Cats a game clear on top of AFL ladder after eleventh win on the trot

Geelong Cats v St Kilda Saints, AFL 2022 round 21 Ben Jensen GEELONG now have eleven wins in a row, like Collingwood, after snuffing out challenger St Kilda on Saturday night. Before the bounce there was some standard intriguer; ruckman Jonathan Ceglar who made his debut for the Cats last week was pushed out of the starting 22 as the substitute while tall utility and sometime ruckman Mark Blicavs was left out ‘managed’. Even closer to the bounce Patrick Dangerfield was a late late change. Coming into the side were experienced trio Sam Menegola, Zach Tuohy and Luke Dahlhaus.

The match was fairly well contested in the first half but after half time it was all one-way traffic, the Cats slamming home four goals to nil in the third quarter, then five to three in the final. It was a fairly even performance from the Cats; the AFL Coaches Association votes make interesting reading with six players picking up six votes each and one on five; our mind boggles. Not one St Kilda player scoring a vote by the way. This Saturday the Cats travel to the Gold Coast to face the Suns who will be playing for pride; it will be interesting to see who’s ‘managed’/left out of the side.

AFL 2022 ROUND TWENTY-ONE
GEELONG CATS V ST KILDA SAINTS
SATURDAY 6 AUGUST 2022, 19:25 AEST
GMHBA STADIUM

GEELONG CATS: 6.4, 8.5, 12.7, 17.8 (110) DEFEATED
ST KILDA SAINTS: 3.0, 7.1, 7.4, 10.5 (65)

AFL COACHES ASSOCIATION VOTES:

6 Max Holmes (Geelong), 6 Brandan Parfitt (Geelong), 6 Sam De Koning (Geelong), 5 Cameron Guthrie, (Geelong), 4 Isaac Smith (Geelong), 2 Zach Guthrie (Geelong), 1 Sam Menegola (Geelong)

GOALS
GEELONG CATS: Hawkins 3, Smith 3, Stengle 2, Cameron 2, Menegola, Tuohy, Henry, Duncan, Holmes, Close, Z.Guthrie
ST KILDA SAINTS: Higgins 2, Membrey 2, Sinclair, Wood, King, Steele, Butler, Long

BEST
GEELONG CATS: De Koning, Menegola, Parfitt, Smith, Hawkins, Smith, Holmes, Duncan
ST KILDA SAINTS:
Crouch, Wood, Marshall, Steele, Sinclair, Windhager

INJURIES
GEELONG CATS: Nil reported
ST KILDA SAINTS: Dan Hannebery (ankle)

CHANGES
GEELONG CATS: Mark Blicavs (managed), Patrick Dangerfield (calf tightness) and Jonathon Ceglar; replaced by Sam Menegola, Luke Dahlhaus and Zach Tuohy
ST KILDA SAINTS: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
GEELONG CATS: Jonathon Ceglar (not used)
ST KILDA SAINTS: Zak Jones (replaced Dan Hannebery in fourth quarter)

REPORTS
GEELONG CATS: Nil
ST KILDA SAINTS: Nil

CROWD: 20,583 at GMHBA Stadium

UMPIRES
FIELD Jamie Broadbent, Craig Fleer, Andrew Heffernan EMER: Michael Pell
BOUNDARY Kieran Ferguson, Damien Main, Nick Phillips, Patrick Dineen
GOAL David Rodan, Dylan Benwell EMER: Stephen Williams

Ben – Cats 24 points
Oscar – Saints 15 points
Cassie – Cats 28 points

GEELONG CATS – SELECTED SIDE
IN: Rhys Stanley
OUT: Joel Selwood (managed), Gary Rohan (injured)

B: Guthrie, De Koning, Bews
HB: Kolodjashnij, Stewart, Henry
C: Duncan, Blicavs, Smith
HF: Close, Cameron, Stengle
F: Hawkins, Stanley, Dangerfield
FOLL: Ceglar, C.Guthrie, Parfitt
INT: O’Connor, Holmes, Atkins, Miers
EMER: Menegola, Tuohy, Dahlhaus, Evans

ST KILDA SAINTS – SELECTED SIDE
IN: Dougal Howard
OUT: Lienert, Byrnes (both omitted)

B: Wilkie, Howard, Webster
HB: Battle, Sharman, Sinclair
C: Clark, Windhager, Wood
HF: Membrey, Hill, Butler
F: Higgins, King, Owens
FOLL: Marshall, Steele, Ross
INT: Paton, Hannebery, Crouch, Long
EMER: Jones, Lienert, Byrnes, Campbell