VFL Record - Grand Final Preview
Cats look unstoppable
Geelong has firepower to shoot down young Tigers.
Geelong, riding a seven-game winning streak, including two victories over its Grand Final foe, is a red-hot favourite to today deny the Coburg Tigers’ bid to end their 18-year premiership drought.
The Cats have ruthlessly disposed of opponents throughout the season, with an emphatic 50-point average winning margin from its 16 wins. Included among those is the 37-point win against Coburg at Skilled Stadium in round 17 and a 31-point victory in the recent qualifying final.
Searching for their first flag since they defeated Williamstown at Windy Hill in 1989, the Coburg Tigers enter the Grand Final on a high after a confidence-boosting victory against the Seagulls. However, the side must somehow quell Geelong’s all-round strength.
The Cats’ ability to continually apply scoreboard pressure has been at the heart of their success. The club has kicked a competition-high 15 scores of 15-plus goals, and, nine times, including both finals wins, it has booted 20-plus goals.
The concern for Coburg Tigers coach Andy Collins is that Geelong doesn’t rely on a solitary avenue to goal. Todd Grima, who topped the club goalkicking with 50 goals, has kicked just four majors in the finals, but this hasn’t stopped Geelong piling on 46 goals during that time.
The Cats had 16 individual goalkickers during their two finals wins, with their goal scoring avenues stretching to midfielders James Byrne, Jason Davenport, Ryan Gamble, Brent Prismall and ruckman Steven King.
Coburg’s prospects hinge on its ability to limit the effectiveness of King, should he play in the VFL Grand Final. King’s dominance at the centre bounces and stoppages has provided the Cats’ midfield with silver service, and the big man is set to come up against Coburg Tigers captain Travis Ronaldson, who was similarly dominant in his club’s preliminary final success.
King was a clear winner when the pair met in the qualifying final, but Ronaldson, third in the 2007 Liston Trophy, has lifted himself and his teammates to new heights throughout the season.
The battle of the midfield will be just as pivotal. Byrne is clearly the best player in the TRUenergy VFL, as evidenced by his Liston Trophy success, but Coburg Tigers counterpart Alister Neville is also a quality player. Neville won the Frank Johnson Medal given to the best player in the VFL’s win against Western Australia
earlier in the season, and was outstanding in the club’s triumph over Williamstown.
Both Byrne and Neville have huge engines, which enables them to get to so many contests and make an impact. However, it’s unlikely the two will go head-to-head, with Collins likely to employ Nick Carnell to again shadow Byrne, a role he thrived on in the qualifying final.
While that is comforting for Collins, the concern is that Geelong was still able to surge clear in the last quarter to win comfortably. But it should be remembered that Coburg did not have the services of Richmond’s Daniel Jackson, Luke McGuane, Jack Riewoldt, and Kelvin Moore as well as Jarrod Silvester, who was named in the
TRUenergy VFL Team of the Year, in the qualifying final. All were outstanding in the Tigers’ past two wins.
Jackson, an effective stopper at AFL level, could be used on Byrne, Brent Prismall or Ryan Gamble. However, Byrne is just one of many prime movers in the Geelong midfield. Prismall, Gamble, Davenport and Jay Cheep not only have won plenty of possessions, but have been dangerous when drifting into attack.
Meanwhile, the Coburg Tigers gained the ascendancy last week when Fortunato Caruso, Joe Gazzo, Paul Shelton, Matthew White and Carnell took advantage of Ronaldson’s dominance. The challenge for the Coburg players is to reproduce last week’s performance on the biggest stage of the season.
Caruso and Gazzo are still in their teens in their first VFL season and Carnell is a second-year youngster, while Shelton is one of the few Coburg players with more than 50 VFL games under his belt.
Geelong has a distinct edge in experience. King, a veteran of 192 AFL games, heads the list, while Charlie Gardiner, David Johnson, Henry Playfair and Kane Tenace, should he play, have all run out in more than 50 AFL games. Also, Geelong has 11 players from last year’s VFL Grand Final.
On the other side of the ledger, the Coburg Tigers have just two Richmond players with 50-plus AFL games’
experience – Andrew Krakouer and Patrick Bowden. Krakouer has the ability to make something happen seemingly out of nothing and can be shackled for much of a match, only to produce an explosive burst of brilliance.Bowden is another mercurial player. He reads the play so well and his versatility allows him to be used in a variety of roles.
Both clubs have potent attacks and play with flair. Geelong has exciting youngster Tom Hawkins, the experienced Gardiner, Grima and the versatile Tom Lonergan to call upon up forward. The Cats can also use Henry Playfair – resolute at centre half-back against North Ballarat – in attack, along with Matthew Spencer in a key position.
The Coburg Tigers will welcome McGuane, Moore and Silvester into their defence this week, and all three have big roles to play.
Jay Schulz, Jack Riewoldt, Cleve Hughes and Bowden are all focal points, with Riewoldt particularly effective during the finals series. Playfair is likely to take Hughes, while Lonergan or Spencer could man up on Schulz or Riewoldt.
These are just some of the small battles in an intriguing duel that sees Geelong well placed to emerge with the coveted VFL premiership.
