With six weeks of the marathon run, the line between contenders and pretenders is becoming much more opaque.
Although 94.4% of the competition's 18-teams have now put a win on the board, the gap between first and last is still chasmic.
As we edged toward the end of the season's second month, the question marks surrounding every side – whether they are leading the league or languishing – are still aplenty.
With Round 7 set to start this Friday night, we have cast an eye across each of the league's combatants and have sought to answer the key questions facing each and every one of them.
Geelong
Can they do it again?
Last week, I explained that prior to Jeremy Cameron's injection, the Cats had been wasteful when entering the final third of the ground.
From Rounds 1 to 5, Geelong averaged 53.2 inside 50s per week, but were only able to turn them into a mean of 10.8 goals and 75.6 points per game.
However, after injecting the former Giant, Chris Scott's clowder went inside 50 just 1.8 more times than their seasonal average last week, but were able to turn these entries into 21 goals and 136 points – a 47.6% and 44.2% rise respectively.
Although Cameron was highly sought after in the off-season, and is obviously seen as a key to the Cats' successes this season, his presence alone cannot be seen as the sole catalyst - as a marked improvement from Gary Rohan and a threadbare West Coast defense also played a part.
❝It gave me chills when I was running around the boundary and the crowd was really up and about.❞
Jeremy Cameron spoke to Cats Media after his Geelong debut, presented by @FordAustralia. pic.twitter.com/SyRcesHyot
— Geelong Cats (@GeelongCats) April 25, 2021
Still, with the Cats set to face Sydney, Richmond, St.Kilda and the Suns over the next month, how likely are they to be able to maintain this offensive form?
When looking solely at points for and against this season, each of these opposition teams have collectively conceded an average of 85.2 points so far this season – a figure that Geelong beats by an average of 0.4% per game.
So, although they can mathematically be expected to defeat each of these aforementioned sides when playing at their best, can they defend the punches coming the other way?
With the Swans averaging 95.8 points per game, and the Tigers, Saints and Suns 85.6, 69.3 and 76 respectively, Geelong may have it's work cut out for it in a defensive sense.
A key forward kicking goals in the five 🥵 Watch all three Cameron @GordonTAFE goals #GeelongStrong pic.twitter.com/ctEr4Ph1Mn
— Geelong Cats (@GeelongCats) April 26, 2021
However, as the Hoops are only conceding a mean of 69.6 points per appearance this season, perhaps their back six will be right after all.
With this in mind – as well as the recent memory of the damage they dished out to the Eagles – the Cats' next month should theoretically be rosy.






