Review AFL Round 5 - Geelong defeat Hawthorn by 19 points

[Hello Kitty]

We certainly have our fair share of big game players: Hawkins, Bartel, SJ, Selwood, Enright, HT, Lonners, Mackie. Can probably add Guthrie to that list now and perhaps one of two more...

Absolutely! Am thrilled to see Gurthrie has really arrived on the big stage, looking so relaxed within the team. He's found his niche. I thought he looked so confident, which was awesome in such a blockbuster!

 

[Rainfall]

whatever that thread was flog of the week material.

didn't say it wasn't, said the abuse within the flogcast was that unbelievable from moderators so i said 'fire em all' and even if i attempted to do a thing about it i'd cop a ban

 

[Hello Kitty]

i agree with you, but im trying to think like the MC. i think its well known i dont see i place in the side for blitz, but i am trying to think through what the MC might do with him.

personally against port i think we need more defensive runners to negate their running attack. i am happy with the resting ruckman as the 2nd tall at present.

For the Port game yes, but I think Partridge is saying we can't continue to rely on that for the rest of the year, nor into the future. As far as the Club goes, Blitz is in! They're investing games in him + have a huge belief in his ability. It's only Blitz's second year, first year with two rucks and Hawkins is fit. Vardy isn't back until next season. We can't rely on playing our talls too much, given their injury history, but please God that is all behind them!

 

[sarah.13]

Absolutely! Am thrilled to see Gurthrie has really arrived on the big stage, looking so relaxed within the team. He's found his niche. I thought he looked so confident, which was awesome in such a blockbuster!

On top of all that noticed for the first time he has quite a bit of mongrel in him, not afraid to throw his muscles around and stand up for his team mates.
I liked it... a lot!

 

[GeelongFTW]

didn't say it wasn't, said the abuse within the flogcast was that unbelievable from moderators so i said 'fire em all' and even if i attempted to do a thing about it i'd cop a ban

disagree it was a meltdown and you deserved everything you got

 

[Hello Kitty]

Clearly Hamish McLachlan supports Hawthorn. He is almost orgasmic talking about them on the commentary. Nothing like a bit of objectivity.

Who's his favourite player?
Bwuce Thyril
Hamish ?
Lethal himself
BT Big Boy

Although, I must admit I do get a little cross with our Geelong commentators being very neutral.

 

[Rainfall]

disagree it was a meltdown and you deserved everything you got

no that mod took it to heart because we flogged the eagles by 75 points and decided to ban me grow up

 

[Hello Kitty]

You could probably add Lake and Clangers as fairly important to them as well.

Although Shoenmakers has not had much success against the Tomahawk recently.

 

[Rainfall]

Who's his favourite player?
Bwuce Thyril
Hamish ?
Lethal himself
BT Big Boy

Although, I must admit I do get a little cross with our Geelong commentators being very neutral.

We as Geelong supporters are just kind hearted people, from the fans to our past/present players and current coaches.

 

[Hello Kitty]

We as Geelong supporters are just kind hearted people, from the fans to our past/present players and current coaches.

Yes, we are Rainfall, well said - gracious in glory + magnanimous in defeat.

I don't really get angry, just fed up with all the loud mouths who talk up their favourite teams. I'm proud of our Geelong commentators they have the Premiership medals!

Although, I did particularly enjoy an exchange between BT + Lingy. BT was criticising one of our current players, Lingy, cool as ice replied, "I don't know about that BT, he was a pretty good bloke when we won three premierships together."

 

[Rainfall]

Yes, we are Rainfall, well said - gracious in glory + magnanimous in defeat.

I don't really get angry, just fed up with all the loud mouths who talk up their favourite teams. I'm proud of our Geelong commentators they have the Premiership medals!

Although, I did particularly enjoy an exchange between BT + Lingy. BT was criticising one of our current players, Lingy, cool as ice replied, "I don't know about that BT, he was a pretty good bloke when we won three premierships together."

What do you expect from BT? That guy has been talking down Geelong for atleast 5 years now minimum.

 

[JUBJUB]

The big bloke did the right thing, but I would've laughed if he'd thought, "no, get your own ball" and kicked it himself, and that would've meant 9 disposals for the mighty Varcs.

 

[Hello Kitty]

What we saw yesterday was that we are the best team in the league. And this was an under strength Geelong missing two of last seasons key players in Christensen and Motlop. Last season they were probably the two most responsible for run and carry and it's a part of our play that's been sorely missed. Thought we've done fantastically well again to get through this game without dropping thee points.

I think that's largely thanks to taking steps forward in other areas. I thought our backline did a superb job again, they are an experienced and unbelievably talented unit who are a big part of what makes us so good. Kelly going back I think proved yet again to be a masterstroke, this time shutting down Cyril but again it was his conviction coming off his man and break down dangerous play that impressed most. Rivers too has been a rock, arguably our best defender this season. Small changes have made a big difference here I think.

Up forward is one of the areas there has been a big change. No question in my mind that we've lost a bit of marking power losing Pods but the resting ruck is still getting the ball to the ground and we are better now at applying pressure from there. In this game we benefited from a huge mismatch (Cheney v Hawkins) which won't happen again but the pressure our "smalls" create is just as big a factor and that I expect to be a permanent feature. Murdoch, Burbury and Varcoe might not be as skillful as Gunston but they work harder are quicker and more agile. It having an impact in a different way. It made the Hawks usually impressive decision making down back look nervy. IMO that pressure will only improve with Smedts who at 6'3 and quite possibly the most agile player in the league can be fantastic at applying pressure. Who knows what Menzel could bring.

But for me the real story is in midfield. Our ruck duo is giving us a slight edge where we last year were getting slaughtered. Perhaps last week against Cox/Naitanui was more impressive but winning tap outs 37-30 again helped and McIntosh up forward had impact. Seems like all our mids too are complete players this time it was Stevie J and Guthrie taking marks inside fifty and kicking four between them but in previous weeks it's been Selwood and GHS having a similar contribution. Great to see

If there's a weakness in the side it would probably be that we lack a lead up target (ie: N.Reiwoldt). Blicavs kind of performs that role but really it's his secondary role of ensuring our rucks aren't run off their feet that's keeping him in the side. He was again not bad but fairly anonymous and as Simpson/McIntosh get fitter I think his spot become more and more shaky.

I thought we began looking a little shaky + nervous, then our good start settled the team, and as you say Dan, the work rate - "It made the Hawks usually impressive decision making down back look nervy." They looked bewildered about what to do when we pushed them into congested contests, and they made snap decisions wrongly.
Having rucks, finally, means that the changes Scotty has made in the team structure, improve, I think all over the ground. I like HMac up forward taking great marks, kicking the odd goal and good in clearances. Have to applaud you for your thoughts on StevieJ, Guthrie, Selwood + GHS! Another insightful post, thanks Dan. I'm really enjoying this thread

 

[Teriyakicat]

Thanks. Even the Oxycon hasn't dulled it, I 'll be logging in 5 minute phone calls to the dentist very shortly.

how's your tooth today Fred? Are you grumpy from not enough sleep?

 

[Hello Kitty]

My favourite passage of play yesterday was in the 2nd term after Hodge and SJ had a bit of "How do you do?" on the boundary line. In the boundary throw in immediately afterwards, Hodge tried to charge his way through the pack, only to be tackled by a couple of Geelong players. SJ then seemed to say "This is how you do it Luke!" as he charged through about 4 or 5 Hawks and came out the other side with the pill and set us up through the middle.

Enter Kittenish

 

[Teriyakicat]

Congrats on the win Catters. Too good on the day.

Re: your post here. I agree you didn't dominate us but at the same time you were always looking the likely winners. Clearly playing the better football of the two teams and I was surprised we stayed so close and even hit the lead during the last quarter.

All in all I would say it was a game that didn't hit great heights in comparison with some of our other clashes. Both sides butchered the ball a fair bit, even when it appeared it wasn't under direct pressure. The Cats certainly make it harder for us than any other team but I also think we just did a lot of the basics wrong on Monday. Mind you, I believe the Cats themselves were a long way short of their best too so I'm not using the "we didn't play well" line as an excuse. Amusingly, all neutrals thought it was the best thing going around which either means that we are just lucky that we follow 2 great teams and can tend to judge harshly what others enjoy as a spectacle because we are used to seeing quality football.........or it might mean what a lot of people are actually saying in that football has become quite a boring spectatcle this year, so even a poor match by our own standards is still held up like a beacon against everything else we see.

I'd say that a lot of people have lowered their expectations this year, unfortunately. Still, it WAS an interesting game- no team blew the other away, it was high pressure for the most part, we saw some lovely marks, some really solid goals, some great work by some of the game's stars- really, what more could you ask? (Yeah, OK- the skill errors were poor but it's only Round 6 and neither of us is going to reveal our full house until we see the other team's hand, are we?)

 

[Teriyakicat]

The big bloke did the right thing, but I would've laughed if he'd thought, "no, get your own ball" and kicked it himself, and that would've meant 9 disposals for the mighty Varcs.

If he'd thought like that, the Cats wouldn't have recruited him, meto

 

[Hello Kitty]

Having watched the Freo game the other day, I reckon CS sees Burbs as our version of Ballantyne without the dickhead quotient. Big forward pressure that is pacy and decent skills but runs like a mofo for the one over the top. Sure he needs more work and needs to take his chances better but I guarantee that was like a GF for him ( in what game 6) and that he will be better for it. Lots more upside in him…

Go Catters

Burbury's fifth game for the Cats, which makes the game such a massive one for him.

 

[Hello Kitty]

There is definitely something to work with there, aside from his ferocity, he is very quick, has a big leap and clean hands.

He is just lacking composure around goal. I would send him back to the VFL as soon as Motlop is ready, give him a month kicking goals there and bring him back when we have an easier run of games in the middle of year. I like him (though I liked him less when he blazed that shot in the third quarter.....)

Forgive me BulletProof? I think Burbury has proved he can kick goals in the VFL. I accept I keep banging on about this!

Monday was his third game this season, in a massive blockbuster! It is just nerves, he needs more games for experience to over come his AFL level yips. I do understand it is frustrating when he misses, but when you look at his face, no one is more exasperated with him than himself. Just need to keep backing these kittens.

 

[Teriyakicat]

On top of all that noticed for the first time he has quite a bit of mongrel in him, not afraid to throw his muscles around and stand up for his team mates.
I liked it... a lot!

Which Hawks player did he go and bump into and give a push to, early in the game- I think SJ and the skipper were involved. It was someone like Hodge or perhaps Mitchell because I was quite surprised to see Guthrie get involved.
And another incident where GHS was helping protect someone- Selwood, I think- and he walked in and shoved someone then walked off. Didn't get too heavy but just let a player know that he was there and happy to help a teammate. We need more of this when opposition players keep shoving our blokes around, and we are running out of older players pretty fast, so it's great to see the younger blokes step into their shoes.

btw- it wasn't anything that our young boys started- don't get me wrong 'cos I hate that sort of stuff and, if they're doing it, they will get put off their game by watching the man and not the ball.

 

[Rainfall]

Kitty the silverlining with our kittens are is if they don't work out with Geelong they've been developed with probably the best development system Australian wide and any club would love to take them

 

[Teriyakicat]

Forgive me BulletProof? I think Burbury has proved he can kick goals in the VFL. I accept I keep banging on about this!

Monday was his third game this season, in a massive blockbuster! It is just nerves, he needs more games for experience to over come his AFL level yips. I do understand it is frustrating when he misses, but when you look at his face, no one is more exasperated with him than himself. Just need to keep backing these kittens.

As someone mentioned earlier, Motlop was a scattergun kick at goal when he started his senior career but just kept plugging away and reaped the benefits as he got more experienced. The last thing we need is for Burbury to go into his shell and stop having the shots. Unfortunately I think he's now had about 10 pots at the big sticks and not got anything for it. That must suck!

 

[Cosmic Energy]

I must say I'm a little miffed, but I suppose happy at the same time, that only a couple in the media have cottoned on to the fact that with a reasonably fit list we're more often than not actually better than Hawthorn, or anyone else. This talk of Hawthorn's kicking being the best of all time etc., it's a little like 2011 with the media love of Collingwood. Collingwood were better than everyone else they said.....just we were better again. And it's not just a "system" thing, we've got special players all over the joint. Genuine gun footballers both young & old who you back to beat their opponent most of the time.

It makes last year's final's series even more frustrating that we weren't quite at our best when a flag was up for grabs. Hopefully we get a chance to make amends.....

 

[cats23]

Which Hawks player did he go and bump into and give a push to, early in the game- I think SJ and the skipper were involved. It was someone like Hodge or perhaps Mitchell because I was quite surprised to see Guthrie get involved.
And another incident where GHS was helping protect someone- Selwood, I think- and he walked in and shoved someone then walked off. Didn't get too heavy but just let a player know that he was there and happy to help a teammate. We need more of this when opposition players keep shoving our blokes around, and we are running out of older players pretty fast, so it's great to see the younger blokes step into their shoes.

btw- it wasn't anything that our young boys started- don't get me wrong 'cos I hate that sort of stuff and, if they're doing it, they will get put off their game by watching the man and not the ball.

There was a passage of play just near where I sat when Guthrie was blocking for one of his team-mates and really got stuck into Mitchell. Didn't take a backward step, and showed his "mongrel" side. It was so good to see .

GHS was also into all the contested stuff, not sure how much was picked up on TV, but remember him having tussles with Hale and Roughead. No backing down from him either .

It actually felt like the hawks were put off more by the physicality, reckon we got on top when things got a little heated in the 2nd (?) quarter.

A game like that must be worth at least 5 "normal" games as far as developing the younger players .

 

[Teriyakicat]

There was a passage of play just near where I sat when Guthrie was blocking for one of his team-mates and really got stuck into Mitchell. Didn't take a backward step, and showed his "mongrel" side. It was so good to see .

GHS was also into all the contested stuff, not sure how much was picked up on TV, but remember him having tussles with Hale and Roughead. No backing down from him either .

It actually felt like the hawks were put off more by the physicality, reckon we got on top when things got a little heated in the 2nd (?) quarter.

A game like that must be worth at least 5 "normal" games as far as developing the younger players .

Ah- I think that's the one I was thinking of with Guthrie Yes, it's great for their confidence and I noted at the time that we weren't being dirty about it. Just a retaliatory push and shove where it was needed and in retaliation for some (sometimes) off the ball work on a teammate. I don't like watching the niggly stuff- I think it takes away from what we are trying to watch, i.e. football skills- and am even more against it if one of our boys starts something.