Review Slow starting Cats come storming home to defeat Tigers by 30 points

[Jumping Jack]

Tuohy was terrible and is straight out for mannagh if we are serious.

Duncan was one of our best ball users last night but its hard to hide his lack of legspeed and sydney are a quick young team so they may expose it.

Wasn’t Tuohy sitting on Martin at stoppages around the ground. Thought Martin was largely ineffective.


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[CHAWKTS]

I mostly agree with this. Can I just commend you as well on managing to start three consecutive sentences with "but". I don't think I've ever seen that before. It was a rollercoaster ride.

Does the second but cancel out the first but? But then the third but reinstates the first but? So we actually just have one effective but?

I think that is right? But am I confused? But you may be being picky? But still right…

 

[Zouz Kitty]

If we use the logic of:

• Richmond beat Sydney
• Geelong beat Richmond

Does that mean Geelong beats Syd...?

Yes! There is absolutely + utterly no way anyone could argue against that logic. Einstein would have no infallible argument to dispute it.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Ok. So 2E first. I have gone up and down on him in 2024 - he has a good game (or good patch) every few weeks and you think maybe we need his experience and seasoned body…

I have been thinking he really hurts us defensively as he can’t plug holes. It has been noticeable to me especially when we have a handle of “older” players. Having said that he has had some good games offensively on the wing. MC favour him in the contest even last week playing Dempsey “off ball wing” (swapped to non contest side each stoppage) so 2E would always be around the ball.

So whilst I was of view we can’t have him best 22 if we want to be top 4 I kept questioning myself as to his importance offensively.

Last night was frankly poor. 9 possessions (5 effective, 1 contested) in 102 minutes game time. And he has now had a few of these games. If he is inconsistent offensively we just can’t afford him in the team?

Rohan I am giving more time but I might come to similar conclusion. No doubt I get excited each time I see him at full pace. Chasing or attacking a pack. Even though it rarely results in a possession I think that part of his game is really additive. I know last night he was sub but if you look at his games so far those moments are now very infrequent. He also doesn’t at all cover the ground in terms of km run. So whilst his speed is great around the ball, he is not a help team defence wise (adding to 2E, Hawkins, Duncan etc).

We can’t I do not think have Rohan and Henry in same 22 as neither add that full ground defence. In moments I agree Rohan can be better (crash pack, pure speed) but Henry does consistently kick a couple of goals per game. Very efficient and nothing to sneeze at. Plus he is our future. So for mine I think Rohan has to be sub or out if we are to have a real crack? I would add Mannagh or leave in Neale as a forward option as opposed to having both Henry and Rohan in same 22 and maybe even same 23 (I could argue Mannagh would be as good a sub?)

Yeah on rohan I'm not asking him to add full ground defensive work as he never did that before, just chase defenders in F50.

I think what he brings adds more than Henry adds, because Rohan makes all our other forwards better where Henry just competes for space.

Henry has significant upside, but right now I don't know how to fast track him there without dropping other talls that I think can add more

 

[CHAWKTS]

Very torn for next week between bringing back the mature guys (Danger, Blicavs, Stanley) to give it a crack against Sydney knowing it almost certainly won't work and sticking with the kids knowing it could easily get very ugly.

Same. The can’t (i dont think) bring back 3 midfielders in Danger, Clark and Blitz. Next week anyway…Given Bowes, Atkins, Bruhn and Holmes should all keep getting rotation. They could bring maybe 2 back in knowing Blitz is more of a utility.

Blitz is a certain return so to me it is either Danger or Clark next week.

I reckon they might bring in Clark and see it a little as a free hit (ie. not a game we count as a win) so have a crack with youth and see how we go and give Danger 2 more weeks of his mid way pre season. 2 weeks of training is huge for him I reckon in terms of increasing odds of having a great last 10 games leading into finals

 

[CHAWKTS]

Stanley looks cooked but I don't think we can go into finals with Conway unless he improves a lot from here. So we should give Stanley another chance at some point and a 2 week break to freshen up Conway for the back half of the year might be good. Alternatively we try Blicavs as number 1 ruck which I think might be our best option come finals.

Good point. Shouldn’t underestimate the chance to give Conway 2 weeks off missing one game. Now that is true management. With Blitz back Stanly can only do so much damage!

 

[Seeds]

I like O Henry but I would also like to see a new stat each week: uncontested possessions from his opponent in the first half. It's not just ourr midfield that are slow starters

Henry has talent. Just feel he needs a different role. One that gets him more involved in the play. Maybe a winger who spends time up foward as an occassional marking option ala Menegola. Or maybe an attacking half back flank role like ken hinkley/mick mansfield/Paul Brown (players who also started as marking fowards but were too small for the role)

 

[Pure_Ownage]

The impression from Scott's presser was Danger was about right to play + being saved for Sydney

Sounds like danger is clear to play but scott is unsure whether to wait til after the bye or not.

 

[BotsMaster]

We pulled a @The rabbi out of our hat

Indeed.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Leg speed doesn’t matter as much at the SCG.

Thats true and might be why we take duncan there next week.

I was more talking about finals at the mcg this year..duncan is crucial when we start moving the ball quickly (like the second half last night) as his kicking can create angles and space, but if we turn the ball over at the mcg because of his lack of legspeed he struggles to get back to defend and im not sure we can cover it on the bigger ground (definitely one of him and tuohy has to go in that scenario if not both).

 

[Seeds]

We need to stop playing blicavs in the midfield. Second ruck yes but he has added nothing in the midfield this year. Looked much better with more ball winners in there like bowes and holmes spending more minutes. Perhaps he should spend more time in defence when not rucking and jack henry

38

Jack Henry

Age

26

Ht

192cm

Wt

96kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

10.3

3star

K

7.3

3star

HB

2.9

3star

M

4.0

4star

T

2.2

4star

MG

142.6

2star

D

8.6

2star

K

6.7

3star

HB

1.9

1star

M

3.9

4star

T

2.1

3star

MG

142.6

3star

D

9.6

3star

K

7.0

3star

HB

2.6

3star

M

3.6

4star

T

2.0

4star

can spend more time foward to give us an actual marking option down there (neale back to seconds).

 

[Zouz Kitty]

What are the units that negative energy is measured in?

I think you're quite aware Reppie means negative emotional energy

Emotions like criticism, fear, anger, jealousy, hatred, sadness, rejection, self criticism, name calling, ad hominem remarks all produce negative energy for those involved. Except one can only be affected if you allow them to affect you.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Good point. Shouldn’t underestimate the chance to give Conway 2 weeks off missing one game. Now that is true management. With Blitz back Stanly can only do so much damage!

Stanley only played a half in the 2s. Not a great prep for grundy.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Same. The can’t (i dont think) bring back 3 midfielders in Danger, Clark and Blitz. Next week anyway…Given Bowes, Atkins, Bruhn and Holmes should all keep getting rotation. They could bring maybe 2 back in knowing Blitz is more of a utility.

Blitz is a certain return so to me it is either Danger or Clark next week.

I reckon they might bring in Clark and see it a little as a free hit (ie. not a game we count as a win) so have a crack with youth and see how we go and give Danger 2 more weeks of his mid way pre season. 2 weeks of training is huge for him I reckon in terms of increasing odds of having a great last 10 games leading into finals

What was up with mannagh last night do you have any mail on that?

 

[PzBlinky]

Only chance we have is if the swans still have mental demons with us, which they very well may have after the humiliation in the 2022 GF and then an almost 100pt flogging early last year in Geelong.

Not to mention that diabolical draw last year as well. Truly one of the worst games I've seen the Cats play in where both sides played like s**te - but the Swans really should've won that (just couldn't finish in front of goals).

 

[cats_09]

It was the right decision cause the previous interpretation was laughable. But it shows how incompetent the league is that they actually went with the "holding the ball doesn't exist" interpretation for half a season.

I really like the quicker calls by the umpires last night - whether it was for holding the ball or a ball up, it just seemed to help the flow of the game compared with the waiting around for what seems like an extended period to see if the ball may come out or not

 

[CatToTheFuture]

I think you're quite aware Reppie means negative emotional energy

Emotions like criticism, fear, anger, jealousy, hatred, sadness, rejection, self criticism, name calling, ad hominem remarks all produce negative energy for those involved. Except one can only be affected if you allow them to affect you.

Yeah, it was a joke

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Stanley only played a half in the 2s. Not a great prep for grundy.

Close enough

 

[CatToTheFuture]

I really like the quicker calls by the umpires last night - whether it was for holding the ball or a ball up, it just seemed to help the flow of the game compared with the waiting around for what seems like an extended period to see if the ball may come out or not

Yeah, even when it went against us I was happy to see it.

 

[cats_09]

Got fired up after conceding that soft 50.

That said, I thought Dusty was pretty subdued tonight. Two cheap goals notwithstanding. I think we did our homework on him. Did I see Shark running with him for a bit? Hard to tell on TV.

When Dusty was starting in the forward 50, it was Kolodjashnij who went straight to him & didn't leave his side

JK didn't go with him into the guts, so may well have been O'Connor running with him further up the ground

 

[Lana]

Scott talked shit about the umpires again in the press conference

 

[MacStradbroke]

Absolutely right, reception is terrible.

And why on earth did the club think it’s a good idea to have flashing lights after each goal like Marvel. It’s bloody horrible. No consultation with fans. Looks terrible on tv and awful at the ground.


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Fake crowd noise tops it all off, kills me.

 

[The_Koulouriotis_Fan]

The argument that a better team would’ve beaten us by 10 goals is very reactionary. Could they have? Possibly, but we have played exactly the same way against good teams and beaten one and lost to three by 8, 6 and 4. That was pretty eye opening last night.
The problem is with the players at the moment, even with our inexperienced midfield, they still have the ability to dominate periods. I think in the first half they were trying to hard, felt the pressure of having lost 4 in a row.
It will be good to play the Swans and the best team and midfield in the comp, it’s big test for the young boys and will give a clear indication of where we’re at.

 

[Seeds]

Why was a ball that hit the behind post video reviewed last night? It had zero implications for the score.

 

[Finknottle]

We need to stop playing blicavs in the midfield. Second ruck yes but he has added nothing in the midfield this year. Looked much better with more ball winners in there like bowes and holmes spending more minutes. Perhaps he should spend more time in defence when not rucking and jack henry can spend more time foward to give us an actual marking option down there (neale back to seconds).

Agree Blicavs no good these days as a midfielder, but Jack Henry up forward is not a good idea. He is ok as a medium backman. He has straight line speed but is not agile enough for a forward role.