Preview AFL Round 2 - Geelong v Hawthorn, MCG, 3:10PM Monday 9 April

[MinerBoy]

Re: Can we talk about the Hawthorn game now?

It's Franklin mate
He's the AFL's poster boy and their main drawing card, I highly doubt something like that would even get looked at.

Would take an incident like Scarlett's to even have him noticed I'm afraid.

Haha - Franklin has received 2-3 of the softest suspension of the past 5 years so he isn't protected at all. I'd say they've used him to set examples but I won't derail....

However, that tackle on Friday was perfect and will receive no sanction at all. He will be there against you guys.

 

[MinerBoy]

Is Scarlett that big a loss when against the Hawks?

Recently we seem to have gone with the Lonergan/Taylor match up anyhow. Obviously Scarlett is important, but I dont consider him to be our best defender anymore, especially when it comes to matching up on Franklin. Heck, Mackie has done a decent job on him in the past as well. For this particular game though, I would much rather have lost Scarlett then Say Taylor.

The fact Scarlett hasn't played on our key forwards has allowed him to be one of the most damaging players on the ground with his cleaning up and rebounding.

I'll be rapt if he isn't playing.

 

[Baz_hawk]

Hey guys, any idea which end the cats cheer squad will be at?
Thanks

 

[MinerBoy]

Re: Can we talk about the Hawthorn game now?

Hawthorn are playing footy right now that is eerily similar to Collingwood at the start of 2011. They never replicated that form at the pointy end of the season.
You never want to be playing that type of footy right now and I know you will say you disagree but it's true..

The last time we won a flag (2008 I think) we won our first 9 games. Coming out of the blocks is a whole lot better than being 1-6 like 2009 and trying to play catch up all year.

Now, I agree you don't want to run out of steam when the real footy is played but I also think sides are going to be managing that much better now and in the future (thanks in part to the way your club has gone about it over the past few years) and that giving yourself some early wins allows you to tailor the back end of the season to best fit your injury/fitness needs.

 

[catters078]

This game will be analysed 5000 different ways.

basically it will come down to the last 5 minutes like it always does and whoever has better disposal efficiency and less turnovers in that time likley wins

 

[PoidaCat]

As long as we don't rock up 20 minutes into the first quarter should be a fairly comfortable 7-8 goal victory.

Hawthorn is buddy and that's it.

Defence is laughable...Pods and Hawkins to destroy them.

 

[Catsmaninamerica]

This game will be analysed 5000 different ways.

basically it will come down to the last 5 minutes like it always does and whoever has better disposal efficiency and less turnovers in that time likley wins

go have a look at the qualifying final again.

guys, seriously. lets all take a deeeeep breath and think clearly.

Freo beat us by 4 points

In Perth
After a 5 goal start
Having at least 3 goals handed to them from stupid idiotic poor discipline.

We will beat Hawthorn easily. their midfield (especially without Hodge) is SO reliant on Mitchell. They have nowhere near our mid depth. Hell. Bateman still runs through their midfield. He'd be about player 31 on our list I reckon. They have 1 ruckman in Macauley who was a delisted Bris rookie. West will destroy him. They have the flimsiest back 6 in the top 8. For all their grandstanding about beating Collingwood, dont forget that the Pies kicked 16 goals!!!

Hawthorn are not a super side. To be a super side, they need to unearth a Lonegran sized Key Defender, and another couple of "Selwood/Bartel/Kelly/Chappy's"

Cats by 37 points.

 

[fpm84]

go have a look at the qualifying final again.

guys, seriously. lets all take a deeeeep breath and think clearly.

Freo beat us by 4 points

In Perth
After a 5 goal start
Having at least 3 goals handed to them from stupid idiotic poor discipline.

We will beat Hawthorn easily. their midfield (especially without Hodge) is SO reliant on Mitchell. They have nowhere near our mid depth. Hell. Bateman still runs through their midfield. He'd be about player 31 on our list I reckon. They have 1 ruckman in Macauley who was a delisted Bris rookie. West will destroy him. They have the flimsiest back 6 in the top 8. For all their grandstanding about beating Collingwood, dont forget that the Pies kicked 16 goals!!!

Hawthorn are not a super side. To be a super side, they need to unearth a Lonegran sized Key Defender, and another couple of "Selwood/Bartel/Kelly/Chappy's"

Cats by 37 points.

We always predict 6+ goal wins against the Hawks and they never eventuate. The qualifying final was the closest we got to it, and that was with Ottens and Ling playing exceptional games.

 

[MrFujiMoto]

go have a look at the qualifying final again.

guys, seriously. lets all take a deeeeep breath and think clearly.

Freo beat us by 4 points

In Perth
After a 5 goal start
Having at least 3 goals handed to them from stupid idiotic poor discipline.

We will beat Hawthorn easily. their midfield (especially without Hodge) is SO reliant on Mitchell. They have nowhere near our mid depth. Hell. Bateman still runs through their midfield. He'd be about player 31 on our list I reckon. They have 1 ruckman in Macauley who was a delisted Bris rookie. West will destroy him. They have the flimsiest back 6 in the top 8. For all their grandstanding about beating Collingwood, dont forget that the Pies kicked 16 goals!!!

Hawthorn are not a super side. To be a super side, they need to unearth a Lonegran sized Key Defender, and another couple of "Selwood/Bartel/Kelly/Chappy's"

Cats by 37 points.

Yep - you guys did a number on us in QF last year. Pods and Hawkins are definately a worry (As they are to any defence in the league). As for the flimsiest backline - I think that is more a myth based on it's size. We are not the best back there but our "makeshift" backline finished 3rd best in the comp last year so is not too bad.

Most people that watched the game on Friday saw that that delisted Brisbane rookie was only just beaten by a fit and inform Darren Jolly and he presented very well all over the ground. I would almost have him as being better than Max has been so far. He will do Ok and I don't think he will get destroyed.

The game on Friday was frenetic, it was always going to be very attacking, high scoring game. Collingwood kicking 16 goals does not bother me one bit for this time of season. The bigger worry was the form of some of our backman - Mainly Stratton and even Goo.

Midfield depth does not really worry me either, Bateman rarely runs through the middle and plays more of a tagging role these days. We will most likely be getting Shiels back and with Sewell (Who pretty much won the game for us in the 4th), Mitch, Lewis, Smith, Cyril, Whitecross, Burgouyne, Savage and Hodge if he gets up we have enough depth to run the game out now. And this is the main difference in us so far this year. In the NAB and 1st round we have run out games, unlike last year when better sides such as yourselves and Collingwood would run over the top of us as our boys got tired. I was espescially happy for them to steady and run out the game Friday night, that game was played at a very high pace all night. I cant wait for the game, I love and hate games against your team. How do you think Kelly will go at the MRP? I have not seen that incident at all. Who else was reported?

 

[fpm84]

How do you think Kelly will go at the MRP? I have not seen that incident at all. Who else was reported?

Kelly and Podsiadly reported alongside Scarlett. All we have to go by is a report in The Age today which suggests the first two will be thrown out.

 

[MrFujiMoto]

Kelly and Podsiadly reported alongside Scarlett. All we have to go by is a report in The Age today which suggests the first two will be thrown out.

Cheers . MRP are getting a bit rediculous if you ask me. Hopefully they are right to play (though I can't say I would miss Pods ) , Scarlett will hurt you a bit I think. I get sick of seeing him taking countless marks about 40 out from our goal. I have met him once or twice and he seems such a nice bloke, would definately have taken more than a bit of niggling to get him to react like that. The Ballantyne incident was the like hitting 2 birds with 1 stone for me. I HATE Ballantyne and loved seeing the snivelling little weazle get clocked and then I thought, Hang on that was Scarlett, he'll get rubbed for that. Not that I think anyone should be rubbed for clocking Ballantyne.

 

[Farmer2Goggin]

We always predict 6+ goal wins against the Hawks and they never eventuate. The qualifying final was the closest we got to it, and that was with Ottens and Ling playing exceptional games.

Salivating at the prospect of this one , Hawks are up and about and we come back with our tail between our legs having started slowly and being ill disciplined.
Scott really has some ammunition to work with this week !!

We won the QF comfortably but now have to cover the loss of Ling , Otto and Scarlett ( hopefully not Pods and Kel as well) Don't be surprised if Freo win all their home games so our 4 point loss may not be doom and gloom after all. Also I think the Pies side was pretty undermanned so the Hawks probably performed to par. I don't think the form line is all that far apart.

We rarely lose 2 in a row when it matters so bring it on.

 

[CatsBack2Back]

Hey do I have to pre purchase a seat for the game on Monday or can I just turn up with my cats membership and get in? It's our home game right?

 

[barmy44]

We rarely lose 2 in a row when it matters so bring it on.

id say this side often loses two in a row. been a bit of a trend.

maybe the when it matters qualification is important, though.

i cant see it being a blow out either way, it never is with these two sides. +/- 20 points, which side it comes down on is a coin toss, imo.

 

[sgbn77]

I'm a bit flat at the thought that Hodge, Roughie, Shiels and Pops are still not definates, but these things happen.

No sane Hawks fan is confident of a win. Optimistic? Hopeful? Yep. But are we looking towards round 3 already, not a chance in the world.

In fact, a four goal lead at 3/4 time has come unstuck so many times, that I'll be waiting until about the 31st minute of the final term before exhaling.

Why should we be confident though?

- Ling is gone. I guess this isn't quite the joyous moment I thought it'd be, cos Hodge is out anyway, so it's sort of like he's still playing and same result!
- Ottens is gone. OK, I'll put my hand up, I don't really care too much about ruckwork, but maybe that's because the Hawks haven't had a good one since a bloke from Essendon turned up. You know, a good midfield can get taps to advantage and win a clearance, or shark an opponent and get a clearance, so to me, ruckman were just big gangly tall guys...who more often than not are involved in baffling ruck infringements. But where Ottens came into his own was when he went forward. Pulled our pants down time and time again.
- Scarlett is out this week. Yes, take the point that Lonegan and Taylor would stand our big guys, but the general coming over the top, or initiating body contact early was often Scarlett...or he was the guy trotting off and setting up play, always seemingly slipping his opponent...and ripping us to shreds.
- Franklin is in great form. You can talk about him playing a yeah-nah game against Collingwood and still getting 5 goals, and I'd say, "that's my point". He's been playing great footy all pre-season, and then round 1. Can't ask for more.
- Introduction of Boumann means we have a bit more ABC to the backline, which at the very least means we can be a bit strategic about how/who we play. It may or may not include Roughie as a backman. It may or may not include Murphy, who ODDLY has an ok record on SJ (and seemingly no one else).
- You have a ridiculous midfield, and have had for years, but I like Lewis, Mitchell and Sewell, plus [insert quick young guy], even with Hodge missing.
- MacCauley did ok against Jolly, so I'm happy for him to play against Stephenson or West. As I said earlier, I'm no Ruck-groupie, so if he can negate or breakeven, I'm happy enough.

As I said at the start, I wouldnt bank a win against you until it was completely in the bag, and frankly we wouldnt know until the end. But is there reason to think things could finally turn? Yes, we've been playing good footy...and chipping away at previous obstacles is exactly how 2008 played out for us...beat this team away from home, break that hoodoo, etc. We did what we needed to do against Collingwood. All this talk of them being inaccurate in front of goal, bollocks, they played swarm, seige mentality footy two years ago, were woeful in front of goal all year, and won the flag. We held them, and then blasted them at the end...last year I can confidently say we would have wilted when they hit the lead in the last. But we didnt. It's a new year.

 

[MrFujiMoto]

Can't agree with your assessment on Jolly, I watched the match on Friday and the bloke is a shadow of his former self.
He's slowed right down and his form all through preseason was pretty ordinary and that's even been commented by Collingwood fans.
Injuries have finally caught up with him and at 30 years of age, you'd want a little more output from a younger ruckman than what I saw against him because Jolly beat him quite well and the commentators were even saying Jolly was the difference.
West is a mobile ruckman who doesn't lumber around from stoppage to stoppage so I'm quite convinced he'll have no worries with McCauley.

Mitchell, Smith, Lewis, Rioli, Burgoyne and Whitecross played in the corresponding matches last year so what's changed so much over the summer?

Your younger brigade are looking the goods but then it works both ways as we have injected our own youth into the team. You most likely wouldn't hear much of it as Geelong don't quite get the media attention like Hawthorn do on a weekly basis but I saw no change in the defense and I saw the same slow legs through the middle of the ground and we played a Fremantle team that was up and about and were still nearly good enough to beat them near or about's full strength/fitness.
You can't say the same for Collingwood and it really did show in the end result.

Either way, we can't win because if we do...you carry on about the umpires or you will look to Max Bailey as your savior (even though you admitted that McCauley played better than he has) and say we lost because he was injured.

Fair point on Jolly I think, but I am still confident that Broc will hold his own at the taps and around the ground. There was alot of work that he did on Friday night in the back half that got called as Shoey, but thats a different story. Our guys should be used to roving the opposition ruck, they have had to do it for a while, we have not had a strong ruck division for a long time. From what I saw of McCauley, if we go down it wont be due to the difference between him and big Max. I like big Max and his second efforts are awesome but I was very impressed with Broc.

As for the fact that we had many of those midefield players in the team from the QF, that does not mean too much.

For 1 every player has ups and downs and many of those names were quiet on the night. If anything that provides quite a bit of upside to our team in theory. The same as you probably have a list of players that did not play well that could potentially provide upside to your team.

And 2 Smith has bulked up noticably (Not too hard as my mates 13yo son was bulkier than him last year), WhiteX has done the same and so has Shiels, Savage and Suckling. All of these players were very immature in their bodies right through last year. Now this can be an advantage or disadvantage depending on how you look at it. When Hodge bulked up (enough KFC jokes) he slowed right down and had to lean down a bit but Smith, WhiteX and Savage certainly look no slower for the extra bulk. This is an advantage against the Cats because you are a bulky, hard team. The slow midfield I don't agree with, Smith, Savage, Cyril and Shiels are not slow. Neither is WhiteX or Burgoyne (Effectively), they are both quick and elsuive for 20 meters or so which is all they need. Hodge, lewis and Sammy are a bit slow there is no doubt but all of them are still elusive and creative in close.

The defence, you are correct but we have made do with it. Stratts had a below par game and has to find form. He has not been in full form since he has been back and if he is, it makes a big difference with him halving impossible contests. We are too small for probably 2 sides in the comp and you are one of them. Many sides have bigger forwards but it is only you and Collingwood that seem to take advantage of it (WC might this year too). Saying that the defence can work well as a unit and if they do we should be OK.

You are not going to see me making excuses about anything if we don't win. You are a strong team and there is no shame losing to a strong team as long as you play to 100% and take something from the loss. It also does not mean anything about if we can beat you or not. The teams are so close that if one team plays well and the other has a slightly off night the result could go either way. As for the umps we get a sh*t run from McBurnie but I think most clubs feel that because he is SH*T as an umpire. Frustrated player inside if you ask me. Umpires are umpires, you win some and you lose some. Sorry for the long thread post.

 

[The rabbi]

Re: Can we talk about the Hawthorn game now?

Suicide is a good hobby mate but I wouldn't do it for a living. Gillies struggles to consistently beat VFL forwards week in, week out. Do not want him anywhere near one of the two best forward lines in league on current form, particularly when Lonergan and Taylor are available.

Only change assuming no suspensions should be Hunt in for Scarlett.

I have watched him a fair bit in the magoos and he does struggle against VFL forwards. But I don't think that he will be considered anyway, as he rolled his ankle in the first 1/4 and that was the end of him.

 

[muttweed]

I reckon it should be a tight, intense game but we should come out on top.

The boys will have learnt their lesson from last week and if we lose, Chappy and Bartel will give our boys a good (mental) beating so we don't lose a game for the rest of the year

We've beat them without Scarlo before, but it still all comes down to the performance of our defenders imo.

I think we have them covered/are equal with them in the ruck.
Our forwardlines are both very good and in great form.
We should be better in the middle, if our players regain their form and we can cover Mitchell (Hodge won't play).

But it means SFA if they can get the ball to one of their talls.

Cats by 3 pts.

 

[you pick one]

not that my opinion would worry you at all but sgbn77 & selkan hawks

they are two of the most quality posts I have ever read from Hawthorn supporters and it's quite refreshing

I been so use to reading nothing but negativity in certain forums and it really does get the blood curdling but you guys are obviously the true Hawthorn supporters and know what your on about.

Can't disagree with most of what you guys said and either way, gotta be thankful we can turn up to this type of game and know every single spectator is going to get their moneys worth and not have to put up with the absolute rotten crap that certain "other" teams dish up for their fans on a weekly basis.

Stay away from the clowns on the bay or finish up a bitter and twisted old fart like me.You have been warned.

 

[you pick one]

Back to the 60's For the sausages this week with the ruckman having a spell in the backline if necessary

Motlop Hawkins Christensen

Brown Pods S.J

Duncan Bartel Kelly

Mackie H. Taylor Smedts

T hunt Lonnergan Enright

Stephenson Selwood Chapman

West Corey Guthery SUB Stokes

Read um and weep boys.

 

[Jhye Clark 13]

 

[David the Cat]

Stay away from the clowns on the bay or finish up a bitter and twisted old fart like me.You have been warned.

I have to take you to task here YPO....

You're not bitter.

 

[you pick one]

I have to take you to task here YPO....

You're not bitter.

You'll keep

 

[you pick one]

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow move over Moondogs the man

 

[sgbn77]

not that my opinion would worry you at all but sgbn77 & selkan hawks

they are two of the most quality posts I have ever read from Hawthorn supporters and it's quite refreshing

I been so use to reading nothing but negativity in certain forums and it really does get the blood curdling but you guys are obviously the true Hawthorn supporters and know what your on about.

Can't disagree with most of what you guys said and either way, gotta be thankful we can turn up to this type of game and know every single spectator is going to get their moneys worth and not have to put up with the absolute rotten crap that certain "other" teams dish up for their fans on a weekly basis.

Appreciate the compliment.

It's a delicate balance, but sometimes you can have a better conversation on another forum that you can with your own supporters. More enlightening, I guess you could say...learning about where you might get hooked by the opposition and so on.

One of my regular footy mates is actually a Geelong die hard, and he does the hard yards and comes to much more Hawks matches than I go to Cats games (my excuse is having kids and not having quite the same latitude with the weekends!). But it has meant that we've sat there (or stood there in the bar from 3/4 time onwards) and politely golf clapped and complimented each others teams throughout some fairly harrowing losses over the last 3 years. In reality there are absolutely no golf claps, lots of swearing into pots...but we do manage some congratulatory analysis five minutes after the game.

So despite my best efforts, I've seen what Geelong has consistently been able to deliver.

That's what scares me.