CATS NOT UP TO SCRATCH AGAINST HAWKS
Ben Jensen 17 August 2015

AFL ROUND 20 2015: HAWTHORN HAWKS V GEELONG CATS GEELONG lost to Hawthorn by six goals on Saturday night. A seven goal to three opening term by the Hawks threatened to make the game a fizzer but the Cats fought back hard in the second and third quarters before fading away towards three-quarter time.

Cyril Rioli and Luke Hodge were deadly in front of goal and along with Cameron Guthrie put on a bit of a goal-kicking show. Steve Johnson in his 250th game put on a fair old show himself but will be disappointed at the result, the Cats not very efficient in front of goal compared to the more frugal Hawks. It wasn't good news for the VFL side either, again copping a big loss this week to Hawthorn affiliate Box Hill.

Making the finals is no certainty from here on, the Cats needing to win each game a win well, with their chief rival the Adelaide Crows giving the Bombers an absolute belting on Saturday precipitating the resignation of Essendon James Hird today. Should the Crows drop a home game against second-placed West Coast the equation is skewed more in the Cats' favour.

Next up is St Kilda on Saturday night in an away fixture at Etihad Stadium. Just don't expect to see Dan Menzel, coach Chris Scott making it clear he is not going to be rushed back. We do agree with Scott's assessment, not so much for fear of any recurrence of a knee injury but after years out of the game he'll need a while to get back up to the pace of the game.

HAWTHORN: 7.2, 9.4, 15.7, 19.7 (121) DEFEATED
GEELONG: 3.2, 6.7, 10.8, 12.13 (85)

GOALS
HAWTHORN: Rioli 6, Hodge 4, Breust 3, Roughead 2, Shiels, Gunston, Smith, Puopolo
GEELONG: Guthrie 3, Hawkins 2, Johnson 2, Selwood, Lang, Cockatoo, Lang, Walker

BEST
HAWTHORN: Rioli, Hodge, Mitchell, Shiels, Breust, Birchall, McEvoy, Puopolo
GEELONG: Guthrie, Selwood, Enright, Johnson, Hawkins, Lang

INJURIES
HAWTHORN: Nil reported
GEELONG: Tom Lonergan (illness) replaced in selected side by Jared Rivers, James Kelly (ankle)

SUBSTITUTES
HAWTHORN: Daniel Howe who replaced David Hale in the fourth quarter
GEELONG: Nakia Cockatoo who replaced James Kelly (ankle) in the third quarter

CHANGES
HAWTHORN: NIL
GEELONG: Andrew Mackie (quad tightness) replaced in the selected side by Billie Smedts.

UMPIRES

Rosebury, Hosking, Meredith

TIP: Cats by 17 points

CROWD: 55,802 at Melbourne Cricket Ground