Hope you’re right on Guthrie. Maybe I’m just being impatient.
But when our best midfielders are available, we have to play them (e.g. Bowes).
Autopsy Cats lose to Port by 6 points after being down by 10 goals
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But when our best midfielders are available, we have to play them (e.g. Bowes).
But he was injured most of the time.
The_Koulouriotis_Fan
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In the cold light of day I’m pretty impressed by the Cats this year.
They’ve regained that ability to halt momentum and turn it back to a Geelong game.
With a midfield that a lot of people are bagging out against a top line midfield that was on fire, they managed to turn around a 49 point deficit and nearly steal the game, had the advantage have been paid, they might very well have.
Felt a bit like the first pies game in 2022 for a moment but alas
They’ve regained that ability to halt momentum and turn it back to a Geelong game.
With a midfield that a lot of people are bagging out against a top line midfield that was on fire, they managed to turn around a 49 point deficit and nearly steal the game, had the advantage have been paid, they might very well have.
Felt a bit like the first pies game in 2022 for a moment but alas
Not really. Most weeks we’ve been belted in first quarters and then evened the contest after that.
We’re 7th in the comp for average clearances, 4th for stoppage clearances. Not sure what the differential is but we were -7 last night, only -1 to the Dees.
Pretty sure we went after him awhile ago before he signed a new contract with Freo.Sorry for the intrusion but I think you need your list manager to work his magic and get Sean Darcy at seasons end. Failing that, happy to give you guys Pete Ladhams
Loving the replies! In particular the law of headlines!
Some of those potential solutions are beyond 2024 and I am actually hopeful for the future (although expect a few years gap) but the real watch for me is whether we can cobble together in 2024 and cover those issues. Maybe it is all about a fit Danger?
Still a watch for me is whether we get Guthrie back fully. To be honest it has been so long I actually don’t remember whether him at his best is the answer to our midfield - in terms of balance and attacking
Bunnings
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Because Cameron is coming up to it, what happens if he doesn’t.
He’s almost like Isaac smith up there now, we just have defensive battlers in there currently.
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Had domestic duties last night - looks like it was a good game to miss! The gap in possession numbers look horrendous. Not sure I want to put myself through the replay - at least the first half
Some questions -
Some questions -
- how much of the mid smashing in first half was down to Stanley? A weak ruck effort/second effort makes it hard for even A grade mids to win clearances.
- was Hawk still playing deep FF leading up (usual position) ? If so, they really need to move him closer - around the 50 metre arc.
- Stewart is my biggest worry- some great players over years have lost potency after a concussion. Was last night partly due to lack of pressure from mids (for Port entries?)
I am not sure we even asked Port to give him more time and space though? Feels like and oversight from the coaches as if they said ok that would have helped Duncan play at his best
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Bowes would disagree with you.
That is the problem - for other teams
There's certainly no doubting his willingness to dive in and hunt the ball but he's probably a season or so away from being a starting mid.
I understand what you’re saying, but the forward line as a unit has been functioning pretty well this year and even last night we kicked 95 points.
We have a very vanilla midfield especially without Danger and there is not a real POD we can have run through there otherwise.
I’d like him to stay forward more often, but until we can find someone or fix the midfield as a whole, we are going to keep seeing it.
As someone said the other day, it might be coming up to the 2011 mid season Mooney making way for Hawkins scenario with Neale taking the role.
Once that call is made it's a permanent decision and not one where Tom spends a week or two in the 2s
Not really. We were never slaughtered like that in the midfield in 2022 during any game.
Only benefit in watching replay is that you feel better about domestic duties. My responses to your questions…
Stanley was subbed out early in the second qtr so I suppose that gives you the view of the coaches in terms of change needed. To be fair to Stanley though we didn’t have an A grade midfield - far from it. It seems to me like our best combo at the bounce is Danger, Bruhn and Bowes and we have none of them
Regarding Hawk it is getting hard to ignore. He did do some nice things though (held a couple of chest marks under pressure and gave some smart assists). But was beaten by Sav. I am not sure at this stage we have any other strategy than to rest him next week and bring him back in to give him a shot to get his form back. Don’t think we can win the flag if he isn’t contributing more
Stewart was “tagged” last night so not as effective as normal - but in my view we saw him back better than last week so I am hopeful he will be over his concussion effect pretty soon. He had some spark and attack on the ball last night.
You didn’t ask, but in the same vane as Stewart I am hopeful that Guthrie is just a build back from a long absence. I do wonder whether they should have done a Rohan (and Luke Parker from Swans) and given him 3-4 in the VFL. But now he is in I am hopeful we are seeing a slow build back to the old Guthrie.
Not sure what you’re talking about here. Cameron only had 2 clearances last night, 1 the week before. He’s not the reason we’re ranked 4th for stoppage clearances.
So does Duncan.
Both look completely cooked.
The_Koulouriotis_Fan
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I’m talking about how we came back from 30 odd points down in that specific game after conceding 9 goals in the third quarter.
We did concede big runs of goals in 2022 on a few occasions, but we managed to swing the momentum back.
I have noted those stats too. In fact there seems like a correlation between losing clearances and winning qtrs rather than the other way around.
I have to say at the game it felt like we were getting killed in clearances and then I looked at numbers…. Some of that will be bias as supporter watching but I think some is that opposition clearances seem more damaging. They can power out of them with clean possession and kick under limited pressure. Our clearances appear to be hacked out of there more often?
somehow we need a better mix of MF to get more impact?
Bunnings
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Yeah, about what Isaac smith was doing last year.
He’s adding outside run to our one paced midfield.
I have been on that view all year - but then he does something special in terms of a kick forward to advantage and I get confused as to whether he is important to our team (can’t win flag without his offensive smarts) or we should move on from him (defensive traits are a liability).
He did some good things last night in our comeback
We had a certain J Selwood then.
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Stanley was poor, but the mids were beaten up badly. Reactive, fumbly and on their heels. Port's were the complete opposite early, they were sharp, always in motion and attacked with speed.
Stewart was basically tagged out by that scrub McEntee, who had no intention of ever trying to win the ball and just scragged Stewart out of the contest at every opportunity. Has been a tactic they've used in the past, Port.
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Someone could retire before the mid season draft??
