Review Geelong defeats Port by 60 points.. Great team win!!

[HaroLad]

Geelong's "plan" over the last few years has been about nullifying the opposition's game plan, rather than imposing our own - I think now it's starting to come together a bit - right players in the right spots, right balance of young and old, and team buy-in

The thing with this is it makes it hard for the opposition to shut us down.

The last few years, anytime we've lost or choked its been our own doing. Haven't been smashed or even comprehensively beaten very much at all.

 

[BigCat1]

Trouble with the crows is that they have been so bad already that now they don’t even need to tank for the rest of the year. The have the luxury of trying to win some games and still claim their precious pick 1.

 

[Vdubs]

Brain Lake tweeted you need to play hawk from he's back shoulder.

Pretty sure Hawkins kicked a bag on Lake as well.

Was he Lake or Harris at the time?

 

[rocker_oz33]

We can't rest to many v the Crows IMO.

Rest who's sore that's it.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Controversial call but I'll give 3 votes Chris Scott in that one. Looking at the backline for Port the temptation would be there to bring in Sav and try to exploit and extra tall there. Coaching group correctly identified that this was a lost opportunity to create space in the forward line instead by resting two forwards and bringing in two mids, then playing those mids through the middle and drawing the defenders out. Port could not adapt and gave up the chase.

Also, forget making an offer to crouch, his much draft capital do we have to give up to get Butters?

 

[BigCat1]

Brain Lake tweeted you need to play hawk from he's back shoulder.

Pretty sure Hawkins kicked a bag on Lake as well.

Internet privileges from the inside. What’s happening to our prison system

 

[rocker_oz33]

Was he Lake or Harris at the time?

Not sure .

 

[sarah.13]

Fair question. I think the answer is still yes but it's not as stupid question as some will make out.

Think there might be a spot for him on the bench.

 

[JohnZ]

List of players who could potentially play a part of this season who were't in todays team:

Constable
Cockatoo
Ablett
Dalhaus
Close
Sav
Clark
Steven
Narkle
Okunbor

That's a squad.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Brain Lake tweeted you need to play hawk from he's back shoulder.

Pretty sure Hawkins kicked a bag on Lake as well.

Those who can't do, teach

 

[OddYears]

Can’t believe people are questioning whether gaz comes back in. He’s deadset best delivery in the comp. does not make a bad decision. Crazy times

 

[BIGANT]

Great win. Sad of SOS. Tom = beast

On SM-G960F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[00VicWard001]

The boys singing the club song reminds me of Native American Braves doing a war chant. A lot of fun and yipping, but a lot of aggression and warrior mentality.

 

[00VicWard001]

Someone had to take up Bews' slack.

Bews is not being Bews these days. He’s decided that he wants to break the lines like Danger. What’s next, Guthrie decides he wants to take over Selwoods role? Ridiculous.

 

[00VicWard001]

Geelong's "plan" over the last few years has been about nullifying the opposition's game plan, rather than imposing our own - I think now it's starting to come together a bit - right players in the right spots, right balance of young and old, and team buy-in

Coaching and teaching and training take years to connect with the players and the execution. If you’re lucky. You need a stable coaching and playing group that slowly evolve as a team over a multi year period. The coaches need to be seeing where the trends are going and building their team up with personnel, judgement, decision making and skills. The players need to play with each other, get experience, blood young players, keep enthusiastic and disciplined and focussed. Then you give yourself the best shot. Sure you can jag one early if things comes together i.e. Hawks 2008 and Dogs 2016, but generally it takes time. And sometimes you can miss your window too - like Sydney did with Buddy, Freo did and even the Cats did in 2013, Adelaide in 2017 and currently what GWS appear to be hell bent on doing. Generally however the best team does rise to the top.

the whole thing is Pretty cool overall.

 

[cats_09]

Moons too. I 100% agree with Morris here.

Simpson was whinging within a week of the Eagles being in the HUB. They were threatening to leave the HUB early if they weren't going to be allowed to isolate in their own homes on return to WA.

The club, starting from Chris Scott down have absolutely embraced the HUBs and the compressed game schedule. For mine that is led by Scott.

You can almost go back to the early season events and Scott's actions:

- when the season was postponed he offered to continue working without pay so that someone else who had a mortgage or family to support could continue earning a wage during the shutdown
- that then spread to other staff members offering similar so that someone who needed it more than them would continue to be supported

- after the season restarted and talk of a WA hub was raised, he took a positive attitude to that and said the club would do that they needed to do so that the season could keep going

No doubt that his leadership this year extends beyond the coaches box, and it seems that all at the club have embraced a similar attitude - another reason to be proud as a Cats supporter

 

[TheWoodenSlug]

On face value the Cats have given good value for money throughout the Chris Scott era, winning far more often than they've lost.

And yet the long-ago honeymoon period has gradually waned, eclipsed by the Big Asterix that now looms over every success, just on the periphery of every victory, peversly polluting every accumulating win with the subconscious effects of a lingering PTSD especially reserved for Geelong supporters.*

The pattern reveals itself season upon season; Expectations of finals success are inevitably raised - though often begrudgingly - on the back of strong Home and Away form.

But when those Expectations remain unfulfilled come September's end, those banner-waving yesterdays become little more than the set-up for a bitter punchline.

Older Cats Fans have seen it all before; in fact they've been lived through worse.

Entire seasons of excitement and promise cruelly crushed on Grand Final day - and don't think we forget all those pre-season comp GF losses, too - until an almost Pavlovian response is imbued, a subconscious Lid permanently poised against the spectre of expectation.

Possibly the most scarring of these lessons took place on that intersection where old bitter supporters witnessed the birth of the next generation of curdled Cat fans; GF day 2008.

Who can remember the peerless football we played that year without also calling up a pain that can be felt in the very nerves?

And yet what is it to support a team, in any sport, without hope?
Being an Unbeliever, it is probably the one bit of faith that I'll allow.
But it is hard earned. The Cats work in mysterious ways.

And so here we are again, in an apparently enviable position, having played compelling football for large stretches of this unusual season.

Is anything different?

Did it feel like this last year - when we were two games clear on top of the ladder during the H&A season?

An unprecedented (I was told off for using that word the other day IRL) 5 games in 19 days, and the club has given a top-class account of itself in every one of them, even in the loss to West Coast.

I like our midfield spread a lot better this year. So far.
In-form mature-agers Guthrie and Menegola have stepped up after the defection of Tim Kelly, and Brandan Parfitt has quietly added support with a balanced two-way on-ball game. In recent weeks long-odds pair Simpson and Fogarty have supplied quality depth.
'Dangerwood' is a distant memory, as is the concept behind it.

Fogarty's new-found form effectively doubles our Parfitt factor; we now have two two-way players to run through the midfield.

Joel Selwood has been a competent foot soldier during the past two wins, which is a great sign.
I liked his game tonight, a few times he subdued his ego in simply knocking a loose ball to a teammate's advantage rather than trying to gather and register a stat - it was a late-career Harry-type of game from Selwood.

And Harry himself was awesome, as he has been all year long.
He looked a wee bit hobbled at one point, but came back after half time and navigated the heavy seas with a steady hand on the tiller.

The defense has really found some synergy over the past month, at times tonight they worked together as an organism, completely instinctive and synchronized to one purpose.
Some of our own supporters were mocking 'the Misfits' only a few weeks ago but they have hit a rich vein of form.

Gryan Miers was solid tonight; he was woefully down on confidence only a couple of weeks ago, but to his credit he is working his way through a potential case of the 2nd-year Blues by running his guts out.

Cliche or not; you tell me with a straight face that Mark OÇónnor hasn't done a bit of Riverdancing in his time. Very agile.

Mixed beer, Bailey's and Wine tonight in a manner that is probably not conducive to brevity nor the structuring of narrative .

A bulldozing Nakia Cockatoo comeback might just threaten to loosen the Lid a wee bit.



* Collingwood supporters are probably well-acquainted with this specific torment too, I imagine.

Good post, obviously. Love your work each week!

This part hit a nerve alright:

Possibly the most scarring of these lessons took place on that intersection where old bitter supporters witnessed the birth of the next generation of curdled Cat fans; GF day 2008.

Who can remember the peerless football we played that year without also calling up a pain that can be felt in the very nerves?

2008 Cats is the best team I've ever seen and it's completely ****ed that they lost that GF.

I actually just wrote a long, nostalgic post about the glory years, but deleted it. I think I've had a few too many wines. Man, we've had a good ride.

 

[rocker_oz33]

You can almost go back to the early season events and Scott's actions:

- when the season was postponed he offered to continue working without pay so that someone else who had a mortgage or family to support could continue earning a wage during the shutdown
- that then spread to other staff members offering similar so that someone who needed it more than them would continue to be supported

- after the season restarted and talk of a WA hub was raised, he took a positive attitude to that and said the club would do that they needed to do so that the season could keep going

No doubt that his leadership this year extends beyond the coaches box, and it seems that all at the club have embraced a similar attitude - another reason to be proud as a Cats supporter

The weagles were sooking it up big time.

And will again when they leave WA.

 

[Nankervis brothers]

That's an impressive sequence of performances through a tough fixture. Have now made BRIS, STK and PA look like pretenders. And the loss to WCE was a victory of sorts, given our 'outs' in that game. I like how organised we are and the ability to negate different opposition game plans. The right balance between passages of defence and attack is emerging.

Guthrie had another excellent game—he has blossomed in a more offensive mid-role. Menegola seems to have benefited from Kelly's departure. On current form, both are blue-ribbon mids.

Hawkins is around 'career-best' form, which will need to continue if we are a chance to win the little carnivàle at the end of the season.

Blicavs reminded me tonight why he is the best utility in the game—rucking, roving his own ruck, brushing aside 200-pound beasts, intercept marks, link play, disposals all over the ground.

Rohan's pressure, running, and occasional x-factor make us much more potent up forward. Hopefully, injuries don't get in the way.

I like Parfitt's pressure, and ability in-close, but would like him to be a little more damaging with the ball. Henry and O'Connor are developing very nicely down back.

Dangerfield seemed to have more mid-field time than recent games, which may have been part of long term planning. Whatever the case, he was back in the zone. Selwood, while still a class above, is now entering football twilight. There will be a few great games left in the legs, but mostly decent and dependable performances from here.

Bad luck for Simpson, who was settling in, but can be covered.

It's looking good.

 

[smotherking]

I find Henry difficult to come to terms with. Love his spoils but feel like there is a mistake in him. Love him, he's a geelong boy and hope his brother finds his way to the cats but just never entirely sure

 

[Mr Meow]

It's 3:38pm in the UK. The beauty is, because of restricted work hours, I got to watch the game at home on my telly with a beer in hand! The convoluted analysis can wait for another time, as well as the anxious anticipation of "but what about when finals roll around?!!". Just enjoy this period for what it is, folks. We have a great mix of young, peak and old at the moment - it's a crazy old season - anything could happen. I know I'm excited.

 

[Heckler]

It looked easy - it was hard
It looked lucky - It was clever
It looked simple - It was skill
Port looked flat - Port were overwhelmed
Port looked mesmerized _ Port were ineffective.
Like an illusion that we outnumbered them.
Like magic we popped up in perfect position
Things are not always what they seem
It wasn't a magic spell it was an effective plan
It wasn't telepathy it was clear understanding
It wasn't slow tempo it was quick short play.
It wasn't individuals it was working as a single unit
It wasn't good form it was good player management
It wasn't a quarter burst it was maintaining momentum.
It wasn't a good win it was soul crushing.

 

[rocker_oz33]

I find Henry difficult to come to terms with. Love his spoils but feel like there is a mistake in him. Love him, he's a geelong boy and hope his brother finds his way to the cats but just never entirely sure

He's has not been the same since he was pushed forward and done alittle of rucking .
Does not to go for he's intercept marks down back anymore.

 

[smotherking]

I wouldn't mind dropping a game to the Crows - would take the spotlight off

no point putting the breaks on. we're hot. make the most of the momentum

 

[JohnZ]

It wasn't a quarter burst it was maintaining momentum.

This is what is impressing me.

Siren to siren control.

When we have momentum we go. When we don't we chip. Always on our terms.