Gawndy the Great

Q1: I would call this quarter a dead rubber 2 goals a piece. Q2: Clearly Cats albeit the damage was really done in the 2nd half of Q2 - we actually kicked the 1st goal of the quarter. Q3 3.2 to 2.1 - i'd say that Melbourne takes the chocolates with 5 to 3 scoring shots Q4: Cleary Dees.

Yeah agree re: Bont. Port should walk into the GF. Being honest though, the Doggies were gifted a PF from the umps anyway. So cant feel that this is a bit of karma.

If they bring Darcy Fort in (in addition to the Rat), then they can kiss the PF final good-bye. Simirlarly if they bring Fort in at the expense of the Rat, its still a win for us - he has little game time this year and will be off the pace against a Gawn / LG combination. Cant blame them for trying. Question marks on Miers and Tuohy fitness levels are interesting. I understand Tuohy who has just come back from injury needs to manage his loads, but cannot expect for him to be at 100% after his second game.

I get where you are coming from, but its really difficult to change a game style and be good at it immediately. The stop, start, slow & deliberate ball movement has become second nature to the Cats. To change that so late in the season, i think is just too risky for them i.e. the way Adelaide try to break through our setup. The bigger ground will be both an advantage and disadvantage for us. There will be more space for the Cats to play their game but we will be able to cover the ground more effectively with our superior fitness. The simple defensive objective of this game is to stop their forwards taking marks inside 50. They are good at set shots and a large % of their scores last week were from set shots. If we cannot intercept, then we will need to bring the ball to ground and rebound or create a stoppage.

The Goody presser was good today. I liked Goodwin's veiled insults back at Geelong saying that experience doesnt matter and ultimately experience in loosing (i.e. cats PF record) can actually be detrimental...

Hypothetically, asking for a mate- what if they offered young Brayshaw and Cerra for Jackson.. 😂

Oh boy… whoever Cerra manager is, he would be negligent in his responsibility to allow Cerra going there.

Granted the sentiment appears to be that we are expected to win but there is an emerging narrative that the Cats maybe on their last life and that would be just as much if not more pressure for the Cats. They are old, growing slower, recovery taking longer, preseasons not getting any easier etc whilst we have the best part of 5 years with the current group and probably longer if we recruit right, that should challenge again in the years to come.

I get the fairytale. But one thing not discussed is giving him another year. That way he can become games record holder and get a proper farewell. he won’t get much game time next year either but the contract would be shaped accordingly. this is all predicated on whether he would actually have another crack.

Interesting… not sure on McAsey as haven’t seen him play. But the GC leg of that trade would need a bit of sauce. Weed for Rankine is underwhelming for them.

Forecast for Friday night still looks a little wet. Bit of a gamble with 4 talls.

Cameron is a supreme runner and is not a contest orientated forward - that is Hawkins's job. He will look to work into the wings and flanks and out work his opponent. Not saying Hibbered cannot play the role, but we need somebody outside D50 to take the matchup because i dont think Hibberd can stay with him all day (if that is the matchup of course).

You have to remember, Geelong's game is slow and deliberate ball movement. This makes it difficult for Geelong forwards to isolate and get a one-on-one. This plays into our hands massively - just look at the games we lost and how we lost them... quick ball movement and arguably defensive ground balls are our weaknesses. Geelong have neither. Smith is an athlete granted, but can be exposed by a smarter forward. Hibberd is not the best athlete, but is a premier defensive unit and will outsmart his opponent. Yes he is on the wrong side of 30 and is slowing down, but we don't need super fast defenders against Geelong.

Power are definitely the least of the three I would prefer. I would actually take the Doggies before the Cats. They are still out of form, missing their key KPF , SF and Ruck and have an injured #1 player. The power will maul them this week.

Whether or not ANB is a key player. We have been able to win when he hasn’t been playing well. Key players for mine are the trio in the middle, May & Lever. Others are replaceable, maybe not [censored]-for-tat but we have depth.

The fact that nobody wants to coach there has to be a massive factor. 3 have already passed up the gig. It cannot be ignored. If he goes there then it’s clear he is more interested in the $$$ and if that’s the case then that’s the best outcome for all involved.

It’s arguable either way.

Yep those are the two that came to mind as well. could also be ANB given his calf corky maybe more significant than Richo was letting on.

Who falls into that bucket? I can’t think of too many.

Not sure if its me but in all of the interviews of players, club officials etc that i have seen are in stark contrast to the Cats. The Cats seem to be quite casual and bordering on arrogance about the PF, whilst we seem to value and respect the difficulty and enormity of the occasion. Our desperation just seems to come through a little more. If it not just me, then it is is an interesting insight into the opposing philosophies. Particularly where we have come from in times gone past. Im not sure how to read it and what it actually means, but it is interesting nonetheless.

We will need Adelaide's Pick 4 (6) or Gold Coast's Pick 3 (5). Cerra went at Pick 5 and with 76 games already under his belt I think has held his value. Late first rounders will not get it done in my view. Is a pick 3 or 4 overs? Perhaps just a little so we should probably demand a 2nd rounder in return. Question is how do we get either of these picks. Plenty of players on the trading block / fringe (Sparrow, Weid have been mentioned), but none of them would command a pick that high unless we sent both Sparrow + Weid to GC? But then Pick 3 would feel unders.

Well technically no pre Finals bye this year (yet)

I think we have a few options that may generate a 1st round pick. if Cerra does nominate us then you can bet your bottom dollar that we have a plan to get it done otherwise he wouldn’t nominate. in fact I think the fact that he hasn’t nominated Carlton yet is a good sign that we are in the running.

Basically what he said on Fox footy this evening.

Well at least we are in for a look in and it doesn't flow straight through to Carlton as always. Can he nominate for the draft if a deal cannot be done between clubs , in which case Freo get nothing - a situation that they would ultimately want to avoid? If the rumors' around Sparrow are true, does he command a first rounder from Adelaide (presumably) ? Would Something like below work: Sparrow + 2022 First Rounder (14-18) + Pick 34 (2021) => Pick 4 (2021 => Pick 6 after F/S) + Pick 23 (2021) We then trade Pick 4 (6) + 2nd Rounder (2022) for Cerra and pocked Pick 23 for Andrew Mac if he is still around.