Review Cats hang on by 3 points to beat Pies

[Interdimensional Bigfoot]

Mullin looks far better in the middle, can tag an opponent but also unleash and take off, hopefully we keep playing him there. O Henry was better too, didn't get a lot of the ball but when he did, he scored, hopefully can find his confidence again. Clark was better and tries his heart out does some good things, and puts in the 1%ers, hopefully he makes it. Duncan did well, had a few shockers but overall played better then many of us including myself, though he would. Neale is a turkey, he took some really good marks but makes some really poor decisions, needs to put on his big boy pants. I keep telling myself Hawkins was shit until Collingwood gf where he took the game over and never looked back, hopefully Neale has his breakout day and starts playing with authority.

Dangerfield, did some selwood shit out there tonight, went so hard that anyone that didn't lift would look like a complete muppet. 10/10 from him. At one point he had 7 ground ball gets compared to 6 for the whole Collingwood team.

 

[cats_09]

With under 5 minutes to go, Collingwood was able to get N.Daicos back on the field before we could sub Mullin back on

Next stoppage along the interchange wing, Mullin was able to come on and he immediately ran to the defensive side of the stoppage. Only then did he stop to find Daicos who was closer to Collingwood's 50m arc, and you could tell via eye contact with a teammate that the swap was on, so he ran to Daicos with a teammate dropping into that space

It's clear Mullin knew his role tonight and wasn't taking a step away from that as long as both him & Nick were on the field

 

[Cosmic Energy]

Bailey Smith

3

Bailey Smith

Age

25

Ht

185cm

Wt

86kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

18.3

5star

K

8.5

3star

HB

9.8

5star

M

2.3

2star

T

3.8

5star

CL

2.7

4star

D

19.8

5star

K

9.6

4star

HB

10.2

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

3.2

4star

CL

3.2

4star

D

14.8

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

7.2

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

3.4

5star

CL

1.6

4star

isn’t perfect but I love how combative he is. Absolutely ran his guts out all night.

What a rollercoaster tonight was, from an opening where we actually could have been further ahead, through the middle of the game where we could have been much further behind, to a last quarter we were playing some awesome footy, to nearly throwing it away!

I was cautiously optimistic as the Pies, despite being a very even, experienced and well drilled team, don’t quite have the individual weapons that we sometimes struggle with, like the Blues do as an example.

Probably easier to review some of the ‘bad’ moments at the end after a win. Neale did some either really good or really bad things, creating goals both ways. Some things like the Cameron dropped mark & seemingly avoidable Stengle throw after Mullin won the centre clearance with a little over 4 mins to go. The really poor attempt to compete by O Henry (with Quaynor on our goal line) with a little over a minute to go. And Blitz being a little dumb like he can be in that final centre bounce, you felt like the umps would be looking to pay one so he could have been a bit more subtle. I switched off the telly at that moment assuming we’d lost.

Congrats to Wiltshire on the first goal, that looked like it gave him a big confidence boost.

Loved the Dempsey hanger, he should actually go for more than he does, he’s shown he doesn’t just fall over if he drops them, so let’s give him the licence.

And Danger, what a weapon. Not sure where we’d be without him.

 

[Oisin_the_Goat]

I know Mullin still has along way to go...

But I can guarantee you all that Nick Daicos will feel that game tomorrow.

Mullin is a unit and he gave it to him all game long and got under his skin.

Daicos still got 30 odd - he does ever week - but ill take Mulllin's effort this week.

GO Catters

Yeah should be in the midfield more

 

[Cat Woman]

The result, the team selected, how we played, worrying about whipping boys.
None of it mattered for me tonight.

Early in the week dad had a mishap in hospital that would require surgery, and with his health issues the likelihood was that the surgery would kill him. Surgery on Wednesday, called in by doctors that night suggesting we say our goodbyes. He came through somehow, and with steady improvement over the last couple days I sat with him watching the first half by his hospital bedside.

I love this club always, but enjoying the simple things in life like I did tonight is all that mattered to me. It's priceless.
The win is just the cherry on top. Peace all, have a good night.

So glad your dad is okay. Go Cats

 

[catsfootyfan89]

God it's so classless for professionals to be ribbing the umpires.

In the wake of that game, I must say I'm proud of the fact that Scott never blames the umpires when we get dealt a harsh hand.

Have some class.

 

[frggr]

How good has Mannagh been, not perfect but so important for us when the games close the last few weeks.

It's his effort that does it for me. Knows he's got to taken the bull by the horns and just does it every week.

Handy that he kicks a goal or two.

Thanks Richmond

 

[frggr]

The fixture from here on out looks much, much easier.

West Coast and Richmond (twice!) is great

 

[Lingsface]

The last 7 games have been amazing games biggest difference 22 points.

4 out of 7 under 10 points.
5 out of 7 under 14 points.

1 blow out since 2019 the rest under 22 points.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

You can only play him again certain teams. No legspeed. But he was all heart tonight.

He reads the play well and gets into the right positions. Steele sidebottom is old and slow yet goes alright.

If his body holds up he will be crucial come finals

 

[Lingsface]

The fixture from here on out looks much, much easier.

West Coast and Richmond (twice!) is great

We needed that win, this is a tough month. I think one more from the next three is still a pass now but 2 or even 3 is a massive good sign.

 

[Cursed Cat]

I know he had some dicey moments, but I feel like people were a bit harsh on SDK. 10 intercepts, which was our most by a mile. 12 effective disposals. Mihocek kicked a few goals but they had overwhelming supply for periods.

Went close to having a very, very good game.

I thought Sam played really well. Brody Mihocek is a really good player; difficult prospect as Curtly Ambrose once said of David Boon.

SDK played well for 3 quarters, but Mihocek looked capable of winning the game for Collingwood late.

Good contest.

 

[Play it Sam]

What a feather in Mullins cap, to hassle and rile Daicos into a 50 metre free.
It was coming - that was paid, but Daicos was throwing himself late with intent to hurt for a fair part of the game.
So he got a nice Mullin rib tickler to go on with. Fair play to Oisin, stuck like a pint of Guiness to the liver, and might just join MOC as our tagger.

Up the Irish.

 

[Mr Meow]

Geelong has played in front of a combined 238,918 people over the last 3 weeks. That was about 30,000 less people than we played in front of for the entire 2022 finals series.

Amazing experience for our many sub 50 gamers. Talk about an apprenticeship!

 

[Lingsface]

He reads the play well and gets into the right positions. Steele sidebottom is old and slow yet goes alright.

If his body holds up he will be crucial come finals

He still would be top 3 in time trials though, Steele has an underrated athletic ability.

 

[Play it Sam]

Epic win.

Amazing to see Patrick Dangerfield will his team to victory in that 2nd half, that was Beast Mode Deluxe.

I always liked what Bailey Smith brought to the Bulldogs, but there is no question his football has gone up a couple of notches post knee-and-move. His workrate helped hold back the Collingwood tide when they threatened to sweep us away, and eventually others came with him.

Losing Stanley was a blow but Mark Blicavs was a more than adequate replacement in the ruck (with help from Neale), Blitz winning some crucial centre clearances and then holding up Collingwood from doing the same on other occasions.

Oli Wiltshire contributed, Ollie Henry contributed. Mannagh did his thing.

Jack Bowes had a terrible first three quarters, but then one very, very good last quarter. Sam De Koning had a very very good first three quarters but then a shakey last quarter.

Mitch Duncan had one or two hairy moments, but overall was a net positive. Great to see him in action again; nice to be reminded of his ability. Probably 3 moments when he looked to be under immense pressure but in fact had already worked out where and how he was going to dispose of the ball before he'd even taken possession.

Oisin Mullin had a huge task on his hands and Nick Daicos threatened to really get off the leash on more than one occasion, but the inexperienced Irishman never dropped his bundle and ultimately did his job.


Crucial win and one that might instill some genuine belief in this 2025 model Geelong team.

Great summary again. Bailey Smith is a cheeky monkey, but a grateful one, and that's what I like about him. Not afraid to give thanks to the Club and players, and enjoying life and his new aura (farm) .
Suits us, hasn't played a bad game yet. He's burned Danger a few times, but they've been goals, backing himself.
C'est la vie until they're not.

 

[Whiskers]

That is the best home and away win I’ve seen.
Gave ourselves very little hope. Pies are the form team of the comp and very good at what they do.
That was our 2nd 6 day break in a row whilst they came off b2b 8 day breaks.
Winning in that circumstance does not happen often, especially against a side that is flying and we battled big outs.

Extremely impressive…. Seriously appreciate that win cat fans. I hope we all understand how lucky we are to follow a side like this.

 

[Mr Meow]

He reads the play well and gets into the right positions. Steele sidebottom is old and slow yet goes alright.

If his body holds up he will be crucial come finals

I said it plenty of times about Duncan last year, you can probably afford one of him in your defensive line as long as there's some speed around him. Last season with Tuohy, Kolo and Blicavs as well (mostly having Tuohy on his last legs) we were a bit slow back there.

With COS, O'Connor, sometimes Mullin back there then it's probably not such a big issue. They have solid closing speed and agility.

What we can't do is overplay Duncan because this completely cooked his goose by the 2nd Saints game in 2024. We should plug him in at the right times and hopefully keep him fresh for the business end of the season (if required).

If it buys Stewart time to get his body right then keeping Duncan has already been a success.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Amazing with so few players at VFL level, depth being tested... That I look at the impending returns of Kolo, Henry, Stewart and Miers in the short term and finding 4 guys to drop is hard.

Clark
Wiltshire

Two obvious outs.

All I can think of is Stanley (inj) and Duncan last-in-first-out, and that'd be harsh and undeserved based of tonight.
****! Our regular football audits against good opposition tend to get good performances out of players and give us the selection integrity that these decisions are bloody hard.

Neale, O.Henry, O'Connor, Mullin all been down in recent weeks.
All have varying degrees of positive output tonight.

 

[Cursed Cat]

Great summary again. Bailey Smith is a cheeky monkey, but a grateful one, and that's what I like about him. Not afraid to give thanks to the Club and players, and enjoying life and his new aura (farm) .
Suits us, hasn't played a bad game yet. He's burned Danger a few times, but they've been goals, backing himself.
C'est la vie until they're not.

cheers Play it Sam

 

[Oisin_the_Goat]

Bring it

Make him sub haha

 

[Art Vandelay_]

And we're now the reigning champs.

AFL Tables - Club Champion

 

[And_ROOS]

Missed the game, before I get the chance to watch the game what happened to Stanley and how long will he be out, how did Danger get 29 disposals (was he in the midfield more?) and where were Mannagh and Stengle playing tonight? In the Miers role or doing something different?

Lastly, with Miers certain to be back next week, who drops out for him?

 

[Mr Meow]

Missed the game, before I get the chance to watch the game what happened to Stanley and how long will he be out, how did Danger get 29 disposals (was he in the midfield more?) and where were Mannagh and Stengle playing tonight? In the Miers role or doing something different?

Lastly, with Miers certain to be back next week, who drops out for him?

They suspected hamstring tear for Stanley so probably at least a few weeks.

Dangerfield was still forward but as the game went on he roamed up to seemingly every contest or was the main outlet to chaos ball it up to.

Mannagh continued to be the extra at around the ground stoppages, forward crumber when we got it inside 50. Stengle general forward but a lot of work in the old Miers areas.

Miers in for Wiltshire.

 

[catters05]

What a feather in Mullins cap, to hassle and rile Daicos into a 50 metre free.
It was coming - that was paid, but Daicos was throwing himself late with intent to hurt for a fair part of the game.
So he got a nice Mullin rib tickler to go on with. Fair play to Oisin, stuck like a pint of Guiness to the liver, and might just join MOC as our tagger.

Up the Irish.

He going to become a really good player imo. The patience by the club is amazing to allow players to grow.