binman

Another crazy stat is we only had TWO contested marks for the game (the dogs had 9). On a perfect night for footy, save a bit of a swirly wind. Maxy clunked both (though i thought Sparrow took a nice contested mark on the member's wing) Two contested marks? That has to be some sort of (unwanted) record surely? Perhaps the number of talls in both teams was a factor?

That's an impressively mixed metaphor!

To be fair we only took 2 contested marks, both maxy. I couldn't believe that stat. I had ti check again coz it didn't seem right. The dogs had nine by way of comparison.

Inside at marvel too. Which by the by looked awful. Jackson looked unfit to my eye - too heavy. If true, I'd be furious I I was a freo fan. You can excuse a scratchy debut. But if there is no injury, or similar (eg post season surgery that impacts on preseason preparation) there is no excuse for a boom recruit you've paid through the nose for and who you've gambled your future on (by giving up draft picks) not being in cherry ripe condition round one. Weed on the other hand looked in ripping nick.

After that beautiful feint/baulk on the boundary line (which was almost right below where i was sitting) I said to bloke i was sitting next to at the footy that he the trait of the really good players (albeit an awfully cliched one) - time. Which now that i think about it is probably manifestation of quick thinking and perhaps also a level of calmness.

Should have called him bowser.

Exactly. Smith's head whipped back and that made it look as if hw had been hit in the head. But kozzie is incredibly lucky Smith is clearly really strong through the shoulders and neck. Because otherwise he wouldn't have been able to stop his head whiplashing into the ground - which seems to be the cause of many concussions in these sort of incidents.

Never watch the sunday footy show on channel 9. Thought I'd flick it on to see them talk about the dees. Instead I just suffered through 10 mins of some stupid supposedly comedic quiz. A footy show?

Poor act in my opinion. Real potential to do harm. We have to get head shots our of footy. Not because of the legal ramifications. Because we have to make tbe game as safe as you can make such a brutal game (ie it will never really be safe). Paging Webber, but I'm pretty sure the link between repeated head contact and CTE is accepted now. Jordon Lewis was on 360 last wek and they were discussing concussion and showed the hit he received that triggered changes. Sickening. Out cold before he hit the ground. Jordon said he only had two 'serious' concussion ie out cold. One in junior footy and that one. Asked if he worries about the impact, I half expected him to say no. But he said he worries often. All the time. Good on him for his honesty Like Jordan, albeit for different reasons, I worry about what will happen to my brain in the future My mum had dementia and my dad parkinsons, so I have seen the impact of neurological damage. And it scares me ****less that I'll might go down the same path. As far as possible, we don't want the men and women who play for our enjoyment having to have those same fears - there will always be head trauma in our game. All that said, talk of tve current legal stuff and kossie being made an example of because of it, infuriates me. Similarly the idea the 'optic' should be factored in is ridiculous. As is talk it should go to tbe tribunal. The so called decision matrix was introduced to take subjectivity out of it. The decision to weight impact, which I disagree with (lpotential impact should be a bigger factor imo) has been made. Apply the existing framework to kossie, pure and simple. If that means he gets off with a fine, so be it. It really shouldn't be possible to get more than one week if I understand the criteria properly (which I may well not). The time for changes to tbat framework is post season, not during the season triggered by a specific incident - particularly one that isn't a new scenario and/or raises new issues fir consideration. This incident wasn't novel. Not much grey area and not really much to unpack. Meat and potatoes shirt front. Give him his wack and move on.

These two comments from a couple of switched on doggies fans were very prescient. Could have been written about this game

And tapering

Yep. Willed himself to wrest the game back. And we never looked back. A star

Fair enough on how well drilled we are, though we have been a well drilled team for the last 2 years and looked super well drilled in both practice matches. So in all probability we are well drilled. But I have no doubt about our fitness levels.

We'll see. I'm waiting for the odds to drift a bit, and when they do i'm going to back them to miss the 8. Will help me enjoy their losses even more.

Sure. But i'll take an experiment involving two AA rucks sharing ruck and forward duties (as vipercrunch notes, not far away the same set up as Jackson/Gawn - the only difference would appear to be Max will play forward more often) over: four key talls in the forward line with one being second year bean pole another an inconsistent blow in like blobb and a third player in UH who has undeniable talent but like Lobb goes missing.

Agree they look good. And they look very, very fit. Elite fitness. But I'm not ready to declare them a top 4 team. In fact i think they might miss the 8. Yes they are fit, but that game style will be incredibly hard to maintain all season. And the Cats all team defence was really poor, for much of the match but particularly in the last when they completely ran out of gas (having so many injured players impacting rotations no doubt was a factor, but i'm really hoping it is an indication the cats are not as fit as they were at the start of 2022) It's worth noting they weren't having to play such high pressure games against quality opponents till a third of the way through last season. All of their games in 2023 against top 8 contenders will be huge, with massive crowds and finals like pressure games from the get go. That has to be mentally draining. And they continue to struggle defensively and give up too many easy goals. A situation made worse by the awful injury to their second best defender. You'd think Howe will be out for at least half a season, maybe longer, so that is a huge loss for a team that barely had an injury last season. He is super important for them.

Nor can i.

All excellent points Luci In particular that Geelong's all ground defence was poor. Could not agree more. In part that was no doubt a function of losing rotations with their injuries, but it just showed how important all team gut running (ie to press up on the ball carrier, to apply pressure to he ball carrier, to get numbers into the corridor, to cover switches, to push back to help out in defence etc etc) will be this season, and therefore how critical elite fitness will be. The cats didn't score a goal in the last quarter. The pies scored 5. The lack of run from the cats meant poor all team defence and an inability to create overlap themselves. To be honest it reminded me of the last 15 minutes of our last 5-6 games.

Fortunately you will be. Weightman out for them is huge - who is going to win the ground ball inside 50 given their other small forward option Arthur Jones is also out? The struggle defensively, so Gardiner out hurts. And they are also missing vandemeer and Rorke Smith. Don't think smith is best 22. But that still means in Weightman, vandermeer and gardiner they are missing 3 of their best 22 (though probably only Weightman is in their top 10 like all of May, Salem, Fritter and Viney). They are learning a new system. Four talls is an experiment. One not yet tested in the crucible of an AFL game, let alone against a defensive system as strong as ours. We are so well drilled we could continue to roll along even if the lights go out. We are as fit as I've ever seen any AFL team. Dees by 34

Dees by 34

That works.

Was just thinking that. He looks as fit and strong as he has in years. And he still has sublime skills, and gets value with almost all his possessions. So much time.

Not sure if i registered. But i def picked the get hard card option. And voucher not scarf. No pack as of yet, which given i paid up in no last year seems crazy. But i just checked and i could still download my electronic ticket on my app on my phone, which i've done. So no issue getting into the ground thank goodness - well except for the fact there is 50 50 chance i won't be able to go through the turnstiles (it drives me spare waving my phone under the scanner waiting for that stupid green GO sign to flash - a situation made more frustrating when invariably the 16 year old attendee standing at the gate looks pityingly at me like i only recently discovered the internet)

I have yet to receive my membership card (which i ordered as a back up - 50% of games i went to my phone would not scan though the turnstiles and i had to go via a person who scanned with a hand held device - as obviously others had to do given there was person at each gate for exactly that purpose - so bloody annoying as it involved basically lining up twice) Has anyone else not yet received their card (nb: i paid my membership last Nov)?

Sure. But the way that game was played, with the ball in constant motion and players having to run back and forward all game is incredibly taxing. As you suggest, neither team will be in as good a nick at any future point in the season as they are right now. Which is a key reason why, based on how both failed to run out the game, i don't think either team will make the 8 . The game plan most teams will employ this season requires all 22 players to be at, or close to peak fitness. That only happens if almost all players have uninterrupted, unhindered January and February preseasons and miss very few (ideally none) sessions are missed. And of course, even if that happens some teams, like us, will have superior athletes and potentially superior training programs. Maybe some teams do more endurance work or put in more ks. Such teams will have a fitness advantage. I don't know how the tiger's preseason went - did many players miss sessions or couldn't get the clicks in? They looked to run out of puff late in quarter against us and were spent at the end of last nights game. Doesn't augur well. There was an article Andy put up in late Jan tracking how each club was traveling injury wise and it noted Carlton had multiple players struggle with injury (in addition to Walsh and Wiliams who were rehabbing) and i presume missed sessions. Maybe that's why they looked to slow the game down as much as possible and make it a kick mark game (ie they know they have not achieved optimal fitness)?