Preview 2nd Qual Final - Port Adelaide vs Geelong - Friday 7:50

[goyoucatters]

I've been telling anyone that would listen that for a long time it's all about Cam and his personal stats he's not doing any of the hard stuff or playing team orientated footy his brother is more value right now.

Brilliant. Simultaneous drive-bys on both of your fixations. I seriously doubt even their own family watches the Guthries as closely as you do.

Have you got your zinger ready for when Cam wins his second Carji in just over a month?

 

[Jhye Clark 13]

Brilliant. Simultaneous drive-bys on both of your fixations. I seriously doubt even their own family watches the Guthries as closely as you do.

Have you got your zinger ready for when Cam wins his second Carji in just over a month?

I think Stewart is a Monty.

 

[bulletproof]

Alir and Cameron is a fascinating match-up. Like last time, Alir will win the majority of the 1-1s with his clever positioning and it will be frustrating but Cameron can burn him enough times to kick a bag, if the supply is serviceable.

If the Geelong midfielders are just hacking it forward, we will lose. Need some composure to hit those leads.

 

[goyoucatters]

I think Stewart is a Monty.

Stewart managed 20 games this year. And I imagine they will all now have to be included in his score for the Carji. Whereas Guthrie has 20 up now, with at least a couple of games still to come. Means he can probably drop at least a couple of his down games from his final tally.

Might be closer than you would otherwise think as a result.

 

[And_ROOS]

You could write a PHD thesis on why fans have such divergent views of players. Holmes provides dash from the clearance - desperately needed in order to goal from the centre bounce. His kicking is fine - certainly better than Dalhousie, Parfitt and Bews at times - except on goal; nerves, I suspect, and will change.

I actually paid close attention to him this week on that and its literally just kicking at goal, be it on the run or set shots, thats his undoing.

Against Melbourne he had our 4th highest clearances behind Danger, Joel and Stanley, from 18 disposals he had 2 clangers, 1 of which was that weird shot on the run, he made 7 tackles which was only second to Parfitt (8) and third overall (Viney had 9).
He was equal first in stoppage clearances and had a good amount of score involvements. And all that off 65% game time.

He was actually pretty good against Melbourne and I am surprised people want him dropped but in the same breath no one is mentioning Simpson who had a worse game by basically every metric.

Against Port I would probably be making no changes unless its for Tuohy to come back in and in that case I would be making Miers the sub.

 

[51niwstac]

Can someone please remind me why Dahlhaus can't be replaced? A constant whilst watching Cats games with my father, he bellows 'What happened there?', to which I reply 'Hello, Dolly!", swiftly followed by raucous laughter. Tragicomedy is not limited to literature.

 

[Jhye Clark 13]

Stewart managed 20 games this year. And I imagine they will all now have to be included in his score for the Carji. Whereas Guthrie has 20 up now, with at least a couple of games still to come. Means he can probably drop at least a couple of his down games from his final tally.

Might be closer than you would otherwise think as a result.

Stewart still wins. He's played enough games. Been dominant in most.

If he doesn't I'll be surprised.

 

[And_ROOS]

Unsurprising that I very much disagree that Ratugolea is a better option than Stanley, but interested to take a look at those 4 goals Stanley has cost us - which ones were they?

I don't think many rucks would have stopped Gawn in the 4th, but there were 2 that Stanley should have done a lot better on. Twice Stanley jumped way too early, Gawn just stood there and the ball landed in his hands for an easy clearance that lead to a goal.
The other issue was late in the game Stanley wasn't on the goal line when Lever was lining up, and Gawn was in space in front of him. Gawn often stands in that spot, its a Melbourne set play. So if we play Melbourne again Stanley just has to go with Gawn when Melbourne line up from outside 50m. Gawn seldom goes to the goal square. My Melbourne friends all told me they were shocked we just left Gawn on his own because its a well known set piece by them.

Can someone please remind me why Dahlhaus can't be replaced? A constant whilst watching Cats games with my father, he bellows 'What happened there?', to which I reply 'Hello, Dolly!", swiftly followed by raucous laughter. Tragicomedy is not limited to literature.

Kicked an early goal and I thought "holy shit maybe the good Dahl has shown up" but he missed some easier efforts, had a few tackles broken, and some of his decision making is horrid to say the least. I really wish we brought in Evans for Dahlhaus as Evans can do everything he can do, plus he can kick goals from 50m.

 

[CF]

Strap yourselves in, it's finals time!

I don't think I've seen a finals series so even in my lifetime. I think we can beat Port this Friday night. The Cat's will learn from the loss against Melbourne, at least I hope so. It's been great reading some of the posts here this year. The love and passion for the Cats in this place are unequaled.

 

[Footy Smarts]

Unsurprising that I very much disagree that Ratugolea is a better option than Stanley, but interested to take a look at those 4 goals Stanley has cost us - which ones were they?

I was actually thinking GWS was last week where I remember being livid twice at his inability to make contests either letting his own man impact it or not making contests when he was the spare man but actually there were 3 really poor efforts against Melbourne that cost goals. So here you go:

Gawn winner. The obvious one.

Ben Brown in the 1st quarter when he marked in the pack in a 3 on 2 off a really slow play. Not sure who was on who initially but Blicavs and Henry were bodied out of it by Jackson and MacDonald letting Brown mark unopposed while Stanley was a couple of metres behind. So whoever his man was made the contest and he didn't. In the image below MacDonald (at the back) has pushed out Blicavs so he can't get there while Stanley is standing there watching.



Oliver's goal in the last off a slow play when Stanley was the extra. See here:



Stanley has to kill that. Instead he meekly half contests, the ball gets over the back and Oliver goals.

A stkilda goal late in the 1st quarter off a slow play. Stanley was the spare man back and didn't turn to look where King was giving King a free run and jump to mark and fish. Gary Lyon rightly gave Stanley a bake.

For a guy who has strengths it's sort of comical how bad his defensive positioning is either against an opponent or as the spare in defence.

 

[Vdubs]

Stewart still wins. He's played enough games. Been dominant in most.

If he doesn't I'll be surprised.

Finals votes count.
C Guthrie will consolidate

 

[MacStradbroke]

You could write a PHD thesis on why fans have such divergent views of players. Holmes provides dash from the clearance - desperately needed in order to goal from the centre bounce. His kicking is fine - certainly better than Dalhousie, Parfitt and Bews at times - except on goal; nerves, I suspect, and will change.

Stanley is not the reason we lost last week; he was great in the first half and Gawn is the best in the business.

Higgins is good for 20+ disposals and has good disposal, though he's lost the depth in his kicking, which is why he's not kicking goals. He comes in.

Port are every bit as good as us, so we have to hope we can be competitive and win the game.

One thing I've noticed is that Cam Guthrie is getting lots of ball but not hurting the opposition as much he used to.

2013 was THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY, A TRAGEDY.

Yes Cam has a bit of the Tom Mitchell’s about him now, just stat gathering no matter how or where he gets it or it goes (I’m still glad he’s on our team). They have Wines who does similar, kicks it anywhere.

 

[Footy Smarts]

I actually paid close attention to him this week on that and its literally just kicking at goal, be it on the run or set shots, thats his undoing.

Against Melbourne he had our 4th highest clearances behind Danger, Joel and Stanley, from 18 disposals he had 2 clangers, 1 of which was that weird shot on the run, he made 7 tackles which was only second to Parfitt (8) and third overall (Viney had 9).
He was equal first in stoppage clearances and had a good amount of score involvements. And all that off 65% game time.

He was actually pretty good against Melbourne and I am surprised people want him dropped but in the same breath no one is mentioning Simpson who had a worse game by basically every metric.

Against Port I would probably be making no changes unless its for Tuohy to come back in and in that case I would be making Miers the sub.

I agree he had a solid game but putting him up against Port's big bodied midfield is a massive ask for a first year player. I'm keeping Simpson who showed his class in finals last year and backing more experienced guys like Parfitt, O'Connor and Higgins to get the job done in midfield. He's a bit unlucky in that he's a genuine mid and I just don't think he's in our best midfield. Having him as sub is another possibility.

 

[My Tilly]

Yes Cam has a bit of the Tom Mitchell’s about him now, just stat gathering no matter how or where he gets it or it goes (I’m still glad he’s on our team). They have Wines who does similar, kicks it anywhere.

You watch Wines smash him off the ball just as Oliver did on the weekend. While a terrific inside mid, he's not a contested bull like that of Dangerfield and Selwood.

 

[And_ROOS]

I think people are underselling Port in a game where they will have a full home ground of supporters while our players have been in empty stadiums for weeks.

Crowd is going to play a part with some contentious umpiring decisions and this will be closer than it should be.

 

[BotsMaster]

The two bolded finals we lost in part due to some horrendous selections (2013 Chapman as sub? fu** me. 2019 dropping Stanley against Grundy who dominated Esava and Blicavs in the ruck and put us on the back foot all finals).

That was, dare I say it, Chris Scott arrogance?

So really the only 2 QFs we were complete dog sh*t in were 2014 and 2017.

Cam Guthrie getting injured in 2017 certainly helped allowing Dusty off the leash in that game.

 

[ShaunWDT]

Lycett would absolutely dominate if we went in without a recognised Ruckman and it would leave a gaping hole in our defence against one of the taller forward lines in the comp, would be a baffling decision really.

 

[God Mode]

That was, dare I say it, Chris Scott arrogance?


Cam Guthrie getting injured in 2017 certainly helped allowing Dusty off the leash in that game.

Guthrie going off wouldn't have mattered. That was one of the worst games I've seen us play. Funnily enough, the Tigers kept kicking behinds and keeping us in the game. It's almost as if they didn't believe they could actually win. A better team would have punished them for their inaccuracy and possibly damaged their self-belief forever.

 

[bulletproof]

The case for Esava would be as an extra, not replacement.

We moved too slowly to move Blicavs in the ruck last week. Stanley tired and I reckon Jackson did more rucking than our second rucks.

I think Blicavs can comfortably handle Dixon, so there is a case to bring in Esava for a small like Close to back up Stanley, who would be facing two decent rucks in Ladhams and Lycett.

 

[My Tilly]

I think Blicavs can comfortably handle Dixon, so there is a case to bring in Esava for a small like Close to back up Stanley, who would be facing two decent rucks in Ladhams and Lycett.

I think if Blicavs gets the job on Dixon all night, pencil in 5 goals.
I hope to god we play Henderson on him.

 

[Sire of Claude]

Wines "just a scrapper" - ha ha. He gets heaps of ball, breaks tackles, is good inside and out, kicks goals. He is a star. i wish he played for us.

Our midfield falls away dramatically after Danger, Selwood and Guthrie. Menegola works his way in to the game when the others have slowed down somewhat. Simpson, popular here, is not yet a proven player (how many games has he actually influenced?) but he shows promise. Parfitt is a battler.

In short, Boak, Wines et al will give us plenty of curry. Do we know how fit - or otherwise - Danger is? What about Cameron and Hendo after their collision?

 

[bulletproof]

I think if Blicavs gets the job on Dixon all night, pencil in 5 goals.
I hope to god we play Henderson on him.

Blicavs is a very competent defender on these guys, just because he turns it over and gets caught holding the ball once a game, doesn’t mean he can’t defend tall forwards. He plainly can.

Henderson will be the spare in the Stewart role.

 

[gaz love x]

I was actually thinking GWS was last week where I remember being livid twice at his inability to make contests either letting his own man impact it or not making contests when he was the spare man but actually there were 3 really poor efforts against Melbourne that cost goals. So here you go:

Gawn winner. The obvious one.

Ben Brown in the 1st quarter when he marked in the pack in a 3 on 2 off a really slow play. Not sure who was on who initially but Blicavs and Henry were bodied out of it by Jackson and MacDonald letting Brown mark unopposed while Stanley was a couple of metres behind. So whoever his man was made the contest and he didn't. In the image below MacDonald (at the back) has pushed out Blicavs so he can't get there while Stanley is standing there watching.

View attachment 1214649

Oliver's goal in the last off a slow play when Stanley was the extra. See here:

View attachment 1214647

Stanley has to kill that. Instead he meekly half contests, the ball gets over the back and Oliver goals.

A stkilda goal late in the 1st quarter off a slow play. Stanley was the spare man back and didn't turn to look where King was giving King a free run and jump to mark and fish. Gary Lyon rightly gave Stanley a bake.

For a guy who has strengths it's sort of comical how bad his defensive positioning is either against an opponent or as the spare in defence.

I'm not being hyperbolic when I say I've never seen a footballer with as little going on above his shoulders as Rhys Stanley. Staggering for a guy who's been around as long as he has. Compounded by his tendency to drop his head when it gets tough. Not giving Fort a go earlier in the season was a huge mistake, the same one we always make. Obviously it's too late now and we've just got to hope Stanley has three passable games in a row

It's been said before but the frustrating part of our ruck situation is that what we're missing is not a guy dominating the hitouts a lot of the time (although that would be nice) or even getting the occasional clearance (which I gather is the reason Stanley gets a game). So often what we need is a guy of 200cm to just stand under the ball, hold his ground, and put his arms in the air. And we've got the guy who misjudges the flight of the ball or stands 20m away looking at his shoes

 

[MacStradbroke]

Wines "just a scrapper" - ha ha. He gets heaps of ball, breaks tackles, is good inside and out, kicks goals. He is a star. i wish he played for us.

Our midfield falls away dramatically after Danger, Selwood and Guthrie. Menegola works his way in to the game when the others have slowed down somewhat. Simpson, popular here, is not yet a proven player (how many games has he actually influenced?) but he shows promise. Parfitt is a battler.

In short, Boak, Wines et al will give us plenty of curry. Do we know how fit - or otherwise - Danger is? What about Cameron and Hendo after their collision?

I’m glad you added the word ‘just’. He is all of those things you say, very good footballer, but kicks it forwrds at all cost. If him or Amon have 30 kicks I sure hope it is Wines.

 

[winty]

I think people are underselling Port in a game where they will have a full home ground of supporters while our players have been in empty stadiums for weeks.

Crowd is going to play a part with some contentious umpiring decisions and this will be closer than it should be.

Pretty sure we played them in front of their crowd in Round 13 after the bye and having to sit around all afternoon due to Covid restrictions (remember players having a nap under tables pre-game?). Port kicked 3 quick goals at the start of the last quarter to overcome a 9 point deficit into a 9 point lead and the crowd was at fever pitch - then we kicked 4 goals in as many minutes and totally snuffed out both the crowd and Port's momentum and ended up winning rather easily.