‘That is the mindset of a loser’: Cats aren’t focused on slump

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Geelong may be injury depleted but the Cats could not have picked a better opponent, if history is any guide, than the Western Bulldogs in a bid to reignite their season on Saturday night.

The Cats have dropped to 10th on the ladder on the back of their second three-game losing streak of the season. That retired great Joel Selwood experienced only one three-game losing run through his grand career has highlighted how tough a campaign this has been for the premiers.

Kick along: Star Bulldog Marcus Bontempelli hasn’t had much success against the Cats in his time at the club.Credit: Getty Images

However, that can change quickly, and the Cats now face a rival which, admittedly, has won five of its past six, although it did fall to Gold Coast late in Darwin last weekend. What history says is the Cats should begin with confidence, for they have only lost twice in 11 matches to the Bulldogs since Luke Beveridge took charge of the Dogs in 2015.

“We are certainly not playing the way we want to, but we are putting some things in place to rectify that – still really positive about the season,” Cats forward Tom Hawkins said.

“They [the Bulldogs] obviously pose a huge threat through the midfield with personnel but also experience. So, another great challenge for our group in there, but also a great challenge for us ahead of the ball, and how we position and how we continue to be consistent with what we give them, and behind the ball.”

Coach Chris Scott said on Friday the Cats were not thinking about a need to remain in touch with the top four – a loss on Saturday could have them three games behind fourth spot – and the importance this has on a deep finals run.

“As you soon as you start playing the game thinking: ‘If it doesn’t work out this week, we are in trouble’, I just think that is the mindset of a loser, and that’s not us,” Scott said.

“I think in terms of what we are going to look like at our best, and our focus on getting there, [it’s] then up to everybody else to worry about us. So, if we lose this week, I get the catastrophising from others, but I won’t be buying into it.”

Cam Guthrie has had toe surgery, and won’t be back playing at least until the end of the season.Credit: Getty Images

The Cats won by 28 points when the teams last met, in round 20 last year at GMHBA Stadium, but their three previous wins were by only 13, five and 11 points respectively. The Dogs’ last win against them was in round 16, 2019, at Marvel Stadium.

The challenge for the sixth-placed Bulldogs is to show they are a legitimate top-four contender, a ladder finish they haven’t achieved in the Beveridge era despite appearing in two grand finals and winning a flag. They are ranked 13th in attack this season, behind teams outside the top-eight including Sydney, GWS and the Suns.

“I mentioned we had started to lose clearance – we need an improvement in there. Our scope, the gap for us is to be able to score more, to be able to use the ball better and capitalise on opportunities,” Beveridge said.

“We have got a lot of improvement we need to make before we start considering ourselves a top-four [team].”

The Cats can expect Aaron Naughton to be a key Bulldogs forward target, Beveridge rubbishing suggestions the man nicknamed the “Astro-naught” should be sent to defence as a way to boost their premiership credentials.

There has been supporter and media debate whether the Bulldogs are too tall up forward, for they also have Jamarra Ugle-Hagan and Rory Lobb patrolling inside 50. But Beveridge said on Friday the Bulldogs were more than settled in defence with the resurgent Liam Jones in All-Australian contention in his return to the Whitten Oval.

Naughton has booted 21 goals this season, but has managed just three from his last three matches. The 23-year-old started his career as a key defender before successfully switching up forward in 2019.

“The thing is that we’ve got a lot of depth with our key backs, and we’ve been pretty happy,” Beveridge said.

“Aaron’s been an amazing player for us, and he usually gets the opposition’s best defender so we’ve got to do our best to help him play his best footy. He’s not going behind the ball any time soon.”

Key midfielder Adam Treloar will return after missing three weeks with a hamstring injury.

Beveridge conceded it would be tricky to fit Treloar back into the midfield mix with Marcus Bontempelli, Tom Liberatore, Bailey Smith, Jack Macrae and Caleb Daniel.

“All six of them will play this week and then that’s our challenge to manage their impact on the game,” he said.

“We can’t fit them all into that inside midfield brigade all the time so they’ll need to share some responsibilities here and there.”

The Cats have erred on the side of caution with Patrick Dangerfield (hamstring) sitting out another week, while fellow star midfielder Cam Guthrie had surgery on his left toe on Friday and is unlikely to be available until the final two rounds of the season. Guthrie’s injury had began as turf toe.

With AAP

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