THE undefeated Geelong will do battle with Werribee on the Tigers' home turf under the lights of Avalon Airport Oval on Friday night, as Samantha Landy reports.
Fresh from a confidence-boosting 133-point thrashing of Burnie in the opening round of the Foxtel Cup, the Bees will be keen to make amends for their Peter Jackson VFL third round capitulation against Box Hill and to lift themselves out of 10th place in this encounter.
The dangerous Cats have the chance to be four-zip at the end the round if they can claim victory.
Geelong has proved itself to be one of the season's real contenders with crunch wins over an AFL-bolstered Collingwood in Round 2 (12 points) and Williamstown - flag favourites at the start of the season - in Round 3 (8 points).
The Cats consolidated their newfound dominance, moving to second spot on the ladder, with a healthy 32-point win over a competitive Frankston outfit last weekend.
The boys from Simmonds Stadium buried the Dolphins with an eight goal second quarter, spearheaded by forward Mitch Brown, who booted four of his five majors in this term. Brown was capably assisted by Josh Walker, who slotted two goals and took a ripper mark, in the forward line, while Ryan Bathie stood up down back in the absence of key defender Andrew McLean.
Jesse Stringer was named best afield for his 20 disposals, five tackles and goal, earning himself elevation to the AFL on the Cats' extended interchange bench, a position also afforded to Jordan Schroder.
But it was Brown and Bathie who received the praise from Geelong's academy coach Paul Hood post-match.
"Mitch [Brown] with five goals was a great effort," he said.
"Ryan really stepped up without Andrew [McLean] down there. Once he attacked the footy he did it with great confidence. [It was] great to see him run and dash out of defence a few times and send the ball long."
Hood was pleased at Geelong's ability to "(find) a way to win" and control its opponent after a poor start to the match.
The Cats will welcome back McLean this week.
Werribee comes into this contest off the back of its demolition of Tasmanian club the Burnie Dockers in the Foxtel Cup - a win the Tigers desperately sought after a mixed start to the VFL season.
The Bees - bolstered by 14 AFL listed players - raced out of the blocks with a nine goal to zip first quarter, and went on to restrict the Dockers to just 32 points for the match, finishing with 26.9 (165).
Kangaroos forward Ben Warren starred with five goals, four of which came in the first half, while Ben Speight (18 touches, three goals) and Levi Greenwood (23 disposals, three goals - earning him a spot on North Melbourne's extended interchange) crushed Burnie in the midfield.
Majak Daw also moved past the focus on his performance against Box Hill in the VFL to chip in with three classy goals.
It was a victory the Tigers needed after going down to Box Hill by 40 points the weekend before in a low scoring contest in which it could only muster 55 points for the match.
Werribee will have some new found self-belief after its Foxtel Cup triumph which, paired with a winning record over the Cats in 2011 (the Bees enjoyed 28 and 11 point victories over Geelong last year) and the home ground advantage should give it a strong chance of recording its second win for the VFL season.
But the Cats are in fine form, bolstered by a thus far unblemished season and the knowledge in can prevail in tight contests against good teams.
This Friday night clash is sure to be a beauty.
Last Modified on 20/04/2012 15:54