Autopsy AFL 2025 Round 4 - Cats v Demons Fri April 4th 7:40pm AEDT (GMHBA)

[Mr Meow]

You do realise fans go to the football to watch their favourite players play?

Guarantee you a kid last week rocked up to watch his favourite player Tom Stewart play only to find out an hour before that he wasn't playing. Scott would've known well in advance that he wasn't going to get up for the game, it's not rocket science. Got nothing to do with fantasy footy or betting on my end - just about integrity of selection for fans.

Your coach is comically well known for pulling this crap week in week out, you're kidding yourself if you say otherwise.

Blicavs was still sick though.

 

[MisterMarcus]

Some real Meteor style "Geelong's kids are crap because they got less than 250m gained on a day beginning with F during a rain shower when the moon is a waxing gibbous in the west" nuffy-ness in the last few pages here.....

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

You do realise fans go to the football to watch their favourite players play?

Guarantee you a kid last week rocked up to watch his favourite player Tom Stewart play only to find out an hour before that he wasn't playing. Scott would've known well in advance that he wasn't going to get up for the game, it's not rocket science. Got nothing to do with fantasy footy or betting on my end - just about integrity of selection for fans.

Your coach is comically well known for pulling this crap week in week out, you're kidding yourself if you say otherwise.

They go to watch the team. That's (partly) why they don't bother with the names on the back of the jerseys like in other sports.

I remember as a kid going to that famous 1994 semi final at Waverley against Carlton, where we lined up without Couch, Hocking and Bairstow and no one gave us a chance. Except... I didn't even notice that our regular starting mids weren't playing. I didn't notice that Aaron Lord played an absolute blinder in his second AFL game. I don't recall any of Ablett's six goals. I just remember how excited I was that the Cats had won.

All due respect to what they've done in their careers, but to suggest there was a Geelong supporter in Brisbane last week, or in Geelong last night who's been absolutely devastated that they missed that once in a lifetime opportunity to watch Stewart or Blicavs run around, like they've flown across the world to see Steph Curry or something is silly. If it were my child bringing up how excited they were to see Stewart play in Brisbane last week, I would have been able to pop that bubble pretty quickly: "Yeah, nah... he probably won't play. Maybe we'll catch him in action at one of the other 10 opportunities we'll have to go to a game this year."

The people who are angry are the Supercoach nerds and the degenerate gamblers. And I'd probably have similar advice for them, given how much time they spend on preparing for the footy on the weekend: if I could read between the lines last week and see that Stewart was maybe a 20% chance of playing, you probably should have been able to see it too.

 

[danster168]

You have a really poor understanding of our great sport unfortunately.

17 to 5 marks inside 50, Geelong's way.

9 more scoring shots.

More contested possessions, uncontested possessions and tackles.

Less turnovers.

Geelong used the ball far better than Melbourne and then cut the Dees open when they were tired from chasing tail for prolonged periods.

Not enough skill or run from Melbourne.

I'm not denying many of those things but when the umpiring is so one sided it makes analysing the numbers a bit pointless.

61-65 in turnovers is barely worth mentioning. And even the scoring shots. Take away the terrible umpiring that gave frees to you boys and didn't pay at our end in the inside 50m and that number is pretty close also.

I'm not saying the Dees were good. I'm just saying it was horrendously officiated. A lot of 2 goal swings due to a whistle.

 

[Mr Meow]

I'm not denying many of those things but when the umpiring is so one sided it makes analysing the numbers a bit pointless.

61-65 in turnovers is barely worth mentioning. And even the scoring shots. Take away the terrible umpiring that gave frees to you boys and didn't pay at our end i the inside 50m and that number is pretty close also.

I'm not saying the Dees were good. I'm just saying it was horrendously officiated. A lot of 2 goal swings due to a whistle.

I expected a scrap going in as neither side had been firing. It was hard fought at times, then Melbourne had lapses that IMO were far more to do with Geelong controlling the play than some 50/50 umpiring calls. To be dominated on disposal diffential but have more turnovers and less tackles was telling. 17 to 5 marks inside 50 is a HUGE difference.

The teams were different class. Melbourne have big issues with their ball movement and forward system.

It was maybe a 5/10 effort by a Geelong side with plenty of youth and they still almost doubled Melbourne's score.

 

[danster168]

I expected a scrap going in as neither side had been firing. It was hard fought at times, then Melbourne had lapses that IMO were far more to do with Geelong controlling the play than some 50/50 umpiring calls. To be dominated on disposal diffential but have more turnovers and less tackles was telling. 17 to 5 marks inside 50 is a HUGE difference.

The teams were different class. Melbourne have big issues with their ball movement and forward system.

It was maybe a 5/10 effort by a Geelong side with plenty of youth and they still almost doubled Melbourne's score.

The diff in turnovers was only 4..and in an evenly officiated match swings completely the other way as a free against is a turnover isn't it?

Yeah the umps were a 6 goal influence though so the margin is irrelevant. it's very hard when u have moments of dominance in the game and the ump swings all the momentum with a call or a non call.

I do agree that Melb are struggling big time with fwd connection. And yeah, we do suck and this season was cooled the moment we lost to North. I'm not denying any of that, I'm just saying it was horrendously officiated and the game was pretty even for most of the contest until the game got out of reach half way through the last.

 

[Gavin Excell]

This’ll look good in the end for the cats. But there are lots of things for future opponents to rub their hands at.

Whether they’ll be good enough to exploit it is another question, but if I was a bookmaker I’d be pretty comfortable taking Geelong flag bets. They’ll be up there, they always are. But winning three finals would be beyond this team I think.

That's a reasonable assessment
Team at the moment doesn't have the midfield fire-power to contend

 

[Generalissimo]

that number 22 ump

Nathan Williamson. I don't think he's any good either. He was the one who paid that horrendous free against Stewart early in last year's prelim, and torched his own Grand Final ticket along with ours. He gets carried away, too eager to blow the whistle based on what he expects and hopes is about to happen rather than what he actually sees.

 

[Mr Meow]

The diff in turnovers was only 4..and in an evenly officiated match swings completely the other way as a free against is a turnover isn't it?

Yeah the umps were a 6 goal influence though so the margin is irrelevant. it's very hard when u have moments of dominance in the game and the ump swings all the momentum with a call or a non call.

I do agree that Melb are struggling big time with fwd connection. And yeah, we do suck and this season was cooled the moment we lost to North. I'm not denying any of that, I'm just saying it was horrendously officiated and the game was pretty even for most of the contest until the game got out of reach half way through the last.

7 goals felt about right. Geelong in 2nd gear, out of form, is about a 7 goal better side than this Dees outfit. It's time to burn it all down and start again.

 

[Gavin Excell]

Petracca looked very emotional last night

 

[1990crow]

 

[Toump Ass]

Are we? I haven’t read anyone getting chirpy.

Tell me more about this "potential all timer" we handed to Essendon. Do they have a name yet?

 

[Toump Ass]

Petracca looked very emotional last night

He's having the time of his life mate. Loving every moment at the Melbourne Demons. And paid very well for the privilege too thank you very much.

 

[STPer18]

Clayton asking for a return visit to the Stanley farm.

 

[Smedts_2]

not really. because the umps were a 6 goal difference. 6 goals added on makes it a 3 point Geelong win. And that was about where it was at. And some of the Geelong goals were pure fluke, lucky bounces of the ball. I mean, Melksham literally marked it clearly before the goal line and they go 'nah'.

Geelong aren't doing much this year.

Your last line might be right but umpiring a 6 goal difference… wtf…

 

[Strange Cat]

Will the rebuilding Cats claim back-to-back Rising Star wins? Dempsey2O'Sullivan - oh boy!

No good youf— Bigfooty

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

Forgive me, as I was on the road and only saw about the final third of the game, but a couple of things about the AFL.com match report raised an eyebrow for me.

AFL - News, Fixtures, Scores & Results - AFL.com.au

Australian Football League. All the latest AFL news, video, results and information

www.afl.com.au

Sarah Black has presented this narrative of the game being about Gawn and Dangerfield being these aging legendary warriors for their respective clubs, but she's gone with:

Dangerfield starting in the middle (a less frequent occurrence for him this year) against "far younger and speedier opponents..." He may be old, but there's still no-one in the AFL who's far speedier than Dangerfield.

Blicavs' absence presenting a "friendlier opponent in Rhys Stanley" for Gawn. Stanley's no superstar and looks like Gawn had a decent game, but Stanley's a proper ruckman, in contrast to a part-timer like Blicavs (all due respect). If Blicavs had been in the ruck and Stanley in the VFL, it wouldn't have made things any more difficult for Gawn. And probably worth mentioning, there was a passage in the fourth quarter where it felt like Geelong rebounded out of defence and managed to kick to a one-on-two with Gawn taking an easy mark two or three times in the space of a couple of minutes. Going by the stats, that must have been the majority of the marks he took all game, curious, for such a "towering" performance.

Shout-out to the Demons board, every time there's a game between our clubs coming up, I'm reminded how entertaining that place is. Not like other boards, where the entertainment value mainly comes from meltdowns and delusion. Just a bunch of genuinely funny effers who know their footy. Kudos.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

Will the rebuilding Cats claim back-to-back Rising Star wins? Dempsey2O'Sullivan - oh boy!

With SDK a clear second place (to N Daicos) two years before that.

 

[STPer18]

Forgive me, as I was on the road and only saw about the final third of the game, but a couple of things about the AFL.com match report raised an eyebrow for me.

AFL - News, Fixtures, Scores & Results - AFL.com.au

Australian Football League. All the latest AFL news, video, results and information

www.afl.com.au

Sarah Black has presented this narrative of the game being about Gawn and Dangerfield being these aging legendary warriors for their respective clubs, but she's gone with:

Dangerfield starting in the middle (a less frequent occurrence for him this year) against "far younger and speedier opponents..." He may be old, but there's still no-one in the AFL who's far speedier than Dangerfield.

Blicavs' absence presenting a "friendlier opponent in Rhys Stanley" for Gawn. Stanley's no superstar and looks like Gawn had a decent game, but Stanley's a proper ruckman, in contrast to a part-timer like Blicavs (all due respect). If Blicavs had been in the ruck and Stanley in the VFL, it wouldn't have made things any more difficult for Gawn. And probably worth mentioning, there was a passage in the fourth quarter where it felt like Geelong rebounded out of defence and managed to kick to a one-on-two with Gawn taking an easy mark two or three times in the space of a couple of minutes. Going by the stats, that must have been the majority of the marks he took all game, curious, for such a "towering" performance.

Shout-out to the Demons board, every time there's a game between our clubs coming up, I'm reminded how entertaining that place is. Not like other boards, where the entertainment value mainly comes from meltdowns and delusion. Just a bunch of genuinely funny effers who know their footy. Kudos.

AFL report doesn't even list O'Sullivan in the bests and he was clear 2nd BoG behind Dangerfield, yet Stengle who popped up for 2 late goals after being largely unsighted made the cut. Not sure what game they were watching.

 

[STPer18]

No good youf— Bigfooty

It might be time to bump this ripper of a thread.

Roast - Geelong can't develop young players

As part of my research into the Crows slow rebuild I thought I'd check out high ranking teams lists. First team I checked out was perennial finalists Geelong. What I found with Geelong was really surprising, they have an abysmal record of developing their own players. Others may want to offer...

www.bigfooty.com

Since that thread started Geelong have not only won a premiership with a staggering amount of late draft/rookie/cat-b players, but have had SDK go runner up, Dempsey win and now COS the early favourite for the RS. Geelong's ability to develop young players who weren't the cream of their draft crop is why we haven't gone arse over tit like every other team has at some point this century.

 

[PhatBoy]

Tell me more about this "potential all timer" we handed to Essendon. Do they have a name yet?

What in blue f*** are you talking about?

 

[PhatBoy]

AFL report doesn't even list O'Sullivan in the bests and he was clear 2nd BoG behind Dangerfield, yet Stengle who popped up for 2 late goals after being largely unsighted made the cut. Not sure what game they were watching.

Wondered the same. Stengle’s sole input before those goals was a nice shimmy and kick to Dangerfield to set up his goal from the pocket in the third term

 

[morsie]

And who cares? Why does a "late out" matter so much to these numpties? Get the win - it's all that matters

A late out is always disappointing for fans but it's not earth-shattering. It's a bit like getting upset that teams don't line up the way they are named on selection night.

 

[Toump Ass]

What in blue f*** are you talking about?

Um, did you even read the post of mine you quoted?

 

[PhatBoy]

Um, did you even read the post of mine you quoted?

where did I say anything about an all timer that you handed Essendon. What the hell is he talking about.

And how would that be ‘getting chirpy about beating Melbourne.’