Round 18 Pre-Game Articles - Page 3
R18 Geelong vs. St Kilda
Skilled Stadium - Sun 01Aug04, 1:10 PM AEST
R19 Crows, R20 Kangas, R21 Lions, R22 Freo
Geelong shuts the gates
The best ticket in town this weekend is no longer available. Aside from about 2400 standing-room spots for members, Skilled Stadium is a sell-out for Sunday's blockbuster between Geelong and St Kilda. The game offers a chance for the Cats to keep pushing for a top-four finish. It also presents a $500,000 boost to Geelong's bottom line, even with a reduced 22,000 capacity because of grandstand construction at Skilled Stadium. Telstra Dome made a bid for the game to be shifted, but the offer did not match the potential revenue Geelong can generate from all facets of its game-day operation.
The Article - Grantley Bernard - HeraldSun - 27Jul04
Cats tough and skilful
Don't expect Geelong to go into next Sunday's match against St Kilda with the same game plan it had in the Wizard Cup final or round one. Similarly, St Kilda will have re-evaluated its approach. So much has changed for both sides and even though the ledger is tilted St Kilda's way 2-1 for the past 10 months, that is no indication of where the two sides are now . . . History tells you that the sides that do that are good sides come finals time, their game plan and their footy culture will stand up. I think that is why Port Adelaide struggles in finals, they have a great team but finals and pressure of finals and the game mindset is totally different. All the premiership winners over the past 10 years have been physically hard teams. Sure, they have their class but the common ingredient is physically hard players who put their heads over the ball. Geelong has that trait, they are all happy to do it. Port probably doesn't have enough hard players to do that. They will get the message, though, because coach Mark Williams never took a backward step in his life. If you have a look at the premiership coaches - Matthews, Sheedy, Pagan, Malthouse, Parkin and Blight - they are all hard men, they put their heads over the footy. Come the business end of the season, that's how the people are judged. In the finals the focus is just on that game, if you don't do the right thing, you get exposed . . .
The Article - Tim 'Bluey' McGrath - GeelongInfo - 28Jul04
Ling sees Saints as Cats big test
Cameron Ling said a top four spot and the chance to knock off a top side was the main motivation for Sunday's blockbuster against St Kilda. The rugged onballer said the finals focus outweighed the revenge factor against St Kilda, who spanked the Cats in round one after beating them in the Wizard Cup final a fortnight earlier. But Ling admitted the 61-point Telstra Dome hiding is certainly not forgotten, leading into the biggest match of his 82-game career. "We definitely want to get them back for round one, it wasn't the best game of footy we've ever played," Ling said yesterday. "A win is very important because it would basically guarantee a finals spot and maybe a chance to make the top four." . . . Ling is expected to tag Saints' skipper Lenny Hayes as he has in the two previous meetings this year.
The Article - David Davutovic - GeelongInfo - 28Jul04
Members only for Cats-Saints - Sportal - saints.com.au - 27Jul04
Geelong shuts the gates
The best ticket in town this weekend is no longer available. Aside from about 2400 standing-room spots for members, Skilled Stadium is a sell-out for Sunday's blockbuster between Geelong and St Kilda. The game offers a chance for the Cats to keep pushing for a top-four finish. It also presents a $500,000 boost to Geelong's bottom line, even with a reduced 22,000 capacity because of grandstand construction at Skilled Stadium. Telstra Dome made a bid for the game to be shifted, but the offer did not match the potential revenue Geelong can generate from all facets of its game-day operation.
The Article - Damian Barrett - HeraldSun - 27Jul04
Cats go for home
. . . "Some of the more practical issues are that it's our home game and if it's transferred to Telstra Dome, we transfer our home ground advantage to St Kilda. We think it's pretty crucial because we're playing for a major position on the ladder, possibly a top four spot so that's also a major issue." A number of side issues also factored into the equation, including reduced exposure for Skilled and Ford, with the Cats reluctant to give Toyota any additional publicity. A switch would also have left 300 match-day employees in the lurch.
The Article - David Davutovic - GeelongInfo - 27Jul04
Cats go for home - David Davutovic/Geelong Advertiser - gfc.com.au - 27Jul04
Cats: beware of Saints
Few games this season have been as eagerly anticipated as Sunday's Geelong-St Kilda clash at Skilled Stadium. For the Cats, two games behind the top four on the ladder, it's a huge and maybe final opportunity to stay in the hunt for a double chance. And the stakes are no less for the Saints, whose spot in the top four Geelong may well end up pinching if it does get there. The sub-plots in the drama are no less intriguing. St Kilda has won at Geelong only twice in its past 13 visits, and not since 1999. Then there's the lingering ill-feeling around their Wizard Cup grand final clash, when the Saints simmered about their defeated opponent's supposed lack of graciousness, not to mention young Cat Paul Chapman's comments after the game that he still believed Geelong to be the better team. Perhaps the most significant game within the game, however, will be played out between arguably the AFL's best defence and most potent forward line. And it's a battle that, for Geelong, could prove very instructive when it comes to the other end of the ground.
The Article - Rohan Connolly - TheAge - 27Jul04
Payback makes Chappy happy
Geelong began its season with heavy defeats to St Kilda and Carlton, and while the Cats have been one of the form teams of 2004 since, those bad losses remain fresh on the minds at Skilled Stadium. According to small forward Paul 'Chappy' Chapman, 'payback mark one' was achieved on Sunday, when the Cats turned around their 54-point round two loss to the Blues, ramming home a 57-point victory at Telstra Dome. Next Sunday at Skilled Stadium will present Geelong with the opportunity for 'payback mark two' when it hosts second-placed St Kilda, who dished out a 61-point thrashing in round one. "We really wanted some payback this week and we knew they were going to come out hard because they'd obviously beaten us once this year and they could have done it again," Chapman, a four-goal hero in the victory over Carlton, noted.
The Article - Barry Levinson/Sportal - gfc.com.au - 25Jul04
Geelong shuts the gates
The best ticket in town this weekend is no longer available. Aside from about 2400 standing-room spots for members, Skilled Stadium is a sell-out for Sunday's blockbuster between Geelong and St Kilda. The game offers a chance for the Cats to keep pushing for a top-four finish. It also presents a $500,000 boost to Geelong's bottom line, even with a reduced 22,000 capacity because of grandstand construction at Skilled Stadium. Telstra Dome made a bid for the game to be shifted, but the offer did not match the potential revenue Geelong can generate from all facets of its game-day operation.
The Article - Damian Barrett - HeraldSun - 27Jul04
Cats go for home
. . . "Some of the more practical issues are that it's our home game and if it's transferred to Telstra Dome, we transfer our home ground advantage to St Kilda. We think it's pretty crucial because we're playing for a major position on the ladder, possibly a top four spot so that's also a major issue." A number of side issues also factored into the equation, including reduced exposure for Skilled and Ford, with the Cats reluctant to give Toyota any additional publicity. A switch would also have left 300 match-day employees in the lurch.
The Article - David Davutovic - GeelongInfo - 27Jul04
Saints primed for Cats: Montagna
St Kilda youngster Leigh Montagna could well have been speaking for the entire Saints' side when he said the team will travel to Geelong on Sunday with a point to prove. The Saints were infuriated by Geelong star Paul Chapman's comments that the Cats were a better side than St Kilda - after the Saints thrashed the Cats in the Wizard Cup final and then repeated the dose in round one earlier this season . . . "We are not concerned about that (the Saints' poor record away from Telstra Dome)," Montagna said. "We just think it's the way it's panned out but if we can go down there (Geelong) and have a win - that will silence the critics." Montagna starred in last Friday night's win against Essendon, with three goals in just his fourth senior game for the season. And now he says he is determined to hold his place in the side, after the frustration of playing in the VFL throughout the first half of the year as the Saints started the season with a club record ten straight wins. "It's been tough, the first half of the year we were unstoppable and it was quite hard to get into the side," he said. "But now my aim is to play finals, I don't care if I only played one game in the home and away season as long as I play in the finals."
The Article - Paul Gough/Sportal - saints.com.au - 26Jul04
Unlocking the Saints' secrets
In the past few years most coaching tactics designed to defeat the Saints have centred around restricting their hard-bodied senior midfielders. For more than a decade, Robert Harvey has been the team's major generator with Andrew Thompson his second lieutenant. In 2003, the club added the experience and strength of Stephen Powell to the mix. But 12 months ago there was a belief that if this senior core was restricted, then the young brigade was not sufficiently mature to win enough of the ball . . . When St Kilda started its amazing roll through the Wizard Cup and an unprecedented 10 straight wins, the team had set the AFL alight. It is reasonable to suggest that they were always going to hit a flat spot, but give some credit to opposition sides. The Swans, Dogs, Port and the Dees would all have studied the trends that had set up the team's success in the early part of the year. While their focus would have been to nullify the Saints' dominate forwards, they would have realised that to do this they needed to cut down the supply generated through the middle.
The Article - Terry Wallace - HeraldSun - 23Jul04
Ling: We're ready for St Kilda test
Geelong may have been blown away twice by St Kilda in consecutive games early this year, but will enter next Sunday's match-of-the-round against the Saints at Skilled Stadium with no fears. The Cats' 57-point win against Carlton at Telstra Dome yesterday was their 10th from the past 12 rounds and left gun midfielder Cameron Ling and coach Mark Thompson keenly anticipating the match against the competition's No. 2 team. "I'm just seeing it as a great test to see exactly where we are at," Ling said last night. "If we come out and give a good account of ourselves and play the type of football we know we can play, I know we can beat them. They (the Saints) are back to playing good footy, certainly they were very good Friday night (against Essendon), and we are playing good footy, too. But, we have to play that footy. If we don't play up to scratch, well, they are too good a side and they will beat us."
The Article - Damian Barrett - HeraldSun - 26Jul04
The rivalry is real
Saturday, August 30, 2003 marks the day that the AFL's newest rivalry was born. The Saints travelled down Melbourne Road amid mega publicity surrounding its band of young guns and were hot favourites to notch their fifth win in a row to finish 2003. But the jealous Cats, fuelled by the lack of publicity about their own crop of kids, caused a 19-point boilover and they didn't hide their discontent. "I said all week people had been writing about St Kilda and how good their young blokes were and that maybe they should have been writing about us as well," coach Mark Thompson said after the game. More than six months later and it seemed little had changed, with a state-wide frenzy surrounding the Saints, who had swept aside Adelaide, Richmond and Essendon to be tagged favourites for the Wizard Cup final. Again the Cats were underdogs but this time Thompson lashed out before the ball was bounced.
The Article - David Davutovic - GeelongInfo - 27Jul04
Gehrig credits ban
Revived St Kilda forward Fraser Gehrig credits the resurgence of his boom early-season form to the rest he gained through suspension. Gehrig said his eight-goal haul in his return against Essendon at Telstra Dome on Friday night was due to recharging his fitness while serving a two-match suspension for striking Port Adelaide's Matthew Bishop in Round 14. The spearhead has returned to the exciting style that bagged him 50 goals in the first 10 rounds, propelling him for a time to the top of Coleman Medal table. "It probably was good for me to have a little bit of a break, and to get away from playing, and to knuckle down and do some hard training and think about where you are at and what you want to achieve out of the season," Gehrig told SEN radio on Saturday.
The Article - Emily Power - HeraldSun - 26Jul04
Umpires caught with ball on rule
The AFL has conceded umpires were instructed to be more vigilant regarding holding-the-ball decisions last round but continues to deny there was any change in interpretation of the law. Coaches and club officials ended round 17 bewildered after the number of holding-the-ball decisions sky-rocketed. On average there are 24 such decisions paid each round, that number more than doubled to 49 last weekend. Yesterday, the AFL umpires coach, Rowan Sawers, said umpires had been told last week to pay extra consideration to the rule. "Holding the ball was discussed along with many other aspects of decision-making from the previous round of matches, highlighting both negative and positive aspects on all areas of umpiring performances," said Sawers.
The Article - Karen Lyon - TheAge - 27Jul04
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