Preview Cats V North Sun April 14 1pm @ GMHBA

[bulletproof]

Hawkins (managed)
Clark (omitted)
Zac T (omitted)

In Conway, Mannagh, Mullin.

Can’t find a spot for Neale with Stanley being so good last week.

So I think we will adjust the structure to accommodate getting Conway back in.

 

[iameviljez]

You know who I miss?

That North guy who baked snakes. I remember how adamant he was that we were finished in like 2019 and that North was the future.

Fun times

I forgot that poster... ah, fun times. (I'm assuming that you know that Phil "Snake" Baker was actually a player in the 70s)

 

[iameviljez]

Can’t find a spot for Neale with Stanley being so good last week

This is the one thing I don't want to see. Stanley isn't up to playing as a tall forward any more.

 

[Footy Smarts]

In - COS Conway Neale Mullin Knevitt Mannagh

Out - Kolo Stanley Hawkins Atkins Bruhn Tuohy

I don't think we'll be quite this aggressive but I expect us to not be far away from that. Scott sounds desperate to give Conway games and has talked about bringing in Neale many times.

Maybe COS has to wait still and I would expect Clark or Parfitt managed instead of Bruhn or Atkins given they've both already missed games. So maybe something like:

Ins - Conway, Neale, Mullin, Knevitt, Mannagh
Outs - Hawkins, Stanley, Clark, Parfitt, Kolo/Henry

Maybe Close as sub.

 

[supahoops]

I forgot that poster... ah, fun times. (I'm assuming that you know that Phil "Snake" Baker was actually a player in the 70s)

Had a giggle imagining using the term ‘Snake Baker’

 

[iameviljez]

In - COS Conway Neale Mullin Knevitt Mannagh

Out - Kolo Stanley Hawkins Atkins Bruhn Tuohy

I cannot see Atkins and Bruhn being put out of the side given the low minutes they've been playing, let alone with no Guthrie or Dangerfield in the team.

Who will they play in the middle? Knevitt, Parfitt and Clark? All respect to the boys, but we'd get killed.

 

[calder_daddy]

Out
Clark, Kolo both managed

In
O’Connor, Mannagh

 

[Gee Class Loco]

The fixture was released in October (i think), it is now April, im sorry but this shouldnt have happened. They have had the last 3 weeks to do it, and the next 3 weeks after to do it as well (never mind the fact that this weekend no footy was played in Victoria, which wouldve been a perfect time to do it). Instead they pick the 1 weekend when 40,000 people are trying to work out how to get to South Geelong...It needs to be better than this now.

I guarantee they wont have enough buses for the crowd, wait times will be huge, and especially after the game, the bus pick up zone will be a nightmare. All issues that couldve been avoided if some thought had actually gone into this.

Oh c'mon 40,000 people trying to get to South Geelong?? 40,000 people??
I ask the question.
Why would they alter a multi million dollar project for the sake of a few thousand people at most going to a football game??
Seriously we are talking about 3,000 travellers.
I. Who works for the mob who transports folks via the rail i can honestly say we would be lucky to move more than 3,000 people to this game. Ok Ok i'll give u another 1,000.
But please the cries of 40,000 people being disadvantaged is not accurate. Knock off a zero.
Being involved with rail operations and major rail work over the past 2 decades i can honestly say construction timelines based on a footy game in country Victoria are not high on the list. Especially when it affects 3 maybe 4 thousand people.
Weather, rain, work/labour requirements/availability, supply chains etc etc play a major part in it all coming together.
In saying that major drawing events like the spring carnival, Melb shows and grand finals etc etc... Get a serious look at.
But even they cop the brunt of it on occasions.
Cheers buddy. Hope u get there and cheer them on. If not yell loudly at the telly!!

 

[Gee Class Loco]

WTF??
What's all this talk of resting players??
Talk about lacking respect for the opposition.
I am glad Scott is in charge as he doesn't take opposition clubs lightly.
Yes Yes, manage soreness injuries etc etc... But don't tell me blokes are tired after 4 games into a season.
I'd hate to see some of these proposed changes some have suggested and we get our own whack and scrape in by 2 goals.
Missing a Top 4 or 6 spot on percentage.
Egg on face??
Go hard and smash them by 20 goals i say.
%%% is all important every year.
Cheers Boys!! Go Catters!!

 

[catempire]

But there are no easy games in the AFL. Do you not believe Chris Scott?

I do not.

 

[iameviljez]

What's all this talk of resting players??
Talk about lacking respect for the opposition.

Because we've done it most years, since 2011, and it's done very, very well.

Frankly, if we can't beat North at home, we deserve to not make finals. Respect is earned.

 

[caloschwaby]

Greetings Pivotonians - I come in search of Supercoach intel. Saw Danger was reported to only be missing two weeks, but seems from the chatter here he won't be back vs North? Peace and Love <3

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Fwiw SkittleCats we've always parked under the bridge or at Kmart and never had issues getting in or out of the ground promptly

 

[moond0g]

In a sense, I agree with everything you've said. I don't think Conway is completely ready for Stanley to just be dumped, and if we played a GF tomorrow, yes, it's Stanley.

That said, Conway needs and deserves to play AFL now. It's not going to do him much good to beat the pants off some VFL ruck next week. We'll be in better stead giving him games now.

I think we need to bear in mind that although Conway is not a perfect 2024 solution, neither is Stanley. He did get his arse handed to him by Reilly O'Brien - not for the first time - two weeks ago, and I think that did move the needle a bit. Blooding Conway now might mean he is genuinely the better option by September.

Look, I'd say we're broadly in agreement for 90%. Ideally I think Conway plays 5-10 games this year, and is hopefully ready for finals in the event that we really need him. And then next year the roles reverse and he's ready to take over for 15-20 games with a few rests sprinkled in.

I think the eagerness people have to get him in is as much to do with them being fed up with Stanley as it is their excitement for Conway. I also think his readiness at the current stage is sometimes a tad overstated. It's not like he's spent most of his time beating the pants off VFL level rucks as you say, because for most of the time he's been on our list he's been injured and hasn't even been playing at that level. Even in the games he has played he hasn't had the fitness to be able to run them out properly, so i think we need to be a bit patient with him.

 

[iameviljez]

I think the eagerness people have to get him in is as much to do with them being fed up with Stanley as it is their excitement for Conway. I also think his readiness at the current stage is sometimes a tad overstated

I agree with both of those statements. We're over-keen to see him succeed simply as a result of the Stanley/Z Smith/McIntosh/Vardy/Blicavs/Walker/Dawson/West revolving door in the last decade.

 

[you pick one]

WTF??
What's all this talk of resting players??
Talk about lacking respect for the opposition.
I am glad Scott is in charge as he doesn't take opposition clubs lightly.
Yes Yes, manage soreness injuries etc etc... But don't tell me blokes are tired after 4 games into a season.
I'd hate to see some of these proposed changes some have suggested and we get our own whack and scrape in by 2 goals.
Missing a Top 4 or 6 spot on percentage.
Egg on face??
Go hard and smash them by 20 goals i say.
%%% is all important every year.
Cheers Boys!! Go Catters!!

Because we've done it most years, since 2011, and it's done very, very well.

Frankly, if we can't beat North at home, we deserve to not make finals. Respect is earned.

Any changes or lack of this week v North will have more to do with giving ourselves the best chance of knocking over the Lions away the following week.

 

[#6 Thorp #7 Selwood LOL]

Greetings Pivotonians - I come in search of Supercoach intel. Saw Danger was reported to only be missing two weeks, but seems from the chatter here he won't be back vs North? Peace and Love <3

Nothing official, but we are speculating that it would make sense to give his soft tissue injury an extra week to recover given the upcoming fixture and our good record so far.

 

[Gee Class Loco]

Because we've done it most years, since 2011, and it's done very, very well.

Frankly, if we can't beat North at home, we deserve to not make finals. Respect is earned.

Not about the W it's about the %%% gained or in the worst case scenario not gained.
Never give the opposition a chance to leapfrog us is what i am saying.

 

[Gee Class Loco]

Any changes or lack of this week v North will have more to do with giving ourselves the best chance of knocking over the Lions away the following week.

I see where some are looking at. But. Sometimes looking too far ahead is a bad thing.

 

[fpm84]

Greetings Pivotonians - I come in search of Supercoach intel. Saw Danger was reported to only be missing two weeks, but seems from the chatter here he won't be back vs North? Peace and Love <3

Reportedly fit to play this week but we all except he’ll be given another week to ensure he’s 100%.

 

[iameviljez]

Not about the W it's about the %%% gained or in the worst case scenario not gained.
Never give the opposition a chance to leapfrog us is what i am saying.

In the longer term, though, we are going to be better off resting players. I'd rather get a win against North, and then as many wins as possible in a really tough run of games coming up (Brisbane away, Carlton, Melbourne, Port), than smash North and have some tired players going in against the better sides.

Also, getting more AFL footy into players like Conway, Knevitt and Mullin will only make us better by the end of the year.

We're in a marathon here, not a sprint. We can't go as hard as we can every single week, that's old-fashioned strategy.

 

[patience]

Even if they started this weekend it would impact the match next weekend - it’s 8 days of work

They couldn’t have started last weekend due to the public holidays around Easter, and the preference would be to minimise the number of work days impacted they there’d be more people commuting each day for work than there would be for catching the train from Melbourne for 1 football match

Trust me I totally get the frustration around it - last year it was reverse where Geelong was playing in Melbourne during the annual maintenance period of work. But there would have been a lot more trying to catch buses from the various Geelong stations trying to get to Wyndham to catch the train to Melbourne, than we’ll see trying to head down from Melbourne on Sunday

There’s never a time of conducting these works that won’t cause interruptions to something

Of course Frank Costa would have made the phone call back in the day.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

I forgot that poster... ah, fun times. (I'm assuming that you know that Phil "Snake" Baker was actually a player in the 70s)

I was not alive and did not know this

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Greetings Pivotonians - I come in search of Supercoach intel. Saw Danger was reported to only be missing two weeks, but seems from the chatter here he won't be back vs North? Peace and Love <3

He may be available but they might not risk him. No reliable Intel to give.

 

[iameviljez]

I was not alive and did not know this

My understanding (as I was born after the time) is... imagine someone crossed Jeremy Howe, with the consistency of Billy Brownless.