Review Geelong defeats Norf by 24 points at Etihad.

[kickazz]

How amazing was it when Stewart went off, Norf kicked three goals, returned + Geelong kicked three goals?

Yeah he controls the space so well. Blicavs had Brown covered in 1 on 1 but was exposed when he had space to lead.
Stewart bloody important.

 

[Ratcat]

Great return game by Charlie Constable with his 27 possessions will be a ball magnet.
Reminds me of Swans Kennedy.

 

[frggr]

I also want to point out Clark's two RIPPING goals.

I know a few reckon he's not quite up to the level (yet), but damn his confidence to take the game on is pretty great. Loving his work.

 

[foxdog50]

Looking at the news reports on GAJ, hard to see him escaping a week.
GAJ, Atkins, Rohan all outs next week.
Menegola, Selwood, ?Narkle ins, but GAJ is irreplaceable. Really annoyed he would do that the week after what happened.
Anybody not thinking this will be a struggle is overly confident.

Narkle injured himself in the VFL, as long as with Henderson...

 

[Spazz Cat]

North had a red hot crack today and for the most part we held them at arms length.. Negatives that a few occasions we let them get a run on and hit us with scoreboard pressure, positives are that after that occurred we responded with our own devastating burst.

Gary Rohan may be the quickest human I've seen, he had the North defenders hearing footsteps with his pressure. Hope he recovers well as he is so important for our fwd line and the way we function.
Geeze Cunnington is an absolute monster.. He'd be so good in a good team.
I thought early they were harder at the footy than we were.. When we got rolling though there was a clear class difference, i reckon they have a couple of exciting young forwards though so they will be ok the next few years if they can balance their list properly and stop trying to top up.. They lack polish though and that was the difference.. Higgins is rolled gold, that's about it.

We looked sore and tired so will be interesting to see how they pull up.

Sav is a frustrating player at the moment.. He is far too willing to concede front spot and against AFL defenders he can't get away with it, bloke has a monster frame though.. If he starts taking front spot he won't get out marked.. That mark he took in Q4 is just the tease he gives us at the moment, and sitting on the wing it happened on.. It made the most fantastic sound when he grabbed it, like he was going to squeeze the air out of the ball..

Menegola out probably hurt more than we realised just with how he covers the ground.. Also Selwood out when we needed players at the contest

So all in all good win to go away with, young players continue to do well.. Miers would be a lock for a rising star nom if he had kicked straight (still may get it)

Can you imagine North without Cunnington?
They would be truly awful. Your right, great player.

 

[frggr]

Good to see Constable standing up for Gaz after he kicked that last goal, too.

Some North player tried to get in his face, and Constable stepped in between.

Over the past few years, it seems, I haven't seen that sort of stuff. It's a good sign for team cohesion.

 

[BigCat1]

Surprised ppl and harsh on Blitz. At the game he won I reckon 70% of his contests. A number of those when Brown was absolutely in the box seat. They kick to him every time.

One of the goals Blitz was on the wing so nowhere near him. One the ball got shinned to him sideways and the other two Matty Scarlett woulndnt have stopped. Allowing their mids to waltz through 60 and kick 20 metre darts after rank midfield turnovers under no pressure. 5 goals looked bad but I thought he was really solid.

 

[Down at K Park]

Don’t know why people are suggesting fogarty as an in next week. He was out for a few months after surgery, he’s not coming straight back in after 1 vfl game. That is silly suggesting it.

Will need a few more weeks in vfl before he will be considered.


Gazza was amazing today. Can slot them from anywhere. Such a great kick.

Miers was good too. Love his effort. Just never stops moving.

Duncan had a great game and kelly was just a machine. I hope we can re-sign him.

 

[bigfarter]

Surprised ppl and harsh on Blitz. At the game he won I reckon 70% of his contests. A number of those when Brown was absolutely in the box seat. They kick to him every time.

One of the goals Blitz was on the wing so nowhere near him. One the ball got shinned to him sideways and the other two Matty Scarlett woulndnt have stopped. Allowing their mids to waltz through 60 and kick 20 metre darts after rank midfield turnovers under no pressure. 5 goals looked bad but I thought he was really solid.

I agree. Weird case where Blitz was very good but his opponent (who is no slouch) got off the chain - especially in that 5 minute burst where he kicked 3.

 

[BigCat1]

I just don’t feel as nervous with this team. I always thought yeah we will win.

No AFL player is soft so pick another word. Maybe Flakey. Maybe dumb decision makers. But the team without Murdoch, Motlop, Menzel, Henderson, Parsons, Cunio, Scooter, ZSmith and Bews isn’t a coincidence.

 

[Pollywaffle]

Blicavs. Hendo and taylor can both play back when blicavs fills in ruck. He did it last year a couple of times.

Interesting lateral thinking.
Way to fit in a class operator like Henderson...too good to languish in magoos.
Blicavs back with a roaming commission could be worth sampling again.

 

[_Game_]

Last week I thought no way Ablett goes for the hit. This week I think no way he gets away with it for a second time. Not great with the injuries we now have mounting.

 

[UnitedWarrior93]

That Tim Kelly hey? he is some special player, an absolute jet. Also, Ablett is in some terrific form, will most likely not play next week but a rest will do him good.

Good win today after I knew North would throw everything at us, almost was enough but our class proved to strong in the end. A bit of shuffling around regarding the team for next week. No Ablett, Atkins or Rohan, who to come in?

 

[devilsnap]

Sav’s been dubious since the start of the season but all the narrative has been “he’s important structurally”, “big guys take longer to develop”, “he’s a confidence player -drop him and he’ll never get back” and “he gives Stanley a rest”.

Now, everyone wants to drop him. So what has changed?
Back when we had a full team, we could carry him, but now with a bit of injuries and key outs, no one has the patience for him anymore?
Do none of the previous reasons for his continued inclusion apply anymore?
Fort banging on the door?

I have nothing personal against the big guy (love his smiles about the place) but I’m surprised at some of the capriciousness of this place.

 

[Biggy_Boy]

Sav’s been dubious since the start of the season but all the narrative has been “he’s important structurally”, “big guys take longer to develop”, “he’s a confidence player -drop him and he’ll never get back” and “he gives Stanley a rest”.

I don't think those reasons ever really applied.

Other players could play his role structurally and probably better. And I mean he's not really doing anything at the moment so I'm not sure what difference it makes having him or not.

Big guys do take longer to develop and need AFL time to do so, but at the same time they need to contribute to some extent. If they're struggling as badly as Sav is, then the time is probably better invested at VFL level at this stage.

I don't agree that dropping him is a bad move for confidence reasons. I can't imagine it builds a lot of confidence to be so clearly out of your depth as he has been this year. I think it would help his confidence to play in a lower standard comp, where he can focus on doing specific things under direction of the coaches without the result mattering as much, and get more of the ball.

 

[STPer18]

Is this the week Miers finally gets the nod for a rising star nomination? He really does deserve one with the quality of his past two months.

 

[FredLeDeux]

I don't think those reasons ever really applied.

Other players could play his role structurally and probably better. And I mean he's not really doing anything at the moment so I'm not sure what difference it makes having him or not.

Big guys do take longer to develop and need AFL time to do so, but at the same time they need to contribute to some extent. If they're struggling as badly as Sav is, then the time is probably better invested at VFL level at this stage.

I don't agree that dropping him is a bad move for confidence reasons. I can't imagine it builds a lot of confidence to be so clearly out of your depth as he has been this year. I think it would help his confidence to play in a lower standard comp, where he can focus on doing specific things under direction of the coaches without the result mattering as much, and get more of the ball.

Anything you say about how "confidence" will or won't work for a particular player is absolutely useless when you know zilch about his emotional or mental make-up.

 

[Biggy_Boy]

Anything you say about how "confidence" will or won't work for a particular player is absolutely useless when you know zilch about his emotional or mental make-up.

True, but an AFL side can't continue to carry passengers because they're afraid of upsetting the player by telling him to go back to the VFL and work on his craft. If he at this early stage of development can't deal with being told he needs to build better form in an easier environment and work on improving areas of his game, then he shouldn't be on an AFL list.

 

[Clubber79]

How did Mark O'Connor play? Still holding his own, I hope.

 

[bigfarter]

Sav’s been dubious since the start of the season but all the narrative has been “he’s important structurally”, “big guys take longer to develop”, “he’s a confidence player -drop him and he’ll never get back” and “he gives Stanley a rest”.

Now, everyone wants to drop him. So what has changed?
Back when we had a full team, we could carry him, but now with a bit of injuries and key outs, no one has the patience for him anymore?
Do none of the previous reasons for his continued inclusion apply anymore?
Fort banging on the door?

I have nothing personal against the big guy (love his smiles about the place) but I’m surprised at some of the capriciousness of this place.

I can only speak for myself but it was easier to preach patience after 4 games than it is after 8. I still rate Sav and think he will come good but I'm starting to wonder if it does more harm than good to have him play in the 1s but do sweet FA. Maybe a stint in the 2s could help him get some timing and touch? I also think it wouldn't be the worst thing to give Abbott or Fort a chance to see if they can do better. At least then, if injury strikes Sav or Stanley late in the year, we're not bringing in a completely untested commodity.

I still think the sentiments you quoted hold true (except maybe the confidence one) but we can't keep carrying him with the output he's currently delivering. Not without at least trying an alternative.

 

[FredLeDeux]

How did Mark O'Connor play? Still holding his own, I hope.

More impressive every week.
Blossomed into a goal creator this week with a couple of goal assists.

 

[Cursed Cat]

How did Mark O'Connor play? Still holding his own, I hope.

One of his poorer games so far in 2019 I thought.
He wasn't terrible, but he made two bad errors that I can recall.

 

[Clubber79]

That's great to hear.
I was a bit worried when I didn't see his name cropping up in the match reports, but I suppose that can be a good sign for a young player too, i.e. might not have been spectacular but he did his job.

 

[Mad_Hatter]

On MOC, not his best game but is putting together a fantastic season.
Has all but cemented his spot in the 22 if form continues.

 

[BigCat1]

I don't think those reasons ever really applied.

Other players could play his role structurally and probably better. And I mean he's not really doing anything at the moment so I'm not sure what difference it makes having him or not.

Big guys do take longer to develop and need AFL time to do so, but at the same time they need to contribute to some extent. If they're struggling as badly as Sav is, then the time is probably better invested at VFL level at this stage.

I don't agree that dropping him is a bad move for confidence reasons. I can't imagine it builds a lot of confidence to be so clearly out of your depth as he has been this year. I think it would help his confidence to play in a lower standard comp, where he can focus on doing specific things under direction of the coaches without the result mattering as much, and get more of the ball.

He was good last week. Terrible today. Even in the ruck where he has been ok. Just too far away from most contests as a fwd. He’s been poor in 4 of the last 5 but I’m dead set against making more than three changers max a week. Last chance week for mine. Home game. He’s critical almost the final piece of a really really big year. ‘