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It was a fairytale start and a nightmare ending in Gary Ablett’s first game against his former Geelong teammates at Metricon Stadium on Saturday night.
The Gold Coast skipper, who defected to the fledgling AFL side this year, proudly led the Suns to an unexpected 11 point halftime lead only to see them capitulate to a 21.13 (139) to 10.13 (73) loss.
The Suns early lead was built on hard running and quick transition from defence to attack against the shell-shocked Cats who were having enormous trouble at ground level tracking Gold Coast’s creative forwards.
The undefeated Cats overcame their indifferent start though to put the result beyond doubt late in third term with an eight goal to one quarter.
The third term major was the Suns’ only joy after the long break which was bitterly disappointing since they put up such a great fight for the first two quarters.
The Cats then followed with a similarly dominant final term to sour the grand opening of the stadium for the Suns which attracted a crowd of 21,485 for their gala opening.
Cats forwards James Podsiadly (four goals) and Steve Johnson (seven goals and 29 disposals) exposed the Suns brittle and under-sized defence.
Ablett’s influence in the opening stages was instrumental in the Suns racking up four consecutive first quarter goals and a second term rear guard action after they were headed in time-on.
Several former Cats premiership teammates roughed up the Brownlow medal winner but it neither broke his concentration or spirit.
He racked up his usual number of disposals as he has done against any opposition so the sense of occasion – his first against his former club and the first AFL match at the rebuilt Carrara stadium – made no difference to his approach.
The Suns should take a lot out of their opening effort and that of code-hopper Karmichael Hunt who was impressive in defence and kicked his first AFL goal with a 60m bomb late in the second quarter.
Ablett said any heavy contact he received was only in the regular course of play and he felt no undue physical attention from his former teammates.
“I’ve been excited about it for a while to get out there and have a crack against my ex-teammates,” Ablett said.
“They went out to attack all our players. They hit the ball fairly and they are a pretty fair side.
“It was all good.”
Suns coach Guy McKenna said there were a number of encouraging signs, especially the continued improvement of project defender Hunt, who joined in several offensive thrusts.
The second-half fadeout, though, was bitterly disappointing and would serve as a reference point for a number of younger players.
“In the second half we tired, made poor turnovers and, against a side that has not lost a game, they are going to open you up,” McKenna said.
“Certainly the first half was encouraging.
“He (Hunt) was certainly more active in our offensive movement, he kicked a goal, so hopefully that keeps the naysayers quiet.”
Geelong coach Chris Scott provided cagey answers to several questions regarding their sluggish start, why Mitch Duncan was a late withdrawal and Johnson’s performance.
“He’s a good player, but Stevie knows we weren’t happy with everything he did tonight,” Scott said.
“The numbers look great but we can get seduced by numbers sometimes.
“He’s (Duncan) had a few little minor issues. Something specific we can’t tell you about.”
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