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The Geelong Cats and Gold Coast Suns find themselves at the wrong end of the ladder and will be desperate to pick up their first win of the season. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 3:20pm (AEST).
Ever since Gary Ablett’s famous defection to the Suns, these two clubs have had somewhat intertwined fates.
Former Sun Josh Caddy is an important cog in the Cats midfield machine, legendary Geelong coach Mark Thompson was rumoured to be a frontrunner for Gold Coast’s coaching vacancy, and the Kolodjashnij twins are split between the two teams, with Jake playing for Geelong and Kade suiting up for the Suns.
On the field, the Cats have dominated this rivalry. In addition to spoiling Gold Coast’s first real home game with a 66-point victory, the Cats won the first four contests between these sides by an average of 71 points.
Last time they played however, Harley Bennell’s six goals and Gary Ablett’s 33 disposals saw the Suns claim a coming-of-age 40-point victory.
But this season it’s been a different story for both clubs.
Losses to Hawthorn and Fremantle in the opening two weeks wouldn’t phase too many clubs, but the enormous margins of both losses mean Geelong – a club who were just percentage away from the minor premiership in 2014 – enter this weekend in last place.
The club’s attempts to strengthen their forward line in the offseason have borne little fruit thus far, with the Cats scoring 61 points in Round 1 and 60 last week. Their 44-point loss to the Dockers was their first 40-point loss at home since Round 3, 2006, and if that doesn’t serve as huge motivation then nothing will.
A popular pick to leap into the top eight this season, Gold Coast have started the season with comprehensive losses against last season’s bottom two sides. The vaunted young midfield has spluttered badly, with the Suns averaging 36 fewer disposals, 36 fewer marks and 13 fewer tackles than their opponents, while their effective disposals percentage is second last in the competition.
With Ablett’s shoulder injury and Jaeger O’Meara’s knee keeping them off the field indefinitely, the Suns need something special if they’re to turn it around in 2015.
Billie Smedts will miss with suspension, but Geelong could welcome back some big names for this clash, with Jimmy Bartel (concussion), Jared Rivers (knee) and Steven Motlop (suspension) all looking set to return after missing last week.
Gold Coast on the other hand will be gutted by the losses of Ablett and Jarrod Harbrow (shoulder). The Suns will look to recall the previously suspended Matt Shaw, and could re-work their forward line with smalls Brandon Matera and Aaron Hall, but in any case it looks as if they’ll be fielding a weaker team than they did a week ago.
Prediction
Both of these clubs will be flat-out desperate for a win, and given both sides are capable of playing good football, we should be in for an enthralling match.
But while both teams have endured bitterly disappointing starts to the year, Geelong have lost to far more respectable opposition. At the suddenly besieged Cattery, they should be able to feast on the vulnerable young Suns.
Cats by 43 points.