1. Rhys Stanley - I've said it before and I'll say it again. When he finally hangs up the boots, and assuming the Cats can't cajole him into putting them on again in 2026, he's one of a rare handful of players who can boast of having left literally everything out there on the field. He's cooked. We all know it. But somehow he could still get Floggy McFlogFace Gawn second guessing himself, with a nice mark and goal in the 1st quarter and good bit of gut running early in the 4th, and that went a long way toward winning the game for us.
3. Bailey Smith - Very serviceable game in midfield and wing. He's starting to settle into the Geelong style of play. To be honest, I've had no expectations of him after the long injury layoff except to stay in one piece at least for the first month of the season and he's done that. Disposal efficiency was a lot better than last week too. He'll be a weapon for us in the second half of the season.
5. Jeremy Cameron - Faded in and out of the game, but at least he looked like he wanted to be playing. Some of his field kicking when pushing into the midfield was sublime.
7. Shaun Mannagh - There was a bit of rust early, and a few over-ambitious handballs, but Mannagh slotted back into the side pretty seamlessly. He'll be a lot better for the run.
9. Max Holmes - Not good. Everyone tags him every week now, and dealing with it has been a mixed bag so far this year, but his kicking was utterly deplorable tonight. Couldn't hit a target. He did have a few nice moments competing aerially though. This week was certainly an aberration.
12. Jack Bowes - Another player who drifted in and out of the game. His goals were nice. He's a weird case. If he's taking a difficult shot at goal under immediate tackling pressure, he's the epitome of zen-like calm. Same situation on a wing or HFB and he panics and butchers it. Complete inversion to 99.9% of other players. He was at his best when Melbourne were challenging, and only drifted out when we were well on top, so I'll give him a grudging pass mark.
14. Connor O'Sullivan - Now this kid I like. Tom Stewart earlier compared him to Blitz. I've been saying he's a ruckman-sized Tom Harley. However you want to describe him, he plays like a 150 gamer and, moreover, someone who's been an indispensable part of a premiership defensive unit for the better part of a decade. At 5 games. Listening to him talk on after-match interviews, he's intelligent and humble with a level head on his shoulders. We've got a winner here.
16. Sam De Koning - Boy, what a return to form. Splitting his time between ruck and FB he had his work cut out for him but handled both jobs with skill and dignity. He's back taking contested marks, putting in huge spoils with those Inspector Gadget arms, and even threw Max Gawn around like a ragdoll a couple of times in the ruck. It's too early to say he's back, but he played very very well tonight.
17. Lawson Humphries - This is another guy who seems like he's been around forever despite having about 20 games to his name. Hardly wastes a disposal, seldom panics, and runs very hard.
18. Tyson Stengle - It wasn't a great night for crumbing deep forward pockets, but since Stengle has been at the club he's never dropped the head when thing weren't going his way. That includes all those times in 2023-2024 when we pushed him up to a wing and dropped high floating clearing kicks onto his head against opposition ruckmen. Working his way into the game and snagging a couple of goals was a fitting reward.
28. Oliver Dempsey - Seemed to me that he was spending a bit more time in the midfield, perhaps because Mannagh was playing forward a bit. I think he had a creditable game. Just wish he'd do the basic, solid stuff a bit more than trying to make magic happen with every touch.
30. Tom Atkins - Top bloke. If you look up "tackle" in the dictionary, his fierce unblinking gaze will be looking back at you. I can't think of anyone- even in our 2007-2011 glory years- who has transcended his limitations and made the most of his strengths like Axe has.
32. Gryan Miers - The barometer of the team. When Miers plays well, the team does. And so it proved tonight. He didn't hit the scoreboard but his passing was almost faultless.
33. Shannon Neale - I don't know with this guy. I really don't. First half was atrocious. Second half better, including a really gutsy bit of running to affect a Melbournw defender's kick just enough to make him stuff it up. But it seems like every week he's promising that a breakout performance is imminent, and it just doesn't quite happen, but you get enough teasers to not put him in the Shane Kersten or Matt McCarthy "useless" basket. Best 22 for now. I continue to suspend judgment. Being a good set shot for goal helps.
34. Oisin Mullin - Another impressive game. He's starting to back himself. The last two weeks he's looked like an AFL footballer rather than a Gaelic footballer. We might have finally found Wojo 2.0. I also have to give a shoutout to an important moment when we were clinging to that 2 goal margin- in a 2-on-1 marking contest against Gawn and (I think) Fritsch, Mullin managed to get the ball to ground. Mullin is not a tall guy and turned a 5-95 into a 50-50.
35. Patrick Dangerfield - This was a pure captain's game. He took the centre squre contests that needed contesting and won them. He played forward and won the contests that needed winning there. At 35 years old the moments of explosive brilliance are still there, but you've got to manage them as precious resources, and this was for sure an example of Gondor's waning powers still besting the orc hordes when it counts.
36. Oliver Henry - Rubbish. For the first half I was prepared to acknowledge that he was at least getting the ball to our crumbers in marking contests. In the 2nd half he didn't even do that. Drop him and give Wiltshire a go. Or possibly play Blitz forward all day.
38. Jack Henry - Looked like a world-beating full back until he did his hammy.
Not much to say. We looked rattled for 20 minutes or so after he departed. But after the game he looked in good spirits, boucing from one leg to the other, so let's hope he's not out too long.
39. Zach Guthrie - The quiet general of our defnsive 50. Possibly the most underrated player in the league and it's because he wins contest after contest without any sort of fanfare. Can play tall or small.
40. Ted Clohesy - You look at the stats and it says Ted gathered 9 possessions and laid two tackles and if you only look at the stats you'd be thinking, "back to the VFL". But he was far more involved in the game than that. Stats lie in this case. Far more important than his meagre statistics make him out to be. A really nice contested mark and low, flat pass to Dangerfield inside 50 when the game was still to be won gives Clohesy a lot of cred.
42. Mark O'Connor. I've got a higher opinion of Shark than a lot of the rest of the forum. For a lot of his career he's been doing a lot of vague positional running that nobody understands but himself and Chris Scott. I've often lamented that someone who regularly hits 95% disposal efficiency should be getting more of the footy. Well, coming off the sub vest tonight and after fifteen minutes of treading water his first touch was a desperate soccer off the ground that went to a teammate and you could see a light bulb turn on in his head. "Fook it, im just going to go after the ball every chance I get, back my size and strength and speed and foot skill every time." 16 touches at 100% DE in a half of footy is what I've long thought MO'C can do at his best and why I've been backing him over his detractors for two years now.
44. Tom Stewart - Welcome return after injury. He mkaes the backline look better by just being there. And I just love his after-match interviews where he deflects talk about himself and makes it all about his teammates.
45. Brad Close- Super welcome return to form for Close. I don't think there was a goal we kicked in the first half tha he didn't have a hand in. I think "Close to Cameron" is becoming as inevitable as " c. Gilchrist b. McGrath"
3. Bailey Smith - Very serviceable game in midfield and wing. He's starting to settle into the Geelong style of play. To be honest, I've had no expectations of him after the long injury layoff except to stay in one piece at least for the first month of the season and he's done that. Disposal efficiency was a lot better than last week too. He'll be a weapon for us in the second half of the season.
5. Jeremy Cameron - Faded in and out of the game, but at least he looked like he wanted to be playing. Some of his field kicking when pushing into the midfield was sublime.
7. Shaun Mannagh - There was a bit of rust early, and a few over-ambitious handballs, but Mannagh slotted back into the side pretty seamlessly. He'll be a lot better for the run.
9. Max Holmes - Not good. Everyone tags him every week now, and dealing with it has been a mixed bag so far this year, but his kicking was utterly deplorable tonight. Couldn't hit a target. He did have a few nice moments competing aerially though. This week was certainly an aberration.
12. Jack Bowes - Another player who drifted in and out of the game. His goals were nice. He's a weird case. If he's taking a difficult shot at goal under immediate tackling pressure, he's the epitome of zen-like calm. Same situation on a wing or HFB and he panics and butchers it. Complete inversion to 99.9% of other players. He was at his best when Melbourne were challenging, and only drifted out when we were well on top, so I'll give him a grudging pass mark.
14. Connor O'Sullivan - Now this kid I like. Tom Stewart earlier compared him to Blitz. I've been saying he's a ruckman-sized Tom Harley. However you want to describe him, he plays like a 150 gamer and, moreover, someone who's been an indispensable part of a premiership defensive unit for the better part of a decade. At 5 games. Listening to him talk on after-match interviews, he's intelligent and humble with a level head on his shoulders. We've got a winner here.
16. Sam De Koning - Boy, what a return to form. Splitting his time between ruck and FB he had his work cut out for him but handled both jobs with skill and dignity. He's back taking contested marks, putting in huge spoils with those Inspector Gadget arms, and even threw Max Gawn around like a ragdoll a couple of times in the ruck. It's too early to say he's back, but he played very very well tonight.
17. Lawson Humphries - This is another guy who seems like he's been around forever despite having about 20 games to his name. Hardly wastes a disposal, seldom panics, and runs very hard.
18. Tyson Stengle - It wasn't a great night for crumbing deep forward pockets, but since Stengle has been at the club he's never dropped the head when thing weren't going his way. That includes all those times in 2023-2024 when we pushed him up to a wing and dropped high floating clearing kicks onto his head against opposition ruckmen. Working his way into the game and snagging a couple of goals was a fitting reward.
28. Oliver Dempsey - Seemed to me that he was spending a bit more time in the midfield, perhaps because Mannagh was playing forward a bit. I think he had a creditable game. Just wish he'd do the basic, solid stuff a bit more than trying to make magic happen with every touch.
30. Tom Atkins - Top bloke. If you look up "tackle" in the dictionary, his fierce unblinking gaze will be looking back at you. I can't think of anyone- even in our 2007-2011 glory years- who has transcended his limitations and made the most of his strengths like Axe has.
32. Gryan Miers - The barometer of the team. When Miers plays well, the team does. And so it proved tonight. He didn't hit the scoreboard but his passing was almost faultless.
33. Shannon Neale - I don't know with this guy. I really don't. First half was atrocious. Second half better, including a really gutsy bit of running to affect a Melbournw defender's kick just enough to make him stuff it up. But it seems like every week he's promising that a breakout performance is imminent, and it just doesn't quite happen, but you get enough teasers to not put him in the Shane Kersten or Matt McCarthy "useless" basket. Best 22 for now. I continue to suspend judgment. Being a good set shot for goal helps.
34. Oisin Mullin - Another impressive game. He's starting to back himself. The last two weeks he's looked like an AFL footballer rather than a Gaelic footballer. We might have finally found Wojo 2.0. I also have to give a shoutout to an important moment when we were clinging to that 2 goal margin- in a 2-on-1 marking contest against Gawn and (I think) Fritsch, Mullin managed to get the ball to ground. Mullin is not a tall guy and turned a 5-95 into a 50-50.
35. Patrick Dangerfield - This was a pure captain's game. He took the centre squre contests that needed contesting and won them. He played forward and won the contests that needed winning there. At 35 years old the moments of explosive brilliance are still there, but you've got to manage them as precious resources, and this was for sure an example of Gondor's waning powers still besting the orc hordes when it counts.
36. Oliver Henry - Rubbish. For the first half I was prepared to acknowledge that he was at least getting the ball to our crumbers in marking contests. In the 2nd half he didn't even do that. Drop him and give Wiltshire a go. Or possibly play Blitz forward all day.
38. Jack Henry - Looked like a world-beating full back until he did his hammy.
Not much to say. We looked rattled for 20 minutes or so after he departed. But after the game he looked in good spirits, boucing from one leg to the other, so let's hope he's not out too long.39. Zach Guthrie - The quiet general of our defnsive 50. Possibly the most underrated player in the league and it's because he wins contest after contest without any sort of fanfare. Can play tall or small.
40. Ted Clohesy - You look at the stats and it says Ted gathered 9 possessions and laid two tackles and if you only look at the stats you'd be thinking, "back to the VFL". But he was far more involved in the game than that. Stats lie in this case. Far more important than his meagre statistics make him out to be. A really nice contested mark and low, flat pass to Dangerfield inside 50 when the game was still to be won gives Clohesy a lot of cred.
42. Mark O'Connor. I've got a higher opinion of Shark than a lot of the rest of the forum. For a lot of his career he's been doing a lot of vague positional running that nobody understands but himself and Chris Scott. I've often lamented that someone who regularly hits 95% disposal efficiency should be getting more of the footy. Well, coming off the sub vest tonight and after fifteen minutes of treading water his first touch was a desperate soccer off the ground that went to a teammate and you could see a light bulb turn on in his head. "Fook it, im just going to go after the ball every chance I get, back my size and strength and speed and foot skill every time." 16 touches at 100% DE in a half of footy is what I've long thought MO'C can do at his best and why I've been backing him over his detractors for two years now.
44. Tom Stewart - Welcome return after injury. He mkaes the backline look better by just being there. And I just love his after-match interviews where he deflects talk about himself and makes it all about his teammates.
45. Brad Close- Super welcome return to form for Close. I don't think there was a goal we kicked in the first half tha he didn't have a hand in. I think "Close to Cameron" is becoming as inevitable as " c. Gilchrist b. McGrath"
. Now go and get his little mate from the Giants (Gothard) to keep him happy.
