Preview Cats V Hawks Sat Jul6 435 pm @ KP

[magic_johnson!]

Interesting how many games the AFL boasts are sell-outs only for heaps of empty seats around the stadiums. Someone is stuffing something up somewhere along the line. The clubs? Ticketmaster?

Previous games the general admin hasn’t been full. It’s been very good value, but can see why they’ve reduced its capacity for this game (though I hope it’s not a permanent change).

The other clear patches of empty seats are behind both cheer squads. The opposition seem to get the whole bay, but these tickets dont typically appear on Ticketmaster.

Member no shows will always Be an issue, but twilight Saturday is the perfect a lot for attending in my opinion (after most local sport finishes, not too late for kids, not too late or early for people travelling), so I’d argue member no show should be at its lowest this week. I don’t have a reserved seat but I wonder if they’re also seat re-sale particularly hard this week?

So as long as they’ve made an effort to fill those seats behind the cheer squads, I think the crowd should be big.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Mate I hate to burst your bubble but every week is their GF at the moment. Every week Im waiting for their bubble to burst and the kids to run out of steam and every week they are surprising me.

Upset Geelong this week then its Freo, which will be their grand final. After that its Collingwood in front of 75k, which will be their grand final.

Mitchell and Sicily have said they are just relishing games meaning something for the first time in years and the fans are just enjoying the ride. This year.

I dare say Geelong have a lot more to lose this week, you would hope they come out breathing fire and using their bigger bodies to effect early.

Good luck.

Yeah correct we definitely have more to lose.

Pressure makes diamonds

 

[STPer18]

Will the media melt harder than they did after the Essendon game if we burst the Hawks bubble with a few dodgy umpiring decisions?

 

[cats_09]

Maybe the whole club needs to get on board the Doritos bandwagon ahead of our afternoon games - bit of a perk up to ensure we're ready come the first bounce

 

[Farmer2Goggin]

This pains me but the Hawks are at the top of their game at the moment and are actually very good to watch.

Having said that ( yuk) we looked very balanced last week and should win , won't be easy though.
A few thoughts :
Give Jye a rest and bring in a like for like - Clohesy
OH plays 2's as IMO he and Rohan unbalance us , Neale stays ( did well competing aerially) as does Rohan on his form v Dons. When Rohan drops form OH comes in.
Stephen King earns his money this week by ensuring our mids are drilled at negating their clearances as we will lose hit outs majorly against Meek. SDK to beat him around the ground though and sneak forward for a goal or two.
Stewart to play time as a mid with Tuohy /Zac the spare in defence.
Can't see a spot for Mannagh unless one of Stengle/Miers or Close have a spell.
Knevitt and Humphries have been playing continuously in the 2's so don't expect any second up blues this week

 

[CHAWKTS]

Google Maps didnt exist last time they played infront of a crowd at KP

that is funny..and quite sobering. Pre iPhones too!

Lets hope it is packed this weekend with Cats supporters and no room for any yellow and gold.

This is a massive game for both teams. Literally we have 3 "eight point games" in a row (4 counting last week)

 

[Mr Meeseeks]

Will the media melt harder than they did after the Essendon game if we burst the Hawks bubble with a few dodgy umpiring decisions?

We both know they wont.

It took a rough run against Essendon for the real noise to start coming from the Essendon propaganda wing media.

 

[TylerDurden]

Will the media melt harder than they did after the Essendon game if we burst the Hawks bubble with a few dodgy umpiring decisions?

Crickets. We're not part of the Essendon media Mafia.

 

[patience]

Google Maps didnt exist last time they played infront of a crowd at KP. Sat arvo - need the crowd to turn up and more importantly need the boys to fire up for this on

I recall them playing at KP in the 80s.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

If we're playing Stewart in the midfield one of Duncan or Touhy will play as the experience sweeper back there.

I've been a Touhy critic, but he looked like he was up to the standard last week playing that role, and it's probably the only role he can play at this stage in his career.

Defence is better for him because it doesnt expose him as much for 2 way transition running at speed.

 

[Burtyl78]

Do how do we rejig to get Mannagh and O Henry in the team?

The only game where we had all of Mannagh, Dempsey, Close, Stengle and Miers in the starting 22 was against Adelaide. Hawkins, Cameron and O Henry played but not Rohan that night. So we've never had all 5 smalls, 2 mediums and 2 talls.

You could push 2 of the smalls up onto a wing but then Knevitt is likely squeezed out.

My guess is we don't play all those forwards. So either Mannagh doesn't come in, one of them is managed (Close?), Henry doesn't come back or we drop Neale. Or maybe one of the smalls is sub?

Ollie Henry can play twos

 

[Zouz Kitty]

Stoppages loom as a huge problem here.

I'd love to hear your explanation please Bulletproof?

 

[Generalissimo]

Being gifted a game is for when you're clearly not in the best 23 but end up there.

Limited as his impact has been (as you would expect from effectively his first year) in not sure anyone in the 2s is clear cut better through the midfield.

Unpopular opinion: Brandan Parfitt was performing better than Clark before he got dropped.

 

[Zouz Kitty]

From Hawthorn website:
"Hawthorn trails Geelong 76 to 92 in the head-to-head between the clubs, with one draw (in 1963). The clubs have played on every Easter Monday since 2010(except 2011 when it was on Easter Tuesday and 2020 due to Covid), with Hawthorn winning in 2015, 2018 and 2022.

Back in Round 3 2006, when the two clubs met at Kardinia Park on Easter Saturday, the Hawks delivered a stunning 52-point upset win. Hawthorn led by seven points at half-time, before blowing the Cats away to win 15.11.101 to 7.7.49. The Brownlow votes went to Hodge, Mitchell and Vandenberg – all Hawthorn captains.

Hawthorn had an outstanding record at Kardinia Park in the mid-late 1990s, winning four times in five seasons, all as underdogs and all by narrow margins: five points (1995), two (1996), six (1997) and two again (1999). These four victories contributed to a remarkable 14 seasons from 1987 and 2000, when the Hawks had 10 wins by less than two goals in games against the Cats, including in three Finals. In the 25 games between the clubs in those years, the Hawks won 20 and Geelong just five (none in close games)."

 

[numbwombat]

It's not apples with apples when you're using 'wins against top 8 teams' which happened to occur months ago for us. Recency maters. A win in round 1 is clearly less relevant than a win in round 16.

Since April we've both only beaten 1 top 8 side, but we've lost to 3 teams outside the 8, and they haven't lost to any.

Hawthorn's form is a bit better but there's not that much in it IMO.

I think apples to apples would be comparing results against the same teams - like how we beat Richmond by 5 goals in R12, and Hawthorn beat them by 8 goals in R14, both at home - or how GWS beat us by 4 points in R11 in Geelong, and Hawthorn beat GWS by 6 points in R13 in Tassie - or how Port beat us by a goal in R9 in Geelong, and Port beat Hawthorn by a point in Adelaide in R10.

2-3 goals difference across those games and Dangerfield missed all 3.

 

[cats_09]

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Unpopular opinion: Brandan Parfitt was performing better than Clark before he got dropped.

Is he performing better now though? I think we expect a certain rate of development with top picks but it's not linear and that's OK. Clark was getting better pretty much game by game.

 

[year of the cat]

Probably the right time now for Clark to be given a spell into the VFL. No shame in that.

O’Connor the other one whose place is tenuous.

Not sure how O.Henry will mix with Rohan in the forward line but I have a feeling it might be a better dynamic than when Hawkins is in the forward six as well. I’d want from him though to show significant improvement in second efforts and in his defensive performance. Lately it’s been fly for marks and sfa.

 

[Kobe Gryant]

Probably the right time now for Clark to be given a spell into the VFL. No shame in that.

O’Connor the other one whose place is tenuous.

Not sure how O.Henry will mix with Rohan in the forward line but I have a feeling it might be a better dynamic than when Hawkins is in the forward six as well. I’d want from him though to show significant improvement in second efforts and in his defensive performance. Lately it’s been fly for marks and sfa.

Whilst I agree, the saving grace for mine is Hawkins is out too.

Not a critiscm of Hawk, but he's just as bad if not worse than Ollie in terms of applying pressure. I reckon you can carry one of those players in your forward line, but you can't have two.

As you say, with Hawkins out, it's just Ollie who's offering SFA defensively.

While we'd obviously like that not to be the case, it's easier to compensate than having two players doing it.

 

[year of the cat]

Whilst I agree, the saving grace for mine is Hawkins is out too.

Not a critiscm of Hawk, but he's just as bad if not worse than Ollie in terms of applying pressure. I reckon you can carry one of those players in your forward line, but you can't have two.

As you say, with Hawkins out, it's just Ollie who's offering SFA defensively.

While we'd obviously like that not to be the case, it's easier to compensate than having two players doing it.

That’s my hope too.

 

[Zouz Kitty]

Really hoping for the most hostile crowd Geelong has ever produced for this game, make em so unwelcome it’s not funny. Payment for all the abuse we cop at the G from the flogs.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

I do too (feel so petty for saying it) + if umpiring is crap lots of from Geelong crowd

Add W Sam Mitchell

 

[CatsDoItBetter]

Really hoping for the most hostile crowd Geelong has ever produced for this game, make em so unwelcome it’s not funny. Payment for all the abuse we cop at the G from the flogs.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

Have you been to a game at KP? Most mild crowd in the country.

 

[catempire]

Whilst I agree, the saving grace for mine is Hawkins is out too.

Not a critiscm of Hawk, but he's just as bad if not worse than Ollie in terms of applying pressure. I reckon you can carry one of those players in your forward line, but you can't have two.

As you say, with Hawkins out, it's just Ollie who's offering SFA defensively.

While we'd obviously like that not to be the case, it's easier to compensate than having two players doing it.

And at least Ollie was kicking goals!

 

[CHAWKTS]

Do how do we rejig to get Mannagh and O Henry in the team?

The only game where we had all of Mannagh, Dempsey, Close, Stengle and Miers in the starting 22 was against Adelaide. Hawkins, Cameron and O Henry played but not Rohan that night. So we've never had all 5 smalls, 2 mediums and 2 talls.

You could push 2 of the smalls up onto a wing but then Knevitt is likely squeezed out.

My guess is we don't play all those forwards. So either Mannagh doesn't come in, one of them is managed (Close?), Henry doesn't come back or we drop Neale. Or maybe one of the smalls is sub?

I reckon Ollie will play as sub. He hasn’t been too bad when he has been sub (not as good as Rohan but …)

I can’t see how they don’t play Mannagh this week.

So in my mind that means Clark out and I reckon they rest Duncan? Not sure on Duncan as he was pretty good last week and this is such an important game. The other thing they could do is go small ball and leave our Neale? (Not fair but…)

You might be right that they manage Close?

 

[Vdubs]

Unpopular opinion: Brandan Parfitt was performing better than Clark before he got dropped.

Let's look at the W-L with Parf in v out.
The losses are almost directly related to his absence, although I know that's not THE factor.
Your point IS true though.