Clinical Cats belt Sydney again
Geelong have continued their mastery of Sydney and kept on Collingwood's heels with a clinical 53-point thrashing of the Swans at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night.
The Cats' 20.5 (125) to 9.18 (72) win is a club-record eighth in a row against Sydney and moves them back within two points of the AFL ladder-leading Magpies with four games remaining before the finals.
Geelong meets Collingwood next Saturday in what will be a hugely anticipated match.
Steve Johnson was best on ground with six goals and 25 possessions and Gary Ablett (three goals) was also superb, while the likes of Darren Milburn, James Kelly and Joel Selwood contributed strongly for the reigning premiers.
Just like their 73-point belting against Melbourne last week, Sydney had far too many passengers, with Adam Goodes virtually the only Swan who could hold his head high after the game, registering three goals and 22 touches in a lone hand.
Sydney were competitive in the first quarter, but they were held to a solitary goal in each of the second and third quarters to fall away badly.
The Swans are still chasing their first victory over Geelong since round five, 2006.
The only real positive for Sydney is Carlton's loss to Collingwood earlier on Saturday, leaving them both clinging to the top eight with 9-9 records, while ninth-placed North Melbourne have an opportunity to join them on 36 points when they face the Bulldogs on Sunday.
While the Swans are in the midst of a long-term quest to add depth to their list, Geelong are blessed with talent to burn, bringing in Tom Hawkins, Trent West and Shannon Byrnes for James Podsiadly (soreness), Jimmy Bartel (ankle) and Mark Blake (dropped).
Cats coach Mark Thompson suggested Blake will find it tough to get back in the side, making the rather damning comment before the game the ruckman "wasn't in good enough form so we decided he needs to go back and sort out whether he wants to play our way".
Sydney's biggest problem has been covering for injured full-forward Daniel Bradshaw and it was again an area of concern on Saturday night.
A 25-point halftime lead blew out to 65-points at the final charge as Geelong continued their charge towards September.
Thompson was pleased with his side's effort and was looking forward to a tougher test against the high-flying Magpies next week.
"It'll be a great game. Saturday night at the `G, they're in terrific form and we haven't been in bad form either," he said.
"So it's a match made in heaven."
He also had praise for Johnson after he equalled his career-best tally of goals.
"He's just grown up as a person. He's matured ... he's settled right down," he said.
Swans counterpart Paul Roos felt his side, who are missing the likes of Bradshaw, Craig Bolton, Lewis Roberts-Thomson and Mark Seaby to injury, simply didn't have the stocks to challenge the Cats.
"You get emotional during the game, but we've got six of our best players out at the moment," he said.
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