- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
In case you live under a rock (or Sydney), you would have heard Geelong smashed Collingwood by 96 points in the so-called ‘mockbuster’ on Friday night.
It was surreal and something that will give the Cats confidence and pride. Gloating was widespread on the Twitter-sphere last night, but write Collingwood off at your own peril.
The result of this game, not matter how many try to play it up, is meaningless.
Let’s start with what this means for the Cats. They have been doubted all season, and last week in particular. An example was the fact they had been smashed at the clearances in the past couple of games, they have been kicked around for that.
Striking was Jimmy Bartel’s interview on Fox Sports’ ‘On the Couch’ on Monday.
It was exemplary; the sort of leaders at Kardinia Park is impressive. There was no panic from the Brownlow Medallist, just a calm confidence in his teammates.
Good teams respond and Geelong did just that against Collingwood. Whilst they will be confident about themselves, they have the experience to deal with such a giddying high.
They will not be carried away with themselves. The Cats are a confident side anyway, and they would know this result means nothing. This brings us to Collingwood.
Collingwood are a very good side. This is not a secret to any football fan. They would not want to remember this game, and for good reason.
However, as I said earlier, that result matters not. Yes, Collingwood will cop a bit of gloating and they would be angry.
But, all that matters for them now, however, is next week’s qualifier versus West Coast next week.
They will be very motivated to make a statement. The only thing that can possibly derail Collingwood is their unsettled side.
They have too many players out; and they are big players out. Maxwell, Shaw, Thomas and to a lesser extent Dawes, are going to be short of touch come next week.
It is a little unsettled and may cause a bit of a worry in the camp. Like Geelong did last night, they will need to respond.
All in all, this leaves us with a pretty tasty finals series. For entrée, we have the hated-rivals Geelong playing Hawthorn on Friday night.
Main course will see a hurt Collingwood take on young, cocky upstarts West Coast.
And it will all capped be off with a very sweet dessert in Essendon versus Carlton.
Let’s not forget Sydney and St. Kilda. The winner of that game will depend on where the game will be played, in my view. If it is at the SCG, it will be Sydney’s to lose. If at Etihad, it’ll be the Saints.
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.