dog town
18-08-2009, 10:38 PM
This game promises to be one of the best games of the season. The cats will be desperate to make a statement and win back some much needed aura and momentum before the finals. We simply have to win to make sure we get the double chance.
Recent Form: Both teams have been below strength and struggled to get up for games. The feeling is that both tams are now on the up though.
Last Time:Last time was as even as it comes. Brad Johnson missed a shot after the siren handing the cats victory. Both teams were missing several key players. Ottens and Mooney missed for the cats while Hargrave and Murphy missed for the dogs.
How we can beat them:
Relentless pressure: Any side that beats Geelong does it by winning the ball back off them through overwhelming pressure.The cats will back themselves to move the ball in numbers through the middle of the ground. It is perhaps the greatest strength they possess but it can be turned against them. It is a style that relies on extreme confidence in each other to support and execute, maybe just maybe that confidence and trust in that style is starting to fade. We need to hit them hard early and keep that doubt strong in there minds. If they overuse the ball once they need to be made to pay for it otherwise the confidence that has evaporated will return quickly given they are returning to full strength now. The other bonus to getting this part of our game right is that we can attack quickly and catch the cats defenders one out. When they turn it over they can often be out of position.
Hit targets inside 50: Everyone knows how well the cats defenders read the play and support each other. It is brilliant to watch but good kicking sides can pick holes in that type of set up. They will finally get something close to there best back 6 up and running this week. They work really well as a unit but we have started to find a way through them over our last 2 encounters. The key is obviously to keep our forwards one out as much as possible. The best way of doing this is to lead at angles and for the player kicking inside 50 to receive on angles which pretty much tells our guys where to lead. If we hesitate and allow them to close us down they will pick us off. Johnson, Higgins,Welsh and co will be the main targets inside 50. Murphy is a huge key for us leading up because he effectively gives us a man to work our attacks off. He will lad up creating space behind him and then hopefull either he or a receiving player can spot up a target. Had Murphy been physically capable of kicking (effectively) in last years preliminary final it is my belief we would have made the grand final. If David Johnson goes to Aker than I would push him deep. I dont think he feels comfortable on Aker when he cant keep him in traffic.
The cats put a lot of faith in Harry Taylor and he has done well for them. That said I think he is vulnerable against our mobile forward line. If he goes to Brad Johnson or Murphy or whoever we need to get them one out opportunities against him. Scarlett will likely be freed up on a Welsh or Minson so they will largely try and pull him deep. Mackie is the general for the cats and calls the shots in the back half. He is good in the contest but runs a direct line down the ground as well. The cats will often sweep the ball wide to him running off half back. His run from behind needs to be cut off.
If we cant find the one out target then we have to be prepared to scrap goals. In a couple of games against strong opposition we have looked like we havent had the stomach for a scrap inside 50. I would like to see us get more goals from entries that are less than perfect.
Expose the cats forward line: This is where we will win the game. We basically want a replay of the preliminary final in this area. We shut down the main smalls in Johnson and Chapman, kept Mooney up the ground while Lake made his opponents look silly inside defensive 50 giving us enormous impetus on the rebound. We can repeat this on friday night. I think Hargrave will take Johnson when forward. He has the runs on the board and Morris will be required elsewhere. Johnson runs very hard and gets most of his goals running back towards goal. Morris will play on Mooney in what is an unbelievably important match up. Mooney is the only player in the side who genuinely leads up and presents hard at the ball.
Most of there forwards Johnson, Stokes, Byrnes, Varcoe, Rooke are all players who either like it kicked long over the top or get a lot of ball running at there own goal from front and square balls/handballs/kicks to space. If Chapman plays forward it throws out our balance a little bit. Gilbee may be forced to take a better player than we would like but IMO keeping Lake on Hawkins/Lonergan or whoever they play deep is a big plus for us. Even if Mooney goes deep I have no problem with Lake going to him. Personally I would bring Callan. I would have faith in him to play on guys like Rooke or Chapman if he had to. We want Harbrow to continue taking the game on but he needs to be wary that the cats think they can expose him. He will be very important if he can maintain his run while also stopping the likes of Stokes and Byrnes.
Win the stoppages: We murdered them at the stoppages last time. Ottens didnt play and we had one of our best centre bounce performances for the year. We can repeat the dose even if Ottens plays. We are well organised in the middle and cover our zones well. We have a step of speed on them in and around the bounces and hopefully if Minson and Hudson fire we will get first hands on the ball. We are better drilled in this area IMO even if they are better man for man.
How they can beat us:
Tag Cooney: I think we can mark it down that Cooney will be tagged. With Griffen out Cooney is the main threat to the cats in the middle. He broke away from stoppages last week and that would concern the cats. They have a good record against Cooney and I think it looms as a win for them if Ling shuts him down. Hope I am wrong.
Expose our defenders: Earlier in the year they were really good at turning our defenders around and isolating the likes of Harbrow and Tiller (think it was him) deep. I recall Stokes in particular got hold of Harbrow earlier in the game and took some marks on him. They come at you a different way to some teams and can break out of the congestion so quickly that they can easily get 10 meters goal side of you if you are not careful.
Pure Midfield Brilliance: I think more than ever they are starting to fall back and rely on the brilliance of Ablett, Bartel and Selwood. I dont think we will tag any one player for the entire game. Picken can go with any of those 3 and I think they are all important in ways. I think we will do a bit of mixing and matching but Boyd, Cooney and co have to match them. They still have the strongest onball division man for man in the competition IMO. I think with Cross and Griffen out Picken might have to be released to win a bit more footy. Ward becomes more important as well.
I dont think we can stop Ablett with any individual tagger. This week is about team defense for us. We just need to make him kick and not allow the cats runners to sting long groups of handballs together. The cats will certainly back themselves to punch holes through our zone given what we have put up of late.
David Johnson will probably go to Aker if he stays in the side. He has done the job many times but struggles a little more when he has to play deep. I would have looked to bring Aker into the midfield mix this week but I think they may struggle for a match up on him.
Amazing backline: As pointed out earlier they are brilliant down back. They cut off leads, mark the ball and generally help each other out at all times. Scarlett will get freed up if they can manufacture it and he will try and set up attacks much like Lake for us. Scarlett plays the Maxfield role pretty well and its something we dont cope with unless we are switched right on. They do have weaker links in that set up though if we are good enough to expose them.
Look for the cats to try and make a statement in this game. They are starting to get players back and nothing but our a game will get us the points. Scoreboard pressure is most important against the cats. They hate the game being alive it stops them from playing with instinct and causes them to second guess some of the things they are doing. If we get them doing that then we have them.
Recent Form: Both teams have been below strength and struggled to get up for games. The feeling is that both tams are now on the up though.
Last Time:Last time was as even as it comes. Brad Johnson missed a shot after the siren handing the cats victory. Both teams were missing several key players. Ottens and Mooney missed for the cats while Hargrave and Murphy missed for the dogs.
How we can beat them:
Relentless pressure: Any side that beats Geelong does it by winning the ball back off them through overwhelming pressure.The cats will back themselves to move the ball in numbers through the middle of the ground. It is perhaps the greatest strength they possess but it can be turned against them. It is a style that relies on extreme confidence in each other to support and execute, maybe just maybe that confidence and trust in that style is starting to fade. We need to hit them hard early and keep that doubt strong in there minds. If they overuse the ball once they need to be made to pay for it otherwise the confidence that has evaporated will return quickly given they are returning to full strength now. The other bonus to getting this part of our game right is that we can attack quickly and catch the cats defenders one out. When they turn it over they can often be out of position.
Hit targets inside 50: Everyone knows how well the cats defenders read the play and support each other. It is brilliant to watch but good kicking sides can pick holes in that type of set up. They will finally get something close to there best back 6 up and running this week. They work really well as a unit but we have started to find a way through them over our last 2 encounters. The key is obviously to keep our forwards one out as much as possible. The best way of doing this is to lead at angles and for the player kicking inside 50 to receive on angles which pretty much tells our guys where to lead. If we hesitate and allow them to close us down they will pick us off. Johnson, Higgins,Welsh and co will be the main targets inside 50. Murphy is a huge key for us leading up because he effectively gives us a man to work our attacks off. He will lad up creating space behind him and then hopefull either he or a receiving player can spot up a target. Had Murphy been physically capable of kicking (effectively) in last years preliminary final it is my belief we would have made the grand final. If David Johnson goes to Aker than I would push him deep. I dont think he feels comfortable on Aker when he cant keep him in traffic.
The cats put a lot of faith in Harry Taylor and he has done well for them. That said I think he is vulnerable against our mobile forward line. If he goes to Brad Johnson or Murphy or whoever we need to get them one out opportunities against him. Scarlett will likely be freed up on a Welsh or Minson so they will largely try and pull him deep. Mackie is the general for the cats and calls the shots in the back half. He is good in the contest but runs a direct line down the ground as well. The cats will often sweep the ball wide to him running off half back. His run from behind needs to be cut off.
If we cant find the one out target then we have to be prepared to scrap goals. In a couple of games against strong opposition we have looked like we havent had the stomach for a scrap inside 50. I would like to see us get more goals from entries that are less than perfect.
Expose the cats forward line: This is where we will win the game. We basically want a replay of the preliminary final in this area. We shut down the main smalls in Johnson and Chapman, kept Mooney up the ground while Lake made his opponents look silly inside defensive 50 giving us enormous impetus on the rebound. We can repeat this on friday night. I think Hargrave will take Johnson when forward. He has the runs on the board and Morris will be required elsewhere. Johnson runs very hard and gets most of his goals running back towards goal. Morris will play on Mooney in what is an unbelievably important match up. Mooney is the only player in the side who genuinely leads up and presents hard at the ball.
Most of there forwards Johnson, Stokes, Byrnes, Varcoe, Rooke are all players who either like it kicked long over the top or get a lot of ball running at there own goal from front and square balls/handballs/kicks to space. If Chapman plays forward it throws out our balance a little bit. Gilbee may be forced to take a better player than we would like but IMO keeping Lake on Hawkins/Lonergan or whoever they play deep is a big plus for us. Even if Mooney goes deep I have no problem with Lake going to him. Personally I would bring Callan. I would have faith in him to play on guys like Rooke or Chapman if he had to. We want Harbrow to continue taking the game on but he needs to be wary that the cats think they can expose him. He will be very important if he can maintain his run while also stopping the likes of Stokes and Byrnes.
Win the stoppages: We murdered them at the stoppages last time. Ottens didnt play and we had one of our best centre bounce performances for the year. We can repeat the dose even if Ottens plays. We are well organised in the middle and cover our zones well. We have a step of speed on them in and around the bounces and hopefully if Minson and Hudson fire we will get first hands on the ball. We are better drilled in this area IMO even if they are better man for man.
How they can beat us:
Tag Cooney: I think we can mark it down that Cooney will be tagged. With Griffen out Cooney is the main threat to the cats in the middle. He broke away from stoppages last week and that would concern the cats. They have a good record against Cooney and I think it looms as a win for them if Ling shuts him down. Hope I am wrong.
Expose our defenders: Earlier in the year they were really good at turning our defenders around and isolating the likes of Harbrow and Tiller (think it was him) deep. I recall Stokes in particular got hold of Harbrow earlier in the game and took some marks on him. They come at you a different way to some teams and can break out of the congestion so quickly that they can easily get 10 meters goal side of you if you are not careful.
Pure Midfield Brilliance: I think more than ever they are starting to fall back and rely on the brilliance of Ablett, Bartel and Selwood. I dont think we will tag any one player for the entire game. Picken can go with any of those 3 and I think they are all important in ways. I think we will do a bit of mixing and matching but Boyd, Cooney and co have to match them. They still have the strongest onball division man for man in the competition IMO. I think with Cross and Griffen out Picken might have to be released to win a bit more footy. Ward becomes more important as well.
I dont think we can stop Ablett with any individual tagger. This week is about team defense for us. We just need to make him kick and not allow the cats runners to sting long groups of handballs together. The cats will certainly back themselves to punch holes through our zone given what we have put up of late.
David Johnson will probably go to Aker if he stays in the side. He has done the job many times but struggles a little more when he has to play deep. I would have looked to bring Aker into the midfield mix this week but I think they may struggle for a match up on him.
Amazing backline: As pointed out earlier they are brilliant down back. They cut off leads, mark the ball and generally help each other out at all times. Scarlett will get freed up if they can manufacture it and he will try and set up attacks much like Lake for us. Scarlett plays the Maxfield role pretty well and its something we dont cope with unless we are switched right on. They do have weaker links in that set up though if we are good enough to expose them.
Look for the cats to try and make a statement in this game. They are starting to get players back and nothing but our a game will get us the points. Scoreboard pressure is most important against the cats. They hate the game being alive it stops them from playing with instinct and causes them to second guess some of the things they are doing. If we get them doing that then we have them.