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PREGAME: Rd 15 vs Geelong

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We need to win at the Cattery and put together a big streak there. Only way not to be invited back.

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    8 hours ago, Gawndy the Great said:

    Only if JVR is sent to the 2nds or the resting ruck is off the ground or behind the ball. 

    It wouldn’t be the worst setup and I think will exhaust every forward combination possible that the club could implement.

    I really liked Smith in the forward line - it just felt so much more mobile than BBB and TMac. He has to play for the next 2-3 games to work out whether he settles there. 

    That was a real added bonus to see some glimpses of Smith play some very good footy. His speed was impressive.  Also seeing Salo back to his best reminded me how important a player his is for our success. Tommo back to his old form , ( he semed bigger and stronger), was some more icing on the game. With Tommo playing like that, it would definitely allow Petty to continue up fwd, where in his last game, he did very well.

    It's not to say I don't want Joel Smith playing foward. It would just make a huge difference to our problematic forward line to have Smith and hopefully Bbb vying for a spot. Good call by Goody to give him a run there. Maybe he was our last resort, but he certainly gets another crack.

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    17 hours ago, forever demons said:

    Dont think you understand what Nibbles does for the team

    Neal-Bullen

    You are correct.

    I don’t understand what he does for the team.

    It’s been said on this forum he has a ‘great tank’, also you need to be ‘at the ground’ to appreciate his worth.

    Ultimately however a player should be judged on their ability to win the ball and what they do with it. 
    That is the essence of the game since it was conceived. 

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    4 minutes ago, Abyssal said:

    Neal-Bullen

    You are correct.

    I don’t understand what he does for the team.

    It’s been said on this forum he has a ‘great tank’, also you need to be ‘at the ground’ to appreciate his worth.

    Ultimately however a player should be judged on their ability to win the ball and what they do with it. 
    That is the essence of the game since it was conceived. 

    No real need for me to reply you are right in your points ,thanks for supporting me and Nibbler

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    12 minutes ago, Abyssal said:

    Ultimately however a player should be judged on their ability to win the ball and what they do with it. 

    Not necessarily.

    A defender can have a great game simply by keeping a star forward opponent goalless.

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    12 minutes ago, Demonstone said:

    Not necessarily.

    A defender can have a great game simply by keeping a star forward opponent goalless.

    Yes was easier back in the day too when punching the leading forward in the back of the head was an acceptable method.

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    48 minutes ago, leave it to deever said:

    That was a real added bonus to see some glimpses of Smith play some very good footy. His speed was impressive.  Also seeing Salo back to his best reminded me how important a player his is for our success. Tommo back to his old form , ( he semed bigger and stronger), was some more icing on the game. With Tommo playing like that, it would definitely allow Petty to continue up fwd, where in his last game, he did very well.

    It's not to say I don't want Joel Smith playing foward. It would just make a huge difference to our problematic forward line to have Smith and hopefully Bbb vying for a spot. Good call by Goody to give him a run there. Maybe he was our last resort, but he certainly gets another crack.

    With Smith's speed and athleticism he can replace one of the small forwards Petty stays forward. That leaves 2 mediums 2 keys and 2 smalls, rucks rotate as required 

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    38 minutes ago, loges said:

    and athleticism he can replace one of the small forwards

    Good point. As a defender he was good enough to go with Charlie Cameron. So yea, your right he could play by taking a smalls position.  Would make for a really interesting mix of forwards. I hope his form continues as I'd love to see the permutation you came up with. 

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    While the defensive aspect of a forward's game is important, so is their ability to crumb and impact around stoppage.  I don't think Smith is going to replace those functions. 

    5 minutes ago, Altona-demon said:

    While the defensive aspect of a forward's game is important, so is their ability to crumb and impact around stoppage.  I don't think Smith is going to replace those functions. 

    Maybe not completely.  ( That tackle of his was wonderful though) But he could go close to replicating a small crumbing role. Perhaps we have been too top heavy with smalls anyway.  Spargo, Kozzie and Chandler haven't really been kicking heaps of goals lately. I also think Fritta crumbs very well so do we really need all the others?

    Edited by leave it to deever

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    2 hours ago, demosaw said:

    We need to win at the Cattery and put together a big streak there. Only way not to be invited back.

    We ‘will’ win at the Cattery…

    (Just fixed a typo, cheers)

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    15 minutes ago, Altona-demon said:

    While the defensive aspect of a forward's game is important, so is their ability to crumb and impact around stoppage.  I don't think Smith is going to replace those functions. 

    But are they?

    1 hour ago, loges said:

    With Smith's speed and athleticism he can replace one of the small forwards Petty stays forward. That leaves 2 mediums 2 keys and 2 smalls, rucks rotate as required 

    I’d love to see this structure given a try, as I think it’s very dynamic and could be a challenge for a lot of teams to match up on. 
     

    Petty, JVR, Fritsch, Smith, ANB, Kossie, and Chandler. 

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    1 minute ago, Stu said:

    I’d love to see this structure given a try, as I think it’s very dynamic and could be a challenge for a lot of teams to match up on. 
     

    Petty, JVR, Fritsch, Smith, ANB, Kossie, and Chandler. 

    My thoughts exactly.  Smith in for Spargo still leaves us with plenty of crumbing potential with the smalls you nominated. I often think Friita is a hard match up but throwing in Smith makes it very difficult. 

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    3 minutes ago, loges said:

    But are they?

    I think it's pretty hard to argue that Kosi had a good game against Collingwood. Spargo obvs. got subbed, and Chandler was only a bit better.

    Nibbler really plays as a hybrid mid-fielder anyway - and all our smalls have room to improve.  But suggesting that Smith can play as a small forward ignores the fact that he is 1.91 m tall and clearly a third tall option.  

    Fwiw I quite like the look of Petty, Van Rooyen, Smith - and I hope they give it a crack at some stage.

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    9 minutes ago, Stu said:

    I’d love to see this structure given a try, as I think it’s very dynamic and could be a challenge for a lot of teams to match up on. 
     

    Petty, JVR, Fritsch, Smith, ANB, Kossie, and Chandler. 

    That's all fine for the forward 7, but who goes out for Oliver? Please give me the 22 that this 7 fits in. I think you'll find a midfielder misses out that you want in.

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    With Smith and Petty both playing forward it also gives us a choice if one should need to go and play in the back half. They are both desperately needed marking options forward as well.

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    2 hours ago, Demonstone said:

    Not necessarily.

    A defender can have a great game simply by keeping a star forward opponent goalless.

    Robert Klomp won the Rank Arena TV, in an Escort Cup I remember. 3 possessions I think. 

    1 hour ago, Demonstone said:

    Not necessarily.

    A defender can have a great game simply by keeping a star forward opponent goalless.

    Absolutely, I well remember Southby, Dench, Moore, etc, not only keeping their direct opponent goal-less but also winning the ball and clearing it with great effect.

    However, a defender who has had little or no disposals himself yet kept their opponent goal-less IMO would have needed to beat his opponent “one on one”which would have required many effective spoils.

    I include that in the definition of “winning the ball”.

    Has a defender who has kept  H. McKay Goal-less , 8 behinds and 20 disposals had a Great game ?

     

    Maybe team selectors bring back Bowey and thats about it. One small fwd omitted but JJ Smith Tomo stay put. Tbey've earned it. Petty shouldnt return after a  long stretch out and then play at that dreadful Kerak ground down the crusader hwy.

    Not even convinced Oliver plays. We can and have beaten  cats  at the cattery.Crowd wont be much of a factor as there wont be many in attendance.

    If Oliver insists on playing so be it just dont let his hand get anywhere near Hawkins boot. He'll kick it off.

    Edited by Deebauched


        I got to thinking, this will be Grundys first game at the cattery. He first played in 2013 and collingwood havnt played there this century.

    So who plays at the cattery, well we have won another one, most down there.

    The following is the list from most AFL favoured to most hated. 2000-2023

    collingwood.... 0    essendon....2    carlton.....3      hawthorn.....3     gold coast.......7      gws......7      richmond.......8

    st. kilda.......11      pt adel......13    fremantle.....14    w.coast........14      w bulldogs.......15     adelaide.....16      sydney.......16

    brisbane......17     n. melb.......18         And folks you guessed it MELBOURNE.....19.      In looking this up I noticed that round 14  2015   adelaide  vs  geelong  match was cancelled, can anybody remember why?

    Edited by ex52k2
    add

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    Just now, Deebauched said:

    Maybe team selectors bring back Bowey and thats about it. One fwd small omitted but JJ Smith Tomo stay put. Tbey've earned it. Petty shouldnt return after a  long stretch out and then play at that dreadful Kerak ground down the crusader hwy.

    Not even convinced Oliver plays down there either. We can and have beaten  cats down there. Crowd wont be much of a factor as there wont be many in attendance.

    LOL at Oliver not playing if fit.

    Why not just drop Trac while we are at it. 

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    14 hours ago, Diamond_Jim said:

    No

    Geelong puts in a list of those teams it wants to play at the MCG.

    We're not on it

    In simple terms if you can't guarantee 70k at the MCG they're not interested.

    Essendon is an anomaly this year due to their unexpected good form.

    Going forward if Geelong falters they may well elect to play a few more down there.

    Some of the clubs at Docklands could make a fortune if they had a similar stadium deal. Unfortunately the commercial in confidence aspects means we'll never know

    My understanding, and I may well be wrong, is that Geelong want all 11 home games at GMHBA, but the AFL rejects that and "makes" them play two home games per year at the MCG against "bigger" clubs to maximise attendances (Collingwood, Richmond, Carlton, Hawthorn, Essendon). 

    IMO, Geelong should play all 11 home games at GMHBA and that should therefore require those bigger clubs to go down there. Hawthorn is arguably a smaller club than us these days, and if it weren't for the Easter Monday game should be down in Geelong most years, particularly through this current rebuilding phase. Carlton and Essendon have been down there recently too whilst they've been weaker on-field.

    For so long as the AFL refuses to send those five "bigger" Melbourne clubs down there, Geelong will continue to get home games against us, the Dogs, St Kilda and North (in that order) because they can't just host interstate sides (they have to play some of those sides away and don't play them all twice) and regardless they want some Melbourne clubs down there for bigger crowds and better atmospheres.

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    2 minutes ago, ex52k2 said:

        I got to thinking, this will be Grundys first game at the cattery. He first played in 2013 and collingwood havnt played there this century.

    So who plays at the cattery, well we have won another one, most down there.

    The following is the list from most AFL favoured to most hated. 2000-2023

    collingwood.... 0    essendon....2    carlton.....3      hawthorn.....3     gold coast.......7      gws......7      richmond.......8

    st. kilda.......11      pt adel......13    fremantle.....14    w.coast........14      w bulldogs.......15     adelaide.....16      sydney.......16

    brisbane......17     n. melb.......18         And folks you guessed it MELBOURNE.....19.      In looking this up I noticed that round 14  2015   adelaide  vs  geelong  match was cancelled, can anybody remember why?

    That game was cancelled due to the death of Phil Walsh.

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