Prediction How Will The Cats Fare in 2025?

[terry_bright]

That port adelaide final really glossed over alot of our deficiencies and issues. People tend to forget how mediocre a team we looked for large parts of the season, including some whopper beltings of 10+ goals.

We timed our run very well to give ourselves a shot. But jeez we looked very ordinary at times...

Brisbane looked mediocre at the start of the season, Sydney likewise at the back end and in the middle of the year Port were under the pump enough to bring Kenny to tears.
Brisbane’s just timed their run in better than the other 3 preliminary finalists.
All of the top 4 had periods looking ordinary.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Guthrie i am confident is going to be a shadow of himself. You dont miss two seasons at that age and come back without losing some athletic attributes.

They will have to work out a role for him

Back pocket probably where he started.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

Brisbane looked mediocre at the start of the season, Sydney likewise at the back end and in the middle of the year Port were under the pump enough to bring Kenny to tears.
Brisbane’s just timed their run in better than the other 3 preliminary finalists.
All of the top 4 had periods looking ordinary.

Brisbane started slow, but thats different coming off a grand final easing into the year or settling into a new system. They ended up winning 14/16 games to end the year.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

Are you old enough to remember what Mooney looked like in 2000, Hawkins in 2010?

Young tall forwards always look like newborn foals in their first few years at the level unless they are freaks a la Riewoldt or Cameron.

Hawkins showed ten times the talent at the same age as neale has. Lets not conpare him to hawk. Hawk showed huge talent in his first 4 seasons that neale hasnt.

 

[Mr Meow]

Brisbane started slow, but thats different coming off a grand final easing into the year or settling into a new system. They ended up winning 14/16 games to end the year.

Yet they were still trailing us with 2 or 3 minutes to go in a prelim that finished without our best player of the season, and a number of our other best 2024 players having off games. So we were hardly pretenders.

Sydney and Port were the top 4 sides that disgraced themselves in finals. Yet GWS and Hawthorn still couldn't beat them.

There's no indication that the flag chasing pack is anything special.

 

[Mad_Hatter]

That port adelaide final really glossed over alot of our deficiencies and issues. People tend to forget how mediocre a team we looked for large parts of the season, including some whopper beltings of 10+ goals.

We timed our run very well to give ourselves a shot. But jeez we looked very ordinary at times...

So did everyone else, even the Premiers looked average for half of the prelim final before we lost Holmes, and even then almost/should have lost it in the last 2 minutes, aside our own ineptitude.
The competition is so even teams simply don't look like a million dollars week in week out like the Cats used to 2007-2012.
Not saying it's not a concern because it absolutely is, just giving it some context.

 

[And_ROOS]

Guthrie i am confident is going to be a shadow of himself. You dont miss two seasons at that age and come back without losing some athletic attributes.

They will have to work out a role for him

If his speed and endurance hasn't dropped off ridiculously he is a very good ball user and Scotty loves a veteran off half back. Could easily see CGuth and Duncan alternating off half back.

If CGuth comes back in ok shape he was never the quickest midfielder, would still be a very handy midfield rotation.

The only position I would likely rule him out of is the wing because we should really be aiming to keep our paciest players there.

 

[Catman]

So did everyone else, even the Premiers looked average for half of the prelim final before we lost Holmes, and even then almost/should have lost it in the last 2 minutes, aside our own ineptitude.
The competition is so even teams simply don't look like a million dollars week in week out like the Cats used to 2007-2012.
Not saying it's not a concern because it absolutely is, just giving it some context.

Brisbane should have been on holidays after the previous week. 7 goals down in the SF, while it was an amazing comeback, the Giants completely shat the bed that night to allow it.

 

[iameviljez]

Hawkins showed ten times the talent at the same age as neale has. Lets not conpare him to hawk. Hawk showed huge talent in his first 4 seasons that neale hasnt.

Sure, but Hawkins looked completely lost for a lot of that period from 2007-2011, to the point that his future seemed to be in serious question and many rightly thought he was getting games on draft rep.

My point is that young tall forwards look a long, long way from the finished product for a long while.

 

[Johnny Cattery]

Are you old enough to remember what Mooney looked like in 2000, Hawkins in 2010?

Young tall forwards always look like newborn foals in their first few years at the level unless they are freaks a la Riewoldt or Cameron.

That is a beautiful analogy.

 

[Footy Smarts]

We can't leave it all down to Holmes, we need a compliementry star.

That's definitely the key this year. We've had a great run of seeing youngsters show talent in the last few years. But only Holmes has become a star.

On the bright side SDK, Dempsey, Smith, O Henry, Bruhn and Humphries all have shown glimpses of extremely high level ability. 3 of those have break out years like Holmes last year and we'd be in the premiership race up to our necks. It's a big ask though.

 

[Footy Smarts]

We shouldn't compare Neale to Hawkins. It's just unfair and the chance he's a top 5 key forward in the league for over a decade is basically zero.

Mooney is a fairer benchmark. Can he become an important member of a good forward line and provide the structure required to bring others into the game? That's a much more realistic aim.

 

[Vdubs]

We shouldn't compare Neale to Hawkins. It's just unfair and the chance he's a top 5 key forward in the league for over a decade is basically zero.

Mooney is a fairer benchmark. Can he become an important member of a good forward line and provide the structure required to bring others into the game? That's a much more realistic aim.

Mooney was our only premiership player for a while there before he straightened us up and got others into flagdom.
Yes, very lucky in that NM team.
But Mooney was special.
I watched him be bog v Demons in a final, and he was CHB or FB.
Brilliant. He had gifts. Could ruck, then he swung himself to CHF because we needed him to.
A little underrated in our era, imho.
I'd be rapt if Neale is in the same league as Mooney, and he well could be.

 

[cats_09]

Hawkins showed ten times the talent at the same age as neale has. Lets not conpare him to hawk. Hawk showed huge talent in his first 4 seasons that neale hasnt.

Hawkins was also considered a top 3/5 draft pick in his draft year, so I'd hope he would have shown more during his early years when compared with a player drafted in the second round

Doesn't change the basic idea though that Hawkins was far from the finished product during his early years, he took time to develop and find his role in the side - same as we're seeing from Scratcher

 

[And_ROOS]

Hawkins showed ten times the talent at the same age as neale has. Lets not conpare him to hawk. Hawk showed huge talent in his first 4 seasons that neale hasnt.

Hawkins also got a lot of games in the VFL and AFL in very very strong teams, and there were a lot of games where he struggled.
Hawkins first AFL game was as a forward.
Neale came in as a ruck despite being a forward/ruck in the VFL.

Neale lost seasons early due to injuries, Hawkins early had a clear run in the VFL to make FF his own.

But ultimately it won't matter because Neale and Hawkins will never be the same style forward.

 

[Mr Meow]

I don't think Neale has enough mongrel to be a Mooney type player.

But he can certainly be like a version of Henry Playfair that is reliable, athletic and talented.

 

[Cataholic]

I'm hoping Neale becomes a leading forward and therefore makes our forward line more mobile and unpredictable.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Brisbane should have been on holidays after the previous week. 7 goals down in the SF, while it was an amazing comeback, the Giants completely shat the bed that night to allow it.

100 %.

 

[UnitedWarrior93]

This club always amazes me so I wouldn’t be surprised if we make the top 4 again, on paper we have the team.

We were a couple of kicks away from another GF and possible flag last year, and I know that doesn’t mean you go the extra distance the next season but I’m being optimistic and positive, this team could be anything.

We have a solid backline, a very solid forward line, and adding Smith & hopefully a fully fit Guthrie to the midfield should see us do alright in that area in 2025.

 

[small 4wards]

I don't think Neale has enough mongrel to be a Mooney type player.

But he can certainly be like a version of Henry Playfair that is reliable, athletic and talented.

Wouldn't say the same, throws his weight around and likes a good shove. Watch some of his off the ball work to shepherd other players and you'll see where I'm coming from.

 

[And_ROOS]

This club always amazes me so I wouldn’t be surprised if we make the top 4 again, on paper we have the team.

We were a couple of kicks away from another GF and possible flag last year, and I know that doesn’t mean you go the extra distance the next season but I’m being optimistic and positive, this team could be anything.

We have a solid backline, a very solid forward line, and adding Smith & hopefully a fully fit Guthrie to the midfield should see us do alright in that area in 2025.

I am amazed how many preseason shit pieces have us, Port and the Giants dropping out of the 4/8 next year when all it takes is a few injuries and anyone is ****ed.

But as we have seen lately, making a GF usually means slow start the following year and lately we have seen Premiership teams missing finals.

 

[Mr Meow]

Wouldn't say the same, throws his weight around and likes a good shove. Watch some of his off the ball work to shepherd other players and you'll see where I'm coming from.

I'm not calling Neale soft or anything. It's more a reflection of how unique a player Mooney was. I'm happy with Neale's second efforts and his contesting will continue to improve. I'm pretty bullish on the kid.

 

[And_ROOS]

I'm not calling Neale soft or anything. It's more a reflection of how unique a player Mooney was. I'm happy with Neale's second efforts and his contesting will continue to improve. I'm pretty bullish on the kid.

Especially after he sorted his shit out. A lot of people might have forgotten what Mooney was for a while.
He would hit a purple patch, then hit an opponent and get suspended.

 

[Stocks_go_Up]

I don't think Neale has enough mongrel to be a Mooney type player.

But he can certainly be like a version of Henry Playfair that is reliable, athletic and talented.

Oh geez.... Unfortunately I agree with you. He's going to end up a player that frustrates the hell out of the supporter base because you have no idea what you are going to get each week and sometimes he will do things that make you wonder how he made it to the AFL let alone a bush league.

 

[Mr Meow]

Oh geez.... Unfortunately I agree with you. He's going to end up a player that frustrates the hell out of the supporter base because you have no idea what you are going to get each week and sometimes he will do things that make you wonder how he made it to the AFL let alone a bush league.

Honestly I wasn't using it to slam Neale. It was more like "if Playfair turned out somewhat good". I think Hawkins has passed off enough smarts on the basics. Besides the basic lead-present-convert goals, I want to see him get to as many contests as possible and compete in the air next year, stopping easy opposition marks. And that's the area I think he might still be inconsistent on. He had a good final against Port and a poor one against Brisbane, but he is still (sort of) a kid in key forward terms. Big year ahead. I think 2025-2026 is where we get a better idea on his projected ceiling.