Preview Rd 23 Geelong V West Coast Sat Aug 20 435 Pm 2022 @ KP

[Farmer2Goggin]

Didn’t train Wednesday. Certainly going to be well rested (4 weeks in between games?) by the time we get to QF?

IIRC Duncan goes ok first up after a spell so happy we’re looking after the old fella

 

[nohairandfair]

I don't get people melting because Sav is named as a forward. Has the side selected on Thursday EVER lined up in those spots on the weekend? As others have said, likely SDK or Stewart get a rest and Ceglar comes in. Sav goes down back and Blitz resumes normal service smashing most opposition mids and running the rest into the ground.

An issue with Ceglar is that he will put a fair bit of pressure on interchanges due to his lack of fitness. Not sure the club will want to be overloading the rest of the team to compensate for this.

Maybe Neale comes in for SDK/Stewart and Sav goes back. Neale can also share some of the rucking duties with Blitz, Sav, Hawkins, et al.

 

[year of the cat]

An issue with Ceglar is that he will put a fair bit of pressure on interchanges due to his lack of fitness. Not sure the club will want to be overloading the rest of the team to compensate for this.

Maybe Neale comes in for SDK/Stewart and Sav goes back. Neale can also share some of the rucking duties with Blitz, Sav, Hawkins, et al.

If we have Ceglar, Blitz and Esava, they can share it around. Not too fussed if we are carrying an extra ruck this round.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

DK late out?

The thought had crossed my mind. Sav or blitz to defence and ceglar in if DK is out. Personally id rest him in a dead rubber.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

An issue with Ceglar is that he will put a fair bit of pressure on interchanges due to his lack of fitness. Not sure the club will want to be overloading the rest of the team to compensate for this.

Maybe Neale comes in for SDK/Stewart and Sav goes back. Neale can also share some of the rucking duties with Blitz, Sav, Hawkins, et al.

Sav isnt exactly known for his tank though nor is neale so i think thats a lose lose in terms of interchanges no matter which one of the three plays.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Must be just trying to reduce his leave liability...

To be fair hes old and had an interrupted pre season then played 19 games off the reel i can see why we are resting duncan.

Why we are playing sav (probably forward and ruck when he hasnt been playing that role in vfl)over ceglar baffles me though. I suppose sav might play back and henry forward.

 

[moond0g]

Are we getting the mids to practice possible scenarios where a Gawn or even a Grundy completely dominates the ruck?

West coast without Nic Nat is unlikely to give us practice for that scenario no matter who we play as ruck

 

[catstragic]

5d chess fellas- Send Sav into the goal square (where he has at least a 50% chance of putting it through), use Hawkins as a decoy forward and watch Sav kick 15 goals. Then we trade him out for a decent mid and two first rounders during the trade period of the strength of his breakout game.

 

[Heckler]

Smith and MOC back as expected. Sav is an interesting selection.
My thinking is: Decision Time is looming for Sav's career.
Scott is keen to determine whether to keep or trade him.
Sure Sav understands the situation and grabs this opportunity.
Especially with the improving Neale eager and listed as emergency.
Really hope he plays well and finally arrives as a senior player.
Scott will give him ample opportunity to access his potential.
Team as named, will see Sav, Henry, Blitz rotated: CHF CHB Ruck.
Ceglar as a late change will see him add into the rotation mix.
Ceglar needs game time... Miers has earned a rest.

 

[Farmer2Goggin]

Lots of theories but I believe Ceglar isn’t fit enough so Sav or Neale are the logical choices - Sav gets the nod as he’s the more mature body and can ruck ok.
Eagles rucks are pox so no biggie, rest Duncan and Atkins - take the W and prepare for the QF.
Stanley , Jezza , Duncan and Atkins come back in and a couple become unlucky emergencies.
This is the first year in a hell of a long time that we have pole position with a huge chance of taking the choccies
Go Cattery

 

[CatRiot]

Lots of theories but I believe Ceglar isn’t fit enough so Sav or Neale are the logical choices - Sav gets the nod as he’s the more mature body and can ruck ok.
Eagles rucks are pox so no biggie, rest Duncan and Atkins - take the W and prepare for the QF.
Stanley , Jezza , Duncan and Atkins come back in and a couple become unlucky emergencies.
This is the first year in a hell of a long time that we have pole position with a huge chance of taking the choccies
Go Cattery

Is Sav better in the Ruck though than Neale? Because I would've thought Neale is the far better Key Forward now.

 

[Farmer2Goggin]

Is Sav better in the Ruck though than Neale? Because I would've thought Neale is the far better Key Forward now.

Exactly- Neale is the better forward but Sav will play predominantly ruck with Henry or Blitz giving him a chop out- that’s why he’s selected IMO

 

[Moley Russels Wart]

Not sure I've seen the full team named - looking at the emergencies, should we expect a late change with Ceglar or Neale to come in, as not sure we've often had two talls on the emergency list all too often

Round 23 Team​

INS: Mark O'Connor, Esava Ratugolea, Isaac Smith

OUTS: Tom Atkins (Managed), Jeremy Cameron (Injured), Rhys Stanley (Injured)

Backs	Zach Guthrie	Sam De Koning	Jed Bews
Half Backs	Jake Kolodjashnij	Jack Henry	Tom Stewart
Centreline	Isaac Smith	Patrick Dangerfield	Max Holmes
Half Forwards	Brad Close	Esava Ratugolea	Brandan Parfitt
Forwards	Tyson Stengle	Tom Hawkins	Gary Rohan
Followers	Mark Blicavs	Cameron Guthrie	Joel Selwood
Interchange	Mark O'Connor	Zach Tuohy	Sam Menegola
	Gryan Miers
Emergencies	Jonathon Ceglar	Tom Atkins	Luke Dahlhaus
	Shannon Neale

I believe at team naming time Ceglar hasn't cleared the concussion protocols and will be tested Fri. If he fails they will need Neale, who may then be sub

 

[Kobe Gryant]

Worrying and baffling signs.

Clearly Duncan is injured and not simply rested. Must be finals time. Again.

Stanley for Ceglar is literally the most obvious decision of all time and I thought we’d finally learnt our lessons

• Sav will never be a ruck bc he is hopeless at it. He’s a key position player. Full stop
• Ceglar isn’t that far behind Rhys and if Rhys is injured (or gets reinjured) we go into yet another final series with some weird patch work set up. Surely you run Cegs in when the front door is wide open.
• A full game in the ruck in Rd 23 exposes Blitz to far more chance of injury than pinch hitting for 5 mins here and there. What a disaster that would be

I’m a huge Chris Scott

Chris Scott

Age

47

Ht

182cm

Wt

89kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.6

4star

K

11.2

4star

HB

5.4

4star

M

5.1

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

0.4

3star

No current season stats available

D

13.2

4star

K

10.2

4star

HB

3.0

3star

M

2.2

3star

T

2.8

5star

G

0.4

3star

fan and I know Ceglar is emg so I assume it’s just a case of the usual late change. Pls don’t try and be too clever Chris.

Look I don't want to sound like a ****, but what part of dead rubber is so hard to grasp? If it was a tune up against a possible finals opponent ala 2011 I can understand....but we're playing a WAFL side in a game that where we literally can't move positions.

As has been mentioned by others, Duncan probably had a tight hammy or calf (as most players would this time of year) so they managed him last week and now see no need to risk it this week. We have zero reason to care about the result on Saturday, unless you're a believer in keeping the winning streak going.

 

[catsfootyfan89]

He's just never going to let go of this Esava thing, is he? As a sideline watcher, I can only pray this doesn't cost us a Premiership.

 

[Mad_Hatter]

He's just never going to let go of this Esava thing, is he? As a sideline watcher, I can only pray this doesn't cost us a Premiership.

How the * is selection in a completely dead game in the last round going to cost us a flag?!

 

[catsfootyfan89]

How the * is selection in a completely dead game in the last round going to cost us a flag?!

I'm not talking about this game. I'm talking about the whole selection process which has - in the past - failed us at critical times and cost us finals.

This season, the selection debauchery of years gone past hasn't been rife at the club, but this selection on the eve of finals is just really concerning for me, because I'm terrified of what could happen in finals if dumb decisions are made in the selections.

I want the club to do what hasn't been done in the past. Repeating the acts of the past will deliver us the same results of the past. The reason we're winning this year is because we've changed things. New game plan, new players in new positions. New youngsters being given responsibility. The past saw the same old tired players being overly relied upon, stupid selection choices in finals, boring gameplan that doesn't hold up under a blowtorch. The club has rectified most of this, but one thing that could be waiting in the shadows is the good old 'Chris Scott finals "I'm going to win this from the coaches box" masterstroke' garbage. Things like putting a sub-vest on Chappy in his milestone game in a final. Dropping Menzel in the qualifying final against Richmond in 2017. There are countless examples of him doing dumb things in finals, and I'm just antsy about Esava being brought back in for a final, when he hasn't played enough footy all season, and he's in a new position, he has no feel for the new direction of the team around him and historically, he's just a plodder who has no feel for the game.

Esava has no place in this team while we're a genuine shot at a flag. Maybe next season he can up his game and things will finally come good for him, but given his recent AFL form, I don't want him anywhere near the field when we're a chance at winning a Premiership. The guy has cost us so much over the years. And bringing him into the side in the final round, to me, says the coaches want to 'give him a run' so that they can possibly bring him in, come finals. The guy is on the level of Smedts, Murdoch, Gamble, Cunico etc. Currently, he wont make our side better. He'll make it worse.

Totally understand if I seem like I'm making a mountain out of a molehill, and sure, this game doesn't matter, so why does it matter who we play? Why not just play the whole VFL side and not worry about the result? I get the arguments, but to me, there's something deeply wrong with having Esava anywhere near our AFL team at this time of year, given our chances.

 

[Hinkley29]

What garbage local home town propaganda reporting.

He’s so rested he’s not even training. Won’t be getting any awards for hard hitting investigative journalism here. Let me guess Harry told him so

Uhhhh, isn’t not training the literal definition of resting?

 

[Hinkley29]

If Ceglar doesn’t start (which is still a very good chance) he will be the medi sub and someone will get a niggle around half time allowing him to play half a game.

Hopefully we will choose someone who has a better poker face than Stanley to be the player with the niggle. Stanley smiles too much when subbed out to pull off the ruse convincingly.

 

[catters05]

Hawkins getting a rest, he seemed quite frustrated last week.

 

[Mad_Hatter]

I'm not talking about this game. I'm talking about the whole selection process which has - in the past - failed us at critical times and cost us finals.

This season, the selection debauchery of years gone past hasn't been rife at the club, but this selection on the eve of finals is just really concerning for me, because I'm terrified of what could happen in finals if dumb decisions are made in the selections.

I want the club to do what hasn't been done in the past. Repeating the acts of the past will deliver us the same results of the past. The reason we're winning this year is because we've changed things. New game plan, new players in new positions. New youngsters being given responsibility. The past saw the same old tired players being overly relied upon, stupid selection choices in finals, boring gameplan that doesn't hold up under a blowtorch. The club has rectified most of this, but one thing that could be waiting in the shadows is the good old 'Chris Scott finals "I'm going to win this from the coaches box" masterstroke' garbage. Things like putting a sub-vest on Chappy in his milestone game in a final. Dropping Menzel in the qualifying final against Richmond in 2017. There are countless examples of him doing dumb things in finals, and I'm just antsy about Esava being brought back in for a final, when he hasn't played enough footy all season, and he's in a new position, he has no feel for the new direction of the team around him and historically, he's just a plodder who has no feel for the game.

Esava has no place in this team while we're a genuine shot at a flag. Maybe next season he can up his game and things will finally come good for him, but given his recent AFL form, I don't want him anywhere near the field when we're a chance at winning a Premiership. The guy has cost us so much over the years. And bringing him into the side in the final round, to me, says the coaches want to 'give him a run' so that they can possibly bring him in, come finals. The guy is on the level of Smedts, Murdoch, Gamble, Cunico etc. Currently, he wont make our side better. He'll make it worse.

Totally understand if I seem like I'm making a mountain out of a molehill, and sure, this game doesn't matter, so why does it matter who we play? Why not just play the whole VFL side and not worry about the result? I get the arguments, but to me, there's something deeply wrong with having Esava anywhere near our AFL team at this time of year, given our chances.

Normally, or previous seasons, I could agree with you with the fear of the MC trying to shoehorn Sav into the team. Or some boneheaded decision like "hey let's run 2 rucks in Stanley and Ceglar, Blicavs to FB and Sav up forward for the finals!", but we simply don't have the spots for any BS tomfoolery.
We are already looking at 3 players being woefully unlucky to miss out without counting guys like Sav or Dahl etc.
I just can't see it happening.

 

[catempire]

The melts delivered Art Vandelay_

 

[Jhye Clark 13]

Anyone would think we're playing to make the top 8.

 

[cats_09]

He's just never going to let go of this Esava thing, is he? As a sideline watcher, I can only pray this doesn't cost us a Premiership.

Pretty sure that this week's match won't have a major bearing on what happens come September

 

[Tackle_happy]

Exactly- Neale is the better forward but Sav will play predominantly ruck with Henry or Blitz giving him a chop out- that’s why he’s selected IMO

Neale is on the sane trajectory as SDK. His body needs another pre season to survive the rigours and be able to be confident in his ability to make a difference. He has played 1/2 a game more than SDK at the same point! So Sav is a sound choice to get a game into just in case the proverbial hits the fan.