Geelong’s fatal flaw emerged once again in a deflating Hawthorn round one blow-out that belied its Easter Monday blockbuster status.
An inability to stem the flow and turn momentum, even with the benefit of a half-time break, saw the Cats slump to its worst first round loss in decades.
Admittedly turning the tide is a difficult ask against the reigning premier, but Geelong made absolutely no dents in Hawthorn’s command of the game.
The score would have looked a lot worse if the Hawks had kicked straight.
There were two sides that managed comebacks in round one, Sydney successfully and Brisbane falling just short, so it’s not as if it’s an impossibility in the modern game.
It’s a trend that has bedevilled Geelong in the last few seasons. Last season saw a blow out against Sydney and Hawthorn jump from 33 points down to 29 points up with 10 unanswered goals.
It’s an issue midfielder James Kelly was only to aware of before Monday’s opening bounce.
He admitted the lapses were “symptomatic” of the Cats’ 2014 season.
While Geelong won a lot of close games Kelly also conceded many of them should not have been close at all.
He expressed the hope that the work done on the training track would help reduce the incidence of lapses – but that turned out to be a forlorn hope.
Coach Chris Scott said the club needed to keep perspective, given it was only round one.
“When things go wrong, especially when you’re playing in a team where not too much has gone wrong over a long period of time, it can be really confusing and you can jump to conclusions,” Scott said.
“Our job is to be balanced and improve the things that need to be improved and recognise there is still a lot of good in our game.”
Geelong hosts Fremantle at Simonds Stadium on Sunday.
