The Geelong forward-line took the honours. Full forward, Kent King, was the standout forward and in the end was the match winner. He started the game with three goals in as many minutes and ended up with seven majors to his name. Assistant coach Dean Wallis said that Mark McVeigh was the only defender that won his match-up.
McVeigh nullified Gary Ablett junior’s impact on the game. The usually dangerous forward collected just eight possessions and didn’t kick a goal. ""Mark did a great job on Saturday night. He was probably the only highlight from our back six - he won his position. You are not going to win too many games of footy when you only have one defender doing their job,"" Wallis said.
McVeigh faces an even bigger challenge this Friday night when Essendon takes on
Fremantle at The Dome. McVeigh is likely to get the job on small forward Paul Medhurst, who was in outstanding form on the weekend.
Medhurst will be bursting with confidence after his nine-goal haul against the Brisbane Lions. He disposed of three Brisbane Lions opponents – Chris Johnson, Aaron Shattock and Martin McGrath - in his best on ground performance.
""He (Medhurst) is an exciting player. His strengths are his pace and for his size he can take a strong grab. He plays ground ball very well,"" Wallis said. ""He (Medhurst) will be on a high and obviously wanting to come out and put two games together. He will have the pressure on him from Fremantle to back up his performance from last week.""
McVeigh is no stranger to getting the task of minding Medhurst. They have enjoyed some intense battles over the past few seasons. Their last meeting was in the first elimination final last year at Subiaco. McVeigh and the Bombers came out on top in that knockout final. Medhurst kicked two goals and didn’t have a real impact on the game.
""Mark McVeigh has played on him and has had good results in the past. Mark is starting to get back to full match fitness and is nearly at 100% after a couple of games back. It will be a good challenge for Mark and also the other backline players to help him out,"" Wallis said.
