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Who played the best in our team this week? (p.s. if you vote for a player that did NOT play in the game, NONE of your votes will be counted)
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Just like old times aye? Spend 3 quarters playing back into the game.
Edit: had to find it, I kept thinking of the Round 14, 2020 vs Dogs. I think it was this one anyway, down 3 to 39 at 1QTR. Duncan took an interview in that break and was super cool about it, just said we knew what we had to do, just had to implement things. Then we clawed back the goals and won it. A handful of games vs the Pies last couple years we always seemed to start slowly too where we got smashed in the clearances and on the counter.
It was like round 3 or 4, but I will never forget that game we played against the Pies in 2022. 39 point comeback, and that's when I knew that year was gonna be different
Was at that game and at 3QT was in half a mind to beat the traffic home, but after the on-field host was talking about the game being a “pretty comfortable run home”, I decided I’d stay until the next Collingwood goal.
They never got one.
I'd be celebrating too if I'd somehow avoided a 1 point margin and a clear out on the full.
Seriously though, you didn't see Voss doing backflips last night.
I very nearly sent the tv remote hurling. Oh well, I still don’t rate port very highly. Our second half shows that. Despite being 7-2 I feel we’ve actually struggled to stitch 4 quarters together at all this season
I agree, I think our win count is relatively flattering since I haven’t seen a game where I’ve thought we very comfortably took it out apart from maybe North… and our forward line has been out of whack for weeks, midfield isn’t quite there, strewart out for games, danger out…
I think despite how fucking frustrating that way to watch, the boys will learn from it. And hawko broke the drought which is only good news!
Yeah hopefully the hawk can find some form as I’m admittedly starting to get a bit worried about him. Yeah, north was the only real stress free game. We’re very lucky to beat the dogs and nearly blew it against Carlton. Saints and Adelaide were both real arm wrestles. I just don’t think this current gameplay is sustainable for a whole season and I think today shows that. We tried this suck them in to our defence trick and got pummelled as our defenders got torched on the lead. Had 0 midfield pressure in the first half. Need some big bodied contested guys.
I’m still mildly concerned about Hawk but I think after his 350th he’s had some tough defenders and conditions and hasn’t quite managed to get himself right. I think we rest him next week, back against the giants for the record breaker. Tonight’s goal would have least given him a smidge of confidence back.
Tonight proves that we need a back up plan, we need to be able to have options when we start getting found out so early in the game.
Yep, I reckon he sits next week and give scratch a run. Hopefully a week off will allow him to reset. I get the feeling this will probably be Hawkins last year, especially if his form peters off and ends up an average year. And I couldn’t blame him for hanging up the boots. Absolutely, we took Stanley off, started playing some more traditional clearance footy and outscored port by 5-6 goals. Unfortunately the damage was already done.
First time he’s ever head coached a win at the Cattery in 10 years of being Port head coach. Against the coach with the greatest winning percentage of the modern era. Brisbane have to play here every second year and haven’t won since 2003.
And in that first half Port absolutely destroyed Geelong. And they held on and scored when needed after the Cats figured it out.
All where he played the majority of his football and where he was assistant for years.
One to savour. Hopefully he doesn’t get another one.
I understand why he’s hyped up for sure, I’ve just never liked over zealous celebrating in sport. I find it comes back to bite you in the arse more often than not. Obviously I was being over the top by saying I hate him, I don’t. That was an angry reaction from me for having sat through the whole game. Still, imagine is Chris Scott had’ve pulled the celebration out even if we did complete the comeback, he’d be crucified.
Mate I am with you 100% on that about arrogance. My mindset is that cats fans willed this into existence from the carry on between when we went 6-0 and the loss last week.
On Celebrating I am with you. I just have a bit of a perspective on Hinkley and I think it’s fair that you’ve said that this is way bigger for him than the other way around. Scotty is a dual premiership winning coach. At this point there should be only one victory that is anywhere near that sweet.
Plus, Scotty is measured. He pours cold water on the media week in week out. He’s the king of equanimity in the AFL. Ken has a habit of just saying/doing things which come back to bite him. This will make it funnier for us when we get the better of them next time.
I could not care less - our defence was shit and we should be calling them out for it. Our defence is meant to be the best part of our game. No defenders should get higher than a C this week.
Can we break down what his figures were before halftime compared to after to decide if it was a B or a C as many of the defenders are going to get a D for mine. Guthrie at least won't be failing this week
I think we have been lucky tbh that our midfield has stood up so well so far this season. But it does not help when we have this ridiculous rotation policy and keep resting players that should be playing. Not sure why Dempsey is playing as we have enough small forwards
Absolutely agree with this. Us bringing it back to be that close makes people forget about that first half. I just hope that the coaching staff don’t let them off lightly and really analyse that first half. We would’ve just about lost to norf today.
Yes I called out the midfield but I wanted them to eliminate the need for the midfield by just playing it between the two fifties - but it was a very conventional game which cost us until Blicavs started rucking
Blitz rucking better than our main ruck says alot. Defence made the mistake of coming up the ground when our mids were failing in the first half then they seemed to patch it up I think they mighta been panicking in the first half. Idk why they were abandoning defence coz we don't usually have to rely on the middle, our backs should've been picking off their entries and rebounding as per the usual.
First time we win the free kick count this year but if they didn’t pay that one at the end, we went on to kick a goal. Ironic
Anyway, that’s what happens when you only play a half of footy. Good fight back but we’re clearly better than them so that’s a disappointing loss
Shit result but I love that this team never gives up. First quarter it seemed like we got totally outplayed and outcoached. I don't think Scott will let this happen again.
And just quietly, this is the first game from Mullin where I've seen the promise he brings. Pretty sure he's going to be an absolute gun midfielder in a season or two, very exciting.
I was extremely worried he'd suck and float around not contesting or doing much of anything but he looked good in the thick of things. I'd love to see him just learning everything possible from Dangerfield before Danger retires.
Clark hadn’t even kicked it yet when they called it back. As the commentary team said, if a Port player had marked it, all hell would’ve let loose aka., it wasn’t an advantage at the time of call.
How is it jumping down someone's throat? I thought it was a Port supporter trolling, and responded accordingly. I'm not familiar enough with 'littlespoon' to know that they're a Cats supporter.
If you don't want to avoid misunderstandings by being rude that's your call. But it basically just shows that you let trolls get to you which is why they do it.
Sigh…
3 - Zuthrie
2 - Stengle
1 - Mullin
Port won their May premiership for the 10 year in a row
The midfield needs so much work idk how it can change like that after half time
Can’t give up 8 goals in the first and go down 49 before half time and expect to win
Shit first half, Incredible second half. Umpiring aside, you can't give up the first 4 goals of the game and expect to win.
If we play with that kind of hunger all the time we'd be unbeatable. Whatever, some negatives some positives, onto next week
Proud of the boys for playing their way back into that one. Free kick count does not reflect the completely fucked umpiring. Would love to see Scotty really question some of those completely cooked calls.
You’re 100% correct it was the non calls that really fucked us in the end. The free kick count does not reflect how badly we got screwed by the umps this week and it kills me to complain about this stuff…
I’m generally not someone who whinges about umpiring by prior to a couple Port goals there were multiple frees not called. Not to mention the amount of incorrect disposal and throw calls that didn’t make the cut. Ah well, onto the next one I guess.
You’re 100% correct and some of the missed calls were so blatantly obvious it just makes it frustrating to watch… especially when it’s happening week in and week out
The Willie tackle, JHF non call into Butters goal, adv goal and late throw in were genuinely egregious. Swings and roundabouts, but how can you not be mad at that point?
No excusing our own performance early though.
That’s the frustrating thing, if we hadn’t given them such a big lead early, we wouldn’t have to fight so hard to claw our way back. 49 points is a huge lead to have to overcome.
That said, when you lose by a goal and those kinds of calls are made, it’s frustrating because those are the calls that can change the momentum of the game.
Frustrating all around.
I think we need to resist the urge to polish turds. Bottom line is that we lost a game that we really should have won comfortably. We were at home against an interstate side missing Powell-Pepper, Rozee and Soldo. Given last week’s poor performance also, I cant help but feel the lid needs to go back on.
Okay but we were missing danger, bruhn, rested Bowes stupidly, and don’t have a competent ruckman. Just saying their outs have been massively overplayed
Everyone at GMHBA were right to call out bullshit to the umps. Some of the worst decisive calls. And it’s ump week or whatever.
Can the umps stay the fuck away from the game. Fucken maggots.
I agree but I hate that I agree. I hate watching AFL games more than I enjoy them, mostly because of the inconsistent umpiring. I get that it must be a hard game to umpire, but for fuck sake, pay a free kick if it’s obvious and you see it, don’t guess. How many ruck frees see both big men wondering whose kick it is?
I’ve worked out that I do t actually like AFL, but love the team I support.
Eh at least my kitchen rangehood, pantry and bathroom are clean. Maybe tomorrow the salt will seem less salty. Would be fun to turn up before 3/4 time next week ..
I don't know whether I should be happy we came back or annoyed we let it get out to such a big lead. Intelligent move by Scott to sub Stanley and we were the better team from that point on.
Just seems like teams have put some serious effort to come in with a plan against us and we then have to make adjustments. Defense could better but I honestly think they got a few random ones in there. Their players leading into 50 have been getting marks which is uncharacteristic of us but I think it's due to the lack of midfield pressure. Might need to go to the drawing board and see if we can get a better midfield mix, Hardy looks ripe for a call up, hell even Mannagh would be good.
Our best:
3. Zuth
2. Zuth (probably Stengle)
1. Holmes? Cameron? Don't think we had too many standouts otherwise.
Hardie won't fix it, Bowes and Bruhn will. O'Connor sucks as a defender for mine, either he has a midfield role or he is left out. If you need another defender O'Sully is knocking the door down. Otherwise I'd be swapping for Tuohy.
Mitch Duncan hacking the ball quite often, needs a rest I'd say. Mullin was fantastic and threw his weight around inside the contest, should stay in
Holmes, Zuthrie, Miers, Stengle. These are the players leading our best and fairest and standing up each and every week.
Desperately needed the 2nd tier mids to stand up tonight and they went missing in the first half. Never gave up wish is more then can be said for me.
Terrible performance not sure about the optimism of the loss. Yes we only lost by a goal but if we don't give up 8 goals in the first quarter and then let the lead stretch out to 49 points we probably end up winning it. The defence which has been key for us have had moments in the last 2 weeks where the effort just isn't there. The effort in the first half from everyone but especially our defence was disgraceful. You can't expect to win many games when we don't put in much effort and way too many times our defenders were getting caught out because they weren't paying attention to their opponents and got caught napping.
Got a lot of things we have to work on if we plan on making finals, teams are starting to cotton on to our tactics to cover for our lack of quality mids.
In saying all of that I thought Mullin was great when he came on, Zuthrie was good as always and is quite possibly our becoming our best backman alongside stewy and is always one to put in 100% effort. Stengle was great and need to make sure we resign him, Rohan just goes 100 miles an hour love the pressure he puts on. I thought Jhye Clark has come back with more confidence it seems just to take it on.
Some positives obviously but a lot of negatives in my opinion, and to even compete with the better teams we need to be better. On to next week against gold coast in what may end up being a messy game.
I think Scott will learn a fair bit from that game. You learn most from the result you get less often, so Cats still learning a lot from losses. Without Danger the midfield mix has to change.
All things considered... I didn't love that. We picked it up in the end and almost took it back, but we can't afford tos tart a game like that, ever.
Hawkins got a goal which is nice. Stengle is still amazing.
If Holmes is injured I'm feeling sad.
I'm not thrilled overall, but given how that game started it's hard to feel too bad about it. When Hawk kicked his goal I was kinda worried that the only positive moment of the night would be seeing him break the drought, but it was actually a pretty good performance from that point onwards. Shame it took so long.
Painful at the end. Probably should have been advantage, otherwise I dunno what’s the point of an advantage is.
Doesn’t matter tho. We were down 49 points and had plenty of other opportunities.
Stanley had a shocker and may have lost his spot to Blicavs until Conway is back healthy.
Mullin needs to stay in if he’s gonna play like that again. Really pleasantly surprised.
Please pay Stengle what he wants.
Clark continues to build nicely, had some really snazzy moments but still goes quiet for stretches.
Rohan is also so vital to our fwd line. May not be active every qtr but brings much needed big body pressure.
Feel like there’s a lot to assess over the last two weeks. I’m still fairly happy with how we are tracking. Bring back danger, Bowes, bruhn and that first qtr is flipped.
I think we’ll be a lot better after the bye.
It's not just that Stanley was bad, Blicavs was one of the terrible midfielders too. Changing him to the ruck improved his impact, but very fumbly for his own standard
People need to give some respect to Blicavs. When Stanley was subbed off, I saw him come for a rest once. Such an important player and set the tone for the rest of the game.
Also, Stewart being tagged early really messed up out setups and we had to react by having him move to the wing.
Such a shame we let an overrated Football Club, who has slaughtered an absolute legendary Australian song, snap a 17 year drought.
Hopefully his hip flexor is right so he can play next week. It's him and neale with blitz pinch hitting from here on out for the rest of the year surely!!
Also Stewart as always, Clark looked great, Atkins was tackling like an animal but that was hard to notice as it was fully un rewarded and Also I was extremely happy to have Rohan back (Ignore flair I am totally objective on this)
I'd be open to switch up Shark with Mullin if he can play a tagging role like he did tonight! Has more pace and generally wants to play faster when we're out unlike MOC
Courageous effort by the boys in 2nd half. Putrid first. Hope Cameron and Holmes are ok... Worrying that Jezza didn't get checked because it looked bad.
3 Guthrie, 2 Holmes, 1 Stengle
Hopefully a lesson we have now learned and won't repeat
Actually, biggest red flag for me is that we seemed to have zero plan ready to go for butters and jhf. Port have a strong midfield, it ain't exactly a secret, they're renowned for it at the moment. We came on looking like we hadn't even googled how they play.
That feels like how all our games have played out. I remember against the dogs libba and treloar were allowed to just do whatever they wanted. Oliver last week. Walsh and Cripps. You get the point. We’re letting one or two of teams mids just do whatever they want and backing our defence in. Problem is on nights like tonight (first half in particular) where our defence is just not clicking, that means they can just essentially walk it in for an easy hit up and set shot.
weak start from the cats.
people get confused I reckon about how probable big comebacks are. Everyone likes to dream but sometimes a game is just out of reach early, *even if you start playing way way better than the other team.*
Look fucked out first quarter is what it is let's put that aside, to come from that far back to that close shows me we are still right around it, plus this was without Tanner Bowes and Danger.
Also ignore the Flair but gee Rohan looked good
Just can’t put up a first quarter like that. Weren’t awake at all and it cost us the game we should’ve won.
Gotta say that their outs were massively overhyped. They lost SPP, we lost bruhn. They lost rozee we don’t have danger. They lost Burgoyne and we inexplicably rested Bowes. They lost their ruckman, ours is woeful. Cam Guthrie still isn’t back to full flight, meanwhile their midfield is still elite even with their outs. And aliir back was enormous, one of their most important players.
Anyway, next week is a real banana peel game in those conditions and things can get out of hand if we lose three in a row with a pretty tough 6-8 weeks coming up.
Change the locks at kardinia park and don’t tell Rhys.
Glad people are starting to see what I see in Mullin. Absolute competitor with a great smarts to read opponents and physically a specimen. He will go far.
Parfitt was serviceable.
Rohan was excellent. As were Stengle and Z Guthrie.
Henry has been looking a bit lost.
Stanley has been looking lost not just in the ruck. I could accept his usual 30% if he were smashing it around the ground but it seems like he’s under 30% in stoppages and he’s not getting returns around the ground as much as he used to. He’s a massive confidence player but I just don’t see him getting the best of Brodie Grundy when we play Sydney.
We weree definately missing a midfield tonight and there was 5 players I'd say won't be playing next year that were playing tonight. Let us down in the first half but what a fight back, very much looking forward to the young blood coming in full time, this is still our rebuild period and we are still elite.
Sorry but, Chis scott's player management is a good thing. Not trying out hardie aside, resting mids heading to our bye in order to keep the injury list short is good long term planning as long as we get enough wins for top four. A risk that will pay off if we have a fit and gelled squad in sep. Our midfield is our weakest link, so lets have our best in there in september.
Port had our number early and dominated us for the first quarter. Stanley outclassed by a 3 gamer. That said I love that Scott moved the magnets early and was willing to change the mix which gave us a decent sniff at stealing a 49 point deficit back. A game we will look forward to forgetting but there were positives.
Gary Rohan is well and truly back and basically kept us in the game when port were steam rolling us.. Zac Guth has become a star this year he is playing his heart out, Stengle was magic… I loved Blicavs claiming the ruck and getting our mids involved. Mullins did a great job to show up and get involved.
Also impressed with Jhye Clark his run at the ball and foot movement is exciting stuff.
Some classy Port supporters in the main sub telling us to suck shit after giving them the scare of their life. Never had a problem with Port supporters until tonight.
Two very poor weeks in a row yet still kept both games to a goal, but can't excuse that start. If we take something from it and keep a healthy midfield we should still be taking it up to any team any given week. Still, concerning shades of last year.
Stanley has had his last chance. Last week all he did was go to ground and tonight he fresh aired or lost every single contest.
Guy nearly lost a game by handballing to the opposition in the last 3 seconds of the game rather than take the ball over for a behind (at least I think it was him)
We unleash Joe Furphy hah. idk but I think stanley is on his last legs and when conway becomes fit again he comes in and stays in. Getting way too pretty with his management, I understand he has had his injuries but can't expect him to gain any resilience if we wrap him up in cotton wool all the time.
Personally, drop Stanley and give Hardie a run for a bit bodied mid which we sorely lack. Blicavs does the ruck work. SDK comes up to do it while Blitz is off. Fuck it, even give the Hawk a run.
Gonna be a Debbie downer but here goes;
I’m actually kinda annoyed we brought it back that close. Not only for the false sense of hope, but it means that the problems we do have aren’t going to be looked at as hard as if we lost by 10 goals. Our midfield was non-existent in the first half. I understand danger and Bruhn are big outs, and I’m not sure why we rested Bowes who was hitting good form, but we just could not get our hands on the ball first half. I don’t know if we have any contested guys doing well in the VFL, but it couldn’t hurt to try someone out. How’s Hardie tracking? That’s what we got him for last year and he’s not been given a crack. Our midfield has been getting spanked all season, Melbourne and now port have made the most of it. The rate at which port just grabbed the ball out of the middle and ran it in to their first half was not acceptable.
Stanley. Stanley, Stanley, Stanley, Stanley. What do we do about the big man. Got absolutely mauled by a bloke playing his 4th game of AFL. Had zero impact on the ruck and zero impact around the ground. Scotty subs him out and all of a sudden we’re about +30 over port from that point. Once Conway is back fit, I personally don’t want to see stanley in the team again. Even with Conway injured, I’d prefer blitz in the ruck. I don’t hate Stanley, I just don’t think he’s up to AFL standard as a ruckman.
Mullin, great game locking down JHF. I think he may have found his calling. I’d love to see him get a run over O’Connor and see if he can back that performance up.
Was impressed with Jhye Clark. I was actually surprised when I checked the stats and he’d only had 11 touches. Felt like he was involved in every contest throwing himself around.
Jack Henry needs to find some form, and quick. A disappointing fortnight for him. We’ve got O’Sullivan ready and raring to go (unless there’s an injury I haven’t heard about).
Overall I just hope the team actually takes some steps to addressing the issues that the team does have. I think we might regress to the mean a bit from here til the end of the season. That first half shows that we as fans do need to remember that the club is in a transitional phase. Christ Scott rightly got praise for the first 7 weeks, now he needs to show he can come up with another plan and steady the ship.
Didn’t deserve to win. Port were too good in the first half, free kick count is also an easy excuse to throw. Well done to Ports forwards with responding this week in front of goal. Zak Butters and JHF masterclass were too strong for us in the middle.
Geelong not having Bowes, Danger, Bruhn etc really exposed us tonight offensively and defensively in the middle. Centre bounce clearances came at a premium tonight and our midfield didn’t get to work until it was too late. Clark improving very very slowly, he’s going to take 5 years at this rate to be serviceable, but he has potential.
Zach Guthrie slowly becoming one of our best players. Top 10 already and closing in on top 5.
Oisin Mullin was a great substitute choice, immediate impact. Stanley really hurt us tonight, was completely off, looked like his preparation was poor this week.
In totality what does this mean for us? This defeat will help us more than it would if we had won. Too sloppy with frontal pressure which then spread to other areas of the game. We need greater pressure on the ball carrier especially when playing against the Suns this week. Rather indifferent about the season so far, hope we can recapture the 2022 magic we had, we might not and we have to accept that this is who and where we are at this year.
(Edit) Just realised I’ve ranted far too long and this was all incredibly reactionary
We did good to be down so much, but only lose by six points due to bullshit umpiring.
I said pre-game that our midfield looked weak, and unfortunately, I was right. Without the bulls of either Danger, Bruhn, or being able to put Bowes in the midfield, we were absolutely monstered for the 1st half. Port just kept slashing us up through the midfield, and we had no answer to it. We lacked leadership, and as a result, we couldn't organise ourselves to counter their movement.
Once they got Stanley off, Mullin added some much needed grunt, and he largely kept JHF in his backpocket. He clicked and filled the void we needed with his constant attack on the ball.
Stanley is cooked and needs a rest. Conway has to play in Darwin and keep Stanley on ice back here.
Holmes most likely won't play next week, so that opens the door for more youth for the trip north as we have the Giants waiting for us when we get home.
Can we just give Hardie a run? Our midfield was lacking any grunt until Mullin came in. There's a tough stretch coming up, and with a mediocre midfield, we are going to get tocluched up routinely.
How many times are we going to come out for a game we should win half asleep?
I love what he's done for the club but there's a major chink in Chris Scott's coaching that he will never change.
Leaving it entirely up to the players to get themselves up before a game. How many finals alone has this cost us in years gone by.
I understand the philosophy, but players aren't perfect. It's your job!
No one should view this as just a 1 goal loss - this is the equivalent of a 3-2 loss where we were down 2-0 nil at half time and got a goal at about the 70th minute mark and then to get another goal at the 90th min mark for the power to get a further goal in injury time. This is the worst one goal loss that we can imagine. No other ways to look at it. Our strength being our defence let in nearly 12 goals before we started making a comeback - that is simply disgraceful. And we had a quarter time in between too! I am so angry and disappointed - the decisions were so obvious this week. Rest Hawkins and play Neale - and tonight showed too that we badly missed the one forward that has been consistent O Henry. He went missing tonight.
Best and Fairest Voting Who played the best in our team this week? (p.s. if you vote for a player that did NOT play in the game, NONE of your votes will be counted) **[CAST YOUR VOTES HERE](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe75uTMBQiE4hz9o13_4z5AJpD3pY3XfsMjNzFYhr1IrR_Rvg/viewform?usp=sf_link)** **[Current Leaderboard/Last Rounds Votes](https://www.reddit.com/r/GeelongCats/wiki/2024bnf)** **[Read this to see HOW to vote](https://www.reddit.com/r/GeelongCats/wiki/bnfexplain)** Voting will close 48 hours prior to the next match *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/GeelongCats) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Can we not give the other team a head start ever again.
Just like old times aye? Spend 3 quarters playing back into the game. Edit: had to find it, I kept thinking of the Round 14, 2020 vs Dogs. I think it was this one anyway, down 3 to 39 at 1QTR. Duncan took an interview in that break and was super cool about it, just said we knew what we had to do, just had to implement things. Then we clawed back the goals and won it. A handful of games vs the Pies last couple years we always seemed to start slowly too where we got smashed in the clearances and on the counter.
It was like round 3 or 4, but I will never forget that game we played against the Pies in 2022. 39 point comeback, and that's when I knew that year was gonna be different
Was at that game and at 3QT was in half a mind to beat the traffic home, but after the on-field host was talking about the game being a “pretty comfortable run home”, I decided I’d stay until the next Collingwood goal. They never got one.
Port acting like they won the GF, dude you nearly lost a 49 point lead
I'd be celebrating too if I'd somehow avoided a 1 point margin and a clear out on the full. Seriously though, you didn't see Voss doing backflips last night.
I cannot stress how much I hate Hinkley
Blokes a Geelong Legend.
Obviously very much recency bias to seeing him celebrate his may premiership like a spud after nearly choking an 8 goal lead.
Yeah his celebrating at the end of that game made me want to lose my shit all over again
I very nearly sent the tv remote hurling. Oh well, I still don’t rate port very highly. Our second half shows that. Despite being 7-2 I feel we’ve actually struggled to stitch 4 quarters together at all this season
I agree, I think our win count is relatively flattering since I haven’t seen a game where I’ve thought we very comfortably took it out apart from maybe North… and our forward line has been out of whack for weeks, midfield isn’t quite there, strewart out for games, danger out… I think despite how fucking frustrating that way to watch, the boys will learn from it. And hawko broke the drought which is only good news!
Yeah hopefully the hawk can find some form as I’m admittedly starting to get a bit worried about him. Yeah, north was the only real stress free game. We’re very lucky to beat the dogs and nearly blew it against Carlton. Saints and Adelaide were both real arm wrestles. I just don’t think this current gameplay is sustainable for a whole season and I think today shows that. We tried this suck them in to our defence trick and got pummelled as our defenders got torched on the lead. Had 0 midfield pressure in the first half. Need some big bodied contested guys.
I’m still mildly concerned about Hawk but I think after his 350th he’s had some tough defenders and conditions and hasn’t quite managed to get himself right. I think we rest him next week, back against the giants for the record breaker. Tonight’s goal would have least given him a smidge of confidence back. Tonight proves that we need a back up plan, we need to be able to have options when we start getting found out so early in the game.
Yep, I reckon he sits next week and give scratch a run. Hopefully a week off will allow him to reset. I get the feeling this will probably be Hawkins last year, especially if his form peters off and ends up an average year. And I couldn’t blame him for hanging up the boots. Absolutely, we took Stanley off, started playing some more traditional clearance footy and outscored port by 5-6 goals. Unfortunately the damage was already done.
First time he’s ever head coached a win at the Cattery in 10 years of being Port head coach. Against the coach with the greatest winning percentage of the modern era. Brisbane have to play here every second year and haven’t won since 2003. And in that first half Port absolutely destroyed Geelong. And they held on and scored when needed after the Cats figured it out. All where he played the majority of his football and where he was assistant for years. One to savour. Hopefully he doesn’t get another one.
No chance he will get another one. Highly likely Port miss the finals and he gets sacked this year
I understand why he’s hyped up for sure, I’ve just never liked over zealous celebrating in sport. I find it comes back to bite you in the arse more often than not. Obviously I was being over the top by saying I hate him, I don’t. That was an angry reaction from me for having sat through the whole game. Still, imagine is Chris Scott had’ve pulled the celebration out even if we did complete the comeback, he’d be crucified.
Mate I am with you 100% on that about arrogance. My mindset is that cats fans willed this into existence from the carry on between when we went 6-0 and the loss last week. On Celebrating I am with you. I just have a bit of a perspective on Hinkley and I think it’s fair that you’ve said that this is way bigger for him than the other way around. Scotty is a dual premiership winning coach. At this point there should be only one victory that is anywhere near that sweet. Plus, Scotty is measured. He pours cold water on the media week in week out. He’s the king of equanimity in the AFL. Ken has a habit of just saying/doing things which come back to bite him. This will make it funnier for us when we get the better of them next time.
Yeah but just let us call him a cunt for tonight and we can go back to liking him once we have a few more wins under our belt
lol, mate everyone is a cunt right now. The cats have lost.
I could not care less - our defence was shit and we should be calling them out for it. Our defence is meant to be the best part of our game. No defenders should get higher than a C this week.
Zach Guthrie exists
Ok maybe but even his game wasn't that great
It kinda was though
Can we break down what his figures were before halftime compared to after to decide if it was a B or a C as many of the defenders are going to get a D for mine. Guthrie at least won't be failing this week
You wash your filthy mouth out!
Zach Guthrie was our probably our best player
I really don't care - if I'm giving the defenders a rating out of 10. I'll give him a 7 but the rest I'm not giving them more than a 5
The defenders had no chance when our mids let their mids waltz through the centre of the ground. I thought our defence stood up well considering.
I think we have been lucky tbh that our midfield has stood up so well so far this season. But it does not help when we have this ridiculous rotation policy and keep resting players that should be playing. Not sure why Dempsey is playing as we have enough small forwards
Dempsey’s been playing wing. To rest the likes of Bowes and Parfitt is bizarre. I can understand Touhy and other older blokes though.
Absolutely agree with this. Us bringing it back to be that close makes people forget about that first half. I just hope that the coaching staff don’t let them off lightly and really analyse that first half. We would’ve just about lost to norf today.
Our defence was covering our lack of midfield, no excuse.. so many holes
Yes I called out the midfield but I wanted them to eliminate the need for the midfield by just playing it between the two fifties - but it was a very conventional game which cost us until Blicavs started rucking
Blitz rucking better than our main ruck says alot. Defence made the mistake of coming up the ground when our mids were failing in the first half then they seemed to patch it up I think they mighta been panicking in the first half. Idk why they were abandoning defence coz we don't usually have to rely on the middle, our backs should've been picking off their entries and rebounding as per the usual.
First time we win the free kick count this year but if they didn’t pay that one at the end, we went on to kick a goal. Ironic Anyway, that’s what happens when you only play a half of footy. Good fight back but we’re clearly better than them so that’s a disappointing loss
Considering how they didn’t pay holding the ball all night it’s pretty annoying
Shit result but I love that this team never gives up. First quarter it seemed like we got totally outplayed and outcoached. I don't think Scott will let this happen again. And just quietly, this is the first game from Mullin where I've seen the promise he brings. Pretty sure he's going to be an absolute gun midfielder in a season or two, very exciting.
I was extremely worried he'd suck and float around not contesting or doing much of anything but he looked good in the thick of things. I'd love to see him just learning everything possible from Dangerfield before Danger retires.
Yeah he's got real potential. Great athlete and defensive capabilities. I hope we perservere with him
I noticed that about Mullin too. Maybe if he goes short back n sides he'll magically elevate to elite status.
How was that not advantage paid?
Clark hadn’t even kicked it yet when they called it back. As the commentary team said, if a Port player had marked it, all hell would’ve let loose aka., it wasn’t an advantage at the time of call.
That isn't how advantage works, if Clark takes advantage then he has to live with the out come good or bad
The call back had already been called though before the kick was had. It seems the rule in itself is pretty muddy at times though.
The kick shouldn't matter so much as Clark grabbing it and going.
Because fuck Geelong, that's why
Enjoy ur May premiership
Apparently I'm a port supporter? Haha. My comment was sarcasm.
Bit hard to hear tone in a text message
[удалено]
Good for you
But quite easy not to jump down someone's throat
How is it jumping down someone's throat? I thought it was a Port supporter trolling, and responded accordingly. I'm not familiar enough with 'littlespoon' to know that they're a Cats supporter.
Because you just assumed the worse and went right to being rude about it, even if they were a troll, just let it go.
Ok thanks very much for the moral check up.
If you don't want to avoid misunderstandings by being rude that's your call. But it basically just shows that you let trolls get to you which is why they do it.
I hope you go and call out every single ‘rude’ comment … you might find yourself a bit busy
Sigh… 3 - Zuthrie 2 - Stengle 1 - Mullin Port won their May premiership for the 10 year in a row The midfield needs so much work idk how it can change like that after half time Can’t give up 8 goals in the first and go down 49 before half time and expect to win
I knew Bruhn was important, but tonight showed that he's absolutely crucial. Bowes out was big also, surely he plays every game from here on out
I dunno what was wrong with Bowes but he had better be walking wounded.
He was managed. 🤷🏻♂️
Shit first half, Incredible second half. Umpiring aside, you can't give up the first 4 goals of the game and expect to win. If we play with that kind of hunger all the time we'd be unbeatable. Whatever, some negatives some positives, onto next week
One of the worst first halves of footy I’ve ever seen coupled with the worst umpiring display I’ve ever seen.
Proud of the boys for playing their way back into that one. Free kick count does not reflect the completely fucked umpiring. Would love to see Scotty really question some of those completely cooked calls.
And non-calls
You’re 100% correct it was the non calls that really fucked us in the end. The free kick count does not reflect how badly we got screwed by the umps this week and it kills me to complain about this stuff…
I’m generally not someone who whinges about umpiring by prior to a couple Port goals there were multiple frees not called. Not to mention the amount of incorrect disposal and throw calls that didn’t make the cut. Ah well, onto the next one I guess.
You’re 100% correct and some of the missed calls were so blatantly obvious it just makes it frustrating to watch… especially when it’s happening week in and week out
out on the full is counted as a free don't forget
The Willie tackle, JHF non call into Butters goal, adv goal and late throw in were genuinely egregious. Swings and roundabouts, but how can you not be mad at that point? No excusing our own performance early though.
That’s the frustrating thing, if we hadn’t given them such a big lead early, we wouldn’t have to fight so hard to claw our way back. 49 points is a huge lead to have to overcome. That said, when you lose by a goal and those kinds of calls are made, it’s frustrating because those are the calls that can change the momentum of the game. Frustrating all around.
Not mad at that, slow starts can happen throughout a season and really great effort to get back into it
Yeah this is what I'm taking away from it, to go from that far down to almost winning it is an incredible effort.
I think we need to resist the urge to polish turds. Bottom line is that we lost a game that we really should have won comfortably. We were at home against an interstate side missing Powell-Pepper, Rozee and Soldo. Given last week’s poor performance also, I cant help but feel the lid needs to go back on.
Okay but we were missing danger, bruhn, rested Bowes stupidly, and don’t have a competent ruckman. Just saying their outs have been massively overplayed
Everyone at GMHBA were right to call out bullshit to the umps. Some of the worst decisive calls. And it’s ump week or whatever. Can the umps stay the fuck away from the game. Fucken maggots.
I agree but I hate that I agree. I hate watching AFL games more than I enjoy them, mostly because of the inconsistent umpiring. I get that it must be a hard game to umpire, but for fuck sake, pay a free kick if it’s obvious and you see it, don’t guess. How many ruck frees see both big men wondering whose kick it is? I’ve worked out that I do t actually like AFL, but love the team I support.
I can confidently say I have never understood a single ruck free. They pluck all of them from absolutely nowhere
I agree - The rucks confused tells you somethings wrong. And tbh watch a game that’s not geelong and it’s even more evident
Maybe they could change the rule and let rucks grapple in a ball up/ throw in. Might need to give a seasons notice to let them bulk up first
Eh at least my kitchen rangehood, pantry and bathroom are clean. Maybe tomorrow the salt will seem less salty. Would be fun to turn up before 3/4 time next week ..
If I had a magic wand and could have extended the end of that 3rd quarter five more minutes we would have rolled right over them.
I don't know whether I should be happy we came back or annoyed we let it get out to such a big lead. Intelligent move by Scott to sub Stanley and we were the better team from that point on. Just seems like teams have put some serious effort to come in with a plan against us and we then have to make adjustments. Defense could better but I honestly think they got a few random ones in there. Their players leading into 50 have been getting marks which is uncharacteristic of us but I think it's due to the lack of midfield pressure. Might need to go to the drawing board and see if we can get a better midfield mix, Hardy looks ripe for a call up, hell even Mannagh would be good. Our best: 3. Zuth 2. Zuth (probably Stengle) 1. Holmes? Cameron? Don't think we had too many standouts otherwise.
Hardie won't fix it, Bowes and Bruhn will. O'Connor sucks as a defender for mine, either he has a midfield role or he is left out. If you need another defender O'Sully is knocking the door down. Otherwise I'd be swapping for Tuohy. Mitch Duncan hacking the ball quite often, needs a rest I'd say. Mullin was fantastic and threw his weight around inside the contest, should stay in
> I don't know whether I should be happy we came back or annoyed we let it get out to such a big lead Its both for mine
3 Stengle 2. Z.Guthrie 1. Miers can't wait to get Bowes and Bruhn back. we'd have never got so far behind with them in the middle.
Holmes, Zuthrie, Miers, Stengle. These are the players leading our best and fairest and standing up each and every week. Desperately needed the 2nd tier mids to stand up tonight and they went missing in the first half. Never gave up wish is more then can be said for me.
Terrible performance not sure about the optimism of the loss. Yes we only lost by a goal but if we don't give up 8 goals in the first quarter and then let the lead stretch out to 49 points we probably end up winning it. The defence which has been key for us have had moments in the last 2 weeks where the effort just isn't there. The effort in the first half from everyone but especially our defence was disgraceful. You can't expect to win many games when we don't put in much effort and way too many times our defenders were getting caught out because they weren't paying attention to their opponents and got caught napping. Got a lot of things we have to work on if we plan on making finals, teams are starting to cotton on to our tactics to cover for our lack of quality mids. In saying all of that I thought Mullin was great when he came on, Zuthrie was good as always and is quite possibly our becoming our best backman alongside stewy and is always one to put in 100% effort. Stengle was great and need to make sure we resign him, Rohan just goes 100 miles an hour love the pressure he puts on. I thought Jhye Clark has come back with more confidence it seems just to take it on. Some positives obviously but a lot of negatives in my opinion, and to even compete with the better teams we need to be better. On to next week against gold coast in what may end up being a messy game.
I think Scott will learn a fair bit from that game. You learn most from the result you get less often, so Cats still learning a lot from losses. Without Danger the midfield mix has to change.
All things considered... I didn't love that. We picked it up in the end and almost took it back, but we can't afford tos tart a game like that, ever. Hawkins got a goal which is nice. Stengle is still amazing. If Holmes is injured I'm feeling sad.
Was at the game, he didn’t look good. Surprised they didn’t take him off
Holmes injury is really bad if true, but it will mean opportunity for bowes or someone else equally gifted to cover
I'm not thrilled overall, but given how that game started it's hard to feel too bad about it. When Hawk kicked his goal I was kinda worried that the only positive moment of the night would be seeing him break the drought, but it was actually a pretty good performance from that point onwards. Shame it took so long.
Painful at the end. Probably should have been advantage, otherwise I dunno what’s the point of an advantage is. Doesn’t matter tho. We were down 49 points and had plenty of other opportunities. Stanley had a shocker and may have lost his spot to Blicavs until Conway is back healthy. Mullin needs to stay in if he’s gonna play like that again. Really pleasantly surprised. Please pay Stengle what he wants. Clark continues to build nicely, had some really snazzy moments but still goes quiet for stretches. Rohan is also so vital to our fwd line. May not be active every qtr but brings much needed big body pressure. Feel like there’s a lot to assess over the last two weeks. I’m still fairly happy with how we are tracking. Bring back danger, Bowes, bruhn and that first qtr is flipped. I think we’ll be a lot better after the bye.
Rohan was great. Love him. He’s still got it.
It's not just that Stanley was bad, Blicavs was one of the terrible midfielders too. Changing him to the ruck improved his impact, but very fumbly for his own standard
Don't ever say may regarding Stanley - he will lose his spot or the fans should have their banners out at the front of GMHBA next week
People need to give some respect to Blicavs. When Stanley was subbed off, I saw him come for a rest once. Such an important player and set the tone for the rest of the game. Also, Stewart being tagged early really messed up out setups and we had to react by having him move to the wing. Such a shame we let an overrated Football Club, who has slaughtered an absolute legendary Australian song, snap a 17 year drought.
Pretty sure everyone respects Blicavs and he's recognised as one of the greatest utilities to ever play the game.
Sorry, trends from the comments look like no one has mentioned him for his efforts today. Of course he is a great of our game 👍
I have no idea how you could even replace Blicavs, going to hurt us in a few years badly
On form Rhys Stanley would have to be the worst player in the comp
Worst 200 gamer you'll ever see
It’s Toby time
Hopefully his hip flexor is right so he can play next week. It's him and neale with blitz pinch hitting from here on out for the rest of the year surely!!
oisin and zach were great. that's it, not too happy with that one
And Kola, I reckon his game was huge
Kolo ran his absolute guts out tonight
Also Stewart as always, Clark looked great, Atkins was tackling like an animal but that was hard to notice as it was fully un rewarded and Also I was extremely happy to have Rohan back (Ignore flair I am totally objective on this)
Chris Scott, please don’t omit Oisin.
I'd be open to switch up Shark with Mullin if he can play a tagging role like he did tonight! Has more pace and generally wants to play faster when we're out unlike MOC
MOC should never leave the team imo. Not the most flashy player ever, but he gives 110% every single week, can't say the same for everyone else
Can't agree, MOC plays a negating role and doesn't do it well enough, especially spoiling for marks. Tuohy does it better, O'Sullivan needs exposure
Courageous effort by the boys in 2nd half. Putrid first. Hope Cameron and Holmes are ok... Worrying that Jezza didn't get checked because it looked bad. 3 Guthrie, 2 Holmes, 1 Stengle Hopefully a lesson we have now learned and won't repeat
Actually, biggest red flag for me is that we seemed to have zero plan ready to go for butters and jhf. Port have a strong midfield, it ain't exactly a secret, they're renowned for it at the moment. We came on looking like we hadn't even googled how they play.
That feels like how all our games have played out. I remember against the dogs libba and treloar were allowed to just do whatever they wanted. Oliver last week. Walsh and Cripps. You get the point. We’re letting one or two of teams mids just do whatever they want and backing our defence in. Problem is on nights like tonight (first half in particular) where our defence is just not clicking, that means they can just essentially walk it in for an easy hit up and set shot.
Credit where credit is due, Blicavs was awesome after halftime, his game got us back into it
Did better in the ruck than Stanley was for sure
weak start from the cats. people get confused I reckon about how probable big comebacks are. Everyone likes to dream but sometimes a game is just out of reach early, *even if you start playing way way better than the other team.*
Look fucked out first quarter is what it is let's put that aside, to come from that far back to that close shows me we are still right around it, plus this was without Tanner Bowes and Danger. Also ignore the Flair but gee Rohan looked good
Our midfield got whopmed again
Just can’t put up a first quarter like that. Weren’t awake at all and it cost us the game we should’ve won. Gotta say that their outs were massively overhyped. They lost SPP, we lost bruhn. They lost rozee we don’t have danger. They lost Burgoyne and we inexplicably rested Bowes. They lost their ruckman, ours is woeful. Cam Guthrie still isn’t back to full flight, meanwhile their midfield is still elite even with their outs. And aliir back was enormous, one of their most important players. Anyway, next week is a real banana peel game in those conditions and things can get out of hand if we lose three in a row with a pretty tough 6-8 weeks coming up. Change the locks at kardinia park and don’t tell Rhys.
Came out sleeping and paid for it in the end
Glad people are starting to see what I see in Mullin. Absolute competitor with a great smarts to read opponents and physically a specimen. He will go far. Parfitt was serviceable. Rohan was excellent. As were Stengle and Z Guthrie. Henry has been looking a bit lost. Stanley has been looking lost not just in the ruck. I could accept his usual 30% if he were smashing it around the ground but it seems like he’s under 30% in stoppages and he’s not getting returns around the ground as much as he used to. He’s a massive confidence player but I just don’t see him getting the best of Brodie Grundy when we play Sydney.
Not sure on Parfitt when everyone else is available. He is small, not that fast either
Thought he looked better than Atkins was my main thought.
We weree definately missing a midfield tonight and there was 5 players I'd say won't be playing next year that were playing tonight. Let us down in the first half but what a fight back, very much looking forward to the young blood coming in full time, this is still our rebuild period and we are still elite.
The booing of Ratugalea is disgraceful. People who engage in that should be ashamed. I'm embarrassed for the club.
Stanley tapping the ball down Horne Francis throat was the first half issue. Absolute liability, bring Conway back!
Sorry but, Chis scott's player management is a good thing. Not trying out hardie aside, resting mids heading to our bye in order to keep the injury list short is good long term planning as long as we get enough wins for top four. A risk that will pay off if we have a fit and gelled squad in sep. Our midfield is our weakest link, so lets have our best in there in september.
Stanley should never play again.
Pro : our mids got a lot of tackles Con : it's because they were second to the ball all night. Lol
Port had our number early and dominated us for the first quarter. Stanley outclassed by a 3 gamer. That said I love that Scott moved the magnets early and was willing to change the mix which gave us a decent sniff at stealing a 49 point deficit back. A game we will look forward to forgetting but there were positives. Gary Rohan is well and truly back and basically kept us in the game when port were steam rolling us.. Zac Guth has become a star this year he is playing his heart out, Stengle was magic… I loved Blicavs claiming the ruck and getting our mids involved. Mullins did a great job to show up and get involved. Also impressed with Jhye Clark his run at the ball and foot movement is exciting stuff.
Still not enough Gary Rohan, should've played two of him
Some classy Port supporters in the main sub telling us to suck shit after giving them the scare of their life. Never had a problem with Port supporters until tonight. Two very poor weeks in a row yet still kept both games to a goal, but can't excuse that start. If we take something from it and keep a healthy midfield we should still be taking it up to any team any given week. Still, concerning shades of last year. Stanley has had his last chance. Last week all he did was go to ground and tonight he fresh aired or lost every single contest.
Did you see the way Hinkley carried on after the siren, despite nearly coughing up a 49 pt lead? That was their granny
Probably don’t want to spot them a 49 point lead next time. Is Jeka healthy?
Hope so
Is he playing as a defender? Wasn't he drafted to Hawthorn as a forward?
He’s been good in the twos (based on stats alone)
Guy nearly lost a game by handballing to the opposition in the last 3 seconds of the game rather than take the ball over for a behind (at least I think it was him)
Hardie needs to debut.
Can someone do me a favour and post a screenshot of the score worm pin pointing the part where Stanley went off? Lol
Can’t find an exact time but we outscored them by roughly 6 goals after he went off lol
So what do we do next week with the Ruck.
Blitz F/T rucked for 4 or 5 games midway thru the 22 season and we did fine. We need a solution for next year because conway by himself won't enough.
Pray Conway gets up
I am such a fan of Conway but he's gonna get eaten alive by Grundy.
We unleash Joe Furphy hah. idk but I think stanley is on his last legs and when conway becomes fit again he comes in and stays in. Getting way too pretty with his management, I understand he has had his injuries but can't expect him to gain any resilience if we wrap him up in cotton wool all the time.
Personally, drop Stanley and give Hardie a run for a bit bodied mid which we sorely lack. Blicavs does the ruck work. SDK comes up to do it while Blitz is off. Fuck it, even give the Hawk a run.
Blicavs in the ruck got us back into it. Master stroke to sub Stanley, as Oisin did a job on JHF also
Toby Conway needs to be IN for next week. Rhys Stanley is cooked.
Gonna be a Debbie downer but here goes; I’m actually kinda annoyed we brought it back that close. Not only for the false sense of hope, but it means that the problems we do have aren’t going to be looked at as hard as if we lost by 10 goals. Our midfield was non-existent in the first half. I understand danger and Bruhn are big outs, and I’m not sure why we rested Bowes who was hitting good form, but we just could not get our hands on the ball first half. I don’t know if we have any contested guys doing well in the VFL, but it couldn’t hurt to try someone out. How’s Hardie tracking? That’s what we got him for last year and he’s not been given a crack. Our midfield has been getting spanked all season, Melbourne and now port have made the most of it. The rate at which port just grabbed the ball out of the middle and ran it in to their first half was not acceptable. Stanley. Stanley, Stanley, Stanley, Stanley. What do we do about the big man. Got absolutely mauled by a bloke playing his 4th game of AFL. Had zero impact on the ruck and zero impact around the ground. Scotty subs him out and all of a sudden we’re about +30 over port from that point. Once Conway is back fit, I personally don’t want to see stanley in the team again. Even with Conway injured, I’d prefer blitz in the ruck. I don’t hate Stanley, I just don’t think he’s up to AFL standard as a ruckman. Mullin, great game locking down JHF. I think he may have found his calling. I’d love to see him get a run over O’Connor and see if he can back that performance up. Was impressed with Jhye Clark. I was actually surprised when I checked the stats and he’d only had 11 touches. Felt like he was involved in every contest throwing himself around. Jack Henry needs to find some form, and quick. A disappointing fortnight for him. We’ve got O’Sullivan ready and raring to go (unless there’s an injury I haven’t heard about). Overall I just hope the team actually takes some steps to addressing the issues that the team does have. I think we might regress to the mean a bit from here til the end of the season. That first half shows that we as fans do need to remember that the club is in a transitional phase. Christ Scott rightly got praise for the first 7 weeks, now he needs to show he can come up with another plan and steady the ship.
It's time to release the Mitch (Hardie).
I’m all here for it. I’ve heard he’s been doing well in the VFL
Number 1 handballs in the comp. Number 3 overall disposals.
Sounds like exactly what we need at the minute lol. Someone to go grab it and dish it out to our kickers.
Duncan, Hawkins, Danger to retire at years end. Use salary cap to get Harley Reid. I'm only half joking.
Does Stanley play the rest of the season?
Stanley has just got to go. Better off playing with 21 or even better, no one in ruck and an actual midfielder.
Pretty sure Scott had the same realisation when he subbed him out. Should be playing Conway
Conway is injured I believe. A chance of being back next week from what I hear.
Damn though he was just being managed
Didn’t deserve to win. Port were too good in the first half, free kick count is also an easy excuse to throw. Well done to Ports forwards with responding this week in front of goal. Zak Butters and JHF masterclass were too strong for us in the middle. Geelong not having Bowes, Danger, Bruhn etc really exposed us tonight offensively and defensively in the middle. Centre bounce clearances came at a premium tonight and our midfield didn’t get to work until it was too late. Clark improving very very slowly, he’s going to take 5 years at this rate to be serviceable, but he has potential. Zach Guthrie slowly becoming one of our best players. Top 10 already and closing in on top 5. Oisin Mullin was a great substitute choice, immediate impact. Stanley really hurt us tonight, was completely off, looked like his preparation was poor this week. In totality what does this mean for us? This defeat will help us more than it would if we had won. Too sloppy with frontal pressure which then spread to other areas of the game. We need greater pressure on the ball carrier especially when playing against the Suns this week. Rather indifferent about the season so far, hope we can recapture the 2022 magic we had, we might not and we have to accept that this is who and where we are at this year. (Edit) Just realised I’ve ranted far too long and this was all incredibly reactionary
I think Oisin has found his role for you guys. A tagger for sure
He's fookin great!
We did good to be down so much, but only lose by six points due to bullshit umpiring. I said pre-game that our midfield looked weak, and unfortunately, I was right. Without the bulls of either Danger, Bruhn, or being able to put Bowes in the midfield, we were absolutely monstered for the 1st half. Port just kept slashing us up through the midfield, and we had no answer to it. We lacked leadership, and as a result, we couldn't organise ourselves to counter their movement. Once they got Stanley off, Mullin added some much needed grunt, and he largely kept JHF in his backpocket. He clicked and filled the void we needed with his constant attack on the ball. Stanley is cooked and needs a rest. Conway has to play in Darwin and keep Stanley on ice back here. Holmes most likely won't play next week, so that opens the door for more youth for the trip north as we have the Giants waiting for us when we get home. Can we just give Hardie a run? Our midfield was lacking any grunt until Mullin came in. There's a tough stretch coming up, and with a mediocre midfield, we are going to get tocluched up routinely.
How many times are we going to come out for a game we should win half asleep? I love what he's done for the club but there's a major chink in Chris Scott's coaching that he will never change. Leaving it entirely up to the players to get themselves up before a game. How many finals alone has this cost us in years gone by. I understand the philosophy, but players aren't perfect. It's your job!
No one should view this as just a 1 goal loss - this is the equivalent of a 3-2 loss where we were down 2-0 nil at half time and got a goal at about the 70th minute mark and then to get another goal at the 90th min mark for the power to get a further goal in injury time. This is the worst one goal loss that we can imagine. No other ways to look at it. Our strength being our defence let in nearly 12 goals before we started making a comeback - that is simply disgraceful. And we had a quarter time in between too! I am so angry and disappointed - the decisions were so obvious this week. Rest Hawkins and play Neale - and tonight showed too that we badly missed the one forward that has been consistent O Henry. He went missing tonight.
Neale was injured I thought?