Round 2 vs Essendon

[DanA]

davey jetta dyson are part time midfeilders, they dont spend a lot of time there. davey and jetta are mostly there for their defensive pressure anyway and dyson is a receiver, he doesnt win the hard ball for us anyway. most teams have players like that who run into their midfeild in bursts...

got it from the essendon website.... i would say mcveigh is a pretty strong body, ever watch him shrug a tackle?? he may not look overly huge like someone say like chapman but he is bloody strong...

i realise that big bodies isnt something that is critical to a midfeild in fact i never said it was important at all... another cat supporter was claiming geelong were better because of their so called "bigger bodies" but they dont have far bigger bodies... if he had of said we are better because of our skills and hardness of the ball i would have agreed.

its a perception like you said that you have far bigger bodies, not reality...

You listed four midfeilders that combined are 11 kg's in total lighter than ours. That is significant and most teams have 6-8 guys rotating through the middle. Looking at the 4 next best mids which rotate through you are closer to 30 kg's lighter which is absolutely massive.

It ain't perception. We are the heaviest team in the AFL and we have the heaviest midfeild in the league by some margin. We have been the no.1 team for winning contested possessions for the past 3 years.

Last time we played the Bombers were beaten up to the point where they had no bench at 3 quarter time. I expect more of the same.

 

[Copernicus]

I'd like to point out that it's not necessarily just sheer size but also hardness at the ball - using that size. Our physical pressure, tackling and attack on the ball have more of an impact moreso than mere size. I mean, none of our midfielders are hulking monsters (Chappy aside!) but they are very strong and their willingness in close is unmatched.

I'd suggest that this is what hurts the opposition more than anything. I don't think for a minute think that Essendon wont be as hard at the ball, but there is something about the way we are constantly on top of sides and harrassing them that gives us a physical advantage.

 

[Redemptionin09]

yeh i know but everyone seems to be making things up that i say so i thought i would do the same....[/quote

It wasn't made up, it happened- in our offensive goalsquare

 

[Tay29]

and its a shame that I edited your post because you made other very good points re Geelong. But the one comment I wished to reply to was the defensive component that your midfield has had to assist both your defense and forward structures in the Cats team. Every side now knows post 2007 that this has to be broken down. And the Essendon midfield and running play is cloned on the beautiful footy that G'long played. That’s the danger. Dana is right too re ling on Watson as ling will do better away from bounces and clearance plays as well.

One further comment on the game, I know that scarlett is capable of holding LLoyd but I reckon he is different player this time around and wil play better without Lucas in the side. Also will run much further upfield if Scarlett is too damaging down back to free up others.

You're right that the Cats get a good help offensively and defensively from our midfield but that aside, our defensive structure is still very good. Even if Bartel isn't dropping back to be the 3rd man up, you'll find that Harley, Enright and Milburn will zone off their players and they do it extremely well. Except for Harry Taylor it's a very stable line up and like the rest of Geelong very even. People underestimate just how good we are because we are so even.

As to Lloyd and now with Johns not playing. I would be surprised to see him up the ground a lot. In fact I would see it as a victory to Geelong if Lloyd is getting possessions on the wing. As I would if Tredrea or Brown or Reiwoldt have to go that far to get the ball. The other danger is Scarlett's run and play making ability. By dragging him up the ground, Lloyd is opening himself up Scarlett's creative play and he'll take every opportunity to really test out Lloyd's fitness and drag him into Geelong's forward line. I think it suits Essendon to keep Scarlett near the goals. This limits what Scarlett can do and ensures Essendon is more dangerous.

Those referring to Hawkins throwing two Don's players to the ground last time, I think what they are talking about is Hawkins shrugging off two attempted tackles(2nd or 3rd quarter). One of them was McPhee who essentially got thrown to the ground when Hawkins ducked and put his arm out. I think Hawkins then snapped the goal.

Lastly David Johnson isn't playing for the VFL side today. If they have said he is injured then I've missed it. Don't be surprised if DJ is in for Wojo tomorrow.

 

[cats2rise]

Have a bad feeling that both Hunt and Wojac will be late changes...

Feeling abit nervous about the result.

 

[Cohzee]

I hope you are wrong about Wojac.

I'm bloody pumped, can't wait!

 

[catempire]

Have a bad feeling that both Hunt and Wojac will be late changes...

Feeling abit nervous about the result.

It would mean either Prismall or Varcoe playing a second game in the weekend. Both played today.

For mine, Hunt didn't come up and Johnson will come in (he didn't play in the VFL today).

 

[loser_kid]

As luck would have it.. Im working today and we are not in our own office... Were working from a recovery site.. I can't get the Live broadcast to work from the AFL website but i can get the SEN website working. But its the Syd game.. Anywhere else i can go to watch or listen to cats game?

The place we are at has no TV anywhere near us.. Just my luck aye lol

 

[Higgo]

As luck would have it.. Im working today and we are not in our own office... Were working from a recovery site.. I can't get the Live broadcast to work from the AFL website but i can get the SEN website working. But its the Syd game.. Anywhere else i can go to watch or listen to cats game?

The place we are at has no TV anywhere near us.. Just my luck aye lol

How about on 3aw?

http://www.mytalk.com.au/Stations/Talk/3AW/Pages/default.aspx

 

[loser_kid]

tried that link and the firewall had a major spaz and booted me lol

 

[boncer34]

Just about to go start watching the coverage. Going to be an absoloute cracker IMO, Cats will be to strong in the 2nd half though. Always enjoy watch Essendon play against Geelong. Good Luck Guys.

 

[peterss]

Was there any late changes to any side?

 

[FTW_]

As luck would have it.. Im working today and we are not in our own office... Were working from a recovery site.. I can't get the Live broadcast to work from the AFL website but i can get the SEN website working. But its the Syd game.. Anywhere else i can go to watch or listen to cats game?

The place we are at has no TV anywhere near us.. Just my luck aye lol

http://xml.afl.com.au/live_audio.htm?mediaurl=rtsp://wm9.streaming.telstra.com/ucs-wh_afl0live9

 

[Renegade]

It's no secret that our midfield has been shizen for years now so for lloyd to kick 3-4 in the last couple is excellent. Lets see how he goes now our midfield is a bit better.

0 HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHHAHAAHHAHHAHAAHAHHAAHHA

Oh please tell us again how good your midfield is now

 

[Roughie]

Congrats on the win jesus you guys were impressive. I had Essendon slipping into the 8, and I think you proved today your club is a class above them all. The chemistry and skills your club shows is what makes this game so exciting. It seems when you force the turn overs very rarely are you holding up the ball, its turn and quick disposals.

Your boys play with confidence in their team mates and are such a well oiled machine. I look at my club and look at where we have to be to be a serious contender in looking at your club. You guys were super impressive.

 

[nananana catman]

Load of bollocks that somehow has been propagated in recent days.

Watson, McVeigh, Houli, Lonergan, Johnson, Nash are not slightly built. Dempsey coming of the HBF is slightly built.

Davey and Jetta are small but still fairly solid for their height.

I'm still not sure where this idea that our midfield is slight has come from, yes there are some small guys in their, but there are also some big bodies as well.

Smashed at the contest, as predicted. Better luck next time.

 

[go team]

It will be game of two halves.

The game will be won and lost on the scoreboard.. and also on the football field...

cop that. i was right!

 

[haywood jablome]

Geelong will *******e Essendon. There are literally a maximum of 3 positions on the field where I MIGHT rate the ability of the Essendon player over his Geelong opponent. Multiply the amount of contests during a game with the ratio of Geelongs match up dominance and you will get a clear winner. The team work aspect - Geelong run like a well oiled machine; Essendon run like a bunch of school kids. I said it before, the only thing stopping this from a blow out in Geelongs favour will be inaccuracy in front of goals or a final quarter snooze due to laziness.

 

[catempire]

The size and strength advantages at the contests was very noticeable for the sake of the arguments that were had earlier in this thread. ABC radio commented on it several times.

 

[Furious_G]

Scary thing for me is look at the score and the number of goal kickers we had and Chappy and Hawkins weren't in that list..... When you spread your score around that much, you'll cause planning head aches for coaches everywhere.

Add to that we have Ottens, Mackie, Rooke and Egan to come in to the side, plus others and my pre season fears about a lack of real quality depth are quickly fading....

 

[FoxC]

Geelong with *******e Essendon.

That was spot on Haywood - BDP would've been proud of that a** f***!

 

[randyzany]

You're living in fantasy land our MEN will slaughter your boys. I predict the game will over as a contest by half time, 50 points up or more.

Am I a prophet or what? I think I might have a gift and become a psychic or something

 

[Ninty]

Go Taylor, what a bloody nice pick up he was! Lloyd was useless today, lol at the grass throwing routine he still uses.

 

[Tiger07]

first of all we played well for 3/4 of the game last week... we won three quarters and i think teams can be excused for having a poor start to the game especially in round 1.

second we are not a physically weak team, we have players like mcveigh, JJ, watson, houli (his not a skinny kid anymore), slattery, welsh (although he is not playing this w/e), even players like mcphee running through the midfeild, to add to that we have a ruck combination of hille/laycock compared to your combo of west/blake (given ottens isnt playing)... i wouldnt be saying you are too superior in terms of physicality in the midfeild

thirdy i dont see any reasonable essendon supporter saying that we are a premiership contender we are sayign we wont get flogged by geelong and that we shouldnt be underestimated. given we often play well against your side. if you think that geelong are sooo good that they will go the whole year not losing a game you are mistaken. i guarantee geelong will be beaten this year (hell you didnt win convincingly last week) and if your team go in with the same veiw as you it will be this week.

Dont think Essendon were underestimated, just the massive gap between the two side emphatically highlighted!!!!