The Geelong Cats sent an ominous warning to the rest of the competition after a dominant performance to defeat fellow top four contenders the Western Bulldogs by 57 points at Etihad Stadium.
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Led once again by a magnificent performance by midfield duo Patrick Dangerfield and Joel Selwood, the Cats set up their impressive victory in the first half where they outscored the Bulldogs by ten goals to one.
Dangerfield produced a virtuoso best-on-ground effort for the second week in a row, following up his 48-possession performance last week with 37 possessions, 19 of which were contested. He also laid some telling tackles and kicked the goal of the night from 55 metres out on the boundary.
He was ably supported in the midfield by Selwood along with Jimmy Bartel, Steven Motlop and Mitch Duncan as the Cats continually denied the Bulldogs the chance to use the corridor.
The Cats’ defence was superb again and the Bulldogs struggled to get the ball past half forward in the first half. The Dogs badly lacked a focal point as the Cats defenders led by Harry Taylor and Corey Enright cleaned up at will. By half time the marks inside forward 50 was 14 to just one in favour of the Cats.
The Cats forwards also played their part, pressuring the Dogs defenders into making mistakes and forcing turnovers. Daniel Menzel kicked four to make it eight goals in the last two weeks.
For the Bulldogs they would have been disappointed with the effort. Their only bright spot was the third quarter where, led by Lachie Hunter and Tom Liberatore, they mounted a spirited fightback outscoring the Cats four goals to one to give themselves an outside chance in the last quarter.
But once again led by Patrick Dangerfield the Cats re-asserted their dominance and quickly extinguished any chance of a comeback with the first two goals of the final quarter.
An outstanding all round performance by the Cats and one that could see them roar to premiership favouritism.
Final score
Geelong 16.4.100
Bulldogs 5.13.43
The Roar’s AFL MVP
3. Patrick Dangerfield (Geel) – 85 possessions in last two weeks. Brilliant again tonight with 37 disposals, 19 contested, 9 clearances.
2. Joel Selwood (Geel) – Along with Dangerfield played a huge part in setting this win up with a great first half.
1. Corey Enright (Geel) – 93 per cent disposal efficiency and just cleaned up in the back half, rarely made a mistake.
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