AN OBVIOUS clear mark in Rooster improvement was the emphatic way they finished off Geelong in the fourth quarter at Eureka Stadium on Sunday.
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North Ballarat Roosters piled on six straight kicks to Geelong’s 1.2 to ensure the Cats were well and truly buried by 47 points in this Victorian Football League clash.
This polished off a sense of unfinished business that had been lingering in the Selkirk Roosters’ camp since round nine – one week after the Sandringham game turning-point talks – when the Roosters had control of the Cats in the Cattery but without really putting the Cats away. They were punished late and let a pivotal potential win slip.
There was some early bite in this game but the Cats seemed to lack the sharpness for a team desperately trying to claw its way into VFL finals – even with their loud, parochial cheer squad chanting from the stands.
A late Brenton Rees goal gave the Cats a two-point edge at half-time. It took until 15 minutes into the final quarter to find their next major, and only major for the second half.
The Roosters dominated possession, 425 touches to the Cats’ 288 with plus-105 in the posession count for their second half obliteration. The Roosters dominated clearances, 43 to 29, and were more ferocious in the tackle count, 75 tackles to 46. But it was the Cats who had the edge when it came to inside-50 entries, up 48 to the Roosters’ 47. A particularly interesting figure, given the scoreline.
Defensively the Roosters were impressive. Roosters coach Gerard FitzGerald builds his teams with strong back-line foundations – this was the Roosters’ trademark formidable strength in the premiership era. FitzGerald maintains good defensive work is a key ingredient for success.
Geelong arrived with an AFL quality forward line and the Roosters shut it down. North Melbourne-listed defender Joel Tippett kept big Cat Nathan Vardy to a scoreless outing with five touches. Tony Locker, Andrew Boseley and Luke Kiel kept mixing and matching and nullifying the Cats.
The Roosters had chances to pull away much earlier in the game, but Fitzgerald was pleased with his team’s overall approach.
“We’re managing the momentum swings in games much better when we’re adjusting our ability to defend,” FitzGerald said. “I’m looking forward to measuring how well we’re playing defensively and our work around the ball when we review the period from our mid-year meeting, after the Sandringham game, right through to Coburg in the final round.”
Midfielder Nick Peters was clear best on ground, winning the Federation University Medal for his performance. Onballer Nick Couch was also honest and tough in his return from lingering knee soreness.
