WEEK 3 CATS VS BLUES

So how good is the cockatoo going to be?

There are some players in all levels of the game, from the local under 10s to AFL senior football that when they get the ball seem to have more time than everyone else and the cats new number 5 is one of those players. I might be getting a bit carried away as he has only amassed a total of about 15 possessions but it's how he looked when he has the ball that has excited me the most. His body looks ready to mix it with big boys at AFL level, obviously it won't stand up to the rigors of a full AFL season complete with finals campaign this early on so he is going to have to be managed because its these types of players that can win you a final with five minutes of brilliance.

In my humble opinion its these types of line breaking , run and carry players that are going to be the key in the upcoming seasons and the indigenous boys are the best in business as far as I'm concerned. Hawthorn have the cream of the crop with Cyril and Hill both of which can turn a game on its head in a matter of minutes but they are littered throughout the league.

Hands up who can catch Garlett streaming of a half back flank with a metre head start?

Anyone want to look silly trying to chase Jetta down the wing of the SCG late in the last quarter of a final?

Didn't think so.

 I'm really looking forward to seeing the Motlop Cockatoo show in action for the next decade.

Chris Scott can't be happy with last week's game against the Crows and I'm not too happy with Chris Scott. I am writing this a week later and I can only really draw a couple of positives out of the game. I've touched on the Cockatoo and the only other honourable mention has to go to big Mitch Clarke. The big fella got off the chain and roamed the forward zone like a hungry junkyard dog. He is still very rusty and at times looks well out his depth at the level, but every so often he  has given a glimpse of what his potential offers the football club.

Here is the concern:

Geelong lost the clearances yet again.

30 to 27 is not a massive loss but it's been a reoccurring trend. The boys got first use out of the ruck winning the hit outs and I thought that big Dawson was very good at the bounces and making his presence felt after the ball hit the deck but you cannot win games of football against the best sides in the AFL when you consistently give the opposition first use of the ball out of the middle. It was the stoppages where this really shone through 19-12 in Adelaide's favour.      

Contested possessions are the true indicator of where the boys are lacking and the cats were smacked 104-135. That's five times a quarter that the ball is in dispute and they coming up short. You can get away with that at the cattery in the NAB challenge against the Crows but against Hawthorn at the 'G' on Easter Monday......  it could get ugly.

 

The young apprentice at work is a massive Carlton fan, so much so it clouds his judgement and he made a fatal error by entering into a finish higher bet with me last year. I took the cats and he had Carlton .

"What shall we put on it ?" I asked prepared to go as high as I could  "A slab?"

He thought for a moment and countered.

"Why not make it two?"

"Done."

I should have kept bidding.  

I don't even drink beer and one of the slabs of Crownies is still sitting next to my fridge ready to offered to anyone that comes around. Carlton were never going to finish higher than the cats and this just illustrates that the love for your own club can blind you to the actual reality of the situation. Which brings me to the newest bet we have made. It's another finish higher but this time it's the Brownlow medal. He has Mathew Kreuzer and I have taken Mark Blicavs. Head to head most votes wins.

Unfortunately for the apprentice two days after the bet was made Kreuzer went down with stress fractures of the foot. Not a great injury type for a big man who relies heavily on his mobility.

Blicavs however is fast becoming the most agile, mobile big man in the game. His ruck work is getting better by the week and when the ball hits the ground he becomes another midfielder which could give the cats a decided advantage in a close contest. He is still learning the game not having played much as a junior and having watched every game he has played in the AFL he has improved week in week out and that is all that can be asked of him. I can't praise him highly enough. From what I have seen already this year he has improved his strength and size without really sacrificing any of the elite running that saw him catch the eye of the great Stephen Wells. He has been training with the backline under the tutelage of one H. Taylor and if he can get his two way running going and push back to chop out the likes of Taylor, Lonergan , Rivers , Mackie and Co it will definitely cause some headaches for opposition coaches. His running for a 195cm plus type player is nothing short of freakish and only two other players in the comp have him covered.

Lance Franklin possesses the greatest burst of speed for a guy his size that I have ever seen. Couple that with sublime skills and one of the best left foot shots at goal from outside 50m it's no wonder that he is the 10 million dollar man.

The other guy is the greatest running leading forward in the games history. His name is Nick Reiwoldt and has set the standard for running the last ten years.

I'm not saying Mark Blicavs is going to be the greatest player in the history of the AFL, I'm saying if he keeps improving at the rate that he already is he could easily redefine the standard of endurance and running expected by big man in the AFL.

Anyone want a beer ? My shout.    

Week 2 Lie to me

2015 is the first year that I have been a member of the Geelong Football Club after supporting them for 30 years.  I plan on writing this biased, un fact checked and grammatically incompetent  blog each week. These are my stories. (Cue noise from Law and Order)

 

 

Week 2 "Lie to me"

           

            So it's a week into the NAB Challenge and it has been bruise free footy at its best, hardly a advertisement for our great game. The obligatory season ending knee injury for one of the comps young guns has been the only thing to raise my eyebrows because the standard of footy  certainly hasn't.

             The Adelaide Crows travel down to the cattery for a Thursday night fixture and id be prepared to bet (readers note: The author has been placed on a self imposed gambling ban which will lift Round 1 of the AFL season , penance for being inept at picking NBA winners) that it won't be bringing its full complement of star players to thrill the Kardinia crowd. Unless Morgan Freeman appears on the news explaining that NASA has found a rip in the fabric of space and time which has given us access to a parallel universe ,which turns out needs to be saved from oblivion  and the only way to save it s that two AFL teams must battle it out on a Thursday night with both teams bringing a physical intensity and a finals like frantic pressure , I suspect that we will see the same brand of insipid full contact training we have witnessed in the first week of this "competition".

            And I don't blame the clubs at all. What are they playing for exactly?

            Both of these teams could potentially have their seasons derailed before they even start with season ending injuries to key players. I would hate to see Big Tex Walker or The Tomahawk go down for the year, robbing the fans of a season of strong marks on the lead and tests of strength against the best defenders in the comp.

            All I want to see out of this game is some lies. I want a full grown man to look down the camera, lie and say all contract talk will be taken care of at the end of the year. I want to hear that all your concentrating on the season at hand and that your manager takes care of all the contract stuff. I want to hear that your super happy at the crows and money has no place in your decision.

            I'm talking to you Mr Dangerfield .

            Lie to me, and I promise I'll believe you.

            I believed G. Ablett.

            I believed L. Franklin.

           

            The two biggest names in our game both sat and warmed the chair that Paddy will sit in this year and both were forgiven for lying to the media and us the supporters. I guess three dump trucks full of money backed up deposited straight into your bank account will do that to a person. Now it's your turn Paddy. It's the money or the box.

            Free agency as set out by the AFL not only encourages dishonesty but it rewards it. Don't believe me? Just wait and see the first player to announce midyear that they are moving at the end of the year NRL style , my guess is they may play the rest of the year in the magoos and valuable game time will be given to some younger guys "in the interests of the club". Free agency is not even "free",  the appalling compensation pick system is nothing but a ill thought out appeasement to the clubs that are being pillaged while the other more business minded clubs that have room to move in the salary cap can  reap the rewards.

           The cats have to be the most affected club losing the best player in the competition but the club I feel for the most is Melbourne. The perennial cellar dwellers have had the best players from their list cherry picked by better clubs and it's all been rubber stamped by the AFL. Pretty sure Paul Roos could use J. Rivers and J. Frawley in the backline this year, but that doesn't serve the AFLs purpose . It seems they would much rather grow the game in new markets than look after the oldest football club in the world.

            The jungle drums will be beating around which players will make the move at the seasons end and all the focus will be on which players are the targets and who will take the money and run.  

              My personnel jungle drum will be beating around which journo is slack enough to trot out the tired old Jungle drum analogy this year. I am claiming that phrase early in the season and I'm watching out for any professional scribe that unimaginatively uses it this year.

 

Early season market for "Jungle Drum" phrase in player movement.

 

 

1.50 fav           Mark Stevens (Ch 7)

 

1.90                 Jon Ralph

                        Craig Hutchinson

                        Damien Barrett

 

2.00                 Tony Shaw

                        Caroline Wilson

 

3.00                 Mark Robinson

                        Eddie McGuire

 

3.50                 Gerard Healy

 

5.00                 Mike Sheehan

                        Dermott Brereton

 

10.00               Patrick Keane

 

15.00               Gerard Whateley

 

 

 

Follow Aaron Booth on Twitter @azareidies or add him on google+ Aaron Booth

 

 

 

 

                       

Week 1 NAB CHALLENGE

2015 is the first year that I have been a member of the Geelong Football Club after supporting them for 30 years.  I plan on writing this biased, un fact checked and grammatically incompetent  blog each week. These are my stories. (Cue noise from Law and Order)

 

Week#1 NAB Cup vs. Gold Coast Suns @ Tony Ireland Stadium, Townsville QLD

 

So up to the sunny Tony Ireland stadium(which is actually quite cloudy) in Townsville the cats will go to take on the increasingly seasoned Gold Coast Suns. I am expecting big things from the GC this year with the list they have assembled and the concessions granted by the AFL. Finals is a very achievable goal for the Suns and should have been achieved by the group last year had a certain G. Ablett not gone down with season ending shoulder injury.

The suns got the cats in the home and away last year in what was probably the best win in the clubs short history so they hit the field knowing if they play good footy they can win this game.

This year for me is all about the cats and with the ring of “Straight sets..” in my ears I write this full of confidence for the year ahead. I'm like a 10 handicap golfer confidently striding to the first tee , the 18 holes ahead of me are all a clean slate of possible greatness.

The reason I’m confident about 2015 is the Cats core of dependable All Australian  senior players. Bartel, Hawkins, Enright, Kelly, Taylor, Lonergan, Stokes and led brilliantly by Joel Selwood the captain of the national side. These guys have been to the well many times before and know what is needed to be a premiership side on and off the track. All the noise coming out of the club is that they are demanding the same from the younger brigade coming through. They will be stung by the manner in which they exited the finals last year. Chris Scott included. And so they should be.

Can they turn it around this year? Or like so many pundits annually predict is this going to be the year that cats finally slide back to the middle of the field.

I don’t think the slide will occur this year but I think the pre-season will give us an indication as to whether the Scott era will be a dynasty or a brief flicker of a career that seems to be the trend of the day with clubs seemingly ready to sack a coach. With the cats tough start to the year it’s going to be crucial that they hit the ground running and pick up as many wins as possible early on.

 

 

4.30 Game time.

First impressions. GC look fit. The Cats look ready.

            When your right your right and as per usual the cats older players namely Jimmy Bartel and James Kelly lead the way and a super fit Tom Hawkins dominates the forward line kicking two and missing a couple for good measure.

            The score board wont say it but the Cats were the team that played the better footy however GC managed to capitalise on there opportunities when the cats younger players turned the ball over with skill errors under pressure on the defensive side of midfield. All the fist gamers looked a strep off the pace of AFL footy with the exception of the Cockatoo and the impressive boy from Colac Darcy Lang who got the footy took the game on and when he made the always going to happen skill error under pressure he willed himself  to the next contest forced a turnover and picked up another possession for his troubles.

Gold Coast by a point.

Second Quarter.

Break in transmission cheers for that foxtel, why not reel out some ads …........ GC by 2pts two minutes in.

            The cockatoo takes a strong grab ala Jimmy Bartel and shows silky kicking skills in a rare highlight for the cats in the second term. The conditions look brutal and the cats wilt as the GC turns it up a notch only letting the cats off the hook with poor goal kicking accuracy kicking five straight behinds.

            Contested ball and clearances are yet again are a concern for the cats getting absolutely smashed by the GC midfield and delivery into the forward line is nonexistent with each defensive rebound stopped by the suns pressing up the ground and sent back into the overwhelmed Geelong defence time and time again.

Gold Coast up by 18pts. Should be up by 40.

            If the second term was a golf hole the cats put it in the piss off the tee and then three putted.

Third Quarter

            Gregson kicks a goal early and is lively and Chris Scott gets one back in the coaches box after being thoroughly outcoached by Rocket Eade in the second term.

Guthrie shows poise and class when he steps through traffic and kicks a Mums delicious Sunday roast goal of the day and the kid from Colac Darcy Lang is easily the most impressive of the young fellas with a mark and goal to go along with his bag of touches.

            The cats clawed their way back into the game and will go into the last with a sniff and a 10 point deficit. Result is meaningless all the final term can do is produce an injury to a star player and create a talking point.

            Both teams should be competitive this season from the standard of footy seen so far in taxing conditions.

Gold Coast by 10pts

Last Quarter.

The kid from Colac puts his magnet in the must play round one section of the coaches whiteboard with his second from a clever Stevie Motlop cross but the cats look tired early in the last and the 10 point margin looks enough unless the cats can lift or get Stephen Dank on the phone.

Mitch Clarke finally impacts the game and does it big time with a “Ritchie” kicking two in two minutes putting the cats up by 2. If that kind of play becomes the norm for the big fella he could definitely be a 40+ goal a year player.

Great last quarter of footy by both teams but in the end the Gold Coast too good and too strong in the tropical conditions.

Final score Gold Coast Suns by 8pts

 

Darcy Lang the Coca Colac kid was the standout for me amongst the cats with less than 50 games to their names. He knew where to run to find the footy and used it fairly well in the tricky conditions. His second and third efforts stood out more on a day where it was easy to slack off and blame the heat and he seems to have developed  an understanding with Stevie Motlop. The silky one crossing two goal assists Lang's way both with no look across the body passes.   

Mitch Clarke ticked a few boxes and like a good race horse will be better for the run, he shouldn't be judged on this game and just needs to play some regular footy.             The Cockatoo showed a glimpse as did Gregson and should both debut this year if they continue to develop. Prepared to forgive the rest of the less experienced guys who were all pretty average at best.

The danger signs that emerged at the end of last year are there again for the cats with Chris Scott outcoached (yet again) and the cats losing the contested ball and clearances, areas identified by the club for improvement, improvement that was just not evident.

Fair to say the Irish experiment failed miserably with the big Pod only involved in one passage of play which resulted in giving away a free kick 40m out directly in front. The question has to be asked, why even play the kid in 33 degrees? He blew up quicker than a balloon animal at a clown convention.

I can't really take much out of the contest other than to say when the cats usual suspects moved the ball they looked the better side but with too many passengers and players not willing to get the hard footy the rot that set in at the end of last year looks to have continued .

So back to the Cattery next week where we will take on another middle tier side with a new coach in Adelaide . Time to raise the bar.   

Go Cats!