Autopsy Cats lose to Blues by 8 points.

[Scottland2007]

Erm, how long has it been ok to knee the opposition ruckman during a ruck contest?

 

[Footy_Fan2007]

Feeling strangely disengaged from footy at the moment. Ordinarily successive losses to Wobblers and Carlton would have me p*ssed off but I am quite sanguine about our performances ATM. I couldn’t get to watch the game last night and actually forgot to check the scores this morning till someone mentioned it on the radio.
Weird.
Not sure if it is supporter ‘premiership hangover’ or what. How could we top last season?
Hopefully the players don’t feel the same.
The engaged part of me kind of hopes things will ultimately click into place and ‘master coach’ Scott will pull another rabbit out of his hat.
Next few weeks should prove intriguing on several levels.

I feel the same. If we lose next week I’ll probably change my mind.
But at the moment I’m honestly not fazed at all.

 

[Turbocat]

Tuohy also seemed to spend a good bit of time on the bench during the first quarter - not sure the reason why

I doubt 2e has just suddenly dropped speed...he may not be fit..or carrying an injury which he is trying to play thru due to our other losses. He seemed to want to shrug the tackle a bit and failed. It smelled of arrogance and entitlement but I doubt it was that. To me it was like watching someone who thought they had more strength or speed to call on and finding that it was not there when he wanted it. Is he alone in this ? I doubt it.


Seems a lot of perturbation on our two games... which is fine I guess. Emotion is good.. it shows care. Perhaps my interest is waining a bit.. Perhaps its just step close to be consumed by other interests.. My emotion is not as rabid as it once was.. maybe premierships do that ? Im not sure why ... but I'm not worried at all. What will be will be.


If over the next 6 weeks we do not show improvement then ... just like a filament light bulb reaching its brightest before burning out... then we will know that we basked in the brightest intensity after building to it over ten years and move on with the type of gratitude a supporter of StKilda could only dream about..

or...

over that 6 weeks we slowly build and get better. Players who are not insync or out of sorts atm find their rhythm. Players that may have be just one percent off due to a satisfaction stupor with their cups being full will be jolted with slap in the face, their pride will be challenged and they will have awake to find their cup is now in need of replenishment. Players who are missing return and some of the new players settle and feel they belong. Mainly Players gradually become fitter and game hardened.. and all together we become a group we are more accustom to..


My concern coming into the season... was could we keep our talls fit. So far its not look good. We are missing some and playing other who are not at the best, and couple more were battered last night and its only R2. To be honest...I feel both Car and Coll look like they could be finalists but who knows. We will know more by R8-R9 of where everyone is. The next three weeks we play opponents which are not as good as the two we have played.They should be wins. Get thru to R9 with something like 4 and 4 and then we play Rich. Play ordinary against them ..then we will know they answer. Give them a chance they would love to rip our hearts out. It was R9 last year when the Saints beat us and we were 5 and 4 after that. If we are worse than 5/4 then it will be clear to all the situation.

Till then Im just going to trust the best manager in the league to tune it with the players he has available.

 

[Play it Sam]

If Hawk is to be missing on a mini training block Neale has to come in.
I think we will be surprised with what he will bring particularly with his athleticism and run - will give us a different look as Hawk is giving none of that in his present condition.

With the current outs I hope they concentrate on delivery to Hawk rather than throw the baby out with the bath water. Neale will get his chance, the way Cameron is getting banged up. He’s an out and out champion but confess to holding breath when he goes down. I’ve seen thicker legs on a crayfish, amazing what he does with them.

 

[The 747]

B.Close 1 tackle. O.Henry 1 tackle.

O Henry should be playing VFL until he learns to play Geelong style.

Close is a worry, he looks a long way off the intensity he had last year.

 

[PzBlinky]

The backline concerns - and especially the fingers pointed at Esava - have to be taken with a bit of context in mind:

THE ABSOLUTE S**THOUSE PERFORMANCE OF OUR MIDFIELD BOTH WEEKS.

Last week was worrying how easily the Pies got it up the field, but I chalked that down to rustiness and a lack of fitness.

But the Blues were chipping and running their way into F50 from the first quarter with practically no pressure. We couldn't even force a 50/50 contest most of the time.

I think even a backline with Stewart, Kolo, and Henry would've struggled to cover that - and until it's addressed we won't be beating the top teams.

Anyway, some other observations from this week...

* Missed goal aside, Bowes looks like a great pick-up. One of the few doing his job early, and the fact that his kicks were finding targets stood out.

* Tuohy's either slowed down or isn't right. Keeps getting caught and his disposal - while not bad - isn't as good as it has been

* Cuthrie picked up in the last quarter... but felt like practically every possession went to the Blues. 56% DE when you have 16 uncontested / 7 contested isn't good enough

* Cameron - holy crap, what a legend

* Hawkins - we obviously need him out there, but I think he needs a week or two off to get fully right

* Bruhn - way down this week. I can see the comments D BRIDGE makes about him holding water. I hope this week was just a down week and he can bounce back next week, but does need to develop his game

* Miers - has picked up where he left off last year - creative and getting involved

* Close - waaaaaay down from his lofty 2022 standards. I would've dropped Miers before him 10/10 times 6 months ago... now it's the other way round. Has credits in the bank but needs to lift

* Atkins - didn't get anywhere near as much ball as some of the other mids but led the way with 12 tackles. It's good to see him be able to contribute like that - we need at least 1 defensively minded mid (though Danger had 8 tackles as well, so can't fault his effort)

 

[The 747]

The backline concerns - and especially the fingers pointed at Esava - have to be taken with a bit of context in mind:

Looks like he's the new whipping boy. A bit unfair, he does some good things, he does some bad things and is playing in a very unsettled defence.

Esava is a player trying to make it at AFL level, last night he had to play on Coleman medallists when the midfield was getting flogged.

 

[Strange Cat]

At worse we could be 2-4 after the swans game, at best we could be 4-2 after the swans game which wouldn’t be too bad to relaunch the season with key players coming back

We should be able to beat suns, Eagles and Hawks at the bare minimum but I’d suspect the hawks will be very fired up to take us down

Syd is going to be hard one

 

[year of the cat]

O Henry should be playing VFL until he learns to play Geelong style.

Close is a worry, he looks a long way off the intensity he had last year.

As another poster said, Henry is quite good offensively but doesn't offer much more. I'm not sure we are seeing the best of Rohan too with him in the team? He needs to get stronger and provide a better defensive game.

Close is struggling big time. Whether it's just symptomatic of our midfield struggling I'm not sure but he just isn't getting involved when the ball does hit the deck in our forward 50.

 

[someday-somehow]

Geez Stengle is quality though.

yes but there were 2 undisciplined acts that gave away 50 metre penalties - I hope somebody has words to him about that.

 

[MisterMarcus]

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.

Questionable IMHO.....

 

[someday-somehow]

Tuohy also seemed to spend a good bit of time on the bench during the first quarter - not sure the reason why

headknock and a pretty hard hit too, I'm surprised he passed the concussion test and frankly it would explain some of his turnovers later in the game - quite uncharactaristic of him.

 

[Footy_Fan2007]

headknock and a pretty hard hit too, I'm surprised he passed the concussion test and frankly it would explain some of his turnovers later in the game - quite uncharactaristic of him.

As soon as I saw the incident I thought there’s no way he can play the game out. Copped a knock to the head then hit his head on the ground.

 

[Strange Cat]

You have to like the fact that for the last two weeks the opposition has been roughing up the players with next to no repercussions

I hope the club remembers that leading up to finals should we play those teams to give it back to them

 

[Tony Barber]

Last week I said we were in trouble because of the defence.
Was laughed at.

I admit I got that wrong.
Not.

 

[catsfootyfan89]

There are actually a few insights in this segment from Fox that are definitely relevant:

 

[Warhorse]

There are actually a few insights in this segment from Fox that are definitely relevant:

Yikes. Ugly

 

[Kobe Gryant]

When you win four flags in 15 years, most other clubs will revel in your downfall. It will truly suck for them if we get our key personnel down back over the next month and start the momentum rolling again.

I'm not saying that it will happen; we could very much be cooked. However, the rest of the comp would hate being lulled into a false sense of security, only to see the giant (no, not GWS) arise from its slumber and start stringing some solid results together.

Remember when the Hawks went down a couple years ago? People were making posters, and commemorative plaques. It'll be that all over again if/when it happens.

It's amusing to a degree, but when that's the highlight for so many supporters, it really does show how weak their clubs have been for so long.

 

[winty]

I wouldn't laugh - knowing Tom's record at the MRP, he's likely to get that sentence.

 

[JackFlash]

Teams lose 2 in a row during the season and go on to win a premiership.

Many teams lose the first two games and still make the finals (most in the lower half of the eight).

The thing about losing the first 2 game losses is that the club has to push through the disappointment and smashed expectations. The Task now is to not panic and get the organisational side of the on field efforts in order (even with injuries) and get the next points on offer.

Other than reacting to injuries it should now be steady as we planned during preseason.

2 and 6 is another matter. Then we play the younger brigade to find out what we need to draft / recruit at years end.

They look underprepared and haven't had the intensity of Collingwood and Carlton, replacements have been disappointing and I can't help thinking the team believes its "mission accomplished ". Geelong was flattered by the result on Thursday night. The beginning of a season is vital to the course the team takes for the remainder of the season.

 

[catsfootyfan89]

Yikes. Ugly

Very. It's hard to square that away with anything other than simply effort and attention. We really need Stewart back as soon as possible. My prediction is that Stewart will be doing far more captain duties in the team than Danger.

 

[Footy_Fan2007]

From the outside it looks like we are pretty far back in terms of fitness. We are also missing key players.
Scott in the presser doesn’t look concerned at all and even had a laugh.

I think we will come good and it will click.
Just a question of when. If we win the next 3, we should be looking the goods for the Sydney game. Win that and I’d back us for top 4.

Im looking forward to seeing the response.
We seem to be treating these early games like practice games. There is barely any intensity or pressure from us at all.

Worse case we have a poor year, but I honestly wouldn’t even care after last year.

 

[Mr_Cat_Man01]

Carlton deserved the win but we stuffed chances to pinch it.

Having 4 experienced players out of your defensive system is clearly taking a toll. The disorganized look at times has got us into trouble particularly off turnover. Carlton’s first goal last night was a good example of us getting caught out of position and unable to turn around quick enough. Hopefully Kolo Duncan and Stewy return soon. Like Sav but he is learning and will take time.

Mids were torched again and struggling to just get ball in hand. Surely if we start to break even we will beat more teams.

Jezza is probably best player in the game! What an effort.

 

[Jumping Jack]

Couple of things that seem to be a pattern in Rd 1 and 2.

Fast ball movement seems to be the template against Geelong. Not the first time it’s been used against us, but it’s showing up more due to our lack of run / fitness.

Both Pies and Blues were clearly targeting De Koning. He’s been targeted physically both games.

Both Pies and Blues put a lot of work into Close and Stengle - so far both have had minimal / normal impact.

Our midfield is clearly off - that’s been well publicised but it’s where our problems are starting.

We’ve got players having to play different roles to help plug holes and overall structure and cohesion is suffering as a result. Rohan for example was forward / down back / and even spent time through the midfield.

Bowes looks like a Geelong player. He was good last night (apart from that shank late). He’ll be a very handy player when Duncan is playing alongside him. Both elite ball users.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[rocker_oz33]

Close is miles of last year .
Hawkins under done.

With these guys well done .

Inc 3 def injured.

Inc mids well well down .

Lots of work to do...