AFL 2019 Round 2: Geelong v Melbourne, 7:25pm AEDT GMHBA

[Gralin]

​

Where and when: GMHBA Stadium, Saturday, March 30, 7.25pm AEDT

Geelong Forecast

Partly cloudy. High (70%) chance of showers. The chance of a thunderstorm in the morning and afternoon. Possible hail in the morning and afternoon. Winds west to southwesterly 25 to 40 km/h.

Last time they met: MCG, elimination final, 2018: Melbourne 10.15 (75) def Geelong 6.10 (46)
Kicking five unanswered goals in the opening term, the Demons recorded a finals victory for the first time in 12 seasons. Young spearhead Sam Weideman delivered a career-best game with three goals as the midfield led by Clayton Oliver and Angus Brayshaw ran amok.

What it means for Geelong: Redemption for last year's finals crushing. Following a night they were made to look slow with no avenues to goal, the Cats will be out to prove that last week's win over Collingwood was more than just a flash in the pan.

What it means for Melbourne: Avoiding a 0-2 start. With co-captains Jack Viney and Nathan Jones well down on their usual output in last week's loss to Port Adelaide, they'll be keen to make amends and get the top-four hunt back to even pegging.

How Geelong wins: Taking Max Gawn out of the contest. Port Adelaide gave an insight last week with the Scott Lycett/Paddy Ryder combo and now the task will fall on Rhys Stanley and Esava Ratugolea. Limiting Gawn's influence will ensure the midfield stars go hungry.

How Melbourne wins: Get its midfield game back up and running. From year's elimination final to round one, the midfielder appeared a totally different unit. Port Adelaide completely ran the Demons off their feet

The stat: Patrick Dangerfield and Tim Kelly (17 each) attended the most centre bounces for Cats midfielders last week, while Joel Selwood (six) and Gary Ablett (one) were well below last year's averages.

The match-up: Tom Hawkins v Steven May
Fresh off kicking his 500th career goal, Hawkins takes on Melbourne's returning prized recruit. In the absence of Jake Lever, May is the Demons' highest-ranked key defender in the Schick AFL Player Ratings.

It's a big week for: Max Gawn
Admitted last week he wasn't able to stand up to what Lycett and Ryder delivered physically at the MCG. Now he meets Stanley after last year having the better of Geelong second-string big man Ryan Abbott in the elimination final.

Can Max bounce back? Picture: AFL Photos

Big call: With the aid of the extra day's rest, the Cats to replicate last year's round 18 come-from-behind victory in the last term.

Prediction: Cats by nine points

Source: AFL Website

 

[Macpotata]

Rematch of the finals eliminator last year and two supreme battles during the home and away season. Round 1 where Max Gawn missed at the death to hand the Cats Victory, and of course the Irishman nailing the winner after the siren in the return at Kardinia.


Another Saturday night smoker.

 

[CrowInFiji]

Cats have to win if they want to start the season 2-1 otherwise 1-2 is a bit scary.

I think they will do it by 15

 

[catstorm]

Cats have to win if they want to start the season 2-1 otherwise 1-2 is a bit scary.

I think they will do it by 15

Already given yourself the win next week, I guess Geelong shouldn’t even bother with the flight over.

 

[catscratchfever]

Geelong by 17 points.

 

[CrowInFiji]

Already given yourself the win next week, I guess Geelong shouldn’t even bother with the flight over.

I wouldn't complain.

 

[Drewie11]

Already given yourself the win next week, I guess Geelong shouldn’t even bother with the flight over.

Yes thanks, let your people know

 

[Drewie11]

Massive game for Melbourne, probably the toughest place to get a win. Could be looking at a 0 and 2 start for a premiership contender

 

[Jibroni]

Need a big lift from last week to win this. Cats by 22.

 

[schmuttt]

Massive game for Melbourne, probably the toughest place to get a win. Could be looking at a 0 and 2 start for a premiership contender

Honestly as long as we are much improved on last week I can cop a loss.

 

[nahnah]

Demons by 2, can’t see them starting 0-2

 

[Drewie11]

Honestly as long as we are much improved on last week I can cop a loss.

Should see a completely different attitude from the Melbourne players today

 

[Bazza97]

I'm expecting a response from last week, not sure if it will be enough to get the win though. I've been pretty optimistic about our chances going into this game but unfortunately I think Geelong will just be a little bit better. Hopefully I'm wrong.

 

[Sttew]

Demons by 2, can’t see them starting 0-2

Rain expected all day. Rain + GMHBA + Momentum makes Geelong a hard team to beat. Cats by 7 points

 

[Sttew]

Massive game for Melbourne, probably the toughest place to get a win. Could be looking at a 0 and 2 start for a premiership contender

0-2 is manageable. It when you are 0-4 or 0-5 that alarm bells ring.

 

[Chinacats]

If results went as expected last week then Melbourne would be favoured to win this. Round 1 is always a different beast. Dees to get on the front foot and attack the “kittens”. Dees outplayed cats at the cattery last year so I think the ground holds no fears. May on Hawkins, Jetta on Ablett. Cats to win last qtr, but tipping Dees by a few goals. Would be great to be 2-0 though. Go cats!

 

[CrowInFiji]

0-2 is manageable. It when you are 0-4 or 0-5 that alarm bells ring.

Well apparently its only something like 3 times its happened. 2x Sydney and 1 Collingwood or something. Its never good.

 

[Chinacats]

Dees looked at the Round 1 fixture and thought an easy win at home against port and got caught napping. They’ll be switched on this week. Real deal Dees coming up. Can cats stand the heat? The final was embarrassing! Game plan audit coming up.

 

[Dee Train]

Very pessimistic about this one. Cats by lots, both on the scoreboard and the Dangerflop and Duckwood free kick count. Who could forget last years ruck nomination free kick BS?

 

[kaiserchief13]

Very pessimistic about this one. Cats by lots, both on the scoreboard and the Dangerflop and Duckwood free kick count. Who could forget last years ruck nomination free kick BS?

BS or smart play?

 

[Power Raid]

The dees by 9 points

The Cats have the form but I'm predicting an upset, with big Max dominating

 

[Dee Train]

BS or smart play?

Definitely both

 

[Sttew]

Who could forget last years ruck nomination free kick BS?

I had. Water under the bridge

 

[Tap Tap Tapperoo]

Similar to others, I mainly just want to see an improvement and see us at least play close to our best. Maybe it’s enough to beat Geelong in Geelong, maybe not, but we need to see a hell of a lot more than last week.

 

[gavaniacono]

Dees should win comfortably. They have a settled talented list versus one in some renovation and after losing last week, they will win this one by recapturing their early finals form of 2018. Dees to coast home by 5 goals.