Collingwood Vs Geelong

[chapmanmagic35]

Time to turn our attention to next week.

What do we think?

They usually play pretty well against us. Should be a good challenge.

Cats to win, Friday night football, 75,000+ people.

Can't wait!

 

[Glassjaw]

I just want to see four solid quarters of football from us.

 

[Shell]

Me either!!!

Saw some promos for it on Channel 7, during the Swans v Essendon match today.

Collingwood will def want some revenge for the prelim final. For this alone we cannot let them get a good start (like we have let other teams have lately).

 

[Turkey Tom]

If we don't play four quarters, we are going to lose.

Neither team is playing as good this year compared to their peaks last year, plus we are missing the man that dragged us over the line in the Prelim - Ottens.

Fraser may come in for Collingwood.

Blake has something to prove.

 

[BigKegs]

We are staring down the barrel of possibly our first loss of the season. Blake and Mumford should be right in the ruck but we need all our midfielders to fire besides Ablett who still doesn't seem to be 100% fit. The pies will really push us and i'm not sure who will play on Medhurst.

 

[kendall_cedric]

Can't wait for this game. Don't be surprised if we smash them. I think our boys will want to prove something to these so-called 'up-and-comers'.

 

[Godfrey Jones]

absolutely cant wait for this game. love playing you guys. a) because you guys play such attractive footy. good to watch. and b) we seemed to lift against your lot last year.

however im not as confident as i would have been last year, simply by the way we were blown out of the park by the hawks. i would have expected us to lift against them too.

anyways, best of luck. gonna be a beaut

 

[keen cats fella]

Ins and Outs for Geelong:

In: Stokes

Out: Bartel- Who i think is injured/ needs a rest.

I'd love to fit in Varcoe but I can't squeeze him in. No one desrves to be dropped.

Hunt to play on Medhurst, Enright on Thomas, Ling on Swan, and if possible Kelly in a defensive forward role on HEath Shaw. My main concerns are Davis and Didak, both are in good touch. Love to see Taylor take Cloke (who is due for a good performance). Scarlett will absolutely murder Rocca, getting at least 25 possessions

 

[chapmanmagic35]

Why the negativity, some Cats fans? We're 8-0.

All this talk about "We've got to play four quarters for once" and "We're staring at our first loss" surely can't be serious.

We're 8-0, the best team in the land, why be negative? Has the premiership got to our heads in the way that we think we should be winning by fifteen goals each week?

 

[thejester]

We won against Freo because a gust of wind blew Pavlich's kick into the point post. I'd rather not rely on that sort of luck against a bottom four side. Collingwood are tenacious and play well against us, we're not going to win if we give away a big lead and only play good footy after half time.

 

[chapmanmagic35]

We won against Freo because a gust of wind blew Pavlich's kick into the point post. I'd rather not rely on that sort of luck against a bottom four side. Collingwood are tenacious and play well against us, we're not going to win if we give away a big lead and only play good footy after half time.

Collingwood are a good side and we'll have to play well to beat them, agreed.

But some people keep saying we're not playing well at all. We're 8-0.

I'm looking forward to seeing how we respond to a team that is at home to a big MCG crowd, that traditionally plays well against us.

As I said, can't wait!

 

[catempire]

Collingwood are a good side and we'll have to play well to beat them, agreed.

But some people keep saying we're not playing well at all. We're 8-0.

I'm looking forward to seeing how we respond to a team that is at home to a big MCG crowd, that traditionally plays well against us.

As I said, can't wait!

There's a subtlety here. We're playing well enough *for short periods during a game* to get over the line, but overall, we're not playing that well.

Whether we'll do the same against Collingwood, who knows. But there's a good chance that if we decide to turn up for only 20-30 minutes of intense footy like we have been, it won't be enough.

Reading The Mission, I got the distinct impression that Geelong had a very poor preparation for the Preliminary Final. In fact, the players were told afterwards that if they play like that again they would not win the flag the following week. I think the players will have a point to prove for this game and I expect a lift. That said, it should still be close.

 

[sarah.13]

Can't wait for this game. Don't be surprised if we smash them. I think our boys will want to prove something to these so-called 'up-and-comers'.

Couldn't agree more, what's with all this doom and gloom talk from cat fans?
The pies are playing ordinary football at the moment,as are we and therefore we should win by 40 +

 

[Duskfire]

its not about us winning by 15 goals a week, but by actually stringing four decent quarters together. It is hard to make a point when we have yet to lose, but look when Saints won 10 in a row; there were still warning signs, and sure enough those warning signs developed into something. I can't help but look at things like the Dockers game where we were pathetic for the majority of the game, and see that as a warning sign. Its not me expecting too much, its me expecting this awesome side we have to actually do semi-decent for the majority of the game, as opposed to shocking two quarters, and then awesome the next two.

However, with the exception of the first half of the first quarter, we seemed to play pretty good against Richmond despite the conditions.

We should be able to beat Collingwood, because each week the boys seem to do enough to beat whoever they are playing. However, Magpies can be a very potent scoring side especially if people like Medhurst and Didak start pulling crap out of their ass, so this one especially four competitive quarters need to be strung together.

 

[mwt5150]

If we bring a game anywhere near our best the Pies wont have a show, particularly if they can only knock the Saints off by 10 points (second half the other night was truly shabby). The third quarter yesterday had some good signs, mainly Chappy returning to some good form. Love the bloke. Cats by 6-8 goals

 

[Last Line Hero]

I remember reading on a Collingwood forum (not BigFooty) after the prelim last year, how livid the Pies fans were about Matthew Scarlett's antics after the game, mocking the cheersquad.

They were talking about dedicating the banner for this game to that incident. Love to see if they go through with it.

 

[Vegas.]

The wins smooth over the cracks with wallpaper, I agree Dusky - but the difference is our players know what it takes to be the best, and they know what they are diong wrong.

A four quarter effort from these guys will bring a 10 goal win, I have no doubt about that - but Collingwood will probably not allow us to do it this week. They will fire up in a big way, and they are always hard at the ball. I think we will overcome them, but not before they put up a very decent fight.

 

[foxdog50]

Will Otto be back????

 

[Vegas.]

Will Otto be back????

Negative. I had a chat to Dr Larkins at the footy on Sat, who said he had just come from Ottens who was 'not a happy boy'. I asked him to put it into weeks, and he said 'any week, honestly, it could be any week'.

Also said that the Malceski surgery wasn't that revolutionary and won't change the face of football injuries at all, but that's another story.

 

[foxdog50]

Thank Vegas 15, thats not good ha. We are still not our best 22 on the park yet

 

[Vegas.]

Thank Vegas 15, thats not good ha. We are still not our best 22 on the park yet

I spose I am still waiting for Egan to come back, haha - but yeah, Ottens back in is about it really. Plus Jim back into form would be nice, although I think Ottens inclusion will boost our mids output by 25% which - especially in the case of G Ablett - is scary!

 

[Ricketts]

I remember reading on a Collingwood forum (not BigFooty) after the prelim last year, how livid the Pies fans were about Matthew Scarlett's antics after the game, mocking the cheersquad.

They were talking about dedicating the banner for this game to that incident. Love to see if they go through with it.

You sure it wasn't BigFooty?

 

[chapmanmagic35]

There's a subtlety here. We're playing well enough *for short periods during a game* to get over the line, but overall, we're not playing that well.

Whether we'll do the same against Collingwood, who knows. But there's a good chance that if we decide to turn up for only 20-30 minutes of intense footy like we have been, it won't be enough.

Reading The Mission, I got the distinct impression that Geelong had a very poor preparation for the Preliminary Final. In fact, the players were told afterwards that if they play like that again they would not win the flag the following week. I think the players will have a point to prove for this game and I expect a lift. That said, it should still be close.

I agree, but people are suggesting that we're not playing well at all. You can't play poor football for a whole game and win. Doesn't happen.

The Mission reference is a good one. I read that and was quite surprised to be honest.

 

[Ricketts]

Backline matchups pick themselves really:

Scarlett - Rocca
Taylor - Cloke
Harley - Medhurst

then i'd go

Mackie - Didak
Enright - Thomas

Mackie and Enright can play in defence and around the middle, which is handy becasue Didak and Thomas do the same.

Hunt can play on Leon if Leon plays in the forward 50.

Ling would usually play on Swan, but Pendles is in some top form so he has to be considered.

Hopefully Rooke stays in so we can cover them both.

 

[chapmanmagic35]

Looking forward to the Scarlett-Rocca match-up. Rocca has been belted by him lately. Will be interesting to see how much Scarlo will try to run off him.