Autopsy Cats lose to Suns by 64 points.

[Hello Kitty]

According to liveladders.com the game hasn't started yet - that was just a warm-up.

View attachment 1990967

Great! We might win this time

 

[Phill Hendo]

Bad loss. They were better than us. They got the rub of the green from the umpires and we made it worse trying hard to arrest their momentum. I thought the whole team could not handle the ball so there is no point picking out individuals and making judgments.

I dont see us winning the flag this year so development becomes even more of a priority.

Obviously the biggest issue is our midfeild. We are not fixing this overnight. I would bring in Kenivitt and would invest several games in him. Hardie gets a chance. We could do with a bigger body in the middle. If not this week, soon, but Kenivitt on the wing and through the middle would be my priority.

On our backline, maybe having Stewart, Zuthrie and Holmes all hell bent on attack is out of balance. Holmes back to the midfeild is the easy fix. This would give COS an opening.

On Neale, yes it looked like he couldnt mark anything. But that was true of everyone. I hope he stays in this week to give Jez another week to recover remembering he had a bad concussion last year. I actually thought there was cause for optimism with Neale.

I thought Oisin's inexperiance showed. I think he needs to stay at AFL level to learn. Once again, I think there is cause for optimism.

The midfield whipping boys appear to be Parf, Atkin, Bruhn and Clark. Beating up on Bruhn and Clark is silly. For me they play full games every week. They are still learning but have bright futures. The other 2 do a lot of unrewarded defensive work.

Conway is now Geelong's number one ruck. He plays every week unless he needs a break. I love Rhys. Far from the best, but he will retire as a premiership ruckman. And he still gives everything has.

Bad week but I cannot help being still hopeful about the future. Go Cats.

 

[Chinacats]

For those that said conceding centre clearances and more inside 50’s is part of the plan…. Please crank up the I was wrong thread….
The midfield battering we have had recently won’t get us the pennant nor will losing the inside 50 count with loose defenders playing the arrogant attacking transition style….
Scott has been bossed in the coaches box of late and again by Dimma….
Take the audit that we are behind the Suns youth…… and get to it!

 

[Hello Kitty]

They do , they also live there too not too many sports in this country switches from Victoria to Darwin do they?

There’s a reason why there will never be a team in that shithole of place

Weather conditions are absolutely a factor. I live in northern NSW, High Country, freezing in Winter + it snows. I adore the cold weather, never feel cold. Left Sydney because I couldn't tolerate humidity. Went to Geelong for a game, Antarctic wind blasts were freezing!

I thought our Boyz were flagging in Q1, to persevere + kick goals in Q4 was phenomenal.

 

[Chinacats]

Can Rohan be in our best 22 ever again…. Discuss…..
It’s time….

 

[Chinacats]

Weather conditions are absolutely a factor. I live in northern NSW, High Country, freezing in Winter + it snows. I adore the cold weather, never feel cold. Left Sydney because I couldn't tolerate humidity. Went to Geelong for a game, Antarctic wind blasts were freezing!

I thought our Boyz were flagging in Q1, to persevere + kick goals in Q4 was phenomenal.

Junk time goals = phenomenal?
Let’s not go there….. thanks

 

[Hello Kitty]

Junk time goals = phenomenal?
Let’s not go there….. thanks

True

My point was, the weather was just intolerable. It was 30C, they, were dripping sweat, looked exhausted in Q1 + despite getting absolutely annihilated, kept going. Their effort + perseverance was phenomenal.

 

[STPer18]

Can Rohan be in our best 22 ever again…. Discuss…..
It’s time….

Watch him come out and play a blinder next week but with Hawkins and Cameron back I'd give Rohan's spot to Neale, at least for a stretch of games to see what he's got.

 

[Chinacats]

Watch him come out and play a blinder next week but with Hawkins and Cameron back I'd give Rohan's spot to Neale, at least for a stretch of games to see what he's got.

Yeah good point…. Get some games into Neale . If we can win against GWS next week we can be 9-3 before hopefully winning one of pre-post bye games against swans and blues . 10-4 will be a good launchpad ! And not totally mess up our 7-0 start.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Firstly, sample size of 2 games is statistically insignificant.

Secondly, one of the games he played was in a game where the conditions were ridiculously unfavourable.

Thirdly, he has played 7 career games.

Conclusion, we know nothing about Neale yet.

2 senior games this year and he has played 32 vfl games (majority of the entries for him would be putrid with the quality we had there until recently too) and he's kicked 26 in his 12 games over 2023/24.

There enough of a base there to suggest we need to find out

 

[Live in hope]

Bad loss. They were better than us. They got the rub of the green from the umpires and we made it worse trying hard to arrest their momentum. I thought the whole team could not handle the ball so there is no point picking out individuals and making judgments.

I dont see us winning the flag this year so development becomes even more of a priority.

Obviously the biggest issue is our midfeild. We are not fixing this overnight. I would bring in Kenivitt and would invest several games in him. Hardie gets a chance. We could do with a bigger body in the middle. If not this week, soon, but Kenivitt on the wing and through the middle would be my priority.

On our backline, maybe having Stewart, Zuthrie and Holmes all hell bent on attack is out of balance. Holmes back to the midfeild is the easy fix. This would give COS an opening.

On Neale, yes it looked like he couldnt mark anything. But that was true of everyone. I hope he stays in this week to give Jez another week to recover remembering he had a bad concussion last year. I actually thought there was cause for optimism with Neale.

I thought Oisin's inexperiance showed. I think he needs to stay at AFL level to learn. Once again, I think there is cause for optimism.

The midfield whipping boys appear to be Parf, Atkin, Bruhn and Clark. Beating up on Bruhn and Clark is silly. For me they play full games every week. They are still learning but have bright futures. The other 2 do a lot of unrewarded defensive work.

Conway is now Geelong's number one ruck. He plays every week unless he needs a break. I love Rhys. Far from the best, but he will retire as a premiership ruckman. And he still gives everything has.

Bad week but I cannot help being still hopeful about the future. Go Cats.

Good post.
Observations-

Defence - need more strength and height - even with SDK back. COS will eventually help but the opposition monster forwards will need us to get a stronger defender. Ideally Henry is your third tall defender IMO - he’s having to pinch against much bigger forwards. (Left field idea - get Stanley to have stints as the CHB - has the height and speed. I think he was tried in that spot at StK, admittedly with mixed results).

Neale - the dropped marks were galling but for me I liked that he was getting to good spots, leading etc. Reasonable contest in the ruck and two assured, classy goals also showed his promise. Definitely the next FF after Hawk hangs up his boots.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Watch him come out and play a blinder next week but with Hawkins and Cameron back I'd give Rohan's spot to Neale, at least for a stretch of games to see what he's got.

I know Scott keeps talking about Neale playing in combo with hawk and jez but I don't see it

 

[Hello Kitty]

The humidity is a killer

Hopefully we have had out turn and don't have to play Darwin for years

Probably part of AFL's equalisation strategy

 

[And_ROOS]

With the form Zuthrie is in and it seems Stewart has been worked out lets chuck Stewie in the guts, we have no leadership whatsoever in our midfield.


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I think Stewart went into the midfield for a bit against the Suns, has he actually ever done anything in midfield to show thats a position natural to him?

Midfield is like any other position, sure good players can do "a job" there but the elite players have done those roles since they were young.
Close has elite speed and ball use, but he hasn't ever worked out in midfield because of his side and because he never really plays there.
Ditto Rohan.

Stewart isn't in great form, but can he play midfield? If he can, put him there and let Guthrie run the defense. I always like the idea of Stewie being on the wing, having what he does at HB further up the field would be far more effective for us.

 

[Generalissimo]

The humidity is a killer

Hopefully we have had out turn and don't have to play Darwin for years

LOL, they'll make us play up there every year.

 

[And_ROOS]

I know Scott keeps talking about Neale playing in combo with hawk and jez but I don't see it

It can work, especially since Cameron is spending so much time up the field, and I think it would be excellent to really stretch other teams. But you then need to be really smart about how you set up the other forwards, and then wings as well.
Hawkins sits deeps at FF, Neale is currently looking far more mobile then Hawkins and flies for pack marks, and Cameron isn't really sitting in the f50 as much as he was in 2021/2022.

But that means the other forwards have to be Close, Rohan and Stengle i.e pace and pressure because if Hawkins doesn't mark it at the moment his opponent is running the ball/rebounding the ball out of our f50. Thats been the issue for weeks and why Hawkins not hitting the scoreboard has really hurt.

Most teams have two taller deep sitting forwards and we have Hawkins and Henry because Cameron goes up the field. So I would absolutely love to see us treat Cameron in our set up as a medium forward and use Neale and Hawkin as our big KPF.

 

[Bunnings]

Can Rohan be in our best 22 ever again…. Discuss…..
It’s time….

Still can offer:

• pace
• pressure
• crashing packs/pack marks
• very solid shot for goal

This skill set is not available with all of the other individual talls, im a Gaz fan though!

 

[rapidfire7]

Yes, Geelong had a very poor night, but so many people in the media (and across the board really) are losing their minds over it.

Yes, it was bad, but we had a lot of key outs and had never played in those difficult conditions before.

Suns on the other hand have played there a handul of times at least, and took full advantage of our inexperience.

I just don't think that this match is a true reflection of the 2 sides abilities. Not at all.

Play that game at Kardinia, or even the G (with our players back), and I would be supremely confident we would take care of them.

 

[Strange Cat]

Yes, Geelong had a very poor night, but so many people in the media (and across the board really) are losing their minds over it.

Yes, it was bad, but we had a lot of key outs and had never played in those difficult conditions before.

Suns on the other hand have play there a handul of times at least, and took full advantage of our inexperience.

i just don't think that this match is a true reflection of the 2 sides abiities. Not at all.

Play that game at Kardinia, or even the G (with our players back), and I would be supremely confident we would take care of them.

The side did kick 100 …in a loss I think while it was disappointing it isn’t the worse loss to have

 

[geelong_crazy26]

If they delist Neale end of current contract I would be astounded.

How so?? Has shown very little at AFL level across four seasons. If we draft a promising key forward with our first or second pick, why would neale get priority?

 

[bombersboy]

I think Stewart went into the midfield for a bit against the Suns, has he actually ever done anything in midfield to show thats a position natural to him?

Midfield is like any other position, sure good players can do "a job" there but the elite players have done those roles since they were young.
Close has elite speed and ball use, but he hasn't ever worked out in midfield because of his side and because he never really plays there.
Ditto Rohan.

Stewart isn't in great form, but can he play midfield? If he can, put him there and let Guthrie run the defense. I always like the idea of Stewie being on the wing, having what he does at HB further up the field would be far more effective for us.

They tried Stewart on a wing during the Port game only lasted a quarter - he did not get near it.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

He has a lot to work on, but wasn't it you who said who needed to see goals from him last year?

Well 2 games in this season he has 5 goals, and a goal assist, and 12 score involvements. These are actually objectively strong numbers for a key forward.

Hawkins has 10 goals and 3 goal assists from 8 games. Neale would only need 5 goals and 2 goal assists from his next 6 games to match him.

As a reminder, he is 7 games into his AFL career and our key forward prospect cupboard is bare.

Good post, i did say that. My expectations i thought were pretty reasonable of a fourth Year player.

A couple of goals 7-12 possesions a game.

To half time he had 1 possesion, 1 kick, 1 goal and if your into fantasy points 3 points.

Unsure about you, but that is pretty average.

The devils in the detail really.

Its what we call in physio the standard outcome measures then also the added eyeball test you apply to each scenario.

 

[Finknottle]

They tried Stewart on a wing during the Port game only lasted a quarter - he did not get near it.

Stewart loses his effectiveness on small grounds. He likes to come in over the top of 1 on 1s while they are jostling for position. Small grounds like Darwin means more forwards vying for the incoming ball and no advantage to Stewart. I suspect this really is one of Hawkin's "speed hunps".

 

[Romeoh1]

Yes, Geelong had a very poor night, but so many people in the media (and across the board really) are losing their minds over it.

Yes, it was bad, but we had a lot of key outs and had never played in those difficult conditions before.

Suns on the other hand have played there a handul of times at least, and took full advantage of our inexperience.

I just don't think that this match is a true reflection of the 2 sides abilities. Not at all.

Play that game at Kardinia, or even the G (with our players back), and I would be supremely confident we would take care of them.

Also the suns had been up there and settled in for two weeks and had the equivalent of a training run in the conditions. Not fussed about the loss.
I expect Gold Coast to be a continued improver and probs, with that list that has been underperforming- now they have a savvy coach- dimma very smart to latch on to them at this point in time- all those high picks are now in the peak window time-it wouldn’t surprise me if they even go close top 4 next year.

 

[Strange Cat]

Also the suns had been up there and settled in for two weeks and had the equivalent of a training run in the conditions. Not fussed about the loss.
I expect Gold Coast to be a continued improver and probs, with that list that has been underperforming- now they have a savvy coach- dimma very smart to latch on to them at this point in time- all those high picks are now in the peak window time-it wouldn’t surprise me if they even go close top 4 next year.

Gold Coast will have about 4 straight losses now i absolutely guarantee it