Round 19 - Geelong vs St Kilda

[SeinDude]

Well, after a disappointing loss yesterday to the Kangaroos by 64 points at Skilled Stadium, we face St Kilda at Telstra Dome next Sunday in a game we must win if we're to entertain serious thoughts of being a worthwhile part of the finals action in September.

The last time we played St Kilda back in round 4, we had our biggest victory of the season, winning by 122 points at home, and this week's game at Telstra Dome gives us a chance to regain some form and confidence after the last 2 weeks. Geelong has a 10-8 record and is 6th on the ladder coming off 2 losses, whereas St Kilda are 5-12-1 and coming off a loss to Port Power.

For Geelong, Steven King once again will be a key player in determining the outcome of the game. King has been good all season for us, and hopefully he can continue with his great form and control the rucks on Sunday, giving our midfielders first use of the ball.

Matthew Scarlett has also been in fine form this season, shutting down the likes of Lloyd and Saverio Rocca in recent weeks. Scarlett's attack on the football is fantastic and he often is the one who starts the moves out of defence as well as keeping his direct opponent out of the game.

David Wojcinski returned last week against the Kangaroos and is an important player for us in defence. He provides a lot of run off the half back flank and can break a game open with his pace. He may be a likely match up on Milne.

With Ben Graham and Darren Milburn unlikely to play, it gives a chance to a couple of our younger players who've been pushing hard for selection in our VFL side to step up and show what they can do.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how Geelong come out for this game!! We'll be fired up and fighting for a spot in the finals, and I am expecting a big win for the mighty Cats!!

Prediction: Geelong by 53 points

Go Cats!! :cool:
SeinDude

[catattack]

We will come out this week and thrash St. Kilda. After two loses, and last weeks thrashing against the Roos, you will see a much more commited unit this week.

The Cats will not want to drop this week's game for a few of reasons. 1. Finals aspirations. If we want to be part of the action this year, we will have to win this or we don't deserve to be apart of the 2002 finals. 2. Although St. Kilda are on pretty good form, it would be embarrasing to lose to a team near the bottom of the ladder. Geelong has a tendency to drop these kind of games. 3. Rebuild a dented confidence level after two losses from the seven game wining streak. It only took the loss to Adelaide to bring the level down. Confidence is a big thing in footy, and going into a finals series, confidence must be high. We do not want a repeat of 1999 (5 straight wins followed by 9 striaght losses)

Wojcinski played well after his little stint on the sidelines with his ankle, and this being his second game back should be back to his dashing form.

The loss of Milburn for the rest of the season is a bad one. Dasha is one of our best and toughest defenders, so to lose him is a big loss. Luckily, we have a settled backline, and with in particular Harley and Scarlett doing a great job. Ben Graham will have a test on his corked calf, may still play which is good!

Burns is on a real downer and must be dropped this week to the VFL to gain confidence, and White or Mensch to be included into the ones.

As I said, a must win, and I'm sure they are not going to drop this one!


Go Cats!!:)
catattack

[SeinDude]

Ben Graham is still a chance to play this week which would be a bonus for us. :):)

Go Cats!! :cool:
SeinDude

[catattack]

Originally posted by SeinDude
Ben Graham is still a chance to play this week which would be a bonus for us. :):)

Go Cats!! :cool:
SeinDude


I'm quite confiedent he will play. Even if he is only 70-80% recovered, being captain he would probably play. It's his presence (being captain) that may get the team over the line.

Go Cats!!:)
catattack

[catattack]

Benny still may not play. He will not train this week, and will attempt to prove his fitness before Geelong’s VFL match on Saturday. A I said, I still think he would play, even if only on and off the bench.


Go Cats!!:)
catattack

[catattack]

Read about Ben Graham's injury at.....

http://gfc.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=51782

Go Cats!:)
catattack

[SeinDude]

Originally posted by catattack
Benny still may not play. He will not train this week, and will attempt to prove his fitness before Geelong’s VFL match on Saturday. A I said, I still think he would play, even if only on and off the bench.


catattack,

I'm not so sure about that. Players who go into games with an injury always seem to be found out, take James Hird in last year's Grand Final as a perfect example!! If it means Benny misses a week to get himself right for our important run home, then so be it I reckon.

Go Cats!! :cool:
SeinDude

[catattack]

Originally posted by SeinDude

I'm not so sure about that. Players who go into games with an injury always seem to be found out, take James Hird in last year's Grand Final as a perfect example!! If it means Benny misses a week to get himself right for our important run home, then so be it I reckon.



Good point there SeinDude. I suppose it would be better to have him in fit, ready for the finals, then to be injured for the finals. So saying Benny is out, who will take the acting captian position?

Go Cats!:)
catattack

[Mattster]

Originally posted by SeinDude


catattack,

I'm not so sure about that. Players who go into games with an injury always seem to be found out, take James Hird in last year's Grand Final as a perfect example!! If it means Benny misses a week to get himself right for our important run home, then so be it I reckon.

Go Cats!! :cool:
SeinDude

so Timmy can play :)

[Jim Boy]

Originally posted by catattack
Read about Ben Graham's injury at.....

http://gfc.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=51782

Go Cats!:)
catattack
Yes, the old Geelong spin. No doubt, Benny is a definite chance to play, just as there was a good chance that sando was going to play the week after he rolled his ankle.

Also interesting that they mentioned Rooke, sick boy, apparently he has had the Flu, a strained thigh, deep bruising on the hip, rib problems and OP in the few weeks that he's been out.

I wouldn't be so sure about Benny. He may have paralysed and the club would only report a hamstring strain and say the he would be tested this week. ;)

[SeinDude]

Originally posted by Mattster
so Timmy can play :)

Mattster,

Hmmmm, nope!! LOL!! :D:p:D

Go Cats!! :cool:
SeinDude

[Mattster]

awww :)

[SeinDude]

The start time for this week's game against St Kilda has been put back to 3:15pm due to the wrestling.


http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=43692



Go Cats!! :cool:
SeinDude

[catattack]

Originally posted by SeinDude
The start time for this week's game against St Kilda has been put back to 3:15pm due to the wrestling.


http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=43692



Further developments....Geelong will inspect the game at around 1.00. Depending on if they are satisfied with the state of the ground will determine if the game will still go ahead at 3.15. That is the worst case serario, but most likely it will begin at 3.15.

Go Cats!!:)
catattack

[catattack]

The Mighty Geelong team for this weekend!!!:):):)...


B: Foster, Scarlett, Wojcinski
HB: Sholl, Harley, Rahilly
C: Clarke, Riccardi, Kelly
HF: Chapman, Kingsley, White
F: Enright, Graham, Ling
Foll: King, Corey, Kilpatrick
Inter (from): Burns, Woolnough, Mooney, Bartel, Johnson, Street, Slade


In: Bartel, Johnson, White, Street, Slade
Out: Milburn (shoulder), Ablett


As usual 3 players to be cut off tomorrow, and they will be emergencies. Your thoughts of the squad....

Go Cats!!:)
catattack

[nolsey77]

Surely Ablett, would have been in the 25 man squad, with Burns out of form, with Riccardi in doubt and with Lord out injured.

Good to see Will Slade in for his first game though and fantastic to see D.Johnson be named in the side.

Geelong are going to have to kick a lot of goals, cos the backline looks very thin with out Milburn, Sanderson, Rooke and possibly Graham.

[you_idiot]

Originally posted by catattack
The Mighty Geelong team for this weekend!!!:):):)...


B: Foster, Scarlett, Wojcinski
HB: Sholl, Harley, Rahilly
C: Clarke, Riccardi, Kelly
HF: Chapman, Kingsley, White
F: Enright, Graham, Ling
Foll: King, Corey, Kilpatrick
Inter (from): Burns, Woolnough, Mooney, Bartel, Johnson, Street, Slade


In: Bartel, Johnson, White, Street, Slade
Out: Milburn (shoulder), Ablett


Interesting choices, "Bomber"... hope this works... White and Street among the recalls, still no place for Menschie...

Originally posted by catattack

As usual 3 players to be cut off tomorrow, and they will be emergencies. Your thoughts of the squad....

Yeah, one big one...

DROP RONNIE BURNS NOW!!!

Stop me, before I have a massive coronary. :rolleyes:

Cheers,
William

[catattack]

Originally posted by you_idiot

DROP RONNIE BURNS NOW!!!


All we have to do is drop him for a week, he will play a blinder in the VFL, come back to the AFL with high confiedence and play in his form we are used to from past years!!

Go Cats!!:)
catattack

[SeinDude]

Originally posted by catattack
All we have to do is drop him for a week, he will play a blinder in the VFL, come back to the AFL with high confiedence and play in his form we are used to from past years!!


Ronnie Burns will play a blinder this week and kick 5 goals. :)

Go Cats!! :cool:
SeinDude

[catattack]

Originally posted by SeinDude

Ronnie Burns will play a blinder this week and kick 5 goals. :)



We can only hope so. If that happens well then he may prove to be the one who gets Geelong over the line in the last games. 5 goals and his confiedence will be sky high again and you'll see those left foot bananas, and mirical goals go through again!!

Go Cats!!:)
catattack

[catattack]

The gates at the Telstra Dome for Sunday's match will not open until 1.15 pm. This is due to the Wrestling event being held there on Saturday night.

Go Cats!!:)
catattack

[JUBJUB]

Originally posted by nolsey77


Good to see Will Slade in for his first game though and fantastic to see D.Johnson be named in the side.



Its Steve Johnson on the bench,not David.

[Mattster]

what's this qn mark over Riccardi?

[SeinDude]

Originally posted by catattack
The Mighty Geelong team for this weekend!!!:):):)...

B: Foster, Scarlett, Wojcinski
HB: Sholl, Harley, Rahilly
C: Clarke, Riccardi, Kelly
HF: Chapman, Kingsley, White
F: Enright, Graham, Ling
Foll: King, Corey, Kilpatrick
Inter (from): Burns, Woolnough, Mooney, Bartel, Johnson, Street, Slade


In: Bartel, Woolnough, White, Street, Slade
Out: Milburn (shoulder), Ablett


Marc Woolnough is obviously there incase Ben Graham doesn't come up after his injury. I hope Street and Bartel get a game as I think they could give our side some flexability.

Go Cats!! :cool:
SeinDude

[nolsey77]

Originally posted by JUBJUB


Its Steve Johnson on the bench,not David.

Stupid me, But It would have helped if that was S.Johnson on the teams listed.

S Johnson 2 named on bench
C Mooney 2 named on bench
S King 1st ruck
C Ling named in fwd pocket
G Ablett dropped

so 3 of lats weeks 5 goal kickers have been named on the bench or dropped. Who is selecting the team ATM ?????

[catattack]

Originally posted by nolsey77

Stupid me, But It would have helped if that was S.Johnson on the teams listed.



Sorry about the teams there, I just cut and pasted them from another site.

Go Cats!!:)
catattack

[SeinDude]

GEELONG FOOTBALL CLUB:

B: Foster, Scarlett, Wojcinski
HB: Sholl, Harley, Rahilly
C: Clarke, Riccardi, Kelly
HF: Chapman, Kingsley, White
F: Enright, Graham, Ling
Foll: King, Corey, Kilpatrick
Interchange: Burns, Mooney, Johnson, Slade
Emergencies: Woolnough, Street, Bartel

In: White, Slade
Out: Milburn (shoulder), Ablett

Marc Woolnough will replace Ben Graham is Benny doesn't pass a fitness test.


Go Cats!! :cool:
SeinDude

[catattack]

So who thinks the game will be moved??? Players safety should be first. So yer, will it be moved??

Go Cats!!:)
catattack

[Catman]

Originally posted by catattack
So who thinks the game will be moved??? Players safety should be first. So yer, will it be moved??

Go Cats!!:)
catattack

Personally I think it should be moved.

Imagine the lawsuits if a player suffers a serious injury due to a sub-standard ground?

Why would the AFL want to take that risk?

[catattack]

Originally posted by Catman

Why would the AFL want to take that risk?



I think that Colonial's repritation would take a big blow if the game had to be moved. They are meant to be able to do this kind of thing, so they would really push for the game to be played. I just hope that commen scence prevails and if there is a slight risk of injury the game will be moved.

Go Cats!!:)
catattack

[JUBJUB]

Originally posted by Catman


Personally I think it should be moved.


If it is moved,Ian Collins will be at his local employment agency at 9am Monday looking for a new job.

[you_idiot]

Those of you going to the game, go to Colonial, as originally scheduled.

Just caught the announcement on the "Sunday Footy Show", where AFL Operations Manager Andrew Demetriou confirmed this after a ground inspection.

Cheers,
William

[JUBJUB]

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh so close.:eek:

[SeinDude]

CATS CLING ON AT COLONIAL

After watching Geelong seemingly in total control at Colonial Stadium up to 3/4 time, the last quarter was terrible and in the end we were very lucky to hang on for a 1 point victory!! It took some gutsy efforts from our Captain, Ben Graham in the last quarter to hold the Saints out and move one step closer to a spot in the finals.

SCOREBOARD:
Geelong... 16.6.102
St Kilda... 15.11.101


Next week we travel to WA to play Fremantle in a game that could see us secure a finals spot. Bring it on!! :)

Go Cats!! :cool:
SeinDude

[you_idiot]

OK, I'm posting a few hours after the game, all because I had to calm down. A win is a win, as they say, but......

Man, did we get out of jail, or what?

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

No points in the fourth quarter. Disgusting.

I realise that it's the players who have to get the job done at the end of the day (as I was saying on my North Melbourne-related rant last night), but they only just did that this afternoon.

Furthermore, I don't know what Mark Thompson's tactics were-- but I think they ought to be second-guessed, and whatever they were, the players did not carry them out.

The silver lining is that with West Coast losing, the Cats did leapfrog into fifth spot. And as SeinDude said, a win against Freo can sew up bookings for September footy. And a win against Freo is likely... after all, "Fortress Subi" has now been proven to be penetrable.

But back on today...

Was I happy that Geelong won? Yes.

Was I happy with the manner in which it was accomplished? Absofreakinlutely not.

If this were September, I'd probably feel another way, since it's the score at the end of the day that gets you from round to round. But the Cats, rookies and veterans alike, have to be able to turn the screw and finish their opponents off. Regardless, they have to play together for FOUR FULL QUARTERS OF FOOTBALL, and nothing less.

I hope they have learned from this, because I went through the whole gamut of a fan's emotions today. To paraphrase what Jennifer says, I'd like to see a Premiership before I'm dead-- and as a 37-year-old male who is trying to get my wife pregnant, I would prefer not to have a freakin' coronary before I'm 40! :eek: :eek:

Cheers,
William

[Jim Boy]

Well as was said about the Adelaide match, the best team on the day didn't win. So I think that evens out our luck a bit.

I was hoping West Coast could have kicked one more goal. A draw in that match would have been a dream result for Geelong. Better luck next time.

[SupaCat]

Originally posted by you_idiot

The silver lining is that with West Coast losing, the Cats did leapfrog into fifth spot. And as SeinDude said, a win against Freo can sew up bookings for September footy. And a win against Freo is likely... after all, "Fortress Subi" has now been proven to be penetrable.




It has only been penetrated twice this season I think. By Port against Fremantle and yesterday by Melbourne over West Coast.
Both teams playing much harder and better football than we are at present. On yesterday's fourth quarter form, coupled with the fact that we have only 3 full days at home before having to travel to Perth on Thursday will make our job extremely difficult.

I reckon it was more than cramp that happened to Scarlett yesterday and I will be very surprised if he plays come Saturday.
Ablett and Bartel must be fresh and should be brought into the side along with McGrath. Given the fact that White has had a lot of back related injury this year, is it really wise for him to travel such a long distance? I reckon he might go this week as well. Mensch is the obvious choice as a replacement for him but not sure how he would travel either. This is going to be a game that is going to take more than the players to win it. The selection committee will really have to be on the ball as well. I am glad I am a member and not a selector.

[Keldar]

Geelong... so far undefeated at Colonial Stadium all season ;o)

A better % record than at Skilled so far.

[Jim Boy]

Originally posted by Keldar
Geelong... so far undefeated at Colonial Stadium all season ;o)

A better % record than at Skilled so far. Then we should have no trouble beating the Hawks in three weeks then, which will just get us into the finals in eigth spot. We will most likely play at Colonial, so we should have no trouble getting to the second week of the finals, where we will meet our bitches, Collingwood. One magpie thrashing later and we get to host at the G one of the Adelaide teams where we will make no mistake. On to the Grand Final at the G and history in the making.

The are only two flaws in this plan 1/. is if we win one of the next two matches. There is a big advantage for us in finishing either 5th or 8th rather than 6th or 7th. So I'll be cheering on Freo and Brizzie over the next two weeks. The other flaw in this plan is something to do with reality.

[catattack]

Originally posted by Keldar
Geelong... so far undefeated at Colonial Stadium all season ;o)



Complete opposite than in 2000!!:D:D

Go Cats!!:)
catattack

[SeinDude]

Originally posted by catattack
Complete opposite than in 2000!!:D:D


catattack,

We did have one win there in 2000 against the Bulldogs by 7 points.

Go Cats!! :cool:
SeinDude

[catattack]

Originally posted by SeinDude

We did have one win there in 2000 against the Bulldogs by 7 points.


We were lucky to win that. Buddha kicked the match winner in the dying seconds. It was pretty much a repete of the Saints game; we had a big lead of like 6 goals, and we almost let the game slip. I remember that game sooo clearly!!

Go Cats!!:)
catattack