Geelong news

THEY say actions speak louder than words.

Yesterday, Steven King was the equivalent of a man making an impassioned speech to say he's not done yet.

The former Geelong captain did everything he was sent back to the VFL to do.

Coach Mark Thompson wanted him to just compete, without fear that any part of his body would break down again.

When he went to full forward in the first quarter, King pulled in two towering overhead marks in the goalsquare.

In the second, he drifted down back to fill any gaps in the Bendigo Bombers' forward line and put his body on the line.

At the start of the third quarter, he'd contest the centre bounce and then sprint straight to the forward line.

His inspired tackle on Simon Rosa late in the term said a lot.

 In between all his work around the ground, he and developing ruckman Trent West controlled the middle.

King finished with four goals in the Cats' 32-point win at Skilled Stadium.

FORMER Geelong captain Steven King and tough defender Max Rooke gave the Cats' brains trust plenty to smile about with solid performances in the Bendigo Bank Cats' dominant 81-point win over Casey at Casey Field on Saturday.

King's return to form was a highlight, imposing himself on the contest early with some clever ruck work, and kicking the first major of the day. His work rate was excellent, running from both ends of the ground and providing consistent second efforts. The only negative came in the final quarter when he was reported for tripping Casey's Nigel Carmody.

Rooke began slowly but in the second quarter racked up 12 possessions, taking his usual courageous marks in defence and providing plenty of rebound.

It was Geelong's fourth consecutive victory and the side that included a combined 547 games of AFL experience to Casey's 74 was far too strong and classy, winning every quarter.

GEELONG has continued its hot VFL form by smashing the Scorpions by 81 points at Casey Fields, but the win was marred as former captain Steven King was reported for tripping.

The Cats were bolstered by three of last week's AFL players, Mathew Stokes, Brent Prismall and King, and all were instrumental in the match.

King, the 189-game AFL veteran, threw his right leg out and collected Casey captain Nigel Carmody late in the final quarter. King was falling down at the time and completely off balance and Carmody was able to jump straight up to take his kick, which may work in King's favour at the tribunal.

The star-studded Geelong line-up was too strong for Casey, which had flogged Box Hill by 129 points at the same ground three weeks ago.

Stokes was best on ground, collecting 32 touches and kicking two goals. Prismall looked the matchwinner at half-time, with 23 possessions and two goals. But due to emergency duties in Geelong's twilight showdown with Richmond today, he didn't return to the field after the break.

THE rich vein of father-sons will continue at Geelong today when Tom Couch makes his debut for the Cats' VFL team.

The 18-year-old midfielder will follow in the footsteps of his famous father Paul when he dons the blue and white hoops for the first time at Skilled Stadium.

After hanging around the Cattery in his dad's day as Geelong's self-confessed No.1 fan, Couch says wearing the jumper for real will be a ``dream come true''.

``I'd like to wear the AFL one, of course, but VFL, you've got to start somewhere. So hopefully I'll play in the AFL one day, but I'm just happy here trying to get a kick,'' he said.

He means the VFL no disrespect, but his hunger to make it to the top grade is obvious.

When he missed being picked up by the Cats in the rookie draft at the end of last season, Couch was devastated. ``It was hard. The six weeks after that were the hardest of my life,'' he said.

``I wanted to give up. The first week after I thought about giving it away, but if you love it so much, you've got to stick by it and you just never know.

``You've got to stay focused, get motivated and think `there's always next year'.