To the naked eye, the final margin in last night’s game against Geelong probably felt about right, although the statistics tell a somewhat different story.

Both sides were neck and neck across most of the major statistical categories, the Dogs actually coming out on top in the contested possession count and, incredibly, had more inside 50s than the side who finished 57-points ahead on when the final siren sounded. 

Captain Dale Morris, speaking to Channel 7 post-match, said that the quality of ball going into the Geelong forwards was better, and that had a flow on affect across the rest of the game.

“We didn’t really help ourselves in the first quarter with our turnover, and that caught us out as backs, Morris said.

“[But] I think we had similar inside 50s for the match, but the quality of theirs was much better and we were under the pump a little bit. 

“But that’s the way the game panned out and we’re forever learning on the field and we’ve got to adapt a bit quicker I think.” 

It wasn’t all bad news for the Dogs, though.  

After kicking four of the last five goals of the third term to get within 28 points, the crowd seemed to sense something big, but after a Liam Picken goal was overturned in the final stages of the quarter, momentum slipped and the Cats got away.

Despite the loss, Morris said that his young side would take plenty away in preparation for the Swans in Sydney in two weeks time.

“It’s good that the boys are hurting, but there are a lot of learning’s to come out of it.

“But we’ll grow, we’ve got the bye next week so we’ll use that for what it is and we’ll talk about what we have to do to be a top team.”