Originally Posted by
Stefcep
I've never felt less concerned about a 10 goal loss.
The game had a few defining moments: Johno's miss after the Dogs bottled the ball in the Cats defense for what seemed an eternity. Again Johno giving away 50 m penalty (a bit stiff) which resulted in a Cats goal, and Harbrow's turnover resulting in a Cats goal. Thats 18 points in the context of the match that decided the outcome. And then there was Ackers snap that just missed, his run into an open goal that just missed and our ruck missing a sitter. There were times where we were 12-14 points in front and I felt getting the next goal would have killed the Cats mentally, but we just didn't get that one goal.
What was disappointing was the final quarter but I could sense that the first goal would be make or break for either side. When the Cats scored, I saw the disappointed sigh from Gilbee and his head dropped immediately. That was it for us.
But, remember this is the Cats best game all year, they were put under the pump for 3 quarters, more so than by any other team this year, at their home ground, whose small size and swirly wind suits them more than us.
The match was a lot closer than 10 goals, BUT I am a realist: we're probably the third best team ( my pick is for a Sydney-Geelong GF) and we NEED a tall key forward to take the next step. I hear some big, bad bloke up north can play a bit and is out of contract at the end of the year...