GEELONG’s three-game winning streak came to a halt at the hands of Hawthorn last night as the Cats look to tweak a few things ahead of an extended homestay. After not playing at home since Round 3, the Cats are set for another fortnight at GMHBA Stadium when they take on the Blues and Giants.

However Geelong coach Dan Lowther said his side will need to be better around the contest for a longer period of time in those games if they are to get the win. The Cats conceded 11 marks inside 50, a lot of which were within close range of the goals, and while some might point to the defence, Lowther said it was more of an issue up-field.

“I just thought our balance around contest wasn’t great,” he said. “From start to finish, they outnumbered us on the outside of contest and spread really well and seemed to get a mark off a pressure kick and it was hard to stop that momentum for them moving the ball up the ground.

“As I said they spread really well, they linked up really well and our defenders were defending one-out under less pressure on the footy which is what we’ve done really well and they just took it away from us today. Shoutout to our defenders to win possession under duress and they moved the ball out really well for the most part, but some of those things it’s just hard to stop.”

Though the 5.5 (35) to 6.6 (42) loss was disappointing after leading by 10 points at the main break, Lowther said it was quite literally a “game of two halves”.

“We looked pretty sharp around the footy, the ball’s going the right way, our forward pressure’s been really good all year, and the goals we kicked were free-flowing, fast play type of goals which supports the accuracy part, but when you’re getting marks outside 30 and you’ve got a chance for a slow play and shot on goal, we’ve just got to be better in that space as well,” she said. “There was some really good things to like in the first half in particular, but we’ll get better which is the main thing.”

Lowther praised the Hawks’ centre bounce work, and while the defence did well to hold up when the side conceded 37 inside 50s, it was a statistic they wanted to reduce, and will look to adjust around the ball.

“(Lucy) Wales was dynamic around stoppage and I think she had nearly 30 possessions as well so she’s getting around the ground and having an influence,” Lowther said. “We just couldn’t quite stop that, and when we did stop the footy, we tried to control the game and I think we did at times as well, it was just ebbs and flows.

“There were times when we went fast when we probably shouldn’t have, and then there were times where we controlled the ball really well and had good looks up front, so probably consistency in that part, but I thought the girls tried really hard from start to finish to try and gain some momentum the right way and we looked damaging at times when the ball went fast and in the right way. “There’s lots to like in the game, and lots we’ll learn from it to.”

Geelong is yet to taste victory at home from its three defeats, albeit playing North Melbourne, Sydney and Hawthorn at GMHBA Stadium, and now faces Carlton and GWS Giants at the venue in a bid to try and add to the Cats’ three away victories.

“We just want to keep getting better really, so we’ll learn a lot from today’s game,” Lowther said. “Carlton are in a really good vein of form with their season, so I expect another close, exciting game. “But as I said we have to keep giving ourselves the best look up front which we are.

“Scoreboard pressure counts for a lot, so we’ll clean up some of our contest work and get our forwards up and firing, but looking forward to another challenge in Carlton, and the Giants off the back of that too.”