GEELONG coach Paul Hood message to his team in its preparation for Sunday’s AFLW season-opener against North Melbourne has been a simple one: “bring the pressure”.
No one can deny the Cats don’t have the Roos’ talent, but Hood has been around football long enough to know that at least matching your opponent’s intensity can impact the result.
“It’s worked at every level of footy for a long, long time, and if you can really pressure your opposition then you know you’re right in the game,” Hood said.
“Collingwood gave a great example of that last night (in beating Carlton), and they did something similar to North Melbourne in their practice match two weeks ago.
“That’s the template – that’s something we’ll be looking to copy.”
Geelong jumped Melbourne with four goals to none in the opening quarter of its practice match on January 16 but was held to just one major from that point on.
While Hood hopes performances like the first term against the Demons become a consistent part of the Cats’ performances in 2021, he knows there will be inconsistencies as his team continues to develop.
“It’s going to take time to play entire games of footy that are almost faultless. But, we start trying to do that from the very next time that we play.
“For our playing group, it’s a matter of understanding that it’s all about the next goal. Score the next goal, win the next contest, score the next goal, and not get too far ahead of yourself.
“Just play that next phase of play that you’re involved in, and play it to the best of your ability and keep doing that all night.”
Hood has no shortage of options when selecting his team for Sunday, with only star midfielder Nina Morrison (knee) and 2019 draftee Mia Skinner, who suffered a minor hamstring injury at training on Tuesday night, unavailable.
2020 best-and-fairest runner-up Maddy MacMahon, forward Danni Higgins, and Madisen Maguire are all available despite missing the practice match.
He says that has made for a smoother run into the first match than Geelongs’s first two seasons in the competition.
“I know in previous seasons, we’ve had plenty of injuries over the pre-season and just been doing the best we can,” Hood said.
“But this time, it feels like we’ve had the whole divisions pretty much training together for the last month and making sure they can work on that synergy and everything you need to do in those short pre-seasons.
“So far, so good, and the proof will be in the pudding on Sunday.”
Geelong’s team will be revealed at 5pm on Saturday, with the debut of Darcy Moloney already confirmed.
Non-selected players will feature in a VFLW practice match against North Melbourne at Deakin University in Waurn Ponds on Sunday morning.
Twitter: @tom_king79
