A Preseason Preview 2006- Part 11 of 16 - Geelong

[pahoffm]

Geelong
The football public have been very patient with Geelong. Bomber took an extremely young group, a few years ago, and doted over them as they matured.
But even Bomber must be carrying a little anxiety over when the side will arrive as genuine premiership contenders.
My thought is that they rushed it at the end of 2004, trading Moloney, a key midfielder, for the outsider Ottens, whom only succeeded in creating disharmony amongst the core.
It was no secret that Geelong were being severely distracted at years end, instead of focussing on a finals series.
Geelong, too, have made no changes to their coaching staff, Thompson, Brendan McCartney, Hinkley, Andy Lovell & Tudor are all there again.
So lets have a look at the list.

Steven King 202 106 27
Brad Ottens 202 104 26
Mark Blake 200 96 20
Matthew McCarthy 198 105 24
Henry Playfair 198 98 23
Trent West 198 90 18 new
Tom Lonergan 197 97 22
Matthew Egan 196 101 23
Nathan Ablett 195 95 20
Cameron Mooney 194 95 26
Kent Kingsley 193 95 27
Sam Hunt 193 91 23 rookie
Matthew Spencer 193 95 21
Tom Harley 192 94 27
Matthew Scarlett 192 95 25
Andrew Mackie 192 82 21
Todd Grima 192 87 19 rookie
Joel Corey 190 86 24
Charlie Gardiner 190 89 23
Darren Milburn 189 89 29
Jarad Rooke 189 87 24
Cameron Ling 189 93 24
Steve Johnson 189 89 22
Stephen Owen 188 80 18 new
Corey Enright 186 90 24
Jim Bartel 186 87 22
Josh Hunt 185 99 24
Paul Koulouriotis 184 88 24
Brent Prismall 184 81 19
Nick Batchelor 184 75 19 rookie
Ryan Gamble 184 75 18 new
Peter Riccardi 183 92 33
James Kelly 183 84 22
Gary Ablett 182 86 22
Will Slade 182 83 22 rookie
Kane Tenace 182 84 20
David Johnson 181 87 24
Tim Callan 181 80 22
David Wojcinski 180 80 26
Tim Sheringham 180 81 19 rookie
Paul Chapman 179 85 24
Travis Varcoe 179 71 18 new
Mathew Stokes 177 80 21
Shannon Byrnes 174 74 22

44 players on the Geelong list, including 1 vet, 4 newies and 5 rookies. Isn't it great to have money?
19 of 44 (43%) are 190cm or more, which is a fair number. Only 2 players in the twilight zone.
They have 21 players, (48%) in the developmental range of 22-24yo. That's a red light to indicate that a premiership is not far away.
Behind that they have 14 of 44 players (32%) are juniors developing. Things are looking good for the Catters.

Twilight = 28+yo
Prime = 25-27yo
Development = 22-24yo
Junior = 18-21yo

<180 Small Runners
Twilight: 0
Prime: 0
Development: Chapman 24, Byrnes 24
Junior: Stokes 21, Varcoe 18

180-184 Smaller Mediums
Twilight: Riccardi 33
Prime: Wojcinski 26
Development: Koulouriotis 24, D.Johnson 24, Kelly 22, G.Ablett 22, Slade 22, Callan 22
Junior: Tenace 20, Prismall 19, Batchelor 19, Sheringham 19, Gamble 18

185-189 Taller Mediums
Twilight: Milburn 29
Prime: 0
Development: Rooke 24, Ling 24, Enright 24, J.Hunt 24, S.Johnson 22, Bartel 22
Junior: Owen 18

190-194 Mobile Key Position
Twilight: 0
Prime: Kingsley 27, Harley 27, Mooney 26, Scarlett 25
Development: Corey 24, S.Hunt 23, Gardiner 23
Junior: Spencer 21, Mackie 21, Grima 19

195-199 Key Position/ Ruck
Twilight: 0
Prime: 0
Development: McCarthy 24, Playfair 23, Egan 23, Lonergan 22
Junior: N.Ablett 20, West 18

200+ Ruck
Twilight: 0
Prime: King 27, Ottens 26
Development: 0
Junior: Blake 20

From the spread, we can see that there are a whole heap of players just hitting that prime group, all at the same time. That's a definite red light that things are about to happen.
The other interesting area is the 195-199cm key positions. Playfair, Egan & Lonergan have all now come out of the junior group, have filled out, and add significant depth to the Catters spine. This is extremely important because this has been their "Achilles heel" for the last few years, and Egan taking over FB will allow Scarlett to play a more attacking role.

Their coverage of positions is as follows:
B: D.Johnson 24 Egan 23 Rooke 24
Wojcinski 26              S.Hunt 23
Sheringham 19


HB: Scarlett 25 Mooney 26 Enright 24
Milburn 29   Harley 27           J.Hunt 24
Slade 22                               Callan 22


C: Corey 24           Kelly 22 Ling 24
Koulouriotis      Prismall 19     Gamble 18
Batchelor 19      


HF: S.Johnson 22 Playfair 23 Riccardi 33
Gardiner 23 Lonergan 22 G.Ablett 22
Owen 18             Spencer 21

F: Ottens 26             Kingsley 27 Byrnes 22
McCarthy 24    N.Ablett 20
Mackie 21             Grima 19


R: King 27 Bartel 22       Chapman 24
Blake 20 Tenace 20 Stokes 21
West 18                 Varcoe 18

So, you can see there is plenty of depth at Geelong. If I had to pick one weak point, it might be that if Kelly goes down there is little to replace him since Moloney went to Melbourne.
In a nutshell, I reckon that Geelong will be in the top 4. They are most likely to be playing in a Grand Final, and are an outside chance for the Flag. Although I still think they might be just one year off. But they're a good chance.

 

[Tigers of Old]

Good report Phantom.
The Cats are my tip for the flag. Regardless of some off field disruption, they almost gave it a shake last year and if it wasn't for Nick Davis, may well have pulled it off.

 

[pahoffm]

Isn't that amazing.
Just when I tip the Catters big jump on the basis of James Kelly staying fit, he immediately fractures his shoulder blade and will be out for a few weeks.

 

[TOT70]

Interesting team, Geelong.

They have had to build their team from nowhere and went with youth. They have been hamstrung by a series of finishes in no man's land between 8-13 during their rebuilding period which prevented them from getting access to the really early picks. They made up for it with a few father-sons, a few trades etc.

They have been through what our side is going through now, with two major differences:

their kids won a VFL Premiership a few years back and ours have shown very little at this stage

they drafted a stack of tall kids early in their rebuild and have kept them around for years, regardless of results (Playfair, Gardiner, McCarthy, Spencer, Blake, Chambers), while we have drafted very few big kids and tended to give up on the ones we had if they didn't set the world on fire immediately (Archibald, Weller, Morrison, Vardy etc).

Thompson seems to be a very protective coach who wants to be close to his players. I'm still not sure if this is a strength or a weakness but he has certainly shown a lot of faith in his players.

I suspect that our side will follow a similar path to Geelong, esp if players like Thursfield, Hughes, Limbach, Pattison, McGuane and Graham are given every opportunity to do well over a couple of years.

One query, though. Why on earth did they need Ottens? They have a truckload of ruckmen and key forwards. All I can think of is panic when they got wind that Ben Graham might be leaving.

 

[pahoffm]

One query, though.  Why on earth did they need Ottens?  They have a truckload of ruckmen and key forwards.  All I can think of is panic when they got wind that Ben Graham might be leaving.

Hole in one, TOT.
Got tempted by a quick fix, and got burnt.

 

[Dyer'ere]

One query, though. Why on earth did they need Ottens? They have a truckload of ruckmen and key forwards. All I can think of is panic when they got wind that Ben Graham might be leaving.

It's not always about what you get right. Bomber has got a bunch of that stuff. It's about what you get wrong (see Adrian Dadoro). Bomber went after JADE RAWLINGS hard. Jade has always been a dud. A leper. Not worth two bob. A boy named "Jade" that backfired. Peter Rohde, Dean Laidley and Mark Thompson set themsleves apart on this score. Just as Gary Ayres et al went after the has-been Wayne Carey. All idiots. Should have been summararily sacked from all recruiting for asking the question.

Maybe they thought they could improve the player- (ergo summararily sacked for stupid arrogance- see Adrian Demetriou).

But Mark got another go at it and chose Brad Ottens. Genius. He just keeps making the right choices on re-cycled players. And all the journos sit silently while he behaves all protective and belligerent about the virile Brad in a press conference. Has anybody got any balls?

 

[TOT70]

But Mark got another go at it and chose Brad Ottens. Genius. He just keeps making the right choices on re-cycled players. And all the journos sit silently while he behaves all protective and belligerent about the virile Brad in a press conference. Has anybody got any balls?

None whatsoever. I'm reminded of the train journey home after Geelong wolloped us in early 2004. It was the game when Ben Graham kicked five or six. A Geelong supporter struck up a conversation with me and we discussed the relative merits of our two coaches (Frawley and Thompson). The Geelong supporter had the final word on the matter when he observed that the best thing about the game from a Tigers perspective was that we could now sack the coach-the win meant that they would be stuck with theirs for a while.

Thompson realy does get a great run form the media.

 

[mk33]

Geelong is an interesting team, no genuine stars or matchwinners but very even team with multiple options in key fwd positions, midfield and flanks and a solid backline.

I see Nathan Ablett playing ff with Kingsley as a pocket or further up the ground. Ottens changing fp into ruck and Playfair working between fwd 50 and centre. Ottens is not a key target up fwd but could still kick 3 and prove a handy pack mark option with Ablett. King can pinch hit and Gardiner/Mackie are handy back ups with Mackie capable of a flank.

Mooney is the wildcard and can play as a roaming fwd/ have a defensive match up/backman ruck or midfield like he did in the final against Melbourne.

Geelong have a good group of midfielderes with Ablett as the only matchwinner/polish on baller/flanker and maybe Kelly. Chapman, Ling, Bartel, Kelly, Enright and Corey are all hard working and all are nearly to a hb/hf/wing spot if need to due to match ups.
Rooke and D.Johnson may also find time in midfield as taggers as Rooke had success there at the end last year. Tenace/Byrnes and Prismall give good depth.

Scarlett, Egan and Harley are good key defensive players, the worry is Harley would not want too many injuries but Egan may allow Scarlett to play CHB depending on match ups. Mooney and Spencer can also help out there as well. Running defenders Milburn , Hunt, Wojcinski and Kouloritios can give good drive and match up well on their opponents well defensively. Depth is also good in the rucks in King, Ottens, Mooney and Blake.

Big opportunity for the Cats this year, have one of the best lists and are not known as flashy but workman like. Will go close this year and need to make the most of it.

Players to watch
Jimmy Bartel - hard nosed midfielder who will get better and has improved his running
Nathan Ablett - if plays all year may kick 40 goals and prove a good tall option
Matthew Egan - allows Scarlett and Mooney to play in better positions

Now or Never
Charlie Gardiner - needs to find himself a postion
Matthew McCrathy - is competing with 5 others for a spot in forward line
Andrew Mackie - as per McCarhy may need to find a flank.