Geelong is pushing towards a flag ‘an entirely different way’… but AFL’s ‘easiest’ run home is ‘on watch’

Seven-time All-Australian Nathan Buckley believes Geelong has “flipped” a big footy tradition, claiming the Cats pushing towards a premiership “an entirely different way”.

But the Cats’ supposedly ‘easy’ run home fixture has been put on watch by four-time premiership Hawk Jordan Lewis, who suggests flag contenders need a hardened finals preparation.

The Cats on Saturday leapfrogged Brisbane on the AFL ladder, climbing to second spot thanks to their 95-point win over Essendon and the Lions’ 11-point loss to the Giants.

Geelong has the No. 1 offence in the competition, averaging 101.9 points per game – its best return since 2013.

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Speaking on Fox Footy’s On The Couch, Buckley said Geelong’s “firepower is huge” and that its “chaos football” offensive strategy was “the next evolution” of what it produced did in 2022.

Buckley pointed to the roles specific Cats players like Oisin Mullin, Mark O’Connor and Tom Atkins were given each week – and how it bucks midfield tradition.

“I think Geelong are doing it an entirely different way,” Buckley said.

“We’ve always thought your A-graders go in the midfield … and we still think the midfield is just ruck-rover, rover, centreman as the three A-grade mids. But Geelong have flipped it.

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“(Bailey) Smith and (Max) Holmes play through the midfield, but they don’t play always as inside mids. They’re high-transition runners. So what Geelong have decided to do is they’re pretty much tagging three (opposition players).

“Mullin went in against (Nick) Daicos six weeks ago and he had (Zach) Merrett on the weekend. He will go on whoever the fleetest-footed player is from inside to outside … He can close down foot speed really well.

“O’Connor will go to the highest transition player – it’s (Nic) Martin in this instance.

“And then you think who’s the highest clearance and contested ball player in the opposition? We’re just going to lean this fella (Atkins) in on him.

“So you’ve got three players who are going to spend a lot of time in, what you’d call, ‘A-grade roles’ … and then you allow Holmes and Smith to play on the outside in high transition.”

“You’ve got (Ollie) Dempsey on the wing, you’ve got (Mark) Blicavs on the wing … (Gryan) Miers, (Brad) Close, (Tyson) Stengle, (Shaun) Mannagh (as high half-forwards). Geelong set up so differently compared to other contenders that when you come up against them, you haven’t been able to practice how to beat them with your system against other teams. It throws something entirely different at you.

Tom Atkins of the Cats. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images Source: Getty Images

“They’ve got shock factor every time they come up against another rated contender. They’re so different to the other contenders that I reckon they’re hard to plan for.”

Intriguingly, the Cats have the ‘easiest’ run home of any AFL team, according to Champion Data.

GEELONG RUN HOME (after facing Brisbane and having Round 16 bye)

Round 17: Richmond (GMHBA Stadium)

Round 18: GWS Giants (Giants Stadium)

Round 19: St Kilda (GMHBA Stadium)

Round 20: North Melbourne (Marvel Stadium)

Round 21: Port Adelaide (GMHBA Stadium)

Round 22: Essendon (GMHBA Stadium)

Round 23: Sydney Swans (SCG)

Round 24: Richmond (MCG)

Upon seeing Geelong’s run home, triple premiership Tiger Jack Riewoldt told On The Couch: “You look at those last six games. They could win all those games easy.”

Geelong HAMMER Bombers by 95 points! | 02:09

Meanwhile, the Brisbane Lions – Geelong’s opponent on Friday night – have the ‘hardest’ draw.

BRISBANE LIONS RUN HOME (after facing Geelong and having Round 16 bye)

Round 17: Port Adelaide (Gabba)

Round 18: Carlton (Marvel Stadium)

Round 19: Western Bulldogs (Gabba)

Round 20: Gold Coast Suns (People First Stadium)

Round 21: Collingwood (MCG)

Round 22: Sydney Swans (Gabba)

Round 23: Fremantle (Optus Stadium)

Round 24: Hawthorn (Gabba)

The On The Couch team pointed to comments made by Lions coach Chris Fagan at his press conference minutes after his team’s thrilling preliminary final win over Geelong last year.

“This is not Geelong’s fault, but if you look at their last game of the season against West Coast, they were 100 points in front at half-time, it was a low-pressure, low-contested game. Then they have the week off and then they play Port in a final where it was a similar sort of game – low-pressure, low-contest game. Then they have another week off,” Fagan said.

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“I just felt like, it’s good to have the time off, but you need the games that you play to be really hard, tough games – and maybe at the end that showed. Our harder preparation enabled us to run the game out, and I would have thought that would have been a real challenge.”

Lewis pointed to his experience during Hawthorn’s golden era in the 2010s and how he felt more confident heading into a finals series with a tougher, more physical lead-in.

“From when we were playing in those really successful years, I used to like a harder run coming towards (finals), because you can test things in your game,” Lewis told On The Couch. “You can test close-game experience, you can test yourself against the best opposition and see what stands up.

“It’s just a watch for me. A lot of positive has been made about their (the Cats’) run home, but for me it’s just a watch at the moment.

Still, Lewis said he had concerns over the Lions, who’ve won just two of their past six matches.

While inaccuracy has been a glaring Lions issue for the past two weeks, Lewis suggested their lack of pressure – they laid just 28 tackles against the Giants – and overall midfield output had become a big talking point.

Lawson Humphries of the Cats celebrates a goal. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images Source: Getty Images

Lewis pointed to Champion Data statistics that showed the Lions, across the past six rounds, were ranked 11th in the competition for points from clearances, ninth for contested possessions and eighth for clearances.

On the lack of pressure, Lewis said: “That says to me the motivation and the hunger is probably questioned now with that being the case.

“A lot of those other things, you need more than attitude to go right – the set-shots or players missing down back – but this one is an easy fix. When this Brisbane side is playing their best, it is pressure … Tackle pressure is the backbone of this Brisbane side.”

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