Autopsy Cats lose to Swans by 30 points

[Kobe Gryant]

I think it's a bit early to write Clark off. It's clear he hasn't yet got the size or tank and prob should be in the 2s at moment, but it would appear the club have made the decision to get games into him.

There's every chance he won't be a gun, but I think he'll be a slow burn type that will take time and eventually be a 200 game player

As others have said, we made this midfield look like a bunch of spuds less than two years ago.

Heck we did it in April last year too.

They're clearly not that, quite the opposite in fact...but it's just how it works with young, developing footballers, particularly in the harder positions on the ground.

Sydney had to wear a couple or harder years in '19 & 20, and then 3 'good' years (with obvious flaws, a bit like us now) in '21, '22, & '23 to get to where they are now.

You don't just slot kids into the side and have them dominate right away.

You might get one of them who does it, but the rest need something in that 50-100 game mark to really start impacting matches.

We're in that position now, and it's just going to take another couple years for them to get there.

I've said it before, we've got SDK, Conway, Bruhn/Holmes, & Neale all playing through the spine.

Who wins flags doing that? It's a bunch of kids playing in the most important positions on the ground.

It's a rebuilding year, and we're doing exceptionally well to be as high up as we are.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Hopefully we get a look at Humphries at some point.

Carlton too soon?

 

[Kobe Gryant]

Thoughts and prayers are with Chris Scott.

If you haven’t seen his press conference there are some worrying signs about his mental health. I hope the club is providing the support he needs.

• He thought Stanley was “dominant” early.
• He didn’t think Grundy was influential. Thought it was the midfielders …..the same midfielders that got silver service with Grundy putting it down their throats all day.
• Got defensive on questions about Cameron playing midfield. “Nah he played as a forward - but a high forward”
• He thought Stewart was “good”
• Thinks our best is good enough and we’ll be coming home hard in second half of the year. Well guess what mate - everyone’s best is good enough, but good enough for what exactly?
• We’ve got a couple of 33-35 year old busted up players coming back and they’ll fix all our problems.

Chris Scott reckons you can’t polish a turd but you can sprinkle candy on it.



Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

This is why he's an AFL coach, and we're posting on BigFooty.

He's a leader of men, and he knows what it takes. Is he lying? Possibly, but he's also protecting his players like a good leader does.

He'll wear the jabs from people like you and the media if it means his players are safe, it's why players love him, and opposition players across the league keep wanting to play for him year on year.

If you were a coach, and you brought your approach in todays world you'd be fired within a week.

It's not 1970 anymore, we've learned as an industry how we need to approach tougher times.

Be better.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Hawthorn have leap frogged Geelong winning 5 of their last 6 while Geelong have lost 5 of their last 6...one is moving up and saying goodbye to the other who are going down. I don't expect the Cats to win many more games this year.

We will be fine.
The next 2 weeks are hard (i reckon we lose carlton and ess is 50-50) but hawks dogs adel wce nth and saints should all be wins.
That gets us 14 wins and a home final at worst.

 

[Goggin Our Best]

Yep, Sydney is a great place to visit but I prefer Melbourne as a place to live, and I’ve lived in both.

You have to look a bit deeper than just the surface

The point I was making was that Sydney is overrated and it is only well known for its for its beaches and the harbour everything else about it from the people, crime , culture and house prices is shit compaired to Melb

I reckon Melbourne is a depressing flat dump

And the worse thing about Melb , are those utterly horrible , beyond horrible , those eyesore inner city high rise buildings- skyscrapers that Sir Henry Bolte built in the 1960s , i believe there is one in Carlton another one in Richmond and another one in Flemington , they are utterly depressing to look at and dominate the Melb skyline , talk about Yuck

Contrast that to Centennial park , stone throw well from the SCG and utterly beautiful , Vaucluse House , 12 acres of land open to the public right on the harbour

They are some of the reasons why Syd median house price is $500,000 more than Melb who is now in 3rd place , Brisbane has gone past it

 

[Farmer2Goggin]

This is why he's an AFL coach, and we're posting on BigFooty.

He's a leader of men, and he knows what it takes. Is he lying? Possibly, but he's also protecting his players like a good leader does.

He'll wear the jabs from people like you and the media if it means his players are safe, it's why players love him, and opposition players across the league keep wanting to play for him year on year.

If you were a coach, and you brought your approach in todays world you'd be fired within a week.

It's not 1970 anymore, we've learned as an industry how we need to approach tougher times.

Be better.

Couldn't agree more Kobe Gryant
Fantastic Leader , always learning and developing those around him.
Very much at the top of his game , Flag in 2022 and now rebuilding on the run whilst still remaining very competitive.

 

[Gee Class Loco]

Carlton too soon?

Not soon enough. Very talented youngster with a bag of tricks too boot.

 

[JackFlash]

We will be fine.
The next 2 weeks are hard (i reckon we lose carlton and ess is 50-50) but hawks dogs adel wce nth and saints should all be wins.
That gets us 14 wins and a home final at worst.

I reckon we are 50/50 in most of those games and both the Blues and Bombers will clean us up. The Pies will be too good
also. the rest are even money. If we get 10 wins we are doing well.

 

[Kobe Gryant]

Not soon enough. Very talented youngster with a bag of tricks too boot.

He'll be our answer to Kiddy Coleman IMO.

You just can't teach what he's got. Slicing through the ground on both feet is such a rare trait. If you're not learning by 10 years old, you'll likely never get there. It's a very tough skill.

We're lucky to have him, and it looks like he's another Wells special to add to a long list.

Guarantee once he's got a few games under his belt that the media will be doing their classic 'where did they find this bloke?!?' routine.

 

[Finknottle]

I think it's a bit early to write Clark off. It's clear he hasn't yet got the size or tank and prob should be in the 2s at moment, but it would appear the club have made the decision to get games into him.

There's every chance he won't be a gun, but I think he'll be a slow burn type that will take time and eventually be a 200 game player

He's in the mold of old school midfielders, he will never have the attributes to compete with the taller bigger bodied mids like Heeney, Bontempelli, Cripps, Dangerfield, Fyfe. Most midfields have room for a smaller agile player like Clark so he will fill that role.

 

[Burtyl78]

Geelong are way off the pace and have probably fallen behind Hawthorn this year. It's been a very sharp decline, they have the BYE and will be smashed by Carlton after that. It's season over by the end of June and there is little depth.

How do we know there is no depth when he won’t pick them to play

 

[Finknottle]

The point I was making was that Sydney is overrated and it is only well known for its for its beaches and the harbour everything else about it from the people, crime , culture and house prices is shit compaired to Melb

Both cities are doing their best to build ugly apartment buildings but an ugly building looks better in Sydney with it's natural beauty. That area around Victoria Market in Melbourne is becoming like a replica of the soulless cities popping up all over China. Melbourne's population has surpassed Sydney's so the pressure to build more mind numbing architecture will continue.

 

[feelinfeline]

I reckon Melbourne is a depressing flat dump

And the worse thing about Melb , are those utterly horrible , beyond horrible , those eyesore inner city high rise buildings- skyscrapers that Sir Henry Bolte built in the 1960s , i believe there is one in Carlton another one in Richmond and another one in Flemington , they are utterly depressing to look at and dominate the Melb skyline , talk about Yuck

Contrast that to Centennial park , stone throw well from the SCG and utterly beautiful , Vaucluse House , 12 acres of land open to the public right on the harbour

They are some of the reasons why Syd median house price is $500,000 more than Melb who is now in 3rd place , Brisbane has gone past it

Your opinion, and you're entitled to it.

Some of us are happy our house prices aren't as high as those in Sydney and Brisbane.

I have no desire to live anywhere else, be it Sydney, Brisbane, Perth or a country town. Each to their own.

 

[Finknottle]

How do we know there is no depth when he won’t pick them to play

We know there is no depth because the Match Committee is unwilling to promote the AFL listed VFL players. Unless you think the MC is able to get it wrong?

 

[CHAWKTS]

I reckon we are 50/50 in most of those games and both the Blues and Bombers will clean us up. The Pies will be too good
also. the rest are even money. If we get 10 wins we are doing well.

I suppose time will tell but think you are being too pessimistic.

If danger plays like he started this year we win 6-7 games for sure and end up top 4

Now it does often depend on when you play another team (ie. we would easily beat Collingwood now but maybe they have full team back when we play them? Still think we beat them)

Carlton they will be favourites (as they were earlier in the year when we beat them). Essendon I think will fall off in second half (like they did last year) and so I reckon we will beat them. Freo I think will be fav to beat us.

You can’t really think we are even money against north and eagles. Surely not.

 

[standupand]

Hard to know what to make of this match against the Swans really.

I mean we were doing things in the first quarter that we haven't seen for quite a few weeks and it had the top team on the ropes. Kicking it Hawkins a lot more and getting our crumbers into goal-scoring crumbing opportunities. If nothing else, seeing the big Hawk impact the game early I think should give us a lot of optimism.

I mean sure we ran out of steam, but when you look at the individual facets of the gameplan when it's put out there, I still think it stacks up.

And I'm going to trust the people at the club to get those defensive and offensive parts of the game slick enough and the personnel in strong enough condition to execute it so that we see it put together at the right time of year.

The Swans were celebrating hard in the coaches box I noticed after the game yesterday and they deserve to of course, but there's a long way to go and this is just the qualification phase.

 

[The_Koulouriotis_Fan]

His development has been extraordinary.
Incredible athlete who is learning the game and progressing very quickly.
I'd train him as a mid from now on as I think he could add breakaway pace to the group.
I'd add Humphries in defence for 2025 and let Oisin loose on the ball

Reckon Humphries is going to be super.
It’s a hard balance for the Match committee reinventing the team after a flag

 

[Pure_Ownage]

I reckon Melbourne is a depressing flat dump

And the worse thing about Melb , are those utterly horrible , beyond horrible , those eyesore inner city high rise buildings- skyscrapers that Sir Henry Bolte built in the 1960s , i believe there is one in Carlton another one in Richmond and another one in Flemington , they are utterly depressing to look at and dominate the Melb skyline , talk about Yuck

Contrast that to Centennial park , stone throw well from the SCG and utterly beautiful , Vaucluse House , 12 acres of land open to the public right on the harbour

They are some of the reasons why Syd median house price is $500,000 more than Melb who is now in 3rd place , Brisbane has gone past it

Sydney house prices are horrendously over valued and government policy regarding house prices is a deadset joke and a rort.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

I reckon we are 50/50 in most of those games and both the Blues and Bombers will clean us up. The Pies will be too good
also. the rest are even money. If we get 10 wins we are doing well.

Even money?

Have you watched teams like st kilda and north and adelaide and wce play?

Ill give you the pies as they are very good when they are on but we will get 13 wins at an absolute minimum.

Wont do much once we get to finals though.

 

[Warhorse]

Hate this take.

I agree that I’d like to see Knevitt play, think he’s shown a lot and adds a different element.

But on Clark, he is 19, missed a year of footy and has shown a bit in his games. Went back to the VFL and dominated Kid has played 12 games, way too early to make predictions on his future.

Are we forgetting Zuthrie and Dempsey?

Outside of 1 game he has been average at VFL level

 

[cats_09]

How do we know there is no depth when he won’t pick them to play

We've run 32 different players through the senior team so far this season - that would suggest we have been open to bringing new players through

 

[Catman]

Scott's post match presser was interesting. Amazing how he can see positives. Not quite denial but not unlike it. e.g. 'With 10 minutes to go we were in a position to win the game'. Once Sydney got in front late in the 3rd quarter I decided it was now all about limiting Sydney's lead, never about winning. Sydney had so much more control and only their poor kicking stopped it blowing out. They were dominating clearances snd Grundy was killing us. I guess I was watching from another angle.

So you want him to basically criticise everything, because that suits your constant "The ship is sinking" attitude?

Or do you believe that what he says publicly is the exact same thing he says behind closed doors? I'm not sure you've taken much note over his 13 years as coach as to what a savvy media performer he is.

 

[CHAWKTS]

Hard to know what to make of this match against the Swans really.

I mean we were doing things in the first quarter that we haven't seen for quite a few weeks and it had the top team on the ropes. Kicking it Hawkins a lot more and getting our crumbers into goal-scoring crumbing opportunities. If nothing else, seeing the big Hawk impact the game early I think should give us a lot of optimism.

I mean sure we ran out of steam, but when you look at the individual facets of the gameplan when it's put out there, I still think it stacks up.

And I'm going to trust the people at the club to get those defensive and offensive parts of the game slick enough and the personnel in strong enough condition to execute it so that we see it put together at the right time of year.

The Swans were celebrating hard in the coaches box I noticed after the game yesterday and they deserve to of course, but there's a long way to go and this is just the qualification phase.

I am with you…I was actually pleasantly surprised with the game - but I also understand the narrative of a 10 goal turnaround…which is a negative slant.

To me though we fought back a couple of times against momentum and were only really 2 goals down with 5 minutes left. We then went into game win mode which costs us a couple of goals out that back. Don’t reckon Swans would think it was an easy 5 goal win.

Swans are clearly the best team at the moment and no injuries to those players who have got them into that position. Also home ground and crowd makes it very difficult to beat them there. They also kicked 3-4 goals from outside 50 (which cancels out the narrative of some posters)…Also they are well rested with 2 byes this year…Don’t think any other team beats them last night (which is hard to argue with given they haven’t lost in a while)

Cats will play finals and 50/50 for me that we still make top 4 given our draw is pretty good over last 6 rounds. MC will think we are not that far off - really just need our 3 stars to get to best form (Danger, Stewart and Jezza) - which is not a pipe dream. If we can add Guthrie and Hawk getting back to 75% of best then that is also helpful. Other than that the rest just need to keep doing what we are doing (noting we will get a couple sqeezed out by Danger and Guthrie).

If those 3 don’t get back to AA form, we can’t win. But we can’t give it up and just need to figure out how to support them getting back to form (manage each 1 time in second half of the year….and push Jezza forward more!)

Rebuilding on the run and not without a chance to win. Personally I think we have more chance than a lot of others (Essendon, Port, GC, Freo, Bulldogs, GWS I don’t think have any chance of winning flag) with only Swans, Carlton, GWS and maybe Melbourne and Collingwood (as they have stars who can also dramatically improve) have better or equal chance of winning flag as Cats

 

[CHAWKTS]

Even money?

Have you watched teams like st kilda and north and adelaide and wce play?

Ill give you the pies as they are very good when they are on but we will get 13 wins at an absolute minimum.

Wont do much once we get to finals though.

I agree that 13 is minimum but 15 possible (which would see us top 4)

I don’t 100% agree that it won’t mean much in finals. If Danger is playing near best and Stewart and Jezza back to AA form by then (I can’t believe that both are just now average players. They are just out of form which can be turned around and they can get back to be the best in their positions)…then we are as good a shot as anyone in my view.

Imagine Stewart, Danger and Jezza at their best last night - we win that game, against a red hot clearly best team in their house.

Of course if those 3 don’t get back to best form then we are not any chance to win finals…

 

[Catman]

I look at Willis contested work and get real excited but then he's parked mostly forward.

I wonder if they're trying to protect his body for a full year, or if they're trying to teach him a second position they can debut him in? Both?

Willis has Warner-esque traits. Would love to see him get a crack at it as he has weapons that would see him slot nicely in to the seniors, but I'm not confident we will.