Autopsy Cats lose to Lions by 9 points.

[iameviljez]

Doesn't anyone remember 07.

We were shit in the first 5 or 6 games, troubled player/s. Maybe we are just finding our way with the kids but Scott could look at doing something similar to what the club did back then to get us on track.

I think Cameron, Henry and Stengle need a rocket at least.

07 we were a very good team waiting to burst. We don’t have that here

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Were you two together in 07 by any chance ?

Would not have lasted if we were

 

[Finknottle]

07 we were a very good team waiting to burst. We don’t have that here

Yep, absolutely no comparison. That 2007 team had talent all over the field.

 

[D BRIDGE]

I watched the VFL game. Geelong struggled against one of the worst teams in the comp. The only player who stood out was Mannah. The rest are nowhere near AFL level.

Agreed that there’s nothing new coming from the VFL anytime soon.

It probably shows how young we were last night.

Usually there’s a kid or two we are exited about going ok in the VFL and it’s just a matter of time before they get a birth.

Well all those kids were playing last night (Besides Conway).

 

[Finknottle]

The fact that they held Duncan over indicates yes this will be one of his 4 games (hopefully sub) and if neale doesn't get up then you probably bring Stanley in and sdk plays forward (otherwise I think Stanley is out). Stewart and mannagh will be back.

Bowes is a funny one at times he's awful when played in backline roles but in his actual inside mid role he can be good. And he is a bigger body which you may want against Oliver and viney etc.

I'd say mannagh Stewart and Duncan for clohesy occonor and clark/knevitt if I had to guess.

Duncan as a sub is ridiculous! He is slow and steady. He is not an impact player.

 

[Finknottle]

What Clark needs is bulk. He’s not a fast player, so needs strength in and under. He needs to bulk at least 8-10kg.

He'll end up looking like JD Vance. He needs footy smarts not kilos.

 

[Kobe Gryant]

07 we were a very good team waiting to burst. We don’t have that here

I don't think the situations are at all applicable, but there's a lot of hindsight in this.

We looked like a solid team building towards something. Potentially a few years of contention, and maybe a flag if we were good enough.

We never looked like what we were going to become, until we actually did it.

The '07 argument would only work on this current group in a couple of years though, and even then, it's probably not the correct comparison.

That side was transitioning from a young group, to a middle aged group that wasn't capitalising on it's potential (E.g top 4, rather than missing the eight).

The side right now is youngsters who are a couple of years away, veterans who are past their best or close to that cliff, and not a whole lot in the middle.

Maybe in 2027 or 2028 there's an '07 esque argument when SDK, Neale, Holmes, Dempsey, Smith, Humphries, Henry, O'Sullivan, etc are all either at their peak, or closer to it...but it's not right now.

 

[Finknottle]

We have some great ins to come, as the above poster mentioned Stewart, Kolo and Mannagh.

That's a pretty big inclusion.

Stewart and Mannagh yes. Kolo no.

 

[Generalissimo]

I haven’t had chance to see the game yet but (aside from other things) just wondering what different things did Mullen do (aside from getting more possessions) to be much more effective than other games (?)

A couple of things. First, willingness to run off the guy he was tagging and present an option further upfield. Second, better decision-making. No sign of panicking and blazing away randomly. A good example of both came in the first quarter, where Mullin burned off Charlie Cameron who he was tagging to present an option on the HFF, absolutely demanded his teammate kick to him, ran to 45 and instead of having a low-percentage ping, lowered his eyes and hit Jezza on the lead.

Agreed that there’s nothing new coming from the VFL anytime soon.

Patrick Retschko and George Stevens looked the most likely, but Retschko is coming from a long way back and Stevens will always have a big questionmark about his pace.

 

[terry_bright]

I thought SDK's intensity last night was decent, especially in the first half.

People overstated how good he was in 2022, and now they understate how good he is in 2025.

Dropped that simple chest mark early on which was almost costly, but otherwise was alright. Had 10 CP's & 4 clearances last night in 3qtrs.
I thought we missed his presence in the contest in the last quarter. If uninjured, Neale would of been subbed out who looked hampered and was ineffective for the most part.

 

[Hinkley29]

Stewart and Mannagh yes. Kolo no.

I can’t believe that we still have supporters that don’t see the value that Kolo brings to our team. Our backline structure is so much better when he plays, and he frees up others to do the things that are the highest and best use of their skills.

 

[Play it Sam]

If we get back Kolo and Stewart I'd be tempted to give O'Sullivan a game forward in O Henry's spot that would do a couple of things 1st put O H on notice and 2 give us a better understanding of just what a talent we have on our hands with Connor.

Yes but is he a goal kicker? They’ve got him where they think he’ll play to his strengths and on L plates. We did see him try for a long bomb, as in opportune as it was. I guess it’s like saying is SDK a ruck.

 

[D BRIDGE]

Not sure how far Kolo is away.

I assume he’d need a run in the VFL for touch and match fitness?

 

[Kobe Gryant]

Agreed that there’s nothing new coming from the VFL anytime soon.

It probably shows how young we were last night.

Usually there’s a kid or two we are exited about going ok in the VFL and it’s just a matter of time before they get a birth.

Well all those kids were playing last night (Besides Conway).

Not exactly helped when all of Edwards, Conway, Hoff, KMF, Ivisic, Molier, and Burke are injured, while Wiltshire is the traveling emergency.

Whether any of those guys would show anything is almost irrelevant, the point is they're not there - and with that being the case - that's eight extra names on the list where we can't look for flashes of the future.

Imagine if all of Mannagh, Humphries, COS, Knevitt, Clark, and Neale (along with Conway and Edwards) were missing from the VFL last year though injury.

It would be a s**tshow, and we'd have nothing to be excited by. That's basically what we're dealing with now.

 

[Play it Sam]

He needs to trust himself to run with the ball. He is quick. His first inclination is to give the ball off to the nearest person. He needs to get that out of his system.

Obviously an instruction. Zac Guthrie did exactly the same when new. Now he’s the one to look for, and you have to think blazing away is less preferable than the safe option, even if Mullin looks slow to move it on. Kolo and Stewart were really missed for cohesion, definitely would help Impotent centreline as well

 

[terry_bright]

As disappointing as losing from the position we were in last night is, I'm not too concerned in the grand scheme of things.

We're rolling with a new look midfield this year that is pretty young and I think we're still trying to work on what our best 6- 8 midfielders are.
Knevitt, Clark, Clohesy all less than 20 games.
Holmes, SDK, Dempsey all less than 80 games.
A new cog in Bailey Smith.
It's been a big shift from years gone by of late, an I just think it needs time to settle and gel.

Defence looks solid enough & some of the forwards could play better, but the key IMO to a successful year is we can get that midfield to gel and work. Hopefully towards the pointy end of the season.

 

[cats_09]

I haven’t had chance to see the game yet but (aside from other things) just wondering what different things did Mullen do (aside from getting more possessions) to be much more effective than other games (?)

Backed himself

Reminded me a bit of the St Kilda game last year where he ran off Hill to present as a linking option - but he did it much better last night

He wasn't attached to the hip of Cameron or any other opponent, which contrasted last week where he went with Hill and would drop off if switching to an open player

He didn't seem afraid to play slightly off his opponent and trust his pace to get to any contests he needed to impact

He also worked off his opponent, involved in the play a bit further to the field - he was on the end of a good switch kick which he didn't need to change stride and his resulting kick was perfect to Cameron for a goal

It was like he wanted to get involved and worked to do so

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Agreed that there’s nothing new coming from the VFL anytime soon.

It probably shows how young we were last night.

Usually there’s a kid or two we are exited about going ok in the VFL and it’s just a matter of time before they get a birth.

Well all those kids were playing last night (Besides Conway).

Edwards is the other one but he's a fair while off. And I like hoffmann a lot but he will need time.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

He'll end up looking like JD Vance. He needs footy smarts not kilos.

He already has smarts in spades watch his sidestep from last week and some of his handballs. What he needs is bulk to stand up in tackles-but this needs to be done gradually if he tries to put on 15kg at once he will just end up with stress leg injuries. But if he does it gradually he will get there-hes for the brain for it if he has the right work ethic.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

I can’t believe that we still have supporters that don’t see the value that Kolo brings to our team. Our backline structure is so much better when he plays, and he frees up others to do the things that are the highest and best use of their skills.

100 % and I was against him a few years ago-seen the light there. Will be interesting to see how we structure the talls when he's back though as osullivan looks a star (jake is a good player but has never had that ceiling) and needs to be kept in. Luckily Connor seems to have great closing speed so you could potentially have him or kolo playing on smaller opponents at times

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Duncan as a sub is ridiculous! He is slow and steady. He is not an impact player.

It's not really. If he's on the field for 4 qtrs the oppo can exploit him for 4 quarters. Better if they can only exploit him for 20 minutes.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Not exactly helped when all of Edwards, Conway, Hoff, KMF, Ivisic, Molier, and Burke are injured, while Wiltshire is the traveling emergency.

Whether any of those guys would show anything is almost irrelevant, the point is they're not there - and with that being the case - that's eight extra names on the list where we can't look for flashes of the future.

Imagine if all of Mannagh, Humphries, COS, Knevitt, Clark, and Neale (along with Conway and Edwards) were missing from the VFL last year though injury.

It would be a s**tshow, and we'd have nothing to be excited by. That's basically what we're dealing with now.

And Martin didn't play vfl either.

 

[Finknottle]

I can’t believe that we still have supporters that don’t see the value that Kolo brings to our team. Our backline structure is so much better when he plays, and he frees up others to do the things that are the highest and best use of their skills.

O'Sullivan looks great down back, he is strong overhead and has wheels. Not sure how you fit Kolo into the team unless JHenry goes out. If O'Sullivan needs to be managed then Kolo is a fair replacement.

 

[cats_09]

O'Sullivan looks great down back, he is strong overhead and has wheels. Not sure how you fit Kolo into the team unless JHenry goes out. If O'Sullivan needs to be managed then Kolo is a fair replacement.

Pretty simply - we play Henry, Kolodjashnij & O'Sullivan as our key backs

We then continue to use SDK & Blicavs as our ruck combo, and like we did with Stanley in 22, we can always drop one as a spare behind the ball during general play

JK also has the benefit of being able to play on both taller and shorter opponents depending on the match up; so pretty sure we can make it work

 

[Tony Barber]

He already has smarts in spades watch his sidestep from last week and some of his handballs. What he needs is bulk to stand up in tackles-but this needs to be done gradually if he tries to put on 15kg at once he will just end up with stress leg injuries. But if he does it gradually he will get there-hes for the brain for it if he has the right work ethic.

You just cant put on 15kg at once.
There was a nth player I knew. They made him work admin all week. Everyday they gave him a loaf of bread and made him eat it all during work hours. It did not work.

I spent 2 dedicated years trying to lift my weight above 78.
I made it to 80.

We are all built differently.