Thanks for the link. It is a curious thing, because that was the first place l looked, and when l did there was nothing. Anyway, now l have watched the replay here are some random thoughts.
The overall team performance was not only exciting to behold but attractive to the eye as as well. This, against a recent bogie team that has embarrassed us numerous times, and on their home ground, a ground many of our team would never have seen, let alone played on and won. Where did this transformation come from? It looked obvious that the changes came from the injection of fearless youth in the playing list, players too young to realize that they should have been humbled, but instead were resilient and willing.
They were well led by Merrett, but Martin was the clear BOG. He was everywhere, roaming at will and delivering with precision. He got the team off to a flying start, not only with 2 goals in the first, but also spotting up Kako who passed to Durham for the very first goal. Geelong had no idea on how to curb his influence, or if they did, they didn’t try to implement it. In the midfield Hobbs had a huge game, burrowing in and feeding the ball out, he was ferocious in his intent, and was well aided by Tsatas as a partner in crime, both would have taken a lot of confidence out of their performances.
With the sole exception of 2MP every player found a way to impact the game. Duursma found the narrow confines of the Cats’ lack of wing area not to his liking, but will be better on wider, more open spaces. Jones filled a role rather than a position, as a ranged up and down the ground taking marks at will, and providing an outlet target from defence or driving the ball forward. Reid had a good tussle with Neale and showed his cool head and classy disposal. Hayes lowered his colours to Cameron, but that is no disgrace, and he would have learned a lot. Ridley did what he does best, controlled the defence with a cool head and looked more willing to set up attacks with his kicks than at any stage last year. Sheil was busy, creative and his pace was at times blistering, l had him in our top 3.
The 2 ruck set up looks at this early stage to be a go. Draper was in beast mode, and his robust style and physical presence will worry plenty of defenders this season. He was well supported by Bryan who got better and more involved as the game wore on. The forward line looked dynamic, rather than static. Much credit for that goes to Kako who buzzed around and provided flair to go with his skill levels. The Cats didn’t know what to do to stop him, he was irrepressible and was well supported by Caddy. They took the focus off Langford, but allowed space for Gresham to slip in almost unnoticed.
The biggest difference between the teams looked to me like it was pressure. The Cats were made to look lack lustre, while the Bombers had plenty of energy and never wilted. It was good to see that we weren’t relying on Durham and Caldwell to do a lot of the heavy lifting and a lot of players stepped up. Well played Bombers. Although it was only a practice game, this performance as well as the effort against the Doggies shows that the team is much better prepared than 2024.