Training Pre-Season 2026 chat

[Heckler]

You have just rattled off probably a lot of minor if not non existent player selection or positioning calls. Almost like looking for things or stretching dough too thin.

None of the player positioning shuffles would make a difference, and the Cameron call was not Scott’s it’s the physio and doctor.

Can you actually name a legitimate thing tactically?

Scotts strength and weakness is he trust his players
Great when they come good, but injury called for action
He also trusts the players are self motivated
However his key job is to ensure the correct mindset.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

Scotts strength and weakness is he trust his players
Great when they come good, but injury called for action
He also trusts the players are self motivated
However his key job is to ensure the correct mindset.

If those things you said are all
That went wrong, then we had no hope from the start. Bews in and a Stanley non selection or telling neale to change his running wasn’t going to budge any needle on the day.

Scott’s strengths are he is easily tactically the most astute coach in the game. The way he keeps up to date and innovates game tactics is incredible. Buckley has consistently highlighted this also.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

I'm a little confused, is Rongdit training with the club despite not being drafted? I really liked his quote about if not this year than next and how he would fight for a spot no matter the outcome of the draft.

Maybe we are looking at signing him to the vfl team with a view to academy listing him next year.

 

[dudusmaximus]

There are a thousand ways to rehash the 2025 GF. None of which are going to retrospectively change the result.

There were heaps of factors outside of the Cats' (as in Players & Coaches) control. Brisbane had agency too in affecting the result. We took a step back and will leap forward.

Regardless of whether there's an overt review or not, our individual Players & Coaches know where they didn't measure up and will be burning to improve.

We always brush ourselves off and compete again (in spite of the "System"). Other teams (including Brisbane) will underestimate us at their own peril.

 

[Catman]

And when we started getting dominated in the middle Danger stayed forward.

My sources tell me Danger tweaked a hammy in the first quarter. This would explain his lack of impact and any time in the middle. Pretty sure he had his right hammy strapped during the week, so it's possible he took something into the game and aggravated it.

The whole game had 'everything that could go wrong, did go wrong' vibes about it.

 

[catswhiskers]

My sources tell me Danger tweaked a hammy in the first quarter. This would explain his lack of impact and any time in the middle. Pretty sure he had his right hammy strapped during the week, so it's possible he took something into the game and aggravated it.

The whole game had 'everything that could go wrong, did go wrong' vibes about it.

At the 23 min mark of third Q, scores were pretty much level. Cameron had played almost a Q with only one arm operable No CHB (for whole game), No CHF from that point on . Arguably 2 of our 3 best players.
It was never going to end well

If we can get back up after, 89, 92, 94, 95 the task ahead now should look very doable.
Looking at the squad at Deakin, yesterday, there is about to be a preseason where competition for positions 12 to 25 is ON bigtime. Thats very healthy.
SDK in ruck and off we go

 

[you pick one]

Scott's GF coaching was bad both selection and during the game.
main issues were.
1: Martin should have started not Clark, Experience was need at the start.
2: Clark was played as small defended a role he lacked specific experience.
3: Bews was the perfect match-up for Charlie Cameron who ran wild.
4: Blitz played great Ruckman game but was moved for Stanley who was poor.
5: Team went in favorites, Scott need to stress Lions were reigning premiers.
6 : Scott showed secret Lions tactics to early. believed same trick would work again.
7: Lions hunted Cats from start. Cats shocked into slow control mode. Not anticipated.
8: Scott failed to get Cats playing attacking mode and start taking risks.
9: After Jezza's injury Scott waited too long to make decision and bring in sub.
10: Forward line badly needed a mobile forward, Martin remained on bench
11: Neale kept running back towards goal by instruction.... leaving Andrews free.
13: Neale needed instruction to play defensive role of Andrews.
14: Danger remained in F50 when Cats were getting crushed by lions in the Center
Suspect Danger was concussed so remained F50 but this Can't be Admitted

Agree...There were good reasons for Stott to apologise to the players

Scotts an A1 coach in most areas but I've never seen him as a great game day coach to slow to react hopefully Bucks can add something extra in the box in 2026.

 

[year of the cat]

Scotts an A1 coach in most areas but I've never seen him as a great game day coach to slow to react hopefully Bucks can add something extra in the box in 2026.

Really? He’s rated almost unanimously as the hardest coach to come up against on match day by the coaching fraternity.

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

Really? He’s rated almost unanimously as the hardest coach to come up against on match day by the coaching fraternity.

He is.

Sure, there are times Scotty gets outcoached on gameday. That's the nature of the sport and happens to all the best coaches at times. However, sometimes it's not his fault.

The ability to change things on the field when things go wrong can be severely curtailed by player injuries (including new injuries or those carrying injuries into a game), players not executing the game plan (playing survival mode), repeated clangers because players are not coping with opposition pressure, having star players out and the young guys are just not up to AFL standard yet, or players out of form or just having a bad game.

There's little Scotty can do about those things from the box, even if he is moving guys around positionally and trying to get the guys to fire up, but we tend to blame the coach when these things happen or say there's no plan B.

But I do think that overall, Scotty has proven time and again that he gets it mostly right. He can only do so much sometimes.

 

[goyoucatters]

I agree it's good to see him out there. But he looks more ginger than the Meggs boy in that footage. Here's hoping he's able to increase his loads over the next couple of months and get back into contention to play some footy.

Was sorely missed against the better sides in 2025.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

He is.

Sure, there are times Scotty gets outcoached on gameday. However, sometimes that's not his fault.

The ability to change things on the field when things go wrong can be severely curtailed by player injuries (including new injuries or those carrying injuries into a game), players not executing the game plan (playing survival mode), repeated clangers because players are not coping with opposition pressure, having star players out and the young guys are just not up to AFL standard yet, or players out of form or just having a bad game.

There's little Scotty can do about those things from the box, even if he is moving guys around positionally and trying to get the guys to fire up, but we tend to blame the coach when these things happen or say there's no plan B.

But I do think that overall, Scotty has proven time and again that he gets it mostly right. He can only do so much sometimes.

What some people mean by a lack of plan B is the oppo has the run on and we aren’t turning the momentum back our way.

Oppo ontop= no plan B.

What people don’t realize or see is the coaches are often doing dozens of things to try and swing the game back our way. Whether it works is another story entirely.

I recall hardwick after the 19 prelim final saying how Scotty threw some curveballs at them gameday and he is known for making a lot of tactical changes and shake ups, and they had to adapt mid game to beat us.

He is highly regarded in terms of game day and preparatory tactical coaching

 

[geelong_crazy26]

At the 23 min mark of third Q, scores were pretty much level. Cameron had played almost a Q with only one arm operable No CHB (for whole game), No CHF from that point on . Arguably 2 of our 3 best players.
It was never going to end well

If we can get back up after, 89, 92, 94, 95 the task ahead now should look very doable.
Looking at the squad at Deakin, yesterday, there is about to be a preseason where competition for positions 12 to 25 is ON bigtime. Thats very healthy.
SDK in ruck and off we go

Even tho it was level the game honestly felt like it was never being played on our terms. We just couldn’t get it our style.

They seemed to have completely shut down our outside movement and transition from stoppages and HB. Dempsey was also tagged and taken to the cleaners by ah chee which was a smart move.

 

[bombersboy]

My sources tell me Danger tweaked a hammy in the first quarter. This would explain his lack of impact and any time in the middle. Pretty sure he had his right hammy strapped during the week, so it's possible he took something into the game and aggravated it.

The whole game had 'everything that could go wrong, did go wrong' vibes about it.

Makes perfect sense to me. I thought on the day he was injured but expected we would not hear anything from Danger or the club. Danger does not whinge. What made me think he was injured was that the effort was not there and even on a bad day that is normally a non negotiable for him.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

I agree it's good to see him out there. But he looks more ginger than the Meggs boy in that footage. Here's hoping he's able to increase his loads over the next couple of months and get back into contention to play some footy.

Was sorely missed against the better sides in 2025.

It’s nice his back… but medium defenders is not an area of need at all.

It’s just giving us good depth

 

[goyoucatters]

It’s nice his back… but medium defenders is not an area of need at all.

It’s just giving us good depth

Each to their own. Even in our most recent 23, I would definitely have had him playing before Clark. And his best football would have challenged MOC and Oisin (if he's playing on the backline) for a spot in the team as well.

Massively underrated contributor to a stable defence when he's in shape and in form.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

Each to their own. Even in our most recent 23, I would definitely have had him playing before Clark. And his best football would have challenged MOC and Oisin (if he's playing on the backline) for a spot in the team as well.

Massively underrated contributor to a stable defence when he's in shape and in form.

Not disputing it, but his an entirely different player to MOC and Oisin, he isn’t competing with them.

He is competing with Henry blicavs O’Sullivan SDK. MOC has midfield mobility up his sleeve ahead of kolo.

Kolo isn’t going to move any needle imo in 26. We are well covered in his position

 

[GlenMiddlemissed]

Not disputing it, but his an entirely different player to MOC and Oisin, he isn’t competing with them.

He is competing with Henry blicavs O’Sullivan SDK. MOC has midfield mobility up his sleeve ahead of kolo.

Kolo isn’t going to move any needle imo in 26. We are well covered in his position

I was going to say the same thing. Kolo is a good backman on a certain type of fwd, medium tall fwds like Fogarty (Adelaide) or a couple of years ago, Jack Reiwoldt. He cannot play on the faster fwds like Rachelle or Cameron (Brisbane) so he is not competing for a spot with MOC or Mullin or Clark. Nor can he play on the tall fwds like Tilthorpe or Darcy (Footscray).

For those tall fwds, we really only have 2 options, SDK or COS (Blicavs if desperate), which is why I don’t think we can ruck SDK. For the medium fwds, Kolo is competing with Henry, Stewart and maybe Guthrie (better on smaller fwds). The smaller fwds are covered by MOC, Humphries, Clark, Mullin and maybe Bews.

For those who did not watch the VFL last year, the move of Clark to the backline in the seniors was not a last minute one, he had been playing there for half the season in the VFL obviously with an eye to a permanent role there in the seniors, which is eventually what happened.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

I was going to say the same thing. Kolo is a good backman on a certain type of fwd, medium tall fwds like Fogarty (Adelaide) or a couple of years ago, Jack Reiwoldt. He cannot play on the faster fwds like Rachelle or Cameron (Brisbane) so he is not competing for a spot with MOC or Mullin or Clark. Nor can he play on the tall fwds like Tilthorpe or Darcy (Footscray).

For those tall fwds, we really only have 2 options, SDK or COS (Blicavs if desperate), which is why I don’t think we can ruck SDK. For the medium fwds, Kolo is competing with Henry, Stewart and maybe Guthrie (better on smaller fwds). The smaller fwds are covered by MOC, Humphries, Clark, Mullin and maybe Bews.

For those who did not watch the VFL last year, the move of Clark to the backline in the seniors was not a last minute one, he had been playing there for half the season in the VFL obviously with an eye to a permanent role there in the seniors, which is eventually what happened.

Ah yep forgot Guthrie Stewart, but yes he is competing against those guys, not mullin or MOC.

Personally I don’t think we need him in the seniors anymore with the emergence of COS who has essentially taken his spot now and would be mad to drop him for kolo.

He is good depth in case of injury

 

[bombersboy]

Ah yep forgot Guthrie Stewart, but yes he is competing against those guys, not mullin or MOC.

Personally I don’t think we need him in the seniors anymore with the emergence of COS who has essentially taken his spot now and would be mad to drop him for kolo.

He is good depth in case of injury

Kolo works really well with Henry and Stewart. Pretty sure he has done the job on Cameron before as well.

 

[cats_09]

2025 AFL Open Training​

Date: Wednesday 17 December
Time: 10.00am AEDT
Where: Deakin University, Waurn Ponds

What’s On​

• Autographs
• Photos
• Memberships on sale - purchase a 2026 Membership and get a free gift!
• Cats Shop Van

*Please note, photos and autographs may be limited

Parking Information​

Parking is enforced at Deakin University between 8.30am until 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.

All parking is required to be in the designated white bays on campus. Click here for more information - https://www.deakin.edu.au/about-deakin/locations/campuses/parking

Street parking is available in the surrounding area. Time limits may apply.

Cats Set to Hold an Open Training Session

Get a glimpse of the Cats in action during the pre-season with an Open Training session at Deakin University!

www.geelongcats.com.au

 

[Gazza Greatness]

My sources tell me Danger tweaked a hammy in the first quarter. This would explain his lack of impact and any time in the middle. Pretty sure he had his right hammy strapped during the week, so it's possible he took something into the game and aggravated it.

The whole game had 'everything that could go wrong, did go wrong' vibes about it.

I'm sure there's a bit of truth in all that's been said Catman: and to be certain Dangerfield was nowhere near 100%, even reported he wasn't well on the morning of game and had been throwing up, then we have his hammy reported scenario but whatever it was, he wasn't right, hence him not being on-the-ball when we desperately needed him. Then add to Stanley not being Grand final match fit hurt us bad, our vice captain Tom Stewart missing because of concussion was also huge loss, Jeremy Cameron's severe injury in first half that should have seen him subbed and then the general poor performances by several Cat players which was not in-line with their excellent season and previous finals performances.

Catman: The whole game had 'everything that could go wrong, did go wrong' vibes about it.

Yeah Catman, when it rains it pours..... so best to completely forget about Grand Final and move on with a couple of great additions in James Worpel and Tanner Bruhn to add some grunt and depth to our midfield along with a collection of highly talented young/ish Geelong players who have now had a some excellent finals games and experience under their belt and should be looking forward to a even better 2026, And then the next added bonus which would be huge, is if we can get one of Toby Conway or Mitch Edwards to come-on in latter part of 2026 season in the ruck, so as to be finals ready and competitive 'however unlikely', for that would be a huge bonus!.... and GO CATS!

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Are we all just going to forget how good Kolo was last few years?

 

[Heckler]

If those things you said are all
That went wrong, then we had no hope from the start. Bews in and a Stanley non selection or telling neale to change his running wasn’t going to budge any needle on the day.

Scott’s strengths are he is easily tactically the most astute coach in the game. The way he keeps up to date and innovates game tactics is incredible. Buckley has consistently highlighted this also.

Exactly the team came in with the wrong mindset.
Scott's coaching style is trust players for self motivation
Game was slipping away, warning signs were evident.
Scott said Half Time scores were level, Ignoring signs.
Moves to lift and change momentum were required.
Jezza Danger injured Stewart missing. No team lifters
Without a rousing half time Mental Jolt into action
No amount of strategic moves would change anything.
Watched Cats in rooms were casual before start Q3
Lions came out focused on winning... Game Over!
Coaching is more that just making game day moves,

Scott needed to try something different.... he didn't.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

Exactly the team came in with the wrong mindset.
Scott's coaching style is trust players for self motivation
Game was slipping away, warning signs were evident.
Scott said Half Time scores were level, Ignoring signs.
Moves to lift and change momentum were required.
Jezza Danger injured Stewart missing. No team lifters
Without a rousing half time Mental Jolt into action
No amount of strategic moves would change anything.
Watched Cats in rooms were casual before start Q3
Lions came out focused on winning... Game Over!
Coaching is more that just making game day moves,

Scott needed to try something different.... he didn't.

Where did you get he said that from?? He said post game the entire opposite and that the coaches felt the entire time despite the scores being level the game was never played on our terms. They would have tried a lot tactically as he is known for throughout the industry. Not sure where you are getting contradicting stuff like this from. Scotty is known to more chess pieces around more than any other coach does. So I am not sure where you came to this conclusion from

 

[geelong_crazy26]

Are we all just going to forget how good Kolo was last few years?

He has never been AA level or an A grader so not sure what you mean? He is a solid B grade player at his best. Who do you wish with a fit team for him to replace in our back line?? I have him reserves if we are fully fit