Autopsy Cats lose to Dogs by 25 points.

[Reg Hickey]

24 hitouts against English is a good sign in his first game, just needs to find more of the ball round the ground

It’s more than a good sign. In his first game, against the likely AA ruckman, it’s a fantastic effort.

Perspective. English is 26yo and has played more than 100 games, and he was terrible for many of those first 100. Gawn took several seasons to get good. They all do.

 

[iameviljez]

I think the other problem is that they keep changing the rules. Is there any other major sporting code in the world that changes its rules as often?

No wonder the umpires have trouble with it.

It’s never going to be perfect, so pick a set of rules and LEAVE. THEM.

I think that's a response to how quickly the tactics have changed in the game.

Basically put, (and this is all IMO), we all played the game like a bunch of dumb fun idiots till the mid 1990s, when Rodney Eade realised that we didn't have to line up in five banks of three with three followers. Since then, we've turbocharged what should have been half a century of tactical development into about ten years or so between 2005 and 2015-ish.

As a result, the rules have continually changed to try and keep the game open and flowing as coaches have tried to close it down time and again.

For what it's worth, I do like what the Stand rule has done. The others, meh.

 

[Strange Cat]

Even with this loss and putrid year we didn’t get thrashed

Good signs for the future imo that the gameplan can still hold up

 

[Live in hope]

SDK was horrendous and probably handed them 5 goals.
His year has been beyond awful. He’s not AFL standard at the moment. Huge premiership hangover from him in particular.
He needs an enormous preseason and a to not sleep in and miss training sessions like he did in this years preseason.

Definitely a decline on last year for SDK but hardly awful. Pretty common for young players to have a lesser year after a breakout. They feel the weight of expectation more and opposition coaches and players plan more for them.
Think Sav had the much better season (more than detractors will admit) however agree SDK’s upside significantly better/higher.

 

[you pick one]

Definitely a decline on last year for SDK but hardly awful. Pretty common for young players to have a lesser year after a breakout. They feel the weight of expectation more and opposition coaches and players plan more for them.
Think Sav had the much better season (more than detractors will admit) however agree SDK’s upside significantly better/higher.

Sam got knocked from pillar to post this year early and suffered a severe facial injury I expect it might have rattled the young blokes confidence a bit,but he will be back give it time.

 

[iameviljez]

Sam got knocked from pillar to post this year early and suffered a severe facial injury I expect it might have rattled the young blokes confidence a bit,but he will be back give it time.

And also that our expectations for what constitutes a pass mark from him have risen enormously.

 

[Lana]

Finally got to watch the game.

I wonder when was the last time we fielded a team so young. A lot to like for the future, but only if we look to the future.

Dempsey's repeat defensive effort show that he is ready to be a regular.

Neale's aerial ability, which is a key test for developing KPF is at AFL standard, a few more kgs and bit more fitness and he'll mark closer to goal. That contested mark to goal assist was beautiful.

Knveitt's first touch is holding him back, he need to practice it heaps over the offseason.

This was the game Parfitt needed to have in round 1. He still needs to step up his ball use by a tonne.

Menegola showed his strong ball winning but at the same time demonstrated why he wasn't selected earlier. Maybe they could have eased him into the level as the Sub.

Z.Guthrie always seems to have a great game when the team in under fire, was a mini Stewart, Stewart was at another level, probably did enough this year to make the AA squad, won't be in the final 22

Mullen has taken to the physical side of the sport, his skills have a long way to go.

Bews had the game he needed to have, just to remind us his value before the offseason.

Conway's raw attributes were on display, we haven't seen anything like in young Geelong Ruckman this since pre-injury Dawson Simpson

Dawson Simpson

Age

35

Ht

210cm

Wt

109kg

Pos.

Ruck

Career

Season

Last 5

D

7.4

2star

K

2.5

1star

HB

5.0

4star

CL

2.0

4star

HO

26.2

5star

No current season stats available

D

6.2

2star

K

2.4

1star

HB

3.8

3star

CL

1.2

4star

HO

13.0

5star

, but it is clear that he doesn't have the strength or the fitness yet. Their resurgence came at his expense by playing through him. It won't be long before he starts dominating VFL level ruckmen

All of you leave De Koning alone.

 

[Walter H White]

SDK was horrendous and probably handed them 5 goals.
His year has been beyond awful. He’s not AFL standard at the moment. Huge premiership hangover from him in particular.
He needs an enormous preseason and a to not sleep in and miss training sessions like he did in this years preseason.

Is this true? If so, that's shocking and unacceptable. It's one thing for the likes of Danger and co. to have a bit of a premiership hangover after 10-15 years in the system, but a young player like SDK should be raring to go and still had plenty of improvement even after a great 2022.

 

[cats_09]

Why did Bews not get a free halfway through the last quarter?
Surely he was interfered with as he was about to take his kick by Naughton?
The commentators said nothing!

It would have come down to the involvement of Stewart in that passage of play

Bews takes mark & goes back to take his kick, Stewart is hanging around out the back looking like he wanted to run past for the quick handball receive. Naughton picked up the loose Stewart, appeared he was running arm on arm with him (so no real gap between the 2 players) and Stewart looked like he still wanted to get the handball receive - he ran towards Bews with Naughton alongside him, Stewart broke to run behind Bews but Naughton really had no where to go but straight into Bews

If Stewart wasn't involved then it's a clear 50m penalty, but Stewarts involvement bought an opposition player into the protected zone and contributed to Naughton running into Bews - watching from the stands I just laughed when it happened because it was very clear what was about to happen, and clear that the umpire wasn't going to penalise Naughton due to how it played out

Once Naughton had an arm on Stewart, and I'm not sure what he thought he was going to achieve with what he was trying to do - he definitely wasn't in a position for a handball receive once he had an opponent running alongside him

 

[Vdubs]

Amazing stat that and one I've been quoting for years. Let's hope Tigers don't pull off a massive upset tomorrow as I can't see the Crows losing from here.

Why not hope the Tigers DO win.
We are out of the 8, let's make the most of a lower ladder position.

 

[Footy Smarts]

Why not hope the Tigers DO win.
We are out of the 8, let's make the most of a lower ladder position.

Have you seen the team the Tigers have picked? They're not going to win!

 

[gogeelongcats]

It would have come down to the involvement of Stewart in that passage of play

Bews takes mark & goes back to take his kick, Stewart is hanging around out the back looking like he wanted to run past for the quick handball receive. Naughton picked up the loose Stewart, appeared he was running arm on arm with him (so no real gap between the 2 players) and Stewart looked like he still wanted to get the handball receive - he ran towards Bews with Naughton alongside him, Stewart broke to run behind Bews but Naughton really had no where to go but straight into Bews

If Stewart wasn't involved then it's a clear 50m penalty, but Stewarts involvement bought an opposition player into the protected zone and contributed to Naughton running into Bews - watching from the stands I just laughed when it happened because it was very clear what was about to happen, and clear that the umpire wasn't going to penalise Naughton due to how it played out

Once Naughton had an arm on Stewart, and I'm not sure what he thought he was going to achieve with what he was trying to do - he definitely wasn't in a position for a handball receive once he had an opponent running alongside him

I disagree because he should not have been between Stewart and Bews. It is his duty to avoid contact surely.
He could see that Bews was moving backwards and should have run behind him.

 

[moond0g]

Mullin intensity good. Recon part of his development needs to be to watch a lot of footy on TV to get a feel for the stuff we all take for granted.

Biggest issue with mullin is his tentativeness I think (and fair enough, he’s unfamiliar with the game).

Would like to see him take the game on more with those athletic capabilities we know he has. Like you say watching more of the game may help.

Could become a very good player if it comes together. But he’s coming from a long way back so could play 20 or 30 so-so games and then head back to Ireland. Fingers crossed it works out

 

[Biggy_Boy]

Yes, and we keep hacks like Parfitt because he is younger. Sam has always been the ultimate professional

I don't know if we're keeping Parfitt. I suspect he'll be trade bait. Probably wants to move given how he's been treated, and I suspect the club sees him as tradable too. We'd be looking to get in more draft capital, and he and Sav are the only guys we would be willing to depart with who could bring in something, provided we really don't lose Holmes or Clark.

 

[iameviljez]

Is this true? If so, that's shocking and unacceptable.

There's no online evidence of it, at least.

 

[iameviljez]

Yes, and we keep hacks like Parfitt because he is younger. Sam has always been the ultimate professional

Parfitt still has a year to run on his contract, which was given before he went backwards this year.

 

[Catsace]

Srs?

I could have sworn we finished lower down the ladder in the late 90s/early 2000s

Well I'll be..

Finished 9th in 1986, 12th in 2003 with 16 sides, More correctly never worse than 4th last since 1975.

Indeed this year was our worst season since 2003, when we were 7-15-1, with two losses against the 3-18-1 Dogs that year too. Made me indignant about how the Dogs bagged Rhode as a coach, as he had Bomber's number that year.

I guess suffice to say if 10-12-1 after a Premiership is our worst season in 20 years, we're not going too badly. But it does end a 16 season run of a positive win/loss ratio for the club after a completed season.

In last night's game, it was telling how a trip to the conveniences saw me miss how Geelong's score went from 2.4.16 to 3.9.27, we must have had it on our terms then but missed some easy ones. The Dogs also had this 'snap and kick' type thing where anything they flung a boot at within 50 was an auto-goal as well. We got to i think 20 points up late in the second quarter before the Dogs got a couple back, and i thought in the 3rd we did well to wrestle back the lead late in that term, with Danger's goal on the siren a huge fillip for the team.

But the last term, it was a Dogs procession, we couldn't get the ball near our forward line, and Ugle-Hagan in particular's ability to splash and juggle 4-5 bites while still holding the pill was annoying. Probably ran out of puff in that term and Stengle late goal was about the only shot in anger at the sticks.

It just wasn't our year, and we subsided to 10-12-1 after being 9-7-1, losing five of the last six games, two of them at K.P. The loss to Freo was the worst I feel, admittedly exacerbated by losing Blitz and Hawk in-game, but conceding the win after taking the lead early in the last at home was always going to be a mortal blow to our finals chances.

But this time a long and for many clubs a standard length pre-season, when you factor in how many finals many of our players have played, it's well over an extra season of footy, Hawkins has 32 i think, 1.5 seasons of games. Maybe this will refresh the body and mind in the off-season and bring an extra edge of urgency and purpose to the pre-season training. And maybe watching other sides play in September might refresh the appetite that we'd like to get back there again too. Reckon we can come back next season, younger players got a taste this year, Conway looked pretty good in the actual ruck, and at age 20 he's a baby there. Thanks to Isaac and Sam, and to whomever else isn't with the club in 2024. Time for a rest, and a re-set for the future.

 

[BORIS332]

Please can we temper expectations on Conway?

Six possessions and 1 mark. I really think he has a lot of potential but it’s a long path ahead for him. Any suggestion that he can carry our ruck from this point forward is fanciful at best.

Only 68% TOG and 24 hitouts from 54 ruck contests (44%). In comparison, English had 23 hitouts from 64 ruck contests (36%).

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Only 68% TOG and 24 hitouts from 54 ruck contests (44%). In comparison, English had 23 hitouts from 64 ruck contests (36%).

He was very good. But he has no tank (understandable as has been perma injured since drafted) and will need more than one pre season to fix it.

 

[catempire]

Only 68% TOG and 24 hitouts from 54 ruck contests (44%). In comparison, English had 23 hitouts from 64 ruck contests (36%).

That’s nice. Is anything I said wrong?

 

[rocker_oz33]

???

View attachment 1786773.

Has a cat ...meow ..

 

[LifeSpan-Void]

Stengles goal kicking fell off a cliff this year - wonder whats up :/.. SDK another of many who went backwards this year... What is causing this drop of in performance?

Stengle probably celebrated as hard as anyone after last year, but also that fractured arm didn’t help. As for SDK, he took several big hits in the first few rounds and then got his face broken, I am sure his confidence took a hit as well. He will be another who benefits from a more comprehensive preseason.

 

[Footy_Fan2007]

Is this true? If so, that's shocking and unacceptable. It's one thing for the likes of Danger and co. to have a bit of a premiership hangover after 10-15 years in the system, but a young player like SDK should be raring to go and still had plenty of improvement even after a great 2022.

I read it in an article before the season. The same article mentioned that Dempsey was arriving at training early, doing extra sessions ect. Really putting the hard work in.

 

[Footy_Fan2007]

There's no online evidence of it, at least.

Yeah I’ve just made it up…..
I read it before the season started.

 

[Bunnings]

Stengles goal kicking fell off a cliff this year - wonder whats up :/.. SDK another of many who went backwards this year... What is causing this drop of in performance?