Preview QF2 Geelong v Port Adelaide Thursday Sept 5 2024 @ AO 7:40 pm

[Strange Cat]

Giving gametime to him and Tommy in the VFL is just smart insurance for the finals in case of injuries or suspension…you don’t want to use the undone players but it’s better to gamble on them than some debut for the finals if it’s needed imo

 

[Vdubs]

I don't think he is that divisive, but this place will get grim if we are strongly linked with Stringer or offer him a big deal...


Its a difficult one, but I think if he is fit he only comes in if we have a midfield injury and its a break glass in case of emergency.

A decent replacement if Duncan does a hammy etc. and as sub.

 

[Footy Smarts]

I don't think they would've left Guthrie or Hawkins this late if they were actually right. I'm expecting them to look very underdone in the VFL.

However if Guthrie looks good at VFL level for 2 matches there's absolutely no way he's left out from then on and isn't at least sub. You don't leave one of your best players in the VFL if they're fit even if they're underdone. Even in his games this year when he was clearly carrying an injury he showed enough class to want him as sub especially if he's actually fit now.

Hawkins is a different matter because he can't play as sub and was struggling before injury.

 

[FootyLad0]

If we trade anything of value and/or provide him anything other than a token contract I'll probably be put in an institution

I might claw my eyes out if we consider even entertaining Stringer.
Completely goes against everything the Cats have built

 

[catsfootyfan89]

We don't have an ageing hamstring injury-prone star player that has been in and out all season like Chappy was, that is relevant, unless you're referring to Hawkins- and with that we have the CS genius of omitting Mooney for Hawkins, way back in 2011. The Chappy as sub worked in season well enough for it not to be radical, imho, but we can see things differently at times.

Chapman was the spiritual heartbeat of our club. That decision was the worst decision Scott ever made at Geelong in my view.

Having said that, thats still a wonderful record.

 

[you pick one]

 

[Phill Hendo]

I thought Tom did not look comfortable just walking around after the game last week. Cam has been out for months and almost hasn't played in the last 2 seasons. I doubt either plays in the VFL this week. If either is going to play AFL this year, they must get up for the VFL this weekend.

I am thinking this is Scott's reality check for both which is his job. Cam might be back next season to add to an already fantastic carrier. Tom will forever be a Geelong great. I would love to see them making a difference in the AFL finals this year. But I don't see any fairytale finishes unfortunatly.

 

[Kitcat]

Giving gametime to him and Tommy in the VFL is just smart insurance for the finals in case of injuries or suspension…you don’t want to use the undone players but it’s better to gamble on them than some debut for the finals if it’s needed imo

I suspect Hawkins is desperate to play another game of football before the retirement, rather than go out with the memory of collapsing with that foot injury. He is not the type to think VFL is beneath him.

 

[Play it Sam]

I might claw my eyes out if we consider even entertaining Stringer.
Completely goes against everything the Cats have built

Stringer just doesn't seem to be our fit, too aged/inconsistent and not with so many of our VFL who are tracking well for 2025; Good luck to him in Sydney though, if he can negotiate their cost of living.

Scott says Guthrie and Hawk will be considered and fair enough. Guthrie is a huge rehab worker off stage, even aged 32 doesn't appear to be done. Would welcome him in the the games ahead but needs a VFL run, unlike last time he came back without one, and it showed.

 

[CHAWKTS]

So I thought I would go back to the last time we played them in same final at AO. 2021. And compare teams.

I was a bit surprised that both teams have 12 players who played 3 years ago are will not play on Thursday. In fact I have 13 "ins" for Geelong so it might be that we have 13 "outs" from that came (assuming either Stanley, Duncan or Bews make way for SDK)

Cats Outs from 2021 game

Henderson, MOC, Smith, C Guthrie, Rohan, Simpson, Hawkins, Dal, Selwood, Parfait, Menegola, Higgins
(and one of Stanley, Duncan or Bews)

Cats Ins

SDK, Dempsey, Managh, 2E, Zuthrie, Holmes, Stengle, Neale, O Henry, Bruhn, Humprhies, Bowes, Stewart

So we have 3 players at their peak out maybe 4 (including Smith) and a couple handy players at the time (Henderson, Rohan) with a half a down role players

The "ins" for our team...I would say 5 of them are in our top 10 best and fairest for 2024? (Holmes, Stewart, Dempsey, Stengle, Guthrie) and the rest pretty important players other than 2E and maybe Neale

So on balance I think we look a better team albeit recency bias? Certainly we are a faster more exciting team?


Port outs from 2021

Jonus, McKenzie, Houston, Duursme, Amon, Fantasia, Motlop, Gray, Lycett, Bonner, Ladhams, Powell-Pepper

Port Ins

Zerk-Thatcher, Jones, L Evans, Burgoyne, Rioli, Sav, Sweet, Mead, JHF, McEntee, F Evans, Georgiadis

Obviously they are improved around the ball (younger players got better and JHF) but at either end I reckon they are worse than they were in 2021



Who knows what all this means. Other than given huge changes past games are irrelevant!!


Changes from the 2024 game at GMHBA might be more interesting...

Cats Outs: Part, Hawkins, Guthrie, MOC, Rohan, Clark, Mullin
Cats Ins: 2E, Danger, Neale, Bruhn, Humphries, Bowes, Mannagh

Port Out: Houston, Sinn, Farrell, Visentie, Finalaysen
Port In: L Evans, Jones, F Evans, Sweet, Rozee

Our team is significantly better than round 9 this year and Ports is worse - for whatever that is worth!

 

[FootyLad0]

I suspect Hawkins is desperate to play another game of football before the retirement, rather than go out with the memory of collapsing with that foot injury. He is not the type to think VFL is beneath him.

And he can finish out the season in VFL.
He completely changes our structure and I might be in the minority here but in 2024 that’s not in a good way.

Guthrie in a similar boat but back into Senior side in 2025.

Scotty needs to be honest with them, it’s just not gonna happen.
We’ve built cohesion and structure without them, bringing both back in underdone would be shambolic.

 

[bulletproof]

Hawkins I think is there in case Neale is totally ineffectual under the heat of a final (which let’s be honest is not out of the realms of possibility), or in the case of a Cameron injury.

Guthrie I think needs two big games at VFL level, and then if Tuohy or Duncan are struggling, he could be the fresh experienced man on the scene.

I think in both cases they are on the outside looking in, but that could change over the month.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Chapman was the spiritual heartbeat of our club. That decision was the worst decision Scott ever made at Geelong in my view.

Having said that, thats still a wonderful record.

Dropping Stanley because of a little rain was worse I think

 

[CatToTheFuture]

I suspect Hawkins is desperate to play another game of football before the retirement, rather than go out with the memory of collapsing with that foot injury. He is not the type to think VFL is beneath him.

He went out the most capped cat. It's not all bad

 

[Farmer2Goggin]

Here we go again into yet another Finals Campaign - with the bonus of a double chance.
We are so privileged to follow this truly great Club , what a model of consistency we have been since 2007.
I've got plenty of footy die hard mates who sit out September on a regular basis , we shouldn't take our success for granted.

Whilst we could go out in straight sets , win this week and we could very well pull it off - what a season
A home loss would be a massive blow to port.

On selection I'm inclined to play Stanley as his recent form has been quite good and he is a confidence player.
Hope we don't blink on Stanley - got a bad feeling we will regret leaving him out if we go that way.
SDK comes in to bolster defence and Mullin plays VFL . I think we will back Atkins/Bowes and Blitz to blunt any of the Port mids who look dangerous.
Wouldn't surprise me if Duncan plays more forward of centre like he did in the 22GF , his delivery inside 50 could be valuable. Hope Lawson is fit as his DE will be just what we need coming out of the back half , provided he copes with Finals pressure. Not sure if Tuohy plays or is the sub?
Key to this one is four quarter pressure , I like our chances if we can put that together............

 

[Chinacats]

Cornes says his nervous for Port , because Scott is the best coach in the AFL and has had two weeks to plot their downfall. We know Kenny will go after Tommy Stewart. Is there another player he could target for some extra attention to put them off their game? He could pull a surprise….
Let’s see who wins in the coaches box.

 

[Cataholic]

Here we go again into yet another Finals Campaign - with the bonus of a double chance.
We are so privileged to follow this truly great Club , what a model of consistency we have been since 2007.
I've got plenty of footy die hard mates who sit out September on a regular basis , we shouldn't take our success for granted.

Whilst we could go out in straight sets , win this week and we could very well pull it off - what a season
A home loss would be a massive blow to port.

On selection I'm inclined to play Stanley as his recent form has been quite good and he is a confidence player.
Hope we don't blink on Stanley - got a bad feeling we will regret leaving him out if we go that way.
SDK comes in to bolster defence and Mullin plays VFL . I think we will back Atkins/Bowes and Blitz to blunt any of the Port mids who look dangerous.
Wouldn't surprise me if Duncan plays more forward of centre like he did in the 22GF , his delivery inside 50 could be valuable. Hope Lawson is fit as his DE will be just what we need coming out of the back half , provided he copes with Finals pressure. Not sure if Tuohy plays or is the sub?
Key to this one is four quarter pressure , I like our chances if we can put that together............

Spot on. It's 4 quarters of pressure, or a loss.

Whether we can maintain the rage that long is a question of immense curiosity.

We've had huge variations in our pressure, within a game, from one half to the other. As cats_09 has alluded to before, the difference has been so stark that it has raised the question as to whether its been a deliberate ploy to try different strategies - or is that wishful thinking?

That said, I'm with catempire in believing that this side has lacked the killer instinct needed to create fear. The lack of ruthlessness leaves our opponents believing they're always a chance.

Can we find that instinct if we smell blood in the finals?

Can we find the drive in our minds, the run in our legs, to pressure sides relentlessly over 4 quarters?

We're going to get a solid insight on Thursday night.

What a nervous, exciting wait.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Cornes says his nervous for Port , because Scott is the best coach in the AFL and has had two weeks to plot their downfall. We know Kenny will go after Tommy Stewart. Is there another player he could target for some extra attention to put them off their game? He could pull a surprise….
Let’s see who wins in the coaches box.

I actually think targeting Stewart will backfire for them. They were basically holding him off the ball which you can get away with against defenders. If you start doing that to midfielders then at a certain point the umpires will stay calling it.

 

[Jumping Jack]

Pretty strong talk around the traps that Geelong are expected to go with SDK in the ruck / Blicavs as back up, and leave Stanley out.

Mullin a big chance to play and run with JHF after the job he did in the previous match against Port. Bews to Rioli

 

[Max Rooke]

Hawkins I think is there in case Neale is totally ineffectual under the heat of a final (which let’s be honest is not out of the realms of possibility), or in the case of a Cameron injury.

Guthrie I think needs two big games at VFL level, and then if Tuohy or Duncan are struggling, he could be the fresh experienced man on the scene.

I think in both cases they are on the outside looking in, but that could change over the month.

Agree we’re getting Hawk fit in case Jez, Neale or Henry get injured.
Guthrie probably only gets recalled if Danger goes down because then we’re in real Roll the Dice territory.

 

[you pick one]

My thoughts on Scotty regarding Hawkins a Cuthrie the last week or so is it's all a ruse not to fool Hinkley but side track the media sufficiently to be able to get on with the real business at hand under the radar plotting Ports demize.

 

[Cataholic]

Pretty strong talk around the traps that Geelong are expected to go with SDK in the ruck / Blicavs as back up, and leave Stanley out.

Mullin a big chance to play and run with JHF after the job he did in the previous match against Port. Bews to Rioli

Art Vandelay_ will have an aneurysm if Mullin plays.

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

He'd need more than 1 VFL match

Besides, how often have we seen players have a good first up match when returning from a layoff, and things catch up with them on thy second match

Pretty much what happened with Guth earlier in the season. Carlton he was quite the comeback kid then was awful V Port.

He does have his long locks coming back though. Surely a sign he'll never do a buzz cut again. It was some real cursed Samson shit going on since he did that.

 

[Goggin Our Best]

Wouldn't surprise me if Duncan plays more forward of centre like he did in the 22GF , his delivery inside 50 could be valuable. Hope Lawson is fit as his DE will be just what we need coming out of the back half , provided he copes with Finals pressure. Not sure if Tuohy plays or is the sub?
Key to this one is four quarter pressure , I like our chances if we can put that together............

Thats a good point that - started the 3rd qtr onslaught with that gorilla like tackle on a much bigger Swans player and as result he got the opening goal of the 3rd qtr

And if you think back to the 2020 GF at the Gabba , i thought he was Geelongs best player , kicked that superb goal in the 1st qtr , set shot on the boundary line in the rain with a wet ball

Brilliant technically correct kick Duncan , so like you say forward of centre he could be quite dangerous

 

[supahoops]

I don't think he is that divisive, but this place will get grim if we are strongly linked with Stringer or offer him a big deal...


Its a difficult one, but I think if he is fit he only comes in if we have a midfield injury and its a break glass in case of emergency.

So we can go from the Henry/Rohan spot to Henry/Rowan/Stringer - bring it on