Autopsy Cats lose to GWS by 7 points.

[Turbocat]

The state of the midfield is definitely the big focus after 3 losses on the trot, and rightly so.

Blicavs and Atkins are meat and potatoes mids; both are capable of getting hot from time to time but mostly they're grafters; every team needs those types (and we're all well-versed in Blicavs' versatility, too) but they can't be the main show if we're fair dinkum about contending.

Dangerfield, Cam Guthrie and Mitch Duncan will all be welcome returns to our depleted team, but all 3 have had long careers and have clocked up a lot of mileage. Of course they will improve this team - but they need to be managed shrewdly from here on in.

Isaac Smith is going great, no problems with him at present.

Brandan Parfitt used to be a player I held high hopes for, but his confidence looks shot. I don't want to make excuses for him, but I noticed his thumb heavily strapped again tonight - am I right in thinking he has broken it more than once? Anyway; my expectations of him have diminished dramatically.

Tanner Bruhn's 16 disposal game was a mixed bag; his demeanor sometimes suggests that he knows very well he's not quite where he wants to be in terms of his ability to consistently impact. Time is on his side - but senior games should not be a ''given''.
To date Bruhn reminds me a bit of Josh Caddy when we got him from Gold Coast - many of us weren't quite sure what we were getting, and it took a while to get a gauge on just how capable he was of making an impact.

A fit, freed-up Max Holmes could be one of the funnest features of Geelong moving forward; I'm not sure the view that he has Dangerfield-like Inside/Outside qualities; if allowed to receive and run though he could be a nice point of differentiation.

To my eyes Mitch Knevitt is the one who has really put his hand up over this lean spell.
Got caught turning back into traffic tonight in our D50; cost us a shot on goal, but you can forgive that when he hasn't even played 10 senior games yet.
Knevitt's already shown a knack for taking a strong overhead mark, his stamina appears to be strong, and he's a big framed kid.

If we get the lot back fit and firing things could snowball, but the wear and tear on the aforementioned Dangerfield, Duncan and Guthrie makes this ''perfect world'' scenario less and less likely. Still; even 2 of those players at close to their best would be very, very handy right now.

TB will either slowly get better or hit a ceiling ..as it appears Parfitt has. Either way ..he is well worth the addition to our list. Not every recruit becomes Danger. On earning it . Yes.I agree not given. I think of selection sometimes back when some critiqued Mench.. I agree that he does this or that but who is a better option. For the moment he has it.. but id think the RD will be thinking tehy need to keep ading talent.. as well as guys like Clark will come hard. A harder eye can be used when all are available and when he matures.. but he is on 21 and only played 38 games. Does he have something that will seperate him from a solid group of players that we start to develop? We will see,


I have liked MK from pe drafting him. His marking is his something that separates him imo.. it could see him play multiple roles eventually ..he need to get bigger and stronger... and id like to see him polish his kicking as he will get asked at some stage to play forward.... but the marks he is taking now gives one hope once he is stronger... it will be the other who get pushed out by him.

 

[catsfootyfan89]

I feel like the win/loss record doesn't tell the story for our season so far this year.

We have the fourth-highest percentage in the comp at the moment.

We've have almost half our team on the sidelines, some of which are our most crucial players. Duncan, Guth, Danger, Rohan, Stanley, Henry. These guys are critical cogs and not having them has hurt us massively. Yes we've still got most of our forward-line players in the team, but the ball isn't getting down there enough and when it's coming in, the delivery ain't exactly silver service.

The biggest concern for me is the lack of grunt in the team when the main players aren't there. The telltale sign of any AFL team not coping with its back against the wall is the 'no-look, long, high bomb' into the forward half of the ground. This seems to be the only way we're moving the ball forward most of the time, because the midfield is decimated and the backline is just so under the pump. In the past, we've had workhorses applying adequate pressure around the ground to even the playing field in this regard. Guthrie in the middle, Rohan/Stengle/Close up forward etc. Now that's gone, Hawkins can't find space because he's got guys glued to him who aren't afraid of peeling off because the ball isn't coming in surgically. Underneath a high bomb, Hawkins is useless and always has been. At his best, he's on the lead into space, or doubling back so he can shove out.

The player letting us down the most right now is Jeremy Cameron

5

Jeremy Cameron

Age

31

Ht

196cm

Wt

94kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.5

3star

K

9.0

3star

HB

3.4

3star

M

5.4

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

2.6

5star

D

10.0

3star

K

7.1

3star

HB

2.9

2star

M

4.6

4star

T

2.0

3star

G

1.9

5star

D

8.2

2star

K

5.0

2star

HB

3.2

3star

M

4.6

5star

T

2.4

4star

G

2.0

5star

. In terms of salary, if you could straight swap him for Dangerfield right now, it'd be a no-brainer. You're there to kick goals Jeremy, and missing easy ones when we're only losing by a couple of goals is pretty unforgivable for me. This guy is getting a million a year to kick 2.3 in a tight one with our season on the line? Not good enough, mate. He also didn't show up in the Grand Final last year. I love Cameron but I really don't rate him to be a match-winner when things aren't going his way. When it comes to serious players, I always ask myself "Would I want this guy next to me in the trenches?" With Selwood, Danger, Stewart, Atkins, Closey - you bet. With Cameron, nope.

 

[Romeoh1]

The state of the midfield is definitely the big focus after 3 losses on the trot, and rightly so.

Blicavs and Atkins are meat and potatoes mids; both are capable of getting hot from time to time but mostly they're grafters; every team needs those types (and we're all well-versed in Blicavs' versatility, too) but they can't be the main show if we're fair dinkum about contending.

Dangerfield, Cam Guthrie and Mitch Duncan will all be welcome returns to our depleted team, but all 3 have had long careers and have clocked up a lot of mileage. Of course they will improve this team - but they need to be managed shrewdly from here on in.

Isaac Smith is going great, no problems with him at present.

Brandan Parfitt used to be a player I held high hopes for, but his confidence looks shot. I don't want to make excuses for him, but I noticed his thumb heavily strapped again tonight - am I right in thinking he has broken it more than once? Anyway; my expectations of him have diminished dramatically.

Tanner Bruhn's 16 disposal game was a mixed bag; his demeanor sometimes suggests that he knows very well he's not quite where he wants to be in terms of his ability to consistently impact. Time is on his side - but senior games should not be a ''given''.
To date Bruhn reminds me a bit of Josh Caddy when we got him from Gold Coast - many of us weren't quite sure what we were getting, and it took a while to get a gauge on just how capable he was of making an impact.

A fit, freed-up Max Holmes could be one of the funnest features of Geelong moving forward; I'm not sure the view that he has Dangerfield-like Inside/Outside qualities; if allowed to receive and run though he could be a nice point of differentiation.

To my eyes Mitch Knevitt is the one who has really put his hand up over this lean spell.
Got caught turning back into traffic tonight in our D50; cost us a shot on goal, but you can forgive that when he hasn't even played 10 senior games yet.
Knevitt's already shown a knack for taking a strong overhead mark, his stamina appears to be strong, and he's a big framed kid.

If we get the lot back fit and firing things could snowball, but the wear and tear on the aforementioned Dangerfield, Duncan and Guthrie makes this ''perfect world'' scenario less and less likely. Still; even 2 of those players at close to their best would be very, very handy right now.

Really liking Knevitt. He gets to where he need to be. Making mistakes, of course, but isn’t intimidated by the heat of the game. Has an appetite for the contest. Going to be fun watching him develop.

 

[Stocks_go_Up]

Injuries training loads injuries injuries umpires..

The fact we lost that game is ****ing embarrassing.... This team had reverted back to round 1 form. I was right all along. Where Chris got to say.. oh ye you know we won't overreact blabla. We will be lucky to make top 8 now

 

[Schmegg]

The sort of game middle of the road teams lose, and great teams manage to win.

We had our chances in the last quarter, missed shots from experienced players killed our momentum, sadly I’m looking at Jezz, can’t afford to miss bread and butter shots in the last quarter.

But seriously GWS attacked the ball far more consistently that we did, with no midfield we are just an average commodity at the moment.

I liked what I saw with Mullin and Knevitt, and honestly it’s one of the games I thought “Gee Ceg’s is doing pretty well here”. Blics played a lone hand most of the game through the middle. Miers and Stengle played well I thought. Good to see Stewart find some form. I have liked Ollie Henry’s attack on the ball, kid is fearless in the air, seems to be taking onboard defensive pressure too. We are missing Danger so much it’s palpable.

I’ve got no idea why Parfitt has had two extra games to serve up rubbish, and last night was better than the other two combined and was still ineffectual. Apparently had nine tackles, yet you couldn’t recall one of them. Losing Sav really exposed our defence a bit, geez both Zach’s are struggling this year, maybe no Cam impacts Zuthrie more than we realise.

We are getting smashed with injuries, have a losing record now, have beaten no one of note outside of Adelaide, I think sadly we are a mile off it, I hope we get some players back soon, but I think the season is slipping away.

I’m not totally upset, it’s just when you see the effort shown when the game looks lost in the last quarter, compared to the dross served up for the first three quarters you just have to wonder if complacency has set in.

 

[Gavin Excell]

Any of the posters here developed the hindsight to admit that the odds for this game actually were ridiculous? Giants are 3 from 3 at the venue since 2018, and just knew that a spirited effort from their group would have us in trouble. And that's exactly how it proved.

We played without decent intensity for almost three entire quarters, and still 'coulda/shoulda/woulda'. Which only goes to show that we've lost to yet another very ordinary line-up, for far from the first time this season.

Surely no team has ever won the flag after twice losing three games in a row during the H&A. And there aren't many signs at all that we'll be threatening that record this year. Sure, the undermanned midfield getting continually belted is a massive issue. But the underperformance of so many premiership players is incredibly alarming.

Even with us potentially getting some players back, it's actually hard to see where the next win is coming from right now. We're playing without proper intensity and any real sense of confidence. And we're about to play significantly better teams than the three who've just knocked us off, with many of the games being at a non-preferred venue for us as well. Not that playing at GMHBA helps a great deal when you dish up dross like that from whole quarters at a time.

A world of trouble (and a world of pain) hardly begins to describe our current plight.

Of course they were ridiculous as is the current absurd prices on Cats to win the flag and make finals.

It is what it is. I'm pretty philosophical about it all and have conceded we wont be challenging this year in any way. Be good to see some of the younger brigade get some more experience and for Scott to consider some other positional moves to get some value out of the year

 

[Gavin Excell]

TB will either slowly get better or hit a ceiling ..as it appears Parfitt has. Either way ..he is well worth the addition to our list. Not every recruit becomes Danger. On earning it . Yes.I agree not given. I think of selection sometimes back when some critiqued Mench.. I agree that he does this or that but who is a better option. For the moment he has it.. but id think the RD will be thinking tehy need to keep ading talent.. as well as guys like Clark will come hard. A harder eye can be used when all are available and when he matures.. but he is on 21 and only played 38 games. Does he have something that will seperate him from a solid group of players that we start to develop? We will see,


I have liked MK from pe drafting him. His marking is his something that separates him imo.. it could see him play multiple roles eventually ..he need to get bigger and stronger... and id like to see him polish his kicking as he will get asked at some stage to play forward.... but the marks he is taking now gives one hope once he is stronger... it will be the other who get pushed out by him.

A like for the David Mensch reference

Took me back to a simpler time

 

[Jumping Jack]

Well you can't say his rubbish bla bla bla after saying he was good..
Recruiting a ruck in the MSD won't be the difference for us to winning a flag, a midfielder will have as more chance to win the flag if we're going to this year..

Never said he was good blah blah blah. I said he was better blah blah blah.

Read what I said blah blah blah


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[MacStradbroke]

Isaac Smith

7

Isaac Smith

Age

35

Ht

188cm

Wt

83kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

21.3

5star

K

13.0

5star

HB

8.4

5star

M

5.5

5star

T

2.9

4star

CL

1.7

4star

D

19.4

4star

K

11.1

4star

HB

8.3

4star

M

3.8

4star

T

2.5

3star

CL

1.3

4star

D

19.2

5star

K

10.6

4star

HB

8.6

5star

M

7.6

5star

T

2.0

4star

CL

0.6

3star

, beautiful long kick on the run, do not want him needing to hit a target for your life though.

As already mentioned plenty of times by others, Mullin will be a star. He has tools that very few others possess. Being at the ground, his speed is next level quick.

 

[gogeelongcats]

TB will either slowly get better or hit a ceiling ..as it appears Parfitt has. Either way ..he is well worth the addition to our list. Not every recruit becomes Danger. On earning it . Yes.I agree not given. I think of selection sometimes back when some critiqued Mench.. I agree that he does this or that but who is a better option. For the moment he has it.. but id think the RD will be thinking tehy need to keep ading talent.. as well as guys like Clark will come hard. A harder eye can be used when all are available and when he matures.. but he is on 21 and only played 38 games. Does he have something that will seperate him from a solid group of players that we start to develop? We will see,


I have liked MK from pe drafting him. His marking is his something that separates him imo.. it could see him play multiple roles eventually ..he need to get bigger and stronger... and id like to see him polish his kicking as he will get asked at some stage to play forward.... but the marks he is taking now gives one hope once he is stronger... it will be the other who get pushed out by him.

Could you please show the player's name in the future? I for one can am confused as i am sure others are.

Some abbreviations like SDK are recognisable, but others are not.

I am sure as usual your post is great besides this

 

[Jumping Jack]

Of all the injuries, the ones that have frustrated me the most, are Clark and Neale.

It is a real shame we have not had the opportunity to play them during this period.

It would have given the side a more exciting look to it at least.

Conway is the one, and by a fair distance.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[Schmegg]

His barracking fir GWS was disgusting - a total flog

Yep, I can’t have Dwayne, In a world of ordinary commentators, I look forward to his calls the least.

 

[Romeoh1]

I feel like the win/loss record doesn't tell the story for our season so far this year.

We have the fourth-highest percentage in the comp at the moment.

We've have almost half our team on the sidelines, some of which are our most crucial players. Duncan, Guth, Danger, Rohan, Stanley, Henry. These guys are critical cogs and not having them has hurt us massively. Yes we've still got most of our forward-line players in the team, but the ball isn't getting down there enough and when it's coming in, the delivery ain't exactly silver service.

The biggest concern for me is the lack of grunt in the team when the main players aren't there. The telltale sign of any AFL team not coping with its back against the wall is the 'no-look, long, high bomb' into the forward half of the ground. This seems to be the only way we're moving the ball forward most of the time, because the midfield is decimated and the backline is just so under the pump. In the past, we've had workhorses applying adequate pressure around the ground to even the playing field in this regard. Guthrie in the middle, Rohan/Stengle/Close up forward etc. Now that's gone, Hawkins can't find space because he's got guys glued to him who aren't afraid of peeling off because the ball isn't coming in surgically. Underneath a high bomb, Hawkins is useless and always has been. At his best, he's on the lead into space, or doubling back so he can shove out.

The player letting us down the most right now is Jeremy Cameron. In terms of salary, if you could straight swap him for Dangerfield right now, it'd be a no-brainer. You're there to kick goals Jeremy, and missing easy ones when we're only losing by a couple of goals is pretty unforgivable for me. This guy is getting a million a year to kick 2.3 in a tight one with our season on the line? Not good enough, mate. He also didn't show up in the Grand Final last year. I love Cameron but I really don't rate him to be a match-winner when things aren't going his way. When it comes to serious players, I always ask myself "Would I want this guy next to me in the trenches?" With Selwood, Danger, Stewart, Atkins, Closey - you bet. With Cameron, nope.

Seems like a rather tough critique on Cameron. He’s been a bit off for 3 games? Still doing quite well. We don’t have last year’s flag without him - stood up and was a match winner when we needed it against the pies.

 

[Just do something]

Of all the injuries, the ones that have frustrated me the most, are Clark and Neale.

It is a real shame we have not had the opportunity to play them during this period.

It would have given the side a more exciting look to it at least.

And Conway as well

 

[foxdog50]

Never said he was good blah blah blah. I said he was better blah blah blah.

Read what I said blah blah blah


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

Look sorry had a few frothies... but majority on here would of here would of had Ceglar in the best 6 tonight. He played well, but recruiting a mature age ruckman in the MSD will not make the difference in us winning... its our midfield is the big problem with all our injuries... our depth in the defence has stand up this year, but we need another 1 or 2 players that play midfield, eg Pickett, Newcombe.. we can't expect them to be like a Dangerfield or Guthrie..

 

[allrighty]

Good to see all the media still running with "its an upset if anyone beats us", what a joke

The commentary around Geelong in general gets very tiresome and it has for years. We are reverse clickbait.

And the commentators in general are below woeful, it's like listening to an insane kindergarten teacher.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

Well we are down our three best mids and the number 1 ruckman, Feel free to see what our teams would look like in that scenario, I can't imagine any team where it would look pretty.

Melbourne fell like a domino line without simply Oliver… imagine if they had Oliver petracca viney all missing.. talkback radio would explode

 

[catswhiskers]

I feel like the win/loss record doesn't tell the story for our season so far this year.

We have the fourth-highest percentage in the comp at the moment.

We've have almost half our team on the sidelines, some of which are our most crucial players. Duncan, Guth, Danger, Rohan, Stanley, Henry. These guys are critical cogs and not having them has hurt us massively. Yes we've still got most of our forward-line players in the team, but the ball isn't getting down there enough and when it's coming in, the delivery ain't exactly silver service.

The biggest concern for me is the lack of grunt in the team when the main players aren't there. The telltale sign of any AFL team not coping with its back against the wall is the 'no-look, long, high bomb' into the forward half of the ground. This seems to be the only way we're moving the ball forward most of the time, because the midfield is decimated and the backline is just so under the pump. In the past, we've had workhorses applying adequate pressure around the ground to even the playing field in this regard. Guthrie in the middle, Rohan/Stengle/Close up forward etc. Now that's gone, Hawkins can't find space because he's got guys glued to him who aren't afraid of peeling off because the ball isn't coming in surgically. Underneath a high bomb, Hawkins is useless and always has been. At his best, he's on the lead into space, or doubling back so he can shove out.

The player letting us down the most right now is Jeremy Cameron. In terms of salary, if you could straight swap him for Dangerfield right now, it'd be a no-brainer. You're there to kick goals Jeremy, and missing easy ones when we're only losing by a couple of goals is pretty unforgivable for me. This guy is getting a million a year to kick 2.3 in a tight one with our season on the line? Not good enough, mate. He also didn't show up in the Grand Final last year. I love Cameron but I really don't rate him to be a match-winner when things aren't going his way. When it comes to serious players, I always ask myself "Would I want this guy next to me in the trenches?" With Selwood, Danger, Stewart, Atkins, Closey - you bet. With Cameron, nope.

On Cameron
Lucky to have him.
But he does have a new flaw.

We were beating a side not long back and Cameron (and others? ) was mucking around. His goal kicking set shots were flippant and he missed two or three in a row. I said to a friend at the time this could mean trouble.

You dont att this level change what works especially stuff that can get in your head.

He has given himself a problem.

The whole side in the first half again looked like they too had lost total confidence in ball movement .

We all have a problem.

 

[Lana]

I want to write a bit about our talent deficit the in the inside mid battles,

By position inside mids have the highest average draft value per player per game. And while not all players play that the level their draft pick implies, when taken as a collective group I think it is very illustrative of our current woes.

With Selwood retired and Dangerfield not playing, on a pure draft pick cost perspective, our midfield is cheap.

When you convert the Draft pick (or purchase equivalent) of our midfield into DVI calculate the DVI weighted average by CB attendance and convert it back to a draft pick.

Our weighted pick spend was pick 50 theirs was pick 6.

A similar but not as extreme trend has held the previous two losses

player.surname	team.name	Position	AGE	Draft pick (or purchase equivalent)	TOG	CB attendance Rate	Ruck Attendance Rate
Knevitt	Geelong Cats	Inside Midfield	20	25	30	40.00	0.00
Ceglar	Geelong Cats	RUCK	32	3rd round pick shuffle	69	92.75	82.61
Parfitt	Geelong Cats	Inside Midfield	25	26	64	62.50	0.00
Bruhn	Geelong Cats	Inside Midfield	21	21	53	83.02	0.00
Blicavs	Geelong Cats	Inside Midfield	32	Cat B	78	107.69	46.15
O'Connor	Geelong Cats	Inside Midfield	26	Cat B	82	78.05	0.00
Atkins	Geelong Cats	Inside Midfield	28	Rookie	73	98.63	0.00
Ward	GWS Giants	Inside Midfield	33	19	74	86.49	0.00
Green	GWS Giants	Inside Midfield	22	10	82	102.44	0.00
Coniglio	GWS Giants	Inside Midfield	30	2	84	109.52	0.00
Callaghan	GWS Giants	Inside Midfield	20	3	84	52.38	0.00
Briggs	GWS Giants	RUCK	24	34	80	100.00	97.50

 

[catempire]

I haven't watched Chris Scott's press conference yet, but I'm guessing he said something like "I'm actually really optimistic about where we are at... just a few things to tweak and we'll be very hard to beat" as he's said for the past 3 weeks. Can anyone confirm?

I have put the match statistics and footage into my Chris Scott AI bot and it came up with the following:

”Frustrated? That‘s not how I would describe it. As a coaching group we are really clear on what we are trying to achieve. It’s not my job to get frustrated. I’ll leave that to others.

I’m not going to sit here and say it’s all going to plan. Clearly we are falling short of where we’d like to be.

Some of that is personnel related and some of it is executing the plan we’ve put in place. We know we are going to get some players back post-bye that will help with both of those things.

But we are really confident as a group that our best football is ahead of us.

Sav’s hamstring? I’m not a medico so I’m really reluctant to comment on these things but just chatting to him after the game it seemed to be more on the tightness side than anything. Taking him off was just precautionary.”

 

[Jumping Jack]

I kind of like the idea of chipping away and finishing 8th then rearing up like a spitting cobra and giving them all a “dry one” on our way to another flag.

Particularly in a year where an interstate final might get dodged, or won’t hold the fear it once did.

I’m channeling the famous image of Mohamed Ali standing over the defeated boxer on the ground ….. cop that / and a giant “FU” to 17 other teams.




Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[winty]

Just had a look at previous history. The last time a reigning premier had a win-loss record similar or worse to us after Round 11 was Port Adelaide's 4-6-1 in 2005. They ended up sneaking into 8th spot at season's end, walloped North in the first final before getting smashed by Adelaide in the semi.

Prior to that it was Adelaide in 1998 with a 5-6 record. They ended up winning the flag that year, but that was under a different finals system where they finished 5th and stayed in the hunt despite being smashed by 8 goals in the first week of the finals.

 

[Catsace]

Could you please show the player's name in the future? I for one can am confused as i am sure others are.

Some abbreviations like SDK are recognisable, but others are not.

I am sure as usual your post is great besides this

I'd say Mitch Knevitt.....RD i'd say is recruiting department.

But i'm still pissed off at #16 for GWS getting dubbed 'Tiny dancer' by Dwayne.....

 

[Catsace]

Yep, I can’t have Dwayne, In a world of ordinary commentators, I look forward to his calls the least.

'Tiny Dancer' for #16 who seems to be his new favourite player. That, Riccardi (who GWS seem to always play high half back in games not involving Geelong), and Greene kicked 10 of their 11 goals.

I guess it's a fact-finding mission now for the club. Let's see who can step in...Knevitt looks like a player who could start to show something, Bruhn hopefully gets a bit better, Mullin also looks a positive type. The more i think of these last few games the more it dawns that really we just are up against it. As someone put up, we are missing an AFL quality mid/ruck combo out. But we have to start to look at the future, Menegola sadly has played hardly any footy in almost a calendar year, played some middish last year and missed finals, and has missed all year so far. Midfield is the genuine engine to footy domination. Geelong in their pomp had plenty of players who got heaps of the ball, this season we are being out-possessed big time. Indeed Geelong's '07-11 side was built on a plethora of quality mids.

We need to build up depth in that area again, but I'm sure Geelong can. And maybe if we can get some of the cavalry back we can surprise a handful of sides later in the season who might think Geelong is dead and buried. But yeah, right now if we looked at who we've got in the midfield right now, few Cats fans would rate it among the top dozen in the competition with the names missing now.

 

[smotherking]

I feel like the win/loss record doesn't tell the story for our season so far this year.

We have the fourth-highest percentage in the comp at the moment.

We've have almost half our team on the sidelines, some of which are our most crucial players. Duncan, Guth, Danger, Rohan, Stanley, Henry. These guys are critical cogs and not having them has hurt us massively. Yes we've still got most of our forward-line players in the team, but the ball isn't getting down there enough and when it's coming in, the delivery ain't exactly silver service.

The biggest concern for me is the lack of grunt in the team when the main players aren't there. The telltale sign of any AFL team not coping with its back against the wall is the 'no-look, long, high bomb' into the forward half of the ground. This seems to be the only way we're moving the ball forward most of the time, because the midfield is decimated and the backline is just so under the pump. In the past, we've had workhorses applying adequate pressure around the ground to even the playing field in this regard. Guthrie in the middle, Rohan/Stengle/Close up forward etc. Now that's gone, Hawkins can't find space because he's got guys glued to him who aren't afraid of peeling off because the ball isn't coming in surgically. Underneath a high bomb, Hawkins is useless and always has been. At his best, he's on the lead into space, or doubling back so he can shove out.

The player letting us down the most right now is Jeremy Cameron. In terms of salary, if you could straight swap him for Dangerfield right now, it'd be a no-brainer. You're there to kick goals Jeremy, and missing easy ones when we're only losing by a couple of goals is pretty unforgivable for me. This guy is getting a million a year to kick 2.3 in a tight one with our season on the line? Not good enough, mate. He also didn't show up in the Grand Final last year. I love Cameron but I really don't rate him to be a match-winner when things aren't going his way. When it comes to serious players, I always ask myself "Would I want this guy next to me in the trenches?" With Selwood, Danger, Stewart, Atkins, Closey - you bet. With Cameron, nope.

Cameron won our best and fairest last year and for good reason. What a crock this post is