Autopsy Cats lose 4th straight to GWS by 4 points.

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Pollywaffle said:
We are missing a guy who can put the team on his back like Selwood did regularly.
Danger (maybe) on a good day.
Closest we have is Atkins, and he has been relegated to a fringe role these days.
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Oh please. Since 2016 danger did this far more then selwood. Stewart and cameron usually pretty good at this but both have had bad months following concussions.
 
numbwombat said:
Conway 17 hitouts from 58 ruck contests (4 to advantage), Briggs had 25 from 57 in the first 3 quarters then 19 from 28 in the last slaughtering Neale (total 8 to advantage). Briggs probably won but not heaps in it.

I don’t rate hitouts much and thought Conway was excellent around the ball. Should only miss if he needs a rest from here on.
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The times Briggs just shoved Conway aside, took the ball and roosted it forward are not captured in your stats. Those possessions are really damaging.
 
Mr Meow said:
I respect your input, but a) and b) covered these types of situations and is often why the opposition interceptors have their best games of the season against Geelong.
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Yes, excellent, reread your post more attentively.

Scrap my ‘c)’ suggestion + take my post as confirmation of your outstanding post 😊

Agree about Duncan, who has moved to an outside role this season, running between the arcs, is adding stability + leadership.

Most of the oldies had 20+ disposals.
 
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Pollywaffle said:
We are missing a guy who can put the team on his back like Selwood did regularly.
Danger (maybe) on a good day.
Closest we have is Atkins, and he has been relegated to a fringe role these days.
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Atkins! Give me a break. I've seen him step up like that once. He's an honest toiler but he doesn't have the rest of the skills required and he is actually a fringe player.
 
Finknottle said:
The times Briggs just shoved Conway aside, took the ball and roosted it forward are not captured in your stats. Those possessions are really damaging.
Click to expand...

Yeah, those stood out. But not a whole lot we can do about it right now - Conway doesn't have the experience or strength yet to handle that. 2025/26 will hopefully be a different story but ruck will be a tricky situation for the rest of the season. I' happy with them pumping games into Toby, even if these games still happen (besides, ruck is far from the only problem we have).
 
If last year was the hangover from 2022, this year is where we're really starting to see the transition, and how it plays out. Gonna be an interesting 2-3 years, I reckon.

I'm cognizant of two facts at this stage:
  1. A team can't go all in on the youth, ignoring form and throwing wins. We've seen it time and time again with other teams, quality young players aren't all you need, and it just sets you up for repeated losses and losing players to other clubs. There is so much to be said for experience, leadership, and culture that the older guys offer.
  2. VFL /= AFL. The step up can be brutal, and consistent VFL performers (i.e. Hardie) won't necessarily blow the game apart in the AFL. This is especially true for positions like inside-mids, where it's so contested. Hence why younger players are so often brought in on a wing, off half-back, or half-fwd.
In keeping these thoughts in mind, its looking like the cliff is coming quicker than expected for a number of players.

Some thoughts on players:
  • Duncan - Still playing well enough, but as he takes up the outside-mid/half-back position, as described above, maybe he's susceptible to losing his position to a younger player.
  • Hawkins - Maybe last year. Still rate him, still love him. Deserves every game he wants this year, on possibility alone.
  • Stanley - Gone. Apparently was happy enough to call it last year, but club wanted him to stay around for another. Play Conway as much as possible.
  • Blicavs - Maybe play him in def & ruck, rather than mid & ruck? Isn't doing enough as a mid, for mine.
  • Tuohy - Same comments as Duncan. Can go missing.
  • Atkins - What are they doing with him this year? Why isn't he playing through the middle? Is he suffering from Parfitt's better form this year (similar players).
  • Jenry - Down on form. Can someone give my guy a hug. He'll get there.
  • Zuthrie - Gun.
  • Holmes - Gun. Great across half-back, but chuck him in the middle more for the team mix.
  • Bowes - I like him, but can't peg him. The match commitee apparently isn't 100% on him. Does he bob in and out too much?
  • Parf - I like him still, as a workman-like two-way player. Again, unsure why he was dropped this week.
  • Bruhn - Gun. Will keep improving.
  • Cameron - Down on form. Possibly reliant on better I50 supply, so might not be his fault.
  • Oenry - I like him, good at his role. Could add another string to his bow, maybe defensive effort?
  • Neale - Showed enough, gets into positions and leads well. Will be hard to balance his exposure with team form. Will grow into the role and start clunking them.
  • Clark - Future Gun. Getting his hands on it and tries his heart out. Disposal is getting cleaner, they say the game starts to slow down with more experience, guess thats what we're seeing here.
  • Dempsey - Future Gun. Probably needs a rest. Swap him for Mannagh this week.
  • SDK - Playing well enough. Hard position. People are far too hard on him.
  • Conway - Future Gun. Tries his heart out.
Are we playing too many of these utility (wings, half-back, half-fwd) type players, rather than specialist mids? Tuohy, O'Connor, Mullin, Dempsey, Duncan, Bowes.
 
cats_09 said:
I get the frustration, but damn there's some sooks around these spots

Were clearly a team in transition, trying to put ourselves into positions to win now while also keeping an eye on the future & rebuilding on the run

Pretty sure that prior to the start of the season that not many had us 7-0, instead many of our own supporters had us finishing outside the 8 and games like we've seen the last month

Maybe the last 17/18 years of continued success have spoiled us & what we expect this team will achieve year in & season out - but that's not always going to be the case

From our 4 losses, we've put ourselves in winning positions in 3 of them and with a bounce of the ball this way, squeezing it past a finger nail a fraction quicker or a veteran not fumbling directly to an opposition, and maybe we reverse results from a couple of these matches

No one likes losing, but look for the positives and the greater picture - 2024 may not be our year, but getting games into next generation may be the making of future years



Plus, we're not North Mel
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catempire said:
I’ll just leave this here…

View attachment 2002030
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JackFlash = "BlightysCats"???
 
LongtimeFirsttime said:
If last year was the hangover from 2022, this year is where we're really starting to see the transition, and how it plays out. Gonna be an interesting 2-3 years, I reckon.

I'm cognizant of two facts at this stage:
  1. A team can't go all in on the youth, ignoring form and throwing wins. We've seen it time and time again with other teams, quality young players aren't all you need, and it just sets you up for repeated losses and losing players to other clubs. There is so much to be said for experience, leadership, and culture that the older guys offer.
  2. VFL /= AFL. The step up can be brutal, and consistent VFL performers (i.e. Hardie) won't necessarily blow the game apart in the AFL. This is especially true for positions like inside-mids, where it's so contested. Hence why younger players are so often brought in on a wing, off half-back, or half-fwd.
In keeping these thoughts in mind, its looking like the cliff is coming quicker than expected for a number of players.

Some thoughts on players:
  • Duncan - Still playing well enough, but as he takes up the outside-mid/half-back position, as described above, maybe he's susceptible to losing his position to a younger player.
  • Hawkins - Maybe last year. Still rate him, still love him. Deserves every game he wants this year, on possibility alone.
  • Stanley - Gone. Apparently was happy enough to call it last year, but club wanted him to stay around for another. Play Conway as much as possible.
  • Blicavs - Maybe play him in def & ruck, rather than mid & ruck? Isn't doing enough as a mid, for mine.
  • Tuohy - Same comments as Duncan. Can go missing.
  • Atkins - What are they doing with him this year? Why isn't he playing through the middle? Is he suffering from Parfitt's better form this year (similar players).
  • Jenry - Down on form. Can someone give my guy a hug. He'll get there.
  • Zuthrie - Gun.
  • Holmes - Gun. Great across half-back, but chuck him in the middle more for the team mix.
  • Bowes - I like him, but can't peg him. The match commitee apparently isn't 100% on him. Does he bob in and out too much?
  • Parf - I like him still, as a workman-like two-way player. Again, unsure why he was dropped this week.
  • Bruhn - Gun. Will keep improving.
  • Cameron - Down on form. Possibly reliant on better I50 supply, so might not be his fault.
  • Oenry - I like him, good at his role. Could add another string to his bow, maybe defensive effort?
  • Neale - Showed enough, gets into positions and leads well. Will be hard to balance his exposure with team form. Will grow into the role and start clunking them.
  • Clark - Future Gun. Getting his hands on it and tries his heart out. Disposal is getting cleaner, they say the game starts to slow down with more experience, guess thats what we're seeing here.
  • Dempsey - Future Gun. Probably needs a rest. Swap him for Mannagh this week.
  • SDK - Playing well enough. Hard position. People are far too hard on him.
  • Conway - Future Gun. Tries his heart out.
Are we playing too many of these utility (wings, half-back, half-fwd) type players, rather than specialist mids? Tuohy, O'Connor, Mullin, Dempsey, Duncan, Bowes.
Click to expand...
Agree with a lot of this. But on the last point, who do we have that are the specialist mids that we can play? I think the simple issue is that we just don't have enough high quality players in that area currently. So whichever way we try and cover it, we're going to have a weakness that other teams can exploit.

In the medium term we need to recruit an A grade mid and hope that Bruhn, Holmes, Clark go to the next level. But in the short term, we are probably reliant on hoping Danger and potentially Guthrie can be those players for the rest of the year once they get back from injury.
 
I think Duncan and Tuohy are being very underrated. Tuohy was excellent I thought. And Duncan brings a real level of calm in the back half.

Tuohy I'm happy rotating through to give Knevitt, Mullin, etc a chance. But I think he's still best 22. Duncan I think is too important and helps the kids out too much to leave out.
 
Is it just me or is Dempsey a little bit soft? Hesitates a lot when he could out his head over the ball. I've seen it a lot so far. Kid has incredible skills but is he going to be hard enough?
 
We are a work in progress , started well but our strengths have been identified and in some cases nullified.
Our prime and best ball users like Miers,Duncan , Touhy and Cameron are being sat on with Holmes the only one who is able to break free consistently.
In addition we aren't moving it anywhere near as well between the arcs as we did initially and can't stop opposition chains through there either. We aren't applying anywhere near enough pressure and seem powerless to stem opposition momentum.
F50 entries aren't precise and we aren't creating enough open space for our elite forwards to shine.
Having said all of that we have been in all but one of our 4 losses.

Assuming we split the next 2 games we go into the bye 8:5 which is reasonable compared to where we ended up in 2023.
We aren't the precise , clinical Cats of old yet but when you consider we are playing - Conway , Dempsey ,Mullin , Bruhn , Bowes , Clark and Neale we are doing well to be in the mix for the final 8.
Let's see how we respond as a group and what the coaches can come up with in the run home.
 
JackFlash said:
This is the biggest test Chris Scott has ever had as a coach, he is now in control of an ordinary team on the verge of complete collapse. Will he take up the challenge or will he high tail it out of there? My bet is the latter!
Click to expand...
you really are an insufferable flog
 

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LongtimeFirsttime said:
If last year was the hangover from 2022, this year is where we're really starting to see the transition, and how it plays out. Gonna be an interesting 2-3 years, I reckon.

I'm cognizant of two facts at this stage:
  1. A team can't go all in on the youth, ignoring form and throwing wins. We've seen it time and time again with other teams, quality young players aren't all you need, and it just sets you up for repeated losses and losing players to other clubs. There is so much to be said for experience, leadership, and culture that the older guys offer.
  2. VFL /= AFL. The step up can be brutal, and consistent VFL performers (i.e. Hardie) won't necessarily blow the game apart in the AFL. This is especially true for positions like inside-mids, where it's so contested. Hence why younger players are so often brought in on a wing, off half-back, or half-fwd.
In keeping these thoughts in mind, its looking like the cliff is coming quicker than expected for a number of players.

Some thoughts on players:
  • Duncan - Still playing well enough, but as he takes up the outside-mid/half-back position, as described above, maybe he's susceptible to losing his position to a younger player.
  • Hawkins - Maybe last year. Still rate him, still love him. Deserves every game he wants this year, on possibility alone.
  • Stanley - Gone. Apparently was happy enough to call it last year, but club wanted him to stay around for another. Play Conway as much as possible.
  • Blicavs - Maybe play him in def & ruck, rather than mid & ruck? Isn't doing enough as a mid, for mine.
  • Tuohy - Same comments as Duncan. Can go missing.
  • Atkins - What are they doing with him this year? Why isn't he playing through the middle? Is he suffering from Parfitt's better form this year (similar players).
  • Jenry - Down on form. Can someone give my guy a hug. He'll get there.
  • Zuthrie - Gun.
  • Holmes - Gun. Great across half-back, but chuck him in the middle more for the team mix.
  • Bowes - I like him, but can't peg him. The match commitee apparently isn't 100% on him. Does he bob in and out too much?
  • Parf - I like him still, as a workman-like two-way player. Again, unsure why he was dropped this week.
  • Bruhn - Gun. Will keep improving.
  • Cameron - Down on form. Possibly reliant on better I50 supply, so might not be his fault.
  • Oenry - I like him, good at his role. Could add another string to his bow, maybe defensive effort?
  • Neale - Showed enough, gets into positions and leads well. Will be hard to balance his exposure with team form. Will grow into the role and start clunking them.
  • Clark - Future Gun. Getting his hands on it and tries his heart out. Disposal is getting cleaner, they say the game starts to slow down with more experience, guess thats what we're seeing here.
  • Dempsey - Future Gun. Probably needs a rest. Swap him for Mannagh this week.
  • SDK - Playing well enough. Hard position. People are far too hard on him.
  • Conway - Future Gun. Tries his heart out.
Are we playing too many of these utility (wings, half-back, half-fwd) type players, rather than specialist mids? Tuohy, O'Connor, Mullin, Dempsey, Duncan, Bowes.
Click to expand...
Good summary, maybe a couple of guns too many. E.g. Conway, eventually he'll be able to hold his own against the better ruckmen but he doesn't have an athletic build. At best he lopes along. I like Ollie Dempsey but it's too early to tell. And SDK is not playing well, he was better in 2022.
 
Regarding Mullin, he should be given as many AFL games as he can handle. Mistakes he will make but he has attributes that make him a priority. He's quick, he's agile, he's tough, he seems to sum up the situations quickly and is able to buy some time with his dancing feet. I could see him as an important cog in our midfield.
 
catsfootyfan89 said:
Is it just me or is Dempsey a little bit soft? Hesitates a lot when he could out his head over the ball. I've seen it a lot so far. Kid has incredible skills but is he going to be hard enough?
Click to expand...

I don’t think he’s soft, just nowhere near strong enough yet. Gets pushed out of the contest very easily. He’ll get better, and his strengths on the outside still have him in our best 23.
 
Footy Smarts said:
The ins will tell us a fair bit this week with no Blicavs and Clark. Do we go back to O'Connor and Parfitt after one week? Or are we committed to blooding other options and look at some of Humphries, Hardie, Knevitt, Mannagh, Willis, etc?
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Scott has indicated they are trying not to over react to the losses and back in what has worked before , with some tinkering.
I think that means we won't see wholesale changes but with the 2 suspensions and Dempsey needing a rest (IMO) we could see Hardie debut and Knevitt coming in for Ollie?
 
Footy Smarts said:
The ins will tell us a fair bit this week with no Blicavs and Clark. Do we go back to O'Connor and Parfitt after one week? Or are we committed to blooding other options and look at some of Humphries, Hardie, Knevitt, Mannagh, Willis, etc?
Click to expand...

Depending on how they go this week at training, C Guthrie & Rohan would be potential inclusions

I could see O'Connor & Mannagh also being inclusions
 
Finknottle said:
I was referring to Scott's career
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Jumping at shadows a bit though aren't you?

We were premiership favourites a month ago and he would have been shoe in for COTY if that continued.

As he's said before, Scott will coach until he knows the players don't believe he's the man for the job, as he should.

In my mind, he's already looking at players abroad that he believes can get us there next year, hence Mackie sitting next to him in the box.
 
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