Unofficial Preview Geelong Cats V Hawthorn Rd 1 -

[Daniel McL]

Just a quick comment on Murdoch.

Anyone else notice his bounce on defensive 50 as he beat a man which gave him the time to compose himself then a long kick up the wing to a contest involving one of Smith,Vardy,Hawkins,Stanley?

Murdoch hasn't been known to take a bounce, I felt like he turned a corner in my perception of him in that moment.

I agree with others he may finally be coming good.

I did notice that yep was great!
Having the confidence now to sidestep 1 or 2 people in close proximity running out the defensive 50 is great to see.
Also seems to be going in a bit more in the contest instead of always waiting on the outside

 

[iameviljez]

Yep, you are right, but quite fancy our improved looking forward line, with nice mix and as you say, McCarthy/Gregson-its great and should match well against their backline anyway. Am quite sure the most important step in beating the Hawks rests in the head and that means we have to worry about our team, not theirs(within reason).
Hawks are very good, but can they be beaten? Absolutely.
We might not be quite settled enough by Round 1, but let's make some progress in many aspects of the game-our team has to let them know we can back ourselves against them.

I suspect the key is really going to be getting Dangerfield and Selwood in for Round One. If we manage to get first hands on the ball and consistently deny the Hawks outside runners the supply they need, it would go a long way toward winning. If Hill and the like get twenty touches or so, we're in trouble.

 

[Willo_]

Shiels out for 6 weeks with a broken wrist means one less small forward we have to worry about.

You mean one less mid
He would have been the Hawks lock down mid on Danger I reckon

 

[Willo_]

Just a quick comment on Murdoch.

Anyone else notice his bounce on defensive 50 as he beat a man which gave him the time to compose himself then a long kick up the wing to a contest involving one of Smith,Vardy,Hawkins,Stanley?

Murdoch hasn't been known to take a bounce, I felt like he turned a corner in my perception of him in that moment.

I agree with others he may finally be coming good.

I hope he is starting to believe in just how quick he is... he often just throws it on the boot and looks under pressure..

But there have been games where he has looked like he just knew he was the quickest bloke there and backed himself with the ball, looking a different player. A game against North a couple of seasons back comes to mind with him slicing them open from the back half of the centre square..
And when he does it he becomes a 100m player as he is a thumping kick as well

 

[hbk_aus]

I am shocked that amongst the media outrage over Cockatoo's tackle, there is hardly a mention of the whack to the face by Mitchell to Jacobs. I guess it comes down to the fact that said player Mitchell is one of the cleanest, fairest players around playing for a team that plays well within the rules 100% of the time. He deserves a break....

 

[CatTricks]

Shiels out for 6 weeks with a broken wrist means one less small forward we have to worry about.

Isn't he a mid?
He would have got a job on Danger or Sel I would have thought..

 

[Willo_]

I am shocked that amongst the media outrage over Cockatoo's tackle, there is hardly a mention of the whack to the face by Mitchell to Jacobs. I guess it comes down to the fact that said player Mitchell is one of the cleanest, fairest players around playing for a team that plays well within the rules 100% of the time. He deserves a break....

Mitchell could pull a handgun from out of his socks, shoot a player between the eyeballs and still wouldn't even get looked at

 

[Cronin]

I am shocked that amongst the media outrage over Cockatoo's tackle, there is hardly a mention of the whack to the face by Mitchell to Jacobs. I guess it comes down to the fact that said player Mitchell is one of the cleanest, fairest players around playing for a team that plays well within the rules 100% of the time. He deserves a break....

Hawthorn players don't get suspended unless they kill someone. I'm pretty sure Mitchell had something to do with the OJ Simpson murders too, but was let off

 

[GeelongFTW]

Mitchell could pull a handgun from out of his socks, shoot a player between the eyeballs and still wouldn't even get looked at

Sam Mitchell =Donald trump confirmed.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

You mean one less mid
He would have been the Hawks lock down mid on Danger I reckon

Langford would come in you'd expect in a like for like swap.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Sam Mitchell =Donald trump confirmed.

Did you see the tweet from John Legend to Trump's son? #rekt

 

[Jhye Clark 13]

I was hoping we'd face a full strength Hawthorn to gauge our improvement and since we only face them once this season.

 

[Jimmy Yamazaki]

Good. No tag for Danger or Selwood.

 

[catempire]

I was hoping we'd face a full strength Hawthorn to gauge our improvement and since we only face them once this season.

I'd be happy to play a team resembling Box Hill and pocket the four points.

 

[Jhye Clark 13]

I'd be happy to play a team resembling Box Hill and pocket the four points.

If we bring the same pressure and intensity as we brought against Fremantle and play the same style as we did in 2011, we'll beat them anyway, it won't matter who they've got in the side.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

I'd be happy to play a team resembling Box Hill and pocket the four points.

Come on down MRP, weaken them even further please....
















I admit, I couldn't keep a straight face typing that, MRP's darling's.

 

[catempire]

If we bring the same pressure and intensity as we brought against Fremantle and play the same style as we did in 2011, we'll beat them anyway, it won't matter who they've got in the side.

That will also be quite acceptable.

 

[Jhye Clark 13]

Come on down MRP, weaken them even further please....
















I admit, I couldn't keep a straight face typing that, MRP's darling's.

It won't even be looked at. Mitchell's a protected species. That's not sour grapes and it has nothing to do with Hawthorn, that is FACT.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

It won't even be looked at. Mitchell's a protected species. That's not sour grapes and it has nothing to do with Hawthorn, that is FACT.

I know, he's kissed on the dick.

 

[iameviljez]

Looking at the last few meetings against the Hawks, whenever we've matched it with them for a half or so it's always been through the power of our running game off half-back and through the middle, where players like Bundy, Guthrie, Murdoch etc have been quite critical. It's been when they've started to control our kicking and ball movement that we just haven't done quite so well.

Hopefully having a decent ruckman and PFD will help us in terms of not having to rely too much on winning the ball at half-back and slingshotting up through the middle by hand.

 

[iameviljez]

B: Kolodjashnij, Lonergan, Enright
HB: Mackie, Taylor, Bartel
C: Caddy, Guthrie, Blicavs
HF: Menzel, Vardy, Motlop
F: McCarthy, Hawkins, Gregson
R: Smith, Dangerfield, Selwood
INT: Duncan, Murdoch, Stanley, Horlin-Smith

Would be a bit rough on Henderson but we're tall enough to begin with. If he does play, a straight swap for Hyphen you'd imagine.

 

[Go Hoops]

Early week meat tray entry:

B: Enright Lonergan Henderson
HB: Mackie Taylor Guthrie
C: Motlop Dangerfield Duncan
HF: Menzel Vardy Caddy
F: McCarthy Hawkins Gregson
R: Smith Blicavs Selwood
Int: Stanley Bartel Murdoch Kolodjashnij
Em: Ruggles Lang Kersten

Bolded are the mid rotation.

Looks strong!

Speaking of meat the Hawks small quicks would make mince out of that backline. In the highly unlikely event we should follow that folly load up on the Hawks quickly.

 

[Lana]

How many KP players is too top heavy ?

If we just go with the following setup than we have the same number of tall players as most other teams.
2 KP forwards- Hawkins and Vardy
2 Rucks - Smith and Stanley

Hawthorn won a premiership last year Roughead,Gunston,Schoenmakers,Hale and Mcevoy.

Hale and McEvoy played a cumulative 133% game time in the grand final.
Gunston has more In common with Tory Dixon then he does with any of our KPFs
Roughead rotates in to the midfield the 20% gametime he does it makes a huge different to their structure.
Collectively it makes there team a lot smaller than it looks on paper.

Also what works for Hawthorn has little to do with what will work for us. We move the ball differently, we defend differently.

If forward pressure is to be our game we want as many small chasing as we can get. It's not as if we'd be structurally deficient without Vardy, we'd have the same number of tall players as most other teams
2 KPF Hawkins Stanley
2 rucks Smith Blicavs

 

[dazbroncos]

Mitchell could pull a handgun from out of his socks, shoot a player between the eyeballs and still wouldn't even get looked at

and the bloke that gets the bullet would get charged for blocking….

Go Catters

 

[iameviljez]

How many KP players is too top heavy ?

If we just go with the following setup than we have the same number of tall players as most other teams.
2 KP forwards- Hawkins and Vardy
2 Rucks - Smith and Stanley

Hawthorn won a premiership last year Roughead,Gunston,Schoenmakers,Hale and Mcevoy.

Depends on how mobile they are when the ball hits the ground, and how much territory they can cover. Gunston and Roughead would run little rings around Hawkins and Vardy for mobility, defensive pressure and endurance.

The other issue is one of flexibility. Hawthorn's tall forward setup works because Gunston presents a very different type of threat to Roughead, while Hale is a proven goalkicker up forward, which Rhys Stanley is not. Gunston's a marking option, but I'm not sure he's really such a key position forward when he's only 85kg - so, in short, Gunston plus a seven year old equals Hawkins.