EACH week opposition coaches have indicated Geelong’s form would turn around, and it finally happened in Round 4 of the AFL Women’s season. Staring down the barrel of an 0-4 start despite largely being considered of finals quality, Cats’ coach Dan Lowther said it was “a bit of a relief” to finally break through for a victory, defeating Essendon by 31 points at Windy Hill.

By contrast to the Cats, the Bombers had started the year on fire with a 3-0 record, though since their 56-point demolition of GWS in the opening round, had only just got the chocolates by five and 15 points in their past two rounds respectively. Geelong had played North Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney in a tough start to the year, but each week had gradually improved, and it lead to the Cats rolling the previously unbeaten Bombers on the road.

“We’ve been playing okay but it’s obviously it’s been well publicised and talked about we haven’t been playing well enough for long enough in games,” Lowther said. “A challenging start with Adelaide and North, and a good game against the Swans, but it was always going to be a chance against a team that was three and zip to show some consistency. “I thought today was pretty tricky conditions, it was a nice game to get your first win, so very happy.”

Lowther praised his midfield group, saying star onballer Georgie Prespakis (33 disposals, four marks, seven clearances and two goals) lead the way, though the likes of Nina Morrison (27 disposals, nine tackles, six clearances and a goal) and Amy McDonald (24 disposals, six tackles and six clearances) were also fantastic, with the depth standing up on the day.

“Just to build our depth around that space is important for us,” he said. “Few of them went forward, a couple of our forwards went inside which is nice. “From start to finish, they were really clear on their objectives and against a really strong midfield in Essendon, so really pleased with our group with the growth in that space.”

The big call from the Geelong coaching staff during the week came at the team selection table when the Cats sensationally chose to leave out skipper Meghan McDonald from the team. McDonald has struggled in 2025, averaging just 6.0 disposals, 1.3 marks, 1.3 tackles and running at 56 per cent efficiency.

“It’s never an easy conversation to leave anyone out of the team let alone your captain,” Lowther said. “It’s just based on performance is what we wanted to make sure the conversation was around and clear so she accepted it that her position in the team was not this week, she’s still the captain of the team and our squad and she lead from the front she presented to Lexi Gregor her jumper today for one defender to the next as a passing of the baton for this week in particular.

“Handled like a true professional and wants to get back in the team, and that’s the challenge. “It’s good to have a team that can challenge each other and want to be in the team and play for the right reasons so I couldn’t ask for a better way for her to handle it.”

Gregor was one of two debutants brought into the side, with the ex-Bendigo Pioneers tall joined by former Oakleigh Chargers skipper Sienna Tallariti. Gregor finished with 11 disposals, three marks and four tackles, while Tallariti managed 10 disposals after a delayed start to her year due to a foot injury.

“The key word is trust,” Lowther said. “They’ve done the work, they’ve been drafted as high draft picks, Sienna’s had a bit of an off preseason, bit of a sore foot. “You put trust into your players and we knew that they were going to get some things right or wrong and I think they held themselves really well.”

Geelong head in as favourite for back-to-back wins when the Cats take on Richmond at Ikon Park on Sunday from 1:05pm, with a trip to Alberton Oval to take on the Power on Saturday, September 20 after that.