Cats, Saints ready for ultimate battle

Slattery Media ©

Geelong coach Mark Thompson says his team's powerful attack represents the greatest challenge yet for a St Kilda defence on course to smash all kinds of records this season.

The Round 14 clash at Etihad Stadium on Sunday is being billed as the biggest home-and-away game in AFL history given it is the latest two unbeaten teams have ever met in a season with both sides already four games clear of the rest of the competition.

And as stats supplied to Sportal from the AFL's official stats supplier Champion Data reveal, the two teams' respective dominance is built on contrasting platforms.

For the Saints it's all about stopping goals while for the all-conquering Cats - who have won 55 of their past 58 matches - it is all about scoring them.

Both teams are ranked one and two respectively for disposals per game compared to their opponents each week as well as one and two for contested and uncontested possessions compared to their opposition each week.

As a result both teams have far more scoring opportunities than their rivals with the Saints averaging 14 more inside 50s than their opposition per game this season - ranked No.1 - while the Cats are ranked second with 12 more per week.

But it is the Saints' defensive efforts which have been the stand-out feature of the season so far.

The team has conceded just 764 points in 13 games - at an average of 58.8 points per game - while every other club (including Geelong which is ranked next with 1008 points) has conceded at least 1000 points for the season.

Not only has no team kicked 100 points in a game against St Kilda this year but the Saints have kept teams goalless in 10 of 52 quarters this season and are on track to concede the least amount of points ever since the competition switched to 22 rounds in 1970.

Champion Data's Glenn Luff said the Saints have done that by smothering their opposition in midfield and simply not allowing the ball into their defence.

"The Hawks set new standards last season by conceding just 43 inside 50s per game via Clarko's cluster," Luff said.

"But the Saints in 2009 are conceding just 38.5 inside 50s per game so if we thought Hawthorn's numbers of last year were amazing then how good are St Kilda's this year?"

The Saints have achieved this by laying the most tackles of any teams inside their own forward 50 as well as in midfield, meaning opposition teams are under constant pressure in trying to get the ball forward against Ross Lyon's team.

But in saying all that, the Saints - who are on their best winning run ever with 13 in a row - are yet to come up against a team with the potency of the Cats.

The Cats have scored 1509 points in 13 games this season with the Bulldogs ranked second with 1451 and St Kilda a distant third with 1356.

And while the Saints have managed to kick 100 points in a game on just eight occasions this year, the Cats have done it 11 times and in their other two games (both in Perth) they kicked 99 and 94 respectively. The Cats are also ranked No.1 for marks inside their forward 50 while the Saints' defence has conceded the least amount of marks inside their defensive 50 this season.

Thompson said the Cats' attack - which is backed by a range of goalscoring options from midfield - is ready to crack the league's best defence in decades.

"We will try to have as many (forward) entries as we can and kick as many goals as we can and see if we can force our way through that tight defence that St Kilda has," Thompson said.

"We have shown we can get through a zone defence and they (St Kilda) do it as well anyone but nobody has been able to do it against St Kilda this year so that is the real test for us."

"So let's be honest if we can kick a decent score against St Kilda it will be a really good thing for us because no other team has been able to do it."

But how will the Cats do it? By relying on their incredible quick ball movement which has transformed the way the game has been played since 2007, that's how.

"We know what we are up against on the weekend and everyone is going to have to be at their best but going through (opposition defences) quickly is bit of a weapon for us so we will implement that (against St Kilda) and see if it works," Thompson said.

Whether the Cats can get away with that against St Kilda and whether the Saints' defence can stand up to such pressure promises to be defining question of Sunday's eagerly-awaited showdown.