Review Cats make Swans live the GF again and add more hurt by 93 points
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Joke's on you. I'm actually Mark O'Connor.
I’d add Blicavs to that list…unique. Almost impossible to replace.
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Very good shout. It's sad that Blicavs is nearing the end, I was shocked to see he's 32 years old. The late start in AFL explains it but maybe means he eeks out an extra year or two due to less crash and bash? His games at the club, however, have been full throttle so who knows. I'd love for all three to play on in 2024 but their presence is enough to treat 2023 as a contending year at least. If we somehow went back to back, maybe the decision is made for Hawkins no matter how well he is still playing.
catempire
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Your accent was a dead giveaway.
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Blicavs 100% plays next year.
On Hawk, one would think he could plonk himself at FF in a less mobile role for a few years yet, but being at the ground, watching him take what seems like forever to get up every time he goes down must be seriously hard yakka for him. It’s line ball as to who stays down longer out of him and SDK. I was buoyed by his comments after the game Saturday though saying as long as he’s enjoying it he will play for as long as he physically can
. Been said to death, has there been a nice pair of champions in the game than Hawkins and Selwood. Phenomenal humans.
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I'm liking your season so far to be sure.
The thing about Hawkins is that he refuses to miss a game. "I'll have my pre season playing the first 3 matches, knowing I'll cop some heat for being a bit below my best, but still best option for the team". But if he goes on in subsequent years surely we manage his games carefully and get Neale some experience. It's a very curious thing though because as you said, the role and his attributes still lend him such an advantage over his opponents. We are not in an era of truly elite, big bodied key position defenders either.Blicavs 100% plays next year.
On Hawk, one would think he could plonk himself at FF in a less mobile role for a few years yet, but being at the ground, watching him take what seems like forever to get up every time he goes down must be seriously hard yakka for him. It’s line ball as to who stays down longer out of him and SDK. I was buoyed by his comments after the game Saturday though saying as long as he’s enjoying it he will play for as long as he physically can
Been said to death, has there been a nice pair of champions in the game than Hawkins and Selwood. Phenomenal humans.
The melts is his form keeps picking up and he earns another AA guernsey would be delicious. Dangerfield somehow climbing into the squad would be pure nirvana. The latter will be managed and have his ups and downs though so I doubt it. But he's had a good start all things considered.
I'll acknowledge my bias, of course. But I haven't seen two better people on and off the field than this duo over my lifetime of following the Cats.
Despite their unbelievable careers, it is not an exaggeration to say that I respect them even more for who they are as people than for what they have produced out on the ground in the hoops.
If you look at his published pieces, this is absolutely true. He has actually swum against the tide in defending the Cats for years, holding to the narrative that their plan to always contend is worthy of praise rather than derision. Which was finally completely vindicated in the wake of last years' flag triumph.
What is also true of Barrett, however, is that he is incredibly stubborn about holding to his views, come what may. So having seemingly decided to flip the script on the Cats after the first few weeks of this season, he's now probably caught up in going with that until it becomes clear that writing us off is completely untenable.
Which means if we string together some wins again, he will swing back hard into relentless positivity about the hoops. It's just the way he operates; once he gets a narrative in his head, it is always incredibly difficult to change it. If you think back a couple of years, it was mention after mention of how Jenkins was still massively in calculations to come back into the senior team for the Cats during the 2021 season. Then he retired at the end of the year without featuring even once...
Basically he appears to be quite committed to the philosophy that it's almost as important to be convinced (and supposedly convincing) as it is to be correct.
Did he roll with Tim Lane's 'the days of domination are over' at any point?
dazbroncos
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We are certainly braking new ground with the way we are doing it - unprecedented indeed.
and yes, the importance of Atkins, Close, Holmes, Miers, SDK, Sav, Zuthrie et al and the younger kids running games out and being a point of difference is critical.
Allows the flexibility for PFD, Guthrie, Duncan etc to get breaks and move around.
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We are certainly moving towards a time where a whole bunch of generational players will depart in quick succession. But, like you, I do believe we have some cause for optimism when you consider the contribution currently coming from players who still have plenty of their prospective peak years in the system to come.
Players 27 or under who already show strong signs of being at least solid senior players for plenty of years to come (current age in brackets)
Holmes (20)
Bowes (25)
SDK (22)
Stengle (24)
Atkins (27)
Miers (24)
O Henry (20)
J Henry (24)
Zuth (24)
MOC (26)
Close (24)
Players 24 or under who I believe could play at least solid senior footy for plenty of years to come
Conway (20)
Rata (24)
Dempsey (20)
SOS (24)
And this outline doesn't include Parf (24), Bruhn (20), Whyte (20), Clark (18) and Neale (20), who all impress me enough to think they'll be contributors as well.
I acknowledge that our issue is likely to be the lack of 'star power'. That's what perennial contending tends to do to you, of course, But with some continued canny FA acquisitions, I don't think the long-term prospects of our list look all that dim, given how this list of 'younger' talent lines up against a bunch of the other competing clubs at this point.
You must hate sharing a name with that flog.
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Honourable mention to Jed Bews.
catempire
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Not sure if it has been mentioned but Fox is concussed from the Duncan incident and Longmire is complaining. Brave call by the MRO.
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So there WAS a violent impact to the head.......
The right decision was made by the MRO, but I had no faith in their ability to exercise such commonsense.
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Didn't he play on?
The wording about his concussion suggests he failed the protocol post game.
catempire
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Most certainly did was on Cameron right to the end.
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I wonder if this is a specific area where the science and treatment can be improved?
The sooner a concussion is diagnosed the better.
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Right decision was made as there were no legitimate options for Duncan to make at the time of the incident
Accidents do happen
Plus what do people expect a coach to say to those types of questions?
"Nah he's a s** truck and should be dumped to the twos"??
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