Geelong hang on in Easter Monday thriller
A new look Geelong Cats outfit has held off defending AFL premiers, Hawthorn in a thrilling round one clash at the MCG.
PT1M30S 620 349GEELONG 4.0 11.1 11.4 18.8 (116) HAWTHORN 1.3 5.7 10.12 12.14 (86)
Goals: Geelong: D Lang 3 J Caddy 3 Z Smith 3 L McCarthy 2 T Hawkins 2 C Guthrie J Murdoch L Henderson M Blicavs S Motlop.
Hawthorn: J Gunston 3 P Puopolo 3 L Breust 2 W Langford 2 B Hartung S Burgoyne.
Umpires: Scott Jeffery, Robert Findlay, Jacob Mollison. Official Crowd: 74,218 at MCG.
Chris Scott was not surprised by the part Patrick Dangerfield played in Geelong's round-one win over Hawthorn on Monday.
The Geelong coach was more excited about the crucial midfield depth that Dangerfield is helping the Cats develop.
First blood: Mark Blicavs celebrates his goal. Photo: Getty Images
Dangerfield finished with 43 possessions – 22 of which were contested – as Geelong gave up a 31-point lead to the Hawks before regrouping in the last term and winning by five goals.
The star recruit also racked up seven clearances, 10 inside-50s and laid five tackles in his first game in blue and white, taking a big mark in the last term but missing three shots on goal.
Joel Selwood, Josh Caddy and Mitch Duncan were the Cats' other influential midfielders, with ruckman Zac Smith kicking three early goals and Darcy Lang scoring three in the last term.
Emerging favourite: Patrick Dangerfield celebrates after the game with Cats fans. Photo: Getty Images
"He just wants to play his part, [and] it was a pretty good part today," Scott said of Dangerfield.
"He's had a good preparation and anyone who saw his first half over in Fremantle a couple of weeks ago probably expected him to play like that again.
"I haven't spoken to him yet post-game, but I suspect he's thinking he can play even better than that, I mean, there were a few errors in front of goal.
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Easter Monday blockbuster between Geelong and Hawthorn
Easter Monday blockbuster between Geelong and Hawthorn Photo: Michael Dodge
"The exciting thing is, it was a really good start, and I thought Joel Selwood was outstanding off the back of his [limited] preparation.
Mitch Duncan was reported late in the match for a clash with Hawthorn captain Luke Hodge, but Scott was not concerned that Duncan may miss next week's match against GWS.
"We've had a pretty good look at it. We haven't looked at it exhaustively, but we've got no concerns, no concerns at all," he said.
Putting the boot in: New Cat Dangerfield. Photo: Michael Dodge
"In fact if you ask Hodgey, I think he would say he should have no concerns either. If that's reportable, Luke Hodge would have been reported 50 times in his career."
Geelong was not a team to rely on individuals, he said. "We're a bit more about the combinations, because the best teams over a long period of time show that if you're relying on one player you're kidding yourself.
"History's a very good side. The best teams have very deep midfields and I think we'll be working more towards making sure we balance our midfield, rather than saying Selwood and Dangerfield need to do it for us."
Scott was pleased at his players' ability to work their way back into the game after all the third-quarter momentum went against them, and against a side as tough to beat as Hawthorn.
"We're really happy to beat them. We've struggled to beat them, we've struggled to get close to them in recent times and our self-talk has been that we are a new team and a relatively new list as well," he said.
"This is a bit of validation, but a bit of perspective is important. They, I don't think, were as forward in their preparation as we were.
"As much as we've changed our team, they've changed theirs as well.
"They'll get better as the season goes on. I'm sure. We're still looking at them as the team to beat irrespective of what happened today."
