Review Cats into ANOTHER PRELIM (14 of 18) after beating Lions by 38 points

[cats_09]

 

[FootyIslanders]

Wow, they can’t fly home the next morning?

Another thing I don’t get being from a much different country, is why Geelong fans don’t get priority access to the majority of tickets for the prelim since they earned being the home team? I don’t understand how Richmond was able to get so many tickets that prelim game a number of years ago, yet Geelong does have the ability to draw 86k to a final at the G? Whatever is left after a home team on sale should then go to the visitors. Much different culture I am from…

 

[cats_09]

Wow, they can’t fly home the next morning?

Another thing I don’t get being from a much different country, is why Geelong fans don’t get priority access to the majority of tickets for the prelim since they earned being the home team? I don’t understand how Richmond was able to get so many tickets that prelim game a number of years ago, yet Geelong does have the ability to draw 86k to a final at the G? Whatever is left after a home team on sale should then go to the visitors. Much different culture I am from…

While they likely could, flying back following the prelim gives the winning team the maximum time at home to at least start their week with some level of normality

They'll be able to sleep in their own beds that night, have their recovery session at the club on the Sunday etc etc

In 2023 the Lions travelled down on the Thursday of GF week, while last year they opted to come down a day earlier on the Wednesday - being able to fly home on the Saturday night last year meant that they had 3 full days before returning to Melbourne compared with only 2 had they needed to wait until the Sunday

 

[BotsMaster]

Bit late with this but it was good to see MOC and Cam holding hands during the game.

 

[Tuggacat]

Asked her to not take pics of him getting treatment and she refused apparently.

He is heard saying ‘stop baiting me’. When you look at the photo of the finger, the Geelong staffer next to him is looking in her direction so it would appear she has said something to him? If he takes his shirt of on Instagram or whatever that is followers and dollars. News Corp, on the other hand, only pays for fake news.

 

[Cataholic]

He is heard saying ‘stop baiting me’. When you look at the photo of the finger, the Geelong staffer next to him is looking in her direction so it would appear she has said something to him? If he takes his shirt of on Instagram or whatever that is followers and dollars. News Corp, on the other hand, only pays for fake news.

What is the story with Scott - why did he get angry then have to apologise to a female reporter or staffer?

 

[dudusmaximus]

What is the story with Scott - why did he get angry then have to apologise to a female reporter or staffer?

Best to add "alleged" in front of everything. It is Finals and Media needs to fill pages & viewing hours. Expect stories like Scott scrimped at last year's Kris Kringle.

 

[Cataholic]

Best to add "alleged" in front of everything. It is Finals and Media needs to fill pages & viewing hours. Expect stories like Scott scrimped at last year's Kris Kringle.

All true, but apparently this one has been confirmed.

Scott lost his cool, berated someone, then apologised.

Not a good week for the GFC and the female population.

Edit: King was quite scathing about it being 'swept under the carpet'

 

[Mr Meow]

All true, but apparently this one has been confirmed.

Scott lost his cool, berated someone, then apologised.

Not a good week for the GFC and the female population.

Edit: King was quite scathing about it being 'swept under the carpet'

Better to save judgement on situations where we have missing details. King is scathing over 500 things each week. It's performative.

 

[Cataholic]

Better to save judgement on situations where we have missing details. King is scathing over 500 things each week. It's performative.

We can agree the optics weren't great.

Scott got verbal with a female staffer and had to apologise.

Smith got verbal with a female reporter and had to apologise.

They weren't smart and have given the press some ammo. We know the press don't need much to make a headline.

Scott and Smith would know that too.

 

[Mr Meow]

We can agree the optics weren't great.

Scott got verbal with a female staffer and had to apologise.

Smith got verbal with a female reporter and had to apologise.

They weren't smart and have given the press some ammo. We know the press don't need much to make a headline.

Scott and Smith would know that too.

I wish I could pour emotional energy into it, but after seeing the footage of Smith's "abusive and threatening tirade" I am once again sceptical of any reporting I see. The media know how to emotionally manipulate for a heightened response and it's simply not a game I play. There's a prelim to play and all of the rest is simply passing time, with little to no consequence.

 

[Cataholic]

I wish I could pour emotional energy into it, but after seeing the footage of Smith's "abusive and threatening tirade" I am once again sceptical of any reporting I see. The media know how to emotionally manipulate for a heightened response and it's simply not a game I play. There's a prelim to play and all of the rest is simply passing time, with little to no consequence.

For sure, but like I said, the media needs just a mere morsel to make a meal, and there's a both a tall poppy syndrome and a PF in play.

There'll naturally be a big focus on Geelong this week, and I just don't think Scott or Smith played a very smart game.

 

[Mr Meow]

For sure, but like I said, the media needs just a mere morsel to make a meal, and there's a both a tall poppy syndrome and a PF in play.

There'll naturally be a big focus on Geelong this week, and I just don't think Scott or Smith played a very smart game.

I wonder if playing a smart game with the media is in fact what wins premierships though? Malthouse, Sheedy, Clarkson, Thompson, Hardwick etc have all had their eyebrow raising moments and sometimes hostile or baffling interactions. Smith comes across as a problem child like the ultra successful Akermanis.

For me personally winning the public image war matters little. It's a bonus but not a requirement if Chris Scott is the most pleasant man on Earth 24/7. People screw up all the time and I am far too flawed to be judge, jury and executioner over every minor incident. Each to their own though.

 

[STPer18]

Even Sam Mitchell was saying pre-game yesterday when interviewed and asked about the Merrett hoopla, basically with only a couple of games a week, meedya need to and will find anything to talk about. They sat on the Scott story for nearly a week and only dropped it when Smith had a 'crack' at one of their own. Tit for tat waste of time methinks.

 

[Cataholic]

I wonder if playing a smart game with the media is in fact what wins premierships though? Malthouse, Sheedy, Clarkson, Thompson, Hardwick etc have all had their eyebrow raising moments and sometimes hostile or baffling interactions. Smith comes across as a problem child like the ultra successful Akermanis.

For me personally winning the public image war matters little. It's a bonus but not a requirement if Chris Scott is the most pleasant man on Earth 24/7. People screw up all the time and I am far too flawed to be judge, jury and executioner over every minor incident. Each to their own though.

I'm not purporting to be a judge, jury and executioner either?

You don't win premierships with the media, I agree, but you don't want to bring unwarranted attention in a lead-up to a final either. It can be distracting.

Rankine and the AFC will attest to that.

It's a topic of conversation is all.

Anyhow it seems Scott, Smith and the playing group have put it behind them and are now focused on Friday night.

Let's ride.

 

[Mr Meow]

I'm not purporting to be a judge, jury and executioner either?

You don't win premierships with the media, I agree, but you don't want to bring unwarranted attention in a lead-up to a final either. It can be distracting.

Rankine and the AFC will attest to that.

It's a topic of conversation is all.

Anyhow it seems Scott, Smith and the playing group have put it behind them and are now focused on Friday night.

Let's ride.

I just think we are leagues above Adelaide as an organisation and these incidents are leagues below the Rankine one as far as so called distractions. Who knows, maybe I'm wrong and this ends our season. It just feels a bit far fetched, which is why I struggle to invest much emotional energy into it.

 

[Cataholic]

I just think we are leagues above Adelaide as an organisation and these incidents are leagues below the Rankine one as far as so called distractions. Who knows, maybe I'm wrong and this ends our season. It just feels a bit far fetched, which is why I struggle to invest much emotional energy into it.

We are, and it is.

But the attention Smith is bringing to the GFC is new.

I don't think it'll end our season but has it done anything to contribute to it? No.

I'm not emotionally invested either. Like I said, it's just idle discussion on a topic of short term interest.

 

[Mr Meow]

We are, and it is.

But the attention Smith is bringing to the GFC is new.

I don't think it'll end our season but has it done anything to contribute to it? No.

I'm not emotionally invested either. Like I said, it's just idle discussion on a topic of short term interest.

Apologies if I have misread you. Concern and apprehension (annoyance?) are what I classify as emotional investment. If you have none of these then I simply took the wrong message from your posts.

We have had attention without Smith. I can think of on or off field things around S.Johnson, Stokes, Christensen, S.Hocking, Stewart, Bruhn, Atkins, Stengle and the 12,000 rorts we're supposedly involved in.

Scott has had run ins, controversial presser comments and so on that people have complained about for 15 years straight. We have still been the best run club in the league despite these "distractions" and the media's relentless pursuit for controversy

 

[Tony Barber]

We are, and it is.

But the attention Smith is bringing to the GFC is new.

I don't think it'll end our season but has it done anything to contribute to it? No.

I'm not emotionally invested either. Like I said, it's just idle discussion on a topic of short term interest.

When I was in the army I always liked one person being the centre of attention.
It took the focus off the rest of the regiment.

And generally the person pulling the attention could handle it. Because it was just who they were.

 

[Cataholic]

Apologies if I have misread you. Concern and apprehension (annoyance?) are what I classify as emotional investment. If you have none of these then I simply took the wrong message from your posts.

We have had attention without Smith. I can think of on or off field things around S.Johnson, Stokes, Christensen, S.Hocking, Stewart, Bruhn, Atkins, Stengle and the 12,000 rorts we're supposedly involved in.

Scott has had run ins, controversial presser comments and so on that people have complained about for 15 years straight. We have still been the best run club in the league despite these "distractions" and the media's relentless pursuit for controversy

Good points.

I have no concern or apprehension of any note re: the incidents with Scott and Smith, though I'll admit I would've preferred they didn't happen.

Am I concerned and apprehensive about our clash with Hawthorn? Yep.

My head tells me we're the better team, but I'm still nervous.

If you go back over the journey in 2025 you'll see I've been referencing Hawthorn for a good while now. There's just something about them.

They're hard-nosed and have been punching above their weight. I'm expecting Mitchell will have them primed to play hard, physically aggressive footy.

We're rested whilst they're road weary but battle hardened.

It'll be a true test.

 

[allrighty]

I was at that game and happened to see it live
Don't believe it was specifically aimed at Bruns
Ball had just been cleared from center area
Mathews had just copped a hip to the head
Bruns just happened to be jogging bye unaware
Mathews swung in frustration not premeditated.
Looked much worse on TV due to behind play

Injuries happen when players caught unaware
Similar incident with Ball cleared from centre
Same oval exact same spot on the oval
John Barnes was running forward unaware
Stephen Kernahan intentionally swung the boot
The trip Resulted in a severe injured ankle

Also witnessed John Howat KO John Barnes
At kick in, Barnes was 55m out, Punt Rd wing
He turned, saw he was all alone, waived for ball
Jon Howat raced from bench at full speed
Barnes blindsided turned head. Shoulder met jaw.
Similar shoulder hit as Tom Stewart on Dion Prestia

Have been numerous vicious hits over the years
Most were from frustration and going hard at ball
Few were premeditated paybacks...
Like Dunstall KO Hinkley at Waverley Park.

Been watching since Polly and Wade graced the oval.
Have zero recollection of any Cat Thuggery... ZERO.

View attachment 2421644

Let's not forget the evener upperer on Dermie in the 89 GF.

 

[Tony Barber]

Good points.

I have no concern or apprehension of any note re: the incidents with Scott and Smith, though I'll admit I would've preferred they didn't happen.

Am I concerned and apprehensive about our clash with Hawthorn? Yep.

My head tells me we're the better team, but I'm still nervous.

If you go back over the journey in 2025 you'll see I've been referencing Hawthorn for a good while now. There's just something about them.

They're hard-nosed and have been punching above their weight. I'm expecting Mitchell will have them primed to play hard, physically aggressive footy.

We're rested whilst they're road weary but battle hardened.

It'll be a true test.

It's a prelim.
Everyone should be nervous.

But there's zero we can do about it.

Geez I hope tonights game lives up to the finals level.
The finals looked like they'd be excellent. But it's not playing out.

 

[Cataholic]

When I was in the army I always liked one person being the centre of attention.
It took the focus off the rest of the regiment.

And generally the person pulling the attention could handle it. Because it was just who they were.

Good analogy. I just hope he can deal with it.

He seems to be a complex character.

He's had his battles. On one hand he seeks attention, on another he despises it.

Like it or not he's gotten the media's attention this week, and on Friday he'll cop Hawthorn's attention.

It's a bit to take on.

 

[Tony Barber]

Good analogy. I just hope he can deal with it.

He seems to be a complex character.

He's had his battles. On one hand he seeks attention, on another he despises it.

Like it or not he's gotten the media's attention this week, and on Friday he'll cop Hawthorn's attention.

It's a bit to take on.

Theres a lot of people in this world that say 'bring it on'.
I think he's one of the few that believes those words.

 

[Cataholic]

Theres a lot of people in this world that say 'bring it on'.
I think he's one of the few that believes those words.

Yeah, I agree.

I just hope it isn't false bravado.

But I think not.