Key posts
Hawkins levels up for Cats
Geelong have responded quickly moving the ball forward and then finding Tom Hawkins who bodied his man under the ball and took the mark.
Hawkins kicked the goal for his first tonight, the Tigers will have to find a way to negate the big Cat or he will have a big night.
Tigers 6, Cats 6 with 15 mins to go in Q1.
Jonathon Ceglar of the Cats and Samson Ryan of the Tigers compete in a ruck contest.Credit: AFL Photos
Graham gets Richmond off to ideal start
The Tigers have run the ball right from the start with Dustin Martin and Daniel Rioli involved before finding Jack Graham inside the forward 50m where he want back and kicked the goal.
On a concerning note for the Tigers, Jack Riewoldt has taken an accidental kick to the back of his leg and was limping for a moment but looks to be OK.
Tigers 6, Cats 0 with 17 mins to go in first term.
‘We find a way to get them in’: Scott backs young Cats to stand cup
By Roy Ward
Geelong coach Chris Scott sees a similarity between last season’s premiership side and his Cats of 2023 in that young players are getting opportunities early in the campaign.
Patrick Dangerfield is the latest Cats star to be forced out with injury after hurting his hamstring and Jhye Clark is the latest young Cat to earn a debut tonight.
Jeremy Cameron warms up.Credit: AFL Photos
Scott said the veterans should be right for late in the season and now his young guys had the chance to gain experience.
“Yeah, we are always trying to find a way to get them in,” Scott told Channel Seven.
“Last year we had long-term injuries. Those guys were able to come back and play well at the end of the year but we got good game time into young players who we think will be good players for a long time.”
The two sides are on the field
The Tigers and Cats are on the field and fast approaching the opening bounce which is set for 7.20pm AEST.
Jhye Clark warms up before his debut.Credit: AFL Photos
Trent Cotchin is back in the Richmond team tonight.Credit: AFL Photos
Opinion: The most physical midfielder in the AFL, and why I worry about him
By Kane Cornes
Gold Coast midfielder Matt Rowell is at risk – by his rare style of play – of running himself out of the AFL game.
It will not be an opposition coach who brings the downfall of the AFL’s undisputed king of contested possessions, winning clearances, and laying tackles. There is no cynical tactic that will end the game’s most physical midfielder and one of the game’s most-respected competitors.
Young Suns star Matt Rowell is tackled by two Essendon opponents in round two.Credit: Getty Images
The threat to the fourth-year Sun is in the way he plays the game. Rowell has mastered the toughest aspects of the sport. If he is to survive, he needs to build his game when the heat is off.
Listen: Real Footy Podcast – ‘They’ve fallen to bits’
Michael Gleeson, Jake Niall and Caroline Wilson unpack the Blues’ issues, discuss how far is too far when it comes to booing, the Hawthorn investigation and much more.
Your view: Will Tigers fans boo Tom Stewart?
Substitutes named
Neither side has made a late change. First-gamer Jhye Clark will debut as Geelong’s sub and a Clarke with a different spelling in Judson Clarke will fill the sub role for the Tigers.
‘He should have got more’, but Prestia not holding a grudge over Stewart hit
By Michael Gleeson
Dion Prestia doesn’t hold a grudge against Tom Stewart for knocking him out last year. And he doesn’t want the Cats player booed on Friday night, but he does think Stewart got off lightly at the tribunal.
“I know that’s not in his demeanour at all [but] honestly, I thought he should have got more,” Prestia said of the four-game ban Stewart got for running past the ball, shirt-fronting Prestia and leaving him knocked out and concussed.
Dion Prestia will play his 200th game on Friday night.Credit: Eddie Jim
“I look at different incidents that happen throughout the season and think he should have got more, but it is what it is.
“I appreciate he [Stewart] reached out to me and Joel Selwood as well reached out at the time. I know it was something he definitely didn’t go out and try to do during the game, it was a brain fade.”
