Preview Rd 11 Geelong V GWS Sat 25th May 2024 434 pm @ KP

[Lana]

Wonder if they'll also try to use him more as our #2 ruck and play Blicavs as more of a pure midfielder compared with his usual hybrid role?

Wouldn't surprise me to see him full time on the wing. We've taken out a few mediocre ball users to add him heaps of height. Should make the territory game more playable, if we're losing the contest and having our ball movement restricted.
If the opposition has figured us out and are setting up in a way that stops us from going fast as their zone is less shallow then then their is less point in building a team to go over the top. Since Melbourne we've seen less Collingwoodball against us, can't go over them, can go around them, have to go through them.

 

[Mr Meow]

Really not sure about missing C Guthrie, Parfitt and MOC who all play through the midfield, and not bringing in Hardie or another mid.

O'Connor hasn't been playing midfield lately.

Duncan in releases Holmes to midfield = upgrade on Parfitt.

Two forwards in perhaps lets the Miers midfield experiment roll on with more minutes. Let's face it, Miers around stoppages is closer to giving us 2022 Guthrie attributes than the 2024 version of Guthrie is right now.

And they might have decided 8 heavy midfield rotations simply doesn't work with a few of them playing poorly. So we might see Atkins backed in as the full time defensive mid and more time on ground for Bruhn/Bowes (70-80% rather than 60-65).

A full game for Clark too, I'm guessing. Blicavs could be there full time, part time or not at all - who knows.

Hoimes, Bruhn, Bowes, Miers, Atkins, Blicavs, Clark - Goggin Our Best will say a few should be delisted immediately but it'll be interesting to see how they go.

 

[OddYears]

Would’ve loved to see mannagh in for rohan, or 2E. The blokes electric

 

[allrighty]

The proverbial broken clock being correct once of two times in a season.

That would be twice in a day but yeah I get your point

 

[Finknottle]

Playing an untried older player is a big risk
Safer playing the devil you know.

Even when the devil you know is crap?

 

[noclashjumpers]

It's like we're playing chicken with our midfield.
Our mids are struggling, so let's see how we go if we drop the some more mids, and not really bring anyone in to play their roles.

 

[catempire]

That would be twice in a day but yeah I get your point

Booooo for not appreciating my deliberate mixed metaphor.

 

[Finknottle]

Have any of you guys who think Hardie is no good ever watched him play? The VFL games are streamed live on the AFL App. Are you aware he is leading the coaches voting in the VFL? There seems to be a total disconnect between what the coaches think and what several posters on this board think. If you can watch Hardie play then you may be in a position to judge him.

 

[Warhorse]

Some interesting selections. Glad Parfitt is gone. Would have been nice to bring in a midfielder

 

[Warhorse]

Have any of you guys who think Hardie is no good ever watched him play? The VFL games are streamed live on the AFL App. Are you aware he is leading the coaches voting in the VFL? There seems to be a total disconnect between what the coaches think and what several posters on this board think. If you can watch Hardie play then you may be in a position to judge him.

I always scratch my head when people say he is vanilla. Looks much more classy than Clark at VFL level

 

[noclashjumpers]

I always scratch my head when people say he is vanilla. Looks much more classy than Clark at VFL level

Even if he is vanilla, at least that's a discernible flavour! At the moment we're playing with tap water.

 

[catempire]

Have any of you guys who think Hardie is no good ever watched him play? The VFL games are streamed live on the AFL App. Are you aware he is leading the coaches voting in the VFL? There seems to be a total disconnect between what the coaches think and what several posters on this board think. If you can watch Hardie play then you may be in a position to judge him.

He no good bro.

 

[Mr Meow]

It's like we're playing chicken with our midfield.
Our mids are struggling, so let's see how we go if we drop the some more mids, and not really bring anyone in to play their roles.

It doesn't take a genius to realise that they are thinking the solution lies within the team, with the inclusions leading to some shuffling.

Holmes, Miers and Mullin with decent midfield minutes. Maybe a full game for Clark. Bowes and Bruhn to spend more time on the field. None are especially old so there's an eye to the future too.

 

[Play it Sam]

Neither are at the forefront of our problems and have had 25 odd games as Cats, with Bruhn's career as a midfielder starting at Geelong rather than GWS.

Both at their best this season have been decent and would work well with Holmes/Dangerfield. We just need another more accountable midfielder stepping up, i.e the 2023 version of Atkins.

That would be Mannagh

 

[Mr Meow]

That would be Mannagh

I think they'd need to try that in the VFL more first.

Atkins/Clark backed in as the aggressive terriers with some speed/skill around them looks like the approach this week. Maybe Atkins/Parfitt have been told they are fighting for the same spot and it sparks one of them?

 

[noclashjumpers]

It doesn't take a genius to realise that they are thinking the solution lies within the team, with the inclusions leading to some shuffling.

Holmes, Miers and Mullin with decent midfield minutes. Maybe a full game for Clark. Bowes and Bruhn to spend more time on the field. None are especially old so there's an eye to the future too.

Well clearly.
Perhaps it would also take someone who boasts significantly fewer IQ points than a genius to see that I was being facetious.

 

[Mr Meow]

Well clearly.
Perhaps it would also take someone who boasts significantly fewer IQ points than a genius to see that I was being facetious.

Perhaps you have half as many IQ points as you would like to and about twice as many as you deserve, to paraphrase Baggins.

In the future you could even come down from your throne of facetiousness and offer something resembling a reasoned thought.

 

[moond0g]

I can understand parfitt being dropped, but I think Atkins has been in worse form this year.

 

[Mr Meow]

I can understand parfitt being dropped, but I think Atkins has been in worse form this year.

He has, but given a more prominent role in late 2022 and 2023 he was pretty good. Cutting a couple of other plodders and backing him in I don't mind. If he is poor, then Parfitt will surely come back in for him.

 

[noclashjumpers]

Perhaps you have half as many IQ points as you would like to and about twice as many as you deserve, to paraphrase Baggins.

In the future you could even come down from your throne of facetiousness and offer something resembling a reasoned thought.

So making a light-hearted tongue in cheek quip is being on a throne?

Someone is taking this all a little too seriously. I've got a throne of perspective free if you want to sit back and reflect.

 

[Mr Meow]

So making a light-hearted tongue in cheek quip is being on a throne?

Someone is taking this all a little too seriously. I've got a throne of perspective free if you want to sit back and reflect.

I was actually just having a laugh (right from the lighthearted "doesn't take a genius" comment) while still adding my perspective of what the MC are thinking, but if you are actually getting upset at this exchange I'll stop.

If you would like to make rhetorical statements without reply, I am more than happy to hit the like button and let you get on with your day.

 

[Play it Sam]

I think they'd need to try that in the VFL more first.

Atkins/Clark backed in as the aggressive terriers with some speed/skill around them looks like the approach this week. Maybe Atkins/Parfitt have been told they are fighting for the same spot and it sparks one of them?

As much as I'm sad to say it, over Brandon, Atkins is the King of Terriers, completely reliable with a more defensive skill set. I've been out of the loop a bit lately, but know they will be reassured at this early stage. Those posters forecasting the end of Parf are a bit premature, without quoting Mark Twain (writer not poster).

 

[goyoucatters]

How do you know unless you try, though?

Give him a couple of games, if he's clearly outclassed then we can accept he's a "level above VFL, not quite good enough for AFL" type. But seems stupid not to at least give him a shot.

I'm fine with it being tried, as I've said several times. Just pointing out that there's been plenty of examples of clubs supposedly being 'stupid' enough not to give players like Hardie a shot in their senior team over the years. So it's not like we're obviously embracing Costanza-like levels of idiocy to not give him a shot in the ones at this point.

 

[goyoucatters]

Have any of you guys who think Hardie is no good ever watched him play? The VFL games are streamed live on the AFL App. Are you aware he is leading the coaches voting in the VFL? There seems to be a total disconnect between what the coaches think and what several posters on this board think. If you can watch Hardie play then you may be in a position to judge him.

Sure does. And that's totally fine. But it is also totally fine to consider that the coaches not only watch him play in the VFL. They also watch him at training and observe everything else about how he's preparing for his footy.

So unless you take the view that they're just maniacally biased or wildly incompetent, they must have what they consider to be valid reasons for not pushing him higher up the pecking order at this point.

Doesn't make them right, of course. But they are working with more empirical data regarding Mitch's current aptitude for senior footy than anyone connected with this board, meaning the basis for the 'disconnect' might go well beyond what footy watchers apparently observe when Hardie is running around with the Bankers each week.

 

[Finknottle]

Sure does. And that's totally fine. But it is also totally fine to consider that the coaches not only watch him play in the VFL. They also watch him at training and observe everything else about how he's preparing for his footy.

So unless you take the view that they're just maniacally biased or wildly incompetent, they must have what they consider to be valid reasons for not pushing him higher up the pecking order at this point.

Doesn't make them right, of course. But they are working with more empirical data regarding Mitch's current aptitude for senior footy than anyone connected with this board, meaning the basis for the 'disconnect' might go well beyond what footy watchers apparently observe when Hardie is running around with the Bankers each week.

I am not privy to the thinking of the brains trust at the club. I can only go on what I observe watching Hardie play in the VFL and the confirmation provided by votes cast by VFL coaches. Of course it is possible that, despite the obvious positive signs, there are reservations that the Geelong coaches have. However, it irks me when contributors to this forum state that he is not good enough because he has not yet been trusted at AFL level and suggest that you can put a pencil through him for now and the future. I find it hard to believe that these posters have any more inside knowledge than I do, and I have zero inside knowledge.