Danny
13-02-2005, 08:26 PM
James Kelly has made a successful return to footy with a strong performance in Geelong's intra club clash on Saturday 12.2.05. He had a heart breaking fractured left tibia in round 15, which kept him out for the rest of the season.
Kelly, Tenace stand out
Sportal
Geelong fans looking for reasons why their team will go further than the penultimate week of the season in 2005 should look no further James Kelly and Kane Tenace who were the standout performers in the Cats' intra-club match at Skilled Stadium on Saturday morning.
While much of the pre-season talk has been about the arrival of recruits Brad Ottens and Nathan Ablett to the club, the return of Kelly from injury and the improvement in Tenace may prove to be even bigger factors in helping lift the Cats beyond the preliminary final.
Kelly looks to have completely recovered from the broken leg that prematurely ended his season in round 15 last year. Playing as a ruck-rover in his second intra-club match, Kelly dominated the midfield, winning plenty of the ball at both ends of the ground and finishing off his work with two goals.
Equally impressive was Tenace, who, after 12 games in his debut year with the club, could make a position in the Cats' midfield one of his own in 2005.
There is a lot of expectation that comes with being a top 10 pick in the National Bank AFL Draft and after glimpses of his potential last year, Tenace showed the sort of form against his teammates that suggests he set to exert a much bigger influence on the Cats' fortunes in the season ahead.
Tenace spent the day playing on the wing and apart from kicking two goals, his ability to run, bounce and carry the ball up and down the ground was a feature of the game.
Combined with his raw speed, Tenace could add even more potency to the Cats' midfield in 2005.
Of course, it's hard to talk about Geelong's performances these days without mentioning the Ablett brothers. Nathan played as a deep forward alongside Ottens and although he was restricted to a handful of touches he finished the game with two goals.
On the quarter-time siren he led out strongly and converted from 45 metres and in the last term he got on the end of a handball over the top to snap truly from 15 metres out.
Apart from his two goals, the most notable thing about Gary's performance was the amount of time he played in the midfield, which may suggest that he will play more time up the ground this year, rather than as a small forward.
Ottens was restricted to one goal by Tom Harley at full forward but he was upstaged in the goal-kicking stakes by David Haynes and Kent Kingsley who booted four goals apiece.
All of Kingsley's goals came during a 10-minute purple patch in the third quarter.
Steven King, Charlie Gardiner and Matt McCarthy are all still recovering from post season shoulder surgery and didn't play. Joel Corey had minor knee surgery during the week and is a few weeks away from resuming, while Darren Milburn (ankle) and Henry Playfair are expected to be available for selection next week.
Kelly, Tenace stand out
Sportal
Geelong fans looking for reasons why their team will go further than the penultimate week of the season in 2005 should look no further James Kelly and Kane Tenace who were the standout performers in the Cats' intra-club match at Skilled Stadium on Saturday morning.
While much of the pre-season talk has been about the arrival of recruits Brad Ottens and Nathan Ablett to the club, the return of Kelly from injury and the improvement in Tenace may prove to be even bigger factors in helping lift the Cats beyond the preliminary final.
Kelly looks to have completely recovered from the broken leg that prematurely ended his season in round 15 last year. Playing as a ruck-rover in his second intra-club match, Kelly dominated the midfield, winning plenty of the ball at both ends of the ground and finishing off his work with two goals.
Equally impressive was Tenace, who, after 12 games in his debut year with the club, could make a position in the Cats' midfield one of his own in 2005.
There is a lot of expectation that comes with being a top 10 pick in the National Bank AFL Draft and after glimpses of his potential last year, Tenace showed the sort of form against his teammates that suggests he set to exert a much bigger influence on the Cats' fortunes in the season ahead.
Tenace spent the day playing on the wing and apart from kicking two goals, his ability to run, bounce and carry the ball up and down the ground was a feature of the game.
Combined with his raw speed, Tenace could add even more potency to the Cats' midfield in 2005.
Of course, it's hard to talk about Geelong's performances these days without mentioning the Ablett brothers. Nathan played as a deep forward alongside Ottens and although he was restricted to a handful of touches he finished the game with two goals.
On the quarter-time siren he led out strongly and converted from 45 metres and in the last term he got on the end of a handball over the top to snap truly from 15 metres out.
Apart from his two goals, the most notable thing about Gary's performance was the amount of time he played in the midfield, which may suggest that he will play more time up the ground this year, rather than as a small forward.
Ottens was restricted to one goal by Tom Harley at full forward but he was upstaged in the goal-kicking stakes by David Haynes and Kent Kingsley who booted four goals apiece.
All of Kingsley's goals came during a 10-minute purple patch in the third quarter.
Steven King, Charlie Gardiner and Matt McCarthy are all still recovering from post season shoulder surgery and didn't play. Joel Corey had minor knee surgery during the week and is a few weeks away from resuming, while Darren Milburn (ankle) and Henry Playfair are expected to be available for selection next week.