Review Silence at the AO as Cats defeat PA by 12 points

[Heckler]

I agree against those three. Not a direct competition. And again I think would be unlucky (and love his run). But I can’t fit in stewart Parf and Gola into this line up without Miers being on the list of possible outs. That is all I am saying.

i can see a zuthrie/Kolo out (both unlucky) but to get two more out is hard. They could move smith and 2E to play that high half forward role And would pick both of those over Miers. I think Rohan keeps his spot over Miers too.

maybe I am missing an obvious out? Or maybe Gola and Parf doesnt squeeze there way back in?

of course all could be irrelevant if there are 1-2 injuries from here. And of course all of those “bottom 4-5“ will want to play well from here

i think Miers deserves to be in the top 22 but will struggle imo if we have a full list

Holmes is also in the mix as a potential miss from best 22

ALF stats show while Parfitt gets more disposals than Miers, Holmes, Zuthrie & O'Connor
He ranks worse on clangers, Effective Kicks, Kicking Efficiency, Disposal Efficiency, D50 rebounds, than all 4 players above.
He is also slower than those above and shorter than all but Miers by 1cm.

 

[MacStradbroke]

Holmes is also in the mix as a potential miss from best 22

ALF stats show while Parfitt gets more disposals than Miers, Holmes, Zuthrie & O'Connor
He ranks worse on clangers, Effective Kicks, Kicking Efficiency, Disposal Efficiency, D50 rebounds, than all 4 players above.
He is also slower than those above and shorter than all but Miers by 1cm.

Holmes doesn’t miss. His line breaking is too important and something those others mentioned do not possess.

 

[standupand]

A few impressions of this game from someone who once again only watched it a day late.

This reminded me our H&A encounter with them last year. An uncharacteristic shootout for a lot of the game. We seemed to concede a lot of easy centre-clearances and inside 50s and we didn't have the dominance in marks i50 that we normally have over our opposition this year. We were pretty efficient going forward ourselves and that was the only reason we won the game.

Of course we all remember what happened when we played Port a second time last year in finals after knocking them off in the H&A. The scoring dried up big-time and they got on top of us. So that lid is still rusted on for me.

The main positive is that it was again such an even performance. Difficult to really identify anyone who had a bad game or anyone who was outstanding. Dangerfield had a relatively quiet one, but there were moments that got me excited that maybe, just maybe, he's building to a big finals series. Henry is another player where he's playing far ahead of what I'd expected for someone with such an interrupted pre-season and season. I thought he played a really smart game. Was reliable at the back and then stretched them late as well by getting into clever attacking marking positions.

The negative of course is Stanley's injury, whatever you want to make of it. The reading coming off my BS meter from Scott after the game was through the roof. It wasn't a "wait for scans" or "leave the medical stuff up to the doctors" - but "it's a medium term injury" that likely to keep him out for the next few weeks. That just says to me (I hope) that it was a management decision more than a medical decision. He's key to our September plans and we want to make sure he's in the best possible condition.

There's no question that we'll see Ceglar brought in next week. This club just does not recruit 30+ year-olds just as back-up and not to play them in the seniors. I don't like it, but it's almost a certainty.

These next few weeks may not mean much in terms of our finals position because I can't see us losing a top 4 spot now (and we don't get home finals). But they mean a lot in terms of how we approach the rest of the season and how that translates into finals momentum. Treat them like practice games and we'll be found out when it matters. I don't want to see big changes, tinkering, experiments, "resting" players, hiding parts of our game plan. Let's play exactly the way we plan to play in finals with the team we plan to play in finals.

 

[Daitro]

Holmes is also in the mix as a potential miss from best 22

ALF stats show while Parfitt gets more disposals than Miers, Holmes, Zuthrie & O'Connor
He ranks worse on clangers, Effective Kicks, Kicking Efficiency, Disposal Efficiency, D50 rebounds, than all 4 players above.
He is also slower than those above and shorter than all but Miers by 1cm.

I don't really think Parfitt is in the team for those stats. He's not part of rebounding from defence/ transition play. He's in the team because he's rated elite for pressure acts (even higher than someone like Atkins) and above average for clearances, tackles and contested possession rate. His kicking efficiency is legitimately awful though and has always been his major downfall.

O' Connor was solid on the weekend, Holmes and Miers both had pretty awful disposal with 8 clangers between them. I think one of them could miss out if we feel like we need some support in the centre. Selwood/ Atkins/ Parfitt does seem a little one-paced though, you could see us getting ripped apart away from stoppage if we don't win the initial clearance. Zuthrie's had a decent run but out for Stewart

 

[Sire of Claude]

Holmes is a lock as he provides something quite a few don't, namely dash and line-breaking ability. Further, he has badly needed youth to balance out the 9 approx. 30yos likely to play finals. Finally he is, despite early impressions, a good kick.

 

[Willo_]

Honestly I say Ceglar will most likely will play in Stanley spot...
Ill ask this question?
If Ceglar got injured during a game in a week or so ( touch wood he doesn't) and Stanley still injured.....
Who would you rather play ? Conaway or Esava

Let's not worry about hypotheticals planning for an injury for a player that hasn't even played the game this week yet

 

[Spearman]

Daylight needs more time to develop.

but coaches are saying he has a bright future.

 

[feelinfeline]

Neale with support from Blicavs

I very much doubt that we would go into a final with Neale and Blicavs as our ruckmen. So if Stanley is out for an extended period, I think they would want to get a couple of games into Ceglar. It may not be this week, but surely in the weeks that follow.

That is if Stanley is out for several games. Hopefully that's not the case.

 

[cats_09]

I very much doubt that we would go into a final with Neale and Blicavs as our ruckmen. So if Stanley is out for an extended period, I think they would want to get a couple of games into Ceglar. It may not be this week, but surely in the weeks that follow.

That is if Stanley is out for several games. Hopefully that's not the case.

I never said no to Ceglar

The hypothetical question asked was, "If Ceglar gets injured & Stanley is unavailable, who do we go with" - hence my answer of Neale & Blicavs

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Ceglar
Neale
Conway
Tsapatolis

daylight

daylight

Ratugolea

Nah im no esava fan but i can admit tsapa is an even worse potato atm.

If stanley inj it is:
Ceglar
Blitz as 1st ruck again (causes us structural issues elsewhere but can work)

Daylight
Daylight
Neale (but ideally fwd not ruck)
Conway (not fit enough yet tank wise)
Esava (never had the tank or ruck technique)
Tsapa (gfl standard currently)

Surely will be ceglar in this week and hope he stands up.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

I don't really think Parfitt is in the team for those stats. He's not part of rebounding from defence/ transition play. He's in the team because he's rated elite for pressure acts (even higher than someone like Atkins) and above average for clearances, tackles and contested possession rate. His kicking efficiency is legitimately awful though and has always been his major downfall.

O' Connor was solid on the weekend, Holmes and Miers both had pretty awful disposal with 8 clangers between them. I think one of them could miss out if we feel like we need some support in the centre. Selwood/ Atkins/ Parfitt does seem a little one-paced though, you could see us getting ripped apart away from stoppage if we don't win the initial clearance.

Agree with the bolded as a worry and i think its why you will see parf and gola straight back in as they are two of our best runners and workers defensively and we need it to make our high pressure gameplan work.

Zuthrie and moc are both good players but i think they might be the two to make way for that reason. Miers has obvious deficiencies but is very good at defensive transition running and that might save him although he could be the third dropped (for stewart gola and parf) unless we get brutal and drop kolo which i think is unlikely structurally.

Assuming neale out for stanley/ceglar i think only zuthrie moc miers rohan would be nervous. Everyone else in the 22 is essentially safe (assuming they wont drop kolo).

 

[CHAWKTS]

Agree with the bolded as a worry and i think its why you will see parf and gola straight back in as they are two of our best runners and workers defensively and we need it to make our high pressure gameplan work.

Zuthrie and moc are both good players but i think they might be the two to make way for that reason. Miers has obvious deficiencies but is very good at defensive transition running and that might save him although he could be the third dropped (for stewart gola and parf) unless we get brutal and drop kolo which i think is unlikely structurally.

Assuming neale out for stanley/ceglar i think only zuthrie moc miers rohan would be nervous. Everyone else in the 22 is essentially safe (assuming they wont drop kolo).

I agree with your summary. Those are the 4 with Rohan I think probably less nervous given his size being able to contest both on ground in marking. The only way Rohan misses in my view is if Cegs plays very well over next few weeks and they go with him and Stanly. Personally I think that would be a risk to do that and leave Rohan out but that is the only circumstance (other than inj or really poor form) that I can see Rohan missing. Unlikely.

this is all just good sign for the tilt at the flag. We have 3 players who won’t make 22 who will all be very stiff. 3 out of 5 players (zuthrie, moc, Miers, Gola, Parf) will not make it if full list available. Maybe as you say Kolo shouldn’t relax either. So that will be 6 players plus Cegs who will be going all out the next month trying to secure a spot. Great position to be in

 

[feelinfeline]

I never said no to Ceglar

The hypothetical question asked was, "If Ceglar gets injured & Stanley is unavailable, who do we go with" - hence my answer of Neale & Blicavs

I wasn't disagreeing with you. It's quite possible it will be Neale and Blicavs next week, but in weeks to come Ceglar obviously comes into consideration.

 

[doctor_evil]

So what's the biggy with the medi sub, can't stand the conspiracy theories Fox trying to implant "will be looked at over the week"
Pretty simple really, carries a previous injury, Neale as insurance.
And not outside the rules, don't recall any other side being questioned about their sub, all a bloody forced controversy.

I was stumped at the choice but realised because we have Jezza, if any mid went down you can just throw him in the guts and move Neale forward. Jezza was playing more forward. I don’t think the club would play Stanley if there was doubt.

 

[Jumping Jack]

Treat whatever comes out of the club on Stanley with a bit of skepticism. yes they've said he's gone off for scans but we'll never see the results with our own eyes. It's becoming clear they were going to give him a break and most likely didn't expect he'd be playing the level of footy he has in the last 4-6 weeks. The Stanley substitution on Sat night was clearly planned - and was telegraphed from early on when Neale was named as a sub. When was the last time we saw a 200cm player named as a sub - seriously?

The club is probably thinking behind closed doors that they've got through 4-0 during what many perceived might be a challenging block of games without Stewart. It also coincided with match ups against sides with good caliber ruck stocks in Gawn / De Koning / Goldstein.

Another giveaway was Scott saying Stanley might be out medium term - normally never makes those points on injured players straight after in a press conference. I reckon he jumped at medium term on the basis they were always going to "manufacture" an enforced layoff and give Stanley 2-3 weeks once they knew they had ample back up in the form of Ceglar / Sav / Conway / Neale (the first two being the obvious replacements). And as many have commented - Stanley was sitting on the bench with a smile on his face, looked in no discomfort walking after the game, had no apparent 'in game' incident that lead to the subbing off, and no extra strapping or ice once subbed off.

 

[Play it Sam]

I was stumped at the choice but realised because we have Jezza, if any mid went down you can just throw him in the guts and move Neale forward. Jezza was playing more forward. I don’t think the club would play Stanley if there was doubt.

Good point. There's always a conspiracy theorist lurking, including media beat-ups.
MC choices have always been about horses for courses, Port a tall side.
It was time for Neale to get another sniff anyway.

 

[Play it Sam]

Treat whatever comes out of the club on Stanley with a bit of skepticism. yes they've said he's gone off for scans but we'll never see the results with our own eyes. It's becoming clear they were going to give him a break and most likely didn't expect he'd be playing the level of footy he has in the last 4-6 weeks. The Stanley substitution on Sat night was clearly planned - and was telegraphed from early on when Neale was named as a sub. When was the last time we saw a 200cm player named as a sub - seriously?

The club is probably thinking behind closed doors that they've got through 4-0 during what many perceived might be a challenging block of games without Stewart. It also coincided with match ups against sides with good caliber ruck stocks in Gawn / De Koning / Goldstein.

Another giveaway was Scott saying Stanley might be out medium term - normally never makes those points on injured players straight after in a press conference. I reckon he jumped at medium term on the basis they were always going to "manufacture" an enforced layoff and give Stanley 2-3 weeks once they knew they had ample back up in the form of Ceglar / Sav / Conway / Neale (the first two being the obvious replacements). And as many have commented - Stanley was sitting on the bench with a smile on his face, looked in no discomfort walking after the game, had no apparent 'in game' incident that lead to the subbing off, and no extra strapping or ice once subbed off.

I think we might be going overboard on citing the resting bit. To orchestrate a planned ruck switch mid game, especially with Stanley on top, risks too much. Unless Stanley was already proppy- Very un-Geelong like. As we seen, the balance was thrown.

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

It's weird that footywire.com still hasn't credited Geelong with the win against Port on their ladder yet. Most unlike them.

 

[Jumping Jack]

I think we might be going overboard on the resting bit. To orchestrate a planned ruck switch mid game, especially with Stanley on top, risks too much. Very un-Geelong like. As we seen, the balance was thrown.

I'm just throwing my 2 cents in. Just a very left field decision to have a 200cm player starting as a sub. Not sure I can recall the last time any side did that - and certainly not a Geelong side in the last few years (someone might correct me on that). Chris Scott has repeatedly said they'll do things differently in 2022, and if not pre planned, then it was a very "do differently" card to play.

Still very skeptical but it really doesn't make any difference. We got the 4 points and got a high pressure game (half a game) into Neale. Move onto next week and most likely a Ceglar debut for the Cats and Stanley resting up in front of the TV with cotton wool wrapped around him.

 

[Play it Sam]

I'm just throwing my 2 cents in. Just a very left field decision to have a 200cm player starting as a sub. Not sure I can recall the last time any side did that - and certainly not a Geelong side in the last few years (someone might correct me on that). Chris Scott has repeatedly said they'll do things differently in 2022, and if not pre planned, then it was a very "do differently" card to play.

Still very skeptical but it really doesn't make any difference. We got the 4 points and got a high pressure game (half a game) into Neale. Move onto next week and most likely a Ceglar debut for the Cats and Stanley resting up in front of the TV with cotton wool wrapped around him.

Fair enough. We can't know for certain.
Maybe Izzy has been giving smiling lessons.

 

[Jumping Jack]

Fair enough. We can't know for certain.
Maybe Izzy has been giving smiling lessons.

Maybe the coach (and his assistants) have got a bit smarter too. It's true you need some luck with no injuries and suspensions (Melbourne last year had a dream run). You also need to plan for every conceivable scenario - something C Scott has mentioned a few times recently.

In terms of luck, it's easy to overlook the absence of Parfitt and Stewart last year in finals. As well as taking a few blokes in who were clearly cooked at the end of the season (Dangerfield / Selwood / Rohan ) plus an under done Cameron. Then add the debacle of the prelim where it's now become known that up to 6 players were vomiting in the hours leading up to the game and should not have played. I'm told that Geelong were consulting with the AFL up to 2 hours before the game on the possibility of rescheduling due to lack of replacement players on the ground in Perth and associated COVID protocols.

An absolute mess. Let's hope we get some luck this year.

 

[Footy_Fan2007]

Treat whatever comes out of the club on Stanley with a bit of skepticism. yes they've said he's gone off for scans but we'll never see the results with our own eyes. It's becoming clear they were going to give him a break and most likely didn't expect he'd be playing the level of footy he has in the last 4-6 weeks. The Stanley substitution on Sat night was clearly planned - and was telegraphed from early on when Neale was named as a sub. When was the last time we saw a 200cm player named as a sub - seriously?

The club is probably thinking behind closed doors that they've got through 4-0 during what many perceived might be a challenging block of games without Stewart. It also coincided with match ups against sides with good caliber ruck stocks in Gawn / De Koning / Goldstein.

Another giveaway was Scott saying Stanley might be out medium term - normally never makes those points on injured players straight after in a press conference. I reckon he jumped at medium term on the basis they were always going to "manufacture" an enforced layoff and give Stanley 2-3 weeks once they knew they had ample back up in the form of Ceglar / Sav / Conway / Neale (the first two being the obvious replacements). And as many have commented - Stanley was sitting on the bench with a smile on his face, looked in no discomfort walking after the game, had no apparent 'in game' incident that lead to the subbing off, and no extra strapping or ice once subbed off.

Completely agree. I watched the second quarter again to see if Stanley looked hampered at all.
Nope. Was moving as freely as he ever has. Looks extremely fit. Even when the siren went and they were walking off he looked fine and in no discomfort whatsoever.
They will give him 2 weeks rest I think.
They have to now.
I could be wrong but the whole situation looks very suss.
I wonder if there would be more talk on it if we had lost the game.

 

[feelinfeline]

I wonder if there would be more talk on it if we had lost the game.

There certainly would have been on this forum!

 

[Jumping Jack]

Completely agree. I watched the second quarter again to see if Stanley looked hampered at all.
Nope. Was moving as freely as he ever has. Looks extremely fit. Even when the siren went and they were walking off he looked fine and in no discomfort whatsoever.
They will give him 2 weeks rest I think.
They have to now.
I could be wrong but the whole situation looks very suss.
I wonder if there would be more talk on it if we had lost the game.

Yeah didn't see the footage but know a couple of keen observers who went back and checked the vision and they said the same thing.

Geelong won't have much to answer to from the AFL. I think they've enough to worry about today.

• Hardwick doing Hardwick things and showing his true angry bogan self at a VFL game abusing oppo players.
• Richmond's very suspect use of the sub on Fri night. "He couldn't move any part of his body" ..... hilarious
• Complete 180 on Ginnivan by umps. The kid was exploiting the rule but since he opened his mouth they've changed the ruling and now he gets reamed by umps. talk about "in season" manipulation of the way the game is adjudicated. It's amateur hour at AFL House.

 

[Generalissimo]

Nah im no esava fan but i can admit tsapa is an even worse potato atm.

I think he'd at least have a go, which is more than you can say for SavRat.

Although honestly I'd prefer to have hung on to Darcy Fort than any of our current backup options.