Karly started the game a bit rough, but ultimately owned her patch of the backline.
This was our biggest win (margin-wise) since the 2022 semi-final.
Geelong really tried, and at times moved the ball very well. But it wasn’t a fair contest, talent-wise.
Unfortunately, a large proportion of our forward thrusts were still pretty ineffectual. Gonna need better than that to roll Norf.
2 Likes
- Ruby Mahony kicked her first goal for EFC today. And then her second goal!
- Liv Manfre kicked her fifth set of two goals (also has a triple earlier this year). She moved past CBomb to be our third-greatest goal-kicker. Long way to go to catch Frew and Clifford, though.
- Jayda Richardson kicked her first set of two goals for EFC today. And then she kicked her first set of three goals!
2 Likes
Morrow got beaten in the actual ruck this week. Was good around the ground, even if she does try to perpetuate the ol’ unco ruck stereotype.
Huta’s sausage dog is just visible in the background!
Cats didn’t have the depth (the next seven players are ours).
Ruby game-high for clearances and inside fifties. More kicks than handballs is a point of difference for her (this year, 11 H>K, 1 draw, and 1 other K>H)
Huggard 11 tackles, only behind their Lily Jordan. Orritt had 7 tackles and that (plus 13 disposals and 5 marks) will have her in the team versus Norf. They are honey-badgering tackles, and we’re gonna need that pressure to win this final.
On the other wing, Drew Ryan has gone a bit quiet (7/8/7/6 disposals over the past month). Not looking to drop her, but she’s one who can lift us up in finals because her kicks almost always hit their target.
QUARTER ONE
- After 37 seconds we were on the way to a catastrophic loss: lovely clearance by the Cats, big mark forward in range. Then Aughton missed, and we scored the next 37 points.
- 4:10 Perkins points right… and then immediately kicks left to Bernardi. Bernardi had a lot of “almost” goals early in this game.
- 4:50 that was cool, but that was NOT a mark. Both players’ hands force the ball onto the Cat thigh. Was very obvious with Morrow wearing the long black sleeves, unless you’re a wrong-side ump who chose to guess.
- 9:05 Mahoney goal #1… made it look easy.
- 9:15 Bernardi leading CLUNK at the highest point. She’s the type that could personally win a final, just like that.
- 11:20 SHE’S NOT A RUCK. But she is good at hurting people.
- 13:55 Crowd’s first time being manifestly demonstrative (BALL! Ump says no)
- 17:40 But Richo as CHF is sooooooo improved. CLUNK versus two on the wing.
- 18:45 Hunt is a weapon because she can unload big kicks. In this case, from the middle to RICHO RICHO GIRL, contested CLUNK 40m out. Like everyone else at the time, I was looking at Perkins rapidly approaching… Really important having Jayda kicking that distance, too.
Geelong really should have scored more often in this quarter. They got soooo close soooo many times.
QUARTER TWO
- 4:00 That was a long start to the quarter: we attack, they rebound, repeat endlessly. Molan contested intercept mark, hand off to MFord running down the wing, popped over to Huggard; Ellie’s kick looks to be another dud entry but the Cat drops the mark and Perkins pressures the ball off her and hooks it towards goal where Bernardi expertly and legally nudges her opponent under the ball to mark, and casually strolls in to goal.
- 6:00 Yikes, Cat falls short on the 20m set shot. And then the umps calls a ball-up before we can rush it to double their score, and we clear it from that. Morrow just slightly too slow to get there, and watches Chaston (!) get the effective tap to McNiece.
- And then from the subsequent throw-in, Hunt tells Morrow to let her ruck: Bailey wins the ball on her own vs Dunlop, and clears the ball out to the wing.
- 8:00 impressive intercept/spoil while running with the high ball by HartAluni. Cat needed to jump aggressively at that ball to prompt the free.
- Our kicking forward didn’t need to be much better to get us to 100 points. Ugly!
- 11:10 the ump ultimately said she was too mean, but love Orritt’s intent to run and tackle here. With her and HartAluni approaching from opposite directions, that Cat was never going to have it easy. And then the Cat tries to run around her, and gets caught again. BALL goes the crowd.
- 11:35 Melnikas tries to knock herself out by headbutting the side of a flying Cat. The ump double-whistles after thirty seconds when the ball returns to her area, to his credit. She waves off that time-off, and we resume.
- Molan on Schaap is working well this quarter.
- 15:30 CROWD AND TEAM ARE MANIFESTLY DEMONSTRATIVE. Players of both teams stop for the ump to pay the clothesline on Manfre at the top of the goal square. Ump says NO.
- Commentary goes with “nearly decapitated”, as Mahony roves the stoppage and pops through her second goal.
- 16:50 the minis get the first touches in the middle and then LOL at Mahony disappearing into the ground and the Cat flying clean over her in an attempt to tackle. It gets more ridiculous/impossible every time you watch it.
- Mahony went to completely ■■■■ up the kick into forward fifty.
- It’s a fun sequence from 17:40: HartAluni 99% making the rundown tackle, Molan leaving her opponent to tackle, FOUR great handballs over the top of Cats… and then Perkins misses. Damn it!
- Perkins partially makes up with an attentive smother at 18:45… which ultimately leads to the Richo snap goal to make it 37-1 at halftime. As a ruck (but not in the ruck) Jayda was influential in those last five minutes winning contests for the ball.
QUARTER THREE
- 4:35-4:50 four bits of pressure, forcing the Cats to kick out on the full
- I appreciate the umps having a common-sense approach to STAND and Protected Area. If it’s irrelevant, let it go.
- RUDE. Cats kick their goal for the game. They deserved more than one to this point, but stiff ■■■■.
- 9:05 this why we want Richo as the roving CHF. Clunk, moves it along quickly, gets lots of distance down the ground. Sadly, Ryan hits the post from the pocket under pressure.
- 10:10 the kick by Chaston, Manfre reading the flight so much better than her defender, goal, big bicep celebration. NICE.
- Orritt’s kicking was a massive flaw last year, but she is greatly improved. Ditto for Richo (had the power, but was 50/50 on whether each kick would be a botch), and most significantly so for Hart-Aluni.
- Having said that… 11:35 Hart-Aluni fails to toe-tap the goal through!
- 13:10 Nice inside work by Melnikas and Jordan, and Mahony somehow dodging traffic to kick forward for a near clone mark for Manfre (the same Cat again under-running it). Two goals in four minutes; she’s been pretty bursty this year, and it’s great for her to not be THE forward target.
- 16:35 Onya Tay. Forces the on-the-full. Note how she knows she has the pace, but hold backs until the Cat gets control of the ball… and then VOOOM!
- Tay went to completely ■■■■ up the kick forward.
- 17:20 some interesting umpiring. Cat plays on outside the boundary line (not that far off her line), field ump calls play on, boundary ump calls out of bounds, field ump says have another go. Perkins is not impressed!
- 18:10 Hunt tackle, crowd goes BALL, and we actually get it. To the forward fifty and Mahony thinks she should be a CHF with the high mark attempt. Gets it to Jayde and BANG goal on the run.
QUARTER FOUR
- 0:15 WORST. PIGGY. IN. THE. MIDDLE. EVER. Jordan is doing some decent work inside in this game. Her namesake influential for them as well.
- 1:45 Sweet sweet candy-selling by Chaston, and the big kick to CHF. Bernardi had all the rights and ability to kick for that goal from fifty out, but it slides off the outside of the
- 2:20 Fine that Cat for staging. Deadset cheat.
- MFord some aggressive rebounds in this game.
- 3:15 Ump accuses Jordan of forcing the tackle up onto her neck… no, you idiot, she is that bloody short. And he pings her with no opportunity seconds later.
- Lazy Bernardi… takes her eyes off the ball before getting it, and then falls into the Cat’s back. And then her shock when she is pinged for the latter
- 5:05 MFord intercept mark. Chip to Chaston, who quickly roosts the ball to Hunt in the middle. Handball to the passing Porter, who spears it to Orritt. She plays on and KICKS TO ADVANTAGE into our forward line (seriously, it was that rare). Perkins has two opponents but that doesn’t stop her CLUNKING. Converts. Great sequence!
- 7:10 watch Chaston work her magic. Surrounded by FIVE Cats, she effortlessly bamboozles them all.
- 10:35 these Cats are world-class stagers. Feels a touch on her shoulder, violently throws herself back out of the contest. Ump again on the wrong side, and falls for it. Bailey is not impressed, especially given she copped an elbow to her head a minute earlier.
- Crowd going BALL-crazy.
- Tia takes her contractual mark with only six minutes to go in the game.
BEST: Richardson, Mahony, Hunt, Molan, Chaston, MFord
