Autopsy Cats lose to Blues by 8 points.

[Strange Cat]

I think what we saw last year was how well the coaching group can get us to play with the pieces of the puzzle in the right spots. 2021 finals we had guys out and last year we had a clean bill of health and it showed. So far it seems like if the piece looks close to fitting jam it in there and hope for the best.

To many knock on effects atm.
We were playing well against the Pies last week. Holding leads at all 3 breaks only to lose with a goalless quarter but the moving pieces took their toll.

No Henry and Kolo... Esava at FB. O'Connor at HB. Okay it was doing alright first half. Then SDK was hobbled and Stewart went off.
Tuohy to the backline. Zuthrie playing 3rd tall defender.

Continued again tonight. We're getting no intercept marking as 3 of our better interceptors in Stewart, Kolo and Henry are all out and Zuthrie has to play a more serious and close checking role. First knock on is O'Connor and Tuohy instead of rotating between each other from HBF and Wing are now both in defence. So less run and carry. Miers and Close look down as well which doesn't help with that.

No Stewart and Duncan is inhibiting our kicking skills. Massive missing two of our best kicks from the back half.
Guthrie, Danger and Atkins also can't get going so far in the middle which is providing an understrength back line with no assistance.

We just need to be patient IMO. When we get pieces back into their right positions we will be very very hard to beat again.

P.S. Can you imagine the mood in here if we were 0-2 with Selwood retired but not as reigning premiers. It would be far more angry and aggressive in here.

Measured post and some good analysis of the list atm and why the defense and middle is getting hammered at the moment

As others pointed out we started last year slowly and we have some much easier opponents coming up. Hopefully we can bank the wins and hold steady untill we get some key players back and get the fitness up to a better standards

Have faith

 

[Vdubs]

He is good when he gets a run at it. But a one on one tussle he does look a bit ungainly

Be that as it may, we have no better option, and what I have seen, he is putting in a lot of effort, and if his confidence grows, so could his productivity.

 

[Frappe]

On ground level you really notice how poorly he positions himself, left alot to be desired multiple times tonight.

He is at his best defending when he’s running at the ball. When it’s a stand your ground contest he’s all at sea.

He had a horror 10min patch in the 3rd, otherwise he defended stoutly.

Our mids and forwards didn’t do him many favours.

 

[Baudolino]

We all know the impact of losing Selwood's leadership and inside grunt, but I really think the loss of his outstanding decision-making and reliable ball use through the midfield has been massively under-discussed. Joel wasn't quite Mitch Duncan with ball in hand but his disposal was still extremely high-quality and he was low-key the best decision-maker in the team due to his off-the-charts footy IQ.

His courage, toughness and leadership were celebrated but I feel we took his unbelievable skill and understanding of the game for granted a bit.

 

[FootyNoobie]

Can't believe people are giving Sav so much crap.

He genuinely looks good given that we have three of our best defenders out at the moment. Given that our strength is our team-based defence, I think he'll start looking much better once we get Stewart/Henry/Kolo all back in to assist.

I think if SDK was debuting this season, posters here would be giving him shit. He's looked just as exposed and shaky and I think it's really just all because of the lack of support in the backline.

 

[kickazz]

Our mids and forwards didn’t do him many favours

Yeah any judgements on the back six tonight to be taken with a grain of salt for sure.

Don't know if tv did it justice but at the ground the lack of defensive pressure was alarming

 

[OddYears]

I really like Holmes. His work around the contest is clean. I hope he gets more time in the middle because he can be a driving force for our midfield in years to come

 

[kickazz]

We all know the impact of losing Selwood's leadership and inside grunt, but I really think the loss of his outstanding decision-making and reliable ball use through the midfield has been massively under-discussed. Joel wasn't quite Mitch Duncan with ball in hand but his disposal was still extremely high-quality and he was low-key the best decision-maker in the team due to his off-the-charts footy IQ.

His courage, toughness and leadership were celebrated but I feel we took his unbelievable skill and understanding of the game for granted a bit. His class is sorely missed.

Definitely found himself in good spots, time and again during final quarters of close games.

An opportunity opens for someone now though....

 

[Kobe Gryant]

Onto ignore you go , didn’t take too long after a flag to put some posters on ignore

He's got this weird idea of being 'ruthless' (E.g abusing your players 2 games after a premiership)

Nobody's happy with a zip 2 start, but there's far bigger things going on in the world than footy. For a lot of us, a premiership helps confirm that sentiment.

 

[51niwstac]

Looking at those two there's no doubting their hunger.

 

[goyoucatters]

Be that as it may, we have no better option, and what I have seen, he is putting in a lot of effort, and if his confidence grows, so could his productivity.

Based on what we've seen in terms of Esava's 'development' across his entire career, I'm not at all sure that he will greatly improve as a defensive player over the course of his time back there. I can't really say I saw much improvement in his game craft between his first and his fifth season in the seniors, coming into this year.

Having said that, though, he's easily doing enough to hold his place at the moment, given the dearth of other realistic options to play on opposition talls.

 

[kickazz]

Should have been a free against stanley for blocking. Ran pas the drop of the ball, impeding TDKs jump at the ball it resulting in a deserved knee to the ribs.

No one deserves injuries mate

 

[Strange Cat]

He's got this weird idea of being 'ruthless' (E.g abusing your players 2 games after a premiership)

Nobody's happy with a zip 2 start, but there's far bigger things going on in the world than footy. For a lot of us, a premiership helps confirm that sentiment.

In a few weeks we could be 3-2

It isn’t the end of the world, not ideal but the season isn’t over just yet

 

[51niwstac]

Look, just to be clear, Brian Taylor hates the Cats, right? I mean, I'll be forth right now and openly say, I think Brian Taylor is a SHIT Commentator, and I can genuinely say my opinion has nothing to do with being a Cats Supporter.

 

[goyoucatters]

We all know the impact of losing Selwood's leadership and inside grunt, but I really think the loss of his outstanding decision-making and reliable ball use through the midfield has been massively under-discussed. Joel wasn't quite Mitch Duncan with ball in hand but his disposal was still extremely high-quality and he was low-key the best decision-maker in the team due to his off-the-charts footy IQ.

His courage, toughness and leadership were celebrated but I feel we took his unbelievable skill and understanding of the game for granted a bit.

Absolutely agree. And, interestingly enough, off a miniscule sample size, I think the player on the list who could do most to approximate Joel's exceptional footy smarts is the bloke with #40 on his back. Just some moments in the snatches of play I've seen from him suggest a high-level ability to both read the play and then execute the skill to hit the target.

#steadyteddy
#clohesycloserthanyouthink

 

[Frappe]

Yeah any judgements on the back six tonight to be taken with a grain of salt for sure.

Don't know if tv did it justice but at the ground the lack of defensive pressure was alarming

Yes I was there and pretty average until last quarter.

Plenty of finger pointing in the third quarter too.

 

[Kobe Gryant]

Yeah I hate how the commentators say we are a great team and they know we will keep coming… WE WERE a great team LAST YEAR… actually this year we are not … same as 2012 commentating on history ! Except M. Malthouse who called it early as a 7 commentator… said cats don’t have the spread and not a threat… he was right! Bitter about 11? Maybe but was right!

I think you're struggling to grasp the difference between being ruthless as a player vs as a supporter.

I can understand your sentiment for the players, you never want to have to question effort.

....but as a supporter, you do realise you have zero control over the match, right? There's no need for you to have this win-at-all-costs, attempt at a ruthless attitude.

It doesn't help the club, it doesn't help your own mental health, and it's certainly put a few posters off-side from your comments.

Ride the highs and lows mate, not everything has to be so blatantly aggressive.

You're a supporter, you're not lacing the boots up. Put that energy into something you can actually control, you'll be much better off.

Otherwise, no matter which club you support, you're gonna end 99% of years disappointed.

 

[caitsith01]

Look, just to be clear, Brian Taylor hates the Cats, right? I mean, I'll be forth right now and openly say, I think Brian Taylor is a s**t Commentator, and I can genuinely say my opinion has nothing to do with being a Cats Supporter.

God he's atrocious. When you're winning at least it takes the edge off. When you're losing it's just unbearable. I particularly hate (a) when he gets obsessed with some bullshit thing that never actually happened (e.g. the ball going out of bounds) and we have to hear about it for 10 minutes, and (b) when a real thing does happen and he quite blatantly ignores it because it doesn't suit his made up narrative (e.g. Geelong players getting hit in the head).

 

[CatToTheFuture]

What an absolute train wreck

 

[Baudolino]

Look, just to be clear, Brian Taylor hates the Cat's, right? I mean, I'll be forth right now and openly say, I think Brian Taylor is a s**t Commentator, and I can genuinely say my opinion has nothing to do with being a Cats Supporter.

I don't know whether he hates the club per se, he just hates what he perceives as our ongoing success (i.e. constantly being up near the top of the ladder for 15 or so years). He thinks it's boring from a punditry/commentary perspective, so he just wants us to, for lack of a better term, "go away". He perceives any team that faces us as a scrappy upstart underdog with an appealing narrative, whereas he perceives us as just a successful club with a story that has already been told multiple times.

And yes, all of the above is incredibly annoying and unprofessional of him.

 

[Kobe Gryant]

In a few weeks we could be 3-2

It isn’t the end of the world, not ideal but the season isn’t over just yet

You're absolutely right, the sky isn't falling.

We'll get back on track, and it's just good to have footy back.

My only complaint, is the great irony of this place right now is there's more positivity on the North board than there is around here. It's a very small number, but some of us really have become spoilt.

(And no, it's not 'weak' or showing a lack of 'passion' to admit that CC)

 

[tenderwarrior]

If we are persevering with Esava in the backline that’s the last game I watch this year.
1.5 minutes left and we need 2 goals to win. Takes a mark and chips it backwards. Has no idea.

See you in 2024

 

[STPer18]

2/2 hearing the phrase 'Famous Victory' after our opponents won this year.

 

[Farmer2Goggin]

I think the core issue is fitness at the moment.
We saw last week some 2022 Cats footy in the first half before we tired and ran out of legs.
We were witches hats tonight , too late to cover , broken tackles , zero spread and zero chase. Pressure index barely registered. Most un Geelong
Watching brief at the present- try and put 3 in a row together then beat the Swans and go 4:2 .

 

[goyoucatters]

God he's atrocious. When you're winning at least it takes the edge off. When you're losing it's just unbearable. I particularly hate (a) when he gets obsessed with some bullshit thing that never actually happened (e.g. the ball going out of bounds) and we have to hear about it for 10 minutes, and (b) when a real thing does happen and he quite blatantly ignores it because it doesn't suit his made up narrative (e.g. Geelong players getting hit in the head).

The crowning moment for all those who are wondering how BT goes with any Geelong success was his call of the skipper's miracle goal in last year's GF. Made it sound like a routine set shot from 25 out, when we all know that they would still be peeling him off the walls now if players like Pendles or De Goey had done the same thing against us in a Grand Final.

Let's face it, he's not even halfway decent at concealing his obvious bias.

#bt
#numpty