From the Geelong Advertiser
Reported by Bradley Green
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GEELONG VFL coach Dale Amos said his side must get better at winning contested possessions after the Cats crashed to a heavy defeat against Coburg on Saturday.
The Tigers continued Geelong's winless start to the season with a 27.16 (178) to 16.8 (104) victory at Coburg's City Oval.
Geelong could not contain the Tigers' AFL-listed forward Jay Schulz, who booted seven goals in the 74-point win.
Coburg led by 14 points at quarter-time and slammed on eight goals in the second term to open up a six-goal lead at the main break. The Tigers booted 14 goals to eight in the second half.
Amos said Coburg had a lot of experienced VFL and AFL players in its line-up.
"We got beaten pretty badly at the contested ball and this (result) was a wake-up call that we need to be better in that area," Amos said.
"We were fairly competitive with them in most other areas and in patches we looked quite good. But, they were better than us at winning the contested footy.
"Entry-wise, we got our hands on the footy a little bit but we didn't get the quality of entries that they did."
Of the AFL-listed players, David Johnson was Geelong's best while Nathan Djerrkura, ruckman Trent West and Simon Hogan also kept their names in front of the coaching staff.
Lara's Kane Smith booted three goals in his VFL debut while last year's joint Mathieson Medal winner Paul Carson (Geelong West-St Peter's) also impressed alternating between half-forward and the midfield.
"They looked more comfortable at this level as the day went on, which was really encouraging," Amos said.
"We're certainly keen for them to play some more footy with us."
Amos said rookie-listed player Brodie Moles has made an impressive start to the season. He also booted three goals on Saturday.
