Cats thrash Essendon 134-70

Unbelievable, unstoppable and perfect.
That was the summation of the AFL game Geelong's Steve Johnson played on Sunday and
bear in mind two points: it came from Essendon coach Matthew Knights and the Cats
star spent the last quarter as a virtual onlooker.

Johnson was at his audacious best in the Cats' 64-point win over Essendon at Etihad
Stadium, with six goals, the imagination to try anything and the skill to pull it
off.
He marked strongly, read the play superbly and snapped goals over his shoulder and
was the stand-out performer in a stand-out team which won 20.14 (134) to 11.4 (70),
Geelong's 10th successive win.
Knights afterwards could only admire Johnson, who has booted 32 goals and is the
only one among the league's leading scorers who is not a key forward.
"His balance and his reflexes are just unbelievable, he's taken his game to a whole
new level and he bordered on unstoppable at times today," said Knights.
"We went with (Heath) Hocking and (Henry) Slattery, our two best run-with type
players, and both of them had their hands full.
"So he was close to a 10 out of 10 game I would have thought."
Geelong coach Mark Thompson was also full of admiration and continued to marvel at
the way Johnson had turned himself from a mercurial forward into a regular
match-winner, most notably in the 2007 grand final.
"He's been a pleasure to watch this year, he's been fantastic," Thompson said.
"It's just been outstanding, his path and how mad he was off the field and how he's
curbed all that and how professional he's become now.
"It's been an amazing turnaround and a good story.
"He's probably never been in better form and he's probably never been happier with
who he is and what he does and how he lives, so congratulations to him."
Johnson was in good company on Sunday, as a host of his teammates had very good games.
Key forward Cameron Mooney booted four goals in his return from suspension, Joel
Selwood, James Kelly and Gary Ablett ran rampant in the midfield while Shannon
Byrnes (two goals) was lively across half-forward.
Geelong also shut down Essendon's key players, as Matthew Scarlett kept Matthew
Lloyd to one (late) goal, Cameron Ling kept Jobe Watson's influence down in the
centre and booted two goals himself, and Corey Enright had the better of Andrew
Lovett.
Even with injuries to captain Tom Harley (hamstring) and Ablett, who limped off late
with a minor ankle injury, the Cats dominated the first three quarters, and led by
82 points at the final change.
Essendon clawed back some respectability with six goals to three in the last term,
but Knights said his side could not afford to continue being blown away in first
quarters.
The Dons have won two of 10 opening quarters this season and Sunday's game was gone
when Geelong led by 33 points at quarter time.
"I think St Kilda were six goals to one (in round eight) and today was six goals to
one, and you can't expect to win against quality opposition when you start like
that," Knights said.
He urged his players to abandon conservatism from the second quarter but was left
with a reality check for a side with a 5-5 record and sitting outside the eight.
"No matter who you play, you've got to endeavour to play the same way and to spread
the ball and to move the ball quickly and we just couldn't manage that," he said.