Prediction 2025 Finals Predictions

[cats_09]

Hipwood won’t be which affects their structure.

Depending on his injury and how he really is going, even returning could impact their structure if he's not in the best of conditions

 

[catstorm]

View attachment 2406266

So the bookies basically think the winner of our match wins the flag, I tend to agree.

But I also think there is an even money chance of a rematch in the GF.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

The QF is basically the GF. Win it and we should win the flag from there lose it and I dont think we can go the long way.

Lose it and I'm not lacking confidence we can make the GF the long way.

Would mean Freo/Suns in Melbourne then either Adelaide in Adelaide (only club to beat them there) or the Pies at the G.

 

[catstorm]

Lose it and I'm not lacking confidence we can make the GF the long way.

Would mean Freo/Suns in Melbourne then either Adelaide in Adelaide (only club to beat them there) or the Pies at the G.

I agree, I think we can make the Grand Final either way.

 

[Cats_R_Cool_4_Ever]

4-1 Brisbane in our 5 last meetings. They’ve been dominant but I think we can still get the job done. We’ll be hungry Cats this time around it hurt us badly last finals series that loss against them and especially when they came down to Cattery this yr.

 

[CatsDoItBetter]

Is our game likely to be Thursday night?

 

[kickazz]

Is our game likely to be Thursday night?

Betfair already has it listed as on Thursday which I find interesting. (As in, it's not official yet is it?)

Hate the Thursday night slot. Shit for Geelong fans to get to. Loved it when it was Friday, Sat day, Sat night and Sun day. But that will never happen again.

 

[Kobe Gryant]

Betfair already has it listed as on Thursday which I find interesting. (As in, it's not official yet is it?)

Hate the Thursday night slot. Shit for Geelong fans to get to. Loved it when it was Friday, Sat day, Sat night and Sun day. But that will never happen again.

Hocking will lobby for Saturday twilight surely? That's our preferred timeslot, at least according to him.

If we're not going to get it at KP, we should at least get to dictate when it's played, and be able to maximise the Geelong based attendance. That's Saturday afternoon, or Saturday night at a stretch.

Home final debate has been done to death, but it's seriously bordering on pointless even bothering to earn it if we can't even get the timeslot, let alone the venue.

Fortunately, we do play our best footy at the 'G regardless.

 

[CatsDoItBetter]

Cheers yeah I thought it’d be Thursday, yeah tough for geelong based fans to get up for Thursday night. But I think we will give this finals a big shake, get off work early and get there if you can.
Granted I live in Melbourne so a bit easier for me.

 

[canny30]

Same as 2022, got over Collingwood in a nail biter and ran away with it from there.

I think there's a good chance we play Brisbane twice this finals series.

I don't see the Lions having too much trouble taking care of either Collingwood or Adelaide in the other prelim final.

 

[kickazz]

We got that in 2022, but I think we had two more points of leverage then. One, we finished top, so there's that. Two, it was a "home" final against an MCG tenant, so perhaps we could argue we were at the very least owed a preferred time.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

So the bookies basically think the winner of our match wins the flag, I tend to agree.

But I also think there is an even money chance of a rematch in the GF.

Not sure on that. While the loser of our QF gets a soft semi week 2 (freo or gc at mcg likely) they then travel to Adelaide in week 3 (although i think Crows are overrated).
But the week 1 winner out of us and brisbane is in the box seat to win the flag from there. Hopefully our players dont choke this one.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Lose it and I'm not lacking confidence we can make the GF the long way.

Would mean Freo/Suns in Melbourne then either Adelaide in Adelaide (only club to beat them there) or the Pies at the G.

While I think adelaide could choke in a PF with their lack of tinals experience i wouldn't want to be banking on it. Yes our list is healthy but I think its very hard to win it the long way. We have to win week 1 for me its like 2022 win the tough QF and the rest will be straightforward.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Hocking will lobby for Saturday twilight surely? That's our preferred timeslot, at least according to him.

If we're not going to get it at KP, we should at least get to dictate when it's played, and be able to maximise the Geelong based attendance. That's Saturday afternoon, or Saturday night at a stretch.

Home final debate has been done to death, but it's seriously bordering on pointless even bothering to earn it if we can't even get the timeslot, let alone the venue.

Fortunately, we do play our best footy at the 'G regardless.

Unlikely. The way a PF rematch will rate the TV networks will want it Thursday or Friday night. It's very unlikely we get a sat arvo. Night game also gives a longer break to the loser before the semi.

 

[Kobe Gryant]

Unlikely. The way a PF rematch will rate the TV networks will want it Thursday or Friday night. It's very unlikely we get a sat arvo. Night game also gives a longer break to the loser before the semi.

Goes both ways though. They'll get better TV numbers, but the crowd will be light on.

We know the AFL only care about optics. Opening the finals series between what is likely the best two teams in the comp with patches of grey seats isn't what they want.

It's not a great look, and their biggest trump card over the NRL (naively the only competitor they care about) is the fact that the AFL packs their finals out, while the NRL doesn't.

Saturday arvo they'll get 80k+. Thursday night will be lucky to crack 60k with the lack of Geelong and Brisbane traveling support with school/uni/work the next day.

 

[catsfootyfan89]

Four-time premiership player and Norm Smith medallist Isaac Smith

7

Isaac Smith

Age

36

Ht

188cm

Wt

83kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

21.3

5star

K

13.0

5star

HB

8.4

5star

M

5.5

5star

T

2.9

4star

CL

1.7

4star

D

19.4

4star

K

11.1

4star

HB

8.3

4star

M

3.8

4star

T

2.5

3star

CL

1.3

4star

D

19.2

5star

K

10.6

4star

HB

8.6

5star

M

7.6

5star

T

2.0

4star

CL

0.6

3star

was asked on the footy show whether the cats would play Cam Guthrie in the finals.

"If he's fit - I would play him."

Keyboard warriors, assemble!

 

[Kobe Gryant]

Four-time premiership player and Norm Smith medallist Isaac Smith was asked on the footy show whether the cats would play Cam Guthrie in the finals.

"If he's fit - I would play him."

Keyboard warriors, assemble!

Issie's looking after his mate.

I imagine it would be a much different answer if they actually pressed him on who he'd have to leave out in the event that Cam was selected.

It's unfortunate for him. If he'd stayed fit he'd probably be playing the 23rd man role that Bowes is right now, but it's over.

The opportunity was two months ago, and he couldn't hold up.

 

[Lingsface]

We can beat the Lions no doubt, I'm hoping for good weather and a few clunks. Both of us have superior small forwards in comparison to small backs, it could be the difference. Danger to spend a bit more time in the center bounces I hope to give us the grunt and size through there and feed Holmes and Smith.

 

[Mr Meow]

While I think adelaide could choke in a PF with their lack of tinals experience i wouldn't want to be banking on it. Yes our list is healthy but I think its very hard to win it the long way. We have to win week 1 for me its like 2022 win the tough QF and the rest will be straightforward.

I'd say our chance of beating Adelaide over there is quite similar to what we face with Brisbane at the G. Rankine is still a bigger loss than any Brisbane absentee, by a long way. Then the lack of finals experience and our recent record against them are in our favour.

 

[Mr Meow]

Four-time premiership player and Norm Smith medallist Isaac Smith was asked on the footy show whether the cats would play Cam Guthrie in the finals.

"If he's fit - I would play him."

Keyboard warriors, assemble!

Reminds me of the media around Hawkins for the 2024 finals series. And he was more likely than Guthrie is now.

 

[fpm84]

Of course I want to win the QF, but there’s a clear path to doing it the hard way this year.

If we lost the QF the path to the GF would look like:

• winner of Freo/Suns at MCG in semi
• Rankine-less Crows in Adelaide, or Pies at MCG, in prelim.

 

[Catman]

Wanted Brisbane first up at the G than in a PF or GF. (I know the latter is still a possibility)

They are a little banged up, but still have the class to cover the holes in their team. I also see this as a great chance to see if we learnt anything from the two losses this year and have developed a plan to address what went wrong on both occasions.

We're healthy and in good form, so there's really no excuses. We now get to see if we're good enough.

This time of year is what all footy fans want to be a part of, and we're seasoned campaigners at it, but it still never gets less nerve-wracking, nor exciting!

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Goes both ways though. They'll get better TV numbers, but the crowd will be light on.

We know the AFL only care about optics. Opening the finals series between what is likely the best two teams in the comp with patches of grey seats isn't what they want.

It's not a great look, and their biggest trump card over the NRL (naively the only competitor they care about) is the fact that the AFL packs their finals out, while the NRL doesn't.

Saturday arvo they'll get 80k+. Thursday night will be lucky to crack 60k with the lack of Geelong and Brisbane traveling support with school/uni/work the next day.

I know but this is the way the TV stuff works. Besides the loser of our QF will play Friday night for the SF. They won't want brisbane travelling home and having a 6 day break which is why it will likely be Friday night (I assume pies and Crows is Thursday night).

 

[Pure_Ownage]

I'd say our chance of beating Adelaide over there is quite similar to what we face with Brisbane at the G. Rankine is still a bigger loss than any Brisbane absentee, by a long way. Then the lack of finals experience and our recent record against them are in our favour.

Yes true but a week off and then a cooked pies or gws travelling in a prelim are preferable to AO imo.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Four-time premiership player and Norm Smith medallist Isaac Smith was asked on the footy show whether the cats would play Cam Guthrie in the finals.

"If he's fit - I would play him."

Keyboard warriors, assemble!

Hes cooked.

Bews or Duncan are half a chance if we get an injury. Guthrie is no chance.