The Geelong Addy's version of events ......Cats are always ready to work
Joel Cresswell
Geelong Advertiser
April 6th, 2009
ONE act late in Saturday's game against Richmond epitomised why Geelong has long enjoyed a gulf over the league's also-rans.
Darren Milburn and the Tigers' Shane Edwards converged on a loose ball on the Cats' half forward flank with the home team fighting hard to preserve a two-goal buffer.
Edwards was still on all fours, gulping for air, a minute after the contest - the ball long-since swept away for a Steve Johnson goal.
The Cats win the contests when they absolutely have to be won.
Let it be a lesson to the also-rans.
The embarrassed Tigers had talked all week about the need for increased pressure. Hard nuts and speedsters Jake King, Tom Hislop and debutant Alex Rance were drafted into the side to provide it.
So perhaps it was fitting that King's token gesture to 'tough' football, a jab in the ribs to Gary Ablett before the first bounce, set the tone for Richmond's first half intensity.
Too often the Tigers gave away costly free kicks and 50-metre penalties with their shot-gun approach to pressure.
Not much later King had the chance to win the football on the wing but attempted a flailing hip and shoulder at an opponent.
Another symbolic moment in the second quarter saw Rance fail to follow a handball with a shepherd on the wing.
The Tiger receiver was pressured and his kick to Jack Riewoldt was cut off. The young forward reacted with a fist on his opponents head and the subsequent 50m penalty resulted in a shot on goal.
Yet when the Tigers focussed their aggression they showed they could break from the centre and force the Cats into errors.
They based their eight goal to three third term on strong bodies over the ball and Matthew Richardson's contested marking.
In the last quarter Gary Ablett and the granite-bodied Joel Selwood won some vital 50-50's and the Cats ran away from Richmond.
People will say the Tigers don't know how to win - the fact is Geelong isn't so choosy with its pressure.
http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2009/04/06/60931_gfc.html