Apparently we need to beat Geelong??

[Mantis]

Something I’ve noticed with Dangerfield this year - he is trying to do a whole lot and is playing really selfish footy. I would kinda lean into putting our defensive time elsewhere.

Does McNeil have it in him to not let Miers get the ball 40-60m from goal?

Wouldn't it be better to get a defender like Bramble or Freijah to do this?

If we are going to continue to play Gallagher, which I'm against he could also be an option.

[bornadog]

My biggest concern is stopping Cameron. In the past we haven't had a player that could match up on him. Gardner failed, Keath Failed, I don't think Buku could go with him. Does Lobb take him on? Old team mates, who know each others game, except Lobb never played back at GWS, but Lobb played along side Cameron, so should know something about how he plays.

[Happy Days]

Wouldn't it be better to get a defender like Bramble or Freijah to do this?

If we are going to continue to play Gallagher, which I'm against he could also be an option.

You’re right. For some reason I confused myself into thinking Miers was getting goal assists kicking into his defensive 50.

I feel like Gallagher has been super ineffective to completely lit up as a tagger whenever we’ve tried it so wouldn’t feel great about it.

[Grantysghost]

My biggest concern is stopping Cameron. In the past we haven't had a player that could match up on him. Gardner failed, Keath Failed, I don't think Buku could go with him. Does Lobb take him on? Old team mates, who know each others game, except Lobb never played back at GWS, but Lobb played along side Cameron, so should know something about how he plays.

I can recall the last game in the match day thread we were all screaming for something to be done as he was playing basically midfield and then floating into the forward gaps in between the lines.

Hopefully we have learnt.

[Bullies]

My biggest concern is stopping Cameron. In the past we haven't had a player that could match up on him. Gardner failed, Keath Failed, I don't think Buku could go with him. Does Lobb take him on? Old team mates, who know each others game, except Lobb never played back at GWS, but Lobb played along side Cameron, so should know something about how he plays.

Just not Buku. Cameron is a clever footballer who goes to where the ball is going to go not to where the ball is. Buku did ok on Curnow but Cameron is a different beast. Buku just can't defend as he gets lost ball watching and has no touch on his opponents. Cameron worked him over the last time we played them. I'm sure Cameron would be hoping Buku plays on him.

[whythelongface]

Important players (for them):

Dangerfield:
- Not what he was but still led the Cats in metres gained last week. Will drive hard with his legs out of clearance which we (and every team to be fair) struggles to handle. Contested ball winner, clearance winner. In theory dangerous when resting forward but reality generally a bit different.

Cameron:
- Gun tall forward who 'seems' most dangerous when starting deep and being given license to run wherever with the goal square as his start and end point. Kicks goals by the bucketful.

Stewart:
- Was a half-back who didn't play on anyone and just took intercept marks. Now is an inside mid who doesn't play on anyone and takes intercept marks. Traditionally our number #1 receiver in games vs Cats.

Holmes:
- Hard running mid. More outside than inside but goes when it's his turn. Excellent transition runner.

Miers:
- Annoying half forward with an annoying kicking style who is really good at one thing - mid-forward connections. Sadly for us, it's quite an important thing. Luckily (for us) it's a skill that is somewhat compromised with the cats more fluid/post Hawkins forward line (though if Rohan keeps planting himself deep that could become a real issue).

That's kind of it. I mean, yeah, they have a nice small forward (Stengle) and a tricky half-forward match-up (Dempsey) but their backs are workmanlike - they get the job done through game-plan (Chris Scott creates a plus one and they have a disciplined and effective though bordering on illegal seal and support style system) and well, that's kind of it.

They are set up to kick 12-14 goals every game and restrict the oppo to around abouts 8-10...like I said, they do it through system in the mids/behind the ball with talent leading the way inside forward half. The decline (and now absence) of Hawkins has compromised this method...I am guessing they are hoping Rohan together with a young tall like Neale can generate 2-3 goals per game and right the ship - it certainly worked against Collingwood last week and Essendon the week before, but they couldn't deal with Carlton's mids the week before and whilst they still probably scored ENOUGH vs the Blues for their usual plan to 'work', Carlton had nearly 60 inside 50's and were able to isolate and overwhelm the Geelong backs.

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So. There is a clear 'method' to beat Geelong and in many ways we executed that method very well way back in gather round (round 4)...we dominated clearance that night and - despite the final numbers - 'mostly' dominated inside 50's. Sadly in q3 we let ourselves down and the Cat's kicked 6 goals...that should NEVER have happened and ultimately despite our strong last quarter we couldn't quite get it done. What's the method:

Own the mids:
- Geelong aren't strong in this area and are kind of set up to 'break even'. To beat them, win clearance, win hard ball and win the loose ball.

Own the footy:
- Geelong at their best get out to a quick 2-3 goal lead then defend with the footy/own possession for large tracts of the game. They are confident/competent with ball in hand and don't panic when sharing the ball around (unlike so many other sides). Don't let them do this - and in contrast, it is important to find hit-ups through the corridor and 'pull them apart' defensively to break their seal and support system.

360-degree forwards:
- Geelong will 100% come forward to defend with the fatside players sliding behind the defensive group to provide support (this is kind of a contrast to Carlton in terms of defensive system). Forwards need to be active - fishing both horizontally and vertically AND continually changing positions (deepest to highest, highest to deepest) with the ball in transition to disrupt those defensive patterns. Honestly? I think this is almost a bridge too far for Jamarra who seems to want a 'set' reference point and I'm not sure this is a game for him at his current stage of development...Darcy breaks systems by taking catches with his go-go-Gadget arms and Naughton (if he plays) does the same by jumping on heads and generally crashing into people...

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What do we need to do NOW we didn't do in Round 5?
- I've kinda been all over the place in what I've written so far (sorry) but it's been more stream of consciousness than an actual preview. But the #1 thing is we have got to share the load. Last time we had the 3x leading possession winners on the ground (you know who) but only 6 of the leading 17...that's quite frankly unacceptable and the total lack of drive from behind the footy - pretty quiet nights for Dale, JJ, Bramble, Duryea et al - really told as the game went along. Join in boys.

Outside of that, I can't see how we win if we don't win the inside 50-count by at least 10 (that's only 2.5 entries per quarter and we should get that many out of winning at the stop) - we just HAVE to get multiple chances against this defensive system - and it goes without saying that our small forwards need to get to work with chase/tackle/intercept pressure...I would play West, Weightman, VDM and McNeil and try and get them wound up into a bit of a frenzy before the game - even risking a couple of free kicks/50m penalties by just being a bit over the top aggressive...those backs - outside of Toohey who swings a bit from one-end to the other these days - are not great kicks and need to be put under serious heat.

What else? Not much. Defenders defend - be measured with the footy until half-way then break at speed (no stupid goals from defensive half turnovers vs these guys - they are too hard to score against to take chances like that) and our mid group go to work and take them apart...we have a serious midfield advantage on talent alone and we need those guys to take a toll on some pretty average players in the Geelong centre square gang.

Think we just about did all the things you stated mjp. The most telling statistic was inside 50s - we won that by 22 (61-38). That is hugely dominant. Final score flattered the Cats.