With Tobes we'd be certainties.

4 minutes ago, RigidMiddleDigit said:

With Tobes we'd be certainties.

nah, he'd find a way to get suspended

10 hours ago, DubDee said:

Nothing else to do so let's watch footy!

I was hoping we might be a chance to be top by the end of this round but Giants who should be desperate for a spot in the finals have made 6 changes including 2 key players as 'managed'.  are they tanking? what a joke.  the Cats will smash them

Bombers might be a chance against the dags if they have an off day

Punting wise, I reckon North as worth a go, at least at the line.  Freo always tough to beat at home and will give the bears a run for their money

Dub Dee this post didn’t age well. Great win by the Giants and just confirm how over rated the Cats old list is. Has been amazing how many commentators got sucked into the Cats bandwagon. Was great to see Dees fly under the radar. So many critic make week to week snap judgements. Dees have the best win loss record against top 8 opposition yet somehow Cats have been at shorter odds. Inexplicable. Cats play a stodgy brand which will not hold up on the fast decks of September. Their demise is going to be sweet to watch. Dogs are our biggest danger.

42 minutes ago, dee-tox said:

As much as we like to portray GWS as a souless franchise, they really do have some ticker.

Their midfield mix is excellent too. Would love to have Isaac Cumming and/or Whitfield at the Dees. 1,700 metres gained between them tonight.

 

 

They're definitely a footy club in the true sense of the word. Look at the passion when they sung the song after the game.

26 minutes ago, Deesprate said:

Dub Dee this post didn’t age well. Great win by the Giants and just confirm how over rated the Cats old list is. Has been amazing how many commentators got sucked into the Cats bandwagon. Was great to see Dees fly under the radar. So many critic make week to week snap judgements. Dees have the best win loss record against top 8 opposition yet somehow Cats have been at shorter odds. Inexplicable. Cats play a stodgy brand which will not hold up on the fast decks of September. Their demise is going to be sweet to watch. Dogs are our biggest danger.

Very happy for it to have not aged well! What a loss by the Cats. I reckon they peaked too early. 

1 hour ago, whatwhat say what said:

agreed

whitfield is extraordinary; he'd be so good for any side who plays a lot at the g

gw$ are still a soulless franchise tho 😈

Tbh, living here in Sydney, for mine, every time I see a Swans or GWS supporter, I don’t cringe, I just think that’s one less NRL [censored] marching through the streets. I say bring it on, the more AFL fans the more those NRL fans hurt (who are only lucky to get 40k at a final, 10k on game day) … please, wake the farg up!

25 minutes ago, DubDee said:

Very happy for it to have not aged well! What a loss by the Cats. I reckon they peaked too early. 

And I thought we peaked too early… it’s hard to tell

2 hours ago, A F said:

On the flip side of Taylor's brilliant game, Kreuger played one of the worst games of footy you'll see. That game would have made Isaac Weetra blush. He's a key defender in a top 4 team?

He's a special player that Taylor completely blanketed that preepy little [censored] Hawkins. Played him in front and took his biggest strength away.

13 minutes ago, DeezNuts said:

And I thought we peaked too early… it’s hard to tell

There's no such thing as peaking early if you've not worked it out by now 

1 minute ago, adonski said:

There's no such thing as peaking early if you've not worked it out by now 

So if you haven't worked it out by now, there is no such thing as peaking early? Or is it the case even if you have worked it out? Are the two statements linked?

Where is @demenonstone when you need him.......

Lockdown is so confusing!

2 minutes ago, Left Foot Snap said:

So if you haven't worked it out by now, there is no such thing as peaking early? Or is it the case even if you have worked it out? Are the two statements linked?

Where is @demenonstone when you need him.......

Lockdown is so confusing!

I'll be back with my whiteboard momentarily 

24 minutes ago, DeezNuts said:

And I thought we peaked too early… it’s hard to tell

Premature culmination?  🤔

36 minutes ago, JTR said:

Premature culmination?  🤔

Can happen to any guy

Taylor owned Hawkins and is to the eye, 10kg+ lighter, that was a serious game by him. I also watched Hawkins do half a dozen dirty things to try and put him off. Was sitting CDG Paris waiting for my flight back to Sudan (would rather be in Melbourne believe me) and had nothing to do so watched the game. I was very impressed with how excited they were about the win as well.. Just sad we don't pound the cats next week, they will be very sore [censored] after tonight. 

Edited August 6, 20214 yr by DEE fence

1 hour ago, DEE fence said:

Taylor owned Hawkins and is to the eye, 10kg+ lighter, that was a serious game by him. I also watched Hawkins do half a dozen dirty things to try and put him off. Was sitting CDG Paris waiting for my flight back to Sudan (would rather be in Melbourne believe me) and had nothing to do so watched the game. I was very impressed with how excited they were about the win as well.. Just sad we don't pound the cats next week, they will be very sore [censored] after tonight. 

Hi DEE Fence. What are you doing over in Sudan if you don’t mind me asking and what’s it like being there? I’ve always fancied going out to see those pyramids at Meroe. Does that old railway still run between Wadi Halfa and Khartoum? 

Edited August 6, 20214 yr by Rab D Nesbitt

10 hours ago, leave it to deever said:

Exceptionally gifted but a tad too much mongrel for mine.

Ps Bt is an [censored].

Exactly why I would LURVE him at the Dees😍

8 hours ago, Jaded said:

Wheels falling off the old bandwagon? 
What happened to Rohan?

Thought it was another Grand Final😂

What we really need are the Sainters to do us a favour and touch up the Swans and Cats…would guarantee top 4 and possibly top 2.

Of course by the time we play the Cats they’ll have Cameron cherry ripe so we’re still liable to [censor] the bed in the last game…

4 hours ago, DEE fence said:

Taylor owned Hawkins and is to the eye, 10kg+ lighter, that was a serious game by him. I also watched Hawkins do half a dozen dirty things to try and put him off. Was sitting CDG Paris waiting for my flight back to Sudan (would rather be in Melbourne believe me) and had nothing to do so watched the game. I was very impressed with how excited they were about the win as well.. Just sad we don't pound the cats next week, they will be very sore [censored] after tonight. 

Don't get me wrong Hawkins is a really good player and has had just about his nest season this year. The best set shot for goal in the AFL.

But I've always thought he is overrated.

When he is getting beaten his body language is appalling. Throws up his hands if teamates kick poorly to him. And like many cats, whinges to the umpires. All on display last night.

But my main knock on him is he is too one dimensional. He gets up the ground a bit more than he used to, but really still plays like an old school full forward. 

Yes he gets tbe occasional goal from an inside 50 ruck contest  but in the main he needs a leading lane or a clean one on one contest to kick goals. 

The big issue is that if teams take these options away he not only doesn't kick goals, he offers bugger all else.

The giants got back hard to block leading lanes  but crucially did not allow the cats to transition quickly after intercepting half back.

And they didn't allow them to chip it around and xontrol the temp until they could execute a set play where they switch and orchestrate a pass to a leading Hawkins.

This was a function of their pressure. And the cats not applying enough pressure (which means they get fewer intercept marks in their back half).

And for the same reason tbey didn't give Hawkins many one on one opportunities. And in particular the ones he always wants/needs/is looking for  - a one on one wrestle, which he wins with his strength.

And whe did have one, the pressure the giants were applying on the last kick inside 50 meant it wasn't kicked perfectly to his advantage. So he couldn't wrestle Taylor.

When he did get a one in on one, Taylor read it brilliantly and reacted so much more quickly than Hawkins, who looked flat footed.

He looks a gun Taylor. Clean hands, reads it well, reacts quickly and decisively and makes good decisions.

I think petty has those traits to, and is also a gun. 

 

9 hours ago, pineapple dee said:

9 hours ago, Rab D Nesbitt said:

Is this cat called Daniel Andrews ??

Its name is Chris Scott

18 hours ago, DubDee said:

I was hoping we might be a chance to be top by the end of this round but Giants who should be desperate for a spot in the finals have made 6 changes including 2 key players as 'managed'.  are they tanking? what a joke.  the Cats will smash them

 

18 hours ago, FritschyBusiness said:

Geelong should take care of GWS easily (PS: How is Quintin Narkle not a regular in that team? would love to pick him up)

 

18 hours ago, Jaded said:

Beats the hell out of watching Geelong beat GWS! 

 

16 hours ago, BDA said:

GWS will provide more evidence tonight to justify their moniker, Great Waste of Space

Gee, all the doom and gloom for GWS to kick off this thread aged well didn't it??!!

To be fair, I was mostly thinking the same thing before the game started and certainly not complaining about the result.

Does have me worried about all the tallent that GWS still have on their books.  Loose their elite key forward before the start of the season, have a horror run with injuries and still compeditive with good teams and in touch with finals.  They have been inconsistent, which is why they are not deeper inside the eight right now, but that is probably somewhat because they have struggled have any consistency with personal due to injuries and a young side.  If those two things turn for them next season, they could be quite a formidable team.

24 minutes ago, binman said:

And for the same reason tbey didn't give Hawkins many one on one opportunities. And in particular the ones he always wants/needs/is looking for  - a one on one wrestle, which he wins with his strength.

And whe did have one, the pressure the giants were applying on the last kick inside 50 meant it wasn't kicked perfectly to his advantage. So he couldn't wrestle Taylor.

When he did get a one in on one, Taylor read it brilliantly and reacted so much more quickly than Hawkins, who looked flat footed.

He looks a gun Taylor. Clean hands, reads it well, reacts quickly and decisively and makes good decisions.

Great summary Binman. 

From what I saw of the game, also I thought the key was that Taylor didn't engauge physically so much with Hawkins and relied more on his ability to read the play and intercept.  Has me thinking that would we perhaps be better playing Lever on Hawkins and May on Ratugolea or one of their other key forwards in a few weeks?

Not that I thought May did badly on Hawkins last time around before he got taken out by his backhander.

Really must say that I don't really like Monday night or Sunday night games for that matter.

I find I get impatient waiting out the whole round / weekend to watch us play unbearable, particularly now we are playing so well and I expect us to win most games.

Edited August 6, 20214 yr by Rodney (Balls) Grinter

9 minutes ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

 

 

 

Gee, all the doom and gloom for GWS to kick off this thread aged well didn't it??!!

To be fair, I was mostly thinking the same thing before the game started and certainly not complaining about the result.

Does have me worried about all the tallent that GWS still have on their books.  Loose their elite key forward before the start of the season, have a horror run with injuries and still compeditive with good teams and in touch with finals.  They have been inconsistent, which is why they are not deeper inside the eight right now, but that is probably somewhat because they have struggled have any consistency with personal due to injuries and a young side.  If those two things turn for them next season, they could be quite a formidable team.

With all their outs pre-game and knowing how Geelong feast on weakened teams at the cattery I thought a regulation 50 point for the cats was the likely outcome. I was delighted to be wrong.

GWS have dished up some putrid performances this year though, even considering their injuries. From Freo week 1, to the Lions shellacking and the recent loss to the Suns they are definitely not getting full value for the talent on their list. A change of coach might help but I think one of the downsides of being a poorly supported club in a non-AFL location is that the same heat isn’t applied when they do badly. IF a Melbourne served up some of their performances this year and considering the talent on their list I’m sure some serious blowtorch would be applied.

They definitely have talent and show some real fight at times but there is a flakiness to them which makes me doubt they'll play a GF any time soon.

22 minutes ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

Really must say that I don't really like Monday night or Sunday night games for that matter.

I find I get impatient waiting out the whole round / weekend to watch us play unbearable, particularly now we are playing so well and I expect us to win most games.

Or even petty. 

As you say Taylor didn't engage Hawkins in any strength battles. Which was smart. 

And I thought a big factor in them hanging on in the last is Taylor ran off Hawkins at every opportunity. Meant they got the ball moving quickly, stopped the cats setting up a wall to trap inside 50 and got important territory.

The key of course is pressure, or else Hawkins gets the delivery he wants/needs. 

If we bring that petty can play Hawkins the same way as Taylor