By Luke Voogt
George Horlin-Smith will miss Saturday’s game against the Demons after kicking the match-winning goal in the Cats thrilling one-point victory against the Kangaroos.
Horlin-Smith fractured his thumb during a high tackle which led to the free kick that clinched the come-from-behind victory.
“It was actually in the last contest,“ said Cat’s coach Chris Scott, “The adrenalin was pumping and he didn’t think it was too bad, especially when he kicked the last goal.”
Saturday’s match at Etihad will again be a tall order for the Cats’ ruckman, this time against the AFL’s best Max Gawn.
“Gawn obviously presents some challenges,” Scott said.
The opposition have smashed Geelong’s rucks in the last two rounds, leaving the Cats with the worst hit-out differential in the AFL.
Sandilands dominated the ruck in Geelong’s game against Fremantle, while Braydon Preuss beat Rhys Stanley and Mark Blicavs 54-21, with Told Goldstein out injured.
With the third-man up option banned, the Cats even resorted to not contesting boundary throw-ins inside 50 in the last quarter against North Melbourne.
But the tactic was effective at locking the ball in the forward half, with Preuss appearing unsure whether to tap, or grab the football and risk being caught holding the ball.
Tom Hawkins struggled early in the game and gave away a number of free kicks, but Scott was confident the strong forward could tighten his game Saturday.
“Tom used his body really well to mark the ball a few times on the weekend, so occasionally when he oversteps that mark I think we can all live with that part of it,” he said.
“It’s when you’re completely out of the contest and you give away a really sloppy one. The way the modern game’s played keeping the ball your forward half is really important.”
But the Demons have their own problems with former Hawk Jordan Lewis and young star foward Jesse Hogan likely to miss the game.
The match review panel offered Lewis a three-match suspension for striking Carlton midfielder Patrick Cripps and Hogan a two-game suspension for striking Sam Rowe.
“It’s only logical to acknowledge they’ve been really good players for them,” Scott said.
“But they’ve got some pretty good players waiting in the wings. They don’t want for depth in the midfield.”
“They’re going to be really hard to beat. They’ve been really good around the ball.”
Scott will also have a dilemma with star backman Harry Taylor.
While Taylor presents a strong marking option up forward, he didn’t make an impact on the game until the Cats moved him back.
Scott refused to comment on continued speculation on the future of former Cat and champion Gary Ablett.
“It’s a Gold Coast issue and a Gary Ablett issue.”
Meanwhile, Joel Selwood and Patrick Dangerfield earned yet more praise this week after dragging their side to victory.
Former Essendon star and Matthew Lloyd has praised the Cats stars during the week.
“These two are absolute champions of the game and they didn’t want to lose,“ Lloyd said on AFL.com.au’s Access All Areas on Monday morning.
“They said, ’We’ve got to do whatever it takes to win.’ It made me want to play again … because I would love to play with these two players.“
