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It was a remarkable turnaround for a Geelong side that conceded 8.4 (54) in the opening term – their equal worst at GMHBA Stadium since 1983.<\/p>\n
But a Chris Scott spray at the first break inspired the epic fightback.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe weren\u2019t playing the way we wanted to play,\u201d Neale shared.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the word disgraceful was used.\u201d\ufeff<\/p>\n
Shaun Mannagh kicked three second quarter goals in a 10-minute burst before it was Neale who proved the hero after half time.<\/p>\n
Jack Martin then gave Geelong the final quarter lead \u2013 ending Freo\u2019s 101-minute hold on the match.<\/p>\n
Despite Patrick Dangerfield having a limited influence in his managed minutes, Max Holmes (35 disposals) and Bailey Smith (29 touches and a goal) stepped up.<\/p>\n
Docker Luke Jackson did everything he could to lift the visitors to finish with 27 disposals, 10 clearances, eight tackles, 22 hitouts and a goal, but it wasn\u2019t enough for a Freo side that simply stalled after quarter time.<\/p>\n
The 3-2-1 (what we learned) …<\/p>\n
3. \u2018THE WORD DISGRACEFUL WAS USED\u2019: SCOTT\u2019S FIERY QT ADRESS SPARKS EPIC COMEBACK<\/p>\n
Whatever Chris Scott told his troops at quarter-time, it worked. <\/p>\n
The Cats turned around a 35-point deficit on Saturday afternoon in a truly gutsy comeback from the home side. <\/p>\n
In fact, the 52 points conceded in the first term marked the highest score Geelong has ever given up in a home opener at Kardinia Park.<\/p>\n
It was un-Geelong like. But nothing a good old fashioned coaches spray can\u2019t fix. <\/p>\n
Scott didn\u2019t hold back when the animated Cats coach went off at his fellow coaches, then players at the opening break in a fiery address.<\/p>\n
It sparked the desired response. <\/p>\n
Geelong banged on five goals in the second term as that deficit was quickly reduced to 22 points. And the Cats continued to have more run than Fremantle in the second half as Scott\u2019s side surged to victory.<\/p>\n
Asked what Scott said at quarter-time, Shannon Neale said after the game: \u201cI won\u2019t go into it too much. But pretty much just we weren\u2019t playing the way we wanted to play.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the word disgraceful was used. That\u2019s completely fair, we agreed with that.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo come out after quarter-time and fix a few things up and play a certain way and get over the line is great.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was a much needed response from Geelong overall as it bounced back from a disaster 56-point loss to Gold Coast in Opening Round.<\/p>\n
Western Bulldogs great Brad Johnson said Saturday\u2019s result was a win of \u201ccharacter\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey showed a lot of that after quarter-time,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou could see the coaches and the way they wanted to deliver the message to each other and the group.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom that point on they changed their game, it became more of a kicking game. To grind this out and have more run in their legs was just superior.<\/p>\n
\u201cA brilliant, brilliant effort.\u201d<\/p>\n
2. BUT WHY FREO SHOULD BE LEFT \u2018BITTERLY DISAPPOINTED\u2019 <\/p>\n
The other side of the coin.<\/p>\n
It looked so good for Fremantle\u2026 until it didn\u2019t. <\/p>\n
Namely the first quarter, with the Dockers exploding out of the gates with eight goals and a score of 52. <\/p>\n
By half-time, the Dockers\u2019 74 points was their highest first half score under Justin Longmuir and highest ever against Geelong.<\/p>\n
And they were firing on all cylinders in the forward half of the ground, which has previously been a concern, converting at 73 per cent of their scores inside 50.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the sort of footy that many in the footy world were expecting from Justin Longmuir\u2019s side in 2026 as a bona fide flag contender.<\/p>\n
So while you can give them a tick for getting so close in one of the toughest road trips in footy, it was a game they were in position to win, but ultimately got away from them. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019d be flat. Getting the lead they had at GMHJBA Stadium, away from home, first game of the year. They\u2019d be bitterly disappointed they allowed the Cats back in,\u201d Bulldogs legend Brad Johnson said.<\/p>\n
Hawthorn great Jason Dunstall bemoaned the Dockers\u2019 inability to maintain their intensity over four quarters and miss out on a win that could\u2019ve \u201cset up\u201d their season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw bits and pieces of what they\u2019re capable of. But how long can they do it for? You\u2019ve got to be able to do it over four quarters,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThese are the sort of wins, if you can get them, that set up a season.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou reflect on when you had to travel to Geelong and beat a team that\u2019s been absolutely brilliant for so long on their own turf. They define the attitude you take into other games.<\/p>\n
\u201cA talented tram, I think they\u2019re going to be good this year. But they\u2019ll be bitterly disappointed they didn\u2019t close it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
1. UNDERDONE SKIPPERS MANAGED IN TACTICAL USE OF EXTRA BENCH PLAYER<\/p>\n
Clubs are using the extra player on the bench in a variety of ways.<\/p>\n
And that includes both of these sides managing their veteran skippers that went into the game underdone. <\/p>\n
There was a fascinating watch on Geelong\u2019s Patrick Dangerfield all game, with the 35-year old playing just 55 per cent game time and having little influence on the game outside of his one goal.<\/p>\n
It came after Dangerfield missed the Cats\u2019 season-opening loss to Gold Coast with a calf issue. And he was getting plenty of work done on his calf from club physios throughout the day.<\/p>\n
But having that extra player on the bench allows clubs to nurse players back from injury better than before.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no doubt that Geelong, who manages its list as well as any club, will utilise it to great effect.<\/p>\n
As for Fremantle, it was unusual scenes in the first quarter with skipper Alex Pearce starting the game on the bench and seen walking around in the change rooms.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlex Pearce has already done a few run throughs on the sidelines now headed back to the rooms,\u201d Fox Footy caller Anthony Hudson said early in the first quarter.<\/p>\n
Bulldogs great Brad Johnson added: \u201cI don\u2019t think something right\u2019s here – he starts on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n
The gun defender, who battled a calf injury over the pre-season, eventually entered the game with around 10 minutes left in the first quarter. <\/p>\n
And Pearce\u2019s time on the ground was also managed at 59 per cent. Though the Dockers said Pearce was fine, according to Fox Footy boundary rider Lauren Wood.<\/p>\n
Re-live the Cats-Dockers in Foxfooty.com.au\u2019s live blog below!<\/p>\n
TEAMS LATEST<\/p>\n
Patrick Dangerfield and Jeremy Cameron return to Chris Scott\u2019s side after recovering from respective injuries, while developing ruckman Mitch Edwards will make his AFL debut. <\/p>\n
Ollie Henry and Mitch Knevitt were omitted from the side that lost to the Suns by 56 points, while James Worpel is out injured. <\/p>\n
Judd McVee makes his Dockers debut, while Mason Cox, Bailey Banfield and Luke Ryan were among the names overlooked at selection by Justin Longmuir. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Geelong has overcome their worst start in almost 50 years to storm home and claim a 10-point win…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":540984,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,689,55,639,12923,267821,10124,13659,2485,12102,12141,40511,10400,28267,13126,241342,44188,677,71125,39209,701,267820,85],"class_list":["post-540983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-chris-scott","tag-developing-ruckman","tag-fremantle-dockers","tag-geelong-cats","tag-gold-coast","tag-jack-gunston","tag-jeremy-cameron","tag-judd-mcvee","tag-justin-longmuir","tag-luke-ryan","tag-mason-cox","tag-mitch-edwards","tag-mitch-knevitt","tag-oceania","tag-ollie-henry","tag-patrick-dangerfield","tag-queensland","tag-respective-injuries","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=540983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/540983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/540984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=540983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=540983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=540983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}