The Cats want Mark Blicavs to continue rucking despite the Saints exposing a lack of height in Geelong’s backline last Friday, coach Chris Scott has confirmed.
“It’s a constant debate we have internally around where Blicavs is best served, but I don’t think it’s new, us playing him up the ground a bit more,” Scott told a press conference on Wednesday.
“The fact we didn’t change it [against St Kilda] probably is a bit of a pointer to where we’re thinking, at least in the short-term.
“I think the ‘Geelong are a better team with Blicavs at full-back’ argument is starting to struggle a little bit when you look at the last 30 games or so.”
Geelong faces the threat of Gold Coast forward Ben King, whose twin Max took four contested marks for St Kilda as Blicavs contested the ruck in tandem with Esava Ratugolea.
Only woeful kicking (1.5), added to his teammates’ inaccuracy (5.17), prevented the 2.02-metre King from having more of an impact.
But defender Jake Kolodjashnij (193cm) appears likely to return tomorrow afternoon, which could add height to the backline without needing to send Blicavs back.
“Last week was a little extreme for us because … we didn’t have Kolodjashnij,” Scott said.
But Rhys Stanley still “remains in the conversation” for the centre circle, along with now match-fit ruck comrade Darcy Fort, according to Scott.
“We’ve decided to go with a different structure in the last couple of weeks but it doesn’t preclude Rhys getting back into that team,” he said.
“I thought he played well in the VFL on the weekend. If he doesn’t play this week, it doesn’t mean that he’s any further away.
“I think he’s a really good option for us, should we tweak the structure that we’ve gone with over the last couple of weeks.”
Scott will likely seek to cut off kicking options in the back half for the Suns, who have gone from having the second-fewest switches in 2020 to the most in 2021.
“The parts of the game that they’re good at and where they struggle are reasonably obvious,” Scott said.
Geelong, on the other hand, has improved dramatically at stoppages over the past five rounds.
Scott credited a big team effort by Cam Guthrie, Brandan Parfitt, Mitch Duncan, Shaun Higgins, Isaac Smith and captain Joel Selwood for the improvement.
“[Selwood has] always been an influence in the preparation and the way we go about it – and that part hasn’t changed,” he said.
“I don’t think I can remember a time where he’s had the confidence in the big group of players around him to get the job done.
“Obviously Dangerfield hasn’t been there, but it hasn’t been ‘we’re under pressure we need Selwood in there’ as much as it may have been in the past.”
Scott hinted the Cats would send a few more long bombs down the ground from the kick out, following Zach Tuohy’s massive torpedo last Friday.
“We’ve got a few that are pretty good exponents,” he said.
“A few of them that can’t help themselves.
“We like it as a bit of a change-up. It becomes a bit predictable if you just kick barrels every time.”
