Preview Rd 13 Cats V Swans Sunday June 9 320pm @ SCG

[bulletproof]

Not only doesn't it sound not good for a forward but at the same time I think a move like that would be to facilitate C Guthrie coming straight back into the midfield post bye hugely lacking match hardness so instead of strengthening the midfield we go potentially one short for weeks while he looks for form that may not even be there.

I’d play Guthrie in the back half when he gets back. Give them another rebounding half back to worry about.

 

[moond0g]

I do miss him!!

I actually think your logic makes sense and I am sure the match committee are thinking about it. It could be that they are hoping with danger and Guthrie back and fully fit the “cattle” may indeed get back to par (by definition it takes the poorer two MF out. 3 if you count Holmes as a “new” MF option who is probably par or above?). In that case keeping them “fresh” by lower TOG might be the best method. Atkins and Bruhn automatically are “better” if they are number 4 and 5 in the MF rotation. Or 5 and 6 if Blitz gets back to his best.

But yes it might be a pipe dream. It was 30 games ago since Guthrie was fit so who knows whether he ever comes back to above par. And maybe Danger will be as much forward as mid. Who knows with Blitz. In that case I think the method isn’t the issue so much as missing 1-2 different makers.

Despite promising youngsters which is great for future..We need those over 30 guys in top form to have any chance - same as “too old, too slow” 2022. I didn’t see that happening this time two years ago so can hope it is just we can’t see it yet!

I think perhaps people overthink/analyse the low possession counts, and low TOG of our mids.

I think it’s purely because we are weak in that area. If we had some of the midfielders other teams had, I’m sure the MC would also want them to get >30 touches and play ~80%tog. But we don’t, so we’ve adapted our game plan around who we’ve got and try to rotate to keep our B graders fresh to compete with other teams A graders.

 

[CHAWKTS]

I had to call him up and probe.

Apparently he knows someone who is close with brett goodes down at the club who has told him this.

The other comment was that brett goodes cannot get over how professional geelong is compared to western bulldogs, that it is day and night..

Oh and PS... I didnt even know brett goodes even worked with us??! Has my old man lost it or is this true??

If he does, he may not for too long after being outed on BF for telling friends inner circle stuff?

I would be (pleasantly) surprised if it was true - for this week anyway. I had hoped we would see Lawson against Tigers and I do think he is a strong potential to debut soon. But against the Swans pre bye - I am not sure how we fit him in? Unless Kolo or Stewart (different roles but at least in right zone) are outs - but neither ended up being on the injury list.

They would need to drop Mullin I suspect to bring Lawson in?

 

[CHAWKTS]

I think perhaps people overthink/analyse the low possession counts, and low TOG of our mids.

I think it’s purely because we are weak in that area. If we had some of the midfielders other teams had, I’m sure the MC would also want them to get >30 touches and play ~80%tog. But we don’t, so we’ve adapted our game plan around who we’ve got and try to rotate to keep our B graders fresh to compete with other teams A graders.

Maybe - but in 2022 back half of the year we had Selwood, Danger and Guthrie all in peak form along side Atkins and Parfait rotating through MF.

Selwood only once played more than 70% game time…Danger averaged 75% game time (but did have games in the high 70s) and Guthrie around 70% as did Atkins and Parf.

So to me that was a strategy not based on quality. It was based on philosophy of keeping that premiership midfield fresh and with the capacity to outlast other MFs in the last quarter.

Again I am not endorsing it as the right strategy for 2024. Indeed I would think the younger players like Tanner and Max should be able to cope with higher %…(Holmes is around 80% for 2024 with Bruhn, Atkins, Clark and Parf being in mid 60s) but I suspect that IF we get Danger and Guthrie back we will continue to have 1 maybe 2 be in 75-80% range and another 3-4 in the 60s.

 

[CHAWKTS]

Full article of Danger conversation with SEN - referred to in some earlier posts

Geelong captain Patrick Dangerfield has flagged changes he will make to his ground ball technique upon his return from a hamstring injury, which he hopes will be this Sunday against Sydney.

Dangerfield, who turned 34 last month, suffered a reoccurrence of a left hamstring injury in Round 7 and hasn’t played since. He previously strained the same hamstring in Round 2.

He’s been back in full training for two weeks and suggested his desire was to return on Sunday to face the Swans.

However, with the Cats’ bye the following week, Dangerfield may be told to sit on the sidelines one more time.

“I sure as hell hope so,” he told SEN’s Whateley when asked if he’ll play in Round 13.

“There are two schools of thought. One, I’ve been training for a couple of weeks now and I’m ready to go, which I feel I am.

“But the other is you bank one more game and it actually means two more weeks of training which means probably five (lots of) 10-12 kilometre sessions.

“To be blatantly obvious, that’s going to be debated this afternoon. Main training is on Friday this week... I’m pushing for that (decision) to be a bit earlier so I find out what my week looks like and if I’ve got to run 12 kilometres in the captain’s run.”

A meeting with coach Chris Scott

Chris Scott

Age

48

Ht

182cm

Wt

89kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.6

4star

K

11.2

4star

HB

5.4

4star

M

5.1

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

0.4

3star

No current season stats available

D

13.2

4star

K

10.2

4star

HB

3.0

3star

M

2.2

3star

T

2.8

5star

G

0.4

3star

later on Tuesday will decide his fate.

“I dare say like most things with this sort of stuff, Chris will win,” Dangerfield added with a laugh.

Now 325 games into his career and out of contract this year, Dangerfield is in the twilight of his career. He’s battled soft tissue injuries since 2020 and last year missed four games with another left hamstring strain.

The explosive midfielder has spent recent weeks changing how he trains in order to avoid a similar injury.

“That’s been literally what the four or five weeks have been,” Dangerfield said on pondering whether he needs to modify his game.

“The last two hamstring injuries I’ve had have been exactly the same mechanism, bending down at full stretch without really bending your knee.

“I’ve been playing footy at the top level for 17 years, so trying to recreate this on the fly is obviously difficult but more often than not, if you can get into the position where you are lower to the ground, that’s been a huge amount of work that I’ve been putting in with our staff.

“So the answer is absolutely.”

He went on to describe it as a “very big adjustment”.

Dangerfield’s biggest strength throughout his career has been burst from stoppage through incredible power in his legs.

But fans may be seeing a slightly different Dangerfield in the latter stages of his illustrious career.

“What it means practically is you probably get to the ball slightly slower, not because you haven’t run as fast or been as explosive, but you’ve got in a position where you bend your knees more, taking slightly longer to bend over rather than taking it at full speed and full stretch without getting super low… and that’s always been my strength,” he said on his ground ball adjustment.

The Cats won their first game without Dangerfield on Saturday night against Richmond, with the captain’s side still third on the ladder with a record of 8-4.

 

[cats_09]

I had to call him up and probe.

Apparently he knows someone who is close with brett goodes down at the club who has told him this.

The other comment was that brett goodes cannot get over how professional geelong is compared to western bulldogs, that it is day and night..

Oh and PS... I didnt even know brett goodes even worked with us??! Has my old man lost it or is this true??

From last year:





Thread on his appointment here - https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/brett-goodes-joins-geelong-off-field-team.1346956/

 

[Footy Smarts]

I had to call him up and probe.

Apparently he knows someone who is close with brett goodes down at the club who has told him this.

The other comment was that brett goodes cannot get over how professional geelong is compared to western bulldogs, that it is day and night..

Oh and PS... I didnt even know brett goodes even worked with us??! Has my old man lost it or is this true??

This is too plausible. You're getting my hopes up. Tough first up assignment!

 

[Stocks_go_Up]

Type of game we usually lose

 

[geelong_crazy26]

This is too plausible. You're getting my hopes up. Tough first up assignment!

If its wrong, time to put him in an old folks home.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

If he does, he may not for too long after being outed on BF for telling friends inner circle stuff?

I would be (pleasantly) surprised if it was true - for this week anyway. I had hoped we would see Lawson against Tigers and I do think he is a strong potential to debut soon. But against the Swans pre bye - I am not sure how we fit him in? Unless Kolo or Stewart (different roles but at least in right zone) are outs - but neither ended up being on the injury list.

They would need to drop Mullin I suspect to bring Lawson in?

If Holmes is 100% midfield, which I think he should be, then there's a backline spot

 

[CHAWKTS]

If Holmes is 100% midfield, which I think he should be, then there's a backline spot

Possibly. Of course we have Duncan now largely playing that role.

And then we have Mullin, MOC as options and maybe Guthrie once he is back?

Doesn’t feel like we have too many openings for anyone?

 

[fpm84]

This guy enjoys playing the Swans, any chance he’s free on Sunday afternoon?

 

[Footy Smarts]

If its wrong, time to put him in an old folks home.

Fair. You can't make these promises to the Doritos express and think there won't be consequences for letting them down.

 

[Zouz Kitty]

Atkins is eloquent + provided effective answers.

He mentioned, when asked: "What do you think that disappointing month has been down to?"
Replying:
"We haven't been that far off, TBH.
We spoke a lot about connection + communication, trying to play more as a team.
We've had a few floating roles within the team, over the last month, but the last two weeks we've really honed in on giving players specific roles + letting them concentrate on executing that.
Maybe it clicked for us or hopefully it clicked for us in the second half + we're off to the races now."

Atkins responses reflect many of the concerns expressed here on BF.

The lack of team cohesion. Cohesion was a massive factor of our success in 2022.

Addressing the floating players + players now have specific roles, which should improve the lack of connection, communication + cohesion.

Interesting Atkins stated the players, especially the MF have adapted well to the new HTB rule. Coaches are great + players are doing a lot of training around the technique, players are well prepared.
A good + diplomatic reply.



Regarding Swans' MF: ""We'll be up for the fight, we know they are a good contested midfield and they have a really deep midfield."

As for his position, Atkins will player wherever the team needs him + hopefully he'll contribute.
That answers some critics, he's adapting his game to assist the young MFs getting experience.

Reassuring the team's intention is to begin the game + play on their terms


"Expect a grind + be up for the fight" I reckon that's a reasonable expectation

Finally, from the article:
"Historically the SCG has proven to be a successful road trip with the Cats holding a 57% win rate at the ground, which is the third highest percentage of any visiting team in AFL history.

Geelong have also enjoyed recent success against Sydney across the past five seasons, only losing two of their previous nine encounters with the Swans in that time span."

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Fair. You can't make these promises to the Doritos express and think there won't be consequences for letting them down.

The whole supply chain for corn chips would break down with the glut created

 

[Zouz Kitty]

If he does, he may not for too long after being outed on BF for telling friends inner circle stuff?

I would be (pleasantly) surprised if it was true - for this week anyway. I had hoped we would see Lawson against Tigers and I do think he is a strong potential to debut soon. But against the Swans pre bye - I am not sure how we fit him in? Unless Kolo or Stewart (different roles but at least in right zone) are outs - but neither ended up being on the injury list.

They would need to drop Mullin I suspect to bring Lawson in?

Brett Goodes, Indigenous Player Development Manager

https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/brett-goodes-joins-geelong-off-field-team.1346956/

Plenty of coaches say stuff + it's hardly a super duper secret strategy being revealed. We'll know on Thursday night. Scott inferred Danger won't play + I reckon most of us know he won't play

 

[moond0g]

Maybe - but in 2022 back half of the year we had Selwood, Danger and Guthrie all in peak form along side Atkins and Parfait rotating through MF.

Selwood only once played more than 70% game time…Danger averaged 75% game time (but did have games in the high 70s) and Guthrie around 70% as did Atkins and Parf.

So to me that was a strategy not based on quality. It was based on philosophy of keeping that premiership midfield fresh and with the capacity to outlast other MFs in the last quarter.

Again I am not endorsing it as the right strategy for 2024. Indeed I would think the younger players like Tanner and Max should be able to cope with higher %…(Holmes is around 80% for 2024 with Bruhn, Atkins, Clark and Parf being in mid 60s) but I suspect that IF we get Danger and Guthrie back we will continue to have 1 maybe 2 be in 75-80% range and another 3-4 in the 60s.

I think you're right that trying to keep our midfielders fresh has been something we've tried to do the last few years in general. And I'll get ridiculed for this, but I think by 2022 Selwood wasn't an A grade mid anymore. Still a great captain, and a more than serviceable player. But not a true A grader. So, I think the fact that he was playing tog in the 60s and Danger and Guthrie (who were closer to A graders) were playing in the 70s kind of provides more evidence for my point. Simply, you want your best players on the ground for longer, and you want the ball in their hands more often.

Let's just say that if in an alternate world we actually did land Oliver last year in the trade period, I'm sure he would be playing closer to 80%tog and would be getting 30 touches a game, and everyone (on here and in the coaching box) would be pretty happy about it. I was more pointing to the fact that some on here suggest that our we are aiming to get our midfielders to only get 19 touches a game by design for some reason. Which I think is untrue.

 

[James1970]

"Maybe it clicked for us or hopefully it clicked for us in the second half + we're off to the races now."

 

[PzBlinky]

View attachment 2011001

Atkins is eloquent + provided effective answers.

He mentioned, when asked: "What do you think that disappointing month has been down to?"
Replying:
"We haven't been that far off, TBH.
We spoke a lot about connection + communication, trying to play more as a team.
We've had a few floating roles within the team, over the last month, but the last two weeks we've really honed in on giving players specific roles + letting them concentrate on executing that.
Maybe it clicked for us or hopefully it clicked for us in the second half + we're off to the races now."

Atkins responses reflect many of the concerns expressed here on BF.

The lack of team cohesion. Cohesion was a massive factor of our success in 2022.

Addressing the floating players + players now have specific roles, which should improve the lack of connection, communication + cohesion.

Interesting Atkins stated the players, especially the MF have adapted well to the new HTB rule. Coaches are great + players are doing a lot of training around the technique, players are well prepared.
A good + diplomatic reply.

View attachment 2011003

Regarding Swans' MF: ""We'll be up for the fight, we know they are a good contested midfield and they have a really deep midfield."

As for his position, Atkins will player wherever the team needs him + hopefully he'll contribute.
That answers some critics, he's adapting his game to assist the young MFs getting experience.

Reassuring the team's intention is to begin the game + play on their terms
View attachment 2010960

"Expect a grind + be up for the fight" I reckon that's a reasonable expectation

Finally, from the article:
"Historically the SCG has proven to be a successful road trip with the Cats holding a 57% win rate at the ground, which is the third highest percentage of any visiting team in AFL history.

Geelong have also enjoyed recent success against Sydney across the past five seasons, only losing two of their previous nine encounters with the Swans in that time span."

View attachment 2010998

Completely irrelevant to the topic, but I love your use of Schitt's Creek memes - wife and I are watching it right now and it's one of the best shows I've seen in yonks!

 

[Zouz Kitty]

Completely irrelevant to the topic, but I love your use of Schitt's Creek memes - wife and I are watching it right now and it's one of the best shows I've seen in yonks!

Thank you
It’s just the best show + there’s a meme or gif for everything

 

[Lana]

I think you're right that trying to keep our midfielders fresh has been something we've tried to do the last few years in general. And I'll get ridiculed for this, but I think by 2022 Selwood wasn't an A grade mid anymore. Still a great captain, and a more than serviceable player. But not a true A grader. So, I think the fact that he was playing tog in the 60s and Danger and Guthrie (who were closer to A graders) were playing in the 70s kind of provides more evidence for my point. Simply, you want your best players on the ground for longer, and you want the ball in their hands more often.

Let's just say that if in an alternate world we actually did land Oliver last year in the trade period, I'm sure he would be playing closer to 80%tog and would be getting 30 touches a game, and everyone (on here and in the coaching box) would be pretty happy about it. I was more pointing to the fact that some on here suggest that our we are aiming to get our midfielders to only get 19 touches a game by design for some reason. Which I think is untrue.

On this point he was still an extremely efficient clearance specialist. His centre bounce clearance rate from centre bounce attendance was in the top handful in the competition. it was around 50% higher than the median inside midfielder that year. In that important measure for an Inside mid he was still elite.

 

[Willo_]

CatToTheFuture Willo_

View attachment 2010634

It's happening

 

[allrighty]

There was a passage of play, which I searched for unsuccessfully, where our defence was doing their zoning thing. Players were spread out across D50, Richmond players were on their own + scored.

Call me crazy, what if we changed that wide spread zoning to our F50, probably not as broad, with our big forwards creating room, to avoid a big pack of oppo backs scragging them? Our crumbers + MFs could target spills to regain possession + with a line of our defenders, gather the ball + stop the oppo team kicking forward?

Now tear my theory to shreds

I'm with you.

I've been wondering why:

1. if the defensive zoning isn't working, and
2. if the forward bomb to the square isn't working, then
Why don't we change the systems?

For me this has been an issue for years, not just 2024.

 

[Catman]

Not that we really need one, but it's a good time to wheel this out again...

 

[Jimmy Yamazaki]

Champion Data's top 10 players has Max Holmes currently ranked 5th in the competition. He's one of the best impact players in the comp, and even his stint on half back was considered elite as well as being elite since his move into the middle 3 weeks ago.

Daniel Hoyne at Champion data said Swans should tag Holmes this week, not Stewart and that Holmes is our best player right now.

FYI the current top 5 are:

1. Heeney
2. Bont
3. Rankine
4. Petracca
5. Holmes