Cats continue winning run
4:47:40 PM Sat 1 April, 2006
Paul Gough
Exclusive to afl.com.au
Geelong has showed it is far from satisfied with merely winning the pre-season competition with its recent NAB Cup success looking like a taste of things to come if Saturday's first round demolition of the once mighty Brisbane Lions is any indication.
The Cats, already celebrating the ending of their 43 year drought without a senior trophy following their NAB Cup grand final win against Adelaide, could not have been more impressive in converting that form into home and away success on Saturday.
Such was Geelong's dominance in their 17.13 (115) to 5.8 (38) victory, Brisbane was restricted to its lowest score since becoming the Lions in 1997.
In fact on this showing the Lions' decline last year - when they lost their final three games by a total of 253 points and missed the finals for the first time since 1998 - might not have been just a blip after all but the start of an extended period down in the bottom half of the ladder.
While missing Nigel Lappin, the Lions still began the season with most of their big guns with Jonathan Brown and Simon Black in the line-up after both missed the start of last season due to suspension.
But despite kicking with what appeared to be at least a three-goal breeze, the Lions were 20 points down at the first change after persistently kicking short instead of going long to Brown up forward.
The Cats were playing so well that they enjoyed 100 disposals to 65 for the quarter with James Bartel and Paul Chapman helping themselves to nine touches each.
This pair, especially best afield Bartel, continued to torment the Lions, as did Corey Enright, Joel Corey and the much-improved Shannon Byrnes as Brisbane's powerful midfield - the architect of their 2001-03 premierships - was brutally swept aside.
Byrnes in particular sums up the Cats' improvement with their other lesser lights - players such as Andrew Mackie, David Johnson, Matthew Egan and Kane Tenace - all equally as improved.
While Brisbane fiddled around when kicking with the wind, the Cats went long and direct in term two with even the tiny Byrnes kicking a goal from 60 metres out.
By half-time the margin was 46 points with Brisbane's total of 1.3 their worst first half total since registering the same score against Fitzroy way back in 1993 at Princes Park and second behind only the 0.3 they kicked against Melbourne at the MCG in 1994.
And just to show their first quarter effort into the wind was no fluke, the Cats - whose skill level was a joy to watch in the difficult conditions - repeated the dose in the third term when they kicked four goals to one.
While Brisbane had no winning forwards, Brad Ottens was a constant target for the Cats, booting two, and there is no doubt both he and skipper Steven King will be far better for their first run of the season.
And to think the Cats still have to welcome back Kent Kingsley, Steve Johnson, Peter Riccardi, Tom Harley, James Kelly and David Wojcinski into the side and it is little wonder Mark Thompson's side is one of the top chances to win this year's premiership.
As for the Lions about the only bonus to come out of the game was the successful return from injury of Justin Leppitsch, who missed the last eight games last year with a back injury, but on this display Brisbane looks a long way off from returning as an AFL power.
Geelong coach Mark Thompson was thrilled with the first-up performance of his side against a team that has given him some headaches in the past, while his Lions counterpart Leigh Matthews is hoping for a better effort next week.
"We probably won't be able to do that 26 weeks in a row, but it's fantastic to do it in round one against quality opposition," Thompson said.
"We've got a lot of respect for Brisbane as a club. Last year we went up there and we got beaten badly by them. We really wanted to play well today against them on our ground and we did."
"We got beaten everywhere, in the back 50, in the forward 50 and in midfield," Matthews lamented.
"If you are beaten by 80 points and they had have 100 more possessions it means you have been beaten everywhere and it's only a matter of which area you want to talk about it."
"We just didn't turn up today in terms of what you have to give to win a game."
GEELONG: 4.3, 8.7, 12.9, 17.13 (115)
BRISBANE: 1.1, 1.3, 2.6, 5.8 (38)
GOALS – Geelong: Chapman 3, Bartel 2, Playfair 2, Ottens 2, Milburn 2, Gardiner 2, Ablett, Byrnes, Mackie, Slade. Brisbane: Bradshaw 2, McGrath, Clark, Akermanis.
BEST – Geelong: Bartel, Ablett, Byrnes, Chapman, Corey, Milburn, Enright, Ling, Scarlett. Brisbane: Bradshaw, Sherman, Akermanis, Voss, Black.
INJURIES – Geelong: Brisbane: Drummond (shoulder)
CHANGES – Geelong: Nil. Brisbane: Nil.
REPORTS - Nil.
UMPIRES - McLaren, Meredith, Chamberlain
CROWD - 23,029 at Skilled Stadium
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looking good boys
lol
