Pre match. Pies v. Cats - All comments please

[Donny]

Friday.

Collingwood v. Geelong

MCG. 7.50

Selected team.

B: Alan Toovey, Nathan Brown, Marley Williams
HB: Tom Langdon, Jack Frost, Tyson Goldsack
C: Adam Oxley, Dane Swan, Jack Crisp
HF: Jamie Elliott, Jesse White, Travis Varcoe
F: Patrick Karnezis, Travis Cloke, Jarryd Blair

Foll: Brodie Grundy, Taylor Adams, Scott Pendlebury

Int: Sam Dwyer, Tony Armstrong, Jarrod Witts, Tim Broomhead

Emg: Jonathon Marsh, Jordan De Goey, Corey Gault

IN: Tony Armstrong, Tim Broomhead, Jarrod Witts
OUT: Jackson Ramsay (shin), Paul Seedsman (glute), Corey Gault (omitted)

Let's hear ya !!

[swoop42]

The cats aren't what they were in terms of talent but unlike Carlton possess the character that made them so great to begin with.

This wont be the walk in the park like last night and they will make us earn any win.

They still have pride in there performance, a splattering of champion players and some decent young talent to make it a tough contest.

[Woods]

Another walk in the Park.

Civil war has broken out in the Geelong club rooms. They are nothing like they were times past.

[MagpiesTheGreat]

Magpies 87 Cats 67

[Piesnchess]

Sheeesh, much too early to contemplate Donny, im still celebrating last nights wonderful victory over the ol bloke an his rabble. ! Hic, hic.

[swoop42]

Out:Gault
In:Witts

Any injuries or change of team balance required then De Goey comes in.

Gault looked somewhat off the pace again for mine in a game we dominated.

I fear what the experienced Geelong defenders will do to him.

Witts appears to have played his best game for the year up against Minson in the VFL.

Up against a Geelong side with Blicavs who covers the ground well and is ever improving and Stanley another mobile type they might be able to take away some of Grundy's dominance at ground level and over work him across the 4 quarters.

Not sure where McIntosh is. Playing VFL, injured?

Playing Witts will allow Grundy more time up forward and this is something I'd be very interested in seeing more of to witness what he can offer.

[Doc63]

Agree with you Swoop. There will be plenty of time for Gault to develop. He will be a handy back-up in the future.

But how the hell are we going to get De Goey in the side? And Sidey & Greenwood as well? Good lord, what's going on???

[swoop42]

Going be reports Marsh played another good game so you can add him to your list going forward.

If Seedsman wasn't to get up from injury could Marsh be a shock inclusion to play off a half back flank and we look to use his speed to break the lines?

This Kersten guy from Geelong playing today is seriously quick so he mightn't be a bad match up actually either.

[MightyMagpie]

Witts in for Gault.

DeGoey, Fas and Marsh emergencies.

Will James Kelly play? https://twitter.com/triplemfooty/status/594389819586818048

[swoop42]

I'd like to see Karnezis given a full game with him and Oxley playing off a HFF.

The cats have a number of tall defensive types but those two players have enough height and footy smarts to be a marking threat inside f50 but also possess the versatility and creativity to drag them further up field and get dangerous with there ball use bringing it forward.

[RudeBoy]

I wandered over to Vic Park and watched the first 3 quarters. Witts played quite well, without ever really getting on top, but he was up against Minson. De Goey got a bit of the ball and had 3 goals until I left. Even he didn't really seem to dominate, but he has that knack of doing the right thing and being in the right place at the right time. Freeman was in and out of the play. Scharenberg did a few nice things and got through the game. Marsh did not do too much while I was there, but apparently had a great last quarter.

The best news (for me at least) was that Young went off injured at half time!!!! I know it's wrong of me, but I just don't want him in our senior team ever again.

All in all, I doubt that any of the VFL players did enough to warrant dropping anyone to make a spot for them, especially as someone will no doubt have to make way for Broomhead. I suspect Dwyer might lose his spot. Against the Cats, Varcoe's spot is certainly safe!

[HAL]

Thanks for the recommendation, RudeBoy.

[swoop42]

Geelong still have a host of quality in that side and there defence is still very strong.

Hard to see White or Gault doing much again and not sure Varcoe has the hard edge to play well against his former side who'll target him.

We'll need a lot of individual goal kickers again as the individuals in our forward line outside of Cloke and Elliott haven't really looked threatening and capable of taking a game apart.

Our forward line still has much improvement left in it and has been the weakest element of our side this season IMO.

I'd like Gault or White out, Witts in, Karnezis to play a full game with De Goey a sneaky chance.

Only young but he's hard at it and has talent as a forward.

[MightyMagpie]

Geelong injuries from the weekend include Kelly (AFL), Smedts (VFL) and possibly McIntosh.

6 day break and slowly improving from a poor start ... not a bad time to come up against them.

[Woods]

Looking at the last five rounds, the Pies' loss to the Crows must be seen as an anomaly - an aberration in an otherwise strong overall performance.

Is it just a coincidence that earlier in the week that we played the Crows the news broke that Thomas and Keefe had been pinged for using a banned PED? Perhaps not. We are a young side that can be easily rattled by such news.

This week we may hear of the next developments in the Thomas/Keefe matter. The 'B' samples have been tested but the results have yet to be announced (perhaps held over by the AFL lest it sully Mick Malthouse's record breaking game).

If news of Thomas and Keefe's 'B' samples does surface this week, we might expect a negative affect on the team's on-field performance.

Apart from that, I don't see this game against Geelong as a serious threat. It won't be a 75 point thrashing like Carlton, but it should be a comfortable win.

Looking further ahead, if Swan and White don't perform better that they did against Carlton there might be spots opening up for some newbies to come in over the next few weeks. We can't afford deadwood up forward. The back line is now rock solid - time to turn attention to the other end of the ground and make some hard, and permanent, decisions up forward.