Geelong on the rebound - oh no!

[GoNorth]

IF we manged to beat Geelong, I bet we still wouldn't get any respect from the media. They would just say that Geelong had a lot of players out of the team.

 

[NMFC 1811]

Weren't we the last team to beat them down there ?

Big big chance we can do it again . Go Roos .

 

[rooboy_07]

I think Port were the last team to beat them down there.

Chapman, Kelly, Corey all back in according to the papers. With Jimmy, Johnson, Taylor looking like missing.

 

[Radical Roo]

NO i anything within a 50 point loss is within expected.

 

[John Dorian]

NO i anything within a 50 point loss is within expected.

FFS with that attitude we are going to lose.

I am expecting a win and any other result I will be disappointed with.

It's these types of games we have to be winning for us to be going anywhere.
Our Nab Cup game against them proves it is winnable.

 

[NMFC 1811]

NO i anything within a 50 point loss is within expected.

If Geelong were at full tilt , that might be the case . Facts are they will field an unsettled line up for the first time in a long time . We could pinch this one !

 

[Jumping Roo]

I have a funny feeling we might actually pinch this one!

 

[CBSlogger]

This could game could be one to look back on in 2-3 years as a start/end-of-a-dynasty kind of game.

We've got a history of upsets down in Geelong...

 

[ansonholt]

Definitely agree. We are catching Geelong at one of their lowest points in recent years, relatively speaking. They are still top, still formidable, especially at home, but in terms of injuries, form and possible suspension, they are vulnerable.

Other than Petrie and Anthony, we are doing well for injuries, with hopefully Patch to come back in, and we have won 3 in a row and have confidence. Add to that, we have a weeks' break on top of it, and Geelong just came off a slog in the wet.

We have a HUGE chance. What we cannot afford to do is drop this one by 10+ goals. Would ruin our entire season. Think we can get close to, if not over the top of them. Ablett must be limited as a must, as stopping him completely is nigh on impossible. Harvey will probably get tagged, so this is where JZ, Basti, Cunners and Levi (our Gang of Four) need to step up. Big ask of those young guys, but I think they're up to it.

Of course, we'll need Lachie to take some marks, and Lindsay to be solid, Flash to contibute, and the backline to maintain its form, with only really the JPod to stop with Mooney potentially out. We must watch the small forwards though, and limit Scarlett's run as well. It's doable.

 

[mysainters]

Now none of this 'oh no, Geelong on the rebound, and at home'

All the noise coming out of Geelong should be filling you with optimism, they are excusing rather than confronting the loss.

You need to push, and push hard.

But hey, you have Brad Scott as your coach, nothing he wouldn't already know.

This is your chance to grab another 4 points, and I'd rather you guys in the eight than some of the other teams hovering.

 

[Radical Roo]

....Other than Petrie and Anthony...

Errrrr we are going to stop there. Missing Anthony and Petrie is like missing our best ball magnet and best power forward.

 

[speedy]

If Geelong were at full tilt , that might be the case . Facts are they will field an unsettled line up for the first time in a long time . We could pinch this one !

Taylor, Johnson, Bartel and Mooney all could be out but Chapman, Corey and Kelly are coming back. I don't like those in's. I would have preferred to play the line-up that StKilda faced.

 

[True North]

Chapman has a history with hammies, doubt he will play.
Taylor came back on, he will play.
Steve.J will miss.
Bartel 50/50

Without Chappy and Stevie J we should push them pretty hard. If any of the others don't come up then we really can win. I hope they are all out and we win by 15 goals.

 

[Ziebs07]

This game to me is akin to the Aussies v Germany game in the World Cup

Why go down there expecting to lose and aim to limit the damage?

Take them on, hit them hard and give the boys a chance to shine

We have nothing to lose in this game. Lets give them hell

 

[fpm84]

Hello North supporters.

If you drift over to the Geelong board you'll find a lot of our supporters are very nervous about Sunday's match. If you guys head in with the attitude you can beat us - and why wouldn't you? - you are a real show. I've been impressed with North of late; your win v Carlton was awesome.

As for our line up, we're near certain to regain Chapman and Kelly. Kelly had a virus on Friday night and was a late withdrawl, Chapman had hamstring tightness but Bomber has since said he would have played if it was a final.

Bartel and Taylor got injured during the match and both are considered 'good' chances to line up; I wouldn't be surprised to see one miss.

Corey will play this week, but may come back through the VFL instead of the seniors.

Ottens is apparently a chance this week, but more likely will miss. Hawkins was regarded last week as "certain to play within two" so you have to consider him a good chance.

Pods appears to have been carrying a groin injury since the West Coast game (was clearly under duress v Essendon despite kicking 5) and probably needs a week off. But with Mooney likely to get suspended, we don't really have anyone else to bring in. Probably a good thing that Mooney's out anyway, we don't need him getting rubbed out for eight after belting Thompson again

SJ is a certain out, through injury and suspension.

So we'll still have a reasonably strong team (Scarlett will be better for Friday night's run after missing a month with a hamstring injury) but a few key outs.

Should be a cracking game. Are you lot all excited about your baked potatoes?

 

[Twinkletoes]

Are you lot all excited about your baked potatoes?

Mate, we live for those little meals in a styrofoam container. Heading down there is all about the Baked Potato, with a footy game going on in the background to distract us from consuming too much starch.

One factor which will be interesting to consider this week is how you guys pull up from your battle with the Saints v's how we front up after a week off. The players haven't trained for the past 5 days so we'll either be full of energy and ready to roll or lethargic. I expect the former, and I'm sure Bon Scott will be setting the young blokes to take on the challenge to see where they're at.

I hope it's a cracker of a performance and that we cause a major upset, which it would be despite your outs.

 

[the_big_sav]

last 4 games against nth:

bartel, aves 30 touches NOT PLAYING/UNDER DONER.
stevie j, aves 24 touches and 1.5 goals NOT PLAYING.
kelly aves 28 NOT PLAYING/UNDER DONE.
mooney aves 4.5 goals NOT PLAYING.
chapman aves 20 touches and 3 goals NOT PLAYING/UNDER DONE.
corey/ottens/hawkins NOT PLAYING.
we won in the nab cup when they had 16 premiership players playing
we can bring in hale and play him against his bunny who is under done ( )

if chapman plays he will have to spend more time up forward/deep forward becuase he is under done and their forward line structure is damaged with their two or thier 3 leading goal kickers not playing. meaning he wont be able to play on the ball and set up a lot of their goals like he normally does against us/most games he plays

if this is the case. varcoe, byrnes and stokes will have to spend more time on the ball instead of wing/high half forwards. and if they are rotating on the ball more then up forward it takes away even more goal scoring power.

id have firrito play on chapman if he plays/is up forward. id have grima start on pods and have thompson sit in the hole. pods has kicked like 80%+ of his goals from the corridor.

ling will take boomer and probably smash him like he normally does, i would like to see boomer play half forward. boomer can still set up goals/kick goals but it also means geelong is another big bodied/experianced player down on the ball.

all of a sudden its gaz and selwood. swallow to go head to head with selwood and well greenwood and lower can rotate on gaz.

i would like to see mcmahon come in for urquhart, adams in for garlett and hale in for wright.

if hale plays it frees up hansen to go to defense if geelong bring in another tall or we can have goldy/h-mac/hansen/hale rotating through ruck/chf/ff/bench. try and stretch their defense

we need to kick straight early and hopefully have thomas and campbell step up and kick 5+ between them.

 

[MagicalRoos]

Regardless of who we're playing I don't want to see Hale in as a forward for the time being..

I like the fact we're coming up against Geelong after the break, keeping the kids on their toes.
I don't like the fact that they have so many contentious in and outs through injuries/suspensions etc, and to important players too. This will no doubt be giving our coaching staff a bit of a headache trying to prepare the team and match ups for the weekend.

Does anybody see the tactic we used for Judd working for Ablett? Different teams so not sure how it'll pan out if Wells went head to head with him and then have Levi follow him when Wells is off for a breather.
Ablett, with the support around him, might be too much for Wellsy in that case I suspect especially if we're getting beaten in the clearances.

 

[WesternRoo]

Johnson and Mooney out gives us hope...genuine hope.
These guys have destroyed us in the past.
They are still an absolute gun side, so we should tread very carefully before writing them off for this week.

 

[Devil Fish]

If Hale plays, we are a chance. He has always played his best footy at Skilled & I can't see that changing this Sunday.

 

[gokangas]

Lets face it - Geelong are due for a mid season slump. Its been a while.

 

[roonskins]

If Hale plays, we are a chance. He has always played his best footy at Skilled & I can't see that changing this Sunday.

Small forwards killed them last week ,we about due for a Flash and LT show .

 

[CBSlogger]

Bring back Hale, LOL.

 

[therook]

Good Luck this week guys.....

I don't understand something......surely you guys would like to play a full strength Cats to see exactly where you are in the food chain. Your team is improving day by day and with petrie to come back in the side will be even better. Stop putting yourselves down by worrying about who you want out and who you don't want to play because you blokes are coming along nicely.

Good Luck

Rook

 

[blackshadow]

I'm feeling quietly confident we'll do well on Sunday. Pity I'm not going to make it down to Baked Spud stadium.