2025 Pre-Season chat

[CatToTheFuture]

I think why many of us have been a little disappointed in the selection of Jyhe Clark, is that up to 2022 we had not had a high draft pick in such a long time and out of nowhere we were 'gifted pick 7 that became 8' by the Suns. It thus became such an exciting and unexpected surprise to us all at the cattery and I guess we were all hoping and praying we may 'fluke' getting a Joel Selwood (pick 7) or Jimmy Bartel (pick 8) calibre type of player which would be a dream for all us supporters. So whoever we were going to select with that pick was on a hiding to nothing from a supporters expectation point of view and for sure Jhye is no Joel Selwood or Jimmy Bartel, however on reflection that draft has ended up very thin with the exception of some very early picks. So in conclusion, being a hopeless addicted Geelong supporter I still can only hope Jhye Clark a long and successful career at the cattery.

PS - I too was in the Philipou camp and although he's still going to be a very good to excellent footballer, he too has struggled more than what I thought he would in the early stages of his career, although granted he is still ahead of Jhye at this point of time.

AFL Draft Order 2022

View the latest up-to-date 2022 AFL Draft Order. Pick swaps and trades from the AFL Trade Period included.

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Could imagine how we'd be reacting if we'd have drafted Will Phillips at pick 3, DGB at 6, Tsatas at 5, or Fish McAsey at 6 with a pick we actually earned the hard way?

 

[My Tilly]

Big fan of Clark.
Not phased by the slow start whatsoever.

Look at Zac Butters and how long it took before he became a star. Jhye may not reach those kind of heights but he'll very likely be one of our best midfielders.

 

[Gazza Greatness]

Could imagine how we'd be reacting if we'd have drafted Will Phillips at pick 3, DGB at 6, Tsatas at 5, or Fish McAsey at 6 with a pick we actually earned the hard way?

Excellent point CTTF:..... just goes to show how harsh, demanding and sometimes down right unfair us supporters can be, but then again if you've ever had a deep and hopeless love for a woman, then for us Cat diehards it all makes perfect sense and logic regardless of the sometimes stupidity of it all.

 

[Mr Meow]

Just standard media training for mine.
We have no idea who leads.

And who cares about the next skipper? If he's leading down back then good.

People who post about it care and your cynical view doesn't have to bring absolutely every topic down with it.

Hear Chris Scott talk about Zuthrie and you'd realise the respect he's gained among the group. The standards he had to meet to work on his game and develop his light frame were very high. And he plays with great spirit on the field, to the point where he has been able to stand in for Stewart when he has been needed in midfield.

We never have the clearest idea, but it's fine to speculate from what we see. That is the whole point of a football forum, after all.

 

[Gazza Greatness]

People who post about it care and your cynical view doesn't have to bring absolutely every topic down with it.

Hear Chris Scott talk about Zuthrie and you'd realise the respect he's gained among the group. The standards he had to meet to work on his game and develop his light frame were very high. And he plays with great spirit on the field, to the point where he has been able to stand in for Stewart when he has been needed in midfield.

We never have the clearest idea, but it's fine to speculate from what we see. That is the whole point of a football forum, after all.

Well stated Mr Meow: in fact I'm extremely appreciative of supporters like you who generously give their time to engage and participate on our Geelong forum through 'many topics' and although we may not always agree with each others opinions, I for one derive an enormous amount of pleasure from reading well learned and thoughtful contributions made by people like your good-self and others.

I also feel we are somewhat fortunate that with the majority of the Geelong Big Footy posters we are rather open-minded and have a genuine want to contribute worthy thoughts to the forum unlike some posters from other clubs.... with some Tiger posters being to the point of 'unbearable', hence why I have very little to do with main board these days as these 'INSECURE delusion morons' just hijack and destroy them.

 

[Kobe Gryant]

Big fan of Clark.
Not phased by the slow start whatsoever.

Look at Zac Butters and how long it took before he became a star. Jhye may not reach those kind of heights but he'll very likely be one of our best midfielders.

I don't necessarily disagree, and there certainly does need to be patience here...but Zak Butters was in the AA squad in just his second year.

He did take until year five to breakout into the superstar we see today, but he was a quality AFL footballer for a long period prior to that.

I rate Clark, but we're still at the "looking for flashes in the VFL" stage, while Butters was a proven best 22 commodity who just took a little while to make the leap to stardom.

Hopefully 2025 can be the start of a similar trajectory for Jhye.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Way too early to call on any of this, and Phillipou seems like he would not be a culture fit for us.

I remember being skeptical about Clark in his draft year, but I watched a few of his Champs games and I was sold. He just read the play better than anyone else and I saw first-hand the competitive spirit he's lauded for.

Since he's joined us I felt his first season of VFL was very, very poor. Last season he improved out of sight, he just wasn't running out games.

I don't know what his off-field application is like but it will need to be top shelf for him to make it, and if it is he will have a very good career.

It's all fitness with him I think. He needs to improve that a lot but if he does the potential is there.