Indoor Cats positive ahead of Dogs clash

Andrew Mathieson
GEELONG is putting a positive spin on being forced indoors after the club was kept off its home ground again this week.
City of Greater Geelong has been resurfacing the goaltogoal centre strip at Skilled Stadium in preparation for an ALeague soccer match on Sunday.
Ground managers have informed the Cats that inclement weather could prevent further training sessions at the ground for a third week.
Geelong Football Club is a rentpaying tenant of Skilled Stadium after relinquishing ownership and maintenance responsibilities of the ground’s buildings to the City during redevelopment plans for the arena.
The Cats’ past four sessions have been at four different venues, including on a baseball diamond.
The players trained at Geelong College yesterday but spent Tuesday’s session dry underfoot, fine tuning their handling skills at Newtown’s YMCA.
The Cats meet Western Bulldogs tonight under the roof at Telstra Dome.
Coach Mark Thompson is adamant distractions on the training track haven’t thrown off game preparations this week.
“While it’s unfortunate we haven’t been able to train here (at Skilled Stadium), a change of venue can be a good thing at this time of year,” he said.
“When we were indoors on Tuesday, we had a really vibrant session and it really fixed up our recovery.
“We’re playing indoors, anyway.”
Thompson is aware the Western Bulldogs will be prepared to run at all costs to match his side following its roundone success against Geelong.
“It was our biggest defeat – 20 points – our biggest for the entire year,” he said.
“So it will be a close affair, a good contest and there will be a lot of running involved.”
Meanwhile, Thompson has refused to start negotiations midseason on a new contract as his coaching stocks skyrocket with the ladderleading Cats.
Thompson is out of contract at the end of the season and could be a target of several clubs looking to fill a vacancy.
Fremantle coach Chris Connolly resigned his post on Wednesday, following Neale Daniher’s exit from Melbourne after its round12 loss to Richmond.
“We’re not talking about that too much,” Thompson said.
“All my focus has been on winning games of footy and we have a game Friday night and that’s all I am concerned about.
“My future will be looked after based on how we play.”