Preview AFL Round 1 - Hawthorn v Geelong, MCG, Monday April 6 3.20PM

[romeoh]

A few thoughts. Waite has been the biggest disappointment of the last 10 years. Between injury and suspension. He's been a failure. Anyone thinking some vertical stripes will turn around 11 years of being a complete waste of talent is deluded. He's a ******* muppet.

Hawthorn fully fit can't beat geelong fully fit ~ let me te you doubting Thomas's why..

Forward power. See all over the ground we match well. They have a great midfield- but so do we. Selwood, Johnson, Bartel, stokes and motlop are genuine a graders. Add Kelly, cockatoo, Duncan, caddy, Guthrie and blicavs abd it's seriously top 4 and bats deeper than most.

Rucks ~ in the past 2 years we've hurt here. This year a for fit Dawson, Stanley and clark will at least make sure we break even.

Back 6. Ours is better. Lakes good but old and only ever a heartbeat away from a brain fade fucj up. Frawkey = massively overrated. Thank **** we didn't sell the farm for him ~ he's a dud ! Lonergan Taylor rivers and co have those coksmokers covered by the length of the flemington straight.

Hawkins, clark, and co will be better wurh every game together. And will be better than anything they have.

Read it-still doubting! They have a pretty fair list, pretty fair skills, pretty clever coach, pretty fair fitness levels.
Think we can match them but have to keep up physical and mental intensity for the whole match. We play our usual half a game-goners. Thought they absolutely pummeled Swans in the GF -brutal physical force on every Swans player. Not expecting that intensity next week, but be good to show them we are not scared of that for future reference (unlike Sydney who went to water in the face of it-game over)

 

[Teriyakicat]

It happened just before the Christmas break so he got the main block of preseason running under his belt, he started training again on the 6th of Feb so he's prob lost about 3/4 weeks on the other guys but he said he's expected to be fit for the early rounds of 2015. So I reckon hopefully we could see him in the AFL team by round 5 to 7.

That's great news. Really good. I was trying to add up the weeks and thought he's only done a few weeks before the injury, missed all of January, then started back in mid-Feb. Just checked the dates and your numbers look much healthier than mine, so I'll run with them, if that's OK?
If he gets himself right and only misses a month or 7 weeks of seniors, then that's better in the long run than rushing him back and seeing him miss out at the pointy end through overcooking.

 

[David the Cat]

Raining?

I see what you did there Fred.………..

 

[Turbocat]

A few thoughts. Waite has been the biggest disappointment of the last 10 years. Between injury and suspension. He's been a failure. Anyone thinking some vertical stripes will turn around 11 years of being a complete waste of talent is deluded. He's a ******* muppet.

Hawthorn fully fit can't beat geelong fully fit ~ let me te you doubting Thomas's why..

Forward power. See all over the ground we match well. They have a great midfield- but so do we. Selwood, Johnson, Bartel, stokes and motlop are genuine a graders. Add Kelly, cockatoo, Duncan, caddy, Guthrie and blicavs abd it's seriously top 4 and bats deeper than most.

Rucks ~ in the past 2 years we've hurt here. This year a for fit Dawson, Stanley and clark will at least make sure we break even.

Back 6. Ours is better. Lakes good but old and only ever a heartbeat away from a brain fade fucj up. Frawkey = massively overrated. Thank **** we didn't sell the farm for him ~ he's a dud ! Lonergan Taylor rivers and co have those coksmokers covered by the length of the flemington straight.

Hawkins, clark, and co will be better wurh every game together. And will be better than anything they have.

Haw can certainly match a fully fit Geelong

Forward power. We may have better talls , they have very good over all group , certainly better smalls.

Rucks , The best we know is that we have more options. I have no faith in any of our designated rucks being better than theirs. Clark if he was our ruckman would represent our best since Ottens , but I doubt that will happen this year.

Backs I have concerns over the over all age our guys , they are a seasoned group. If they do not get opened up for pace or a high leaping forward you may be right. But I think its very debatable.

And our Midfield is thin to theirs. I think we would look a lot better with 2 or 3 mids right at their peak , 24-28. If Bartel and Kelly can play to their best , and remain fit we may match them.

Its the no names that must become. Guthrie has imo. Caddy, GHS and Murdoch have played enough. They must become solid players for us. What ever we get out of any 1st or 2nd year players is really just icing.

We can beat them , but it will take a few things to go our way. Haw can not beat us fully fit? Just doesn't make sense. Of course they can.

 

[Sttew]

I've just come into this discussion, so haven't read the 25 previous pages. Anyway, I am of the view R1 games often throw up big surprises with little consequence (if you win it's because the opposition was underdone, and if your team loses it has 21 games to redeem itself). Upshot Cats can just as easily win as be belted! Seriously, if Mitch Clark continues his NAB Challenge form, our forward set up will pose massive head aches for Hawthorn, particularly if SJ is roaming the forward line too.

 

[meto]

With Birchell and Gibson, Lake and Shoenmakers including Spanger they've got plenty of tall defenders, so I think our two talls will still be double teamed in many contests.
The inclusion of a quality 3rd tall on our part will only partly even the score, I'd like to see Walker his current form warrants his selection.
It would certainly take further attention from our small players in the front half and maybe they will do more rather than less.

 

[Jhye Clark 13]

You're right about the Hawthorn board. They misinterpret your posts and delve into a sense of entitlement and self importance.

They overrate Rioli like no other... Yes teams overrate their players, but none do it like Hawthorn do with him.

They have some excellent posters but its best to stay away from discussions... You get torn apart.

 

[meto]

You're right about the Hawthorn board. They misinterpret your posts and delve into a sense of entitlement and self importance.

They overrate Rioli like no other... Yes teams overrate their players, but none do it like Hawthorn do with him.

They have some excellent posters but its best to stay away from discussions... You get torn apart.

I thought we did with Varcoe but that's just me!....people definitely see more or less depending on their natural bias I suppose...human nature.
I think he's (Rioli) a massive talent but does spend a lot of time under the cloud of injury whether true or false,..don't know.
Fortunately he's a patchy performer.

 

[Jhye Clark 13]

I thought we did with Varcoe but that's just me!....people definitely see more or less depending on their natural bias I suppose...human nature.
I think he's (Rioli) a massive talent but does spend a lot of time under the cloud of injury whether true or false,..don't know.
Fortunately he's a patchy performer.

I think they rate him on his ability to play the role of Casper... Which he does without peer.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

You're right about the Hawthorn board. They misinterpret your posts and delve into a sense of entitlement and self importance.

They overrate Rioli like no other... Yes teams overrate their players, but none do it like Hawthorn do with him.

They have some excellent posters but its best to stay away from discussions... You get torn apart.

I saw your recent venture to that dark sad place.

Weren't too many interested in rational discussions, too preoccupied with chest puffing and astounding levels of arrogance!

I think they rate him on his ability to play the role of Casper... Which he does without peer.

Boris being the generous soul he is will kindly help him give a good demonstration of Casper next Monday

 

[00VicWard001]

Read it-still doubting! They have a pretty fair list, pretty fair skills, pretty clever coach, pretty fair fitness levels.
Think we can match them but have to keep up physical and mental intensity for the whole match. We play our usual half a game-goners. Thought they absolutely pummeled Swans in the GF -brutal physical force on every Swans player. Not expecting that intensity next week, but be good to show them we are not scared of that for future reference (unlike Sydney who went to water in the face of it-game over)

The difference is of course that geelong have never taken a backwards step when facing physical intimidation. The Hawks might have been better conditioned, coached and skilled than us an last year - but they couldnt have come close to bullying us like they did the swans.

The last time the cats were bullied was by the Lions in early 2000s. And we turned that around by 2006.

That was pis$ weak by the swans. Embarrassing for a top line team that prides itself on competing and battling. Especially coached by a hard man like Longmire. I still shake my head.

No way were the Hawks that much better than the swans. All things equal- with the right mindset and intensity the swans should have creamed them. Hell, I still think Port should have smashed them in the semi.

 

[00VicWard001]

I thought we did with Varcoe but that's just me!....people definitely see more or less depending on their natural bias I suppose...human nature.
I think he's (Rioli) a massive talent but does spend a lot of time under the cloud of injury whether true or false,..don't know.
Fortunately he's a patchy performer.

We didnt overrate him. Just made excuses, hoping that his glimpses would be one day more consistent. I think the club thought the same. Varcoe did a couple of nice things, much like Rioli - but he was never ever treated like Rioli.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

We didnt overrate him. Just made excuses, hoping that his glimpses would be one day more consistent. I think the club thought the same. Varcoe did a couple of nice things, much like Rioli - but he was never ever treated like Rioli.

Now there's a more apt comparison for 'Junior' hey SoG... With Travis not Mots!

 

[Partridge]

A few thoughts. Waite has been the biggest disappointment of the last 10 years. Between injury and suspension. He's been a failure. Anyone thinking some vertical stripes will turn around 11 years of being a complete waste of talent is deluded. He's a ******* muppet.

Can't help but agree here, at least to the overall tone! But yeah I'm not sure how Waite is going to suddenly become an elite key forward driving a team to a premiership. He's never kicked more than 36 goals in a season. Be a hell of a jump in output, not to mention in discipline.

Rucks ~ in the past 2 years we've hurt here. This year a for fit Dawson, Stanley and clark will at least make sure we break even.

Possibly. Remember though Stanley won't play against Hawthorn, and there's a very good chance the ruck combination will be McIntosh, Blicavs, with help from Clark.

 

[Stan The Caddy]

I think they rate him on his ability to play the role of Casper... Which he does without peer.

They were seriously trying to convince me that Rioli is a good "big game" player.

 

[Seeds]

Haw can certainly match a fully fit Geelong

Forward power. We may have better talls , they have very good over all group , certainly better smalls.

Rucks , The best we know is that we have more options. I have no faith in any of our designated rucks being better than theirs. Clark if he was our ruckman would represent our best since Ottens , but I doubt that will happen this year.

Backs I have concerns over the over all age our guys , they are a seasoned group. If they do not get opened up for pace or a high leaping forward you may be right. But I think its very debatable.

And our Midfield is thin to theirs. I think we would look a lot better with 2 or 3 mids right at their peak , 24-28. If Bartel and Kelly can play to their best , and remain fit we may match them.

Its the no names that must become. Guthrie has imo. Caddy, GHS and Murdoch have played enough. They must become solid players for us. What ever we get out of any 1st or 2nd year players is really just icing.

We can beat them , but it will take a few things to go our way. Haw can not beat us fully fit? Just doesn't make sense. Of course they can.

we will never know unless both teams play when fully fit.

 

[bulletproof]

We didnt overrate him. Just made excuses, hoping that his glimpses would be one day more consistent. I think the club thought the same. Varcoe did a couple of nice things, much like Rioli - but he was never ever treated like Rioli.

Varcoe is not half the player Rioli is that is probably why.

 

[dazbroncos]

Can't help but agree here, at least to the overall tone! But yeah I'm not sure how Waite is going to suddenly become an elite key forward driving a team to a premiership. He's never kicked more than 36 goals in a season. Be a hell of a jump in output, not to mention in discipline.



Possibly. Remember though Stanley won't play against Hawthorn, and there's a very good chance the ruck combination will be McIntosh, Blicavs, with help from Clark.

Im pretty sure he went he whack in NAB 2 - didn't get done for it but completely missed the ball and got the defenders head clean.

Just a matter of time….

Go Catters

 

[Lithium]

I've just come into this discussion, so haven't read the 25 previous pages. Anyway, I am of the view R1 games often throw up big surprises with little consequence (if you win it's because the opposition was underdone, and if your team loses it has 21 games to redeem itself). Upshot Cats can just as easily win as be belted! Seriously, if Mitch Clark continues his NAB Challenge form, our forward set up will pose massive head aches for Hawthorn, particularly if SJ is roaming the forward line too.

This can be true, however, in 2011 when you played the saints, most tipped you to loose but in the end you got up by a point. After that they struggled and you went on to win another premiership. Could just be reading into it to much, but that set the tone for your seasons. I think this round 1 game has a simerlar feeling about it.

 

[Stan The Caddy]

This can be true, however, in 2011 when you played the saints, most tipped you to loose but in the end you got up by a point. After that they struggled and you went on to win another premiership. Could just be reading into it to much, but that set the tone for your seasons. I think this round 1 game has a simerlar feeling about it.

Yep I agree. Not so much for Hawthorn, but if we don't at least put up a good fight then I'll be concerned about our prospects for 2015.

Geelong have something to prove this year and there's no time like the present.

 

[MinerBoy]

With Birchell and Gibson, Lake and Shoenmakers including Spanger they've got plenty of tall defenders, so I think our two talls will still be double teamed in many contests.
The inclusion of a quality 3rd tall on our part will only partly even the score, I'd like to see Walker his current form warrants his selection.
It would certainly take further attention from our small players in the front half and maybe they will do more rather than less.

Birchall unlikely, although apparently played an intra club yesterday. Very much doubt Spangher and Shoenmalers even get a game. Haven't seen any of them during the pre-season games.

Likely backline (if Birchall doesn't get up).

FB - Stratton Lake Gibson
HB - Suckling Frawley Burgoyne**

** With Hodge, Mitchell rotating through HB with Burgoyne and Duryea a possibility as an interchange/sub.

 

[Lithium]

Yep I agree. Not so much for Hawthorn, but if we don't at least put up a good fight then I'll be concerned about our prospects for 2015.

Geelong have something to prove this year and there's no time like the present.

The way i see it for geelong is that people are underrating them, saying as though this side is finished. But if you look closer its quite the opposite.
You finished 2nd in 2013, but realistically probably should of finished 1st, the games you dropped (Collingwood, Brisbane and Adelaide) were all to teams year were actually much better than.
Last year was probably your worst year for a while, and you still finished equal 1st.
Now, over the offseason you have added Clarke (Massive for your structure) and Cockatoo (who i think is probably the best pickup of the draft) and you have got another pre-season into all your young guys.
Honestly, if you dont make top 4 i would be quite surprised.

 

[vinum coupe]

It happened just before the Christmas break so he got the main block of preseason running under his belt, he started training again on the 6th of Feb so he's prob lost about 3/4 weeks on the other guys but he said he's expected to be fit for the early rounds of 2015. So I reckon hopefully we could see him in the AFL team by round 5 to 7.

In my opinion, if Thurlow manages to play 3 good games at the end of the year he will have done well.
History is littered with players who have had interrupted preseasons and underwhelming seasons.

And he had a very serious injury. He missed a huge chunk of training. His body would have used every ounce of energy trying to recover. His fitness wouldn't have stagnated, it would have zoomed backwards.

 

[Teriyakicat]

Im pretty sure he went he whack in NAB 2 - didn't get done for it but completely missed the ball and got the defenders head clean.

Just a matter of time….

Go Catters

Yeah, it was against the Hawks. Probably frustration at a point where the Hawks were winning.
Just wait until Norf start losing in the games that matter, daz

 

[Partridge]

They were seriously trying to convince me that Rioli is a good "big game" player.

Yeah, but we convince ourselves on here of all sorts of things too.