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Geelong vs. Gold Coast preview | Strategy 2026 with Brenton Sanderson (11.06.26)
11 Jun 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What are the stakes for Geelong and Gold Coast in this match?
Friday night footy, Geelong is fourth, Gold Coast is seventh. The loser will have lost three in a row by the end of Friday night, Brenton Sanderson, which in this competition is a near tailspin. You can lose your place really quickly. So the strategy here becomes all the more important. We'll start with, let's do the Cats first. Two great weeks, Brisbane and Sydney.
Two close losses against teams that they would have fancied themselves beating. What's been noticeable in their profile?
Yeah, well, a couple of things have stood out in the last two weeks. They just haven't been at their best. Their turnover defense has slipped. So the last two weeks, I reckon the opposition teams have been able to move the ball a bit more freely. They haven't been able to set up their defensive shape behind the ball as they were earlier in the year.
And their scores from turnover, particularly in the defensive half, have been well below their season averages. So that's been the first part. Going inside forward 50, their efficiency has dropped away the last two weeks. So under Chris Scott, just the way that they've always moved the ball has been so effective.
Chapter 2: What recent performance issues have affected Geelong's game?
Hasn't been high volume ever, but it's always been really efficient. But just in the last couple of weeks... Their inside 50 numbers are similar, but their scoring conversion rates dropped away. So the forward connection has just been a little bit inconsistent. Just think at the moment, the last two weeks, they've looked a little bit rushed when they've gone inside forward 50.
So that means the opposition pressure has been dialed right up. That means more intercept marks against and fewer marks inside forward 50. And the other thing, which Chris Scott loves, it's been a trademark of his game throughout his entire coaching journey, He loves a front half game, but the game's been living in Geelong's back half at the moment.
So the last fortnight, they haven't been controlling territory, particularly from stoppage. Haven't been losing clearances badly, but I reckon the opposition teams have been able to exit stoppages a lot cleaner and with a lot more speed than what they have over the start of the season. Makes it even harder this week too, because no Tom Stewart. So that makes it a lot harder.
But I just think the thing that Chris Scott will refer to the most this week would be their contest method. So last two weeks, Adelaide and Carlton have matched their contested ball numbers, which has created a lot more intercept opportunities for their opponents. And they just haven't been able to look as dangerous as what they have been with their own transition. That's been really...
uh quite uh quite noticeable and it feels like Geelong's defense is having to work harder than what it what it wants to so they're not necessarily playing poorly um they're actually holding up pretty well Geelong's defense but the issue is they're now being exposed more frequently because of the the failures of the layers ahead of them so that's probably been a couple of things I reckon probably four or five things which Chris Scott will be focusing on after what he would have seen the last two weeks
And where are the flaws in the Suns' profile after losses to North and Brisbane?
Yeah, I dug a bit deeper this week on the Suns because under Hardwick, they've been great at contest and clearance. I'm really surprised. They've got the worst clearance differential this year in the AFL and their bottom five in contested possession as well. So quite simply, what has been a strength of the Gold Coast Suns under Damian Hardwick has quickly become quite a significant weakness.
the underlying numbers are still okay. They've still got a lot of stuff that looks really good in their profile, but when they lose, they lose a specific way. So I reckon there's four major themes that have emerged in their losses. Firstly, their midfield gets beaten, and this is a great midfield, but in their losses, it stands out.
So I reckon the game that you'd be referring to if you're Chris Scott would be the Melbourne game, When the Suns lost clearances by 11, contested possessions by 22, and they lost the inside 50 count by 14. So when they can't win contest and clearance, the Suns, all of their advantages disappear. Their entire game style becomes less effective.
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