rickster1
Debutant
Life after Benny
Wednesday, March 16
TIM `BLUEY' McGRATH
IT'S TIME for Cats fans to get excited about Brad Ottens and Henry Playfair - too much has been made about losing Benny Graham.
Fans should be looking forward to having a genuine superstar in Ottens coming to the club and the opportunity being given to Playfair to show his stuff.
You can talk forever about losing Benny Graham but let's move on, have a fresh start, there's new people for the fans to see.
The Cats won't have to alter their game plan to deal with Graham's absence.
Graham's departure and Ottens' arrival looked to be a fairly straight swap and although Ottens hasn't been in great form in the pre-season matches, I wouldn't be worried about that.
I think he has already proven he can be a great player, it's just a matter of settling in. Some blokes historically play well in the pre-season and some blokes don't.
I think come round one, on Sunday, March 27, when Ottens lines up at the MCG against his old club Richmond all the pre-season activities will be forgotten.
And although I used the term straight swap, a lot of people have forgotten one bloke named Henry Playfair.
Since the first day he came to the club, Playfair, 22, has worked really hard and the once pretty raw player is getting the results.
In the past couple of years his body has developed, his game has developed with the help of the assistant coaches and obviously Bomber Thompson giving him the chance to play in a few different spots last year.
From what I've seen and read during the pre-season, he has held down centre half-forward and become a bit of a linchpin. He has stood up when a lot of people thought he could not.
Playfair just gives everything he's got, he hasn't got a lot of tricks, he attacks the footy, he's good in the air, he's good on the ground and he's a neat kick.
He is just one of those blokes that now he's been given a chance, he'll give you the best he's got.
He has developed more and more in his game, he's got a lot more confidence and over pre-season, he's been kicking two or three goals a game.
And he hasn't been playing on mugs in the pre-season, he's still playing on good players.
It is just a matter of his teammates having the confidence to kick the ball to him, knowing he is going to give a contest and mark the ball.
The Cats should have more options in attack this year.
Graham at centre half-forward had a reasonable season last year, he kicked 39 goals, but the side was a bit one dimensional with Benny and Kent Kingsley, the leading goalscorer on 48 goals.
They were OK, but they didn't have great years, certainly not standouts.
Graham played a ripper of a game against Brisbane down here, played a good game in the finals, but overall he wasn't a real matchwinner.
But now if Kingsley finds some form, Ottens, who's obviously got a point to prove, and a young Playfair who's been given an opportunity to say, ``I'm not just a fill-in player to plug up the gaps, I'm here to stay,'' the Cats will have more avenues to goal.
That scoring power will be boosted by small players in Gary Ablett, Paul Chapman, Steve Johnson and James Kelly if he goes forward.
They just need some blokes who are going to compete in the air week after week. Ottens and Playfair can do that, and as the year goes on, the more big forwards you have who can take contested marks, the footy team becomes difficult to play against.
Geelong has an excellent young team and I have no doubt it will take the club to the places it wants to go.
______________________________
Not a bad article.
Wednesday, March 16
TIM `BLUEY' McGRATH
IT'S TIME for Cats fans to get excited about Brad Ottens and Henry Playfair - too much has been made about losing Benny Graham.
Fans should be looking forward to having a genuine superstar in Ottens coming to the club and the opportunity being given to Playfair to show his stuff.
You can talk forever about losing Benny Graham but let's move on, have a fresh start, there's new people for the fans to see.
The Cats won't have to alter their game plan to deal with Graham's absence.
Graham's departure and Ottens' arrival looked to be a fairly straight swap and although Ottens hasn't been in great form in the pre-season matches, I wouldn't be worried about that.
I think he has already proven he can be a great player, it's just a matter of settling in. Some blokes historically play well in the pre-season and some blokes don't.
I think come round one, on Sunday, March 27, when Ottens lines up at the MCG against his old club Richmond all the pre-season activities will be forgotten.
And although I used the term straight swap, a lot of people have forgotten one bloke named Henry Playfair.
Since the first day he came to the club, Playfair, 22, has worked really hard and the once pretty raw player is getting the results.
In the past couple of years his body has developed, his game has developed with the help of the assistant coaches and obviously Bomber Thompson giving him the chance to play in a few different spots last year.
From what I've seen and read during the pre-season, he has held down centre half-forward and become a bit of a linchpin. He has stood up when a lot of people thought he could not.
Playfair just gives everything he's got, he hasn't got a lot of tricks, he attacks the footy, he's good in the air, he's good on the ground and he's a neat kick.
He is just one of those blokes that now he's been given a chance, he'll give you the best he's got.
He has developed more and more in his game, he's got a lot more confidence and over pre-season, he's been kicking two or three goals a game.
And he hasn't been playing on mugs in the pre-season, he's still playing on good players.
It is just a matter of his teammates having the confidence to kick the ball to him, knowing he is going to give a contest and mark the ball.
The Cats should have more options in attack this year.
Graham at centre half-forward had a reasonable season last year, he kicked 39 goals, but the side was a bit one dimensional with Benny and Kent Kingsley, the leading goalscorer on 48 goals.
They were OK, but they didn't have great years, certainly not standouts.
Graham played a ripper of a game against Brisbane down here, played a good game in the finals, but overall he wasn't a real matchwinner.
But now if Kingsley finds some form, Ottens, who's obviously got a point to prove, and a young Playfair who's been given an opportunity to say, ``I'm not just a fill-in player to plug up the gaps, I'm here to stay,'' the Cats will have more avenues to goal.
That scoring power will be boosted by small players in Gary Ablett, Paul Chapman, Steve Johnson and James Kelly if he goes forward.
They just need some blokes who are going to compete in the air week after week. Ottens and Playfair can do that, and as the year goes on, the more big forwards you have who can take contested marks, the footy team becomes difficult to play against.
Geelong has an excellent young team and I have no doubt it will take the club to the places it wants to go.
______________________________
Not a bad article.
