Preview Geelong Cats v Essendon, AAMI Community Series, Sat 6 Mar 7:10pm @ GMHBA Stadium

[JohnZ]

So if you believe we're not even close to meeting the mark as it stands, where does that leave all the other teams in the comp?

We beat them in 2019 on their home deck (H+A), as well as led them at half time in two finals ('19 PF and '20 GF). Not too many teams can boast that record against the tigers over the past few years.

Still salty that Port couldn't hold on to make the GF but it is what it is.

 

[Big little cat]

Our gameplan is superb.
Just that Richmond is a better team with clearly the best player in the comp. Take him out of that game, we win.
The Port final loss was more about implementation then gameplan.

Good pick up. The stats back this up with geelong having one of the highest winning percentages over the last 5 plus years. It is an implementation issue against a very, very good side that let us down. The game plan is capable of getting 20 plus point gap between us and Richmond. We have struggled to sustain and resist their 2nd half surges.

 

[Seeds]

Good pick up. The stats back this up with geelong having one of the highest winning percentages over the last 5 plus years. It is an implementation issue against a very, very good side that let us down. The game plan is capable of getting 20 plus point gap between us and Richmond. We have struggled to sustain and resist their 2nd half surges.

We have a better list then richmond. we keep losing to Richmond who employ a different game plan to us. Suggests the game plan is the problem.

 

[Big little cat]

We have a better list then richmond. we keep losing to Richmond who employ a different game plan to us. Suggests the game plan is the problem.

The high level point was the Cats game plan does a lot right. The stats illustrate this. I accept against Richmond we have struggled to consistently implement or improve the game plan to counter their style. However, there's a lot of factors which no doubt contribute to the Tigers being so difficult to defeat including, the sheer number of games their backline and midfield players have combined together. This was their get out of jail card against Port in the preliminary final. Lastly, no other club has a Dusty to throw on the ball when they are in trouble. From a Cats point of view smalls this like no winning a key clearance or dominate the ruck in the GF (second half) hurt, Ablett busting his shoulder, poor execution of skills by players all influenced the GF outcome. A key point is sometimes accepting a player was exceptional in key moments. Long winded, I realise but the Cats get a lot right. However, new season, new players. I think the Cats will still play a defense orientated game plan, however, I agree with David Teague, the team that can explode on the transition will cause the most problems. This is an area we should exploit and improve.

 

[Seeds]

The high level point was the Cats game plan does a lot right. The stats illustrate this. I accept against Richmond we have struggled to consistently implement or improve the game plan to counter their style. However, there's a lot of factors which no doubt contribute to the Tigers being so difficult to defeat including, the sheer number of games their backline and midfield players have combined together. This was their get out of jail card against Port in the preliminary final. Lastly, no other club has a Dusty to throw on the ball when they are in trouble. From a Cats point of view smalls this like no winning a key clearance or dominate the ruck in the GF (second half) hurt, Ablett busting his shoulder, poor execution of skills by players all influenced the GF outcome. A key point is sometimes accepting a player was exceptional in key moments. Long winded, I realise but the Cats get a lot right. However, new season, new players. I think the Cats will still play a defense orientated game plan, however, I agree with David Teague, the team that can explode on the transition will cause the most problems. This is an area we should exploit and improve.

Stats don’t tell us this. There are two main things that drive success. Talent and strategy/cohesion. We can’t distinquish one from the other by looking at stats.