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St Kilda v Western Bulldogs
I reckon it might be about time the Saints dropped a game.
The Bullies have been quietly going about their business while the spotlight has been on St Kilda and Geelong. You can't fault their form over the last 10 games. They've only lost two games – to the Cats, which they should have won after the siren, and against Collingwood, which they lost by just the one point.
You take Justin Koschitzke out of the Saints' forward line and I reckon that makes it a fair bit harder for Nick Riewoldt to get his hands on the ball, especially coming up against Brian Lake who is in career-best form.
You wouldn't have thought Riewoldt will be able to get away from him too much, which might not have been the case if the Dogs' defenders had to worry about Kosi as well.
Through the middle blokes like Leigh Montagna and Nick Dal Santo have been getting possessions at will, but they'll find the going a bit tougher lined up against Daniel Cross and Matthew Boyd.
The main worry for the Dogs is St Kilda's ability to strangle an opponent. I think the Bullies do struggle against ultra-defensive teams. They like teams to take them on, but you do that at your own peril and if the Saints' defensive pressure is as good as it's been for most of the year it will make life hard for the Dogs.
But I think having ground out 17 wins in a row the Saints have got to be starting to feel a bit sore and the Dogs are very healthy and have a point to prove.
This is the week where they can stand up and say "we are genuine premiership contenders".
Everyone's basing it on the fact that We played Geelong then at Subi, although last week seemed a bit easier... But on the flip-side, the Dogs have played two games decided by very little over the past month - you would expect that close games are the most gruelling... so really, i would expect both teams walk onto the ground on very level peggings...
All that high fiving team mates will certainly make you tired. Not to mention belting out the team song for sixteen weeks in a row. Imagine the damage that has done to their larynxes.
This makes me nervous......there are different approaches
Next time we'll have a Plan B
Scott Gullan | July 25, 2009 12:00am
"You just can't win that many in a row. It's not healthy." THOSE were the words of a Geelong official less than an hour after last year's Grand Final loss.
The Cats had won 15 straight coming into the last day in September, but there was a nagging thought within the inner sanctum that they'd gone over the top.
There was a suspicion the players' form had plateaued and even started heading in the wrong direction during the finals campaign.
Many will point out that if Cameron Mooney and others had kicked straight in the first half of the Grand Final, then the form issue would have been irrelevant.
That's true, but in the post mortem of the heartbreaking loss, the consensus at Skilled Stadium was that a different approach was required.
So while the football world is beginning to have its doubts about the Cats following an uncertain month, the people in charge couldn't be happier.
Brad Ottens' injury battle is the only legitimate concern, but all the other stuff the critics are lining up to lob at the 2007 premier isn't even registering.
Leigh Matthews is the latest to question the state of the Cats. The three-time Brisbane Lions premiership coach has suggested there is a whiff of Essendon 2001 about them.
"I still think all things being equal, their whole list being fit . . . I still think they're the best team," Matthews said on 3AW last night.
"But I still think they remind me a little bit of Essendon as we got towards the end of 2001. (The Bombers) dominated '99, dominated 2000, dominated most of 2001, but just got a bit wounded towards the end."
The Cats have a plan, born out of last year's loss, and they're sticking to it.
Having all the talk of streaks, which has been with them for the past two years, transferred to the undefeated St Kilda is seen as a huge plus.
"It is not a bad thing," Geelong coach Mark Thompson admitted this week.
A lot of criticism following the Grand Final loss centred around Geelong's lack of a Plan B when its tried and true formula came under pressure.
The Cats have quietly been tinkering away with structures and personnel to ensure they're better prepared next time. New faces in the team and old faces in different roles have been common.
There were several examples on show in last Saturday's game against Melbourne. The most obvious was the decision to drop Mark Blake and have a look at young forward Tom Hawkins in the ruck.
The Cats had noticed a trend of teams going with only one recognised ruckman which then allowed another midfield runner to come into the team.
Dropping the out-of-form Blake meant they could see if inexperienced Shane Mumford was up to the task of carrying the load while it also helped release the shackles for Hawkins, who found himself being weighed down by high expectations in the goalsquare.
The result was a win-win. Mumford showed he was capable, Hawkins showed some spark and the coaches saw that if Ottens doesn't come up then they have options.
That's the buzzword at Geelong -- options.
And that's why All-Australian midfielder Joel Corey found himself playing at centre half-back on Melbourne's most dangerous forward, Matthew Bate.
That's why regular defender Andrew Mackie found himself on a wing.
And youngster Simon Hogan, and the forgotten Kane Tenace, both had extended time in the midfield.
Other subtle changes that have been tried this year include Brownlow medallist Jimmy Bartel as a half-back flanker, Mumford being used as a key defender and veteran Darren Milburn switching ends and playing at half-forward.
The injury to Josh Hunt has resulted in midfielder James Kelly being groomed as a defender, with his job on St Kilda's Stephen Milne a stunning success.
Goalsneaks Shannon Byrnes, Travis Varcoe and Mathew Stokes have also been played regularly in the same team, something that didn't happen last year.
And a fit Paul Chapman, which wasn't the case in '08, has spent significantly more minutes in the midfield and at centre bounces.
All of these moves, along with the controversial "resting" of some big names against Brisbane, have been geared towards being better prepared in September.
That move of pulling out seven players for the game at the Gabba, six days after the biggest game of the season against the Saints, will reap the Cats dividends in two months.
Under last year's thinking at least half, maybe more, of those players would have lined up. The '09 philosophy had them out and gaining valuable mid-season rest as part of the grand plan to be at the peak of their powers when it matters.
Last year six Cats played every game -- Bartel, Blake, Corey, Corey Enright, Tom Harley and Steve Johnson -- and four others missed only one or two games.
This season only Joel Selwood and Enright have been present every week. It is a clear change in strategy.
The Cats have learned from the error of their ways. They took at least three unfit players into last year's Grand Final -- Chapman, Stokes and Kelly -- and were caught out.
Thompson has already flagged that won't be the case this year, in particular with how they will deal with Ottens.
"We don't know (what will happen with Ottens). He'll play but whether he can play reasonable footy is concerning," the Cats coach said. "I won't be taking him into any game or any player into a final if we don't think they can play well in a final."
As the Cats found out the hard way, sometimes going in with what has done the job week in week out can come undone at the end.
They are aware that what the critics are analysing with a magnifying glass right now doesn't look top notch, particularly when placed next to St Kilda's unbelievable level of performance.
But Geelong has been there and done that. It was in St Kilda's position last year, it was the team flying in July and August.
Remember, the team that got it on the biggest stage, Hawthorn, lost by almost five goals to Richmond in Round 20.
Thompson said the new philosophy was aimed at trying to keep up with the evolution of the game.
"You try to predict at the start of the year what is going to happen in footy," he said.
"We thought that the zoning would be more predominant, and it was earlier in the year, but teams are really getting through it and now it is more man-to-man.
"You try to stay with them, you try to get in front of the pack and try to look at what works for other teams and see whether we can put that into our game.
"We have experimented a lot with stoppages all year, our set-ups and structures and what works for us. I think from this point on we are going to try to settle it down."
In many respects, the Cats' season starts now. And they couldn't be happier.
St Kilda v Western Bulldogs
I reckon it might be about time the Saints dropped a game.
The Bullies have been quietly going about their business while the spotlight has been on St Kilda and Geelong. You can't fault their form over the last 10 games. They've only lost two games – to the Cats, which they should have won after the siren, and against Collingwood, which they lost by just the one point.
You take Justin Koschitzke out of the Saints' forward line and I reckon that makes it a fair bit harder for Nick Riewoldt to get his hands on the ball, especially coming up against Brian Lake who is in career-best form.
You wouldn't have thought Riewoldt will be able to get away from him too much, which might not have been the case if the Dogs' defenders had to worry about Kosi as well.
Through the middle blokes like Leigh Montagna and Nick Dal Santo have been getting possessions at will, but they'll find the going a bit tougher lined up against Daniel Cross and Matthew Boyd.
The main worry for the Dogs is St Kilda's ability to strangle an opponent. I think the Bullies do struggle against ultra-defensive teams. They like teams to take them on, but you do that at your own peril and if the Saints' defensive pressure is as good as it's been for most of the year it will make life hard for the Dogs. But I think having ground out 17 wins in a row the Saints have got to be starting to feel a bit sore and the Dogs are very healthy and have a point to prove.
This is the week where they can stand up and say "we are genuine premiership contenders".
