Review Cats keep season alive with 12 point win

[Partridge]

Im sorry stewart is prone to brain farts in relation to blicavs? Seriously? Blicavs? Mind blown.

blicavs might be in his last season next year. He will be 33.

stewarts currently the best defender in the game. A generational player whose attack on the ball is as elite as it gets.

No he isn't. Zoning off is one thing, actually defending is another. And he's not the best at it.

 

[Play it Sam]

The forward line is a funny situation - when Hawkins is available we know he'll return, and I think the vast majority of Geelong fans also wouldn't mind seeing Neale given a go

BUT, we also don't look short on options when we've been without either of Cameron or now Hawkins, pending the other being available alongside both of Rohan & O. Henry

I feel that it's Rohan absence we've noticed more across the season, because while he may not hit the scoreboard with the regularity of the others, he does bring an energy we don't always see from the others

Feels a bit of a conundrum as no Hawkins opened up the space in our forward line and O. Henry took advantage of that in the first half. If Neale plays do we lose some of that space, or does his inclusion help as Collingwood would still have to play a tall defender on him purely due to his height & not wanting to underestimate what he could do. No Neale means potentially a more open forward line but also that a better defender would go to Henry and/or Rohan than if he played


IF Bews was right to go against Port, I would have made a straight swap with Bowes but I like how Jack responded following a disappointing match against Fremantle - plus he did go in & fly the flag in support of teammates, and I don't mind seeing that sort of controlled aggression when needed

O'Connor is maybe one - he was managed/made sub the other week, so could find himself in a similar situation to what he did last finals campaign and maybe out of the 22

And I think we generally all agree that Smith is close to the end, but I did like a few things from him on the weekend and think his experience could be valuable at this stage if he keeps playing smart. But if he looks like he needs a nap by the third quarter, then he may be limited to playing on smaller grounds or we just play the kids in front of him

To back your point (sorry about the quality of pic)
Tell me we don't need Hawk, Neale or even Sav with the BULK to at least boof these two clear Port defenders out of the way.
Flatfooted and/or behind 5 metres out: Cameron, Rohan, Ollie, Close, Smith.

 

[Finknottle]

To back your point (sorry about the quality of pic)
Tell me we don't need Hawk, Neale or even Sav with the BULK to at least boof these two clear Port defenders out of the way.
Flatfooted and/or behind 5 metres out: Cameron, Rohan, Ollie, Close, Smith.

I hope they look at the vision of these incidents early in the following week. The coach or coaches should explain why it is a problem and who's responsibility it was to prevent it happening. That situation seems to be a regular occurrence. Forwards must either contest the mark or at least make sure it doesn't go uncontested. When Geelong is switched on that does not happen.

 

[And_ROOS]

Yep, personally I don't want any current player anywhere near a microphone, but it was stark how he understood what was happening and it sure sounded like no one else did.

I don't remember who the guest commentator was a year or two ago but they were talking about forwards leading lanes and leading patterns and how the 3 forwards in this match were alternating making it hard for the defense and BT was ****ing mute for like 4 minutes trying to process what those words mean.

 

[CHAWKTS]

J. Henry: sorry but I don't by that someone stood on his big toe/foot and that's why they subbed him out. There was a clear issue he was concerned with before the game where he didn't look comfortable during the early warm-up, wasn't moving freely & left the ground early, talking with staff on the way out. He should have been a late change at that stage, and I wouldn't risk him this week - plus, he really didn't offer us much up forward

Tuohy has had an indifferent season, with a few real top games but also a number of below par games where the end looks to be getting close. If he was struggling running around KP, I'm not sure I want to see how much he'd struggle at the MCG, so this could be a good "managed" opportunity

Those are two potential outs to start with

Ok. I am going to raise a (sorry but very bad) hypothetical in terms of j Henry and implications for Sav.

To me the silence out of Cats today is deafening. At the risk of being alarmist I would not be shocked if we find out he will not play again this year.

If that is the case it settles the SAV discussion for 2023 and the backline other than Will Bews force his way back in and for whom.

But if I take that hypothetical further it raises serious concerns on Henry and his feet. If he is out for the long term (again) then surely the club will be desperate to keep Sav. And lock him in for long term. And in the case where we have too many KPD (which happened for like 2 games this year!!!) then all have to prove who is best back 6. IF Henry looks out for a long term it may sway SAV to sway if cats prepared to step up in terms of length of contract?


To be clear I hate this hypothetical and I know it is alarmist (that is what BF if for?) but I don’t think it is completely out of the question. And so the club has to think this through very carefully.

 

[GeelongFTW]

No he isn't. Zoning off is one thing, actually defending is another. And he's not the best at it.

depends on how you define a defender. if your definition is one that plays in the back half then he has a good claim to that title.

 

[fpm84]

AFLCA votes:

10 - Zak Butters (PORT)
7 - Gryan Miers (GEEL)
4 - Esava Ratugolea (GEEL)
3 - Connor Rozee (PORT)
3 - Jason Horne-Francis (PORT)
2 - Oliver Henry (GEEL)
1 - Patrick Dangerfield (GEEL)

 

[Play it Sam]

Ch7s biggest issue is that because of the ad breaks, they don't have time for any meaningful analysis. Hodge is lucky to get 5 seconds in before the ball is bounced. Ch7 see it as an entertainment product, so even pre-game or at half time they barely get to talk about the footy itself - instead they'll have segments that are ripped straight from Bounce.

Fox Footy has seriously deteriorated over the past 10 years. I don't know if it's a budgeting thing or what, but outside of their match day coverage when at the ground, it's seriously subpar. Doing games off the screen is not doing them any favours. I'm hoping that with the new rights in 2025 allowing them to do all the games, they'll base a team in each city and get something back there. But their pre-game/post-game and panel shows are rubbish (outside of first crack). Why is there no Sunday morning review show? Why do some games have an hour of preview, others only 1min? Terrible.

No matter how bad Fox gets they could not get as low as the abomination of our Grand final coverage that Ch7 dished up.
Absolutely disgraceful and an anti'climax caused by having the monopoly. Luckily we were there, because there was sweet FA on TV.

 

[winty]

Someone call the wahmbulance!

 

[Kobe Gryant]

No matter how bad Fox gets they could not get as low as the abomination of our Grand final coverage that Ch7 dished up.
Absolutely disgraceful and an anti'climax caused by having the monopoly. Luckily we were there, because there was sweet FA on TV.

Will never forgive JB for the closing line.

"Cats fans, stand up to your full height"

Seriously? That's the best you can do?

Forget having 2 hours, he'd had the best part of 2 months to rehearse something better. It was clear for a long time that we were going to be there on GF day.

Luckily Gerard & Huddo were far better, but as you say seven have a monopoly on it...and in 50 years when that Grand Final is replayed, JB is who the public will hear.

 

[Bevoman]

Someone call the wahmbulance!

The Cats lead the free kick count 31-19, the Power were intrigued as to why umpire Brendan Hosking paid 15 free kicks alone to Geelong.
To put it into perspective 15 is more frees than what was paid to Carlton (for their entire game).

 

[Interdimensional Bigfoot]

Ahahahahaha did actually LOL. Brilliant memeing.

 

[MacStradbroke]

The Cats lead the free kick count 31-19, the Power were intrigued as to why umpire Brendan Hosking paid 15 free kicks alone to Geelong.
To put it into perspective 15 is more frees than what was paid to Carlton (for their entire game).

I thought we had the rub of the green Saturday night. Fair to say everyone around me at the game thought otherwise

 

[cats_09]

The Cats lead the free kick count 31-19, the Power were intrigued as to why umpire Brendan Hosking paid 15 free kicks alone to Geelong.
To put it into perspective 15 is more frees than what was paid to Carlton (for their entire game).

And? As we didn't play Carlton, I'm not sure how they're relevant to discussion

Considering the number of times that home town umpiring seems to favour every other home team except us, I'm happy to see things go our way for once

 

[Cataholic]

The Cats lead the free kick count 31-19, the Power were intrigued as to why umpire Brendan Hosking paid 15 free kicks alone to Geelong.
To put it into perspective 15 is more frees than what was paid to Carlton (for their entire game).

Sulking about the umpiring isn't a good look for you.

There's other, more compelling reasons that you've lost your last few games.

Best if Hinkley & Co concentrated on those instead. It's an easy out going at the umps.

 

[Goggin Our Best]

Will never forgive JB for the closing line.

"Cats fans, stand up to your full height"

Seriously? That's the best you can do?

Forget having 2 hours, he'd had the best part of 2 months to rehearse something better. It was clear for a long time that we were going to be there on GF day.

Luckily Gerard & Huddo were far better, but as you say seven have a monopoly on it...and in 50 years when that Grand Final is replayed, JB is who the public will hear.

Hes so so - how was his comment Frid night - the Footscray game near the end - and i think he was saying the Dogs final 3 games - none of their opponents are in the 8 - he named them - i forget the 1st 2 - and then he said Geel in Geel - and he said - oh well they are hard to beat no matter where they are on the ladder - and i thought what an imbecile thing to say - weve been in the finals for the last 20 years in a row - weve basically never been outside the 8

My final few comments on the game after watching the replay

(1) Id love to know the stat this year - re Geel their scoring for and against total to date ( all games ) quarter by quarter - my view is - the Cats normally start with a bit of razzle dazzle - dissappear in the 2nd and 3rd qts - probably get bored - then come home with a bit of a bang when the game is up for grabs - so i think the 1st and last qtrs - the scores would be positive - but i reckon the 2nd and 3rd qtrs i reckon they would be under water

(2) Port Ade can blame the umpires - but to me - early in the last qtr that game - they had a slight lead - Wines missed from 25-30 metres out - Lord missed a set shot from 45 metres and Rozee just missed his shot - right at that point they could have put the game out of reach - but they didnt - and from that moment on - Geel dominated

(3) Bruhn did ok - but i thought his last qtr was very dissappointing - did he actually get a possession - to me he just looked so slow when the heat was really on

 

[Cataholic]

And? As we didn't play Carlton, I'm not sure how they're relevant to discussion

Considering the number of times that home town umpiring seems to favour every other home team except us, I'm happy to see things go our way for once

Perhaps this is what Hinkley's little tanty was about?

 

[catempire]

Freo led the free kicks 20-11 against us.

Swings and roundabouts.

 

[Catman]

The Cats lead the free kick count 31-19, the Power were intrigued as to why umpire Brendan Hosking paid 15 free kicks alone to Geelong.
To put it into perspective 15 is more frees than what was paid to Carlton (for their entire game).

Maybe because he thought they were there?

 

[Footy Smarts]

The Cats lead the free kick count 31-19, the Power were intrigued as to why umpire Brendan Hosking paid 15 free kicks alone to Geelong.
To put it into perspective 15 is more frees than what was paid to Carlton (for their entire game).

Man up and move on. We got the rub of the green and won a close game. Last week Freo got the rub of the green (20-11 free kick count) and we lost a close game. You didn't see Geelong bitching and moaning about it.

Shit happens. You're not persecuted. Maybe get over your victim complex and be better rather than embarrassing yourselves.

 

[allrighty]

No matter how bad Fox gets they could not get as low as the abomination of our Grand final coverage that Ch7 dished up.
Absolutely disgraceful and an anti'climax caused by having the monopoly. Luckily we were there, because there was sweet FA on TV.

Don't remind me about the GF, or maybe it should be the GAGF.
BT and Braysmore were beyond abysmal. An absolutely unfunny joke.

 

[Catman]

Freo led the free kicks 20-11 against us.

Swings and roundabouts.

No conspiracy theories from opposition fans either, funny that. It's like it only gets mentioned when we win at home...

At the ground it certainly felt like we went harder and lower at the ball in the last quarter than Port and when that occurs, you usually win a few frees as a result.

 

[Play it Sam]

Will never forgive JB for the closing line.

"Cats fans, stand up to your full height"

Seriously? That's the best you can do?

Forget having 2 hours, he'd had the best part of 2 months to rehearse something better. It was clear for a long time that we were going to be there on GF day.

Luckily Gerard & Huddo were far better, but as you say seven have a monopoly on it...and in 50 years when that Grand Final is replayed, JB is who the public will hear.

Prime dickhead. Bazballed our GF, should have stuck to cricket and polo.

 

[The Casey Cat]

Maybe because he thought they were there?

Yep. The just looking at the free kick count to determine if a team got the raw end is flog nonsense. And as said above the count was the same against us v Freo. Just the way it goes and doesn't necessarily point to anything.

 

[winty]

The Cats lead the free kick count 31-19, the Power were intrigued as to why umpire Brendan Hosking paid 15 free kicks alone to Geelong.
To put it into perspective 15 is more frees than what was paid to Carlton (for their entire game).

Port Adelaide dominated the 2nd term but only kicked 1.5. Turn that into 4.2 or 5.1 you win the game.

Maybe focus on that instead of something that is out of your control.