Preview Rd 7 Geelong V Carlton Sat April 27 435 pm @ MCG

[iameviljez]

but so far this season it's conical he's getting nowhere near it at times

Certainly against Brisbane it happened once or twice, but they were mung kicks with a heavy ball, so I can't blame him.

Still, the guy is managing two goals a game, and his defensive work is noticeably better, too.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

I feel like we really overstate his qualities as an attacking target, though. He wins very, very little football - it's hardly like he's a massive threat for the opposition to contain.

I don't think we can replicate 2022s front half turnover game quite without him though. There's no substitute for the perceived pressure from a guy with the yards on anyone else.

 

[Gazzathegoat]

I feel like we really overstate his qualities as an attacking target, though. He wins very, very little football - it's hardly like he's a massive threat for the opposition to contain.

Bring him in when Henry needs a rest.

 

[iameviljez]

I don't think we can replicate 2022s front half turnover game quite without him though.

There are many ways to skin a cat. Yes, swapping out Rohan for O Henry/Dempsey might be a negative for defensive pressure, but it's a positive for attacking qualities.

 

[Farmer2Goggin]

I'm not surprised that O'Connor is popular with the coaching staff. He does a thankless job, and one that's both hard to understand and to execute, every week without complaining about it or stuffing it up. It's perplexing to me how he's become the forum's whipping boy all of a sudden especially after his form the last two weeks.

Agree Generalissimo
He's a lot less unsure this season , has taken some great grabs and already has 2 goals v 3 for the entire season in 2023.
One of our classic "role players"

 

[MisterMarcus]

Couple of weeks ago Scott said when he’s ready he’s 100% in our best 22. Problem is I feel like he has said that about 30 of our players. Math doesn’t add up Chris

I mean…having 30 “best 22” players is a great problem to have

 

[Farmer2Goggin]

It's still VERY early days, but some trends are emerging this season compared to 2023:

	2024​	2023​
Tackles	1st	10th
Tackles i50	9th	17th
Pressure acts	2nd	12th
Spoils	4th	17th
1%er differential	4th	16th
Intercepts	2nd	9th
Ground ball gets	3rd	10th
Rebound 50s	3rd	17th
Rebound 50 rate (% of i50's repelled)	2nd	14th
Score launch differential	1st	9th
Goal assist differential	1st	6th

Our pressure around congestion and on opposition ball carriers during transition has lifted significantly. We are then able to force scrappy opposition disposals that we can mark or spoil. We are using those intercepts to generate score launches with wide open space to let our elite forwards get to work. And when the ball hits the deck we have been much sharper. Overall this is creating our efficiency compared to opposition, i.e the quality vs quantity of ball use. Our defensive structure is holding up much better. This will be tested by Carlton's elite midfield delivering to their twin towers without Stewart to peel off. But it appears that these are the KPI's working for the Cats so far and hopefully something we can maintain as the quality of opposition increases.

Great work Mr Meow
The numbers don't lie and if we keep that up we will be there at the pointy end.
Would also be interested in where we sit in terms of net score difference with turnovers and clearances - well up there I would think.

I was there at Gather round for the double header - Blues v Dockers and Cats v Dogs - both high quality games.
There were passages from all teams of "slingshot" footy where they went flat out from defence into attack with non stop ball movement.
I must say when we did it we looked quicker and cleaner than the rest and if not for a couple of errant shots on goal would have capped it off nicely. Also evident in these passages was the hard running from our players on the fat side who weren't used but ended up on the goal line anyway.
We look super fit , well drilled and are playing a brand that will hold up well in Finals.
Long way to go , let's hope we keep it up and hit September primed.

 

[Hamingja]

Bring him in when Henry needs a rest.

Win our next couple and we can afford to rotate the forwards. Henry one week, Dempsey the next, then Close, then Miers, then Stengle. 5 game block for Rohan without any injuries which will no doubt happen at some point.

 

[you pick one]

Certainly against Brisbane it happened once or twice, but they were mung kicks with a heavy ball, so I can't blame him.

Still, the guy is managing two goals a game, and his defensive work is noticeably better, too.

Highlight of his season I reckon when he pulled a big ruckman down around 3 weeks back and won a holding the ball.

 

[Hello Kitty]

I said it in another thread but MOC is almost like a mini Blics

Isn't elite at any position but very handy at pretty much all of them

He can play
Defence, wing, mid, tagging mid and even forward to decent levels
He has a good mark is generally safe with the ball and loves a tackle (both ways)

Scott loves versatility

 

[CatToTheFuture]

There are many ways to skin a cat. Yes, swapping out Rohan for O Henry/Dempsey might be a negative for defensive pressure, but it's a positive for attacking qualities.

Yeah, I think on balance though that defensive pressure made the whole forward line better than it is now

 

[iameviljez]

Highlight of his season I reckon when he pulled a big ruckman down around 3 weeks back and won a holding the ball.

Nah, it was getting Sicily.

 

[iameviljez]

Yeah, I think on balance though that defensive pressure made the whole forward line better than it is now

I disagree, I haven't seen it work better before barring perhaps Hawk's struggles. Frankly, our forward line keeps winning us games even when we don't have a great time of it out of the middle.

 

[Hinkley29]

In: Cameron Guthrie, Rhys Stanley, Zach Tuohy

Out: Tom Stewart (concussion), Toby Conway (omitted), Jhye Clark (omitted)

Cuthrie straight back into the 1’s is a mistake.

it might turn out ok, but I think it is a bad decision.

 

[Johanpetro]

Cuthrie straight back into the 1’s is a mistake.

it might turn out ok, but I think it is a bad decision.

Geelong are conservative with injuries to a fault. If they’re playing him I’ve no doubt he’s 100% fit. Will prob be subbed out at some stage anyway

 

[Jimmy Yamazaki]

• Scotty in the presser said Guth was running a week after his quad and has been held back for a month to prepare to come strait back into the AFL side as was the plan from the start. He mentioned that Guth had a flawless preseason on top.
• Bews will play AFL this year, just hard to squeeze him in, the same with with Mitch Hardie can't squeeze him in at the moment.

 

[Jimmy Yamazaki]

Scotty also just mentioned that Stewart hasn't played Carlton for the last 4 times in a row that we've played them. Pretty lucky for them you'd think.

 

[DanA]

I said it in another thread but MOC is almost like a mini Blics

Isn't elite at any position but very handy at pretty much all of them

He can play
Defence, wing, mid, tagging mid and even forward to decent levels
He has a good mark is generally safe with the ball and loves a tackle (both ways)

What exactly does the blue bit mean? I'm genuinely baffled.

I think Blicavs is much more of a two-way threat . Similar I guess in terms of position flexibility but MOC is really just stopping the opposition or halving the contest in his role where as Blicavs is relied on to win a lot more as well as stop and have the contest in others.

 

[Gunf]

What exactly does the blue bit mean? I'm genuinely baffled.

I think Blicavs is much more of a two-way threat . Similar I guess in terms of position flexibility but MOC is really just stopping the opposition or halving the contest in his role where as Blicavs is relied on to win a lot more as well as stop and have the contest in others.

He likes tackling other players but he is also great at getting tackled and keeping the ball in without giving away free kicks.

Someone explained it the other day better than i just did but i can't for the life of me remember where it was.

 

[Munich]

What exactly does the blue bit mean? I'm genuinely baffled.

I think Blicavs is much more of a two-way threat . Similar I guess in terms of position flexibility but MOC is really just stopping the opposition or halving the contest in his role where as Blicavs is relied on to win a lot more as well as stop and have the contest in others.

I think it means he can both tackle and take a tackle well?

 

[moond0g]

Bring him in when Henry needs a rest.

This is what I see as the most likely outcome.

Scott has shown his willingness to rotate and rest/manage players already. So there will definitely be an opportunity for Rohan to string together a few games in a row by managing OHenry, Dempsey (or others) for a week at a time. It just depends how he performs as to whether he can retain that spot for the rest of the year.

 

[D BRIDGE]

Geelong are conservative with injuries to a fault. If they’re playing him I’ve no doubt he’s 100% fit. Will prob be subbed out at some stage anyway

My worry isn't fitness or that he may break down either, It's that he might be very rusty after not playing for so long.

I do assume he has been flawless at training of late and they believe he is ready to go.

Hopefully he comes out and plays to a high level that we know he can.

If he looks rusty, I'm sure just about everyone will say that he should have blown off the cobwebs in the VFL before coming back into the ones.

If he plays a good game and looks sharp, I'll tip my hat to him and the club.

In the end, proof will be in the pudding.

I actually have no stance either way here... I trust the club to make the correct call.

 

[Gunf]

I will always back our medical team over my thoughts as they get it right a hell of a lot more than i do.

I thought Guthrie would play at least 1 probably 2-3 in the VFL but if our medical team says he is right then i have no complaints.

 

[Hinkley29]

Geelong are conservative with injuries to a fault. If they’re playing him I’ve no doubt he’s 100% fit. Will prob be subbed out at some stage anyway

I am not overly worried about re-injury. That could happen at afl or vfl level.

I do however think he is a big risk of just playing badly. 12 months with no footy and then straight back in. I think he could have used a run in the vfl to get some form.

It is not like we are short of options.

 

[Gazza Greatness]

Well that's kind of what I'm subtly implying. Hence why I'm not including him in our missing best 23 in the other thread right now. He's as good, but not better, than the players he would replace right now. But with his own attributes.

Mr Meow:.... we're having so many of our 18yo to 25yo's coming on so strongly this season that to be sure it'll make for future selections in side extremely tough which includes the likes of Rohan, Touhy, etc and many youngsters.

So.... will ALL of the older brigade maintain their excellent form or will the odd one or two struggle a little come seasons end. Will some of the youngsters start to tire or will a couple even further improve as the season progresses and then of course we have the 'dreaded injuries' in which they could accumulate from absolutely 'no-where' at any stage during course of remaining season (touch wood they don't). So many intangibles, so many intriguing unanswered questions, so much 'exciting young talent and depth' and also....... so 'bloody exciting'. GO CATS !!!