Tom Atkins is confident the Geelong midfield can carry the momentum it gathered in the second half of the come-from-behind Richmond win into Sunday’s meeting with Sydney at the SCG.
The Cats were well beaten in contested possessions and clearances in the first half of last Saturday night’s clash at GMHBA Stadium as they fell as much as 29 points in arrears during the second quarter.
However, Geelong responded after the main to win both categories, with Atkins leading the way.
Finishing with a season-best 27 disposals, he had had an equal-game-high contested possessions (15) while leading the contest in tackles (11) and clearances (10).
“We’ve had a few floating roles within the team over the last month,” Atkins said.
“But, the last couple of weeks, we’ve really homed in giving players specific roles and letting them concentrate on executing that.
“Hopefully, it clicked for us in the second half, and we’re off to the races now.
“But we’ve got another tough challenge on Sunday.”
Since suffering a shock loss to the Tigers on Easter Sunday, Sydney has won seven consecutive games by an average of 42 points.
“(A) really deep midfield is one thing I’ve noticed,” Atkins.
“And they’ve got some players who are great to watch—Chad Warner’s a really exciting player.
“There’s always been comparisons to us, in terms of that club culture and being a good club to play at.
“We’ve had some great battles over the years, and (we’re) looking forward to another one on Sunday.”
Atkins believes that with Mark Blicavs and Jhye Clark available after serving one-week suspensions and captain Patrick Dangerfield is a chance to return from a second hamstring injury, Geelong can match it with the Swans.
“I think we bat very deep in the midfield as well,” he said.
“It’ll be a good arm wrestle, I reckon.
“We’re building a bit of momentum. In that second half, I feel we really clicked as a line.
“(We’re) looking forward to getting challenged again.”
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