Autopsy Marsh Series Week 1 - Gold Coast vs Geelong, Metricon Stadium, Saturday 22nd February

[Biggy_Boy]

Even if he wanted to, I wonder if Scott could implement a game plan incorporating faster ball movement from this group. So many have been brought up with Scott and have therefore been drilled that their first inclination when they get the ball should be to stop, hold it up and look backwards or sideways. Blicavs, a two-time B&F winner and Scott golden child is as slow as treacle in decision making and disposal. Just kills any momentum by perpetually ignoring first option. The lack of awareness is astounding too. Even in pre-season, Guthrie panics and just slams the ball on his boot coming out of defence, and then it goes sailing back over his head. Why he keeps playing down there is beyond me.

 

[David the Cat]

There’s only two things I would be worried about from this match -

- if we got an injury ... and we haven’t so not an issue.
- the other is the real concern - that even Smith (who I have no problems letting go of - he will definitely have knee issues again, soon) has highlighted that our lack of ruck quality is going to hurt. Big mistake making Abbott a rookie - I’m not sure would have made a huge difference tonight, but still more of a genuine ruck compared to Stanley, Fort and of course Sav.

If Clark, Atkins and Constable showed good signs and the other youngsters got a taste then perhaps no a wasted game.

Atkins, Narkle and Clark were very good contributors in a poor performance. All three are locks for Round 1 IMO...

Wasn't so impressed with Constable...

 

[CatToTheFuture]

So missed that match live just finished the replay.

I think the recruitment staff got what they wanted here. In that they were able to see our OOC players against AFL sides. Zuthrie, Parsons and Fort long odds for an extension. Jarvis didn't make his chances any worse but they weren't great originally. Kennerley maybe gets another year being the best of that group when we have so many OOC and can't delist them all. That said I was almost ready to throw my beer at the tv when he had three ineffective kicks in like 5 minutes or so in the 4th qtr.

The other positive is that we can put some experiments to bed. Chook can't play defender again being the primary observation. Zuthrie is not a wingman. I miss mark o' Connor

There was a large amount of hack kicking and poor turnovers in the first half and I point at Narkle for a lot of them. Hack kicks because they're under pressure. Under pressure because they weren't running hard enough. Not running hard enough because why would they risk injury here etc.

I think the lack of effort at ground level was just telling. No one cared enough to put it on the line. I can't blame them, it's Feb. But man it's an anti- climax after months of no footy, especially when the suns are going in low and hard and outworking you.

 

[Farmer2Goggin]

Never have I seen so many ridiculous turnovers and careless free kicks from a team that looked disinterested all night- should have forfeited.
Narkle , Atkins and Clark did well as did Constable when played in the guts.
Close showed some good signs and has very clean hands, Stephens needed the run and should be ok.
Kennetley and Jarvis not so sure.
I didn’t see a game plan tonight at all , at least last preseason you could see , in patches, we wanted to be a F50 pressure side which served us well.
Tonight was rubbish - maybe we played too many kids , will need to show up v Bombers

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Atkins, Narkle and Clark were very good contributors in a poor performance. All three are locks for Round 1 IMO...

Wasn't so impressed with Constable...

Narkle got his hands on it but his disposal was a bit how you goin' in the first half.

Why did they have constable in the backline?

 

[David the Cat]

Narkle got his hands on it but his disposal was a bit how you goin' in the first half.

Why did they have constable in the backline?

I guess the Constable thing was a pre-season "lets take a look" effort...he was terrible. Better when he went into the middle, but I an yet to be convinced.

Narkle got the footy ( a good start)...I thought his disposal, while poor in the first half, was better as the game went on. He looks like a good player to me.

I thought Atkins was really good...was fatigued by the 4th quarter as he wasn't getting a great deal of help, but that said, he was close to our best, at least to 3/4 time.

Clark looks an exceptional talent...

Lets see what transpires against the Bombers...no-one (including me ) should be making rock hard assessments at this stage of the season.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

I guess the Constable thing was a pre-season "lets take a look" effort...he was terrible. Better when he went into the middle, but I an yet to be convinced.

Narkle got the footy ( a good start)...I thought his disposal, while poor in the first half, was better as the game went on. He looks like a good player to me.

I thought Atkins was really good...was fatigued by the 4th quarter as he wasn't getting a great deal of help, but that said, he was close to our best, at least to 3/4 time.

Clark looks an exceptional talent...

Lets see what transpires against the Bombers...no-one (including me ) should be making rock hard assessments at this stage of the season.

For sure, and I think we've all seen enough of Narkle to know he's better than that first half disposal. Clark absolutely nailed some lace out 50m kicks.

I just look at that game and think that alot of the players that know they're getting games this year clearly did not give enough of a s$#%. Why did even watch this?

 

[Chinacats]

Maybe we're doing the reverse of last year and starting off shittily, then coming out after the bye and kicking arse?

Brad Johnson did say Before the game that we were so up for the first part of the year in 2019 because of the difficulty of the fixtures and that this year the fixtures aren’t as tough in the first 6-8 weeks, so the focus on that has shifted. September flops so often that they might actually want to peak in September for a change.

 

[Chinacats]

Maybe it's from not watching the full match, but I didn't realise Murdoch was playing until they just had a shot of him after the final siren

I didn’t know he played for Geelong until they delisted him!

 

[you pick one]

Right from the first bounce the Suns worked harder were prepared to put their bodies on the line,beat us to the ball and showed the cleaner skills,Hawkins is ripped and should have a big year,Clark is streets ahead of the rest of the young ones,Narkles foot skills detracted from his other wise good showing,not a lot from Constable that was disappointing,as for the game it's self same old same old nothing has changed players x y and z still making the same fundamental poor decisions as last season any side with a bit of pace and skill prepared to spread will cause us problems.
Non of this years crop look close to cementing a spot in the side this season.
I get it's only February but we look like we were on life support.

 

[Shadow89]

Still disappointed, mostly at the effort from Stephens. I expected more, but then again, Richmond had their eye on him too and didn't pick Robertson - as didn't every other club before and after us. Really hope there's more effort in the 2nd game, but I'm not holding my breath.

Moving on though, at least I can safely say that a ton of those players won't play any significant role in this season. Ins and outs from tonight by Round 6 for our Best 22/4 Emergencies (hopefully)

B: Bews, Blicavs, Z. Guthrie
HB: Stewart, Taylor, Tuohy
C: Parsons, Dangerfield, Clark
FO: Stanley, Guthrie, Atkins
HF: Miers, Hawkins, Rohan
F: Close, Ratugolea, Ablett
INT: Fort, Jarvis, Jenkins, Stephens, Constable, Narkle, Kennerley, Henderson

B: Henry, Blicavs, Kolo
HB: Stewart, Taylor, O'Connor
C: Duncan, Dangerfield, Clark
FO: Stanley, Guthrie, Selwood
HF: Miers, Hawkins, Rohan
F: Dahlhaus, Ratugolea, Ablett
INT: Steven, Narkle, Menegola, Parfitt

EMG: Atkins, Jenkins, Constable, Bews

Depth: Kennerley, Tuohy, Fogarty, Henderson, Kreuger

Pretty much everyone on the interchange gets booted out (except Narkle), alongside Close, Parsons and Z. Guthrie.

Everyone else is too raw/undeveloped/is just list clogging. Seeing that second team makes me feel a bit better, but as I said, I really hope we at least see some effort in the second game, lol. We're in for a long season otherwise.

 

[Ray Donovan]

Never know, we may see the club extend Scott's contact by a further 3-years half way through this season - then we can extend that break to 2025...

Statue ?

 

[Ray Donovan]

Clark, Taylor, Miers, Narkle, Rohan, Ablett, Kennerley's last quarter - though he really needs to work on his kicking - in that order. Everyone else can go jump off a short cliff, because that was woeful.

Fort, Z. Guthrie, Parsons, Tuohy, Henderson (though he was dependable, just slow) should all be relegated to the twos this year, and never see an AFL side again. Stephens, Jarvis, Close, are all not ready yet. Kennerley got better as the game went on, and there's something to work with there.

I need a drink now after that.

Those 4 highlighted names Parsons, Guthrie, Tuohy, Henderson I doubt more than 1 of those guys is on Geelongs list next year.

 

[ShaunWDT]

We need to play Narkle more, let him make mistakes the talent is there.

 

[Xcat]

Those 4 highlighted names Parsons, Guthrie, Tuohy, Henderson I doubt more than 1 of those guys is on Geelongs list next year.

Tuohy was fine tonight. Don't forget he was one of our best in last year's finals

 

[Catman]

I would like to give it one more go with 3 when the side actually gives a crap but if we do go with 2 Sav looked better to me tonight

Too bad he still can't kick for goal.

 

[FredLeDeux]

Atkins, Narkle and Clark were very good contributors in a poor performance. All three are locks for Round 1 IMO...

Wasn't so impressed with Constable...

Constable has a long, long, long way to go.

 

[Cataholic]

The good news is we have given nothing away about the Cats game plan for 2020. Kept the REAL stuff under wraps.

Go Catters

That's what Mr Scott would have you believe........

 

[allrighty]

Last time I checked losing your Brownlow Medalist and obvious best player is a pretty clear reason for falling off, and even then, they nearly made finals. Finals should be the passmark for this team, a lot of you will hate this, but that's why Hawthorn are so successful, they set standards, and that standard is premierships.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

And the Hawks do not go out and deliver crap like we did yesterday. It just does not happen.

I posted earlier and briefly mentioned the culture of our team, which looks to be pretty self-satisfied to me hence we turn up to play when we feel like it. And culture is lead from the top - the three big C's. Carter, Cook and Chris.

Yesterday was an opportunity to learn some things and send a message or two internally an externally. From the outside looking in I can't see we learnt much at all, and the messages are that it is business as usual at the Cattery and we will again not be up to it when the heat is on - if we make it.

 

[Cataholic]

Agree with all that.

I could see Tuohy making his way back in, but Christ he needs to get back to basics - or play further up the ground a bit. In space he's great. In close he makes some mind-boggling decisions

Yep....... I've been saying for a while now that he should be in the VFL

 

[Mt Isa Mustang]

Had a pretty shocking feeling about this match leading up to the game. Resulting in the best decision anyone associated with the Cats made today...I decided not to drive down from Brisbane to watch it live.

Still, watching portions of it on the AFL app was appalling enough. Pitiful effort from many, many players. And one of those games where all those who didn't play in it suddenly look like far better options at the selection table for Round 1. It really was that pathetic.

Still, as noted by others earlier, there are plenty who would rightly be considered preferable to those out there.

I have:

Parf
Kolo
Steven
Selsy
Duncan
Henry
Dahl
MOC

all back in that team as soon as they are available. Hopefully those additions (particularly around the ball) might make a real difference.

In the end, most of all, tonight proved one time-honoured footy maxim to perfection. There really is no substitute for effort.

You weren’t the only team missing players
Witts, Fiorini, Ballard, Thompson, rankine, Powell, miles our ‘outs’
Obviously doesn’t quite compare to your list In number or ability but still 5 or 6 of our best 22.

you can understand our lads being keener to get a win given it’s been about 8 months since they’ve experienced one!

 

[Ratcat]

I guess the Constable thing was a pre-season "lets take a look" effort...he was terrible. Better when he went into the middle, but I an yet to be convinced.

Narkle got the footy ( a good start)...I thought his disposal, while poor in the first half, was better as the game went on. He looks like a good player to me.

I thought Atkins was really good...was fatigued by the 4th quarter as he wasn't getting a great deal of help, but that said, he was close to our best, at least to 3/4 time.

Clark looks an exceptional talent...

Lets see what transpires against the Bombers...no-one (including me ) should be making rock hard assessments at this stage of the season.

If he's not particularly fast why play him as a hb when he's an inside ball winner, just blows me away what they're doing with him.
He averages 21+ possessions AFL as a first season mid, now year 3, l just don't get their logic.

 

[AjsGuns]

Loved the look of Clark tonight - have been saying for a while Clark can play, right up there with the Walsh, B Smith & Rankin of the draft.

at min i reckon he becomes a 250 game player and all australian at some point.

 

[The Victorian]

The suns are coming...

 

[Cataholic]

And the Hawks do not go out a deliver crap like we did yesterday. It just does not happen.

I posted earlier and briefly mentioned the culture of our team, which looks to be pretty self-satisfied to me hence we turn up to play when we feel like it. And culture is lead from the top - the three big C's. Carter, Cook and Chris.

Yesterday was an opportunity to learn some things and send a message or two internally an externally. From the outside looking in I can't see we learnt much at all, and the messages are that it is business as usual at the Cattery and we will again not be up to it when the heat is on - if we make it.

But.... But..... But...... We made a PF!!?

It's not the fact that we lost that riled me - it was the absolute absence of any intent or desire..... I'm not sure I've seen a side look so disinterested, lazy and careless.

And the game plan. Ugh. Scott is obviously going to insist on the slow ball movement that has been shown time and again to be inferior come finals.

Why he bothered lying before the game about trialling faster ball movement is beyond me.