Not if they have the opportunity to give Duncan or Guthrie a farewell game, or Kolo some exposure in the 1s.
With all due respect to Jed, Cam is a dual best and fairest winner including a premiership year, and Duncan has played 300 games.
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Review Cats relive 22 GF and whack Swans by 43 points.
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With all due respect to Jed, Cam is a dual best and fairest winner including a premiership year, and Duncan has played 300 games.
Seriously, for a bloke drafted at p33 as a ruckman, he has done exceptionally well
1. Rhys Stanley - I thought he started slow but worked his way back into it. TBH I think he's still going great for someone who'd probably hoped to pass the torch to Toby Conway by about round 12. He's still being a pest to the oppo around the ground with his pace and ability to drop forward. Can be vulnerable against hulking ruckmen who grab the ball out of the ruck and win clearances that way- and since that's Blitz's weakness as a ruckman as well it's not ideal. Still, you can only go to war with the soldiers you have, and big Rhys is someone you want in the trenches with you.
3. Bailey Smith - Our top possession winner, but it seemed like he had a bit less infuence than normal. He fought like crazy all day long though, and more than broke even. Having Bailey as a genuine accumulator is a big strategic win for us even on days when the outside run and deliver isn't quite working.
5. Jeremy Cameron - If you'd told me before the bounce that we'd win by seven goals but Jezza wouldn't kick a single one, I'd have been pretty skeptical. At times he looked like a decoy for Neale who was rampant in the first half, other times for Danger, and often pushed up a bit into the midfield. I thought he was OK.
7. Shaun Mannagh - Crazy good game. To rack up midfielder possession numbers, Atkins-like tackle numbers, kick three (unlucky not to finish with 5) as a mature age recruit FP not tall enough to go on amusement park rides is astonishing. He's also low-key about it which hopefully will let him escape oppo coaches' attention when finals come around.
9. Max Holmes - He's had better games but, to be fair, dealt with his tag much better than Gulden or Sooky McSookface Heeney. The game opened up for him a bit in the 2nd half as we got the ascendancy, and I didn't mind him taking a lot of the kickins as it lets the contested ball beast defenders like Stewy and Shark and Zuth set up on the half back line. Look at it this way- before the game we thought Sydney's midfield were going to be their strength. Holmes and Smith were 50/50 for their position today, but so were Sooky La La, Papley, Gulden, and the ruck division. We broke even in the midfield and our obvious offensive and defensive superiority carried the day. So if the Swonz want to burn a midfielder tagging Holmes rather than winning his own ball, be my feckin guest.
12. Jack Bowes - He was the sub and only came on with 8 minutes to go. There's not a lot to say. I guess with no injuries, our small-to-medium forwards dominating, and Shark taking up an extra midfeild slot through following Heeney around it was always going to be hard for the sub, whoever it was going to be, to get into the game.
14. Connor O'Sullivan - This guy is going to be a champion. He's an outsdide chance of the Rising Star this year, and deserves it. Because you don't find a permanent place in Geelong's venerated defensive unit without being an absolute gun. I think what I like about him most is that he's smart. He studies the game like Mark Blicavs and Harry Taylor did before him. Combine that with a ruckamn's height and the weird talent of getting half a hand into a contest that he's not even really in (see Shannon Neale below) and you've got the makings of a 200+ game premiership-winning club champion. He'll never win a Brownlow but I'd put a twenty on him winning a Carji before his career's out.
16. Sam De Koning - He looked awful in the first 15 minutes when the Swans were kicking goals at will, but I think he hardly put a foot wrong after that. His aerial work was top notch, and for a tall defender to be able to compete at ground level like he does makes Chris Scott's job much easier. What makes him look suckful at times is that he hasn't got the mongrel edge his brother Tom has, and that he can at times appear lackadaisical even when he's fighting very hard. It's the combination of long giraffey limbs and economy of motion that gives that impression. He'll be OK.
17. Lawson Humphries - Ehhh.... I don't think I saw a lot of him today. When the Swons were on top they were just cutting us up in the corridor. When we were on top, the Swons couldn't get it past half-way. Either way there's not a lot for a half back flanker to do. The ball was never in his quarter of the ground. The few times he got a look, his disposal was as good as it always is.
18. Tyson Stengle - What a relief that Stengle has got the yips behind him. I knew it'd take just one decent goal to get back into form, and he produced a GOTY contender among his three goals today. At times today it looked like he couldn't be tackled.
19. Jack Martin - After being the superest of subs two weeks ago and rested last week I reckon Martin had another creditable outing. Everything about his game today screams best 22, but also screams equally loud "but I have no idea what position". Crumbing goals one minute and taking overhead contested marks the next, and then steering a safe course out of D50 not long after. How did GC and the Blooz not appreciate this guy? He's making me rethink my long-held opinion that the super sub (when we go into the finals) should be a medium utility, when someone like Martin will give you a five minute burst of win wherever and whenever you put him in the action.
28. Ollie Dempsey - After a quiet 1st quarter I thought he was our best in the 2nd when we started to get on top. The big thing I've liked is his increased willingness to do the simple contested ball stuff. Lurking about on the fringe of a pack and hoping your natural talent will turn the bobbling ball into an opportunity is nice when it works but on the other hand, when it's your turn to burrow in after a contested ball you just have to go for it. I had no complaints on that score today or, in fairness, for about a month now.
30. Tom Atkins - While the tackling dynamo has been a bit less ferocious in the last few weeks he's won a lot of his own footy in its place and on top of that is becoming a very reliable kick of the footy. Some of his kicks inside 50 today were to dangerous positions, even while he himself was under a lot of pressure. When you can turn what should be a 50/50 indiscriminate dump into the F50 arc into a 60/40 in Neale's favour that's a big win for us.
32. Gryan Miers - Great game again. He's not solidly built and his skill set is more suited to crumbing goals and kicking to leads but he really does dig in when they stick him in the midfield. I'm glad he got a chance to be among the goalkickers again this week.
33. Shannon Neale - Four first-half goals ensured we went into 1/2 time ahead instead of a goal or two down as we probably deserved. I like this kid. While he may not finish up with 800 odd goals, I think in a lot of ways he might end up even better than Tom Hawkins, heretical as that may sound. He's starting to clunk marks that used to blobble out, he's a gemoetrically perfect set shot who can go the distance from 50+, can do the kind of F50 ruckwork that lets actual rucks like Blitz and Stanley set up for the panicky dump kick out of 50, and above all he is fast. Hawkins was never fast. How many times have we seen Neale get a half a hand into a contest that he had no right to even participate in? I reckon I counted at least three Swans kicks out of 50 that he affected enough to give us a chance. He'll be a gun.
34. Oisin Mullin - Unusual to go into a game with two taggers, but with Gulden and Sooky La La Heeney the threats it was called for. Errol got a few touches but couldn't get a lot done with them, which I mark as a win for Mullin. It seemed to me that he spent a few minutes here and there on Warner as well, which makes sense given Mullin's pace and abiloty to pinball from one to the other but would be pretty novel for a tagger. Previously I've said that I'm glad Mullin's got that gaelic-appropriate up and under kicking out of his system and has got the hang of the flatter trajectory of proper AFL kicks. Well, the last three weeks or so I reckon Mullin's brought the Gaelic kicks back to good effect. Today I saw him loop one over an attempted spoil and hit Atkins in the clear. If that's what was going on then it's a development I approve of.
35. Patrick Dangerfield - At ten thousand years old and no longer at the peak of his powers he's still travelling OK. You say about a lot of veterans that they could drop forward and be dangerous, but how often does it really work out that way? You've got to sideline an actual forwad (OHenry in this case) and hope the old guy still has it in him. Well, Danger is getting the job done. That extra two or three cm of height he has over other guys in his situation is a bonus. He's also still got that explosive pace, admittedly it gets wheeled out less often these days and you have to nurture it for special occasions. Four direct goal assists and seven socre involvements, as well as a goal himself, from 14 touches is inhuman. If he wasn't such an inept set shot he'd be almost a demigod. Kinda wish Brad Close would get back to doing so much with so little.
38. Jack Henry - Mostly I'm just glad he could play 90% of a game unhindered by that little hammy niggle he picked up last week. Did a lot of nice things. The imperious run through the midfield leading up to one of Neale's goals was a highlight. Two comical OOF shankeroos less so. He still handily won his position regardless.
39. Zach Guthrie - Once again Zuth did the job without fanfare. He beat his opponent, disposed of the ball competently, and organised the defence with aplomb. Since our backline is probably mour greatest strength, having a guy down there who just wins all the time without looking like he's doing anything special is a massive boon.
42. Mark O'Connor - Shark pats his pockets leaving the house going, "Wallet, yep. Phone, yep. Sooky Heeney, yep. Keys, yep". Murdered Heeney after about the first ten minutes, completely broke his spirit and went a long way towards breaking the Swans' collective spirits. Cos if you're fighting an uphill battle against Geelong's vaunted forward line and Fort Knox defense you're pinning your hopes on goalkicking mids and O'Connor squashed him like a fly. I reckon I saw something else from O'Connor, who's usually calm, austere, and analytical that we haven't really seen before: a bit of mongrel. Not much, just a smidge, but enough. Me gusta.
44. Tom Stewart - Great time to come good, at the business end of the season. The great reading of the play is back, the intercept marking is back, he's even regained maybe a smidge of his old pace. I thought he was magnificent, especially after the first ten minutes, when we started to halve the midfield contest and Sydney lost their ability to rampage into F50 unchecked. At his best he makes contested marks look like he's the only bloke out there, and that magic was back today.
45. Brad Close - Did he play today? I hardly noticed him. It seems like that's been the case all year. Although it's likely Chris Scott is using him as a purely defensive forward, it seems a waste of his talents to be used in that role. That said, I admire anyone willing to sacrifice his own game for the sake of team balance. If jogging around on the spot on one HFF jostles someone free on the other and they end up kicking goals then that's a win.
46. Mark Blicavs - Pretty low-key game today I thought. He's a worry around goals, with one ill-advised left foot banana going nowhere and two OK-ish set shots just missing. I guess it's a worry for oppo coaches that he keeps getting these opportunities too though, because he's as likely to start pulling goals out of his arse as he is to keep spraying them. Around the ground he was as he always is: a respectable 2nd ruck, tall defender, and midfield utility as game state dictates.
3. Bailey Smith - Our top possession winner, but it seemed like he had a bit less infuence than normal. He fought like crazy all day long though, and more than broke even. Having Bailey as a genuine accumulator is a big strategic win for us even on days when the outside run and deliver isn't quite working.
5. Jeremy Cameron - If you'd told me before the bounce that we'd win by seven goals but Jezza wouldn't kick a single one, I'd have been pretty skeptical. At times he looked like a decoy for Neale who was rampant in the first half, other times for Danger, and often pushed up a bit into the midfield. I thought he was OK.
7. Shaun Mannagh - Crazy good game. To rack up midfielder possession numbers, Atkins-like tackle numbers, kick three (unlucky not to finish with 5) as a mature age recruit FP not tall enough to go on amusement park rides is astonishing. He's also low-key about it which hopefully will let him escape oppo coaches' attention when finals come around.
9. Max Holmes - He's had better games but, to be fair, dealt with his tag much better than Gulden or Sooky McSookface Heeney. The game opened up for him a bit in the 2nd half as we got the ascendancy, and I didn't mind him taking a lot of the kickins as it lets the contested ball beast defenders like Stewy and Shark and Zuth set up on the half back line. Look at it this way- before the game we thought Sydney's midfield were going to be their strength. Holmes and Smith were 50/50 for their position today, but so were Sooky La La, Papley, Gulden, and the ruck division. We broke even in the midfield and our obvious offensive and defensive superiority carried the day. So if the Swonz want to burn a midfielder tagging Holmes rather than winning his own ball, be my feckin guest.
12. Jack Bowes - He was the sub and only came on with 8 minutes to go. There's not a lot to say. I guess with no injuries, our small-to-medium forwards dominating, and Shark taking up an extra midfeild slot through following Heeney around it was always going to be hard for the sub, whoever it was going to be, to get into the game.
14. Connor O'Sullivan - This guy is going to be a champion. He's an outsdide chance of the Rising Star this year, and deserves it. Because you don't find a permanent place in Geelong's venerated defensive unit without being an absolute gun. I think what I like about him most is that he's smart. He studies the game like Mark Blicavs and Harry Taylor did before him. Combine that with a ruckamn's height and the weird talent of getting half a hand into a contest that he's not even really in (see Shannon Neale below) and you've got the makings of a 200+ game premiership-winning club champion. He'll never win a Brownlow but I'd put a twenty on him winning a Carji before his career's out.
16. Sam De Koning - He looked awful in the first 15 minutes when the Swans were kicking goals at will, but I think he hardly put a foot wrong after that. His aerial work was top notch, and for a tall defender to be able to compete at ground level like he does makes Chris Scott's job much easier. What makes him look suckful at times is that he hasn't got the mongrel edge his brother Tom has, and that he can at times appear lackadaisical even when he's fighting very hard. It's the combination of long giraffey limbs and economy of motion that gives that impression. He'll be OK.
17. Lawson Humphries - Ehhh.... I don't think I saw a lot of him today. When the Swons were on top they were just cutting us up in the corridor. When we were on top, the Swons couldn't get it past half-way. Either way there's not a lot for a half back flanker to do. The ball was never in his quarter of the ground. The few times he got a look, his disposal was as good as it always is.
18. Tyson Stengle - What a relief that Stengle has got the yips behind him. I knew it'd take just one decent goal to get back into form, and he produced a GOTY contender among his three goals today. At times today it looked like he couldn't be tackled.
19. Jack Martin - After being the superest of subs two weeks ago and rested last week I reckon Martin had another creditable outing. Everything about his game today screams best 22, but also screams equally loud "but I have no idea what position". Crumbing goals one minute and taking overhead contested marks the next, and then steering a safe course out of D50 not long after. How did GC and the Blooz not appreciate this guy? He's making me rethink my long-held opinion that the super sub (when we go into the finals) should be a medium utility, when someone like Martin will give you a five minute burst of win wherever and whenever you put him in the action.
28. Ollie Dempsey - After a quiet 1st quarter I thought he was our best in the 2nd when we started to get on top. The big thing I've liked is his increased willingness to do the simple contested ball stuff. Lurking about on the fringe of a pack and hoping your natural talent will turn the bobbling ball into an opportunity is nice when it works but on the other hand, when it's your turn to burrow in after a contested ball you just have to go for it. I had no complaints on that score today or, in fairness, for about a month now.
30. Tom Atkins - While the tackling dynamo has been a bit less ferocious in the last few weeks he's won a lot of his own footy in its place and on top of that is becoming a very reliable kick of the footy. Some of his kicks inside 50 today were to dangerous positions, even while he himself was under a lot of pressure. When you can turn what should be a 50/50 indiscriminate dump into the F50 arc into a 60/40 in Neale's favour that's a big win for us.
32. Gryan Miers - Great game again. He's not solidly built and his skill set is more suited to crumbing goals and kicking to leads but he really does dig in when they stick him in the midfield. I'm glad he got a chance to be among the goalkickers again this week.
33. Shannon Neale - Four first-half goals ensured we went into 1/2 time ahead instead of a goal or two down as we probably deserved. I like this kid. While he may not finish up with 800 odd goals, I think in a lot of ways he might end up even better than Tom Hawkins, heretical as that may sound. He's starting to clunk marks that used to blobble out, he's a gemoetrically perfect set shot who can go the distance from 50+, can do the kind of F50 ruckwork that lets actual rucks like Blitz and Stanley set up for the panicky dump kick out of 50, and above all he is fast. Hawkins was never fast. How many times have we seen Neale get a half a hand into a contest that he had no right to even participate in? I reckon I counted at least three Swans kicks out of 50 that he affected enough to give us a chance. He'll be a gun.
34. Oisin Mullin - Unusual to go into a game with two taggers, but with Gulden and Sooky La La Heeney the threats it was called for. Errol got a few touches but couldn't get a lot done with them, which I mark as a win for Mullin. It seemed to me that he spent a few minutes here and there on Warner as well, which makes sense given Mullin's pace and abiloty to pinball from one to the other but would be pretty novel for a tagger. Previously I've said that I'm glad Mullin's got that gaelic-appropriate up and under kicking out of his system and has got the hang of the flatter trajectory of proper AFL kicks. Well, the last three weeks or so I reckon Mullin's brought the Gaelic kicks back to good effect. Today I saw him loop one over an attempted spoil and hit Atkins in the clear. If that's what was going on then it's a development I approve of.
35. Patrick Dangerfield - At ten thousand years old and no longer at the peak of his powers he's still travelling OK. You say about a lot of veterans that they could drop forward and be dangerous, but how often does it really work out that way? You've got to sideline an actual forwad (OHenry in this case) and hope the old guy still has it in him. Well, Danger is getting the job done. That extra two or three cm of height he has over other guys in his situation is a bonus. He's also still got that explosive pace, admittedly it gets wheeled out less often these days and you have to nurture it for special occasions. Four direct goal assists and seven socre involvements, as well as a goal himself, from 14 touches is inhuman. If he wasn't such an inept set shot he'd be almost a demigod. Kinda wish Brad Close would get back to doing so much with so little.
38. Jack Henry - Mostly I'm just glad he could play 90% of a game unhindered by that little hammy niggle he picked up last week. Did a lot of nice things. The imperious run through the midfield leading up to one of Neale's goals was a highlight. Two comical OOF shankeroos less so. He still handily won his position regardless.
39. Zach Guthrie - Once again Zuth did the job without fanfare. He beat his opponent, disposed of the ball competently, and organised the defence with aplomb. Since our backline is probably mour greatest strength, having a guy down there who just wins all the time without looking like he's doing anything special is a massive boon.
42. Mark O'Connor - Shark pats his pockets leaving the house going, "Wallet, yep. Phone, yep. Sooky Heeney, yep. Keys, yep". Murdered Heeney after about the first ten minutes, completely broke his spirit and went a long way towards breaking the Swans' collective spirits. Cos if you're fighting an uphill battle against Geelong's vaunted forward line and Fort Knox defense you're pinning your hopes on goalkicking mids and O'Connor squashed him like a fly. I reckon I saw something else from O'Connor, who's usually calm, austere, and analytical that we haven't really seen before: a bit of mongrel. Not much, just a smidge, but enough. Me gusta.
44. Tom Stewart - Great time to come good, at the business end of the season. The great reading of the play is back, the intercept marking is back, he's even regained maybe a smidge of his old pace. I thought he was magnificent, especially after the first ten minutes, when we started to halve the midfield contest and Sydney lost their ability to rampage into F50 unchecked. At his best he makes contested marks look like he's the only bloke out there, and that magic was back today.
45. Brad Close - Did he play today? I hardly noticed him. It seems like that's been the case all year. Although it's likely Chris Scott is using him as a purely defensive forward, it seems a waste of his talents to be used in that role. That said, I admire anyone willing to sacrifice his own game for the sake of team balance. If jogging around on the spot on one HFF jostles someone free on the other and they end up kicking goals then that's a win.
46. Mark Blicavs - Pretty low-key game today I thought. He's a worry around goals, with one ill-advised left foot banana going nowhere and two OK-ish set shots just missing. I guess it's a worry for oppo coaches that he keeps getting these opportunities too though, because he's as likely to start pulling goals out of his arse as he is to keep spraying them. Around the ground he was as he always is: a respectable 2nd ruck, tall defender, and midfield utility as game state dictates.
The_Koulouriotis_Fan
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Swans have had their injury struggles all year but last year when we met them the trio of Heeney, Gulden and Warner dominated us. Obviously they were missing Grundy this time but what a difference a year makes, they weren’t able to take over the game at all. The inclusion of Bailey Smith paired with Holmes, the year Atkins is having, the development of Mullin, the injection of Miers into the centre, our midfield has been transformed. We’re still a bit thin in there but headliners are as good as anyone!
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Stewart is back in town. Big time.
small 4wards
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Get syndicated man. These posts are great
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Heart in mouth every time someone trotted through there....
That's nice of you to say, but half of what I say is obvious and the other half is dumb. I'm just the only one pig-headed enough to try to say something nice about all of our players every week.
small 4wards
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Also this is vitriol so excuse me but honestly I've lost all respect I might've had for Heeney. Acted like a complete grub because MOC dared to try and tag him. It's high praise MOC rattled him that badly but Heeney's hits on MOC when he was down was nothing short of pathetic
Vdubs
Hall of Famer
Leave it for 33.
Agreed. Grundy out today was good timing for us. Not that Stanley can't handle Grundy, but you could sense his confidence was growing.
Zouz Kitty
Miss Kitty
@Play it Sam’s boy Mannagh, kicked three + my boy Miers, kicked two.
Sam’s grandson was given an autographed football by Humphries.
Suck that CatToTheFuture
He is so delighted. The youngest at the fence, gorgeous red hair, who loves Gary Rohan.
He has such potential. May turn out to be a beast if the planets align. A generational player.
(Then again maybe Spinks 2.0 for those that can remember
)
Its good to see Tom Stewart the last 2 or so weeks, getting close to him playing to what we know Tom Stewart we known..
I thought with his knee injury thins year we wouldn't of seen it. But credit to Tom
I thought with his knee injury thins year we wouldn't of seen it. But credit to Tom
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I wanted to like this for the first part but the second made me laugh way to hardHe has such potential. May turn out to be a beast if the planets align. A generational player.
(Then again maybe Spinks 2.0 for those that can remember
100% me on that one and I couldn’t be more happy. He has gone from someone I had huge skepticism over to fast becoming one of my favorite players.
His rise in the second half of this season has been astronomical. His marking at the highest point is causing a lot of issues for defenses. His body work and leading patterns have gotten much better. He is able to get himself into positions where he is a real threat as opposed to often having the ball kicked on his head stationary alot earlier and being worked under the ball.
Zouz Kitty
Miss Kitty
I was screaming at Blitz to give it to Jezza + every other player, who kicked a behind. Obviously before they missed goals.
Initially, very concerned, until Play it Sam + I began coaching from Row D. Fortunately, players listened to us + off we went!
Had a Swans’ fan sitting next to me + when Papley took the dive, he said “No free. Papley dived.” So even Swans’ fans hate him
Plus, to add to Geelong’s success, I also managed to further heal trade relations with China
You’re welcome
It was very smart coaching from Scott and dumb coaching from cox.
They often had 1-2-3 watching jezza and his space to run into, while we just used him like a decoy and sat it up for others to move into space.
They should have been onto this at qtr time cox and the team, but they didn’t really react.
The price of shutting down jezza is often costing sides more than it’s worth.
It’s playing into our favor
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Same thing happened in the second half against Port
They went into stop Jezza mode which allowed Neale and Martin tear them a new one in the 3/4
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Look Daz I know he’s been your boy since day one but you’re just gonna have to share him. He was ten metres from me on a swans kick out and I screamed GET BACK SHANNON and he did! Looked up and picked up a player. That’s it now, the boy can be coached.
All jokes aside you picked a winner there.
I thought Martin played a fantastic game. It was his most complete game to date for Geelong, and puts usnin very good stead for the finals. There's going to be some real selection headaches in September.
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According to first crack since round 11 the only players to kick more goals then Neale are Cameron, Darcy, Naughton and Gunston.
Pretty damn good run of form from big Neale
Pretty damn good run of form from big Neale
I don't think there is going to be a real selection headache barring injury - I cannot see the blokes who are currently out, getting back in.
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He isn't alone, a lot of people love Gary Rohan apparently. Some should love him less@Play it Sam’s boy Mannagh, kicked three + my boy Miers, kicked two.
Sam’s grandson was given an autographed football by Humphries.
Suck that CatToTheFuture
He is so delighted. The youngest at the fence, gorgeous red hair, who loves Gary Rohan.
