Cats in unfamiliar territory

Andrew Mathieson
A NEW ground and unfamiliar surroundings provide the biggest threats to derailing Geelong’s early season momentum.
The Cats have bounced back from an earlyseason setback with smashing backtoback victories, including Sunday’s 52point triumph over Melbourne.
But Geelong coach Mark Thompson has expressed concern about the trip to Tasmania for the away clash with Hawthorn on Sunday.
The anxiety spills over from the Cats’ unexpected loss to the Kangaroos at Canberra late last year that scuttled Geelong’s finals chances.
The club has since requested a training session at Aurora Stadium on Saturday night to adjust to the ground’s dimensions.
The Launceston ground, at 135 metres from wing to wing, is the widest in the AFL.
“We didn’t perform that well there (in Canberra), so that’s a real challenge for us to win down in Tassie,” Thompson said.
“(Hawthorn) play well at the ground and it’s a really big ground – it’s extraordinarily large.
“I think it’s as wide as the SCG is long.
“I’m not sure why we have to get to play on these sorts of grounds and the dimensions be so different – it’s staggering.”
Lowly Hawthorn holds an impressive 84 win/loss record at Aurora since transferring its home games.
Thompson has also provoked rival Alistair Clarkson into switching the Hawks’ unattractive but successful playing style.
Hawthorn provided two upsets last year against the Cats – 54 points at Skilled Stadium and 61 at Telstra Dome in the final round – by getting numbers behind the ball.
Media criticism of the game plan has since drawn the wrath of Clarkson in postmatch press conferences.
Thompson was expecting a dour encounter after Geelong booted 39 goals in the past two weekends.
“It will probably be more of an ugly game than it will be a fashionable, pretty game because that’s just the way Hawthorn tends to set up and we need to set up that way,” he said.
“We probably won’t win the game kicking 18 or 16 goals – we might hopefully win the game by kicking a lot less.
“It might end up being a 10 goalall game because of the way Hawthorn plays.”