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

[CatToTheFuture]

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.

They need to rest him somewhere, he doesn't have anywhere near the tank to chase the contest for a full game. His lack of any kind of closing speed in the backline put a line through that idea anyway. Better to trial him there now and find out rather than an actual match

 

[Cataholic]

The suns are coming...

It'll be the longest Sun rise in history if they do make it.

And probably the single biggest expenditure and life support programme by the AFL ever.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

The suns are coming...

The kids played with some intent I'll give you that, I especially like Connor Budarick. Ben King when he works it out will be huge. Maybe just cool your jets though until the season starts

 

[BORIS332]

I know you're cautious by nature, but even you would have to put some if not most of the blame on Scott if we miss finals this year. Kelly was a 5 star player, we've replaced him with Steven who at his best is probably a 4.5. With continued development from Narkle and Constable etc, it's not out of the question that not only have we replaced Kelly, we might have even gotten better. Throw in the mythical unicorn which appears to be Cockatoo, who is effectively an added bonus at this point, and we've definitely improved.

This is a team that finished on top of the ladder last year, and looked relatively dominant for at least half the year. A team that was it's All Australian full forward away from a Grand Final berth and probable Premiership, or dare I say, just putting our near All Australian fullback on Tom Lynch rather than the wing might have had the same effect. We've brought in an adequate replacement for Kelly, a foil for Hawkins and another year of development into youngsters namely Clark, Constable, Narkle and Sav. While also bringing in a Mid in Stephens who's a big body and while not the most talented, appears to be readymade.

To conclude, barring disaster of injuries and alike, not making finals this year would be a complete and utter disaster and I think everyone here knows it. Maybe everyone except you.


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What a ridiculous analysis. We've definitely gotten better? Did we have this many injuries to key players in last year's pre-season? Ablett, Taylor, Selwood, Hawkins, Danger etc. are all a year closer to retirement. We lost Tim Kelly and brought in a bloke that is 30 and hasn't played in 12 months.

I came to this thread looking for ridiculous melts after a round one preseason game and I have not been disappointed.

 

[Live in hope]

Too early to start drawing conclusions, but I'm going to anyway. I've never understood the admiration for Bews and Z.Guthrie, and it's probably fair to say based on tonight they've got a lot ahead of them to be genuine best 22. They've got another preseason game to impress, but it looked like more of the same.

Bews has at least proved to be an effective stopper on gun small forwards like Betts, with good strength and reasonable speed - this should not be underrated. I would agree that a fit MOC is miles ahead in all round ability.

Zuthrie - I noted last year that he just doesn’t have a single stand out attribute. Not quick, not a strong mark, not a play reader, not a contested ball winner, no elite kicking. These days you need at least two of these to make it and Zuthrie has none. Really should have freed the spot and taken a ruck. Sure this is a bit savage, particularly off the back of an otherwise meaningless pre season game - but these attributes aren’t going to suddenly emerge for him.

 

[Tony Barber]

I didn't care about the result. But boy was that painful to watch.

No one chased, only a couple accelerated when they had the ball.
I hung in there as long as I could. Turned it off in the last quarter.

 

[NeedsaFUIC]

GC for the flag

 

[Ratcat]

They need to rest him somewhere, he doesn't have anywhere near the tank to chase the contest for a full game. His lack of any kind of closing speed in the backline put a line through that idea anyway. Better to trial him there now and find out rather than an actual match

Rather see him playing big mid knocking up 30 possessions who cares about him tagging a forward which is not his bag?
Rest half forward if anywhere, he's kicked a couple of AFL goals as we all should know!
Just plain dumb team management.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

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!

I think the thing to note about our outs was that we almost never had experienced mids at the contest. Danger played 70% fwd/bench, GAJ only dropped by the midfield here and there. The cats midfield was predominantly Atkins and Narkle who have a combined 30-odd games and have played almost entirely as small forwards.

Take nothing away from the suns, they came in with intent and showed they had a range of tricks that in the coming years will smash teams.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Rather see him playing big mid knocking up 30 possessions who cares about him tagging a forward which is not his bag?
Rest half forward if anywhere, he's kicked a couple of AFL goals as we all should know!
Just plain dumb team management.

He was a defender as a junior right up until his draft year so it's not that dumb. It just didn't work. I think resting forward would be a good one to test against the Dons.

 

[bulletproof]

Cooper Stephens was as bad as it gets. First game in nearly 12-months, hopefully just rust and nerves.

 

[Gavin Excell]

Bews has at least proved to be an effective stopper on gun small forwards like Betts, with good strength and reasonable speed - this should not be underrated. I would agree that a fit MOC is miles ahead in all round ability.

Zuthrie - I noted last year that he just doesn’t have a single stand out attribute. Not quick, not a strong mark, not a play reader, not a contested ball winner, no elite kicking. These days you need at least two of these to make it and Zuthrie has none. Really should have freed the spot and taken a ruck. Sure this is a bit savage, particularly off the back of an otherwise meaningless pre season game - but these attributes aren’t going to suddenly emerge for him.

He’s also far too light to play afl unfortunately

 

[Max Milburn]

Well that was fun to watch!
Clark was good though.
I wonder if we got much out of that besides match fitness?

 

[Max Milburn]

I didn't care about the result. But boy was that painful to watch.

No one chased, only a couple accelerated when they had the ball.
I hung in there as long as I could. Turned it off in the last quarter.

Exact sentiments for me, except it's not in my nature to turn off early...unfortunately.

 

[Max Milburn]

Gold Coast might well improve greatly this season, and their intent and skill level last night was first class, but it's a very large leap from bottom of the ladder to the lofty heights last night's commentators have them.
They were switched on though.
As for us, there were a couple of fringe guys who fluffed a good chance to push their way into the 22 I think.

 

[Ratcat]

He was a defender as a junior right up until his draft year so it's not that dumb. It just didn't work. I think resting forward would be a good one to test against the Dons.

Thought he was always a gun midfielder
Anyhow get him there.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Cooper Stephens was as bad as it gets. First game in nearly 12-months, hopefully just rust and nerves.

Didn't think he was awful considering he's an 18 year old who hasn't played for a year. His problem is going to be external expectations.

 

[Scottland2007]

Why did we play Taylor and Ablett last night? Surely they get eased through the season? Why play them in preseason games if 1/3rd of our best 22 are missing? If anyone could shed some light on it, I’m happy to hear it.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Well that was fun to watch!
Clark was good though.
I wonder if we got much out of that besides match fitness?

I think the club got a lot of information on where it should sit for some contract extensions for Fort, Zuthrie, and Parsons. Kennerley and Jarvis were on notice and are still in notice. So there's that.

 

[goyoucatters]

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!

Sure. Your team will be better as well with some key inclusions. And hopefully both teams will be much closer to full strength when they play in Round 2.

And I certainly can understand your boys being keener.

Just not that much keener, I guess.

 

[Vdubs]

I don't see a point in going back and forth so I'll end this here. But are we going to ignore our all time great midfield in that era? Ridiculous to compare ‘19 Hawthorn and ‘11 Geelong. The Cats could cover the loss of Ablett due to having Corey, Selwood, Bartel, Ling etc while also having Duncan and Christensen step up. Who did the Hawks have? An O’Meara who is made out of glass and a yet to emerge Worpel? Yep, exactly. And what did they do? They still nearly made finals. We’ve got no excuses and you know it.


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if we don't make finals, there will be reasons; no point declaring that now though. The only thing we can look forward to is the old adage - that you're only as good as your last performance - that our next performance is better.

 

[Turbocat]

The suns are coming...

Id wait till you play other teams and in other states before getting hopeful...but generally the players that you have collected should have you on the path towards climbing the ladder. Rowell, Anderson, Ainsworth and King , haven't seen Rankine yet but by u18 form a gun... all are earlier picks than we have had in 30years.

 

[Turbocat]

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.

First game in 12 months, I think we have to be patient.

 

[Turbocat]

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.

The game was the equivilent of many H&A games when we much closer to being in touch. So much poor ball handling , probably due to conditions, id not be too fussed. The attitude thing one side was up for a win, the other was out for a competitive training run, again not fussed. If we are playing like that by R6 then we should star to be concerned.

 

[Drunkcat]

Something was not right flat as a tack so can say nothing about any player on that game counts for nothing as all bad but say 3 players