Autopsy Cats lose to Suns by 64 points.

[Footy_Fan2007]

It wasn’t the worst umpiring

It was certainly up there. It reminded me of a game we played against Collingwood maybe 3-4 years ago in Perth. We were slaughtered by them there too.

It’s not the reason we lost of course but it has to be a mental killer.

It can’t be a coincidence that it came after Scott’s rant in his presser about them last week.

 

[Cataholic]

We will play finals fine because we have a lot of easy games post bye but if we dont fix this midfield we wont win the flag.

But fix it how? With who?

We obviously have Danger to come back in, which will help enormously, but he's only one man, and very prone to injury now.

 

[Generalissimo]

It was certainly up there. It reminded me of a game we played against Collingwood maybe 3-4 years ago in Perth. We were slaughtered by them there too.

IIRC the AFL then wheeled Razor Ray out to tell everyone that it should have been even more lopsided. XD

 

[Romeoh1]

Cam Guthrie is miles off his best and his best football is behind him. He's 31 years old and he has slowed down. He's the midfielder who is rewarded for years of service by being given a roving role in the backline. But we already have Duncan doing that. 9 disposals and 3 tackles in a bit under 3 quarters of football led to him being subbed out of the game. However his replacement Clark didn't do much better. Look to the VFL.

We can give him more time to find some form-he’s missed a lot of footy. Maybe you are right and he’s on the way down but maybe he’ll pick up. He doesn’t have to get back to his absolute best to still be an asset. He might need to go to the twos for a couple of weeks.

 

[Bunnings]

I must say, it's refreshing that for the first time in a long time the problem is actually the veteran players, while the under 25s are showing great promise and really controlling this side now.

As a supporter, it sucks for the now, but consoles us for the future I suppose...which is something we haven't had in a looooooong time.

Most the veterans weren’t playing, that’s the not refreshing part

 

[DangerHere]

Was that the Cats worst performance in the last 20 years ?

 

[year of the cat]

Wonder how much of a difference it would've made if O'Sullivan came in for SDK instead of Tuohy.

A bit but not enough to avoid being smashed with the amount of midfield ball they won.

 

[foxdog50]

Yes Neale might of been below average. But we have to get games into him to get better. As his only played 2 games this year and maybe about 6 in his 4 year career..
I'm not saying he will be a 200 plus career, but we need to get games for him to get better

 

[Mr Meow]

But fix it how? With who?

We obviously have Danger to come back in, which will help enormously, but he's only one man, and very prone to injury now.

Dangerfield and Holmes should be our 1-2. Bruhn and Bowes are still our next best options, perhaps rusty in their first games back. Then pick your two favourite bit-part pressure mids - but I'd say maybe at this stage pumping games into Clark is better than persisting with Blicavs/Atkins/Guthrie.

Conway, Dangerfield, Holmes, Bruhn, Bowes, Parfitt, Clark.

I see that as a better midfield pecking order than something like:

Stanley (in case they want to bring him back in), Bruhn, Bowes, Blicavs, Guthrie, Parfitt, Atkins.

 

[winty]

Was that the Cats worst performance in the last 20 years ?

The game we got spanked by 110 by Sydney would have been worse surely.

 

[Warhorse]

Everyone is oddly quiet about Bruhn. Why does he get a free pass? Not acceptable to get 11 touches when they had 4 midfielders with 30+

 

[BORIS332]

Does anyone in here seriously care about last night’s game? Means nothing in the grand scheme.

 

[The_Koulouriotis_Fan]

Everyone is oddly quiet about Bruhn. Why does he get a free pass? Not acceptable to get 11 touches when they had 4 midfielders with 30+

Because he’s been solid all year and came back from injury. Disappointing he didn’t play better but you’re entitled to some down games.

And on this, in general, why do we have to pot players all the time? They’re not robots existing to do our bidding. They’re young men who are trying their best. Yes they’re living their dream and getting paid but that comes at a cost especially with social media and the 24hour news cycle. Criticism is fine but some of the things written about players is gross. We learn nothing from tragedies like Cam McCarthy

 

[RegHickeyStand]

very unpopular opinion, but I wish Tom had hung up his boots at the end of 2023 on a high. We wouldn't have been 7-0, but at least our team would have got used to the forward setup by now. Can anyone show me where a mid was actually looking for Neale last night? His poor showing wasn't all on him.

 

[Romeoh1]

Does anyone in here seriously care about last night’s game? Means nothing in the grand scheme.

Yep- move on- doubt one can take much out of it. Let’s find a way to knock off gws!

 

[winty]

very unpopular opinion, but I wish Tom had hung up his boots at the end of 2023 on a high. We wouldn't have been 7-0, but at least our team would have got used to the forward setup by now. Can anyone show me where a mid was actually looking for Neale last night? His poor showing wasn't all on him.

There were several times we looked for him last night, but usually it was a long bomb to him wrestling with Sam Collins with 2 or 3 spare Suns players waiting down for the inevitable crumbs and easy rebound out of defence.

 

[Footy_Fan2007]

What a hammering that was. Probably did well to keep it under 70 in the end, it looked like it may go beyond 100 there at one stage.

Surely the reigning premier plays up there.
Ridiculous playing up their full stop.

 

[Warhorse]

Because he’s been solid all year and came back from injury. Disappointing he didn’t play better but you’re entitled to some down games.

And on this, in general, why do we have to pot players all the time? They’re not robots existing to do our bidding. They’re young men who are trying their best. Yes they’re living their dream and getting paid but that comes at a cost especially with social media and the 24hour news cycle. Criticism is fine but some of the things written about players is gross. We learn nothing from tragedies like Cam McCarthy

He is averaging less than 18 touches per game this year as a full time midfielder. How is that solid?

 

[Generalissimo]

Bruhn will be fine. Settle.

 

[tommy2011]

I have no issues playing a game in Darwin. Same with Hobart or Launceston etc.
Everyone should be able to play everywhere.

Clubs will be looking closely at the implications of playing in Darwin. It is simply unsuitable for a 20th licence.

 

[The_Koulouriotis_Fan]

He is averaging less than 18 touches per game this year as a full time midfielder. How is that solid?

With about 30 min less game time than other mids. Don’t blame him, blame the tactics

 

[winty]

He is averaging less than 18 touches per game this year as a full time midfielder. How is that solid?

A full time midfielder averaging 60% game time before last night. Maybe that has something to do with the slightly low possession average.

 

[Jeff76]

If Neale holds all his marks he would’ve had a pretty good night. Everyone looked flat last night and I put it down to playing footy in shitty Darwin. Obviously our midfield is garbage but unfortunately we just have to make do, there’s no way around it.


Sent from my iPhone using BigFooty.com

 

[tommy2011]

People play sport in tropical countries. It’s not unsafe

Unsafe? No. Inappropriate for our sport? Yes.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

I'd prefer to see Knevitt and Humphries over Hardie and Mannagh. I just don't think Hardie's game will translate well to AFL and Mannagh is not a position of need. Knevitt as a defensive winger and Humphries to release Holmes into midfield seem better long-term moves.

I agree our forward line is better than our midfield but Mannagh is still a position of need because his ball use is very good and he has speed and most of our side doesnt have either. We should be trying him in a wing/high forward role.

I agree on holmes to inside mid though.

Im not sure hardie makes it but its selection integrity. We are playing the injured corpse of guthrie ahead of him and hardie is dominating 2s. You at least give him 3 games and try it.