GEELONG coach Paul Hood had more positives to take away from Saturday’s 29-point loss to Collingwood despite again being held goalless for three quarters.
The Cats, who kicked just one goal the previous week against North Melbourne, kicked two of the match’s first three goals at Victoria Park.
However, they managed just two more behinds for the afternoon, with the Magpies kicking five unanswered goals – including three in the final term – for a 6.9 (45) to 2.4 (16) victory.
But for Hood, this was a much-improved performance on what Geelong produced in the 62-point hiding from the Kangaroos.
“We wanted to be much better with our tackling, and I thought we did a great job there,” he said.
“We maybe ran out of steam at the end of the game, but our tackling pressure in the first half was outstanding.
“The things we can control were terrific. We just about levelled up on clearances and hitouts, as well: a big step forward in our performance from our previous game.
“So, a lot of areas we said we could control and we wanted to improve at we’ve actually ticked off today.
“But, we just need to get better at moving the ball and not allowing the opposition to score off our possessions.”
Hood was left frustrated though by a lack of discipline, with Collingwood’s first goal from a 50m penalty and second major from a 100m penalty, which reduced the margin to two points at quarter time.
“To let the opposition into the game with things you can control, we need to be better in that area,” he said.
“As we grow and develop our team, we need to stop doing things in which the opposition gets easy goals because we’re working really hard for ours at the moment.”
Having prepared for much of the week for a trip to Brisbane, the Cats only found out Thursday afternoon it would be staying in Victoria for a match-up with the Magpies.
However, Hood wasn’t using that as an excuse for Geelong’s loss.
“Every team you play in the AFLW is a good team, so you do your homework, and you need to respect them,” he said.
“Our club at the moment, we’re focusing on doing the very best that we can and giving the best account of ourselves.
“That was our main focus, and it wouldn’t really have mattered who we played.”
Twitter: @tom_king79
