Review Cats down Blues by 13 points.

[Finknottle]

Not sure if anyone has mentioned it but that last goal that Acres kicked should have been prevented by 3 Geelong players who he waltzed past on his way to goal including a weak attempt by Atkins to tackle him where he actually had both hands on Acres but failed to impede him. It was a poor effort all around.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Bravo this headline

 

[malvern]

The media and those outside the media are sick of Geelong being competitive. Wait for the commentators comments over the next few weeks.

Yet, they still pump up Sydney and Collingwood, the two other teams that have had a level of success and consistency over the last 20 years. Albeit, Geelong has had more. They just hate talking about Geelong.

 

[Cosmic Energy]

Think we all agree there is 'something' going on with Hawkins, yet there are different opinions regarding why he's out of form.

2024 Goals:
St Kilda 1.1
Adelaide 4.0
Hawthorn 4.1
Bulldogs 0.1
North - Managed
Brisbane 0.0
Carlton 0.1

Quote:
“From what the scans have come back and shown there’s a bulged disc and it’s just about management.

“Some people need to do a few things like pilates and swimming and that fixes them, but for me it’s been a bit more of an ongoing thing.”

Hawkins admitted the toughest thing was his body holding him back from playing the way he wants.

“I think that’s the most frustrating thing about it but I’m not sitting here feeling like I’m the only one whose had an injury that they’ve had to play through, AFL players do that all the time so I’m not alone.”

Hawkins explains to Ling the highly scrutinised incident from last week’s game against Port Adelaide where he appears stiff and unable to bend down to pick up the ball.

“So it was a combination of a few things, the ground was really boggy and a few little things joined together probably made me feel a little bit stiff.

“I just wasn’t expecting it to come in so quick, it skidded in and bounced into my shins and it didn’t look good, I looked like an old man.”

Guess when this was? 2013

Foot injury 2022 + surgery 2023

Hamstring Freo game 29 July 2023

Hawkins as stated previously is 35yo

Tommy has an injury, his back obviously. Still, Scotty, coaches + MC see his value to the team. Disappointingly some consider: 9.4.58 is poor for six games.

Have to agree with those, who believe, Hawkins is taking a KPD from other forwards, which allows Cameron to kick a bag + other forwards to score too. Hawkins moving towards our backline meant Weitering followed. The following posts explain it perfectly.





Scotty + MC have a strategy to play Hawkins, despite his ailments, as he contributes enormously to our forward line in many areas, in addition to goals. I'm definitely of the 'ism' Hawkins is taking some hits for the team, as Scotty mentioned, Hawkins is a team player.

I’m finally watching the replay (having gone to the game) and already seeing things that annoy me that other people don’t see. It’s very frustrating that supporters can’t see the game as a whole. Don’t get so swayed by the lack of goals. He blocked the run of a Carlton player for Cameron to kick the first goal. In the 2nd he’s also dominating the ruck inside 50 and basically set up Cameron’s 600th goal.

I’m not saying that a player is ’untouchable’ but there’s something a little off about coming for a guy like Tom Hawkins after a couple of weeks because you are looking at the goal tallies. He has elite ball handling for a big man whether kicking goals or not so he’s always dangerous. He’s about as good a ruck inside 50 as you’d want.

 

[Finknottle]

I’m finally watching the replay (having gone to the game) and already seeing things that annoy me that other people don’t see. It’s very frustrating that supporters can’t see the game as a whole. Don’t get so swayed by the lack of goals. He blocked the run of a Carlton player for Cameron to kick the first goal. In the 2nd he’s also dominating the ruck inside 50 and basically set up Cameron’s 600th goal.

I’m not saying that a player is ’untouchable’ but there’s something a little off about coming for a guy like Tom Hawkins after a couple of weeks because you are looking at the goal tallies. He has elite ball handling for a big man whether kicking goals or not so he’s always dangerous. He’s about as good a ruck inside 50 as you’d want.

Tomahawk has been a great servant of the club, a living legend no less (so you know what's coming next ). However he is in the team to kick goals. Ruckwork and the occasional chopout are nice to have but of secondary importance. He hasn't kicked a goal for three matches, he hasn't looked like kicking a goal. You first have to get hold of the ball before you can kick a goal. We saw what Neale's athleticism and ability to get to contests could add to those around him. Hawkins needs to lift or Neale should come in.

 

[STPer18]

Bravo this headline

View attachment 1974114

Stealing that to plonk on the main board.

 

[Kobe Gryant]

Yet, they still pump up Sydney and Collingwood, the two other teams that have had a level of success and consistency over the last 20 years. Albeit, Geelong has had more. They just hate talking about Geelong.

We've doubled both of them in flags too.

When you put it as we've got the same as both of them combined, it's a big gap, yet the pundits would have you thinking we've all done the same thing.

Not to mention we've beaten both of them in GFs too.

If we can win another one in the next few years (or even this year) we'd surely have to go into our own category.

I'd say we're already there, but 5 in the 21st century would put in beyond doubt, even for the most anti Geelong people out there.

Man City, New England Patriots, & the Melbourne Storm are the only clubs that are comparable to that kind of dominance.

And when you have to go to other sports to find apt comparisons, it's says a bit about how well you're going.

 

[supahoops]

On the Conway vs. Stanley discussion, if we were falling out of contention, then maybe I could understand the argument for demoting Rhys and making Conway our #1 ruck slightly ahead of time. But given that we're aspiring to win a premiership this year, we have to think about what's going to give us the best chance of competing in finals and potentially winning a flag. And the simple fact is that you can't carry a player through finals who doesn't have the tank to play a full game. If we had reason to believe that Conway was going to be ready to do that by finals, then fine, but let's be real, he's not going to physically develop that much in the space of four months. Toby can be rotated in and out of the side for Stanley, but come finals, it's going to be Rhys we roll with again, and if not, we're in trouble.

I say this in full acknowledgement of the fact that Rhys was terrible yesterday.

Makes sense, but 4 months of continuity on top of his pre- and early-season run at it, which he’s never really had, could see a marked difference in his tank. Possibly.

 

[standupand]

Makes sense, but 4 months of continuity on top of his pre- and early-season run at it, which he’s never really had, could see a marked difference in his tank. Possibly.

I'm not so sure the issue with Conway is his tank / ability to run out games. It hasn't seemed to be an issue in the VFL as far as I've seen.

I think the issue is that the club is being very conservative in managing his exposure.

They know that young rucks can be susceptible to injury. They also know that if they play their cards right, he can be a 10 year or more premier ruckman for us.

So reading between the lines, there's a long term individual plan for him that isn't going to be scrapped just because we may be chasing some immediate success.

 

[Cosmic Energy]

Tomahawk has been a great servant of the club, a living legend no less (so you know what's coming next ). However he is in the team to kick goals. Ruckwork and the occasional chopout are nice to have but of secondary importance. He hasn't kicked a goal for three matches, he hasn't looked like kicking a goal. You first have to get hold of the ball before you can kick a goal. We saw what Neale's athleticism and ability to get to contests could add to those around him. Hawkins needs to lift or Neale should come in.

None of the guys are in the team just to kick goals. Cameron was goalless against Brisbane.
If you think that is Hawkins only value then I don’t know what to say.

 

[Cosmic Energy]

In fact there was literally one 1-1 marking contest in the entire game when the ball wasn’t exactly kicked in Tom’s favour.

But yeah let’s give him a redundancy package now


This is the same s**t that people banged on about with Selwood, makes me want to pack it in here. People must listen to too much rank quality media talk and not actually open their eyes.

 

[Finknottle]

None of the guys are in the team just to kick goals. Cameron was goalless against Brisbane.
If you think that is Hawkins only value then I don’t know what to say.

I said that is the primary task of full forwards, to kick goals. Read my comment and then you will know what to say.

 

[Finknottle]

I think Shannon Neale will come in this week to help prevent May and Lever taking contested and uncontested marks in the Melbourne backline and to provide a mobile forward target.

 

[Cosmic Energy]

I said that is the primary task of full forwards, to kick goals. Read my comment and then you will know what to say.

I know what you think you are trying to say, but goals are not all that Hawkins brings.

 

[Catman]

Happy to put my hand up and admit I was wrong about the Cam Guthrie inclusion. He was very good early and with Danger going down, his return is going to be crucial over the next month.

Our efficiency is off the charts and it is deadly off the turnover. When you're scoring so often and defending as well as we do, you don't need huge I50 counts to put pressure on. The best pressure is scoreboard pressure and that's what we do so well.

Having said that, I'm not sure how long we can remain this efficient before sides put some work in to us and that our low contested possession numbers and midfield beatings become a problem. But until it becomes a concern then I won't worry too much and just enjoy the ride.

Both sides will take positives and negatives out of it. Carlton are a good side with one of the best midfields in the league. They'll be stronger when we meet again and will take a power of beating this year if they get it all together. But once again, just like we did during the golden era, we like to make a point against an up and coming side. We did that again on Saturday.

And one last thing, just give 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

whatever he wants to stay!

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Stealing that to plonk on the main board.

Be rude not to

 

[CatToTheFuture]

In fact there was literally one 1-1 marking contest in the entire game when the ball wasn’t exactly kicked in Tom’s favour.

But yeah let’s give him a redundancy package now


This is the same s**t that people banged on about with Selwood, makes me want to pack it in here. People must listen to too much rank quality media talk and not actually open their eyes.

To be honest I don't see anyone on the media taking shots at Hawkins.

I'm not changing my opinion on when Hawkins is played based on two goal less games and a monsoon you can put a line through. I want to see how he goes against May, then give him a training run against Sav, I would hold him back from the Darwin trip to manage him, then play him against the Giants. That breaks the games record, manages his body, and gives him a few tests.

But what I will say is abundantly clear is that, while he has the tools to adapt and contribute to any game style we play, the back half rebounding game we're playing now absolutely doesn't suit him.

Go watch first crack with Kingy and Joey. Contrary to many opinions here they were effusive in their praise for Geelong and showed a ton of vision on how were rebounding to create space. That's not a game Hawkins can get involved in. It does seem to suit Neale, a 2m tall track and field athlete, to a tee though.

Once he breaks the record all options have to be on the table because we can't leave a potentially better tool in the shed.

 

[Footy_Fan2007]

Go watch first crack with Kingy and Joey. Contrary to many opinions here they were effusive in their praise for Geelong and showed a ton of vision on how were rebounding to create space. That's not a game Hawkins can get involved in. It does seem to suit Neale, a 2m tall track and field athlete, to a tee though.

Once he breaks the record all options have to be on the table because we can't leave a potentially better tool in the shed.

Should we be worried that kingy now has the Cats number 1 out of the “3” who he believes can win it?

 

[calder_daddy]

Ollie dominates ?

Ollie has kicked 15 goals in 7 games
Kicked a goal in every game and is only 8 goals behind the leading goal kicker in the comp.
To compare him to Stephenson is absolutely laughable, not even going to mention the Joe the goose goals as again it’s just laughable.
Sometimes its best to keep your opinion to yourself,
IMO this is one of those times you should’ve taken that road

 

[juzcat]

To me stanley is the defensive option. He wont beat gawn but he should do ok. Whereas conway could have an out of the box game and really beat gawn or he could get annilhated. In particular if conway tires after half time (which is likely given his tank) gawn could take over and win them the game. I think our forward line beats theirs but i worry about their mids so i would go the defensive option as i think a kid vs gawn is more risky. But i can see your argument.

Parfitt i thought tried hard vigour wise but he was back to blind turns into trouble and not as much first option and moving the ball to running teammates that hes been so good at the last month. I think atkins gives us much more direct run out of stoppages plus he has a second position (hbf) that parfitt doesnt have so i prefer him if its a 50-50 call.

I would love to know where Conways mythical missing tank has gone.
Is it noticeable in games (peeps actually at the game IRL could you comment).

Is he like huffing and puffing 10 meters behind the oppo ruck. Genuine question...get no sense of it from a mobile phone overseas.

Sent from my SM-S928B using Tapatalk

 

[The_Koulouriotis_Fan]

We lost the inside 50s 66-44 and that’s been identified by the pundits as an issue. It is, but for Carlton

I remember we won the inside 50 count 70-40 in the 2016 Prelim and got smashed, in fact we would often dominate the inside 50s that year but it wouldn’t lead to dominance on the scoreboard.

Last year we lost the efficiency going forward, this year we’re back to being terrifying

 

[juzcat]

That bloke's wiki is an interesting read!

with a CV like that seems to me to be a no trainer. I mean worked for Rooke. Seems Germany has much more creative solutions then ye old English colony.

Sent from my SM-S928B using Tapatalk

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Should we be worried that kingy now has the Cats number 1 out of the “3” who he believes can win it?

Yes. He was gushing. We're f****ed now

 

[CatToTheFuture]

I would love to know where Conways mythical missing tank has gone.
Is it noticeable in games (peeps actually at the game IRL could you comment).

Is he like huffing and puffing 10 meters behind the oppo ruck. Genuine question...get no sense of it from a mobile phone overseas.

Sent from my SM-S928B using Tapatalk

Low ToG% and fades late. Not rocket science

 

[Pollywaffle]

Tomahawk has been a great servant of the club, a living legend no less (so you know what's coming next ). However he is in the team to kick goals. Ruckwork and the occasional chopout are nice to have but of secondary importance. He hasn't kicked a goal for three matches, he hasn't looked like kicking a goal. You first have to get hold of the ball before you can kick a goal. We saw what Neale's athleticism and ability to get to contests could add to those around him. Hawkins needs to lift or Neale should come in.

Sadly yes. A few more weeks of this from Tom and hard decisions may be needed.
I still have some degree of faith that he will come good, but it is being tested.