Autopsy Cats lose to Demons by 8 points

[CatRiot]

Stinking mess that game was.

7-1 still a fair effort from pre season suggestions for us.

Pretty much everyone dropped their bundle in this one.

Holmes, Stengle, Atkins, Clark, Zuthrie, Ollie Henry mostly good....

Miers got going later...

Jezza, Tomma, Stanley, 2E, Blitz and just a shocker. Mitch Duncan too.

Bruhn and Stewy look sore and hurt.

We have depth to come back in but geez it was ugly.

Port in 6 days at home for us but hopefully we can bury this mess and move on.

GO Catters

Besides Clark's goal, thought he was a stinker actually. Definitely not ready for AFL atm.

I tipped Melbourne when Stanley was named.

He can't play next week.

Stanley was playing dirty this week, really scrapping it, and throwing the knee in with force at ruck contests.

 

[CHAWKTS]

Ollie Henry stank and still kicked 3. Guy is a freak.

I have accepted that he is just high impact player - and pretty darn good at it. He has been too consistent with 2 and 3 goals (at very high efficiency) to now ignore and continue to focus on what I would like him to do….he is actually critical to our forward line now

 

[bombersboy]

In the cool light of day and time to reflect. I cannot believe how bad we were.

There is an absolute chasm between Cameron's best and worst. I can accept having an off night. Can even accept shanking a regulation kick at goal from 30-40 metres but 2 in less than 20 minutes ??? For a bloke on around $800k per year that is unacceptable.

Made me think who I want taking the game shot from 30-40 with everything on the line. My picks in order

Ollie Henry
Rohan
Close
Stengle
Hawkins
Cameron

At the start of the year I thought we were a bottom of the 8 side. Last couple of weeks started to think we could be top 4. Question is which game was the aberration, Carlton or Melbourne? The answer I think is both. We are not as good as we played against Carlton nor are we as bad as we played against Melbourne. Winning 1 out of 2 is probably a fair result although I would probably expect the results to be reversed. Lose against Carlton and a win against Melbourne.

 

[you pick one]

A few players getting criticised - but I’m not sure the coaches had a great week. Resting players is fine to an extent but leaving Parfitt and MOC out against the Dees midfield was odd. Maybe one of them - but both?????

It’s not like they’re both “older” players.

Dangerfield out - C Guthrie 2nd game after a long layoff so we were thin in there to begin with. Stats are misleading. I thought when the pressure was on - Dees midfield was harder (and cleaner) ….. and a hell of a lot more damaging.


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I had both Parfitt and MOC in the side and Duncan was my choice for sub,as for player management in general spell injured and sore players fine and badly out of form boys other than that play best 22 each week and bank the wins the second half of the season is when it's time to rotate players in and out of the side as purely workload management with a view on the major prise not in May and not up against a quality opponent.Many hands make light work.

 

[CHAWKTS]

Rossy Lyon with a stiffy watching this one.

He would have stopped watching at half time knowing that it could not get any better!

 

[CatRiot]

Clark was a positive I thought.

Needs two more preseasons I reckon. I still think he should be a Sub or VFL atm. But we have a lot of players out, so that's okay to play him.

 

[feelinfeline]

I still can't get over the omission of O'Connor and Parfitt.

They were both poor last week and people on here were asking for them to be dropped.

They were ‘managed’ and will probably play next week when others are managed.

Who would you have left out?

 

[CHAWKTS]

I tipped Melbourne when Stanley was named.

He can't play next week.

I am worried that Toby “managed” is actually a niggle. Given how conservative they are I would not be suprised if they give him next week off and have Toby ready for Gold Coast. I hope that is wrong and he is ready to play Friday

 

[bombersboy]

They were both poor last week and people on here were asking for them to be dropped.

They were ‘managed’ and will probably play next week when others are managed.

Who would you have left out?

Swap Duncan for MOC we probably win.

 

[CHAWKTS]

Jez needs to stop posting mid week youtube videos and get his head in the game, looked bored for 3 quarters

To be fair he looks the same when he is dominating? He will be dissapointed for sure…I thought at the end he looked resigned to the fact that he was having a mare - which is a shame as the game was there for him to win.


Maybe given it was Melbourne and Rohan was subbed in he was too busy running from him to avoid any contact?

 

[CHAWKTS]

Any report on Bruhn?

Apparantly just a kick/knock to the shoulder. Nothing ‘structural’…. But I am still worried about 6 day turn around. With MOC and Parfait coming straight back in I assume Bruhn gets a rest

 

[feelinfeline]

Swap Duncan for MOC we probably win.

I repeat: MOC was poor the week before. Six possessions. Duncan was good - 24 possessions.

Easy to be wise after the event. You have no idea how MOC would have played if he’d played.

 

[Finknottle]

I don’t think it’s fair to say we need stellar performances from JC Danger and Hawk to win. Last night we needed JC to kick 2 goals he kicks every day of the week. The work was done up the field he (and Duncan) just bottled it.

The most promising thing last night was that we lost by 8 points to a full strength contender with superstars in the middle and defense and it was the older guys that let us down and the youngsters that kept us in it. A far cry from a few years ago when we had battlers like Parsons, Lang, Murdoch and Ruggles playing.

I know you tend to undersell us as a reaction to trauma from back in the day but I think we’re one of the teams to beat. I have Sydney number 1, but we’re in the mix along with GWS, the Blues and the Dees, Pies maybe, but i still think they’re just going, although they do find a way. The reality is, there are no dominant teams this year and everyone has weaknesses, but our best is as good as anyone.

Ruggles
Don't forget Whylie Buzza

 

[CHAWKTS]

Tuohy was never missing tonight after his efforts last week, but after a quiet night tonight he could be managed again next week

Certainly over next couple of weeks…maybe against Gold Coast?

 

[rocker_oz33]

I think jez had to donuts .
Watched his video of him and the family day out to the Otways.
Stopping off at Oaks barkery.

They were nice donuts I went down there on Friday.
Nom Nom Nom.

 

[JackFlash]

They were both poor last week and people on here were asking for them to be dropped.

They were ‘managed’ and will probably play next week when others are managed.

Who would you have left out?

I would've made only one change, Stewart for Dangerfield.

 

[CHAWKTS]

I'm reserving judgment for another week, see how we respond

Are you lost? What are you doing on BF with that sensible attitude

If you do come back please post with emotion and big sweeping statements!

 

[Romeoh1]

Losses always burn but every teams drops one eventually. Not worried about this in the slightest.

We were clearly off our game. Weren't running as hard to cover the ground. Poor tackling intensity and unforced errors. Yet we still only lost by 8 pts. Dees couldn't have played much better except at kicking for goal and we were just as poor.

In fact, I'm more convinced of our premiership credentials after this game. Winning the midfield isn't even our strength and yet clearances, contested possession and inside 50s were relatively close. Add this onto a return to our usual intensity and we'll be just fine.

Yep- we were a fair way off our best and still could have won it. Melbourne’s tactics contributed to that scenario too, but mostly we just had an off day. Don’t really accept that the dees were near their best though. They were better than us but they can play better than that too. The rematch will be interesting.

 

[Finknottle]

The dees absolutely cant go without gawn or may.
Their replacements would be fullarton or tomlinson respectively who are a massive step down.
They could maybe do without petracca but with clarry being up and down without it.

As good as cameron is the one player we cant structurally do without is blitz. Because without him we probably have to play 2 of stanley conway and neale and structurally it would wreck us. Cameron is coverable even though hes elite.

But Blicavs has been really down on form. He's slower and can't hold onto marks. He must be playing injured.

 

[cats_09]

At the moment, we are more dependant on JC than I'd like. He's the one player without whom we cannot compete with the very best.

The Dees can go without one of Gawn, Petracca or May. We can't go without JC.

IF Gawn went down for an extended period, who would the Demons turn to to carry the ruck load?

The other "recognised" rucks on their list are Verrall & Farris-White, both 20 years old and without a senior game to their names

This is the hitout stats for Melbourne so far this season, and it would suggest that the one player they clearly couldn't afford to lose is Gawn

 

[CHAWKTS]

Agree that Duncan should be managed throughout the season & as we get deeper into the season that he may not be the automatic best 23 selection as has been the case since 2011

But he's not going to play out the season in the VFL - he's a 281 game club veteran & that doesn't seem a very respectful way to approach things

He's had good games this season & then a poor effort like tonight. He could very well still have a role to play going forward this season, but it may just look different to how he expected it would at the start of the season

I would be surprised if he didn't play at least another 10 games this season

He feels like a Higgins or Dal in 2022. Will be there abouts and decision made in back end of the year whether a back up or best 23. Same as 2E.

I am not sure about Rohan as we need to see him play more in VFL to work out whether he is at his best.

I actually think we still have a chance to win flag even if these 3 are not part of our best 23 - but only if that is because we have continued development out of kids and mid age…

What we do need is the other “older players” to be at their best…Danger, Guthrie, Blitz, Jezza and Hawkins. If they have 2022 years then I reckon we are real shot. If they fall off or injured (at the moment Jezza only one I am truely confident in and Blitz very hopeful in terms of return to form - the rest are questionable)

In ruck I don’t know the answer other than we did win it in 2022 with Stanley as #1

 

[Finknottle]

I had both Parfitt and MOC in the side and Duncan was my choice for sub,as for player management in general spell injured and sore players fine and badly out of form boys other than that play best 22 each week and bank the wins the second half of the season is when it's time to rotate players in and out of the side as purely workload management with a view on the major prise not in May and not up against a quality opponent.Many hands make light work.

Rohan as sub was a stroke of lunacy. I cannot understand that the one guy who would strike fear into May and Lever was not on the ground. He could have rotated with Hawkins to keep the defenders nervous.

 

[catempire]

I have accepted that he is just high impact player - and pretty darn good at it. He has been too consistent with 2 and 3 goals (at very high efficiency) to now ignore and continue to focus on what I would like him to do….he is actually critical to our forward line now

Can’t remember where I saw it but there was a quote from Hawkins in the past few days saying the forward line works best with 2.5 talls. Ollie is the 0.5.

 

[catempire]

What that hit out stat misses is that too many times the next possession was either an effective Melb disposal or an ineffective Geelong disposal

Yeah but without checking I reckon those stats for Melbourne would have been some of their lowest in those categories in years. It was our poor efforts elsewhere that allowed them to win despite them.

 

[cats_09]

I bet you wouldn’t have welcomed a Cats supporter posting on the Cartoon board that the free was totally justified.

Opposition posters have always been and will continue to be welcome to post on the Geelong board

And if their efforts is the best they can come up with, the best option is to laugh and move on - it wasn't even a decent attempt at trolling