This quote from the age today is the second refence to the two from the media in two days, yesterday while listening to 3AW Robert Walls , was super complementry about the two of them working together both willing to dish , both enjoying the setup as much as the goal but both deadly if given a chance.
These two are unusual asset for Geelong, for years depived of true resting rovers capable of kicking goals we now have two at once. Teak , yeah their teak alright and not just of body. The way Chapman let rip at Sammy that time or what we all know about GAS , Im more convinced than ever that the Teak Brs will be players that will get it done big games for us
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full article
Cats join the elite
By Martin Blake
July 26, 2004
Geelong is a team built from the back and, both notionally and statistically, the Cats have the best back half in the competition. Messrs Scarlett, Harley, Milburn, Sanderson and assorted others have conceded only 201 goals in 17 games, a number that says most of what you need to know about Mark Thompson's emerging team.
But the Cats have won 10 of the past 12 games and they have done it by booting decent scores, which is the other part of the picture.
Yesterday against Carlton they recorded their highest score of the season, 18.23 (131), and, but for Ben Graham's profligacy with his left boot, it might have been even more impressive. Denis Pagan later observed that Geelong had joined the top division.
Geelong is sound defensively, but it is not dour. No team with Gary Ablett flitting across half-forward, Joshua Hunt launching those astonishing, laser-like kick-outs and Paul Chapman bobbing up in front of goals can be anything but exciting.
The Cats do not have a Matthew Lloyd or an Alastair Lynch or Warren Tredrea, but they do have a pathway to the big sticks.
Graham duck-hooked and sliced his kicks all day yesterday and he would hold his arms out in astonishment when he finally kicked straight early in the final quarter to snap a streak of six consecutive behinds.
Hence it was left to Ablett, Chapman and Kent Kingsley to kick 11 goals between them with their varied array of talents. Chapman, the former Calder Cannon, had a freshly-shaved dome and Carlton could not get near him. His first four kicks were all goals, the fourth of which was classic small-forward play, crumbing a spilt mark without so much as a hint of a fumble and kicking truly around his body with only a step in which to steady.
"Some balls fell my way front and square," he said later. "When that happens and you get a look in, you've got to make the most of it."
Ablett kicked three and was a constant menace to Carlton. His driving tackle on Karl Norman in the third quarter, leading to a holding-the-ball decision and a goal, was described by Pagan as the turning point of the match. The Blues were only 20 points down at that point and showing some spirit.
Both Ablett and Chapman embody the Thompson philosophy in that, while they love a goal and a free possession, they are as hard as teak, superb tacklers. Thompson will not have downhill skiers; at Geelong, you have to work both ways.
But Chapman confirmed the suspicion that the Geelong coach does not mind a bit of Hollywood at times, so long as it's not over the top. "He loves it, I think," Chapman said. "He makes us get excited as we can . . . when we kick a goal."
Carlton made too many basic errors yesterday, a fact that frustrated Pagan. Brendan Fevola kicked three goals but was well beaten by Matthew Scarlett, who had the temerity to run forward and kick a goal himself. Fevola was 100 metres behind his man at this point and Pagan did not miss it. "That's where he lets himself down," said the coach.
Yesterday's victory was vengeful for Geelong, which had been humiliated by Carlton in round two, in the distant past when the pressure was building on the club. How times change and how quickly they change.
"It was brought up during the week," said Tom Harley, who was superb at centre-half-back yesterday. "Obviously they humiliated us. We didn't play well last time but 15 rounds have gone since then and we think we're a pretty good side.
"So it was more a case of sticking to the process and putting away a side that's below us on the ladder."
All of which sets up another clinker against St Kilda at Geelong next Sunday. Chapman, who was quoted as being disrespectful of the Saints earlier in the year, was not about to fall into that trap again. Asked if he expected some verbal sparring, he said: "That doesn't bother me. I don't want to say too much now. I don't want to kick it back up again.
"I've got so much confidence in my teammates that I could say that we should beat St Kilda, but we'll just wait until the day and we can talk about it."
