Frank Costa says Paul Chapman won’t come in for any special treatment on Friday.
Geelong patron Frank Costa says the Cats will put friendships aside when they meet Paul Chapman for the first time as an Essendon player on Friday at Etihad Stadium.
However, he says that the man affectionately known as ‘Chappy’ won’t come in for any special treatment by the Geelong players.
“They will treat him like any other Essendon player. They won’t treat him any better or worse, they won’t hit him any harder or softer,” Costa told News Limited.
After going down to Gold Coast by 40 points last week, Costa says the Cats won’t be taking the Bombers lightly.
“Geelong can’t afford to take anybody lightly at this stage after last weekend.
“They will go out to play the best game of footy they can and Chappy will be a dangerous forward that they have to cover and that’s how they will treat it.”
Jimmy Bartel says that it will be a weird feeling playing against Chapman, of whom he played 11 years alongside at Kardinia Park.
“It will be really strange, I have played 11 years of footy with him. He is an absolute champion of our club,” Bartel said.
“We shared a lot of good memories, we played in three premierships and he is a big part of the success we had at the club.
“Everyone has a lot of respect for Chappy and we know he damaging he can be.”
However Bartel says that Chapman isn’t the only Bombers player the Cats need to worry about.
“They have some very good players at Essendon and he is one of them, but we can’t be too Chappy focused even though we know how good he is.”
Geelong head into the game in fifth position, whilst a win for the ninth-placed Essendon would most likely break into the top eight and in finals contention.
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