AFTER an “ordinary” first half, Geelong coach Dan Lowther said her was pleased with how his team responded down in challenging conditions against North Melbourne on Friday night. The Cats trailed by 21 points at the main break, having scored a solitary behind to that point, but got on top in the second half, to restrict the Roos to just one scoring shot, whilst having five themselves. By the final siren it was not enough as North Melbourne won in the wet of UTAS Stadium, 4.4 (28) to 2.4 (16).

“Ordinary first half, much better second half,” Lowther said. “It was clearly not the result we wanted but it was certainly a tale of two halves so really pleased with how they bounced back with after half-time and put in a genuine contest and looked to put some score on the board.

“First half we were just very slow, a bit reactive, full credit to North Melbourne, very good team. “Their mids played really well rom the front half and only got better as the game went on. “But again I felt our girls battled the game out really well and should give us some confident going into St Kilda next week.”

In genuine wet weather conditions, Lowther conceded his side had not adapted to the conditions well enough, soon enough. North was able to play more territory football and make the most of their 30 inside 50s, producing eight scoring shots. Geelong on the other hand had the six scoring shots from 35 inside 50s, whilst also winning the disposals, clearances, contested and uncontested possessions.

”Our contest pressure was better (in the last quarter), we were pressing better, we were squeezing defence, we were driving the ball out our way and again the conditions, the more games the girls play the better their in-game knowledge of the game will increase,” Lowther said.

“Kangaroos did it from the start, they understood that the conditions were going to be poor, not to overuse the footy, get the ball off the ground if they needed to. “Just take that territory, whereas we were just trying to be a little bit too clean and use the ball by hands too much. “We got better with that after half-time, but understand the game was different but it was too late.”

Young gun Georgie Prespakis had a day out racking up a whopping 32 disposals, and finishing with three marks, six clearances, nine tackles, six inside 50s, 10 intercepts and a game-high 464 metres gained. Not only that, but the second-year player went at 81.3 per cent disposal efficiency. Lowther described Prespakis’ performance and season as “super”.

“No surprise, she’s been working really hard over preseason to make sure she’s got that consistent effort,” Lowther said. “She’s understanding what it means to be consistent when she plays, she’s a tackling machine. “Season 6 it was just about getting her fitness base to a point where she could transition and play the game over four quarters. “But now she’s got that, you’ve just got to refine things for her.

“So it’s about challenging her to get better, because when you have a player who gets the ball 32 times in those conditions, we need to make sure that the rest of us are following on in good stead. She was well supported, but Georgie had a great game.”

Lowther said the increase in goalkickers providing a shared load was an encouraging sign, and it was “no surprise” that was an area the Cats would look to continue to build on going forward.

“Contested ball we’re fine, defence we’re fine, it’s just that we’re not getting a score on the board consistently,” he said. “For Jacqui Parry to kick a goal, for Laura Gardiner to look dangerous. “We looked dangerous at times up forward, but it’s a scrap and a fight. “We need to get that flow going, it’s still a work in progress, but we’re comfortable with the direction we’ve got and we’ll work hard in that space.”

Next week the Cats have a six-day turnaround to take on St Kilda back at home at GMHBA Stadium from 5:10pm on Thursday, September 22.

“Another big challenge, the Saints are on the rise as well. Another a really good challenge for us,” Lowther said. “I thought last season’s game was a really good game as well. “Had our chances against the Saints last time, but again we know our best is good enough, it’s just a matter of understanding what’s required, being clean with our possession and making sure that when the ball goes inside our front 50, we’re efficient.

“Again we’re down inside 50s, down contested possessions in the first half, and we outmanoeuvre and outplay another opposition, good opposition in Kangaroos in the second half with those stats, we’re just not getting much reward for it so that will be the key.”