By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
It was a bit of a different best players list for Geelong after the opening salvo of the 2014 season last night.
C Guthrie, C Enright, J Caddy, M Stokes and M Duncan are not normally the names you would see – well, perhaps Corey Enright, the evergreen picking up without missing a beat.
But names like Bartel, Johnson, Hawkins, Taylor and Kelly, while present, did not necessarily exert the greatest influence on the game.
When they did get the ball, they generally used it with their usual steadiness and coolness under pressure.
But it was the younger Cats exerting pressure on Collingwood in the first and last terms that saw them over the line.
The manic pressure and tackling of the first term set up a winning lead, but slack second and third terms saw the Pies storm back into the lead.
It was a salutary lesson for the fresher faces in the Geelong line-up – loosen the grip and your opponent will take advantage.
The return of the harassment of anything wearing black and white in the final stanza saw Geelong home by two points.
For a first up hit out, both camps would be happy with what they saw, apart from injuries.
Geelong 0.16.8 (104) def Collingwood 1.13.15 (102)
