Preview Rd 8 Geelong v Melbourne Sat May 4th 730pm @ MCG

[Vdubs]

So what does Conway do when Stanley is rucking?

What did Ottens do when King, Blake and West were rucking? And winning flags?
The real question is -What does Stanley do when Conway is rucking? Answer is - plenty. And there is the bench.

 

[cats_09]

What did Ottens do when King, Blake and West were rucking? And winning flags?
The real question is -What does Stanley do when Conway is rucking? Answer is - plenty. And there is the bench.

There was no interchange cap back then though - so it didn't impact as much to utilise a bench spot for the resting ruck

Besides, Ottens was a capable forward as evidenced by his AA selection there when playing for Richmond - not sure either Stanley or Conway are close to that forward capability level

 

[CatToTheFuture]

What did Ottens do when King, Blake and West were rucking? And winning flags?
The real question is -What does Stanley do when Conway is rucking? Answer is - plenty. And there is the bench.

I don't think you can really rotate rucks off the bench with capped rotations.

Stanley has been running as spare man back or even running with the forward rebound when Blitz has rucked. Blitz has pretty much every other position on the ground as a second position.

I know the coaches have flagged that they think Stanley and Conway can play in the same team but I don’t think they're being honest

 

[Vdubs]

I don't think you can really rotate rucks off the bench with capped rotations.

Stanley has been running as spare man back or even running with the forward rebound when Blitz has rucked. Blitz has pretty much every other position on the ground as a second position.

I know the coaches have flagged that they think Stanley and Conway can play in the same team but I don’t think they're being honest

not every week, but I'd be happy to see it tried. I like Blic as a mid, or ANYWHERE he is needed.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

not every week, but I'd be happy to see it tried. I like Blic as a mid, or ANYWHERE he is needed.

Yeah, but not having him a second ruck feels like going to war but deciding your unit has too many weapons and leaving some at home

 

[Vdubs]

Yeah, but not having him a second ruck feels like going to war but deciding your unit has too many weapons and leaving some at home

Always have 2 rucks anyway, just the our second ruck happened to be a Jack of all trades. Blic has other uses.

 

[cats_09]

damn you Carlton

 

[Grimoz]

Massive game now that Carlton and Port have both lost, win this and we are 3 games clear in the top 4, absolutely massive game.

 

[cats_09]

For those wondering about GA access for tomorrow night

GENERAL ADMISSION SEATING AND CHEER SQUAD LOCATIONS​

General Admission seating will be available in the following areas, subject to availability and subject to change. Check back here for updates.

Shane Warne Stand

• M4 (Demon Heartland)
• Q1-Q15 1/2

Ponsford Stand

• M28-M32
• M33 (rows T-NN - no alcohol)
• M34-M36
• Q29-Q36

Olympic Stand

• Q49-Q57

AFL Reserve

• M22-M25 (rows A-Z)
• M26 (rows A-Y)
• Q15 1/2-Q17 (rows K-DD)
• Q18-Q28

CHEER SQUAD AREAS

Melbourne: M3 (rows A-LL)
Geelong Cats: M33 (rows A-S)

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Always have 2 rucks anyway, just the our second ruck happened to be a Jack of all trades. Blic has other uses.

We can agree to disagree but I think we would be carrying an extra tall that we wouldn't need to.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Massive game now that Carlton and Port have both lost, win this and we are 3 games clear in the top 4, absolutely massive game.

Battle of the bridge. Outside a draw we'll only be one ahead of one of the Sydney teams.

 

[Goggin Our Best]

You lose too much from being a small in rotation down plus you muck up the fwd structure by stanley or conway playing fwd a lot.

Hopefully conways tank will improve soon then he can come in full time instead of stanley.

Thats all and well to say that

But i do remember a certain PF , Gawns performance the 3rd qtr in particular it was a nightmare for Geel , unstoppable he was and kicking goals and the big MCG is very similar to that Perth oval

Atkins has been good for Geel , but he has been very ordinary this year and Clark is yet to prove himself at senior level

 

[Grimoz]

Battle of the bridge. Outside a draw we'll only be one ahead of one of the Sydney teams.

Yeah i know that but will be 3 games clear of 5th

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Yeah i know that but will be 3 games clear of 5th

Ah copy

 

[Pure_Ownage]

What did Ottens do when King, Blake and West were rucking? And winning flags?
The real question is -What does Stanley do when Conway is rucking? Answer is - plenty. And there is the bench.

Interchange wasnt capped then.

Theres a reasons why teams dont play 2 rucks now unless one of them is a decent fwd.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Thats all and well to say that

But i do remember a certain PF , Gawns performance the 3rd qtr in particular it was a nightmare for Geel , unstoppable he was and kicking goals and the big MCG is very similar to that Perth oval

Atkins has been good for Geel , but he has been very ordinary this year and Clark is yet to prove himself at senior level

2021? Gawn could have put on the cats jumper at the start of that match and we would have still lost by 83

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Port will try and get bzt or allir onto jezza and sav onto hawk. Jeremys running power will gas sav by qtr time otherwise.

BZT is the one that makes the most sense to me for Jez

 

[Vdubs]

We can agree to disagree but I think we would be carrying an extra tall that we wouldn't need to.

Agree.
I'm not suggesting it as a norm, just a single trial game against a team that does have super tall talent. Anyway, it won't happen. We are lucky Blicavs is the ultimate in versatility.

 

[cats_09]

 

[cats_09]

From the above article

THE HIGHEST-RATED SMALL FORWARDS​

Geelong boasts two of the best four and three of the best 11 small forwards in the AFL after seven rounds.

1 Izak Rankine

23

Izak Rankine

Age

24

Ht

181cm

Wt

82kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

13.0

3star

K

9.0

3star

HB

4.0

3star

M

2.7

3star

T

2.7

4star

G

2.0

5star

D

13.0

3star

K

9.0

4star

HB

4.0

3star

M

2.7

3star

T

2.7

4star

G

2.0

5star

D

13.0

4star

K

9.0

4star

HB

4.0

3star

M

2.7

3star

T

2.7

5star

G

2.0

5star

(Adel)
2 GRYAN MIERS (Geel)
3 Elijah Hollands (Carl)
4 TYSON STENGLE

18

Tyson Stengle

Age

25

Ht

175cm

Wt

71kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

9.3

2star

K

5.8

2star

HB

3.5

3star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.4

4star

G

1.1

4star

D

10.3

3star

K

5.3

2star

HB

5.0

3star

M

1.3

1star

T

2.0

3star

G

0.5

4star

D

8.8

3star

K

5.6

3star

HB

3.2

3star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.6

4star

G

1.6

5star

(Geel)
5 Jade Gresham

11

Jade Gresham

Age

26

Ht

177cm

Wt

81kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

17.4

4star

K

10.2

4star

HB

7.2

4star

M

3.2

3star

T

2.7

4star

G

1.1

4star

D

17.5

4star

K

10.8

4star

HB

6.8

4star

M

2.1

2star

T

2.0

3star

G

0.5

4star

D

11.8

3star

K

6.0

3star

HB

5.8

4star

M

2.6

3star

T

3.4

5star

G

0.4

3star

(Ess)
6 Bailey Banfield (Frem)
7 Dylan Moore

13

Dylan Moore

Age

24

Ht

177cm

Wt

77kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.9

3star

K

5.1

2star

HB

6.7

4star

M

4.4

4star

T

2.9

4star

G

0.3

3star

No current season stats available

D

12.2

3star

K

6.0

3star

HB

6.2

4star

M

5.4

5star

T

2.8

5star

G

0.4

3star

(Haw)
8 Alex Neal-Bullen (Melb)
9 Kysaiah Pickett

36

Kysaiah Pickett

Age

22

Ht

171cm

Wt

73kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

8.0

2star

K

4.7

2star

HB

3.3

3star

M

0.7

1star

T

2.6

4star

G

0.6

4star

D

8.0

2star

K

4.7

2star

HB

3.3

2star

M

0.7

1star

T

2.6

4star

G

0.6

4star

D

8.0

2star

K

4.8

2star

HB

3.2

3star

M

0.8

1star

T

2.4

4star

G

0.8

4star

(Melb)
10 Jack Higgins (St K)
11 BRAD CLOSE (Geel)
* Based on Champion Data’s 2024 AFL player ratings points.


And is Miers our real barometer:

In the past two years the Cats are 13-3 when Miers has at least 20 disposals and 4-9 when he has fewer.

The levelling up of Miers has been magnificent.

In 2022 he averaged 14.9 disposals, 214m gained and 0.6 goals per game. In 2023 it was 19 disposals, 298m gained and 0.3 goals.

In 2024 it is 22 disposals, 372m gained and one goal. Miers was mooted as an All-Australian last year, but selectors felt uneasy about picking a forward who had kicked only seven goals himself.

That knock has been negated this year because he has already matched that return of seven goals.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

From the above article

THE HIGHEST-RATED SMALL FORWARDS​

Geelong boasts two of the best four and three of the best 11 small forwards in the AFL after seven rounds.

1 Izak Rankine (Adel)
2 GRYAN MIERS (Geel)
3 Elijah Hollands (Carl)
4 TYSON STENGLE (Geel)
5 Jade Gresham (Ess)
6 Bailey Banfield (Frem)
7 Dylan Moore (Haw)
8 Alex Neal-Bullen (Melb)
9 Kysaiah Pickett (Melb)
10 Jack Higgins (St K)
11 BRAD CLOSE (Geel)
* Based on Champion Data’s 2024 AFL player ratings points.


And is Miers our real barometer:

In the past two years the Cats are 13-3 when Miers has at least 20 disposals and 4-9 when he has fewer.

The levelling up of Miers has been magnificent.

In 2022 he averaged 14.9 disposals, 214m gained and 0.6 goals per game. In 2023 it was 19 disposals, 298m gained and 0.3 goals.

In 2024 it is 22 disposals, 372m gained and one goal. Miers was mooted as an All-Australian last year, but selectors felt uneasy about picking a forward who had kicked only seven goals himself.

That knock has been negated this year because he has already matched that return of seven goals.

His trajectory is a demonstration of masterful coaching

Draft year: shows some innate talent for finding goals but so many little flaws that no one is interested but us

1st year: shows not much in vfl. Doesn't look like he has a great deal that will transfer. Has a tank in training, doesn't use it in games.

2nd year: coached to use his running capacity to get around the ground and pick up uncontested possessions as an extra wing. Starts getting the score involvements.

In the space of one preseason he goes from on-notice for delisting to undroppable piece in a side going top 4 that year.

 

[winty]

Well played Cats social media team, well played.

 

[Mattlock]

I don't get the negativity or worry surrounding Hawkins?

Sure he looks a little less mobile, but the job he is doing and what it allows our other forwards to do will win us finals. Watch him as he negates their fullback, allows others to get into better positions and sacrifices his own game to create that space. Just look at the goal kicking numbers around him.

The man is a true team first player.

 

[Pollywaffle]

not every week, but I'd be happy to see it tried. I like Blic as a mid, or ANYWHERE he is needed.

Would be interesting, but we have enough problems shoehorning guys into the team as it is..
I think Conway would step up as our primary ruck if given the chance.
We have seen situations in the past where primary big guys have gone down and the junior beanpoles have stepped up making the old guys redundant.
Not going to happen unless Stanley gets injured or stinks it up big time over a large body of work.

 

[cats_09]

Welcome to game day

Game Day - Rd 8 Melbourne v Geelong Sat May 4th 730pm @ MCG

Welcome to Star Wars Day Tonight we look to continue on our merry way, as the two oldest Clubs face off in what's been deemed "Rivalry Round" And I know winty posted the X image, but it's even better from Insta with the included clip

www.bigfooty.com