Review Cats sink Dockers by 11 points.

[Biggy_Boy]

Not sure our record is that great the week after a trip to the West. We should win but I have had it down as a danger game

No, our record is fine after coming back from the west. We lost the follow-up game last year against GWS but we kind of suck against GWS and weren't great in general last year.

We won our follow-up game(s) after travel to the west in 22, 21, 19, 18, 17 x2, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12 x 2, 11x2, 10 x2, 09 x 2 (back to back Perth games), 08 x2, 07...

Yeah, so last year actually broke a 21-game streak of winning after traveling to the west the week before, so our record is actually more than fine.

I've excluded the '21 finals series because we didn't travel back and those were unusual circumstances.

We may lose next week, but if we do it's because we were outplayed/outcoached, which the Saints and Ross have done to some unsuspecting teams. Nothing to do with travel from the prior week's game.

 

[cats_09]

Wins the Carji doesn’t he?

I'm going with Zac G to win the Carji

 

[My Tilly]

I don't disagree, exactly.
Jeremy Cameron is a match-winner, and they are worth their weight in gold in the AFL.

But Holmes has the edge, for mine, in 2024.

He was big in setting our season up playing off half-back in those early season wins.

And apart from maybe a 2-week lull, he's consistently impacted games for us, often stepping up when we've fallen behind.

Of course you could very, very easily and credibly mount a case for either of Patrick Dangerfield or Tom Stewart as our most important players too.

And Zac Guthrie has barely made a mistake all year. I reckon he made a rare error tonight at one point; I was absolutely shocked, such is his consistency of effort and execution.

Really illustrates in my eyes at least, just how valuable a quality key forward is. We are witnessing it with Hawkins and hoping to hell Neale works out but guys like Hawkins & Cameron are generational. You can get lucky like Collingwood with no forward but it is not sustainable.

Cats should try and throw the kitchen sink at Lukosius. An aerobic big man similar to Cameron who just needs a new environment to hit his straps.

 

[FootyLad0]

Players just returned - most still in their playing gear. Like Humphries still had his ankle strapping on, even if walking bare foot

Ollie H with a very noticeable limp but no ice

Mannagh with a bit of ice on his right shin

Also lots of beers coming in - not sure who stopped the bus on the way back to stock up

But Bews was doing a good job helping to carry a couple of cartoons, while Rhys was carrying the wine - guessing this is the... "Let's celebrate at the hotel and not get caught out after midnight prep"

Tanner looked pretty good also

I reckon they might be in for a big night after that win and a long flight home coming up

 

[FootyLad0]

I'm going with Zac G to win the Carji

I think Holmes has probably been our most consistent across the season so I’ll go him but you never know?
Zuthrie has been the model of consistency win or lose.

 

[cats_09]

Because a couple of weeks ago, after an interstate win, he drank himself to such excess that he needed to be taken to hospital at 2 in the morning. He should be dry for the remainder of the year. Sticking with his teammates after the win and sticking to soft drink would be a nice way of sending a message to the playing group that he's committed to them and the cause, rather than going out with his friends to a night club and getting plastered.

As Dangerfield & the club said at the time, "we treat our players like adults" - I'll back them in to be making the smart decision tonight

Then considering how the club returned from the match prepared with some beers, wines, waters and likely other non alcoholic options, it would seem that the plan is more around utilising one of the function rooms this evening to enjoy a couple of drinks amongst those from the club

And while the playing group, coaching staff & the likes of Hocking traveled to & from the game on the coach, there were still staff who had to use other transport options as not all fitted on the coach - so it gives an idea of how many from the club traveled this weekend

 

[Play it Sam]

But even today's game Blitz played defence, which again helped those guys in Henry and Kolo play better football. As Blitz can be the key defender..

Credit due- Kolo was absolute bedrock today, awesome in a defence under siege, and Henry was great too.
The fact that Humphries looked a little lost at times (whilst still playing well) is okay, the experience will hold him in good stead. Every game we can get into him playing his part in the system is fantastic.

 

[cats_09]

Fair call C09 - tbh I had some doubts as to whether he could transition back into a D50 role as seamlessly as he did (and I actually had some reservations about Blicavs as a KD in his initial 2-year incarnation in the role). But he was very, very good tonight; played smart.

It wasn't a flawless game from Blicavs, but he didn't look too uncomfortable or unsure in defence which was a positive

There were a couple/few times where we got caught out on transition with players not necessarily understanding when to switch or pushing back that little bit quicker to help out - but the was across the board and not just down to one or two players

 

[Play it Sam]

As Dangerfield & the club said at the time, "we treat our players like adults" - I'll back them in to be making the smart decision tonight

Then considering how the club returned from the match prepared with some beers, wines, waters and likely other non alcoholic options, it would seem that the plan is more around utilising one of the function rooms this evening to enjoy a couple of drinks amongst those from the club

And while the playing group, coaching staff & the likes of Hocking traveled to & from the game on the coach, there were still staff who had to use other transport options as not all fitted on the coach - so it gives an idea of how many from the club traveled this weekend

It's great they stick together! The provision of beverages comes under Workplace safety, so that's another line they can enforce. Outside of that, since they can't exactly be locked up, it's the players choice. Usually so professional. Anyway imagine having a hangover on the flight home. I've had a few quiet beers with them in Sydney, and never once seen anyone smashed.

 

[Play it Sam]

Blitz was never reaching that contest. Foreshortening made him look closer than he actually was. All he would have done was arrive too late to affect the mark and potentially give away 50.

No. How many marks did Freo spill? Heaps. There's always that chance they hear foot steps. He definitely pulled out, or didn't attempt is kinder.

Also, I've replayed it twenty times, does anyone think Danger actually kicked a point in the last five?
It's very very close to my eye, which is usually v good. But not goal umpire good, who called OBF.
No vision called for. Could have been an instrumental/draw point.

 

[cats_09]

Brad getting to flex his muscles

 

[Play it Sam]

This

My battery is shit - I charged it fully over night and after a little bit of use this morning it was on 60% by midday

I charged it a bit when I got back to the hotel but I have two battery packs I travel with - 1 small one that gives 1 or 2 charges, and then a good older one that gives 3 or 4, and it's the big one that travels with me to all games

I had my phone on charge for majority of the first half to get through the game

Let's start a petition. All mods should be given iphone 15 Max, blue or pink. And chargers.
The least they could do!

 

[Kobe Gryant]

Really illustrates in my eyes at least, just how valuable a quality key forward is. We are witnessing it with Hawkins and hoping to hell Neale works out but guys like Hawkins & Cameron are generational. You can get lucky like Collingwood with no forward but it is not sustainable.

Cats should try and throw the kitchen sink at Lukosius. An aerobic big man similar to Cameron who just needs a new environment to hit his straps.

You're right on that, they're just so hard to find.

I'm a big Neale fan, but I've said all along that I'm expecting a Cam Mooney esque career when it's all said and done - which is still a massive achievement, and a worthy successor to Hawk, a little bit like Allen to JJK.

In an ideal world though, we can find him a superstar partner along the way, and it might just be Cadman in a couple of years time.

Dominant key forwards are worth their weight in gold come finals time if your name's not Charlie Curnow.

 

[Generalissimo]

It wasn't a flawless game from Blicavs, but he didn't look too uncomfortable or unsure in defence which was a positive

That passage of play where he got his pass smothered, but then recovered to put an absolute bonecruncher of a tackle on whatever Freo twerp ended up with it- that sums up Blicavs's day.

 

[D BRIDGE]

Cats should try and throw the kitchen sink at Lukosius. An aerobic big man similar to Cameron who just needs a new environment to hit his straps.

He is more Jack Watts than a Jezza.

 

[CHAWKTS]

USER=212837]CHAWKTS[/USER] - would I be right to suggest that Rohan never got on the plane to come out west?

Just thinking about it, from all the players I've seen at the hotel, I don't remember seeing him

Actually he did come. With the intention of playing. Not sure why club changed view but decided on team balance to have Mullin as sub instead

Interesting whether that means anything for next few rounds?

 

[Mr Meow]

The Dockers looked much smoother with the ball, our kicking on goal was atrocious, we struggled to stick tackles, and often missed targets.....and yet we won.

Go figure.

The pressure in the last quarter was manic, and with it came the realisation that the boys knew what was on the line and cared.

Danger led the way, and aside from that rushed behind, he moved mountains.

Stanley was real solid, Mannagh was good, Atkins tried hard, and Stewart was Stewart.

This might've created some belief amongst the boys.

Can't disagree with much of this.

What I would say about Freo though - a lot of their "small ball use" was uncontested kick to kick that didn't really cut us open. It looked neat but often didn't do a lot of damage. Their decision making in congestion was actually really poor too.

With Geelong we made some very poor fundamental errors. But generally still found regular enough incisive passages of play. We won the clearances, contested possessions and tackles. You wanted to see heart from this team. You got it. We out fought them and out lasted them, running all over them in the last after jumping them in the first. A bit of rope-a-dope in the middle was handled well enough to keep us in front for the vast majority of it. A final burst let us erase the very minor lead they finally achieved.

 

[Mr Meow]

He laid a tackle in the play that led to Mannagh’s late goal too. Didn’t give up. People are harsh on him.

Yeah Ollie Henry scrapped fine and I also thought that last play was notable by in keeping it alive.

Ultimately all he got wrong in this game was his one wood - clinical set shot goal conversion. He earned himself 3 very gettable shots at goal and missed 2 of them. For that reason he will be disappointed. He had 3 other score involvements that weren't scores of his own, bringing him to 6 in total. When he has these 6-7 score involvement games and is clearly working hard, I don't see why we need to criticise him at this stage in his career.

 

[Mr Meow]

Was holmes trying to break the bouncing record today. Every 5 metres he was bouncing the ball.

He had 11 bounces (5 of them in one play), which would be the most bounces by a Geelong player in a game that I've seen in a long while (maybe ever?)/

 

[Mr Meow]

Players just returned - most still in their playing gear. Like Humphries still had his ankle strapping on, even if walking bare foot

Ollie H with a very noticeable limp but no ice

Mannagh with a bit of ice on his right shin

Also lots of beers coming in - not sure who stopped the bus on the way back to stock up

But Bews was doing a good job helping to carry a couple of cartoons, while Rhys was carrying the wine - guessing this is the... "Let's celebrate at the hotel and not get caught out after midnight prep"

Tanner looked pretty good also

And in his veins.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Still believe Cameron's been fantastic. The way he's played at either end and through the middle, we really would be struggling to make finals without him.

You could argue, he's the single most important player heading into the finals. A genuine 50/50 chance of having one of those 20 disposal & 5 goal performances in week 1 (or more if given the double chance).

The only downside for Cameron appears to be that he's a slow recovery from concussion. He's missed games with concussion 2-3 times now and after returning takes 3-4 games to get back to full form.

 

[Mr Meow]

I’m not sure we “stole one”.
We worked harder for longer and deserved the win.

Geelong expected score 72.9
Fremantle expected score 59.6

Despite our handful of missed chances from what I thought were "regulation" shots, we must have over performed in goal conversion from the rest of our shots (I can think of a few for sure).

So yeah you're right, we didn't "steal" it. We won by about as much as both sides sets of chances would have predicted.

 

[Mr Meow]

Because a couple of weeks ago, after an interstate win, he drank himself to such excess that he needed to be taken to hospital at 2 in the morning. He should be dry for the remainder of the year. Sticking with his teammates after the win and sticking to soft drink would be a nice way of sending a message to the playing group that he's committed to them and the cause, rather than going out with his friends to a night club and getting plastered.

A couple of quiet beers with the boys after a great road win I don't see as an issue.

Going clubbing at 3am by himself or with other non-club friends is the action we don't want to see repeated.

Or else the message is only "Tyson can never be trusted to have a drink - not even with his team mates in a safe environment".

 

[Mr Meow]

Credit due- Kolo was absolute bedrock today, awesome in a defence under siege, and Henry was great too.
The fact that Humphries looked a little lost at times (whilst still playing well) is okay, the experience will hold him in good stead. Every game we can get into him playing his part in the system is fantastic.

Our tall defenders fully redeemed themselves after a dodgy week against Adelaide.

While they didn't have Treacy, and Jackson wasn't forward as much due to Darcy missing, Kolo/Henry et al. still had to deal with a barrage of inside 50 entries and repelled with complete composure.

 

[FootyIslanders]

Perfect time for a gut check win. Lost one of our cats Shea this week, and the Cats came thru. Thanks Geelong!


Sent from a land far away