Review Cats rout North by 62 points

[OddYears]

Why, because he’s a similar size?

Because that’s where he’ll eventually play majority of his footy. What other players in the vfl (in a similar position) deserve a go before him?

 

[Baudolino]

Hawkins for me now plays as a small foward because he wont ever jump in a marking contest and when we kick down the line the contesting is left to O Henry or Rohan while Hawkins has feet planted on the ground watching his opponent fly for the mark. This particular aspect of the game is a big concern for coming weeks.

He hasn't been a "jump and mark" forward since his back injuries a decade ago. Hasn't limited his effectiveness much at all.

 

[fpm84]

Hawkins for me now plays as a small foward because he wont ever jump in a marking contest and when we kick down the line the contesting is left to O Henry or Rohan while Hawkins has feet planted on the ground watching his opponent fly for the mark.

This is the exact same way Hawk has played for the last decade including during multiple AA seasons, a Coleman season and a premiership year?

 

[Play it Sam]

Because that’s where he’ll eventually play majority of his footy. What other players in the vfl (in a similar position) deserve a go before him?

Anyone would think we plucked him out of the parking lot at the Guiness factory.
He's the bomb- The strategy, testing, interviewing, relocation, dollars, education and patience given alone says they'll play him .
Plenty of room for Knevitt, Neale, Dempsey et al going forward, and I think that's why a few punters have their noses out of joint.

 

[Footy Smarts]

I can't believe the criticism of Mullin. Some of his contested work is elite. He really knows how to use his body to give a teammate space. And his kicking technique looks good and his use will improve with confidence.

No way he's in our best team but he's not miles off it either and could be a star in time.

 

[CHAWKTS]

A hard one to read today - as it was always going to be. We got what we needed (win and no injuries and some confidence to forwards)

I said before the game that the only thing we could learn out of the game would be bad (ie. if we lost or struggled) - so I didn’t think we would learn anything. At the end of the game I feel the same. Game over at 1/4 time was good result but it was against a sub standard team so hard to see weather translate against good teams. Soft last 3/4 just a product of game over - so nothing to see there.

On players…

Miers is starting to excite me further up the ground. Not your typical wing (too small) but is an outlet is his style and to get 30+ possessions is very handy given what he does with it. I think that can be a weapon to change it up

I was shocked to the see the stats on Danger - 26 possessions with 51% game time. I didn’t feel he dominated but maybe I underestimated it? What are other peoples thoughts? To me he looked sore all game…and didn’t run at all outside of the contests. But to get those possessions he must have won a high % of the contests he was at. Maybe this is a positive as he can work his way into the end of the season? (FWITW I would have loved him to have had 2 more weeks off to build his tank back up and rest his body - I hope I am proven wrong)

Ollie Henry - my most positive on him I have been. He will always be in and out but I thought he chased harder today and like his competitiveness. I think if a little Rohan keeps rubbing off on him then he will take the baton and improve it. I still don’t think our finals best 22 has both Rohan and Henry in it when Jezza is back. Would be tough for Ollie to be made sub but I think a possibility for team balance

Duncan is coming back to where we need him. Maybe never back to his best but if he keeps building I can see the team improving

I thought Holmes had his best effort game for a while. I hope they persist with him with time in midfield. He will have bad patches but think he can add a good dimension. Tanner also continues to impress me. I think those two in our midfield in 2025/6 might help keep us in the mix

Bowes - I am a fan. I know a very different player but I would take him coming off the half back rather than Bews

Blitz - I am glad they subbed him with 6 minutes to go in the third - but wish they had of given him a complete rest. I reckon we need to find a game where we can…he is so important and looks sore

Close/Stengle - Great for them to get lick of the ice cream - good for confidence but will reserve judgement until we see it repeat over next few weeks.

Hawk is slowing down rapidly. Still think he has one more year in him but he needs some speed around him

Rohan was Rohan - 7 possessions but a menace..important player for ys

I liked the backline with one less tall. I just don’t know what they are going to do. J Henry looks better for us down back (as does SDK and Sav) so I reckon they may have a very tough choice come finals time - as I think it seems obvious having 3 talls plus Stewart and a couple of flankers is the right structure.

Mullin will quickly be better than Bews and over time better than most options in that role. But I suspect he plays mostly VFL for rest of the year as MOC, Bowes, Duncan can provide better options coming out of backline (For now)?

Sub - as a few of us have posted before…I really hope they develop a strategy for sub pre finals tilt. I don’t think Bowes/Dempsey/Simpson type suit that role. Yes they put Ollie in one centre bounce (he looked shocked to be in there - not sure he knows the sets!) but otherwise coming on as sub in a forward pocket when team losing centre bounces/clearances as they did in last qtr doesnt do the player nor team any good I don’t think. We have had two good subs this year - Rohan/O Henry and Tanner/Knevitt (big body mids) weren’t bad either. All others have had little impact. For Dempsey I think he plays mostly VFL for rest of the year unless a specific injury (to HHF) - but another pre season and I will hope year 3 is a break out..same for Knevitt

2E - just needs to take most of the kicking and listen to the crowd (barrels!!)

 

[Silver Cat]

I can't believe the criticism of Mullin. Some of his contested work is elite. He really knows how to use his body to give a teammate space. And his kicking technique looks good and his use will improve with confidence.

No way he's in our best team but he's not miles off it either and could be a star in time.

I don’t think it’s criticism of Oisin, perhaps criticism of the MC for selecting him when he is not ready to be comfortable at this level, blind Freddie can see that he’s not.
I wonder, would Nick Daicos walk into Mayo GAA first grade team without considerable experience at the lower level?

 

[CHAWKTS]

I can't believe the criticism of Mullin. Some of his contested work is elite. He really knows how to use his body to give a teammate space. And his kicking technique looks good and his use will improve with confidence.

No way he's in our best team but he's not miles off it either and could be a star in time.

Agree.

I have watched him closely in VFL (which I know is different). He has elite speed but mainly in thinking!! Is calm and quick actioned at the same time. Yes he seems lost at times in terms of positioning but that is fixable. And he may have 2nd year blues - who knows - but he will be a STAR. Certain in my mind..

But also agree that he is not in our best team when the whips are cracking. He is in similar position to Dempsey and Knevitt. Won’t be in the “best 23” come finals but if we had injury that put anyone of them into a specific role then they will cope - for them I am looking forward to 2024 and 2025

 

[Gunf]

All i am goig to say is thankfully no injuries.

Miers has to have the BnF all sown up at this point and could probably take the rest of the year off and still win it.

Bog from him today and by far our best player this year.

 

[catempire]

Because that’s where he’ll eventually play majority of his footy. What other players in the vfl (in a similar position) deserve a go before him?

I don’t see why at this point. The body positioning was really lacking today. He needs to find the freedom of finding the ball and running with it. I like the idea of sticking him on ball at VFL level. I’ll be surprised if he plays another AFL game this year.

 

[CHAWKTS]

All i am goig to say is thankfully no injuries.

Miers has to have the BnF all sown up at this point and could probably take the rest of the year off and still win it.

Bog from him today and by far our best player this year.

I wasn’t concentrating today on where they lined up after goals - but it seemed like Miers played a lot higher up the ground this week. Wing rather than HHF. To get 30+ possessions is huge.

Frankly I would take him as a wing over Smith (I know he help us win a flag but…) given Smith doesn’t link people up - Miers with 30 possession means he has bought a bunch of others into the game!

 

[catempire]

I wasn’t concentrating today on where they lined up after goals - but it seemed like Miers played a lot higher up the ground this week. Wing rather than HHF. To get 30+ possessions is huge.

Frankly I would take him as a wing over Smith (I know he help us win a flag but…) given Smith doesn’t link people up - Miers with 30 possession means he has bought a bunch of others into the game!

Miers definitely played higher today.

I guess the trade off is Smith has that raking left foot which can really break the lines. Miers more likely to find that short target.

 

[Finknottle]

Some of the efforts to share the ball around instead of go back and kick at goal were absurd and wasteful. I'll take the bird in the hand. One time early in the 2nd quarter, Dangerfield had a shot from 40m out directly in front, passed it to Hawkins who was 45m out on an angle, who passed it to another player who was under pressure and shanked his kick not even making the distance. Dangerfield should have kicked a long point and spared us the drama. It set the tone for the 2nd quarter where Geelong made one mistake after another and lost all momentum.

 

[Gunf]

I wasn’t concentrating today on where they lined up after goals - but it seemed like Miers played a lot higher up the ground this week. Wing rather than HHF. To get 30+ possessions is huge.

Frankly I would take him as a wing over Smith (I know he help us win a flag but…) given Smith doesn’t link people up - Miers with 30 possession means he has bought a bunch of others into the game!

I have said it multiple times this year but Miers is the best linkman in the AFL this year and isn't really playing a normal role as he isn't playing as a small forward or HHF or wing but a hybrid of all 3 depending on what we need at the time.

 

[Lana]

He hasn't been a "jump and mark" forward since his back injuries a decade ago. Hasn't limited his effectiveness much at all.

Probably helped with his longevity in the end.

 

[cats_09]

Some of the efforts to share the ball around instead of go back and kick at goal were absurd and wasteful. I'll take the bird in the hand. One time early in the 2nd quarter, Dangerfield had a shot from 40m out directly in front, passed it to Hawkins who was 45m out on an angle, who passed it to another player who was under pressure and shanked his kick not even making the distance. Dangerfield should have kicked a long point and spared us the drama. It set the tone for the 2nd quarter where Geelong made one mistake after another and lost all momentum.

Hawkins kicked it to Miers who marked the ball and could have had a set shot

But that all happened during a 10 minute period where they seem determined to get the ball in Tuohy’s hands for him to have a shot on goal. After Miers marked the ball he gave it off to Tuohy - that’s when it broken down, until then it was good work hitting up the open player

 

[catstragic]

Duncans best game of the year, multiple excellent passes throughout.

Bowes best game of the year. Another solid outing from Braun.

Can't really get a great read overall given the quality of the game but we did all that could be expected.

favorite part of the game was Oisin bombing it out on the fall in the front pocket from the wing- not criticizing it, more excited because the ball never went more than 10 meters up in the air and looks to have carried a good 60-70 meters at high velocity. Obviously his general game awareness is basically non-existent but has an amazing toolset assuming he can get his head around the chaos.

 

[Finknottle]

Hawkins kicked it to Miers who marked the ball and could have had a set shot

But that all happened during a 10 minute period where they seem determined to get the ball in Tuohy’s hands for him to have a shot on goal. After Miers marked the ball he gave it off to Tuohy - that’s when it broken down, until then it was good work hitting up the open player

There were 2 occasions, I was describing the first. Is Dangerfield so lacking in confidence that he can't go back from directly in front and kick for goal, but instead kicks to another player further out and on an angle. Why is that good football?

 

[OddYears]

Anyone would think we plucked him out of the parking lot at the Guiness factory.
He's the bomb- The strategy, testing, interviewing, relocation, dollars, education and patience given alone says they'll play him .
Plenty of room for Knevitt, Neale, Dempsey et al going forward, and I think that's why a few punters have their noses out of joint.

The thing is knevitt, Neale, and Dempsey aren’t backs. Bews goes out so the logical selection is Oisin.

 

[Silver Cat]

The thing is knevitt, Neale, and Dempsey aren’t backs. Bews goes out so the logical selection is Oisin.

Sorry mate but there is no logic in that at all, MOC and Bowes returned, both backs, Smith a winger was rested, Knevitt a natural replacement.
Mullin was selected to add Irish value to the Tuohy milestone.

 

[crocsta]

I’m just glad we won and season alive for at least a few more weeks.

I wen to the ground today. It wasn’t the most exciting game so I watched Mullin a lot. Overall he’s probably doing exactly as instructed and learning fast but likely to play more VFL for the rest of the year as players return.

He is concentrating so hard to stay defensively near his opponent and he positions himself generally well, keeping within a metre or so, watching the play and keeping an eye on his opponent.

He doesn’t yet have the experience to know when to take risks and leave his man, and probably under instructions to stay close.

When we have the ball he tended to position himself towards the boundary line and stretch out opposition without necessarily demanding the ball be kicked to him (confidence?).

I would have liked the coaches to play him up forward or in the middle for the last quarter. Just tell him to hunt the ball and don’t worry so much about opposition i.e have a bit of fun.

 

[rocker_oz33]

Noticed Phillips got one of the Freo players pretty high wonder if the MRO seen that .

Given Drapa inj was well.


Bombers will be a tough game they got decent mids ,move it fast ..

 

[And_ROOS]

Noticed Phillips got one of the Freo players pretty high wonder if the MRO seen that .

Given Drapa inj was well.


Bombers will be a tough game they got decent mids ,move it fast ..

Chose to bump, hit the head, but think the impact won't be enough to see him suspended.

 

[rocker_oz33]

Chose to bump, hit the head, but think the impact won't be enough to see him suspended.

Yep he was too spuddy to make enough force ...FFS Phillips hit a target

 

[OddYears]

Sorry mate but there is no logic in that at all, MOC and Bowes returned, both backs, Smith a winger was rested, Knevitt a natural replacement.
Mullin was selected to add Irish value to the Tuohy milestone.

No logic in it, you should be running the selection committee haha you’re upset knevitt wasn’t selected. I just don’t think it’s as big an issue people are making it out to be. Knevitt will get more opportunities and so will Oisin. It’s an Irish conspiracy!