Preview 2nd Prelim Final Geelong v Brisbane Sat Sept 21 2024 515pm @ MCG

[So Cold]

Tuohy is the ideal sub for me. A fresh Touhy can cause damage with his long kicking and potential to hit the scoreboard. Bews is not an impact player, nor is Mullin. As subs they would be wasted. I don't think a late change is out of the question.

Surely Bews and Mullin are given lockdown jobs?

 

[And_ROOS]

Trusting the MC here, but still not confident on Mullin and not sure what his role would be. Is he on Cameron? Because if he is do we risk Cameron doing to him what Papley did to him during the season.

Feels like it should be one of Bews and Mullin and of the two Bews can actually defend.

 

[Mr Meow]

Trusting the MC here, but still not confident on Mullin and not sure what his role would be. Is he on Cameron? Because if he is do we risk Cameron doing to him what Papley did to him during the season.

Feels like it should be one of Bews and Mullin and of the two Bews can actually defend.

It's difficult to know unless he's in the starting 22 or not.

If he is, maybe he tags/defends Rayner/Bailey?

If he comes on as sub you'd think he is more likely to just be a run and gun option.

 

[Interdimensional Bigfoot]

People have badly underestimated Mullin.

I don't think so, he's had glimpses of being a decent player but hasn't had a breakout game yet, I see the MC as trying to fast track his progress, he's like a version of Holmes who has never played AFL before.

 

[And_ROOS]

It's difficult to know unless he's in the starting 22 or not.

If he is, maybe he tags/defends Rayner/Bailey?

If he comes on as sub you'd think he is more likely to just be a run and gun option.

I wouldn't want him as sub if we are chasing the game and needing someone to come in and introduce a burst and have damaging possessions.

 

[So Cold]

It's difficult to know unless he's in the starting 22 or not.

If he is, maybe he tags/defends Rayner/Bailey?

If he comes on as sub you'd think he is more likely to just be a run and gun option.

Would Mullin run with Neale cause someone has to.

 

[Interdimensional Bigfoot]

I wasn’t surprised with the selection - only that they did it as they LOVE 2E - it was genuinely difficult.

And I am worried for SDK, yes he needs to toughen up but he is a lovely kid who is very popular in that age group (6-7 of his best mates are in that team) and they are sad for him. I think people understand the logic - and it is a team game - (and whoever came out would have had someone else sad!) but we shouldn’t dismiss the human element here

If we win I can’t see any changes to the team baring injury. Swans/Port don’t have tall forwards to worry about (unless Port win and bring Marshall back in and go very tall - maybe but doubt it)…

Stanley could play shit, we still win and they drop him for SDK.

 

[Kobe Gryant]

Trusting the MC here, but still not confident on Mullin and not sure what his role would be. Is he on Cameron? Because if he is do we risk Cameron doing to him what Papley did to him during the season.

Feels like it should be one of Bews and Mullin and of the two Bews can actually defend.

That Papley game is growing in legend more and more by the week.

In reality, he kicked 2 bullshit goals from outside 50 (that he never kicks) and a cheapy with a minute to go when the game was over.

It says 4 goals on the statsheet, but this wasn't Mullin getting torn apart and looking like a novice like a young Mark O'Connor in his first year.

For at least two of them, we could have had Corey Enright on him and it still wouldn't have mattered.

You want your opposition to be taking shots from 50+. If they're good enough to nail those, then more power to them.

There's not much you can do.

 

[magic_johnson!]

Chance of rain is reducing ; now it’s only 0-2mm and expected in the morning.

Can’t wait

 

[Whiskers]

Don’t know who in here is an afl member and likes level 2. But they have just released tickets on level 2 in that section.
Don’t ask me to explain why they do this stuff just before midnight on a Thursday when it’s impossible to get them as soon as they are released…. But they do.

 

[The Casey Cat]

Would Mullin run with Neale cause someone has to.

Disagree. He's injured and it's crazy they are playing him.

 

[The_Koulouriotis_Fan]

Steve Johnson: The cutting spray from Steve Hocking that sparked a Cats dynasty


Geelong’s last rebuild was at its moment of reckoning when two young stars found trouble. STEVE JOHNSON relives a monumental blast he copped from Steve Hocking, and reveals a curious open secret of the Cats’ enduring success.


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When Andrew Mackie and I found ourselves in strife after his 21st birthday in late 2005, things later came to a head in a Geelong lunch meeting at the George and Dragon Hotel.


The guest speaker was Steve Hocking.


After playing 199 games for the Cats, he’d been a bricklayer and was then a picture framer; it was the first time most of us had heard from him. He’d coached some local footy and was renowned as a man who spoke honestly, unafraid of giving direct feedback.


The spray that he gave us … it cut both of us to the core and sent an incredibly strong message to the rest of the group.


He singled out Mackie and I, having a real crack at us for putting ourselves above the team. He told us that didn’t happen at good footy clubs and we needed to pull our heads in.


The speech ran about 20 minutes, stressing the importance of each player doing everything he could to get the best out of himself, and of being the best possible clubman. His deep care for Geelong was obvious.


Steve didn’t miss Mackie and I in particular, but the whole group walked away thinking, F—k, we’ve got a fair bit of work to do if this is how we’re honestly viewed by an outside observer who loves the club.


It was a really important conversation for the group at that time. While 2006 wasn’t our year, we won the club’s first flag in 44 years in 2007, and had won three by 2011.


It’s funny how things turn out. That spray was Steve’s first initiation into the group and by the end of 2006, he was appointed to the football department, so he was part of that first premiership and all those since. We were under no illusions about the type of person who was coming into our club to help get us back on track.


He’s worked his way up from picture framer to Cats CEO (via the AFL’s GM of football operations job) and is now one of the most intimidating characters in footy. Steve has never been the most famous Hocking at Geelong, but you could argue that his contribution is now equal to or even greater than Garry’s.


Mackie, of course, is the general manager of football underneath Steve. He sits in the hierarchy above Stephen Wells, the recruiting guru who drafted him with pick seven in 2002; back when he still playing school footy at Sacred Heart College in Glenelg and some SANFL reserves, which had everyone in footy wondering what the hell Geelong was doing.


And I’ll be presenting the Norm Smith Medal this year, as the 2007 recipient. Who knows, maybe I’ll be handing it to Tyson Stengle, who the Cats plucked from the scrapheap and have turned into arguably the AFL’s best small forward.


Both Stengle’s recruitment and the fallout of his nightclub incident this year were great examples of what makes Geelong such a strong club.


Recycling him out of the SANFL was a classic Cats list masterstroke, yet another example of the club’s capacity to get the best out of people. And its response to that incident … most other clubs probably would have said, ‘We need to do this’, and stood him down due to AFL and public expectations. But Geelong went, ‘No, we’ll do it this way’ – and as usual, got it right.


If there’s a secret to Geelong’s success, it’s those two things: the Cats always get the best out of people, and nearly always make the right decisions.


That’s partly due to stability. The fact that the Cats have had just two senior coaches and two CEOs in this century is pretty remarkable.


When you have stability, invariably make the right calls and maximise everyone’s abilities, you can become one of the rare clubs that avoids rebuilds and just keeps on succeeding.


A REBUILD THAT ENDURED


Geelong’s last rebuild started way back around the turn of the century, with Frank Costa, Brian Cook, Stephen Wells and Mark Thompson leading the way.


That was when the recruiting and drafting strategy started to focus on two things above all else: character and competitiveness.


They traded for Tom Harley in 1998 after he’d played a single game for Port Adelaide and you started to see guys from many different backgrounds get drafted. A big, quiet fella from East Perth named Joel Corey got picked at No.8 in 2001, followed late by a few blokes called Paul Chapman, Cameron Ling and Corey Enright. They ticked the club’s key boxes in spades.


Jimmy Bartel, James Kelly and Gary Ablett followed in 2002, along with myself.


I’ll never forget the day that the Cats visited my family home in Wangaratta. I knew Wells – the long-time list manager - was coming because he’d organised the meeting, but I was really surprised when the senior coach, ‘Bomber’ Thompson, made the trek of more than three hours just to visit a kid.


I was starstruck when they pulled up out the front in their two Fords. I guess it showed how invested ‘Bomber’ was in the club making the right decision. He was only ticking off on pick 24, but every decision was crucial to them at that time and they never got higher in the draft than pick seven.


It was a pretty casual chat, yet I found out post-draft that they’d been at a few of my U18 games. Apparently ‘Bomber’ had taken a liking to me as a player; whether that was mostly due to talent, competitiveness, or having shown a bit of resilience after some early setbacks, I’m not sure. The Cats talked to school teachers and local footy coaches for due diligence.


They just kept getting it right with those later picks. Tom Lonergan came in at pick 23 the following year, while Shannon Byrnes came at No.40 in the rookie draft. Brad Ottens was traded for in 2004 and became a triple premiership player, while Mathew Stokes turned up at pick 61 the year after, followed over the next couple of seasons by Joel Selwood, Tom Hawkins and Harry Taylor.


Also around then, Geelong made the decision to go with the Leading Teams model, which partly involved appointing the best leader rather than the best player as captain. That was Harley, one of the first such appointments in footy and a great skipper. Ling and Selwood were brilliant successors in the same mould.


Neil Balme was appointed as the football manager in 2007, another quality person. The talent was all there by that point. And the rest is history.


Geelong then nailed Thompson’s replacement as senior coach with Chris Scott. It was an interesting pick, given that our team had spent its formative years aspiring to be like the Brisbane Lions sides that Chris played in. Character, competitiveness … that’s Chris all over. We won our third premiership in his first season in charge, 2011.


Nigel Lappin was already at the club then as an assistant. He’s been a bit of an unsung hero throughout; a great sounding board for Chris (they’re best mates) and a smart footy person who has a keen feel for the playing group.


You can point to plenty of others, like Ken Hinkley, Brendan McCartney and Blake Caracella in the past. Kenny had a massive influence on my career and the way he celebrated after Port Adelaide’s semi-final win was a mirror image of what he used to do at Geelong following hours-long table tennis battles after training. He loved nothing more than winning and he’d rub it in relentlessly.


The current coaching staff is full of past players these days, including Ottens, Steven King, James Kelly and James Rahilly. And the list still features plenty of shrewd acquisitions.


Zach Tuohy was a decent player at Carlton but became a very good player who extended his career at Geelong. He, Rhys Stanley and Gary Rohan contributed to the 2022 flag after trades. Mitch Duncan, Cam Guthrie, Jed Bews, Mark Blicavs, Jake Kolodjashnij, Tom Stewart, Jack Henry, Zach Guthrie, Gryan Miers, Tom Atkins, Brad Close, Shannon Neale, Shaun Mannagh … none were especially high draft picks, yet they’ve thrived at the Cats.


WORK-LIFE BALANCE


Gradually, Geelong has become a destination club. It has built a reputation that’s made players like Paddy Dangerfield, Jeremy Cameron and potentially Bailey Smith determined to go there.


There was also a go-home factor with Dangerfield and Cameron, but players aren’t silly. They know that if they go to the Cats, it’s more likely than not that they’ll be contending for premierships.


The other part of it is something that doesn’t get much public recognition but is well-known in player circles: the work-life balance that you get playing for Geelong.


You’d struggle to find another AFL team where the players spend less time at the club.


And when you’re not at the club, you’re not stuck in the Melbourne fishbowl. You can live on a farm and there are few places in the world with better golf and surfing options on your doorstep.


The Cats don’t overload their players with meetings and are pretty flexible. Players wouldn’t be afraid to say, ‘Can I have a day or two off here?’, or, ‘We’re going to Adelaide this weekend and my family’s there, do you mind if I come back on Tuesday?’


Generally, the answer is, ‘No worries’. Nothing is too hard, as long as the players continue to buy into what is genuinely needed to succeed. They are trusted by those in charge to do the right thing, and that trust is reciprocated.


Not all clubs have that relationship with their players yet at Geelong, the results speak for themselves.


So often, people have written off the Cats. In 2011, claims that we were too old and too slow turned into a Too Old, Too Slow, Too Good catch cry after we won another flag.


People kept wondering if this current team was done, yet here they are again, in the club’s 12th preliminary final of this century.


For now, Tom Hawkins is still out. Tough decisions are never shirked at Geelong.


If they next have to deny one of the club’s greatest players a farewell grand final appearance because that’s what’s best for the team right now, then so be it. That doesn’t diminish Tom’s Cats career in any way. He’ll be honoured at Geelong for the rest of his life and beyond for what he’s done in that jumper.


Mind you, they won’t shut down the possibility of him playing right up until game time. Who’s to say that Shannon Neale doesn’t roll his ankle at training, or a couple of forwards don’t get injured in the prelim?


It’s a fascinating scenario considering what happened back in 2011 with Tom and Cam Mooney.


The decision around ‘Moons’ was flagged towards the end of the season. He was well aware that if the list was fully fit, then they probably weren’t going to be playing three tall forwards. James Podsiadly was at the peak of his powers and Hawkins was the soaring young talent who had surpassed what Mooney was capable of at the time.


‘Moons’ got that farewell game in the final round of the season where he kicked five goals. He was like, ‘Come on, make sure you look after me’, and we did. Being the competitor he was, he might have still been hoping there was a tiny chance he’d play in another premiership, but ultimately the Cats didn’t waver.


The decision was made in the best interests of the footy club and it stood. Tom played and he dominated that grand final, before the remarkable feat of winning a second flag 11 years later.


If Chris Scott wins his third flag as coach this season, he belongs in the discussion about the greatest coaches in footy history.


Yet it’s not just about Chris. Throughout its history, Geelong has always gotten the best out of all its people, from the CEO, to the senior coach, the assistants and support staff; who in turn help the players become the best versions of themselves, making for an incredibly powerful club.


They haven’t won anything yet this season but are yet again on the cusp of something special when no one thought they could do it.

Steve Hocking doing a Glengarry Glen Ross style speech

 

[Art Vandelay_]

I'm surprised but happy that Mullin was chosen ahead of Tuohy.

Me and CHAWKTS have said all year that our best side in 2024 only has one of Duncan and Tuohy (no points for guessing which one I've backed). But there were doubts over whether the MC would make the move. In the end I thought they may settle on Tuohy as sub like the QF. Mullin's good game must have swung it.

Now the debate will rage over the sub decision. It looks like it's going to be out of Duncan and Mullin. There's logic to both options. Mullin has been better than Duncan as sub when chosen, but it's such a small sample size.

Games with both playing: 11-4
Games with 1 missing: 3-3
Games with both missing: 0-0

 

[calder_daddy]

Don’t know who in here is an afl member and likes level 2. But they have just released tickets on level 2 in that section.
Don’t ask me to explain why they do this stuff just before midnight on a Thursday when it’s impossible to get them as soon as they are released…. But they do.

I love level 2 and wasn’t able to get them so got level 2a
The reason why it’s been released this late would be due to not selling enough dining packages.
I should call the afl members and get my seats swapped

 

[beatnik]

Kingy suggesting it’s a best team vs best coach game. Said Brisbane had 9 top 20 picks in the draft last game vs cats 1…. Lions best team in it but not against Chris Scott…..
Robbo suggesting King has personal vendetta against Fagan….
Well yeah king has said all season if Scott was coaching the lions then …..
If it’s a stoppage game King suggests Geelong will get it done…… hmmmm
Game on!

I understand you don’t watch the Lions coverage every week so perhaps you think it’s just this week but King has campaigned against Fagan so consistently that it’s becoming the news…King clearly has a personal problem with Fagan that is affecting his judgement and his professionalism and Robbo was right to call him out for it

he contorts himself into pretzels to have a targeted crack at Fagan as a coach…when have you ever heard ‘number of top 20 picks’ used as a metric to evaluate a coach?

Why top 20? Why not top 10? Or top 30? Because he’s arbitrarily cherry picking numbers to suit his Fagan vendetta

Scott is a great coach, maybe the best in the game. but King can just say that without making it an attack on Fagan

 

[CHAWKTS]

It's difficult to know unless he's in the starting 22 or not.

If he is, maybe he tags/defends Rayner/Bailey?

If he comes on as sub you'd think he is more likely to just be a run and gun option.

Would think highly likely he is a sub

I still wouldnt be surprised if we see late change for SDK in. Probably more hopeful though…

I just wonder about our vulnerability to Stanley having a shocker. Granted he hasn’t for a while now and maybe you can’t plan too much for that - but we could look short very quickly. I would have loved SDK on the bench and rotate some of our talls more than normal

Anyway I do trust the MC

 

[CHAWKTS]

Games with both playing: 11-4
Games with 1 missing: 3-3
Games with both missing: 0-0

That is a good set of stats…

But when you go a little deeper 2E is 12-5 this year (not counting QF given he was sub with no real impact)

I may be being unfair…but only 2 of those 12 wins were against good teams in form (Freo and Hawks second time).
Another 2 wins were against top 8 sides (who lost week 1) but were early in the season when they weren’t much chop

Of the 5 losses, 4 of them were to teams who sliced through our defence - high tempo teams.

I think in the end that is what cost him. Offensively he is best 23 IMO but given how important team defence is if you have him and Duncan - who just physically can’t get to the zones they need to often enough - it makes us vulnerable to teams that move the ball (like Brisbane).

 

[Geelong_Sicko]

Steve Johnson: The cutting spray from Steve Hocking that sparked a Cats dynasty...

Woah, that was an awesome read. Thanks for that, Sparky!