After the Essendon game all of the players had four days off straight after the game and then returned to the club the next Wednesday. Leading into a Thursday night game, we wanted to ensure that we got a block of training under our belts before tonight’s game. Giving the boys a few days off was really important, first of all because it gave them a chance to get away mentally and to have a bit of a break from footy, but also to recover and recuperate.

Planning for a Thursday night game has been a bit different. Usually you work on a Monday through to Saturday schedule, but leading into this game it’s been more like a Wednesday through to the following Thursday preparation. It meant that everything moved forward a couple of days and it also meant that players needed to be really focused in on the game because the turnaround after their break was only seven or eight days. The players have been really good on that front and training has been really good, so we’re looking forward tonight’s match.

We know Geelong is a really good team, and we’re not going to expect anything less than a quality performance from them. They played well against North Melbourne on Friday night and they’ve been able to win in some tough games. We always have very good, close games against Geelong and they are always a tough team to match up on, particularly through the midfield. They had ‘Stevie J’ out last week, so he’ll be back, and then they’ve got some really good and experienced players in James Kelly and Jimmy Bartel.

While the Cats midfield has been impressive this year, we’ve been equally pleased with the way our mids have been performing over the last month as well. It’s been great to see the way some of our younger midfielders have come on this year. Luke Parker is one of those guys and he had a terrific pre-season, which has translated into this form this year. He’s stepped up this year after a good year last year and then there are guys like Jake Lloyd and Harry Cunningham who have gone through the midfield and have also been really good. Our more senior guys like Josh Kennedy, Dan Hannebery and Kieren Jack have taken their game to another level this year as well, which has been extremely important for us.

We have also been really pleased with our depth through the midfield this season and at the moment we have a number of players also pushing up through our reserves like Tom Mitchell, Ryan O’Keefe and Dean Towers who have all been playing good, consistent football. It’s a good situation to be in and it keeps the pressure on the senior team because they know if they don’t play consistently then there is someone ready to step up in their place. It’s a good thing for the club that our senior players are kept on their toes and it’s always a positive thing to have that healthy competition within the club.

Tonight’s game is a really important game for us to stay in touch with the top sides of the competition. We strung five wins together before the bye, so it’s really important we continue on with our momentum this week. There is no better opportunity than tonight at the SCG against one of the leading sides in the competition to really test out where we’re at. We hope to fill the ground with a big home crowd and bring home the win.