Autopsy PRESEASON - Geelong v Brisbane Thursday Mar 2 2023, 710pm @Holmes Arena

[Drunkcat]

Ollie Henry has only played 25 games and is not ready to be our key forward just yet, so not going to be down on him

 

[Johnny Cattery]

Holmes was listed as injured on AFL app, anyone know what happened there?

I could be wrong about this, but I think it was him who spent quite a bit of time being treated by the physio in the later stages of the game. Was lying on the ground being gouged. Didn't look major, in the sense that they seemed to be thinking he could get back out there, but he seemed to fade out of the game a bit so perhaps it was that. he was running ok but just didn't seem to have quite the confidence and game awareness he had shown last year.

it was a weirdly hard game for a practice match - some heavy collisions and a bit of friendly fire as there clearly wasn't always great awareness about where teammates were ... although that seemed to affect Brisbane more than us. Quite a few of them got flattened in marking contests. At one point SDK got thumped and looked pretty sore. He hobbled off and jumped on the bike, clearly very uninterested in talking to the physio (who I felt sorry for!) and he trotted back on a few minutes later.

one other noticeable thing was that a few players seem to have shed a couple of kilos, esp. Guthrie senior and Parfitt, also Mark O'Connor, whereas SDK looks to have bulked up. There was also quite a bit of chatting off the ball with ex teammates, and hugs for the likes of Nakia before and after the game. Nakia even rolled out of the Lions warmup to say hello and was very warmly greeted.

 

[#6 Thorp #7 Selwood LOL]

I’m not entirely sold on Ollie Henry in our best team just yet, he’s got a few things to focus on (too harsh?)

Certainly didn't bother learning how to tackle at Collingwood. We need to fix that.

 

[nohairandfair]

I could be wrong about this, but I think it was him who spent quite a bit of time being treated by the physio in the later stages of the game. Was lying on the ground being gouged. Didn't look major, in the sense that they seemed to be thinking he could get back out there, but he seemed to fade out of the game a bit so perhaps it was that. he was running ok but just didn't seem to have quite the confidence and game awareness he had shown last year.

it was a weirdly hard game for a practice match - some heavy collisions and a bit of friendly fire as there clearly wasn't always great awareness about where teammates were ... although that seemed to affect Brisbane more than us. Quite a few of them got flattened in marking contests. At one point SDK got thumped and looked pretty sore. He hobbled off and jumped on the bike, clearly very uninterested in talking to the physio (who I felt sorry for!) and he trotted back on a few minutes later.

one other noticeable thing was that a few players seem to have shed a couple of kilos, esp. Guthrie senior and Parfitt, also Mark O'Connor, whereas SDK looks to have bulked up. There was also quite a bit of chatting off the ball with ex teammates, and hugs for the likes of Nakia before and after the game. Nakia even rolled out of the Lions warmup to say hello and was very warmly greeted.

Yep, like the one where Savrat buried his knee into the kidneys of Stewart (to spoil him) and then proceeded to drop the chest mark.
His negatives are always going to outweigh any positives.

We will struggle down back if Sav is a permanent fixture there... a first rate klutz.

 

[Hamingja]

Just for a quick reminder.. pre season result from last year

Monday, 7 March (7:40 pm)

Gold Coast13.17 (95)​

def.

Geelong11.6 (72)

Metricon Stadium(crowd: 2,486)

Report

I don't think anyone cares about going up there and losing a practice game by 6-7 goals.

I reckon CS was surprised how seriously they took a practice game tactically.

The forward structure was really scary but, given it is possible they might have to rely on the same personnel for Rd1.

 

[TheWoodenSlug]

Don’t understand the negative feedback on Simpson, apart from the yips in front of goal I thought he was one of our cleanest/polished in the first half and quite busy. He tired understandably but quite a solid effort first hot out imho

I was going to say the same thing. I only caught the first half but I had him as one of the clear positives - along with Sav and Bruhn. Clean (other than the shank in front of goal) and tough, and has a good knack of finding space in congestion which I really like. Probably wouldn't be in my round 1 side, but I thought it was a very encouraging performance considering his lack of footy over the past few years.

 

[cats_09]

 

[Lingsface]

Zac Guthrie looks very impressive I think he can go to another level this year. Bruhn bursts through the midfield is needed we lack a bit of pace through there.

We had no structure with our guns missing and I don’t think we should get to disheartened by this loss. If the season doesn’t go to plan we need to give some youngsters some game time, some of them looked very overwhelmed by the tempo.

 

[bombersboy]

The forward structure was very ugly without Cameron and Hawkins, we had plenty of inside 50s but delivery was ordinary and Harris Andrews mopped up all night. There was clearly a disconnect between leading and delivery and then pretty much all stoppage were wasted with Danger / Rohan rucking. I'd say the regulars were down a bit but Ollie Henry, Ollie Dempsey, and Sam Simpson lacked a bit of polish and looked outside the best 22. At least with Ollie Henry though, he finds plenty of it and gets stuck in, he just isn't clean enough.

The midfield was okay. We didn't put enough defensive work into McGluggage and Neale so they dominated on the night. In terms of our players, the regulars (Danger, Atkins, Guthrie) were okay, but Bruhn was probably the standout, he was pretty clean and did a good job with pressure at the contest. Parfitt was a bit quiet, a clear step down from Bruhn's performance but was fine. Miers was good on the wing linking up with his awkward kick, Holmes had a bit of a mare IMO.

Down back the cats were under a bit of pressure as Brisbane did a good job transitioning through the corridor on counters. The regulars were solid enough, Cooper Whyte flashed in the 3rd and 4th quarters, one big gaff dropping a mark on a switch but his left foot looks sold, it's hard to see him getting a game given the established guys we have but he won't look out of place if he is called upon this year.

Overall, Ratugolea along with Bruhn were probably the two big talking points for the night, they both look like starting Round 1 (Jack Henry out helps Ratugolea). I feel like Jack Bowes is the only other that might have done enough to push for selection (if healthy) and that might also depend on who else is available. I wouldn't count Menegola out either (didn't play) if he's back

Don’t understand the negative feedback on Simpson, apart from the yips in front of goal I thought he was one of our cleanest/polished in the first half and quite busy. He tired understandably but quite a solid effort first hot out imho

Also showed he still has what has been almost his biggest problem - he has almost blind courage. I think it was in thae last quarter he went back with theflight of the ball - never took his eyes off it. My heart was in my mouth for a moment.

 

[bombersboy]

Ollie Henry has only played 25 games and is not ready to be our key forward just yet, so not going to be down on him

Never will be a key forward. He is not big enough.

 

[you pick one]

The big positive for the Cats out of last nights game is Collingwood will go into RD1 blind we gave them **** all to work on out of that game.

 

[CHAWKTS]

I was going to say the same thing. I only caught the first half but I had him as one of the clear positives - along with Sav and Bruhn. Clean (other than the shank in front of goal) and tough, and has a good knack of finding space in congestion which I really like. Probably wouldn't be in my round 1 side, but I thought it was a very encouraging performance considering his lack of footy over the past few years.

I didnt mean to be negative. just that he is off the pace for regular rotation. Has a bit of work to do. That can change if he gets a good run at it

 

[bombersboy]

Apart from the shots at goal I thought Simpson was okay for someone who has missed so much footy. Also showed he still has what has been almost his biggest problem - he has almost blind courage. I think it was in the last quarter he went back with the flight of the ball - never took his eyes off it. In a practise match with nothing to play for. My heart was in my mouth for a moment.

 

[Jumping Jack]

Sav was a positive.

Clear that he’s already clicked with the “Geelong way” for our defenders to take the game on and attack. As much as some of his intercepts were encouraging, I was more impressed with how his approach was clearly to look for an option quickly to move the ball on.

Just scary when he attacks the packs. He’ll dead set do some damage - but hopefully not to team mates. Doesn’t mind using the knee, and quite happy to back into oncoming traffic. He’ll have a few opponents looking over their shoulders in games. He’s got some work to do but his attack on the ball and the pack is great


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[Gee Class Loco]

Yep, like the one where Savrat buried his knee into the kidneys of Stewart (to spoil him) and then proceeded to drop the chest mark.
His negatives are always going to outweigh any positives.

We will struggle down back if Sav is a permanent fixture there... a first rate klutz.

Yeah Nah... We will struggle if our midfield get owned. As is always the case. A Klutz?? like Kolo? and Blitz before him? that type of Klutz??
Good to see you will point out any negative... good way to shade that bias lol.
I'll sit back and appreciate what he gives us. At this point in time he gives us more on the field than off it.
Cheers O'HairlessOne

 

[cats_09]

I didnt mean to be negative. just that he is off the pace for regular rotation. Has a bit of work to do. That can change if he gets a good run at it

It was great to see him back out there, but I agree that at times he did look like a player who's been out of the game for a while and just needs a run of matches under his belt to build back into things

 

[you pick one]

It was great to see him back out there, but I agree that at times he did look like a player who's been out of the game for a while and just needs a run of matches under his belt to build back into things

He'd certainly missed the introduction of the change of rules (standing the mark) since he last played

 

[twhowler]

G'day catters

I thought once Blicavs was out on top of all the others it became a game where you couldn't really read too much in to it. As one of your supporters said on here no team can withstand having 5-6 of their better players out, even though your depth is pretty damn good.

I thought Ratugolea looked quite good. Great size with good agility. Always easier to be consistent as a backman so i reckon you have finally unlocked him.

Bruhn i was pretty skeptical of in terms but he seemed to fit in really well. Perhaps a Selwood replacement? Seemed pretty hard at it.

Dangerfield looked a long way off it early but seemed to get going. Probably seen enough of this preseason stuff to not be too worried.

Ollie Henry might become one of those players opposition fans don't like all that much just something about him... but suspect you don't really care and fair enough haha.

For those asking about us i would agree we were very close to full strength. Adams won't be back this year so irrelevant. Zorko and Berry i would call handy players who are best 22 but not crucial and in Zorko's case no longer in our best midfield. Gardiner i suspect is still best 22 but not exactly missed when you have almost no forward line. Ah Chee would be fringe best 22. Lohman not even that.

So in short we had a few unavailable but all our key players out there.

Agree with some of your posters we appear to have improved especially in the midfield. But we certainly needed to. As for the Cats your INS look handy so you could be just as good. See if the old fellas can stay on the park. Deserved favourites for the flag at this stage.

 

[JohnZ]

There was a stat some point during the game on screen. Scores per I50. Brisbane 50%, Cats 17%. To me, that summed up the game and why I'm not worried at all. We had no key forwards at all, and just like that Sydney PF in 2016, without a good forward structure it just leaks back out way too easily. Get Hawk and Cameron back and those issues go away.

 

[CHAWKTS]

There was a stat some point during the game on screen. Scores per I50. Brisbane 50%, Cats 17%. To me, that summed up the game and why I'm not worried at all. We had no key forwards at all, and just like that Sydney PF in 2016, without a good forward structure it just leaks back out way too easily. Get Hawk and Cameron back and those issues go away.

not worried about the 17%. would be worried about the 50% if that translated into the real season...

 

[JohnZ]

not worried about the 17%. would be worried about the 50% if that translated into the real season...

One leads to the other. They're not independent events. If the opposition is getting easy ball off the half back line, then no defensive structure will stack up for long periods of time.

 

[DanA]

Apart from the shots at goal I thought Simpson was okay for someone who has missed so much footy. Also showed he still has what has been almost his biggest problem - he has almost blind courage. I think it was in the last quarter he went back with the flight of the ball - never took his eyes off it. In a practise match with nothing to play for. My heart was in my mouth for a moment.

The issue for me was that he was already an outside chance to be in the starting line up and the yips in front of the goal and limited influence overall aren't going to elevate him to the level he needs to be a starter round 1. It's nothing personal, and not a knock on his long-term future. It's just tough to get a gig right now at the cats.

 

[DanA]

G'day catters

I thought once Blicavs was out on top of all the others it became a game where you couldn't really read too much in to it. As one of your supporters said on here no team can withstand having 5-6 of their better players out, even though your depth is pretty damn good.

I thought Ratugolea looked quite good. Great size with good agility. Always easier to be consistent as a backman so i reckon you have finally unlocked him.

Bruhn i was pretty skeptical of in terms but he seemed to fit in really well. Perhaps a Selwood replacement? Seemed pretty hard at it.

Dangerfield looked a long way off it early but seemed to get going. Probably seen enough of this preseason stuff to not be too worried.

Ollie Henry might become one of those players opposition fans don't like all that much just something about him... but suspect you don't really care and fair enough haha.

For those asking about us i would agree we were very close to full strength. Adams won't be back this year so irrelevant. Zorko and Berry i would call handy players who are best 22 but not crucial and in Zorko's case no longer in our best midfield. Gardiner i suspect is still best 22 but not exactly missed when you have almost no forward line. Ah Chee would be fringe best 22. Lohman not even that.

So in short we had a few unavailable but all our key players out there.

Agree with some of your posters we appear to have improved especially in the midfield. But we certainly needed to. As for the Cats your INS look handy so you could be just as good. See if the old fellas can stay on the park. Deserved favourites for the flag at this stage.

There's no doubt that Brissy has plugged some holes in the off-season and will be up there at the business end of the season. And I don't think you can compete with the Lions without serious efforts to curtail the influence of Neale and drawing Harris Andrews away from the play down back. We seemed not to do either at all so I'm not too disappointed with the cats game plan, I don't think it was a reflection of what will happen in round 1.

What was impressive though was some of the transition work by Brisbane and the general improvement of the playing group.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

Ollie Henry has only played 25 games and is not ready to be our key forward just yet, so not going to be down on him

he won't ever be our key forward because he isn't a key forward.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

There's no doubt that Brissy has plugged some holes in the off-season and will be up there at the business end of the season. And I don't think you can compete with the Lions without serious efforts to curtail the influence of Neale and drawing Harris Andrews away from the play down back. We seemed not to do either at all so I'm not too disappointed with the cats game plan, I don't think it was a reflection of what will happen in round 1.

What was impressive though was some of the transition work by Brisbane and the general improvement of the playing group.

will put it this way; i think we took alot more from that game than brisbane took away from theirs.

we got to see one of the top four contenders best 22 on the park with their gameplan in full flight, while having 7-8 of our b22 missing and treating it like a practice run.

the dissection the coaches will be able to take away from that game will be much more than brisbane will take away from theirs.