Fresh doubts have been raised about Geelong’s credentials following a record-breaking loss to the Gold Coast Suns, which arguably revealed a troubling lack of depth. The Suns defeated the Cats by 64 points on Thursday night, becoming the first AFL side since Melbourne in 1994 to kick such a high score – 26.8 (164) – against Geelong. It was probably the Cats’ biggest score ever conceded during the Chris Scott era, surpassing Sydney’s 22.16 (148) in Round 11, 2014.
They were absent several of its top 22 players, including Patrick Dangerfield, Tom Hawkins, Jeremy Cameron, Mitch Duncan, and Sam De Koning. However, the lack of depth was severely exposed, leading Fox Footy experts to believe it was not a one-time occurrence.
“That’s a massive score to concede – and it was the ease in which some of the goals were scored I think would be the most concerning part for the people in charge down at Geelong, the coaches and even the fans who would’ve sat there and gone ‘this is not Geelong’ just conceding walk-in goals,” Jason Dunstall, a Hawthorn legend, told Fox Foot Kangaroo has won two premierships. According to David King, Geelong is one of the greatest teams in stopping majors 0m to 30m from goal, averaging only six against them every game. On Thursday night, the Suns scored 13 goals in that location.
“That’s their zone and they defend it so hard,” King told Fox Footy.
“OK there’s a few (players) not there – Duncan’s not there, De Koning’s not there – so it does look different when you add to that Cameron and Hawkins.
“They’ve stuck to their long-term plan of being healthy hopefully towards the back-half of the year – and maybe these four points wasn’t absolute, throw-the-kitchen-sink at it, so maybe that’s reflective in their performance. But gee it’s a big number.”
Dual All-Australian Leigh Montagna added: “Is it just a mulligan? It’s so uncharacteristically bad for the Cats that you just write it off. They left five or six of their stars at home, some of their other senior players looked like they didn’t want to be there the way they played. Or is it some concerns and signs?”
Montagna suggested the Suns haven’t been the only midfield brigade to get hold of Geelong this year, pointing to the big numbers the Power and Blues on-ballers racked up in the past month.
King said when skipper Dangerfield is on the sidelines, the Cats have a “Muggle midfield”.
“Without Dangerfield there, there’s no magic,” he said. “They’re workmanlike and they’re super honest. We love who they are as individuals and they’re good, average AFL players. But something needs to be addressed quickly in there.”
King suggested the likes of Gryan Miers, Max Holmes and Oisin Mullin should spend more time on the ball, while Montagna said Scott “has to get creative with what he wants” in the midfield.
“They need some more physicality in there when Dangerfield’s not playing because they are quite light,” Montagna said.
Dunstall added: “You can’t just sit there and rely on Dangerfield fixing everything. He’s in the twilight of his career.
“They’re looking for that next generation of midfielders to take over. But they’re a long way off it at the moment.”
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