We’ve been really happy with the efforts of our defensive group over the last few weeks. Last week‘s win over North Melbourne in particular was a really pleasing effort from the boys and our good players stood up well against some tough opposition. Nick Smith did a good job on North Melbourne’s Lindsay Thomas and Teddy Richards obviously did a very good job on Drew Petrie.  I also though Nick Malceski was back to his best, with his attacking flair off the half back line.

In the absence of Alex Johnson, we are very lucky to have the versatility of Lewis Roberts-Thomson who can go down back and play on the talls and the smalls, which he has done for us in the last three weeks. The best thing about our defensive group right now is that if someone falls down, there is always another player who steps up. The core of our defensive group is still together and while it’s disappointing that we’ve lost Alex for the rest of the year, our group has played a fair bit of football together now and they know what to expect from each other. They’ve also proven that they work well together, and even if a new guy comes in, they know how to continue to make it work.

The two players who are often battling it out for a regular spot are Tony Armstrong and Dane Rampe. They are both different types of players and they offer different things. Tony’s ball use is exceptional coming off the half-back line and he’s really creative for us. When it comes to Rampe, we know that Dane has got the ability to play on talls and smalls, which also makes us flexible down there. Those boys are definitely the ones who are fighting it out for the spot that Alex has vacated this season and they’ll both get a chance to take their opportunities tonight at the SCG.

Tonight we take on Geelong, who have been in terrific form over the last three weeks. The Cats have a number of dangerous forwards we need to keep our eye on, including Tom Hawkins and James Podsiadly, who are both great players. As we always do, we have Heath Grundy, Teddy Richards and Lewis Roberts-Thomson who will battle it out against the opposition talls, so they will combine again tonight against Hawkins and Podsiadly.

The Cats small forwards have also been extremely potent in recent weeks, in particular Steven Motlop. Motlop has been in very good form and has been really attacking for them, but you also can’t underestimate the other smalls on the Geelong list. Paul Chapman and Matthew Stokes are great players and they’ve stood the test of time. They’ve just got talent right across the board, so obviously we’ll also have to put some time into them.

If you look at football in general this season, a lot of teams have been playing in ebbs and flows. Probably from the start of the season with Geelong, they’ve had some very, very good patches and then they’ve had patches where teams have scored against them as well. I think Geelong’s greatest strength is that they always believe that no matter the situation, that they can get back in the game and win, and we certainly saw that when they played North Melbourne. They’ve just got that great ability to believe in one another and to get the job done and that’s a true sign of the strength of a quality side. There is no doubt that they have been one of the benchmark teams over the last decade and they will be a very tough opponent tonight.

We’re really looking forward to tonight’s game as Friday night football is always exciting for everyone at the club. We’re looking forward to getting a big crowd into the SCG and hopefully we can put another win on the board in front of a huge red and white crowd.