Tigers fear Lefau has injured knee as Cats return to form with last term win;Reid faces possible ban

Thanks everyone. That’s us done for this evening.

Please join us tomorrow afternoon for our AFL Sunday live blog.

Until then,bye for now.

Cats coach Chris Scott spoke to the media post game.

Chris,is there a bit of relief after that one?

I’m relieved every time we win. I understand the question,because we were playing poorly. Off a month that hasn’t been great,by any stretch. Even then,I think within games we have actually been OK. Today was probably another example of it. Good that we got over the line. The second half was pretty dominant,but the fact is Richmond were on top for a large part of the first half. So that is easy to identify and a little bit harder to find the reasons why and rectify. In some ways I feel a little bit better about the outcome of the game,because it was really fierce early,and we had to fight our way through it and find a way in the second half. Just another reminder that if you go into a game - I don’t think we did this,but I think the fans,if they sort of go in thinking the ladder is going to dictate how this game is going to be played they are going to be continually surprised,because the competition is pretty even. Even the last couple of weeks they have shifted the way they have been playing. We didn’t look too much at the previous couple of weeks,because we knew they were going to shift the way they played. They were really competitive and made it hard for us. I was pleased we were able to get the game back on our terms.

Jack Bowes,was that arguably his best game for the club?

My clink -- blink response would be “Yes”. Toby Conway in the ruck,there aren’t many third-year ruckmen in the competition. Toby more than held his own. It is good for our midfielders without Cam Guthrie and Patrick Dangerfield to stand up. I’m not sure how far we got down,felt like about four goals there at one stage. Those guys in the middle needed to find a way to get on top and I thought they did

Tanner Bruhn,you must be happy,it wasn’t probably your biggest stars that were standing up?

Exactly. Again,I’ve referenced Conway again. It would have been nice if Jhye Clark had have been part of that mix as well. We are really confident we have got a good group of players that are good enough to play together for eight or 10 years. These sort of games in a way are better than the ones that you win by 30 points where you had that margin the whole game. We were really challenged and there are a few little tweaks that we made,but it was more just asking for a bit more from those guys around the middle.

What flicked the switch in that third quarter? You were down in the midfield,down in clearances,tackle count was down. How do you tweak it?

Their pressure was really good. I think midway through the second quarter it felt like a little bit of rain came as well. Looked like it was going to be a slippery game. We thought that we actually looked better when we used the ball a little bit more. Cameron going up to the wing,helped our ability to use the wing,helped our ability to use the ball through the middle of the ground. I thought he had a real impact in the second half. So to push forward,looked dangerous as well. Again,it was clear that they were going to change a few things from the way they were playing earlier in the year. At their best when they had even numbers ahead of the ball and can move the ball quickly into that forward line they can be a real threat. We just adjusted a few things to make that harder for them.

Richmond coach Adem Yze fears exciting young forward Mykelti Lefau has seriously injured his knee in a fall in the final term but he is waiting for tests to confirm the extent of the damage.

Lefau,who kicked two goals,fell very awkwardly in a marking contest and clearly hyperextended his knee. He tried to play on but was told by club medical staff to leave the ground.

“He is injured. To the extent we don’t know,but it doesn’t look good,” Yze said.

“At this stage,it looks like he might have hurt his knee,but we will get the scans on Monday.

“It will be shattering if it is,because he is in good form and he is a real talent. If it is,we will wrap our arms around him like we have with the other boys who have injured themselves,but hoping that it might not be the case.”

Yze also revealed Marlion Pickett had hurt his calf and was likely to miss some matches,he originally appeared to be cramping in his calves.

“Marlion Pickett hurts his calf in the last quarter,so he is obviously going to miss a couple of weeks,” Yze said.

“It is what it is. We are getting opportunity and Kaleb Smith gets to start his AFL career[tonight] and we are still getting young players getting an opportunity. We are always going to look at the silver lining.

Yze added that he would talk to Pickett about giving the middle finger to fans in the final term.

“I haven’t seen it,but if he has that would be disappointing,I’d have a chat for sure,” Yze said.

“You can’t be doing that.”

West Coast coach Adam Simpson has jokingly suggested the smell of steak may have contributed to the club’s live eagle mascot making a dramatic escape before their AFL clash with St Kilda.

As part of West Coast’s pre-match tradition,“Auzzie the Eagle″⁣ did a flight lap of Optus Stadium before Saturday’s match in front of 47,526 fans.

But after originally returning to her designated landing point in the middle of the oval,the eagle quickly escaped and set about flying to various parts of the 60,000-seat stadium.

The eagle landed among the crowd several times,spending a minute or two in each spot before flying off again.

The ground announcer - 1992 premiership Eagle Karl Langdon - warned fans not to approach the eagle,given her “sharp talons”.

The eagle was still flying around when players from both sides came out on to the ground,with the accompanying fireworks sparking concerns among some fans that the animal could be spooked.

After more than 10 minutes of freedom,the eagle was finally caught right next to West Coast’s coaches’ box,with a bemused Simpson watching on.

Simpson could see the lighter side of the escape.

“He went rogue,Auzzie,” Simpson said with a laugh.

“It was right before the game,so I was trying to get the runner out to tell the lady to just put that thing back in the centre circle - that’s where Auzzie wanted to land.

“But she knew what she was doing eventually and she was in the box next to us.

“Maybe there was a steak that Auzzie could smell in that corporate box next to us.”

AAP

Cats forward Ollie Dempsey kicked three goals and had 27 disposals against Richmond tonight but he still feels “raw” when it comes to honing his craft as an AFL player.

Dempsey was focused on basketball until late in his high school years and he admits he was fortunate that the Cats saw something special in him while playing for his school which eventually led to him being picked up.

“I still feel really raw because I didn’t play anything since under 15s,that was proper footy,” Dempsey told Seven.

“Carey[Baptist Grammar School] footy was a bit of fun,after-school training. I didn’t do any of the NAB league.

“I’m still learning the game and hopefully getting better.”

Dempsey added that the Cats were keen to test themselves against Sydney Swans now they have regained some form.

“It will be at Sydney but I think we are ready for it,” Dempsey said.

“The way we played the second half of that game,that’s our brand of footy. We’ve been a bit off that for the last four weeks.

“It was good to get that down here and,hopefully,we can keep it up against Sydney.”

They didn’t get it done until late in the final term but Geelong have ended their four-game losing streak overcoming a fearless Richmond with a tidy win in Geelong tonight.

The Tigers led for the first 82 minutes of the match and wrestled back and fourth until just before three-quarter time when the Cats regained the lead and went on with the game.

What will fire up Geelong’s faithful is the work of younger playmakers like Jack Bowes,Tom Atkins and Max Holmes who shone in the second half when their side desperately needed players to win the footy.

The Cats have had to work for it but they are now moving away with the game.

Tyson Stengle just took a mark close to goal and finished the set shot soon after.

The Tigers are still going as hard as they can but they look tired.

Cats 91,Tigers 68 with eight mins to go.

Tigers debutante Kaleb Smith has been stuck on the bench all game as the sub.

It appears he is about to be thrown into the game for the last 10 minutes as Marlion Pickett has been hit with leg cramps.

Seven camera’s also caught Pickett giving some Cats fans the middle finger.

Tigers great Matthew Richardson,someone known to show the away fans a similar gesture at times,joked he wasn’t the person to ask about it.

“Nothing wrong with that as far as I’m concerned,” Richardson said with a laugh.

“Gee it cost me some coin over the years.”

Cats 85,Tigers 68 with 11 mins to go.

Tom Hawkins has snapped his second goal and it has pushed the lead to just under three goals.

Normally,you would say Geelong would bolt home from here.

But they have been in such bad touch recently that nothing is certain.

Cats 84,Tigers 68 with 14 mins to go.