Preview Changes vs Cats - Rd 14, 2021

[Dannnnnnnnnn]

Can see the cats winning by playing a very slow kick/mark game. If we’re gonna win it’s gotta be organised chaos.

Yep they play us the same way every time. Shut down our spread aided by their shithole of a ground and then back themselves to win most of the aerial contests, an area of the game they're always far superior to us in.

Our pressure and desire to play the ugly territory game needs to be on. We have more speed than we traditionally have against them as well which could be helpful.

Tactically I would give Hannan more wing minutes this week as he's both stronger in 1v1 contests and faster than many of our other wings. He's the type of player that gives us a different look to what we've had against them previously.

 

[dogwatch]

Size of ground
Marvel 169.5m and 140m wide
K Park 170 x 115 m
MCG 171 metres x 146 metres

Going to have to bring the ball down the middle no wonder the Cats win so many games down there ,for fks sake the ground is 30 metres less wider then the MCG

Those dimensions may be fence to fence.
The actual playing area (within the boundary line) is:

Marvel 159.5 x 128.5
GMHBA 167 x 112
MCG 162 x 139

and for reference:
Mars 160 x 129

However your point still stands.

I reckon their home ground advantage must be worth at least 2-3 games a year to them. That would often be the difference that gets them into the top 4 (and a home final at the G) at the expense of an interstate or smaller Victorian club. Good on them for exploiting it to their advantage. It just sucks that clubs like Collingwood, Carlton, Essendon and Hawthorn rarely play there. So they too reap a benefit ... probably worth about half a win in the years that they are competing for the top 4, which is when it matters.

Instead the Victorian minnows are the sacrificial lambs on the altar of the great pagan cat deity, sometimes even in periods when they are flag contenders. Probably the interstate clubs too. Here's a summary of Victorian clubs to play at KP over the last 20-odd years:

Carlton - 3 games at KP since 1997 (all since 2018)​

Collingwood - 0 games at KP since 1999​

Essendon - 0 games at KP since 1993​

Hawthorn - 3 games at KP since 1999​

By contrast:

WB - 13 games at KP since 1999 ... counting this coming round​

North - 9 games at KP since 2008 (none between 1995-2007)​

Saints - 9 games at KP since 1999​

Melbourne - 16 games at KP since 1999​

Richmond - 8 games at KP since 1999 but none since they won their flag in 2017​

I know some will say it's all about maximising attendances - some clubs will draw bigger crowds at the MCG than can fit into KP. No doubt that's true, but it seems to me that's a far higher priority for the AFL than having a fair competition. Equalisation should encompass a lot more than the so-called "handouts" (I prefer to call it hush money) to the smaller clubs.

So why isn't there more widespread outrage and ransacking of AFL House at this massive leg-up not only for Geelong but also Collingwood, Carlton, Essendon and Hawthorn?

 

[doggies ftw]

That’s the issue for us - small ground causes turnovers which means in goes into their forward line fast and often.

Agreed but goes both ways though, we’ve got the most dangerous forward line that we’ve taken down there for a while by a long long way. If our pressures up there could be a lot of quick ball getting down to Naughty, Bruce & Tim

 

[doggies ftw]

Yep they play us the same way every time. Shut down our spread aided by their shithole of a ground and then back themselves to win most of the aerial contests, an area of the game they're always far superior to us in.

Our pressure and desire to play the ugly territory game needs to be on. We have more speed than we traditionally have against them as well which could be helpful.

Tactically I would give Hannan more wing minutes this week as he's both stronger in 1v1 contests and faster than many of our other wings. He's the type of player that gives us a different look to what we've had against them previously.

We’re a different beast aerially than we’ve been previously, not sure where I read it but I think we’re actually one of the best teams in the air this year which surprised me a little bit. We just have to break even in the air around the ground and then hopefully get em with our speed at ground level.

I really think this is the best we’ve matched up against them for a long time, gonna be tough but I’m quietly confident, although I’d love Treloar & Dunks

 

[jim boy]

So why isn't there more widespread outrage and ransacking of AFL House at this massive leg-up not only for Geelong but also Collingwood, Carlton, Essendon and Hawthorn?

Apologies for the intrusion but It is no 'massive leg-up' for Geelong to play Richmond on their home ground every time we play them, or Collingwood or Hawthorn or Essendon (but not Carlton - they are rubbish everywhere). Most Geelong fans would rather play all teams at KP, regardless of the size of their supporter base.

 

[threenewpadlocks]

Apologies for the intrusion but It is no 'massive leg-up' for Geelong to play Richmond on their home ground every time we play them, or Collingwood or Hawthorn or Essendon (but not Carlton - they are rubbish everywhere). Most Geelong fans would rather play all teams at KP, regardless of the size of their supporter base.

We're talking about those teams' leg up relative to us, not Geelong's

 

[VogonProsthetnic]

We're talking about those teams' leg up relative to us, not Geelong's

I would just be happy if Geelong actually played us at Marvel as much as we played them at their ground. That’s because Richmond, Essendon and Collingwood are not chosen to play there.

 

[threenewpadlocks]

I would just be happy if Geelong actually played us at Marvel as much as we played them at their ground. That’s because Richmond, Essendon and Collingwood are not chosen to play there.

Yep. It's the same with having to play two away games in Perth this year. Because some teams rarely play other teams away (Collingwood never travel to Geelong, Canberra, or Perth etc.) it means that we're more likely to play away games against those teams, and have to travel.

Hell, Collingwood actually have it in their contract that they have to play 14 games at the MCG. With 1 home game a year at Marvel, it basically means it's a compromised fixture if they're playing 4 away games at the MCG. Means other teams pick up the slack.

 

[threenewpadlocks]

I reckon there's a very good chance that Garcia comes straight back in, I don't know who for.

We basically can't work out who our fourth centre bounce midfielder is in the absence of Treloar and Dunkley, with Smith out of favour there, and Lipinski dropped and probably not coming back in.

Daniel went to 10 or so last week but we were so short-changed that we only had a fifth midfielder (Hunter I think) attend one.

It's a minor miracle that Bont, Macrae and Libba were together for more than half of the centre bounces v Freo but that's surely not a sustainable model, and neither is Daniel as a midfielder. Smith's form is so poor that it's fair enough we want to not put him there. Garcia might come in and play a second and virtual first game and straight off the bat be our fourth centre bounce rotation mid - or at least give us a fifth option that didn't exist last week.

 

[ScottyDogg]

Those dimensions may be fence to fence.
The actual playing area (within the boundary line) is:

Marvel 159.5 x 128.5
GMHBA 167 x 112
MCG 162 x 139

and for reference:
Mars 160 x 129

However your point still stands.

I reckon their home ground advantage must be worth at least 2-3 games a year to them. That would often be the difference that gets them into the top 4 (and a home final at the G) at the expense of an interstate or smaller Victorian club. Good on them for exploiting it to their advantage. It just sucks that clubs like Collingwood, Carlton, Essendon and Hawthorn rarely play there. So they too reap a benefit ... probably worth about half a win in the years that they are competing for the top 4, which is when it matters.

Instead the Victorian minnows are the sacrificial lambs on the altar of the great pagan cat deity, sometimes even in periods when they are flag contenders. Probably the interstate clubs too. Here's a summary of Victorian clubs to play at KP over the last 20-odd years:

Carlton - 3 games at KP since 1997 (all since 2018)​

Collingwood - 0 games at KP since 1999​

Essendon - 0 games at KP since 1993​

Hawthorn - 3 games at KP since 1999​

By contrast:

WB - 13 games at KP since 1999 ... counting this coming round​

North - 9 games at KP since 2008 (none between 1995-2007)​

Saints - 9 games at KP since 1999​

Melbourne - 16 games at KP since 1999​

Richmond - 8 games at KP since 1999 but none since they won their flag in 2017​

I know some will say it's all about maximising attendances - some clubs will draw bigger crowds at the MCG than can fit into KP. No doubt that's true, but it seems to me that's a far higher priority for the AFL than having a fair competition. Equalisation should encompass a lot more than the so-called "handouts" (I prefer to call it hush money) to the smaller clubs.

So why isn't there more widespread outrage and ransacking of AFL House at this massive leg-up not only for Geelong but also Collingwood, Carlton, Essendon and Hawthorn?


View attachment 1155850

That is a huge leg up for Carlton and co over the years. Anyone keeen to do the stats on whether KP is in fact the biggest home grown advantage. I would assume no team (maybe WC) would have a higher home ground winning percentage in the last 10 years. Geelong have been a very good team over the last 10 years, so a little unscientific but would still be interesting.

 

[Dogs 13]

I would just be happy if Geelong actually played us at Marvel as much as we played them at their ground. That’s because Richmond, Essendon and Collingwood are not chosen to play there.

We've actually played them more times at Docklands since it opened than their home ground.

Kardinia Park x 12
Docklands x 16 with 4 of those being Geelong home games.

But yes it sucks that those "bigger" clubs never or rarely play there.

Travis Cloke played there once in his entire career, so happy we were able to give him that experience (as well as Ballarat).
He would never have had those experiences if he'd stayed at Collingwood

 

[The Inbetweener]

Agreed but goes both ways though, we’ve got the most dangerous forward line that we’ve taken down there for a while by a long long way. If our pressures up there could be a lot of quick ball getting down to Naughty, Bruce & Tim

Yeah I was going to add that - we need our forwards to make the most of their opportunities/ pray Naughton kicks straight

 

[Bulldogs85]

Mark Stevens just said the club is likely forced to fly out to Sydney on Sunday unless things change

 

[The Inbetweener]

Mark Stevens just said the club is likely forced to fly out to Sydney on Sunday unless things change

That sucks weren’t we giving the players 4 days off post the Cats game?

 

[threenewpadlocks]

That is a huge leg up for Carlton and co over the years. Anyone keeen to do the stats on whether KP is in fact the biggest home grown advantage. I would assume no team (maybe WC) would have a higher home ground winning percentage in the last 10 years. Geelong have been a very good team over the last 10 years, so a little unscientific but would still be interesting.

It isn't explicitly the biggest home ground advantage (West Coast and their fans help the umpires along the way), but Geelong don't really get a disadvantage from their scheduled away games in Melbourne because there are times that they contribute a large number of their fans, especially against teams like North and Melbourne. North hosting Geelong and getting 30k, probably 12k of those are Geelong fans, whereas they travel down to Geelong and instead of it being 40% North fans, it's more like 4%.

It probably gets balanced out by having to host home finals away from their home ground that interstate teams get to host at their home state, but worth noting that it's also a disadvantage for Marvel tenants too (there's a very good chance that we're the "home" team v Richmond or Melbourne in any final this year, but playing at the ground they're used to, and will be outnumbered by Richmond fans in that matchup)

 

[Bulldogs85]

That sucks weren’t we giving the players 4 days off post the Cats game?

Yes

 

[Cadillac]

The club really should have just given the players the 4 days off when they had the chance. This was always a chance to happen. Could kill team morale now that they haven’t had the chance to freshen up and see family. Not smart by the club.

 

[Bulldogs85]

The club really should have just given the players the 4 days off when they had the chance. This was always a chance to happen. Could kill team morale now that they haven’t had the chance to freshen up and see family. Not smart by the club.

The playing Group could have agreed to it

 

[immortalmike]

The playing Group could of agreed to it

They did. It was a risk but there's not much that can be done now.

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

The playing Group could of agreed to it

Could have

 

[Pugz89]

The club really should have just given the players the 4 days off when they had the chance. This was always a chance to happen. Could kill team morale now that they haven’t had the chance to freshen up and see family. Not smart by the club.

The playing group agreed to shift the time off. They wanted to wait til restrictions in Melbourne hopefully eased. Even now there's a big chance players couldn't see their family and friends, due to the 25km rule. s**t situation for all parties, but I have no doubt the club will do what they can to support the players and give them the time off when possible. Maybe they get 4 days off after the Eagles game?

 

[grassman75]

The playing group agreed to shift the time off. They wanted to wait til restrictions in Melbourne hopefully eased. Even now there's a big chance players couldn't see their family and friends, due to the 25km rule. sh*t situation for all parties, but I have no doubt the club will do what they can to support the players and give them the time off when possible. Maybe they get 4 days off after the Eagles game?

Should have stayed in Perth the extra week and played the Eagles instead of them playing Richmond - we were already there FFS

 

[Doggy]

Should have stayed in Perth the extra week and played the Eagles instead of them playing Richmond - we were already there FFS

So were Richmond, and the afl didn't have to change byes to let them play Wet toast as they both have the bye this week

 

[Bulldogs Legend]

I thinking this government will do another backflip and allow maybe 5,000 regional fans to the game with masks. Brett all of sudden (Sutton) did this backflip with making masks mandatory. Not a bad thing given we will have to watch the game on TV and it is better with some crowds even if they are all for the cats.

They actually haven’t made a call yet so no backflip required

 

[grassman75]

So were Richmond, and the afl didn't have to change byes to let them play Wet toast as they both have the bye this week

Hadnt Richmond already left before we got there? I know WC and us had the same bye last week