"Hot Cats learn a grand lesson" Heraldsun

[SainterK]

AS GRAND Final week reached a crescendo, Mark Thompson sat next to rookie Alastair Clarkson at the final press conference.

One of them was clearly feeling the heat.

"A lot of people say go out and enjoy it - well, I haven't enjoyed it," the coach said of the intense lead-in.

"To be honest, it has been a really hard long week and you can't hide from the fact there is the game before the game."

Surprisingly that coach was Thompson, epitomising the general feeling of skittishness that pervaded Geelong in the lead-up to the Grand Final.

If Geelong is prepared to learn from history, it should have used this week's preparation as a full-blown test run for finals football.

As seasoned as the club had become by last September, there are some who admit Geelong let Grand Final week overwhelm it last year.

While Hawthorn coasted through the hectic preparations with ease, Geelong quickly became a bundle of raw nerves, despite having done it all the year before.

The Cats had to endure harrowing selection quandaries, Brownlow Medal heartbreak, helicopters flying over training at Skilled Stadium and the weight of expectation.

They felt it for a week, then they came out and played like it.

Little wonder Thompson yesterday spoke of how Geelong was relishing the kind of mid-year blockbuster to which it is rarely subjected.

"I think it's good any time," he said of the finals-type feel the game has created.

"Some teams - Collingwood, Essendon, Carlton - have these blockbuster games every year and we're just starting to get involved in some of them. I don't thinkyou can play in these games often enough."

As Thompson noted on Grand Final eve, the club had "tried to really manage it well", but somehow the build-up all went pear-shaped.

The club backed Paul Chapman and Mathew Stokes to carry injuries into the game, but both were below their best.

Thompson admitted last month the club should have selected the running power of flanker Shannon Byrnes.

Chapman, who declared himself fit to play after a hamstring injury, would later admit the cameras that swooped on Skilled Stadium to monitor his fitness had affected him.

"It was frustrating and a bit of a distraction, because this (week) was all about the footy club, but all the focus was on me and I didn't like that much at all," he said this year.

"It was really bizarre. Out of my control, but I think if it happened again I would handle things a lot better."

This week Geelong's mantra has been business as usual, with the club determined not to alter its usual preparation.

In contrast, St Kilda was made to look ridiculous as it hid a recovery session and engaged in subterfuge to hide Max Hudghton from the cameras for a simple ankle scan at hospital.

Regardless of what happens in the next 10 weeks, the pressure will be there waiting for Geelong in September.

As Kevin Sheedy told Superfooty yesterday in predicting a Geelong premiership: "The Cats will win it. Nothing surer. It would be unforgivable for Geelong to lose two in a row. They would have to live with themselves for the rest of their lives."

Now that's pressure. How they handle it, starting this week, is the key.

[SainterK]

This little grab annoys me, I don't like our club being called silly!

[saintsRrising]

This little grab annoys me, I don't like our club being called silly!

Particuarly as there is no line about Geelong being silly "hiding " Gablett who missed a training session..and who most likely is carrying OP or some groin problem...

[SydneySainter]

As Kevin Sheedy told Superfooty yesterday in predicting a Geelong premiership: "The Cats will win it. Nothing surer. It would be unforgivable for Geelong to lose two in a row. They would have to live with themselves for the rest of their lives."

Now that's pressure. How they handle it, starting this week, is the key.

Didn't Kevin Sheedy also claim that said the Tigers could win the flag this year and that Ryder should be the next captain of Essendon? He just loves attention!

[Saintschampions08]

As Kevin Sheedy told Superfooty yesterday in predicting a Geelong premiership: "The Cats will win it. Nothing surer. It would be unforgivable for Geelong to lose two in a row. They would have to live with themselves for the rest of their lives."

Now that's pressure. How they handle it, starting this week, is the key.

Didn't Kevin Sheedy also claim that said the Tigers could win the flag this year and that Ryder should be the next captain of Essendon? He just loves attention!

The guy's an a grade nuff nuff...

Was worth listening to about 15 years ago...

[saint75]

I have ignored most of the media on our game this week. The amount of crap I have and read from the few articles or radio that I have heard is absolute bulls**t (excuse the French).

I have complete faith in our team and I know they will come out hard and do us proud no matter what some of the media have to say. The hype surrounding this game is irrelevant after the ball has been bounced. Interesting that Geelong seem to be really playing the media this week whereas our guys our preparing as usual and keeping away from the media and the hype.

I want them to concentrate on each game before them every week. I don't want to see their faces in the media everytime I change the channel or turn on the radio. If you start playing that game, you begin to believe the hype and forget what is important - WINNING THE GAME!!