Review Cats down Blues by 13 points.

[Pure_Ownage]

What it does mean to me is, one more hamstring and I think he is done.

Hes never going to be done (the club will let him go until he chooses to retire unlike the other vets who they will push out) in the sense hes one guy you carry on the list injured half a year if you have to as he can come in for a knockout final and win it singlehandedly. But it does mean we should move past relying on him week by week in home and away anymore.

The only risk is that if he keeps getting injured he might get sick of rehab and choose to retire but thats different.

 

[Lethal09]

We are the best team in the AFL
just like in 2022.

 

[iameviljez]

Conway could do 65 % at afl level but for half of it the oppo ruck will be pushing off him and pushing forward bc he cant keep up

He did fairly well on 65% GT against Hawthorn. Brisbane, it was hard to judge his endurance because obviously his direct opponent went off in the 2nd.

 

[CatRiot]

Have to love watching a game where the commentators are riding hard for the opposition for three and a half quarters, and then when it looked likely we were going to win, decided to talk us up a bit to make it sound like they weren't unbiased.

It's part of Aussie culture... Going for the underdog...

Although at the start of the season, we were looking like the underdog. How things change in 7 weeks.

 

[iameviljez]

The only risk is that if he keeps getting injured he might get sick of rehab and choose to retire but thats different.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

 

[Hinkley29]

Q1
Cats 0
Carlton 6 (Pittonet 2, Walsh 2, Cripps 1, TDK 1)

Q2
Cats 4 (Bowes 1, Bruhn 1, Miers 1 from 0 CBA, Stanley 1)
Carlton 4 (Kennedy 2, Cripps 1, Newman 1)

Q3
Cats 4 (Danger 2, Dempsey 1 from 0 CBA, Holmes 1)
Carlton 4 (Pittonet 3, Walsh 1)

Q4
Cats 5 (Bruhn 3, Blicavs 1, Parfitt 1)
Carlton 2 (Pittonet 2)


Cats centre bounce attendance (from a total of 37 bounces)

Stanley 32
Parfitt 23
Bruhn 22
Danger 14
Bowes 13
O'Connor 13
Atkins 12
Blicavs 12
Guthrie 4
Holmes 2
Duncan 1

I recollect that in the most important centre bounce of the game (3 mins to go, Carlton had just kicked 4 goals in about 43 seconds) our 3 mids were bowes, Atkins and Bruhn. I remember thinking it was a big statement that we trusted that crew in such a big moment.

 

[fpm84]

Nah, it would be papering over cracks if it was a plan not working. Clearly the plan was to keep the ball away from Weitering and to give Jezza, the biggest threat, licence to slaughter them. Worked to perfection.

To affirm your point, Hawkins was targeted inside 50 just four times yesterday. Clearly instructed to take Weitering away from impacting Jez and Ollie’s contests inside F50. Would expect he’d play a similar role on May next week.

 

[iameviljez]

It's part of Aussie culture... Going for the underdog...

It's also Broadcasting 101. You don't talk up the likely winner; it encourages people to switch over.

 

[Footy_Fan2007]

What it does mean to me is, one more hamstring and I think he is done.

I think he’s just about cooked now. Which is such a shame as he still has that burst and acceleration.
His body just won’t allow him.

I would be taking such a conservative approach with him now and get him fit and ready for the end of the year for one last crack at it.

 

[CHAWKTS]

Weitering had 19 disposals, 12 marks and a ping at goal. I'm not sure what worked there.

I think the game style didn't suit him though and I reckon he'll bounce back, but we do have to keep an eye on it

I think with Hawk it is a bit of both…his limitations are real but he was also definitely more “off” in this game - I think frustration of last few weeks building.

He wasn’t leading for those short hit ups as much - that is his bread and butter when confident. No reason why he can’t get that back. (Was noticeable in 3rd when Jezza got it in the open at half forward on the break with just Hawk and Weitering in the 50 and kicked it over their head for Hawk to run on to - with obvious outcome of Weitering winning in and then slingshot.

Initially I was frustrated with Jezz as it was a bad kick given the match up. But then realised that I think he was waiting for Hawk to double back and lead up for a 15m pass - which Hawk did not do

I think this is a genuine watch for me. Still backing Hawk to find form, but if he doesn’t the MC will have some really tough conversations…

 

[Lethal09]

I think he’s just about cooked now. Which is such a shame as he still has that burst and acceleration.
His body just won’t allow him.

I would be taking such a conservative approach with him now and get him fit and ready for the end of the year for one last crack at it.

If the club can rest danger like they did in 2022, get him to finals in peak condition, ready to like play 70% game time he can be the difference in us winning it.

 

[CatRiot]

Carlton had more kicks, marks, handballs, hit-outs, contested possessions, metres gained, inside 50s, tackles inside 50s and scoring shots, yet still lost.

Shows you what an Elite Forward line and Defence can do. Who said the Brownlow should be a midfielders medal?

I still think come Sept the Blues will be seriously dangerous.

Said we should have dropped 2E and then he does this. Thank the Lord I'm not a coach we'd be in so much trouble. Geelong backs 'em in and proves many of us wrong time and time again.

I hope 2E gets on a roll, but I have a feeling he might play one game like that and then 3 mediocre ones. I hope I'm wrong, the old boy can still do some damage.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Smart post. I was getting frustrated in the last half that he wasn’t in the middle more when they went on runs…but the MC probably felt we had the game somewhat in control.

I do think we need to find a game to leave him out of (and maybe bring Knevitt in to play that role?) but not against Melbourne, Port nor GWS. So maybe Gold Coast (although that will be tough too!)…

I noticed in that north game that neale took all 2nd ruck and blitz roamed..a bit like guthrie being kept out of the midfield last night and atkins sub they are all load management things (i said this about atkins during the week and scott said it word for word in the presser last night).

The issue is blitz is our hardest to rest as we dont have like for like replacements like our mids backs and fwds. You can get away with neale rucking against nth but his ruckwork is still very poor (as a pose to his fwd stuff which is improving) and against a top 4 team they will exploit it (if blitz is out for the week).
Plus for the 65 % neale isnt rucking he has to play fwd (as he cant play mid or wing like blitz) which in turn changes our fwd structure (which is working well).

I think long term osullivan is the closest thing to blitz that we have in the sense he can probably r2 once he bulks up but also has the ball skills to play around mid and wing-but hes at least a couple of years off.

So its hard to rest blitz unless you want to give up a bit structurally-at least for hawk neale is a like for like structure replacement (although clearly not as good) just as a clark would be for atkins or parfitt or mullin for tuohy etc.

I like knevitt and i want him to get games but im not sure if i want him rucking. Someone like witts might seriously injure him.

 

[Zouz Kitty]

I think this is how I viewed Richmond up until half way through 2018. We're so used to seeing the dominant teams have dominant contested possession winners that when they don't we can't reconcile them consistently winning games

It’s an interesting dilemma. We were dominant winners when losing contested possessions for a few years, either from 2011 or after. A friend + I used to laugh about it.

 

[Play it Sam]

Fresh from the replay and I feel Hawk was disadvtanted by some ill advised passes into F50, with the speed of the ball coming in and being worn by Weitering. Both are great but slow, however i don't mind Tommy drifting towards the midfield occasionally to shake things up, but he is a bit lost there and Cameron is better at it. Let's not dwell on the 50's Hawk gives away in an effort to do well there. Holmes and Dempsey are sensational, but are necessarily concerned with speed rather than accuracy sometimes, but that will come.
The consensus here is that his job was to draw Weitering but that may have just been a by product, and puts more pressure on Cameron. For a player of his age with a chronic back injury no less, he does a mighty job and is still so hard to get around, still so strong with body weight over the opponent, in packs (albeit staying down) and in the ruck. Wherever he is, I love it when he traps them over the ball, they are going nowhere. So all up we need to exercise patience with him in what might look like a down week, but Hawk is a vital cog with plenty of others stepping up.

 

[Munich]

Did Carlton really have 8 of their best 22 out

 

[CatRiot]

I wish I were a happier person who could just enjoy wins.

Sadly, I worry about areas that I think we have issues in.

We are top of the ladder, undefeated and obviously doing well... Most other supporters would be over the moon.

I'm out here worrying about things that could cost us flags like:

*Our rucks... Stanley is back to his being a liability best, Conway is a pup.
*Our midfield... Especially with Dangers issues.
*Hawkins and his lack of competitiveness.

We have got the job done so far... but how long can this hold up? Hopefully all year.

I think Dangers hammy has put a real dampener on tonight's win for me.

I've been worrying all year, but we just seem to get the job done in other parts of the ground. Our pressure and rebound stats must be quite high, haven't looked at them.

 

[CatRiot]

He lives in Catherine Street in Geelong West. A fanatical Cats supporter.

No Stalkers! OKAY!

 

[kickazz]

O Henry having a good year, but he needs to look out for free teammates up forward more often.

 

[DanA]

But with our second ruck setup, he's not required to play 85% of the game.

Conway for 65% and Blicavs for 35% is, IMO, a better combo than Stanley for 80% and Blicavs for 20% - even though it does eat a bit into our midfield rotations.

I can get on board with that in general but not against Gawn. His work rate is very high and he’s too damaging to risk Conway trailing him.

 

[Footy_Fan2007]

If the club can rest danger like they did in 2022, get him to finals in peak condition, ready to like play 70% game time he can be the difference in us winning it.

Yep, completely agree. We managed him perfectly in 2022.

 

[rocker_oz33]

7th game without the hair. I found myself looking for the Lions mane a bit

Yeah he looks different..

 

[you pick one]

Dempsey is a bit soft. I thought it would limit him having career because of how avoidant he is of body contact but I've changed my tune (Holmes is similar). I don't think you need to crack in as hard these days, and if he executed better and laid the tackle, sometimes that's the better play.
It was soft and he could've gone harder but I'm not sure it matters as much on most occassions.

This from Scotty rd4 about 4:30 in is the modern thinking in general of our coach and duty of care, Dempsey likely to get some pointers on how to go about it better but move on quickly.
https://www.geelongcats.com.au/vide...dal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1711961757001

 

[fpm84]

Did Carlton really have 8 of their best 22 out

Depends if you consider fringe players like Marchbank, Cunningham and Fogarty to be best 22.

Cerra, Saad and McGovern certainly are. Motlop is probably their best small forward but he’s still quite raw, they’d kill for a Stengle type.

 

[calder_daddy]

Did Carlton really have 8 of their best 22 out

More likely more, the definite 22
Cerra
Cunningham
Docherty
Martin
McGovern
Saad

The borderline 22
Motlop
Fogarty
Marchbank
Silvagni
Carroll