Cam Mooney: Geelong’s problem wasn’t effort, it was composure

Geelong’s biggest issue on the weekend wasn’t effort. It was composure, and there’s a big difference.

When you get beaten like that, everyone wants to question hunger, pressure and whether the players were ready to go. That’s the easy reaction. But I look at Geelong’s loss to Gold Coast and see a side that was fumbly, uncertain and sloppy with the ball, especially coming out of the back half. That is what killed them.

I honestly can’t remember seeing Geelong turn the footy over like that leaving defensive 50. That’s usually the area of the ground where they are calm, organised and methodical. Even when they are under pressure, they generally hold their shape and make good decisions. On Friday night, they didn’t. They coughed it up, Gold Coast punished them the other way, and once that starts happening against a confident side, the game can get away from you quickly.

That’s exactly what happened.

The scoreboard ended up looking a little better than the game actually felt, because Geelong were never really in it. Gold Coast were sharp, clean and brutal when the moment came. Their key players were on straight away. They used the ball well, they finished their work, and Geelong looked like a side that was half a step behind both physically and mentally.

Now, I’m not going overboard after one game. I’m not in the business of declaring the wheels are falling off at Geelong because they got beaten badly in round one. That would be lazy. But what I do think this game showed is how much pressure falls on the next layer when your stars are missing.

No Jeremy Cameron changes everything in attack. No Patrick Dangerfield changes plenty around the contest and structurally as well. Shannon Neale is a young key forward with talent, and I like him, but he is not at the stage where he should be carrying the sort of load he had to carry. That is not a knock on him. That is just reality. When the best players are out, the expectations on younger blokes rise very quickly, and sometimes that exposes where a list is at.

That is where Geelong are right now. They are still contending, but they are also trying to bring through the next group. That is hard to do. It’s why the best clubs stay strong for longer than everyone expects. They keep blooding players while they’re still playing big games. But there does come a point where those younger players have to do more than just fill holes. They have to stand up.

I also think there’s something in the interrupted build-up. Coming off a grand final season shortens your pre-season, and if your last month of training is disrupted by niggles and missed sessions, you are going to feel it early. That doesn’t excuse the performance, but it helps explain why Geelong looked underdone.

The good thing for Geelong is they’ll know exactly what the problem was. This wasn’t some mystery. Their ball use was poor, their exits were messy, and they lost their composure when Gold Coast put heat on them. That is fixable, but it has to be fixed quickly.

Because now comes Fremantle, and that is a proper test. If Geelong want to show that round one was an ugly start and not something more serious, this is the week to answer it. Strong clubs don’t spend two weeks talking about standards. They respond.

And that’s what I’ll be watching. Not the speeches, not the excuses, not the panic. Just whether Geelong can get their game back under control when the pressure comes on again.

Listen to The Run Home with Worlo & Moons on SEN Geelong, Mondays and Fridays from 3–5pm, via the SEN App.