Cats ‘might win from loss’

Andrew Mathieson
GEELONG coach Mark Thompson has joked the Cats should “probably go out and lose this game” to help their premiership chances.
Pointing to the record books from over the past decade, he noted the propensity for premiers to have dropped their reciprocal home-and-away clash before coming over the top of their grand final opponent.
In a forerunner to a possible premiership decider, Geelong still remains a slight favourite to hold off Collingwood on Saturday night at the MCG.
But Thompson painted the game as “business as usual”, with a loss only costing four points.
“If we do end up meeting in the grand final, based on recent events, the team that ends up winning the premiership ends up getting beaten (the last time) during the season by the other team,” he said.
“So we probably should go out and lose this game.”
The Cats famously lost thrillers against St Kilda last year and Port Adelaide in 2007 before capturing their last two flags, while beating the Hawks first did little for the defending premiers in the 2008 grand final.
On the eve of arguably the blockbuster of the season, former captain Tom Harley said Collingwood was on the same path this year that Geelong trod toward its historic 2007 premiership.
“There’s no reason they can’t go on and win the premiership because they’re a great unit and they’ve got some superstars in the ranks,” Harley told a Melbourne newspaper this week.
A less-enthusiastic Thompson dismissed the claims, saying the premiership landscape had dramatically changed.
“2007 was a very exciting year for us – we were quite a ruthless team,” he responded.
“But we didn’t have to play against a Geelong either. There was no other team that was a standout.
“I think that this year there are four or five really good teams in it.
“I think it’s closer than any other year in recent history.”
Thompson said the players and coaching staff primed themselves every time Geelong returned to the big stage.
But he was also quick to give the Magpies the edge in pressure games despite his team having recent grand final appearances on its side.
“I think Collingwood has an advantage there because its following is such that it does get to play with 80,000-plus a lot of times over (the players’) careers,” Thompson said.
“What we’re got is a lot of experience in our team and the more you do this sort of thing helps.
“I can remember my first 2007 grand final and I was absolutely terrified as a coach.
“In 2008, I was more prepared and in 2009 it just got a bit easier.
“The more you coach in these big games the better you get at it.”