Cats to test mettle against ladder-leading Demons

Geelong Football Club’s hot start to AFLW Season 8 will face its biggest challenge to date when it hosts the undefeated Melbourne Demons tonight (Thursday, September 28) at GMHBA Stadium from 6.15pm.

The Cats notched up its highest scoring total of the season last week against Port Adelaide, outkicking the Power 5.12.42 to 11.4.70 to earn the club’s third win of the season, but will need to test its mettle against the best-scoring team in the competition.

Earlier this week, Cats coach Dan Lowther said he expects a tier-one performance from both clubs in the Round 5 match.

“Everyone is feeling well at the moment, 3-1, it’s a really good start and we were looking to carry some momentum from last year and I think we’ve got that.

“It’s a big challenge, but I think early parts of the season are challenging anyway. I was chatting to the girls on Tuesday night around a 10-game season being almost like a knockout series, so the early part of the year is really important.

“Our loss to North Melbourne was a big challenge, but tonight the challenge steps up again, but everyone’s in good spirits and ready to go.”

The Cats have tallied wins over Western Bulldogs, Sydney, and Port Adelaide in the opening four weeks of the season while averaging 56.3 points per game – the fourth-highest of the 18 clubs.

Tonight also marks Cats forward Chloe Scheer’s 25th club appearance in the hoops.

Scheer has had a blistering start to the 2023 AFLW Season, averaging 7.25 disposals and 2.5 goals a game.

She is also tied for second in the AFLW’s goal-kicking leaderboard with 10 majors on the season so far.

Returned Cats player Rebecca Webster said the key to the clash against the reigning premiers would be playing consistent footy over four quarters.

“We need to tap into what we do best for four quarters, really.

“Coming out after half-time last week was what we tried to do, but Port came in really hard there and their pressure around the football was excellent.

“So, we’ll need to match Melbourne there for four quarters this week, there’s always ebbs and flows with football, and we just have to adjust to that.”

The Cats will also have a $3.50 sausage sizzle on offer at every home game this season, with 100 per cent of the profits to go towards supporting a different junior football club each week.

Lara Football Club is tonight’s club, and club committee member Tania Curmi said the funds raised would be used to purchase new training equipment for the club’s female footballers.

“What a wonderful initiative by the Geelong Football Club to have local football clubs raise money for their female footballers and increase awareness for females in sport.

“We are very humbled to have been chosen to be part of the fundraiser. We are keen as a club to expand our numbers and grow our participants.”

Lara will also look at furthering its female players’ skills by hosting a special training session, conducted by an external organisation.

To purchase tickets to the Cats’ game (starting from $10, free entry for children), head to ticketmaster.com.au