Cats hope to claw Pies’ momentum

THE ladder-leading Magpies await Geelong tomorrow (Saturday, May 3) night at the MCG in what is sure to be a blockbuster clash between the two AFL sides.

More than 70,000 fans are expected to pile into the home of footy to catch the action.

The Cats will be looking to bounce back from an 18-point loss to Carlton last weekend.

Despite trailing by 28 points at three quarter time, the Cats fought hard to flip the momentum and pushed the Blues to the final siren.

Geelong’s defensive unit was strong throughout the matchup, with Connor O’Sullivan (17 disposals and 12 intercept possessions) and Sam De Koning (16 disposals and 11 intercepts) leading from the front.

Jeremy Cameron was at his best, slotting four goals, while Bailey Smith and Shaun Mannagh both found plenty of the footy in the midfield.

Ollie Dempsey and Lawson Humphries also earned plaudits and were named in the club’s best players.

Geelong Cats coach Chris Scott said he was disappointed with the outcome of Sunday’s match.

“The glass half full approach is we gave ourselves a chance to win… but every team has had one of those days this year where they couldn’t execute.

“It’s as bad as I’ve seen us play in a long time.

“Sometimes you have those days, you hope they are rare, and you lose by 70 points. I thought we hung in and we gave ourselves a chance to win, but every time we looked like drawing level we made another error.

“They Carlton have got too many good players to let them play the way they want.”

Collingwood come into the clash off the back of a six-match winning streak.

The Cats came out on top in their most recent meeting with the Pies, triumphing by 20 points late last year.

Geelong will need to be at their absolute best this time round if they are to contend with the speed and power of Collingwood’s forward line.

Tomorrow’s match will be broadcast on Fox Footy and streamed through Kayo from 7.30pm.