Preview Rd 22 Cats V Bombers Fri Aug 8th 2025 735 pm @ GMHBA

[thegerman]

Surely this is a perfect opportunity to give Conway and Maybe C Guthrie a run in the seniors. Would love to see it

Cam can’t get through a sustained amount of game time in the VFL let alone a far greater speed and agility of AFL.

Doesn’t matter how good you look on the track, once out there you’d not want to break down early and play a player down by giving up your sub so early.

 

[cats_09]

It isn't changing the draw it is giving the draw for the first 17 rounds at the start and then after everyone has played each other once assign the double ups based on the same bullcrap they do now.

Changing the draw would be to release the whole draw and then after 17 rounds change it.

Stop making sense

 

[allrighty]

His kicking style...

Kid you not that even earlier this season when he was a little patchy after his concussion that there were calls on socials for him to be dropped to the VFL "until he learns to kick properly"

Whereas truth is he is critical to our successful game plans. Does not look like your traditional footballer's arse (sorry Zouz Kitty , and in reality that is a good thing) but he is now one of our favourites.

 

[allrighty]

I can kinda understand Conway but would think that the club would want to see more than 2 managed minute VFL games from him before any senior games this season

But on what basis would Guthrie earn a call up? He's played 2 VFL games on managed minutes, then hurt his calf again in the first quarter of his third game and hasn't played for over 60 days

I know we're playing Essendon who aren't traveling all that well - but selecting a guy who last played 4 quarters of football without some form of match management over 300 days ago, wouldn't seem to be very smart by the coaches

I'd like to see Ted get a full game. Been killing it in the twos. If we are going to keep him he needs a game or three.

 

[cats_09]

I'd like to see Ted get a full game. Been killing it in the twos. If we are going to keep him he needs a game or three.

Or if we're not keeping him it could help raise his trade currency if he's seen as our 24/25 player

 

[standupand]

I agree it wouldn't be fair but the current system isn't either

The best case would be playing everyone twice once home and once away but will never happen.

Next best would be a 17 round season swapping home teams each year.

Next would be a pure rolling fixture.

None of the above or any other decent solutions will ever happen as the AFL want to give certain clubs blockbuster games and rivalry doubles etc

With the amount of pointless drivel about changes like subs or goal reviews, you'd think the AFL had sorted out something as basic and as fundamental in sport as having a logical and fair fixture. The work-experience kid using chatgpt could do a better job at this. Sorry - just one of my pet hates.

 

[Footy Smarts]

I'd like to see Ted get a full game. Been killing it in the twos. If we are going to keep him he needs a game or three.

He hasn't even been in the extended squad since before the bye despite being fit the whole time. Knevitt, Bews, O Henry, Stevens and Clark have all played or been emergencies in that time.

It looks pretty clear he's not in our plans for this year.

 

[bulletproof]

Guthrie’s only chance would have been if the VFL made finals, but he has run out runway.

Funnily enough, I think if we hung on in the Prelim last year, I think he and Hawkins would have played in the Grand Final. Holmes was injured and our inexperienced midfield was poor in Prelim. And Neale was not ready then. I think we would have gone to them.

Anyhow, not an option for Cam this year I am afraid.

 

[CoolCat75]

With the amount of pointless drivel about changes like subs or goal reviews, you'd think the AFL had sorted out something as basic and as fundamental in sport as having a logical and fair fixture. The work-experience kid using chatgpt could do a better job at this. Sorry - just one of my pet hates.

It’s actually not that hard. Play each of the 17 teams once. Then for the remaining 6 games, you get 2 from each third of the ladder, randomly drawn, except local derbies are preselected. That’s as even as you can get. But it makes too much common sense so we will never see it in the AFL.

 

[CoolCat75]

This has been our structure the last few weeks. Miers has become a midfielder. Mullin has been a defender or mid tagger. Blicavs sometimes moves into the ruck after starting forward and Stanley either pushes forward or back.

FB: ZGuthrie SDK O’Connor (O’Sullivan)
HB: Stewart Henry Humphries
C: Bowes Smith Dempsey (Miers, Mullin)
R: Stanley Holmes Atkins
HF: Mannagh Cameron Blicavs
FF: Stengle Neal Danger (Close)
Sub: Martin

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Surely this is a perfect opportunity to give Conway and Maybe C Guthrie a run in the seniors. Would love to see it

Guthrie is cooked and Conway isn't ready. And kolo comes through the vfl as he's been out all year. If we give 'depth' a run this week it will be bews and knevitt (would have been Duncan if he was fit).

 

[catsfootyfan89]

Not really sure where I stand on the common narrative that 'easy games before finals is bad.'

Maybe the whole team should be forced to play with 10lb weights strapped to their ankles to make these games arbitrarily hard or something. </s>

I dunno, I'd much rather finish as high as possible than limp into finals with injuries.

I'm also not sure about the narrative I've been hearing elsewhere about our 'injury free' season.

• experienced mid out all year
• best backman with a dodgy knee
• another solid backman out all year

It's not nothing. We just have reasonable depth now, and we've been fortunate to have some seriously responsible youngsters step up.

 

[Kobe Gryant]

Not really sure where I stand on the common narrative that 'easy games before finals is bad.'

Maybe the whole team should be forced to play with 10lb weights strapped to their ankles to make these games arbitrarily hard or something. </s>

I dunno, I'd much rather finish as high as possible than limp into finals with injuries.

I'm also not sure about the narrative I've been hearing elsewhere about our 'injury free' season.

• experienced mid out all year
• best backman with a dodgy knee
• another solid backman out all year

It's not nothing. We just have reasonable depth now, and we've been fortunate to have some seriously responsible youngsters step up.

I don't think it's the season necessarily, more that we're (knock on wood) experiencing a blessed run at the run time of year. It tricks people into thinking the whole year has been smooth sailing.

Stewart's missed games, and looked completely banged up until very recently. Henry likewise. PFD and Bowes missed a handful, while Smith has needed management.

Kolo and Guthrie have missed the whole year. Bruhn, while not an injury, hasn't featured either.

Although we're accustomed to it, Conway's been out the whole time too.

It hasn't been a disaster or anything like 2023 was, but I agree that we haven't been kissed on the dick either.

Probably something resembling AFL average, or a smidge above.

 

[Johanpetro]

He hasn't even been in the extended squad since before the bye despite being fit the whole time. Knevitt, Bews, O Henry, Stevens and Clark have all played or been emergencies in that time.

It looks pretty clear he's not in our plans for this year.

Getting the Mitch Hardie treatment. Not that I rated Hardie anyway tbh

 

[iameviljez]

Richmond 2017 won a flag because of an easy draw. Both home and away and finals.

Geelong 1993 lost a flag because of a tough draw (and too small a list of finalists which was changed the very next season)

If we could properly test theory with repeat sampling im pretty sure we would find some less obvious examples as well.

Our imagination does a lot of heavy lifting with "lose a flag" in 1993. There's no guarantee we would have won four finals in a row even if we had made it.

 

[Seeds]

Our imagination does a lot of heavy lifting with "lose a flag" in 1993. There's no guarantee we would have won four finals in a row even if we had made it.

Yeah we would of. Played the top team 3 weeks in a row. Had an average winning margin of like 60 points then went to perth to play the reigning premier and beat them by 4 goals (which back in that day was far more difficult then today). The team reverted back to an attacking game plan with 5 weeks to go in the season and none of the best teams could get near them once we did.

 

[iameviljez]

Yeah we would of. Played the top team 3 weeks in a row. Had an average winning margin of like 60 points then went to perth to play the reigning premier and beat them by 4 goals (which back in that day was far more difficult then today). The team reverted back to an attacking game plan with 5 weeks to go in the season and none of the best teams could get near them.

I know, I remember it well. But that doesn't mean that we would have definitely managed to dodge another four banana skins in a row - finals are a bloody long month of footy.

We started 1994 appallingly, too.

 

[Seeds]

I agree it wouldn't be fair but the current system isn't either

The best case would be playing everyone twice once home and once away but will never happen.

Next best would be a 17 round season swapping home teams each year.

Next would be a pure rolling fixture.

None of the above or any other decent solutions will ever happen as the AFL want to give certain clubs blockbuster games and rivalry doubles etc

The current system is terrible I agree. But atleast it doesnt give incentives for teams to lose a game so they finish 7th after round 17 so they can then get a cushy draw for the remainder of the year while the teams that finish above them get the opposite.

 

[cats_09]

Getting the Mitch Hardie treatment. Not that I rated Hardie anyway tbh

Having pulled on a senior guernsey on 9 occasions this year is pretty much the opposite of Hardie last year

We may just rotate through emergencies over the remaining weeks keep the fringe players more connected with the senior team

 

[Jumping Jack]

Guthrie is cooked and Conway isn't ready. And kolo comes through the vfl as he's been out all year. If we give 'depth' a run this week it will be bews and knevitt (would have been Duncan if he was fit).

Agree on Cam Guthrie. That extra midfield rotation (and experience) would have been handy come finals.

On Conway though, I think he's more "ready" than what we think. He has a very solid training block on top of the VFL minutes. That does not automatically mean they play him before finals (in the AFL) but I think if needed / or if they wanted to give him a game, he'd be ok for 70-80% TOG and that's probably all we'd need to get a good look at him, or provide cover if Stanley was injured.

The people I've spoken to reckon the club would be ok playing Conway, but at present they like the Stanley / Blicavs combo so no need to flip things on their head and get too cute with team balance.

 

[cats_09]

In regards to the "soft draw" in the run to finals, Tuohy spoke about it on Krock following Sundays match against Port

He said that whether you've had that perceived "soft draw" to finish the season & you get smashed in week 1 of the finals, or alternatively you've had a harder draw with more than a few sore bodies entering finals and you fall short in a tough first up final, that a lot will be made of the teams draw to close out the season

From his perspective, he'd prefer a "softer" that allows the team to tweak the game plan & the chance to feel fresher heading into finals, compared with a series of tough matches that really take it out of you, especially the deeper you go into finals

 

[Kitcat]

It’s actually not that hard. Play each of the 17 teams once. Then for the remaining 6 games, you get 2 from each third of the ladder, randomly drawn, except local derbies are preselected. That’s as even as you can get. But it makes too much common sense so we will never see it in the AFL.

That sounds good except for the random draw bit. It should be graded so that the team finishing top gets a benefit, such as the bottom team and the 12th team, and this formula applies to the other top 6 teams. Choosing it randomly could mean the top team gets the best teams from the two lower groups of 6 which is unfair. Fitting the second derby game in messes up the integrity aspect as it could mean the top two teams meet but it is only one game.

 

[jim boy]

I know, I remember it well. But that doesn't mean that we would have definitely managed to dodge another four banana skins in a row - finals are a bloody long month of footy.

I guess the point of 1993 was that we can only blame ourselves, you cant blame a tough draw when you win all the 'tough' matches. The only way you could blame a tough draw in 1993 was that it contained too many banana skins.

 

[goyoucatters]

Brisbane seem to have built their game around beating us in recent times and I think the areas where they get us is midfield depth and how many quality players they have running through there. Not sure we can click our fingers and fix that too quickly.

If we're glass half full - Brisbane only got us by 9pts at the Gabba, and taking the GMHBA result in isolation makes it look comprehensive (which it was), but I think we'll fare better against them at the MCG in finals as our game stacks up better there in my opinion. Easy to use as an excuse, but Lions were red hot that night at GMHBA and Geelong in comparison looked very flat.

Not to say we weren't close to pitiful on the night. But that game currently holds the record for biggest underperformance on 'expected score' by a team in that stat's history. We supposedly left 46 points out there, based on the anticipated scores from the shots we took. And we lost the game by 41.

I'm absolutely the first to say that the Lions have the most insane midfield depth in my history of watching the game. And that is, of course, our kryptonite at this point in time. But that doesn't change the fact that our distinct lack of competitiveness in that game had at least something to do with our appalling conversion in front of goal. Remedy that and you're hopefully at least somewhat in the contest against them.

 

[iameviljez]

I guess the point of 1993 was that we can only blame ourselves, you cant blame a tough draw when you win all the 'tough' matches. The only way you could blame a tough in 1993 was that it contained too many banana skins.

There were some pretty poor losses in there too - against Melbourne and St Kilda in particular, and we almost lost to the Bears up at the Gabba and the Roys at home. It wasn't a good year.