Preview AFL Round 18 - Geelong v Adelaide, Simonds Stadium, 1:45PM Saturday 28 July

[ok.crows]

It's looking very unlikely that Tippet will play which is great for us after hearing the news that Scarlo has been rubbed out. A Crows medico was on Triple M this afternoon and said that the onset symtoms of Tippet's concussion have resulted in him being worse off than what he was on Saturday and therefore no risks will be taken with him.

Hope you don't mind a Crows point of view posted on your board. Just on Tippett, he has been very unlucky, with three completely accidental knocks to the head taking him out of games early in the past month. But I would like to suggest that this is not as great for Geelong as it might seem at first, the reason being that because of injuries in games, and medical caution, Tippett has managed to contribute just one goal to the Crows scoring in the past three weeks. One solitary Tippett goal in three weeks, if the Crows miss that input this week, frankly it won't make a lot of difference.

The Crows get Walker back this week, they will rest Tippett (inj) and so they will retain Jenkins playing as a tall forward and backup ruck. Jenkins alone has been able to contribute far more than Tippett has in these past few weeks. The Crows have also lost Henderson to an ankle injury, so now they are playing Vince in that mobile hff role, and they are reaping great rewards. Vince is doing very well. Aside from the talls in Walker and Jenkins, and Vince as a mid-height mobile half forward, the Crows have been playing smalls Douglas, Porplyzia and Callinan in their forward line. All have been doing well. The Crows have barely missed Walker and Tippett from the forward line these past three weeks.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

Christensen and Johnson expected to be ok, Pods not expected to come up and Scarlett confirmed as an out. So it would be assumed that the ins will be Bartel, Christensen, Johnson and the outs will be Scarlett and two of Murdoch/Guthrie/Sheringham (unless there are other injuries that we are unaware of). With Pods ruled out (a major concern for next week), Walker is a certain starter, so the only three who could really come under scrutiny are those mentioned (and they'd all be pretty stiff). Still, it's never a bad thing for your team to have to make difficult decisions at selection, heading towards September.

It might sound silly, but I reckon Johnson is a bit underrated by a lot of Geelong supporters. Him playing, and playing well, is absolutely critical to our chances on Saturday. I just don't think his possible injury concern gets as much attention as it would if it was Enright, Chapman, Lonergan, Taylor or Bartel. I reckon Johnson is just as important to us.

 

[ok.crows]

Worried about Adelaide using Shaw forward this week, showed he is a capable lead up medium forward a couple of weeks ago, of the type that Geelong struggle to stop. Especially with Scarlo out, Milburn will know this only too well.

Shaw will no doubt return this week, but Vince has got the "mobile half forward" role for the moment. Vince is a fantastic kick, left or right, long range and very accurate shot for goals. Shaw can read the play and mark but as for his shooting at goal ... not so much. I don't think Shaw has kicked even one goal in the AFL so far.

Douglas is playing on the other half forward flank, changing with Johncock. Shaw will almost certainly play in defense, most likely replacing Symes or Smith. Shaw can do a great job generating run out of defence.

 

[Cataholic]

Hope you don't mind a Crows point of view posted on your board. Just on Tippett, he has been very unlucky, with three completely accidental knocks to the head taking him out of games early in the past month. But I would like to suggest that this is not as great for Geelong as it might seem at first, the reason being that because of injuries in games, and medical caution, Tippett has managed to contribute just one goal to the Crows scoring in the past three weeks. One solitary Tippett goal in three weeks, if the Crows miss that input this week, frankly it won't make a lot of difference.

The Crows get Walker back this week, they will rest Tippett (inj) and so they will retain Jenkins playing as a tall forward and backup ruck. Jenkins alone has been able to contribute far more than Tippett has in these past few weeks. The Crows have also lost Henderson to an ankle injury, so now they are playing Vince in that mobile hff role, and they are reaping great rewards. Vince is doing very well. Aside from the talls in Walker and Jenkins, and Vince as a mid-height mobile half forward, the Crows have been playing smalls Douglas, Porplyzia and Callinan in their forward line. All have been doing well. The Crows have barely missed Walker and Tippett from the forward line these past three weeks.

Sensible posts like this are welcome anytime. You make some good points.

We wish Tippett well, and hope he suffers no long term damage. We don't seek, or want, any 'advantage' through injury. That would be in poor taste.

 

[Jwuzzy]

Christensen and Johnson expected to be ok, Pods not expected to come up and Scarlett confirmed as an out.

It might sound silly, but I reckon Johnson is a bit underrated by a lot of Geelong supporters. Him playing, and playing well, is absolutely critical to our chances on Saturday. I just don't think his possible injury concern gets as much attention as it would if it was Enright, Chapman, Lonergan, Taylor or Bartel. I reckon Johnson is just as important to us.

Not too sure what you have been reading but as of about 8 minutes ago on Triple M, they said Johnson, Christianssen & Pods should all be fine. Yup even Pods!
From what we have seen all season, Adelaide simply cannot play in Victoria.
I expect the same to continue this weekend.

 

[TheRoo32]

Tell him to get stuffed on the Crows board then.

We have many times. But unfortunatley to little effect...
FOTY

Yes I would be expecting Tippett to miss and have a 2-3 weeks off to make sure he's Cherry ripe
Walker will replace him with Shaw coming in for Symes/Smith.
Hoping all of SJ, Christensen and Pods get up for you guys as we need another solid challenge this week to see where we're at.

 

[SJ]

Adelaide supporters,

You do not have the right to insult Geelong supporters on this board. If you have an issue with Cats fans on your own board then the correct course of action is to report the offending posts or contact your own moderators.

If you are uncertain about the local rules, please read the stickied thread at the top of our board.

Any posters who break a rule may receive an infraction.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

Not too sure what you have been reading but as of about 8 minutes ago on Triple M, they said Johnson, Christianssen & Pods should all be fine. Yup even Pods!
From what we have seen all season, Adelaide simply cannot play in Victoria.
I expect the same to continue this weekend.

http://www.geelongcats.com.au/geelongnews/newsarticle/tabid/3933/newsid/142504/default.aspx

Key forward James Podsiadly is still battling to overcome the ankle injury he suffered against Port Adelaide in round 14.

Podsiadly wasn't part of Tuesday's training run and is unlikely to take on Adelaide.

"The main focus will be on [Wednesday's] session," Scott said. "We won't know [whether he'll be fit to play] until at least Thursday or Friday.

"So while we're optimistic, things can change in between."

http://www.geelongcats.com.au/geelongnews/newsarticle/tabid/3933/newsid/142504/default.aspx

The key point to me is that the last seven bolded words are unnecessary; they could have just said he didn't train today and let us form our own conclusions.

Adelaide's form in Victoria has been about par. Lost to NM, beat WB. Smashed Car, were smashed by Haw. They've also won against finals/top four contenders in WA and NSW. Travelling doesn't seem to worry them too much.

 

[SJ]

A month for an ankle is pretty lengthy.

 

[Jwuzzy]

http://www.geelongcats.com.au/geelongnews/newsarticle/tabid/3933/newsid/142504/default.aspx

http://www.geelongcats.com.au/geelongnews/newsarticle/tabid/3933/newsid/142504/default.aspx

The key point to me is that the last seven bolded words are unnecessary; they could have just said he didn't train today and let us form our own conclusions.

Adelaide's form in Victoria has been about par. Lost to NM, beat WB. Smashed Car, were smashed by Haw. They've also won against finals/top four contenders in WA and NSW. Travelling doesn't seem to worry them too much.

Well there's conflicting reports. i seriously heard moments ago on triple M they said, all 3 were gonna get up.
We'll have to wait and see but i reckon he might play tbh.
Hopefully Wojo in too. That will be a super strong side.
Adelaide playing down at Simmonds Stadium is an entirely different challenge all together.
This is their biggest test...
and cats record down their is impeccable.
You know, I know it.
And the bookies know it.
So lets not sugar coat this and talk down our team.
Call it as you see it. If i was a neutral suporter, i would be thinking geelong semi comfortably.
Adelaide are gonna be up against it big time down there.
A loss here and they can't make top 2.
Then they'll most likely have to play a first final in Melbourne against Hawks or Collingwood.
Not ideal for Crows supporters!!

 

[TheRoo32]

Well there's conflicting reports. i seriously heard moments ago on triple M they said, all 3 were gonna get up.
We'll have to wait and see but i reckon he might play tbh.
Hopefully Wojo in too. That will be a super strong side.
Adelaide playing down at Simmonds Stadium is an entirely different challenge all together.
This is their biggest test...
and cats record down their is impeccable.
You know, I know it.
And the bookies know it.
So lets not sugar coat this and talk down our team.
Call it as you see it. If i was a neutral suporter, i would be thinking geelong semi comfortably.
Adelaide are gonna be up against it big time down there.
A loss here and they can't make top 2.
Then they'll most likely have to play a first final in Melbourne against Hawks or Collingwood.
Not ideal for Crows supporters!!

 

[TheWoodenSlug]

Massive game this week. I reckon if we win this week, especially if we win comfortably, the Hawthorn game becomes a little more gettable. The whole competition will be watching this game wondering, like us, whether the Essendon game was a one off or the start of something and it may play on some of the Hawks' (and other teams') minds if we head into that game with two solid wins against two good teams, given the mental edge we have over them at the moment.

That said, we have to win this week first and despite the fact that we are favourites, I'm not totally confident. In my opinion it will depend on two things; whether Geelong can play with the intensity and execution that they did last week and just how much this Adelaide side has improved and matured. We will learn a lot about both teams this week.

Go catters!

 

[Jwuzzy]

Saturdays game will be won in the midfield.
One area we havent gone backwards in is our midfield,
Bartel, Selwood, Kelly, Corey (even SJ can play in the middle with great success)
All 4 of those guys are still playing well. Corey is probably slowly fading out but Selwood has got even better since he got the captaincy. That is a super midfield. We beat the crows in this area.
Gonna most likely be wintery conditions down there too = perfect conditions to us.
The game will be bottled up/low scoring.
Which makes the absence of Tippett even more important.
Having the luxury of a 6.8 giant plucking marks in the forward line when goals will be hard to come by = invaluable.
We have been blessed with his unfortunate injury this weekend.
Looking forward to coming away with the points then it's onto the real tough game next week against the Hawks.

 

[Cataholic]

Massive game this week. I reckon if we win this week, especially if we win comfortably, the Hawthorn game becomes a little more gettable. The whole competition will be watching this game wondering, like us, whether the Essendon game was a one off or the start of something and it may play on some of the Hawks' (and other teams') minds if we head into that game with two solid wins against two good teams, given the mental edge we have over them at the moment.

That said, we have to win this week first and despite the fact that we are favourites, I'm not totally confident. In my opinion it will depend on two things; whether Geelong can play with the intensity and execution that they did last week and just how much this Adelaide side has improved and matured. We will learn a lot about both teams this week.

Go catters!

Play with anything less than the intensity and execution of last week and we're guaranteed to lose. Adelaide is a good side, and the intensity / execution of last week is quite simply the minimum standard we need to bring from here on in.

Scarlett's suspension will hurt our backline structure, but Wojo in (?) will help our re-bound and Pods, Bartel and Bundy in will help us further up the ground.

Like you, I'm not real confident but hope to learn exactly where we are at if nothing else.

 

[Cataholic]

Saturdays game will be won in the midfield.
One area we havent gone backwards in is our midfield,
Bartel, Selwood, Kelly, Corey (even SJ can play in the middle with great success)
All 4 of those guys are still playing well. Corey is probably slowly fading out but Selwood has got even better since he got the captaincy. That is a super midfield. We beat the crows in this area.
Gonna most likely be wintery conditions down there too = perfect conditions to us.
The game will be bottled up/low scoring.
Which makes the absence of Tippett even more important.
Having the luxury of a 6.8 giant plucking marks in the forward line when goals will be hard to come by = invaluable.
We have been blessed with his unfortunate injury this weekend.
Looking forward to coming away with the points then it's onto the real tough game next week against the Hawks.

I don't think Tippett's absence will affect the Crows much at all. He's contributed very little over the last few rounds due to injury / concussion, and they've still won comfortably.

No disrespect to him, but the Crows will hardly notice his absence on the field / scoreboard.

 

[Jwuzzy]

its funny, i remember after the Nth Melb loss early in the season.
People in here were saying how much they were worrying about the Tigers game the following week and how it was a "Danger game" lol
It made me laugh.
Whilst Adelaide are a better team, this is pretty much the same thing.
Relax peeps.
Super experienced cats in a must win game, been there done that, we won't let this one slip.
Trust me.
Cats have got this one in the bag.
I know this bcos of how we played against essendon. I thought we had lost the Geelong of old. But it's still there.
We're back!!

 

[Jwuzzy]

I don't think Tippett's absence will affect the Crows much at all. He's contributed very little over the last few rounds due to injury / concussion, and they've still won comfortably.

No disrespect to him, but the Crows will hardly notice his absence on the field / scoreboard.

Him missing screws with the chemistry of that team.
He is a vital COG in their make-up.
He will be missed more than you think. just as Scarlett will be for us.
But a 33yr old Scarlett can be covered easier.
Tippett's loss will hurt them more

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

Saturdays game will be won in the midfield.
One area we havent gone backwards in is our midfield,
Bartel, Selwood, Kelly, Corey (even SJ can play in the middle with great success)
All 4 of those guys are still playing well. Corey is probably slowly fading out but Selwood has got even better since he got the captaincy. That is a super midfield. We beat the crows in this area.

I would argue that a) we have gone down, markedly, in the midfield (Ling and Varcoe absent, Corey miles down on his 2011 production and Kelly probably down marginally as well); and b) we aren't as good as the Crows in that area, on paper at least, since they have three AA contenders running through there, along with a potential AA ruckman.

 

[Cataholic]

its funny, i remember after the Nth Melb loss early in the season.
People in here were saying how much they were worrying about the Tigers game the following week and how it was a "Danger game" lol
It made me laugh.
Whilst Adelaide are a better team, this is pretty much the same thing.
Relax peeps.
Super experienced cats in a must win game, been there done that, we won't let this one slip.
Trust me.
Cats have got this one in the bag.
I know this bcos of how we played against essendon. I thought we had lost the Geelong of old. But it's still there.
We're back!!

I'm not so sure. For me, one swallow doesn't a summer make, so I'm going to have to see a little more of the same before I will declare 'they're back'.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

its funny, i remember after the Nth Melb loss early in the season.
People in here were saying how much they were worrying about the Tigers game the following week and how it was a "Danger game" lol
It made me laugh.

The game that was tied midway through the last quarter and that we won by ten points? That game?

Simonds Stadium has been giving us as much grief as our opponents so far this season.

 

[Jwuzzy]

This is the Adelaide Crows we're taking about.
A good team but hardly world beaters (overated IMO) VS one of the best sides ever to play the game in the modern age.
And this is at a venue where we have lost 2 games in half a decade.
Let's just try and keep this in context please.
Adelaide are gonna struggle....

 

[TheRoo32]

Jwuzzys last post in the Adelaide board

"lol.
Damn you overate your team.
You've been crap for a decade and finally have a good season and you think you are better than a team who have dominated everyone for half a decade.
wowee are u in for a surprise on saturday.
Mwhahaha "

He has been given warnings and told to leave but he won't stop posting this absolute ignorant crap there...

Anyway on a footy note I think this is a very much a 50:50 game. All the best and may the better side win.

 

[PykeDream]

Adelaide's form in Victoria has been about par. Lost to NM, beat WB. Smashed Car, were smashed by Haw. They've also won against finals/top four contenders in WA and NSW. Travelling doesn't seem to worry them too much.

We beat the Bulldogs at home. Our Victoria record is only 1-2, so still not great given how we've fared in general this year.

 

[SJ]

Jwuzzys last post in the Adelaide board

"lol.
Damn you overate your team.
You've been crap for a decade and finally have a good season and you think you are better than a team who have dominated everyone for half a decade.
wowee are u in for a surprise on saturday.
Mwhahaha "

He has been given warnings and told to leave but he won't stop posting this kind of thing there...

Anyway on a footy note I think this is a very much a 50:50 game. All the best and may the better side win.

So report the post and let your mods deal with it, please don't bring it here!

 

[Cataholic]

This is the Adelaide Crows we're taking about.
A good team but hardly world beaters (overated IMO) VS one of the best sides ever to play the game in the modern age.
And this is at a venue where we have lost 2 games in half a decade.
Let's just try and keep this in context please.
Adelaide are gonna struggle....

I don't think you're giving the Crows enough respect - they're currently 2nd on the ladder in a season where the competition amongst the top 8 is as fierce and tight as its been for a few years. We're 7th.

Over the last few years we have indeed been one of the best sides to go around, but we simply aren't playing like that right now.