Geelong will head south this weekend for a clash with North Melbourne, visiting Blundstone Arena for just the third time in Club history. Â
Located just outside Hobart’s CBD, Blundstone Arena (or Bellerive Oval) has been a second home ground for the Kangaroos since the first AFL games were played there in 2012. Â
The venue also plays host to a variety of cricket matches during Summer, with the grandstands appropriately honouring the great Ricky Ponting and David Boon. Â
North Melbourne have played at Blundstone Arena 37 times over the past 12 years, only winning one of their past 11 games at the venue. Â
For Geelong it is a far shorter history in Hobart, with Saturday’s clash set to be the third trip to the stadium. Â
The Cats have visited the venue twice in the past three years, playing for the first time in 2021 when they faced North Melbourne in Round 20. Â
Geelong came away with a 20-point win in a low scoring affair, Cameron Guthrie putting together a best on ground performance with 29 disposals and two goals. Â
The second trip to Hobart was a far more comprehensive running away with a 60 point win in the early stages of the 2022 season. Â
Jeremy Cameron booted seven goals from 16 disposals, while Zach Tuohy collected plenty of the footy finishing with 32 possessions. Â
Tuohy has been the most consistent performer for the Cats at Blundstone Arena, polling Brownlow votes on both occasions in 2021 and 2022. Â
Geelong’s only other trip to Tasmania came back in 2007, when the Cats took on Hawthorn in Launceston and fell four points short in a nail-biter. Â
The Cats will be looking to continue to their perfect strike rate at Blundstone Arena, when they take on North Melbourne this Saturday. Â
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