Autopsy Cats lose to Lions by 11 points

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I am completely in your camp. I know he is a great utility but he looks best down back. More importantly we look much better when he is back. We need to find another solution to forward line if Jezza and Hawk not there.

I’d rather give Neale a go up forward

There’s obviously a reason why half way through last season in the VFL that the coaches saw value in making Neale our focal point up foward & that Ratugolea was then shifted down back. I know there’s some who still have the view that ultimately Ratugolea will replace Hawkins as our FF, but if that was how the plan I don’t understand why the coaches would decide to move a 24yr old out of the forward line, with his focus going forward is in a defensive role and we can see that’s where his training & playing has been over these last 12 odd months

With Neale becoming our focal point up forward in the VFL since the mid-point last year, surely he is next off the line if we need to bring in a tall forward for a week or two - without the ankle injury at the start of the season, I reckon we would have seen him in the seniors this season already. I know he’s been hit & miss in the VFL, I think he just needs some continuity of games to finish the season and hopefully he gets a goood run of it next year
 

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I do love Sav. And for that matter Parfitt. I want to be on that bus with you! But I love them for who they are (ripping blokes who give their all each week….always about the team….hard at it…) but my head says they probably don’t get another shot? They might each get one last chance (like Gola, Dal and Cegs did last year at the end) if we manage the right person….or they could be like Higgins who didn’t get that last game?
 
A Conway debut would be ballsy. I know a lot here rate him, but realistically he's played 2 VFL games and hasn't completely dominated either.

But the main concern would the fact he was still on managed minutes last week. It seems a big jump from first game of VFL on managed minutes to an AFL debut in the space of a fortnight. But if they're confident he can get through a full game at the speed required for AFL, then would be good to have a look at him.
No reason you cant manage minutes in senior footy, especially with Blitz in the side who is an endurance beast.

Would fire a rocket up Stanley which I like aswell one of the more pathetic games he has played for the club last weekend.
 
Sav still has a lot to learn. Aliir Aliir at Port Adelaide is the model of a modern athletic defender. Sav has the physical attributes to match Aliir but Aliir is far advanced as a footballer. He knows how to manoeuvre his opponent out of the contest, when to leave his opponent to intercept the incoming ball, and has finesse when he has the ball in hand. The other day an opponent was bearing down on him and he had the smarts to dink the ball over him to a teammate. If Sav ends up at Port he will have the perfect teacher in Aliir Aliir.
 
I do love Sav. And for that matter Parfitt. I want to be on that bus with you! But I love them for who they are (ripping blokes who give their all each week….always about the team….hard at it…) but my head says they probably don’t get another shot? They might each get one last chance (like Gola, Dal and Cegs did last year at the end) if we manage the right person….or they could be like Higgins who didn’t get that last game?
Higgins and Gola and Dal are at different ends.
Parfitt is at that perfect age to flourish. How many years did it take Cam Guthrie to become AA? Parf is only 25, not 31, 32
I ALWAYS loved Cam, but there were plenty who berated him, and wanted him traded.
 
Based on recent form at both senior & VFL level, the only question to which I can see Ratugolea as being an answer is, ”At the trade table, which player/s can help improve our draft hand?”

Yes Ratugolea showed some positive signs earlier in the season, but even then I didn’t see enough to suggest he was a lock in the 22 when we got our tall defensive unit from last year back on the park at the same time

I know you’re a Ratugolea fan, but at this stage I don’t see him as more than a depth option on our list & that’s when a tall defender is unavailable - if it’s at the stage of having to move multiple other pieces of the puzzle to try and create an openin for Ratugolea, then it strongly suggests to me he isn’t the answer

Sure we can throw Stewart into the guts, but why not actually select a midfielder to go into the guts and allow Stewart to keep doing what he does best - even on Saturday night when he was spending time in the middle, once the ball had cleared the contest he was back to defence so doesn’t seem he’s currently seen as a more permanent midfield option
Because these are now desperate times, and we have seen all year how inconsistent at best our MF is, and at times, relatively inept.
Stewart could be a gun anywhere. MF while we don't have Cam could work, specially if we have other attacking interceptors in defence, like Sav, ZGuthrie, Tuohy.
We need Parf to hit form, these next 5 weeks, +/- finals if we get there. But playing 4 teams above us on the ladder- will not be straightforward
 
Higgins and Gola and Dal are at different ends.
Parfitt is at that perfect age to flourish. How many years did it take Cam Guthrie to become AA? Parf is only 25, not 31, 32
I ALWAYS loved Cam, but there were plenty who berated him, and wanted him traded.
Ditto, I was thinking the same thing. I was one of those who didn't rate Cam Guthrie. After years of struggling, all of a sudden he had a breakout year and never looked back. Parfitt needs to work on his fitness. Maybe he just doesn't have the required engine. He should be in his prime.
 
No reason you cant manage minutes in senior footy, especially with Blitz in the side who is an endurance beast.

Would fire a rocket up Stanley which I like aswell one of the more pathetic games he has played for the club last weekend.

He's played some shockers that were a lot worse than Saturday.

He and McInerney had almost identical statistics. It wasn't Rhys' fault the midfield was incapable of winning anything of a contested nature or anything at all to be honest, until the last quarter.
 
Parfitt is at that perfect age to flourish. How many years did it take Cam Guthrie to become AA? Parf is only 25, not 31, 32
I ALWAYS loved Cam, but there were plenty who berated him, and wanted him traded.

Cam Guthrie has the tools... just needed to learn how to use them.

Parfitt doesn't have the tools IMO.

He is a goer... I'll give them that.
 

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I don't think anyone is suggesting that anymore are they? Esava is only ever playing as a defender from now on, whether that's at this club or another.

I had someone suggest the above in all seriousness on FB just last week, and seems they genuinely believe Ratugolea is still our future FF - unfortunately the post has been deleted so I can't share a screenshot

When I mentioned that Neale was the more likely option based purely on the coaches last year making the decision halfway through the VFL season to run with Neale as our FF and that Ratugolea was shifted down back to try and reinvent himself as a defender, the reply I got was - "that's only because they're trying to balance the talls so they can all play in the same team"... Pretty sure I laughed at that

If Ratugolea was genuinely seen as a long term forward option at the club & heir apparent to Hawkins, there's no way the coaches shift him to defence - not sure he's forward craft is at the level where he can focus for 2 or 3 seasons on playing a different role & then make the sudden switch back. If the coaches wanted him playing forward then that's where he'd been playing - surely not a hard concept
 
Higgins and Gola and Dal are at different ends.
Parfitt is at that perfect age to flourish. How many years did it take Cam Guthrie to become AA? Parf is only 25, not 31, 32
I ALWAYS loved Cam, but there were plenty who berated him, and wanted him traded.
I was one of those people. He was frustratingly slow with his development. Little bit like James Kelly. Came good in the end, just took his time about it.
 
I was one of those people. He was frustratingly slow with his development. Little bit like James Kelly. Came good in the end, just took his time about it.
Kelly started the best of all of that draft, but the broken leg certainly put him back 2 seasons or so.
 
Kelly started the best of all of that draft, but the broken leg certainly put him back 2 seasons or so.
Kelly was a very classy player from the start. He stuck tackles and he could stand up in tackles and dish the ball off. Parfitt not in that class. Parfitt had some good games tagging gun midfielders. Some players are better at performing a defined role. The trouble is O'Connor is doing a good job as a tagger when it is required.
 
A Conway debut would be ballsy. I know a lot here rate him, but realistically he's played 2 VFL games and hasn't completely dominated either.

But the main concern would the fact he was still on managed minutes last week. It seems a big jump from first game of VFL on managed minutes to an AFL debut in the space of a fortnight. But if they're confident he can get through a full game at the speed required for AFL, then would be good to have a look at him.
Is that any different to Mullin getting a debut? At least Conway comes in for a position we badly struggled in V Brisbane. And against Freo who will be without Darcy.
 
Kelly was a very classy player from the start. He stuck tackles and he could stand up in tackles and dish the ball off. Parfitt not in that class. Parfitt had some good games tagging gun midfielders. Some players are better at performing a defined role. The trouble is O'Connor is doing a good job as a tagger when it is required.
Parf may not be classy, but at his best he can be an accumulator, an extractor, and a greatb tackler. Also loves a goal.
 
Is that any different to Mullin getting a debut? At least Conway comes in for a position we badly struggled in V Brisbane. And against Freo who will be without Darcy.
Good point. I guess we knew Mullin was fit enough to at least run out the game. But yes, if they're confident in throwing Mullin into the fire, then Conway might be less of a concern.
 
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