As the Red Hot Suns scorched the Cats, records fell in the Top End.
Chris Scott, the coach of Geelong, acknowledges that he’s finding it difficult to see his team’s achievements after Gold Coast destroyed the Cats in Darwin on Thursday night, setting a new record. Records fell in the Top End when the reigning Suns defeated the struggling Cats with a high-scoring 26.8 (164) to 15.10 (100) hammering to extend their winning streak to six games at Darwin’s TIO Stadium.
The Gold Coast’s 164-point thumping of Geelong was their largest AFL victory to date, surpassing the previous club record of 148 points achieved against Greater Western Sydney in 2013. With the outstanding victory, Damien Hardwick’s Suns climb up to sixth place on the ladder with a 6-4 win-loss record, while Geelong’s concerning decline persists.
After winning their first seven games of the season, Scott’s team was the early front-runner in the tournament, but during the past few weeks, they have lost three in a row. After losing to Melbourne and Port Adelaide, the Cats suffered a historic defeat to the Suns. This Saturday week, they will play a formidable GWS team, so things won’t get any easier.
“But we’re not playing well, so we need to work on inspiring the guys and have a longer rest before facing another strong club in GWS. Things are arrestable by us. That is beyond any doubt in my mind. You’re always worried, but there needs to be a balance between not overreacting and glossing over things, which we obviously won’t do.”
Prior to the match, Geelong was without Jeremy Cameron (concussion) and Patrick Dangerfield (hamstring). Sam De Koning (hamstring tightness) was a late withdrawal and was replaced by Zach Tuohy, a veteran. Furthermore, there were a lot of accusations following Scott’s choice to rest Mitch Duncan, Rhys Stanley, and Tom Hawkins.
Geelong’s call to rest stars questioned by AFL greats
AFL legends David King and Montagna said during the game on Fox Footy that the Cats’ decision to rest their stars amounted to an admission of loss. Montagna claimed that several of the players who did play lacked any kind of hunger, but King said he understood the need to manage the players for the remainder of the season.
Is this merely a feint? You just write it off because it’s so incredibly awful for the Cats,” Montagna remarked. Some of their other senior players appeared as though they didn’t want to be there, and they left five or six of their stars at home. Or are there some red flags and concerns?
The two-time premiership hero King of the Kangaroos stated that Geelong’s middle was their main weakness and that they lacked energy when captain Dangerfield was out of the lineup. “Magic doesn’t exist there without Dangerfield,” he declared. They are really honest and workmanlike. They’re decent, mediocre AFL players, but we love them for who they are as people. However, there is an urgent issue that needs to be resolved there.
Although Scott acknowledged that there was a problem, he was not going to panic. “We certainly need to analyse it and we’ve known for a long, long time it’s one of those things that when we win, we feel really good about it and when you lose, you go and analyse everything,” Scott stated. There’s always a little bit more to it than just purposefully keeping individuals out who are in excellent shape, as evidenced by the fact that (Sam) De Koning arrived late due to a stiff hamstring.
However, it’s undoubtedly something we must evaluate. It falls under the area of things where we should consider our building strategy rather than simply brushing it off. Perhaps there is a reason why we don’t now have the cohesiveness we’d like. However, once more, this is not something on which we are going to decide quickly or offer our opinions at this time.” After Cam Guthrie was replaced during the third quarter, Scott claimed he had also been handled.
The Suns inflicted most of their damage during a brilliant second quarter in which they scored six goals in a row at one point to set up the decisive victory. Bailey Humphrey (five goals), Ben King (four), and Sam Day (three) provided strong support for Jack Lukosius, who shone with five majors and five goal assists as the Suns stormed into the top eight.
