Preview AFL GF 2025: Geelong V Brisbane Sat 27th Sept MCG 2:30 pm

[cats_09]

Resource Post - I'll endeavour to update this post with info and links relevant to what's happening over the coming week

- Meet Up, Live Sites & Viewing Party discussion

Meet Up - 2025 Meet Up Thread - Grand Final Edition... including Live Sites info

https://gardenstatehotel.com.au/ 101 Flinders Lane. It opens at noon on Sunday.

www.bigfooty.com

- Grand Final Ticket discussion (please don't start separate threads for ticket sales)

Resource - 2025 Finals Ticket Discussion - Grand Final ticket discussion

Where can I find my Cats Membership Barcodes? OR When do we get Cats Membership Barcodes? Checked online : geelongcats.com.au website and Cats Mobile App

www.bigfooty.com

 

[OzeSparky]

I'm expecting the Lions players to absolutely bash Mullin and O'Connor.m.mespecialky seeing as getting suspended doesn't matter now

Floppy McFlopface

 

[Mattttty]

Yeah, I'm not buying this.

Danger's recent playing schedule:
Aug 23rd
Sep 5th
Sep 19th
Sep 27th

That's what I'd call "lightly raced".

I'm not saying he's a lock for Norm or anything like that, but I'd be very surprised if he doesn't have more than enough tickets left to do some real damage on Saturday.

In 2022, he was incredible in the Prelim and incredible in the Granny. No reason he can't do that again.

 

[Gavin Excell]

Feeling the pressure now

 

[CatToTheFuture]

I had considered that too, but the concern for me is Brisbane is going into the game with both McInerney and Fort and that will be too much for Blicavs on his own because SDK isn't great there.
What I hope we do is a replay of the 2022 GF and finals.

You let Stanley take the centre bounce and drop behind the ball, and let Blicavs ruck around the ground. You have a Clark or a Bews as the sub, and evaluate at HT.

If Stanley isn't having a good game you sub him out, if he is having a good game or at least negating McInerney that leaves Blicavs to either play on ball or go into the d-50 if our intercepts and defense struggles without Stewart.

Blicavs smashed Meek but he wasn't as clear in dominating Fort in the QF.

Against the Pies Fort was the #1 ruck and McInerney was forward and both were quite poor but Cameron is a good ruck who was average and still easily shaded both of them.
I would back in Stanley and Blicavs for a half, and reassess at HT.

Better to have them both in and sub Stanley out for tactical reasons, then to not have Stanley in and get caught out if McInerney remembers he isn't shit.

I thought blitz spanked Fort

 

[JPod_31]

I'm expecting the Lions players to absolutely bash Mullin and O'Connor, especially seeing as getting suspended doesn't matter now

Let the Brisbane players do that and get all fixated on O’Connor and Mullin while their direct match ups run a muck

 

[BotsMaster]

I'm expecting the Lions players to absolutely bash Mullin and O'Connor, especially seeing as getting suspended doesn't matter now

I don't think 'going the man' has ever won a team a premiership.

 

[Stokey]

Deserves it after he was robbed blind in 2022 IMO.


He wouldn't.

Each side selects someone to hand the cup over in the event that they win. So Brisbane has, I dunno, Craig Starcevich or Johnny Gastev or something

Brownie wiould do it.

 

[00VicWard001]

The word I got was that prior to Stanley's injury, Geelong had been planning to play Blicavs down forward on Harris Andrews. If you think back to games late in the season, Geelong had done a bit of that with Blicavs and he'd pushed forward more than usual.

If Stanley plays (as I think he will) then it gives Geelong a chance to either deploy Blicavs in that role, or go down back to help out on a resting Fort / McInerney. If Henry is good to go (as it seems he is) then I think he'll hold his own. If O'Sullivan and SDK hold up I think Geelong will really want to nullify Andrews. Lot's of good players out there for the Lions but if Andrews dominates I think it goes a long way to them winning.

Blicavs and his role up forward was actually happening regularly. It was definitely set up to practise prior to meeting the Lions again, which the Cats coaches would have expected.

Him going into the ruck was simply because we had no choice.

Doesn’t mean they won’t be swapping during the game (Stanley forward wasn’t half bad during some of those games).

And Stanley can also be used as a big body wearing down the lions rucks and mids with tackles and bumps. Then when Blicavs swings in, gives him a bigger advantage.

Andrews can’t cover Neale and Blicavs.

 

[00VicWard001]

Amaze yourself. winning numbers.

I’ve heard Scott say it time and again, he’s never had a team in his hands that can run at this level. He’s almost in awe of what he has.

 

[00VicWard001]

I’m thinking that will happen. But Mcsuitcase better be prepared for a lot more attention than he received last weekend. Why McRae allowed him to run free is mind boggling after seeing how effective a tag was on him.

McRae wanted to tag him with Sidebottom, but Pendles going down meant Sidebottom had to be moved. McRae said as much.

 

[Netherlandal]

Heading into Prelim weekend, it became apparent that this year’s winner will likely, and deservedly, earn the title of ‘Greatest Team of The Modern Era’ / ‘Last 25 Years’.

It could have been Hawthorn: 5 flags if they’d clinched it this year.

It could still be Brisbane: 5 flags should they win on Saturday.

Or it could be Geelong. 07, 09, 11, 22…

Given the opposition over the last two weeks, and the sliding doors impact of a win or a loss in each game, it feels like this one just means so much more than your average decider.

God I hope it’s us.

 

[Kobe Gryant]

The way we got Brisbane in the QF was we cut off the middle and forced the turnover, i was at the game and from memory they had a lot of the ball, i think the stats showed they had the top 5 ball getters, Zorko had 35, Neale 32, Dunkley 30, Ashcroft 30 & Bailey 27, so their guns had plenty of it, and Andrews was incredible down back. They had about 60 more disposals than us and went at 73% efficiency to our 70%. Clearances were just about even at 38 to 37 our way, and we had 60 inside 50's to their 47. They easily had the highest rated players in that game, but being there watching it we always looked in control and in the end it was a comprehensive win, but going by the stats, you'd think how?

Going to be an enthralling contest, how much did they learn from it? Was it a case of a night where our plan just got executed to perfection?

They play a possession style, they're always going to dominate the stats. It's just contrasting game plans.

We try to go coast to coast as quickly as possible (I.e with less possessions), and attempt to pressure and go fast off turnover, usually with 2-3 kicks involved.

They build the ball up to take the sting out of the game, exhaust pressure based teams making them work overtime to cover, and then look for the perfect option going forward with their elite kicks (I.e high possession).

Watch where Neale in particular was getting his kicks last time. He was getting sucked up the ground to their half backline, rather than forward of the ball or out of the midfield.

It's exactly where we wanted him to be getting the ball. They were meaningless touches, and they will have learner from that.

 

[00VicWard001]

This.

I think McRae’s problem was that he didn’t have a player who could go with McCluggage. Sidebottom was the pick, and he’s been a great player for a long time, but I’m sure when Hugh saw him running over at the first bounce he would’ve been licking his lips.

Mullin is a completely different problem, as you say.

Mullin is only focused on stopping his man. No need to be a playmaker.

 

[00VicWard001]

I'm expecting the Lions players to absolutely bash Mullin and O'Connor, especially seeing as getting suspended doesn't matter now

Atkins standing right there. And Baz too. More than likely we’ll get some owed free kicks.

 

[And_ROOS]

I thought blitz spanked Fort

Fort was decent around the field if I remember correctly, and did better during the match in a few key areas than he does on average i.e;
it was the most disposals he has had all season,
2nd highest disposal efficiency for the year so it wasn't just panic dump kicks out of ruck contests,
marks up, tackles up, one percenters were up because he was trying to be more involved off the ball, equal most spoils,
most effective disposals he has had for the season.

He was in defence more than he probably would have liked, which is something Stanley can exploit if thats repeated

His ruck stats show why you can't just trust pure numbers though.
Career high hit outs, season high ruck contests attended but of that only 17.3% hit outs to advantage.

I thought Blicavs on the night was more effective than Fort because Blicavs covers way more ground and gets to more contests, but I don't know if he would say spanked him. If Blicavs spanked Fort I think the margin would have been bigger. Where as Blicavs spanked the Hawks despite having less of the ball.

Weirdly enough AFLs fantasy points rated Fort higher than Blicavs but I assume thats because of the absurd hit out numbers and not the hit out to advantage numbers (9 v 6 H/O to advantage despite 52 to 26 H/O). Doesn't pass the eye test though.

 

[Biased99]

Who's Theo?

A bloke who "ticks boxes', apparently. (In all seriousness, no idea. But if his "mail" is correct, that is a good thing).

 

[And_ROOS]

McRae wanted to tag him with Sidebottom, but Pendles going down meant Sidebottom had to be moved. McRae said as much.

Playing a non-tagger who can kick goals as a tagger, its a bold strategy Cotton lets see if it (lol) pays off for them.

Even if Pendles calf didn't implode, that move wasn't going to work just as how it wouldn't work for us playing Atkins on McCluggage. He doesn't seem to cope with a heavy tag, and Mullin has the pace and discipline for that. Hopefully Scotty doesn't try and re-invent the wheel and put Mullin in the d50 again where he can be error prone.
Instead lets see Mullin tag McCluggage into oblivion.

Mullin is only focused on stopping his man. No need to be a playmaker.

Watch him kick his 2nd career goal too

 

[And_ROOS]

From 2009 when he took over, I've never liked Mark Knight's "WEG" posters.

What this crap giving the Cat (who should be BLACK for ****'s sake) a tattoo? Sure some of our players have them like many in society, but he started that crap woth Collingwood and Richmond posters based off Swan and Martin.

I really miss the orignal WEG's work in our pop-culture, not just for VFL/AFL finals posters.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news%2Fvictoria%2Fmark-knights-2025-premiership-posters-revealed%2Fnews-story%2Fb66d9d245dde4c092a920c321a67cd79

View attachment 2436812

Trash artist and shit person pumps out trash designs, in other news water makes things wet. More at 11.

Would love them to give the opportunity to an artist who doesn't do cookie cutter designs each year. Wouldn't surprise me if the Cats design is the same one from 2022 with the number changed.

They should be putting out the GF poster on the Monday after the GF, then the artist can do something relevant to the match.

What if Smith goes mental, has 40 and 2 and is Norm Smith. A cat, holding the cup, with the headband would be a way better image. Hell the cat should have a headband on anyway considering how many of our players wear one.

Heading into Prelim weekend, it became apparent that this year’s winner will likely, and deservedly, earn the title of ‘Greatest Team of The Modern Era’ / ‘Last 25 Years’.

It could have been Hawthorn: 5 flags if they’d clinched it this year.

It could still be Brisbane: 5 flags should they win on Saturday.

Or it could be Geelong. 07, 09, 11, 22…

Given the opposition over the last two weeks, and the sliding doors impact of a win or a loss in each game, it feels like this one just means so much more than your average decider.

God I hope it’s us.

Also add in that its felt like a mini round robin to see who is the best Premier of the last few years this finals series.
The only way it would have been better in 2025 is if the Pies had beaten the Lions so that all three teams would have played each other once en-route to the GF.
Cats/Pies/Lions all have 1 flag each, Pies and Lions already played off recently in a GF, Cats and Lions this weekend, would be hilarious if next year it was Cats and Pies to complete the series.

 

[canny30]

I don't think 'going the man' has ever won a team a premiership.

Yeah I didn't explain what I want very well.

I didn't mean 'bash' in the literal sense. I meant scratching the on the ground, maybe a few late bumps.....tackles that pin the arms and drive them into the ground etc

 

[Kobe Gryant]

Trash artist and shit person pumps out trash designs, in other news water makes things wet. More at 11.

Would love them to give the opportunity to an artist who doesn't do cookie cutter designs each year. Wouldn't surprise me if the Cats design is the same one from 2022 with the number changed.

They should be putting out the GF poster on the Monday after the GF, then the artist can do something relevant to the match.

What if Smith goes mental, has 40 and 2 and is Norm Smith. A cat, holding the cup, with the headband would be a way better image. Hell the cat should have a headband on anyway considering how many of our players wear one.


Also add in that its felt like a mini round robin to see who is the best Premier of the last few years this finals series.
The only way it would have been better in 2025 is if the Pies had beaten the Lions so that all three teams would have played each other once en-route to the GF.
Cats/Pies/Lions all have 1 flag each, Pies and Lions already played off recently in a GF, Cats and Lions this weekend, would be hilarious if next year it was Cats and Pies to complete the series.

Check out the 2024 Swans and 2018 Pies posters from him, and then put them side by side with the 2014 and '15 Hawks. They're identical, cookie cutter as you say.

I get that there's only so many ways to illustrate a bird in a footy jumper, but they just lack the charm of the WEG posters, and I'm somebody who is only old enough to remember a handful of them in the paper.

I'll still buy it if we're good enough to win, but they don't feel the same.

 

[Stokey]

Playing a non-tagger who can kick goals as a tagger, its a bold strategy Cotton lets see if it (lol) pays off for them.

Even if Pendles calf didn't implode, that move wasn't going to work just as how it wouldn't work for us playing Atkins on McCluggage. He doesn't seem to cope with a heavy tag, and Mullin has the pace and discipline for that. Hopefully Scotty doesn't try and re-invent the wheel and put Mullin in the d50 again where he can be error prone.
Instead lets see Mullin tag McCluggage into oblivion.


Watch him kick his 2nd career goal too

Have feeling Fagan is going to do something like start McCluggage forward to break the Mullin tag.

 

[Play it Sam]

Footy doesn't really work that way. We're talking about AFL coaches here. The best of the best.

They all know exactly how to breakdown any system and gameplan, it's just whether their players can actually execute it.

We knew how to beat Richmond in their era. We just couldn't keep it up for more than an hour.

McCluggage is either going to be a good enough footballer to break the tag, or he isn't.

Preparation won't help him, the shock value of being tagged would've worn off within 10 minutes last time. He can go forward or back, it doesn't really matter. It's a net win if we've taken him out of the game.

Brisbane are either going to be good enough to withstand our pressure and pick apart our high press, or they're not.

There are no surprises on GF day. Both coaches will know exactly how the other one wants the game to be played. At most, you might get a 10 minute break with a trick play and then they adjust to your new scheme.

It's just up to which club can handle having their strengths nullified more effectively.

Basically we learned as much about them as they did of us.
Level playing field. Except we have the GOAT coach.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Fort was decent around the field if I remember correctly, and did better during the match in a few key areas than he does on average i.e;
it was the most disposals he has had all season,
2nd highest disposal efficiency for the year so it wasn't just panic dump kicks out of ruck contests,
marks up, tackles up, one percenters were up because he was trying to be more involved off the ball, equal most spoils,
most effective disposals he has had for the season.

He was in defence more than he probably would have liked, which is something Stanley can exploit if thats repeated

His ruck stats show why you can't just trust pure numbers though.
Career high hit outs, season high ruck contests attended but of that only 17.3% hit outs to advantage.

I thought Blicavs on the night was more effective than Fort because Blicavs covers way more ground and gets to more contests, but I don't know if he would say spanked him. If Blicavs spanked Fort I think the margin would have been bigger. Where as Blicavs spanked the Hawks despite having less of the ball.

Weirdly enough AFLs fantasy points rated Fort higher than Blicavs but I assume thats because of the absurd hit out numbers and not the hit out to advantage numbers (9 v 6 H/O to advantage despite 52 to 26 H/O). Doesn't pass the eye test though.

Yeah I think though the clearances blitz was getting or setting up were clean. Fort may have got some numbers but they didn't appear that effective. I dunno, there's a lot that blitz was doing that fort just can't, and I didn't think the things that Fort was doing led anywhere.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Have feeling Fagan is going to do something like start McCluggage forward to break the Mullin tag.

Odd move going forward to beat the tag of a guy who spent half the year in the backline though when McCluggage himself hasn't spent any real time forward. Mullin will just follow him there.

 

[Munich]

I don't want to muck up Blitz's form in the ruck.

I'd leave him there and replace Stewart with Bews.