Cam Mooney warns Cats over soft run to finals

A soft run to the finals could leave Geelong exposed when September pressure hits, according to Cam Mooney.

On The Warm Up, co-host Matt Worland raised concerns about the Cats’ recent fixture, questioning whether it was the right preparation for finals football.

“The Cats have had an easy run and that’s not a crack at them,” Worland said.

Geelong’s last month has featured matches against St Kilda, North Melbourne, Port Adelaide and Essendon, all sides currently outside the top eight.

Mooney, a triple premiership forward, agreed the issue was real and drew on his own playing career as a warning.

“I am not a big fan of a soft draw going in. We had a soft draw in 2008 and you know what happened there,” Mooney said.

“We had harder draws in 2007, 2009 and 2011. You do like a couple of easy kills, but you also want a little bit of a test.”

Mooney recalled how Geelong “barely got out of second gear” before the 2008 finals.

“We had a good game in the qualifier, an OK game in the prelim and then we got our masters,” he said.

Geelong travel to face Sydney in Round 23 before finishing the regular season against 16th-placed Richmond in Round 24, followed by the pre-finals bye.

With the Swans out of the finals race but determined to finish strongly, Mooney believes the clash will be a much-needed challenge before September.

“I think they’re such a proud club and they’ve been disappointed with their year. They will finish strong, so I’m happy with that game. But yeah, the last couple have been a bit soft.”

The Warm Up with Worlo and Moons airs Saturdays from 8am on SEN. Listen live or grab the podcast at linktr.ee/thewarmupsen.