By LUKE VOOGT
The Cats will have a weekend of self-reflection during the bye after yet another shock loss to a bottom-eight team.
Geelong lost in a three-point thriller to St Kilda despite having beaten Hawthorn, GWS, North Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs, all premiership contenders this year.
It was the club’s third loss to a bottom-eight team so far this year, following defeats to Carlton and Collingwood.
Former club greats weighed in this week on how the Cats had beaten the AFL’s best but lost supposedly easy games.
Three-time premiership winner Cameron Ling told Melbourne radio that Geelong players lacked “five to ten per cent” in their preparation.
“I could only put it down to an approach that isn’t as 100 per cent detailed and as perfect as it should be,” he told 3AW on Sunday.
Ling put the blame on some players rather than the coaching staff.
After sensational performances against the top clubs, some players were thinking “we’ll play like that again and we’ll beat St Kilda”, he said.
“A few players now have had really ordinary games … where the expectation was that we were going to win.”
Ling said Mitch Duncan was quiet in the first and Steven Motlop had no influence.
Motlop had lacked consistency this year, which both the player and coach Chris Scott had acknowledged, Ling said.
“When he’s good he’s outstanding, but when he’s not so good he’s extremely poor.”
Scott was also critical of his team’s performance.
“Less than our best is not good enough,” he said on Fox Footy.
Scott was left fuming in the dying minutes of the game as Brownlow favourite Patrick Dangerfield inexplicably sat on the bench.
Commentators were confounded as Dangerfield stood on the boundary line for several minutes and the Saints kicked the last two goals of the match.
“Don’t overestimate the amount of control we have in the coaches’ box,” Scott said.
“It would be interesting to hear the audio in the box at that time. It’s not for this timeslot and there’s a level of frustration.”
The Cats will hold an open training session Monday ahead of their Friday-night blockbuster against Sydney at Simonds Stadium on 8 July.
