, with Aaron Davey and Joel Macdonald prominent, but failed to reduce the significant deficit.
The third quarter was symptomatic of the first half. Geelong kicked all seven goals of the term to push the margin into three figures. It took until the first minute of the final quarter for Casey to trouble the goal scorers list after the half-time break, thanks to a Sam Blease goal. Geelong though remained untroubled on their way to a 31-goal afternoon, pleasing the sizeable home crowd attending a VFL/AFL double-header.
After the game, Geelong coach Dale Amos was full of praise for the committed four-quarter performance, citing the dedication at both ends of the ground.
"We played really well. I thought our attack was fantastic, but that was on the back of our really good defence. I thought we made it really hard from them [Casey] to score and just to be able to take the ball off them and we got the rewards at the other end," Amos said.
Equally, the coach affirmed the importance of starting games in the right fashion.
"When you've got a young group in particular that self-belief happens on the back of having a really positive start and we were certainly able to do that [today] and that makes a big difference to how the game plays out."
The curtain-raiser schedule proved a showpiece time-slot for the VFL Cats. A point Amos additionally touched on in the rooms.
"It's great for the supporters to see the young, emerging AFL guys and also the best of the VFL talent that's on show. We really love it. It's a unique thing that we get and we love the opportunity to play here," he said.
Jonathan Simpkin continued to do his chances of gaining a future spot on the Cats' senior list no harm, with the classy rookie kicking seven goals, while small forward Jordan Schroder (four goals) earmarked himself as Geelong's next AFL debutant after another well-rounded display. Moreover, it was again the work of VFL-listed players that had a direct influence on the eventual result, with Mark Corrigan and Andrew McLean solid.
In an afternoon where the game was essentially played in Geelong's forward half, key-forward Brendan Fevola (coming off an 11 goal haul) looked Casey's most dangerous player, kicking four goals for the day. However, a slight stomach virus reduced the forward's second half playing time.
Geelong will look to make it four wins from their last five matches when they take on Collingwood in another AFL curtain-raiser at Skilled Stadium on Saturday.
"We want to try and win our last four games of the year, that's really the aim for us. We feel like we've progressed and we've become a much better team than we were at the start of the year. We want to try and deliver each week and I think the group's pretty motivated to do that," Amos added.
In contrast, Casey need to re-group when they take on ninth-placed Sandringham at Casey Fields on Sunday.
Geelong 31.6.192 def Casey Scorpions 10.4.64
Last Modified on 01/08/2011 09:02