The weather played havoc on the match as the fourth quarter was delayed for more than 40 minutes with wild storms and lightning in the area.
Geelong’s Ollie Henry, who finished the day with an equal game-high four goals alongside 350th gamer Tom Hawkins, said it was a bizarre game, but had been handled well.
“It’s something that you never, never think’s gonna happen,” he told this masthead. “So you don’t know how to prepare for it.”
He said the players went into something similar to their pre-game routines, where some players did a quiz together, some broke into a song and others got treatment done.
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“It’s different personalities that do different things that hold them in good stead for when they go out on the track next,” Henry said.
“Everyone has a different routine. And when you have to stop and warm back up again, there are things that might help you perform better. I was dancing to a song … We got the music going – I couldn’t tell you the name of the song – [and] we had some soccer chants going on. ”
Hawkins told Fox Footy that he had a coffee and a chat with teammate Jeremy Cameron during the break.
Henry admitted the rain, which fell heavily towards the end of the match, suited the Cats’ playing style. The Hawks, who had patches of momentum, including kicking five goals to one in the second quarter, started to drop marks and fumble the ball more when the rain came.
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“I like the way it completely changes the dynamics of the game. Everything has to adapt to the rain because there’s so many more mistakes,” said Henry.
“And yeah, both teams … [are] trying to get the ball forward. It’s a completely different game and I know some people love it. I think our boys love it.”
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