My view on how the GF will go down. I am not biased to either side but will be hoping the Cats win.
This will be closer than some suspect. The Cats are the stronger side on paper and have a few big names in from last time they played. Port seem to be a young inexperienced side but they played in a flag only a few years ago & still have 10/11 players from that side. The pressure will be on Geelong all week and a good start is vital to them to settle the nerves. The Cats will hope to control the ball and capitalise on oppurtunities so early so they can try & blow Port out of the water in the 2nd & 3rd quarters. The longer Port is in the game the more their confidence will grow & will thrive on having even a small sniff at 3 quarter time. The Cats had a tough intense game last week as opposed to the Power. The Pies have done the Cats a big favour here as they know what intensity they need to be at to win this final. Port may take time to adjust which could be fatal.
Match up wise the Cats will dominate the Port forwards with unpredictable Motlop the main headache. The Cats will get a lot of drive from the back line with Milburn & Co as per usual.
Port backs will do a reasonable job on the Cats forwards, wouldnt expect Mooney to have much impact with Steve Johnson & Chapman the keys they must fire & not let the ball come out easily. This is Ports big weapon as we know the Cats will get enough of the ball even with the impressive stoppers of Cassissi & K Cornes. If the Cats cannot capitalise on their oppurtunities & lock the ball in up forward they will get cut to shreds by the pace, run & linking of Port. The Cats will be hurt much more here than the Pies managed on Friday. This is where Port can win the game.
Midfield will be in favour of the Cats but they must be able to use those extra possessions something they did not do last week as they were all under pressure & forced wide. Ports mids can be very damaging going the other way and will make Ablett, Bartel etc have to watch the defensive sides of their game. The rucks will break even, no easy touches for Ottens against Lade this week.
Thompson was easily outcoached last week & will hit another excellent coach in Williams this week. He will have plenty of tricks up his sleeve & Thompson will need to be ready to change game plans if Plan A (worked all year) is failing. Port may surprise by going small up forward leaving Harley and Scarlett out of their comfort zone. They will want to deny Scarlett a goal square match up with Tredrea (as he would pants him). Chornes, Ebert, Motlop, Pearce forward setup would cause massive headaches if the ball was being rebounded quickly off half back.
My Tip: Cats by 22
The Norm Smith Tip: Chapman
This will be closer than some suspect. The Cats are the stronger side on paper and have a few big names in from last time they played. Port seem to be a young inexperienced side but they played in a flag only a few years ago & still have 10/11 players from that side. The pressure will be on Geelong all week and a good start is vital to them to settle the nerves. The Cats will hope to control the ball and capitalise on oppurtunities so early so they can try & blow Port out of the water in the 2nd & 3rd quarters. The longer Port is in the game the more their confidence will grow & will thrive on having even a small sniff at 3 quarter time. The Cats had a tough intense game last week as opposed to the Power. The Pies have done the Cats a big favour here as they know what intensity they need to be at to win this final. Port may take time to adjust which could be fatal.
Match up wise the Cats will dominate the Port forwards with unpredictable Motlop the main headache. The Cats will get a lot of drive from the back line with Milburn & Co as per usual.
Port backs will do a reasonable job on the Cats forwards, wouldnt expect Mooney to have much impact with Steve Johnson & Chapman the keys they must fire & not let the ball come out easily. This is Ports big weapon as we know the Cats will get enough of the ball even with the impressive stoppers of Cassissi & K Cornes. If the Cats cannot capitalise on their oppurtunities & lock the ball in up forward they will get cut to shreds by the pace, run & linking of Port. The Cats will be hurt much more here than the Pies managed on Friday. This is where Port can win the game.
Midfield will be in favour of the Cats but they must be able to use those extra possessions something they did not do last week as they were all under pressure & forced wide. Ports mids can be very damaging going the other way and will make Ablett, Bartel etc have to watch the defensive sides of their game. The rucks will break even, no easy touches for Ottens against Lade this week.
Thompson was easily outcoached last week & will hit another excellent coach in Williams this week. He will have plenty of tricks up his sleeve & Thompson will need to be ready to change game plans if Plan A (worked all year) is failing. Port may surprise by going small up forward leaving Harley and Scarlett out of their comfort zone. They will want to deny Scarlett a goal square match up with Tredrea (as he would pants him). Chornes, Ebert, Motlop, Pearce forward setup would cause massive headaches if the ball was being rebounded quickly off half back.
My Tip: Cats by 22
The Norm Smith Tip: Chapman
