Rd 2 vs Geelong Cats @ SCG - Match Thread

[i'm-uninformed2]

You could allocate the 3-2-1 to any combo of Mills, Heeney and Warner. All outstanding.

A couple of other nods for quiet achievers. Tom McCartin didn’t give Hawkins a sniff. And the way our forwards combined to keep Stewart preoccupied and quiet was superb. It looked as though McLean was a big part of that, but a few others at times.

[TheBloods]

Always interesting BOG considerations. No doubting the fantastic game from Heeney, but Mills as you said chewed up and spat out Dangerfield whole still racking them up himself and doing serious damage.

The awesome part more broadly is there is still so much improvement to come in this team - far, far from the ceiling it can reach.

Assuming we don't get wet toasted by Covid, looking forward to the game against the chuckers on Thursday night. Seriously think it's a huge opportunity to lay down a massive marker for the season, to put an exclamation mark on a very good opening fortnight.



Chad is an amazing talent, but Mills is in my opinion our most important and best midfielder by a fair stretch for mine, and I would say was BOG last night for mine (Heeney will be in the conversation too). He not only took Dangerfield totally out of the game last night, but also racked up 30 on the side. Chad doesn't have a significant defensive side to his game yet, which he will develop in time - and by no measure is he getting the best opposition midfielders on him. I am not doubting his quality at all, it is clear to see for all - but modern footy is not solely about being able to break open a game going forward, as much as that is the most exciting part of it.

And please drop the absolutes like "I have been clear who they are". You do not hold objective truth and your opinion is no more or less valid then the views of anyone else, so don't pretend to present it as fact.

Chad doesnt need a defensive side . He is hard and tackles when he can but its not his job . He is there to break lines and make exciting things happen . Dont waste a talent like his by making him defend .Mills is fantastic at what he does but Chad is on another level . He will be a top 5 player in the comp , his better than Dusty , Petracca etc were at the same age

[i'm-uninformed2]

By the way, do you reckon Chad’s an excitable young fella who’s pretty happy about his spot up to Bud

Oscar on Twitter: "“I @@@@ing kicked it to him” #Buddy1000… "

[Aprilbr]

Chad doesnt need a defensive side . He is hard and tackles when he can but its not his job . He is there to break lines and make exciting things happen . Dont waste a talent like his by making him defend .Mills is fantastic at what he does but Chad is on another level . He will be a top 5 player in the comp , his better than Dusty , Petracca etc were at the same age

Chad was brilliant last night but all players have to be prepared to undertake defensive efforts for the team. If they don't the opposition will try to exploit it eg his opponent running off him into attacking positions. I am sure that our coaching staff are helping him to work on that side of his game.

[monopoly19]

Is there better footage from 7 of the actual goal or are we stuck with the woman’s head? (Not that I don’t love the fan videos, I do)

[TheBloods]

Chad was brilliant last night but all players have to be prepared to undertake defensive efforts for the team. If they don't the opposition will try to exploit it eg his opponent running off him into attacking positions. I am sure that our coaching staff are helping him to work on that side of his game.

He does ! Only 2 swans had more tackles than Chad last night and i know everyone loves pressure acts so much , he had the most on ground !

He gives 100% both ways and knows no other ways , weird to nit pick after such a tremendous performance by him .

[i'm-uninformed2]

Chad doesnt need a defensive side . He is hard and tackles when he can but its not his job . He is there to break lines and make exciting things happen . Dont waste a talent like his by making him defend .Mills is fantastic at what he does but Chad is on another level . He will be a top 5 player in the comp , his better than Dusty , Petracca etc were at the same age

He can be anything and his offensive capability is special. And it’s not a case of trying to turn him into a tagger or strip him of his instinct to break open the play. But he still needs a defensive side. Those two goals he gifted GWS in the final last year showed that.

[Ludwig]

Always interesting BOG considerations. No doubting the fantastic game from Heeney, but Mills as you said chewed up and spat out Dangerfield whole still racking them up himself and doing serious damage.

The awesome part more broadly is there is still so much improvement to come in this team - far, far from the ceiling it can reach.

Assuming we don't get wet toasted by Covid, looking forward to the game against the chuckers on Thursday night. Seriously think it's a huge opportunity to lay down a massive marker for the season, to put an exclamation mark on a very good opening fortnight.



Chad is an amazing talent, but Mills is in my opinion our most important and best midfielder by a fair stretch for mine, and I would say was BOG last night for mine (Heeney will be in the conversation too). He not only took Dangerfield totally out of the game last night, but also racked up 30 on the side. Chad doesn't have a significant defensive side to his game yet, which he will develop in time - and by no measure is he getting the best opposition midfielders on him. I am not doubting his quality at all, it is clear to see for all - but modern footy is not solely about being able to break open a game going forward, as much as that is the most exciting part of it.

And please drop the absolutes like "I have been clear who they are". You do not hold objective truth and your opinion is no more or less valid then the views of anyone else, so don't pretend to present it as fact.

Very good observations and comments at this point in the thread.

Chad was a delight, but as you state, still needs work on his defence. I think it will come in due course. He's a star in the making.

We had a lot of players who made below par contributions, including 2 of the stars of the previous week, Parker and Florent, though both had some good moments.

As a team we made far too many kicking errors resulting in turnovers. We dominated far more that the score suggested. There were too many loose Geelong players running around taking marks inside our defensive 50, and had Geelong kicked straighter, the final score would have been in doubt. .

I wouldn't call Wicks woeful, but his 1st two games haven't been great and his spot in the side is far from secure.

Kennedy was solid enough, but was exposed for speed several times. He is dreadfully slow. It would have been better to have Sheldrick in the side or the VFL side instead of having to sit out the week.

[TheBloods]

He can be anything and his offensive capability is special. And it’s not a case of trying to turn him into a tagger or strip him of his instinct to break open the play. But he still needs a defensive side. Those two goals he gifted GWS in the final last year showed that.

Read above his tackle numbers and pressure acts . I dont think you want to talk about players losing their man

[neilfws]

So, as a TV watcher from afar, keen to get observations from those at the ground on Stephens. Looked very poised, polished and involved, covering a bucket of ground and his kicking looked precision. Didn’t bust the game open like Chad, but that’ll come. Probably his best game so far for mine at least.

I'd agree with all of that from the ground. Played really well last night and I hope they can get a run of games into him now. Overlooking that one terrible turnover

Aside from the main event, just a good all-round team performance again, good defensive work on the key opponents. Cats never really looked threatening. Kennedy had a much better game this week, Lloyd a little rusty at first but kept working and came good. Blakey's bursts are becoming legendary!

One thing I like about this team, they don't panic or drop their heads when it's not going their way, just work their way back into it. I know it's early days but I have a really good feeling about this season.

I've often watched the "Plugger 1300" replays and wondered, what's it like to be there for moments like that. And now I know! Spectacular. Covid concerns...but spectacular!

[neilfws]

Is there better footage from 7 of the actual goal or are we stuck with the woman’s head? (Not that I don’t love the fan videos, I do)

Just watched the replay - reminded me of that moment in the 2012 GF when Malceski kicked the sealer and C7 inexplicably cut to a small group of fans in Sydney. Stellar camera work again.

There's a behind the goals replay here which isn't too bad.

[Thunder Shaker]

By the way, do you reckon Chad’s an excitable young fella who’s pretty happy about his spot up to Bud

Oscar on Twitter: "“I @@@@ing kicked it to him” #Buddy1000… "

[stellation]

So, as a TV watcher from afar, keen to get observations from those at the ground on Stephens. Looked very poised, polished and involved, covering a bucket of ground and his kicking looked precision. Didn’t bust the game open like Chad, but that’ll come. Probably his best game so far for mine at least.

He was the very model of a modern major "gut running on the wing that might not earn you a stat but will get a lot of love from the coaches and his teammate" general.

It was only the second time I've had a chance to see him live, he really does cover a lot of ground out there but I was most impressed with his footy IQ. I was watching him closely in the lead up to Isaac's first goal, he didn't touch the ball in the passage (at about 1:30 in the link below, you can't quite see it from that camera angle but we had a great view of it at the ground) but my reading of his role in the play was;

• Harry has the ball wide in the back half, Geelong are zoning off to eat up space- a Geelong player (I think Dylan's man) is covering an area about 30 metres from Harry along the wing that has Stephens and another Swan
• Dylan starts to move a little wider to create a bit more space between him and the other Swan- the Geelong player mirrors his movement to cover
• Harry kicks to Dane at HBF on the square, Stephens goes even wider and starts to move a little up the ground towards our forward half hugging the boundary line- the Geelong player starts to go with him
• Harry runs on for the handball receive from Dane, he can not only run into space (as the Geelong player has stayed with Dylan) but because Dylan has gone wide he can go along the edge of the square instead of wide, offering up more of the ground upfield for our forwards
• Isaac gets to a marking contest, gets a free and goes back and slots it

Only one play, and again you can't really see it in the footage but at the ground it was quite clear. He read the play and used the space perfectly, and was extremely disciplined. It's not just his athleticism, it's having the brain to know how to put to use- he was constantly moving through the game and either presenting as an option or creating space for his teammates to work in.

https://www.afl.com.au/video/726448/mini-match-sydney-v-geelong?videoId=726448&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1648252800001

[Thunder Shaker]

I wouldn't call Wicks woeful, but his 1st two games haven't been great and his spot in the side is far from secure.

When there are 22 players in a side, someone has to be ranked #22. I'm not sure it would be Wicks though. 13 disposals, 4 marks and 5 tackles.

[rojo]

Very good observations and comments at this point in the thread.

Chad was a delight, but as you state, still needs work on his defence. I think it will come in due course. He's a star in the making.

We had a lot of players who made below par contributions, including 2 of the stars of the previous week, Parker and Florent, though both had some good moments.

As a team we made far too many kicking errors resulting in turnovers. We dominated far more that the score suggested. There were too many loose Geelong players running around taking marks inside our defensive 50, and had Geelong kicked straighter, the final score would have been in doubt.

I wouldn't call Wicks woeful, but his 1st two games haven't been great and his spot in the side is far from secure.

Kennedy was solid enough, but was exposed for speed several times. He is dreadfully slow. It would have been better to have Sheldrick in the side or the VFL side instead of having to sit out the week.

That was a bizarre part of the game! If I had been a Cats' supporter I would have turned the TV off - sometimes that works! So many gettable shots sprayed here there and everywhere except through the goal sticks. It was a bit reminiscent of our last quarter v GWS is the finals last year - how are they missing shot after shot. We would have been in trouble if they had kicked half of them.

But there was something special about the game as it unfolded. You couldn't have bettered it if you had written a script. In hindsight perhaps protection for Buddy could have been better planned but I am not sure how. Have four burley security guards who were elite sprinters to get to Buddy before the mob, planted behind the goals? Announce over the PA before the game certain protocols, such as no one being allowed on the ground until Buddy was protected or a signal given? Or fans going onto the ground allowed to jog only? Probably wouldn't have worked!! It was in fact the spontaneity of what happened that made it so special. Fortunately none of the worst fears of the wet blanket, 'what if'ers'...., as far as we know, were realised. A great game, so worthy of the occasion.