Unofficial Preview 2018 AFL Round 1 - Melbourne vs Geelong, Sunday March 25th, MCG

[you pick one]

I'm going early for the meat tray...

FB: Stewart - Taylor - Bews
HB: Tuohy - Blicavs - Kolodjashnij
C: Duncan - Ablett - Kelly
HF: Gregson - Crameri - Parfitt
FF: Menzel - Hawkins - Cockatoo
R: Smith - Dangerfield - J Selwood
I: Fogarty - Guthrie - Menegola - Thurlow
E: Jones - Parsons - Buzza

Good side but the injury Gods would need to be smiling on us.

 

[cats_09]

stanley is a bloody good ruck for a second ruck. he may not be a first ruck but to compare his ruckwork to buzza and sav is just insulting.

Stanley is the better ruck between those three, but unfortunately when he plays as second ruck he has a tendency to not have enough involvement across 4 quarters in other positions.

Smith's best position is the ruck and our best #1 ruck is Smith - does anyone want to argue that?

When they play Stanley as second ruck where he starts forward, if he fails to get involved during the first quarter, the coaches resort to throwing him into the ruck to get involved with the match which in turn means we lose the impact of Smith in the ruck and Smith isn't a great option up forward (handy at times, but I wouldn't want to rely on him as a forward for us to win matches), so he spends more time on the bench than is ideal for our midfield.

I was keeping track of the stats of our rucks last year (Smith, Stanley & Blicavs), and what was clear is that the longer the season went was that Stanley's inclusion was impacting Smith's role where Smith was spending up to 15 to 20% less time on ground when Stanley played, and it was to the extent that there were matches were both guys didn't get above 65% together because neither had enough of an impact outside of the ruck.

Ideally we start with Smith as #1 ruck where he spends 75/80% of the time with our #2 option able to successfully play another role with minimal time in the ruck required for them to have an impact.

 

[Stan The Caddy]

Stop playing the man Stan, you're better than that.

I admire your optimism.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

This argument gets used every year. The reality is there are nearly 20 players every year who were recruited and plenty of them will play VFL more often than not. Crameri will play much more VFL than AFL, or at least I hope he does.

Well Pure_Ownage is right. You object to this notion every time and on the odd occasion that is fair. This isn't one of those occasions.

 

[Partridge]

Well Pure_Ownage is right. You object to this notion every time and on the odd occasion that is fair. This isn't one of those occasions.

So are you saying you think Crameri is in our best 22? I don't. I think we're better served by Hawkins, Menzel, and contributions from others.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

So are you saying you think Crameri is in our best 22? I don't. I think we're better served by Hawkins, Menzel, and contributions from others.

I do yes.

He's been rather consistent over the years. Never excels but always good for around 1.7 goals a game.
Better forward prospect than Stanley, Buzza, Sav, Parsons, Parfitt, McCarthy, Gregson. The list goes on.

Most on that list are either unproven through age, unproven through injury or completely s**t.

 

[Partridge]

I do yes.

He's been rather consistent over the years. Never excels but always good for around 1.7 goals a game.
Better forward prospect than Stanley, Buzza, Sav, Parsons, Parfitt, McCarthy, Gregson. The list goes on.

Most on that list are either unproven through age, unproven through injury or completely s**t.

He's also a very different player to at least the last three names there. Not too many small forwards are 98kg.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

He's also a very different player to at least the last three names there. Not too many small forwards are 98kg.

Well he's not like the others either. He's not a tall forward.
Who he's similar to is less relevant than him being the 3rd most credentialed forward on our list.

 

[Hood007]

Good side but the injury Gods would need to be smiling on us.

Fingers crossed...

 

[Cataholic]

Was looking forward to a solid start for the season, but got to be honest and say some of my confidence has evaporated

 

[frggr]

Murdoch has size after Cocky he's probably the player who tackles hardest, will come into contention if to many of those players are out.

Hard tackles are only useful if you're tackling.
I want to see the mongrel in Murdoch come out more often. When he's on, he's on.

 

[ADA23]

Stewart Harry Bews
Kolo Thurlow Tuohey

Duncan Ablett Blicavs

Gregson Hawkins Parfitt
Menegola Menzel Jones

Smith Selwood C Guthrie

Z Guthrie Kelly Constable Fogarty

Not our best team but I can’t see them risking Danger or those who didnt play JLT

 

[MacStradbroke]

Stewart Harry Bews
Kolo Thurlow Tuohey

Duncan Ablett Blicavs

Gregson Hawkins Parfitt
Menegola Menzel Jones

Smith Selwood C Guthrie

Z Guthrie Kelly Constable Fogarty

Not our best team but I can’t see them risking Danger or those who didnt play JLT

Thurlow CHB, god help us. McDonald will rag doll him all day long.

 

[Partridge]

Well he's not like the others either. He's not a tall forward.
Who he's similar to is less relevant than him being the 3rd most credentialed forward on our list.

Maybe. If he gets opportunities and maintains that output fantastic.

 

[Hello Kitty]

When will the 'Official' Preview thread be posted? Only nine days until the game.

 

[Hello Kitty]

If Blitz is playing back then they are going to play Stanley as 2nd ruck. Sad but true.

With Stanley's calf injury + Blitz doing some ruck last Sunday at Colac, he's Scott's ideal player - versatile. Blitz started on the Wing, went to Ruck (while Smith was warming up), went forward to take a super mark + goaled!

Finished the pre Season with:
18 possessions
4 marks (two inside-50)
2 rebound-50s
8 tackles

This success means Blitz becomes a valuable player, especially for Scott, also due to recent injuries his versatility means he can play in different positions, which are challenges he relishes.

 

[Hello Kitty]

B: Bews Kolo Stewart
HB: Tuohy Taylor Zuthrie
C: Duncan Selwood Cuthrie
HF: Menegola Blicavs Kelly
F: Parfitt Hawkins Menzel
R: Smith Dangerfield Ablett
I: Thurlow Parsons Constable Miers

If Danger and Ablett play underdone hard to also risk Cockatoo/Crameri/Gregson too I feel so maybe something like that.

Though Scott probably more likely to pick Murdoch and GHS over Constable and Miers.

It's become very interesting since your post, with the recent Ablett, Dangerfield, Stanley injuries

Cockatoo is a 'definite Go' for Rd1 apparently, straight from the horse's mouth

Murdoch is probably in with a very good chance, considering his recent performance + form.

Was very surprised at Hyphen's stats for the JLT Suns games, I think he fumbled a bit that game. Like Murdoch, just can't get a break.

SavRat is reported to have a concussion + awaiting a test for tonight's VFL game.
"A decision on the availability of Esava Ratugolea (concussion), Cory Gregson (abdominal strain) and Aaron Black will be made prior to the game, according to Lloyd."
http://www.geelongcats.com.au/news/2018-03-15/ablett-tracking-well-for-season-start

"In regard to that VFL game there'll be various players on different loads depending on what their program looks like," Lloyd said.

Star defender Lachie Henderson (knee) is still on track to return some time between rounds one and four, while Scott Selwood (ankle) is on a similar timeframe."

Regarding Ablett:
"GEELONG remains confident superstar midfielder Gary Ablett is on track to play against Melbourne in round one.

Ablett, 33, will look to further prove his fitness during an important training session on Friday where he will put his injured hamstring to the test.

Cats football manager Simon Lloyd said Ablett, who did not play any minutes in the JLT Community Series, was tracking in the right direction in regard to his availability for the clash against the Demons at the MCG on March 25.

"Gary's completed a high volume of work over pre-season and he's tracking well for round one," Lloyd told AFL.com.au.

"The players had a solid session yesterday (Wednesday) and we'll have a solid session on Friday.

"At the moment, there's no reason why Gary won't be available for round one." Lloyd said."

Regarding Dangerfield:
"Lloyd said fellow superstar onballer Patrick Dangerfield would not be risked in round one if he was not fully fit, but insisted the Cats would give him every possible chance to play.

"We've got 10 days where he's got a strong management plan that we'll focus on and that's something that we'll monitor as a day-by-day proposition," Lloyd said."
http://www.geelongcats.com.au/news/2018-03-15/ablett-tracking-well-for-season-start

Considering our Midfield excitement levels all the way through the very long Summer, it will be horrid if our Fab Five Midfield doesn't kick off the Season - still, bigger picture, I keep repeating in between

 

[lionbear]

I cannot see how Danger can play round 1, the risks involved are just too great, make sure the Hammie is right.

 

[catempire]

When will the 'Official' Preview thread be posted? Only nine days until the game.

Willo_ is writing a preview. Official thread will be up on Sunday. Use this thread until then.

 

[Hello Kitty]

Willo_ is writing a preview. Official thread will be up on Sunday. Use this thread until then.

I started the Preview thread for this game because non-Mod posters have begun Preview threads in the past. Was unaware that only Mods could start Preview threads - new rule?

 

[BotsMaster]

I started the Preview thread for this game because non-Mod posters have begun Preview threads in the past. Was unaware that only Mods could start Preview threads - new rule?

New rule from last season if I recall correctly

 

[catempire]

I started the Preview thread for this game because non-Mod posters have begun Preview threads in the past. Was unaware that only Mods could start Preview threads - new rule?

Yep. From last season.

 

[Hello Kitty]

New rule from last season if I recall correctly

Yep. From last season.

Hmmm, strange that a Preview thread was begun by a non-Mod last season

I now know not to begin Preview threads

 

[Hello Kitty]

I cannot see how Danger can play round 1, the risks involved are just too great, make sure the Hammie is right.

The injury appeared to result from an innocuous kick, you could see his reaction, but then he jogged off the Oval. Now I've not strained a hamstring, so have nfi how painful it is, but I've done three ACLs, dislocated a knee, knee, ankle + hip ligaments + tendons + I couldn't walk!

So the point of saying the above is in the most monumental hope that Dangerfield's hamstring will be healed by Rd1 + that's just for the purely selfish reason of wanting to see him play with Selwood + Ablett.

Head + heart are both still tugging towards Dangerfield only playing when he is fit, of course, whether that's three weeks or more.

 

[Willo_]

Hmmm, strange that a Preview thread was begun by a non-Mod last season

I now know not to begin Preview threads

It was done to stop people who have others on ignore from potentially not being able to see the threads I believe.
Last season there was trigger happy young poster around who kept starting them but for the most part I'm pretty sure CE and Daz tried to put the OP in so it was visible to all