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July 28, 2006
Cats in Court
The disagreement between the club & former fitness trainer Loris Bertolacci looks like it will be settled in the court room:
The ugly stand-off between Geelong and its sacked fitness coach is headed for the courts, with lawyers representing Loris Bertolacci yesterday lodging unfair dismissal documents with the County Court.A statement of claim registered with the court is seeking a $200,000 settlement and could lead to a messy legal brawl.
Highly controversial allegations have been levelled by both parties, some involving the private lives of individuals still employed by Geelong.
Bertolacci's representative David Shaw, a partner with Holding Redlich, said events leading to the sacking in April were pertinent to the claim.
"The claim relates to the circumstances immediately leading up to the termination of his employment, but it may be that things which have occurred in the past would, in the running of the case, come out," Shaw said.
"Because all of the things that happened in the past created a context in which the termination occurred."
Shaw said the club had no right to sack Bertolacci, who he claimed was contracted to the end of 2007.
"Loris is claiming in excess of $200,000, that being the balance of the money owing on his contract," Shaw said. "Loris's contract has a provision in there that requires he not be terminated unfairly, and we are saying his termination was unfair.
"That means a breach of contract and when you have a breach of contract you are entitled to damages."
Retired Hawthorn footballer Nick Holland has been assisting Shaw with the Bertolacci case, having recently completed a law degree.
The lodgment of the statement of claim will be processed by the County Court before being served on Geelong.
Cats chief executive Brian Cook could not be contacted last night.
Both parties are legally required to try to resolve the matter via mediation, but if that fails, it heads to the courts.
"We wouldn't issue the proceedings if we didn't think it was a serious claim," Shaw said. "Loris is determined to follow it all the way through if necessary."
Bertolacci would not comment yesterday, but in June claimed he was not to blame for Geelong's fitness problems in the first half of the season.
He said Cats coach Mark Thompson adversely interfered with the pre-season program and the workloads of players Kent Kingsley and Steven King were the subjects of regular clashes.
"I don't think Geelong would seriously say in court that his performance as a fitness adviser was the cause of the lack of form of the club earlier in the season," Shaw said.
"Loris always acted in the best interests of his players and that is always what motivated his actions."
Bertolacci this month joined the Bulldogs as a consultant.
Posted by Sammy D at 01:16 PM | Comments (0)
Cats Keep Dream Alive
Due to reasons unknown to the Kolonel & I the blog has been down all week, but it seems administration have eventually sorted things out so thank you to them.
So this will probably be a pretty dodgy match report seeing it is getting typed up on the Friday after the game, but anyways...
For once getting to the game was a luxury as my mate decided to drive up to the TD seeing he gets free petrol instead of catching the dreaded train which we've both had enough of. The only downside of this involved putting up with Dougie Hawkins for about an hour but it still beats the train.
It was heritage round but for once there was little difference. We seemed to be wearing reverse socks, as in the white & blue hoops were swapped, which didn't make much difference as Kingy was the only one wearing them up. The Bulldogs meanwhile looked great in their guernsey that I associated with them while growing up. I personally thing they should keep it, but they won't so that's the end of that.
From memory we started pretty poorly. Gazza set us alight very early which made me think he was getting set for a huge game, then he was run down by Griffin for a holding the ball, and gave away the ball with an errant handball and from there he drifted out of the game.
The game was littered with disposal errors & mistakes but when goals were kicked they seemed to be of very high quality. Dog Johnson kicked some rippers, while ex-Lion Travis Baird & Brad Johnson were kicking their fair share at the other end.
By about midway through the 2nd quarter the Bulldogs had kicked away to a deserved 23 point lead and we looked like we were fading fast. Then came for me, the turning point in the match. We were able to kick 2-3 quick ones to bring the margin back to around a goal before a controversial non-decision was given in a our forward pocket. While Geelong fans were up in arms complaining why we shouldn't be having a kick for goal to square the game up, the Bulldogs did their thing where they run down the ground in about 10 seconds with none of our players getting near them and kicking an easy goal. I thought this might break our resistence somewhat, but Chappy kicked a goal from a set shot after the half time siren to get us back to that 1 goal margin.
You could tell the players were fired up by the way they ran to Chappy after he had kicked the goal. A small characteristic that I feel that we lacked in the past in some instances. I'll never forget one game against Melbourne about 3-4 years ago but it's not time to get into that. So it was great to go into half time with the momentum.
The third quarter which included Matty Egan getting forward and kicking the first goal of his career set up an exciting last quarter as teams went into the last break level.
We got out of the blocks quicker than the Doggies in the last kicking the first two goals of the quarter through Ottens & Corey only for the Dogs to answer back through Gilbee & Grant. With 90 seconds to go and the ball on the wing Joel Corey went up in the ruck contest as the third man and hit the ball down the field into the path of the running Jarad Rooke who found the diving Ottens about 40m out on a bit of angle.
Despite the roars of the Geelong members on the opposite side of the ground after Ottens kicked it was clearly a behind, whether they were celebrating this fact I do not know, however Geelong managed to hold on for a memorable victory revenging the 1 point loss to the Western Bulldogs earlier in the season.
Brad Johnson was probably the best player on the ground as he kicked 5 goals and got numerous possessions around the ground leading Tommy Harley a merry dance. Thompsons stubborness to move Harley off Johnson almost cost us the match. Ling put the clamps on West, as did Rooke on Cooney. Rooke also had a super 2nd half providing lots of run. Scarlett was a loose man back all day and had an amazing 34 possessions, but he could have been more damaging. Ottens had a much improved 2nd half after a diabolical first, he really provided a target up forward and it was good to see Thompson stop moving him into the ruck when Kingy needed a rest as we needed him up forward. Other good players included Chappy, Hunt, The Coreys, Steve Johnson while Mackie & Kelly got a lot of the ball but seemed to turn it over a whole lot.
GEELONG: 2.3 7.4 11.8 13.12 (90)
WESTERN BULLDOGS: 4.2 8.3 11.8 13.11 (89)
GOALS – Geelong: Chapman 3, S Johnson 2, Ottens 2, Kelly, Egan, McCarthy, Rooke, Ling, Corey
Bulldogs: Johnson 5, Baird 2, Gilbee 2, McMahon, Robbins, Harris, Grant
INJURIES – Geelong: Nil Bulldogs: Nil
CHANGES – Nil.
UMPIRES: Stevic, McLaren, Chamberlain
REPORTS - Nil
CROWD - 39,417 at Telstra Dome
Geelongblog.com Player of the Year
5. Cameron Ling
4. Paul Chapman
3. Jarad Rooke
2. Matthew Scarlett
1. Brad Ottens
Leaderboard
32 - Gary Ablett
30 - Paul Chapman
24 - Darren Milburn
24 - Joel Corey
20 - Jimmy Bartel
18 - Cameron Mooney
15 - Jarad Rooke
14 - Brad Ottens
13 - Cameron Ling
10 - Corey Enright
5 - Kent Kingsley
5 - Matthew Scarlett
4 - Josh Hunt
4 - Matthew Stokes
4 - Steven King
1 - David Wojcinski
1 - Shannon Byrnes
1 - Tom Harley
Posted by Sammy D at 12:03 PM | Comments (3)
July 22, 2006
Geelong Vs. Western Bulldogs
WHERE & WHEN: Telstra Dome, 2:10pm (AEST), Sunday, July 23
TV & RADIO: Channel 9 (Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane), Fox Footy (Perth), 3AW, Triple M (Melbourne), K-Rock
HEAD TO HEAD: Geelong 85, Western Bulldogs 53, 2 Draws.
LAST TIME: Western Bulldogs 14.14 (98) bt Geelong 14.13 (97), Telstra Dome, Round 4, 2006.
TAB Sportsbet: Geelong $1.65, Western Bulldogs $2.10
GEELONG v WESTERN BULLDOGS
Sunday, 2:10pm AEST, Telstra Dome
GEELONG
B: Harley, Scarlett, J.Hunt
HB: Rooke, Milburn, Egan
C: Enright, Bartel, Wojcinski
HF: G.Ablett, Playfair, Stokes
F: Ottens, McCarthy, Chapman
FOLL: King, Corey, Ling
I/C: Mackie, D.Johnson, S.Johnson, Kelly
IN: Kelly, S.Johnson, Playfair,
OUT: Mooney (suspension), Prismall, Tenace
EM: Riccardi, Prismall, Tenace
WESTERN BULLDOGS
B: McMahon, Harris, Morris
HB: Griffen, Hargrave, Gilbee
C: Eagleton, S.West, Ray
HF: Boyd, Johnson, Smith
F: Robbins, Grant, McCormack
FOLL: Street, Cross, Cooney
I/C: Power, Minson, Baird, Wight
IN: Baird, Wight
OUT: Giansiracusa (hamstring), Montgomery (calf)
EM: Addison, Faulkner, McGuinness,
NEW: Travis Baird (Brisbane Lions)
Field umpires: Stevic, McLaren, Chamberlain
Playfair comes in for the suspended Mooney, while Steve Johnson & Kelly come in for the omitted Tenace & Prismall. Don't really see the logic in dropping some quick midfielders against the speedy bulldogs but time shall tell I guess.
If there was ever a time to beat the Bulldogs it should be now with their horrorific injury list, but I can never go into a game confident against the 'Sons of the West'. Firstly they have a list of players who traditionally eat us for dinner; Brad Johnson, Scott West, Rohan Smith...then there is all the poor performances against them in the recent past when they were supposedly worse than us.
Call it pessimism, call it what you will but I expect us to lose this game. I cant see us doing much up forward without Mooney who has been holding it together the last few weeks and despite the fact we've won 4 of our last 5, none of which have been entirely impressive. Maybe the finals charade will end tomorrow...
Prediction: Bulldogs by 18 points
Posted by Sammy D at 09:31 PM | Comments (0)
Cats Off To Visit The Queen
The AFL has announced Geelong will meet Port Adelaide in the annual Challenge Trophy match to be played at Brit Oval in London later this year.The match – which is always popular within the expatriate community in London – will take place on October 21 after cricket has finished for the year, with the Surrey County Cricket Club confirming arrangements this week.
The traditional clash between two AFL clubs has been running since the 1980s, and this year's offering will see Port Adelaide feature in its first overseas match and Geelong playing in London for the first time after matches in the US and Canada between 1988-91.
AFL Football Operations Manager Adrian Anderson said the AFL was more than happy to continue the annual London fixture in a city where many overseas fans are based.
"The games in London over some two decades have been extremely valuable in building awareness of our sport around the world," Anderson said, in a statement released by the AFL.
"We are expecting another capacity crowd and are delighted that Geelong and Port Adelaide will be showcasing our game at one of the world's premier sporting venues."
Surrey CCC Chief Executive Paul Sheldon expressed his delight at the game returning to the UK, and said it was good to see a proud tradition continue another year.
"The match is always popular and by announcing the fixture so early this year we are confident that we will attract a capacity crowd. We are looking forward to welcoming the AFL and both teams to the Brit Oval," he said.
Tickets are on sale now at www.surreycricket.com priced at Adults £20 and U-16s £10. The match will start at 13.30.
Can anyone say roadtrip?
Posted by Sammy D at 09:29 PM | Comments (0)
July 19, 2006
Everything Is Back To Normal...
...Mooney is suspended & the AFL is a joke.
Tribunal: No Cat ChallengeGeelong will accept a one-match suspension offered to fiery Cameron Mooney for his latest on-field indiscretion.
The Cats believe the demerit points loading for past misdemeanours and video evidence make it difficult to challenge the ruling at the AFL Tribunal.
Henry Playfair, an emergency against Port Adelaide, is a tall forward option for Sunday's game against the Western Bulldogs at Telstra Dome.
One-game penalties served early this season and last year increased Mooney's points by 10 per cent after his clash with Power forward Josh Mahoney on Sunday was assessed as reckless conduct and medium impact.
Mooney also had 62.50 residual points from the suspension for making contact with Demon Ben Holland's face in Round 6, increasing the total to 200 and a two-match penalty, reduced to one by a guilty plea.
If it was any other player I would've challenged the ruling, but because it is Mooney and he has a history of this kind of stupidity, I'm sure we were too worried we'd lose him for the trip to the Gabbatoir so we swallowed our pride and copped the decision.
Goldspink sledged us, say angry CatsThe AFL's most flamboyant umpire Darren Goldspink has again drawn the spotlight after allegations of sledging at Geelong.
The Cats are disturbed by what they claim were aggressive comments by Goldspink to Paul Chapman and Gary Ablett at Skilled Stadium on Sunday.
The Cats are considering laying an official complaint.
A third, separate incident between Ablett and umpire Kieron Nicholls also raised eyebrows, but not to the extent of Chapman's verbal volley with Goldspink.
t's understood Chapman made claims to the Cats yesterday that Goldspink said to him: ``You're f...ed, where are you going to be in six months'.''
The alleged comment came after Chapman had complained to the veteran umpire about not receiving a free kick for what Chapman believed to be a head-high hit.
It's understood Chapman's words were to the effect: ``Why don't you look after both sides?''
As Goldspink, a veteran of 348 games, and Chapman continued their alleged exchange, Ablett ran passed and suggested to them to end it.
It's alleged Goldspink then said to Ablett: ``Why don't you get a kick.''
Geelong chief executive Brian Cook yesterday confirmed incidents took place with Goldspink.
``I can confirm both Ablett and Chapman were spoken to by the umpires in a pretty aggressive way,'' Cook said.
``In fact, there was a bit of banter between both of them in an aggressive way.''
The last quarter incident between Ablett and umpire Nicholls came as Ablett was on the ground and being treated by the club doctor. It's alleged Nicholls said to Ablett: ``Get up, you're not hurt.''
These latest allegations are not the first levelled at Goldspink. Essendon captain Matthew Lloyd said Goldspink needed to watch what he said to players after the Round 7 match between Hawthorn and Melbourne.
Lloyd said: ``I think he is the only one that really does it, Darren Goldspink. It's the worst thing, I reckon it's a player's pet hate ... an umpire saying something when they are just standing there.''
Last year Richmond's Matthew Richardson criticised Goldspink after an incident in a match against Fremantle.
Richardson said Goldspink's comment that he needed to kick a goal - ``don't stab at it, handy goal this will be'' - was a disgrace. ``I'm not happy with him,'' Richardson said at the time. ``You're out there to umpire, Darren, not tell me it's an important goal.''
Cook yesterday described Sunday's exchange as a surprise.
``The players normally are a bit more aggressive than the umpires, but when it's the other way round I do get a bit surprised. I'd expect both to be at some fault, but when you hear this sort of stuff, you start to wonder, what is going on?''
AFL spokesman Patrick Keane said last night the league had not been contacted by Geelong and knew nothing of the allegations.
Geelong have since made a complaint which has been brushed over by Vlad & his little puppy dog Anderson who obviously think it's good that the umpires to get to have their fun and pretend their important. Basically Goldspink's conduct is a disgrace. I'd basically have no problem with what Goldspink said if players were able to engage in similar banter with them, that wouldn't cost their side 50m in the process. I'm sure Darren would have been pretty quick on the whistle if Chappy had come at him saying "You're fucked".
Vlad put your foot down and close Darren's mouth or change the rules and make it an even playing field with coaches & players being able to comment to the media about an umpires performance. As for now, it's a one way street.
Posted by Sammy D at 03:47 PM | Comments (0)
Late Surge Cuts Power
I rocked up on Sunday to the usual half empty standing area on the forward flank of the City End. Before not too long I was giving an ovation to Benny Graham for his 219 games, 145 goals & his performances in a GFC guernsey. As he was going around on his Ford with his two daughters they were running a video of his NFL career on the screen and the fact he took a risk to join the New York Jets was mentioned a lot. It's a risk that has undoubtably payed off for Benny. He's earning close to $1m a year in New York and while he was in the Hickey Stand I'm sure he was thinking "I'm glad I'm not part of this side anymore" as we played uninspiring football for 120 minutes against an average side with some major players out.
Having won the most first quarters in the league this season it would have been no surprise to see us jump out of the gates. We dominated the first 10 minutes of football it showed for little as we struggled to find an avenue to goal. From there the Power played very good negating football for most of the day.
Needless to say the crowd were displeased. Not only by the unattractive football played by Port Power, but also Geelong's horrible disposal, refusal to attack straight 'down the guts' & one Darren Goldspink. Goldspink gave Port three 50m penalties in somewhat dubious circumstances. It was definitely clear that Port Power had definitely watched a lot of the World Cup Finals as they almost hit the turf with pleasure knowing instantly the umpires reaction. Although the eager Power players went down like they'd been shot it was stupid by members of our leadership group to give them the opportunity. Especially in such a tight contest.
By the time Ebert kicked Ports first of the last quarter they had a 10 point lead and all the momentum, but suddenly Geelong broke the shackles and started to play some decent football, which prompts us to answer why can't they play like this all the time?
Firstly a brilliant flick from Ablett (who was well held all day by Wilson) found Stokes, who handballed to Chapman for the quick reply. From there it was the Matthew Stokes show, who is no doubt a cult figure with the crowd now. The skillful little player that he is kicked two goals, took a great mark and put an untold amount of pressure on any Port Power playing within his sights. He dragged himself exhausted for his efforts to a standing ovation from the Geelong faithful. It was a wonderful moment and one I won't easily forget.
In the end just over a quarter of good footy by the Geelong boys was enough to run out 10 point winners. Milburn, Scarlett, Harley & Egan played well down back, especially in the last quarter when Port Power suddenly started to pump the ball in long, contrary to the chip around game they had used all day. Enright & Bartel had good days in the midfield while Mooney & Ottens (who kicked some clutch goals) provided decent targets in a forward line that performed far from its best. Ottens was also decent in the ruck when given the opportunity after Lade promptly kicked our captains ass.
GEELONG: 1.1, 4.5, 5.9, 9.14 (68)
PORT ADELAIDE: 2.4, 3.5, 6.7, 8.10 (58)
GOALS – Geelong: Ottens 3, Chapman 2, Stokes 2, Ling, Mooney
Port Adelaide: Motlop 2, Tredrea, Mahoney, Walsh, S Burgoyne, Ebert, Thomas
INJURIES – Geelong: Nil
Port Adelaide: Brogan (ankle)
CHANGES – Geelong: nil
Port Adelaide: nil
REPORTS - Mooney for striking Mahoney in the second quarter
UMPIRES - Donlon, Nicholls, Goldspink
CROWD - 19,149 at Skilled Stadium
Geelongblog.com Player of the Year
5. Darren Milburn
4. Matthew Stokes
3. Jimmy Bartel
2. Brad Ottens
1. Tom Harley
Leaderboard
32 - Gary Ablett
26 - Paul Chapman
24 - Darren Milburn
24 - Joel Corey
20 - Jimmy Bartel
18 - Cameron Mooney
13 - Brad Ottens
12 - Jarad Rooke
10 - Corey Enright
8 - Cameron Ling
5 - Kent Kingsley
4 - Josh Hunt
4 - Matthew Stokes
4 - Steven King
3 - Matthew Scarlett
1 - David Wojcinski
1 - Shannon Byrnes
1 - Tom Harley
Posted by Sammy D at 01:20 PM | Comments (0)
July 15, 2006
Geelong Vs. Port Power
WHERE & WHEN: Skilled Stadium, 1:10pm (AEST), Sunday, July 16
TV & RADIO: Channel 9 (Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane), Fox Footy (Perth), Triple M (Adelaide), K-Rock
HEAD TO HEAD: Geelong 6, Port Adelaide 7, 1 Draw.
LAST TIME: Geelong 18.18 (126) bt Port Adelaide 7.5 (47), Skilled Stadium, Round 16, 2005.
TAB Sportsbet: Geelong $1.20, Port Adelaide $4.00
GEELONG
B: Harley, Scarlett, J.Hunt
HB: Rooke, Milburn, Egan
C: Enright, Bartel, Wojcinski
HF: G.Ablett, Mooney, Stokes
F: Ottens, McCarthy, Chapman
FOLL: King, Corey, Ling
I/C (from): Mackie, Tenace, D.Johnson, Prismall
EM: Riccardi, Playfair, Byrnes
PORT ADELAIDE
B: Symes, Wakelin, Wilson
HB: Surjan, Chaplin, S.Burgoyne
C: Lonie, K.Cornes, Salopek
HF: Mahoney, Tredrea, White
F: Motlop, Brogan, Pettigrew
FOLL: Lade, Thomson, Pearce
I/C: Ebert, Logan, Thomas, Walsh
IN: Logan, Symes
OUT: P.Burgoyne (hamstring), Dew (suspended)
EM: Carlile, Thurstans, Ware
NEW: Tom Logan (Brisbane Lions)
Field umpires: Donlon, K.Nicholls, Goldspink
So this is it. The first barrier to overcome if we want to play finals football this season is to beat the Power at Skilled Stadium tomorrow. Lose and we might as well not win again for the rest of the season. All three emergencies played in the reserves this afternoon to suggest that Mooney is going to be fit & able to play otherwise the club have taken a hell of a risk.
Port have been in some decent form of late despite losing their last couple of games. They could've accounted for Richmond if they kicked straight and were reportedly good against a superior Melbourne side the week in Round 13. Using the their youngsters as their strength they play a quick, play on brand of football which probably doesn't suit our somewhat average speed midfield so rain might be welcomed at SS tomorrow.
Despite missing Chad Cornes, Peter Burgoyne & Stuart Dew expect the Power to put up a real fight, a lot better than their last visit to Sleepy Hollow. However I think these key outs will be the difference in the outcome.
Prediction: Geelong by 15 points
Posted by Sammy D at 06:48 PM | Comments (0)
July 12, 2006
Full Squad. Such A Good Thing?
Welcome to the news round up. Must have been a good 4-6 months since we've had one of these! Ahh, the excitement...
Firstly, as of today we officially have no injuries!
"I think we've got every senior-listed player playing and probably training for a full session which is remarkable and hasn't happened in five years. They're all playing, they're all training which is great," Thompson said shortly before the session got underway......A full list to choose from presents a welcome selection headache for the Cats who made multiple changes before last Friday's win against the Blues and won't be afraid to tinker further this week according to Thompson.
"There is a temptation there, we made four changes last week, and I think the changes we made were pretty good ones," he said.
"There's a little bit of incentive there to do it again and we haven't finalised our side at this stage."
Thompson got a good effort across the board from his team against Carlton and he said the same would be required against Port and every game thereafter if the dream of playing finals this season was to become a reality.
"Every week's an enormous challenge for us to win games, we can't make any mistakes or slip-up at all for the rest of the year," he said.
"I think there a lot of reasons why we played like we did earlier in the year and that's not an excuse any more. We've got no excuses, we're playing Port Adelaide, we're in reasonable form and they lost last week with a bit of a hiccup at home, so it'll be game-on and we just need to play our best footy."
A full list sounds great doesn't it? So you'd think we'd be a show if we picked our best 22 to play this Sunday, but then again you know what happened last time we played our "best 22" don't you? See here
In other small noteables Benny Graham will be doing a lap of honour around Skilled Stadium at approximately 12:40pm on Sunday so make sure you don't miss the chance to applaud/boo him as he makes his way around, whichever you deem appropriate.
Also the GFC show will be hitting the road after season 2006.
Geelong Football Club will take to the world stage in October to play an AFL exhibition match in London.The AFL yesterday confirmed the Cats will play their first overseas match in 15 years at The Oval, on October 21, partly as a reward for winning the NAB Cup.
The league has verbally agreed to help fund a Geelong touring party of 50, but is undecided on who the Cats will face on their British venture.
Confirmation of the deal is a massive coup for the club, whose bid to play a pre-season match in New Zealand was turned down by the AFL last season.
Chief executive Brian Cook said the UK trip would be an ideal chance to blood some of the Cats' youngsters, while promoting the club, and the game, abroad.
``We'll play a lot of younger fellows who haven't played much footy and for a lot of them who haven't travelled before, it will be like seeing another world,'' Cook said.
``And it's an opportunity also for us to have a look at some other elite training venues.''
Lastly there is rumors the club is close to striking a deal with the MCG to move our Melbourne home games there in future. It'll be great to be back at the home of football.
Posted by Sammy D at 09:13 PM | Comments (0)
Forum Wars - Episode 5: The Blog Strikes Back
A long time ago in a galaxy far far away was a utopia for Geelong fans. A place where they could come together to share their ideas and opinions free from trolling that occurred in such as galaxies as BigFooty.
However, the joy and freedom in the utopia known as Cats Claw continued to decline, with the land being ruled by many oppressors. The opinion of the peasants was never considered, and a select few had become arrogant.
The people of Cats Claw lived harmoniously with the people of BigFooty, and often many had discovered one of the other from being part of their original Galaxy. One day on their journeys, two young Geelong disciples discovered the community of Web Log.
Different from the ‘democracies’ of BigFooty and Cats Claw, Web log was a place where these two squires could rule with an Iron fist, preaching what they wanted. The Kent Kinglsey Krew was the military power on this blog, run by a mysterious man known as Kolonel Sanderson. The other was Sammy D, who was responsible for reporting factual information to the followers of Geelongblog.
Before turning to the blogside, Kolonel Sanderson has previously lived in great happiness on BigFooty, and in small patches on Cats Claw where he was known as Nananana Catman. He was both funny and knowledgeable. On BigFooty, many could see the great following and respect he was beginning to attain. However he disliked the way newcomers were treated on Cats Claw by the crusty old-timers, whom did not have any respect for their opinions, and always deemed themselves as being right.
Whilst on a Journey to Cats Claw one day, Nananana Catman discovered rumors about him being cast by the oldest and crustiest person on Cats Claw, their leader Sue. Nananana did not like these accusations and demanded Sue apologise, but she did not. Like many others, Sue was incapable of admitting when she was wrong which enraged Nananana Catman, and he vowed to get revenge on Cats Claw.
Which brings us to now. I wonder what will happen next? Will web-space ever be safe again?
*Sammy D - For the record Geelongblog.com has no problem with Cats Claw messageboard. We are both members there, however we both post scarcely due to time constraints and various other factors. This situation came about after a troll by the name of "KPcatman" went on a bit of a keyboard warrior war path over at Cats Claw which prompted Cats Claw veteran "Sue" to insinuate that The Kolonel, "KPcatman" & "Kent_Kingsley" (of Bigfooty) were the same person. Which is utter bollocks. So Sue, please don't confuse this site, me or The Kolonel as your forum trolling moron.
Posted by Sammy D at 08:49 PM | Comments (2)
July 11, 2006
Average Performance Against A Horrible Side
In a first for Geelongblog.com this season we headed up for an afternoon clash at Telstra Dome against the Carlton "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime" Blues (Geelongblog.com was not present at the Bulldog game earlier in the season). With a volatile stomach after last nights 21st Birthday antics it wasn't the most pleasurable match to sit through.
The Blues suffered a big set back before the game had even started with Matty Lappin a late withdrawl. Him being one of their few good talents it somewhat settled my nerves that had been building just thinking about possibly losing the unloseable. What didn't exactly settle the nerves was a horrible first quarter that we somehow managed to come out with a 13 point lead due to some Gazza magic, a short period of good crumbing by our forwards & some major Carlton ineptness infront of the sticks.
From there the game was pretty much a cakewalk. Not that we played anything that resembled very good football, just simply that Carlton are a rabble without Murphy, Lappin, Waite etc and are terrible by foot. I lost count of the amount of times Lance Whitnall blasted the ball out of defence straight to us.
In a turn of events which has me convinced we'll kick 8.22 this weekend we managed to kick an amazing 22.4. The four behinds consisting of a poster & an unbelievable Ottens miss (then again does such a thing exist anymore?).
The football we played was average which some small impressive patches at times, but you felt another average side would have kept it a tight affair, let alone what a good team would do. Scarlett struggled against Fevola, who literally is Carlton's forward line, but he did manage to sneak down a kick a goal himself after some clever footskills by Gazza again.
On the positive side Steven King played nearly a full game and was impressive around the ground in patches despite his immobileness and sometimes lacking a football brain. Matty McCarthy kicked the most pedestrian 5 goals I've ever seen at AFL level but it was good to see him kick straight and get some confidence, while Linga did a nice job on Nick Stevens & Cam Mooney looked at home playing CHF despite dropping a few marks.
Who really has impressed me has been Matthew Stokes. No offence to Stokesy but when we drafted him I may have unfairly written him off as simply some company for Varcoe but he has turned out to be a great little find for us this season. Brent Prismall also did some lovely stuff in only his 2nd game of AFL, and his first game didn't really count did it?
Anyhow, onto Port Adelaide @ Skilled Stadium on Sunday. If we lose we can finally throw our finals dream away for this season, but if we win we can keep the annoying little fantasy alive for know so it should be an interesting game.
CARLTON: 2.5 4.7, 7.10, 11.11 (77)
GEELONG: 5.0, 11.1, 17.2, 23.4 (142)
GOALS - Carlton: Fevola 4, Kennedy 2, Simpson, Houlihan, Carrazzo, French, Whitnall
Geelong: McCarthy 5, Ablett 3, Mooney 2, Mackie 2, Chapman 2, Scarlett, Enright, Bartel, Prismall, Ling, Johnson, Ottens, Stokes
INJURIES - Carlton: Nil
Geelong: Nil
CHANGES - Carlton: Lappin (knee soreness) replaced in selected side by McGrath
REPORTS - Nil
UMPIRES - Rosebury, Nicholls, Ellis
CROWD - 32,096 at Telstra Dome
Geelongblog.com Player of the Year
5. Cameron Ling
4. Cameron Mooney
3. Steven King
2. Gary Ablett (for 1st quarter)
1. Corey Enright
Leaderboard
32 - Gary Ablett
26 - Paul Chapman
24 - Joel Corey
19 - Darren Milburn
18 - Cameron Mooney
17 - Jimmy Bartel
12 - Jarad Rooke
11 - Brad Ottens
10 - Corey Enright
8 - Cameron Ling
5 - Kent Kingsley
4 - Josh Hunt
4 - Steven King
3 - Matthew Scarlett
1 - David Wojcinski
1 - Shannon Byrnes
Posted by Sammy D at 11:08 PM | Comments (0)
July 06, 2006
Carlton Vs. Geelong
WHERE & WHEN: Telstra Dome, Saturday, 2.10pm
TV & RADIO: Channel 10, Fox Footy (Perth), K-Rock, 3AW
HEAD TO HEAD: Carlton 114, Geelong 88, Draws 2
TAB SPORTSBET ODDS: Carlton $3.85, Geelong $1.22
LAST TIME: Round 8, 2005: Geelong 22.11 (143) d Carlton 10.13 (73) at Telstra Dome
CARLTON
B: Carrazzo, Thornton, McLaren
HB: Scotland, Whitnall, Walker
C: Houlihan, Bentick, Simpson
HF: Lappin, Kennedy, Wiggins
F: Deluca, Fevola, Betts
FOLL: French, Stevens, Blackwell
I/C: Bannister, O'hAilpin, Russell, Sporn
EMG: Bryan, McGrath, Teague
IN: Sporn
OUT: Murphy (shoulder)
GEELONG
B: Harley, Scarlett, J.Hunt
HB: Rooke, Milburn, Egan
C: Enright, Bartel, Wojcinski
HF: G.Ablett, Mooney, Stokes
F: Ottens, McCarthy, Chapman
FOLL: King, Corey, Ling
I/C: Mackie, Tenace, D.Johnson, Prismall
EMG: Playfair, Koulouriotis, Byrnes
IN: D.Johnson, Mackie, McCarthy, Prismall
OUT: Callan, Kingsley, Kelly, N.Ablett
Wholesale changes to the Geelong side after the horrible performance at AAMI Stadium. David Johnson comes in for his 50th match with Andrew Mackie. Brent Prismall comes in for his 2nd AFL game after his first one only lasted a matter of minutes & Matty McCarthy perhaps gets his first game of a few to prove he should be on our list next season. Kelly finally gets the axe after a extremely disappointing season thus far along with Kingsley, Nathan Ablett & the ever unlucky 'Fresh'.
Carlton is a side that we should beat on paper, especially with young Mr. Murphy out. However if we play that frustrating 'hot potato handball' style of football we seem to have slipped back into this season we can lose to anyone on our day. Just I don't think Saturday will be another one of those days.
Prediction: Geelong by 30 points
Posted by Sammy D at 11:46 PM | Comments (0)
Cats In Another League
I've used it once & I'll use it again:
Adelaide has continued its top-of-the-table form with a record-breaking 92-point victory over Geelong at AAMI Stadium on Sunday.The Crows dominated from the opening bounce but stamped their authority on the contest with an exciting seven-goal second term.
Another seven majors in the final term sealed the 21.21 (147) to 8.7 (55) result and provided the club with its biggest win over Geelong, surpassing a 91-point thrashing of the Cats back in 1992.
Adelaide's exceptional fitness and willingness to run in numbers was on full display as it totally overwhelmed Geelong.
The Crows had winners all over the ground - Tyson Edwards, Andrew McLeod and Graham Johncock provided plenty of rebound from defence - while Simon Goodwin was a ball magnet with 25 disposals and Michael Doughty and Marty Mattner proved to be dangerous ball carriers.
Brett Burton was a livewire in attack and kicked five goals - one coming after taking a spectacular mark over Tom Harley in the fourth quarter - while Mark Ricciuto (five goals) was not as spectacular but just as effective.
Geelong had some promising passages of play in the first half but couldn't sustain its intensity for long enough.
And at times the Cats - who beat Adelaide at the same ground in the preseason Grand Final - overused the ball when long and direct options were the better choice.
Corey Enright (30 touches), Paul Chapman (28 disposals) and Darren Milburn (26) were Geelong's leading possession winners.
The loss leaves Geelong with a 5-8 record and makes their finals football aspirations all but gone.
Adelaide looked in ominous form in the first quarter - they dominated possession in the opening 10 minutes despite kicking against a three-goal breeze.
Edwards kicked the opening major of the contest - a set shot from 40 metres - and the Crows looked set to punish their opponent.
But the Cats slowly worked their way into the contest, a centering 45-metre pass from Cameron Mooney set up Darren Milburn for the visitors' first goal.
The Crows added two more majors to their tally before Kent Kingsley found some rare space and converted from close range to narrow the margin to eight points at the first break.
A running goal from Gary Ablett and a snap shot Paul Chapman kept Geelong in the contest early in the second term. But they were the only highlights in term dominated by the Crows.
The home side showed their opposition how to use the breeze - they ran in numbers, moved the ball quickly and kicked long into their forward 50.
Adelaide kicked four goals in nine minutes and 7.6 for the term to open up a commanding 43-point lead at the long break.
Jason Porplyzia was the surprise packet of the term. The young Crow kicked two goals and gave the experienced Darren Milburn the run around.
The Crows' dominance continued in the third but it took them 10 minutes to score their opening major, the converted set shot by Ricciuto was the first of two majors for the skipper in the quarter.
James Kelly kicked the Cats only major in a miserable term for the visitors.
In the fourth quarter, Ricciuto was given plenty of room in the forward line and kicked another two goals as the scoreboard got uglier for Geelong.
The Cat looked shell-shocked as Adelaide did as it wished in free-wheeling conclusion the contest.
A pair of six-pointers to Brad Ottens was lost among a flurry of Crows goals - a McLeod major punctuating an impressive win.
Crows coach Neil Craig said he was pleased with the team's performance after some uncharacteristic skill errors in the opening term.
"With the way we view Geelong it would have to be one of our better wins for the year," he said.
"I thought we started well but I thought Geelong were very good. I thought the area we let ourselves down early was our execution - particularly with handball."
"After quarter time our execution got better and we kept our attack on the ball - they were very good."
Geelong coach Mark Thompson said he was in "awe" of the Crows' four-quarter performance.
"We just got clearly outclassed," he said.
"They put us under enormous pressure and we didn't put them under any pressure - they are a very good team."
"We lost spirit towards the end of the game and that happens when you lose by big margins."
Last Sunday gave us a clear indication how far away we are as a club from winning an AFL premiership and the answer was miles. Adelaide are an extremely tight unit who are playing brilliant football at the moment, they are clearly favourite to take out this years premiership. Not only did they show us were the benchmark currently is, but they proved we are well short of it with our current playing style & personel. They made it look like at times they had all 22 on the field, either that or we were playing with 14 on the field. They run strong in numbers and used the ball well moving up the ground despite trying conditions at times.
All this talk of still making the finals in my opinion is just a bunch of worthless talk at the moment. I can't possibly see what scraping into the final eight is going to do for us as a club except for maybe give a few players their first taste of the action. It's time to sit back, look at our list and start planning for the 2007 Premiership season. Give guys on the fringe a few games in a row and too help decide whether they'll be on the list next season.
I don't want us to tank horribly, but I don't want us scraping into the eight and having people writing it off as an alright season. It hasn't been an alright season, it's been a terrible let down of a season. Our great start to this season could've had us set up but instead we let it slip and deserve to be in the 5-8 hole we're currently in.
ADELAIDE: 3.6, 10.12, 14.17, 21.21 (147)
GEELONG: 2.4, 4.5, 5.6, 8.7 (55)
GOALS – Adelaide: Burton 5, Ricciuto 5, Porplyzia 2, Hentschel 2, Edwards, Thompson, Goodwin, Bode, Biglands, McGregor, McLeod
Geelong: Ottens 2, Milburn, Kingsley, G.Ablett, Chapman, Kelly, Stokes
INJURIES - Adelaide: Porplyzia (hip)
UMPIRES - James, Chamberlain, Pannell
CROWD - 41,752 at AAMI Stadium
Geelongblog.com Player of The Year
5. Darren Milburn
4. Joel Corey
3. Corey Enright
2. Paul Chapman
1. David Wojcinski
Leaderboard
30 - Gary Ablett
26 - Paul Chapman
24 - Joel Corey
19 - Darren Milburn
17 - Jimmy Bartel
14 - Cameron Mooney
12 - Jarad Rooke
11 - Brad Ottens
9 - Corey Enright
5 - Kent Kingsley
4 - Josh Hunt
3 - Cameron Ling
3 - Matthew Scarlett
1 - David Wojcinski
1 - Shannon Byrnes
1 - Steven King
Posted by Sammy D at 09:17 PM | Comments (1)
July 03, 2006
Back a winner, and get the Kolonel a few hundred bucks!!
Given that the Cats suck more than a second rate porn star, we shall fail to mention them at all in this thread, except that we can all thank fuck Tom Hawkins is coming next year. Even if the kid turns out to be a pile of shite, he will at least give us all something to be hopefully about again, for the perennials let-downers have hardly been able to instil that in me this season. It was last in round 2 when I felt our season was actually going somewhere…
On a more serious matter, the instances of child abuse are rapidly rising in our community, and being the student of education that I am, it saddens to me hear of such occurrences. It seems a solution may be forthcoming however. Recently in court, a case was heard in regard to the custodial rights of a child, whom was abused by both his Mother and Father. Given the dire situation faced by this boy, and a lack of appropriate foster parents/ relatives to take him on, it was decided custody would be given to the GFC, as they can beat no-one*
*Joke must be accredited to my brother, whom is the least funny/most lame person to ever live on the planet. It is likely he did not make this joke.
Anyway, on a more serious matter, on the footy show last Thursday night the KKK was somewhat represented by D. Hunter aka. Ablettjnr (of bigfooty) in Almost Football Legends. His spectacular mark after the point had been kicked earned him 500 bucks, a Jim Beam fridge and the chance to go into the Grand Final draw worth $50,000. So here’s the deal… We promote readers to vote for Ablettjnr and his mark, you vote for him, he wins 50k, he donates some money to the GFC Blog for our efforts promoting his cause (at least 500 bucks, hopefully 1 grand if he isn’t stingy) go on an all night binge then use the remaining funds to get the KKK Shirt operation up and running and sell them to you at a cheap price.
Sound like a fair deal? Well here’s the footage of Ablettjnr taking his speccy, So if you get the chance to, make sure you vote for his grab for your chance to be walking down the street in your very own KKK Shirt in season 2007.
Almost Football Legends Footage
If Kent still ain’t around, at least we will be!!
Posted by Sammy D at 10:13 PM | Comments (0)
July 01, 2006
Adelaide Vs. Geelong
WHERE & WHEN: AAMI Stadium, 12.40pm; Curtain Raiser - North East Metro JFA,10.50am
TV & RADIO: Channel 9: Melbourne (1pm), Adelaide (1pm), Perth (11am), Sydney (1pm), Brisbane (1pm), Triple M (Adelaide only), ABC Radio, K-Rock. NIRS
HEAD TO HEAD: Played - 23, Adelaide: 13, Geelong: 10
LAST TIME: Geelong 9.7 (61) d Adelaide 8.9 (57), round 12, 2005, at Skilled Stadium
TAB Sportsbet: Adelaide: $1.32, Geelong: $3.20
ADELAIDE
B: Johncock, Rutten, Bassett
HB: Massie, Stevens, McLeod
C: Doughty, Goodwin, Mattner
HF: Thompson, McGregor, Edwards
F: Bode, Hentschel, Burton
FOLL: Biglands, Ricciuto, Reilly
I/C: Shirley, Torney, Maric, Porplyzia
IN: Burton, Porplyzia,
OUT: Knights (quadriceps strain), Vince
Em: Skipworth, Clarke, Vince
GEELONG
B: Harley, Scarlett, J.Hunt
HB: Rooke, Milburn, Egan
C: Enright, Bartel, Wojcinski
HF: G.Ablett, Mooney, Kelly
F: Ottens, N.Ablett, Chapman
FOLL: King, Corey, Ling
I/C: Stokes, Tenace, Kingsley, Callan
IN: Harley, Rooke
OUT: Spencer, Byrnes
Em: Batchelor, D.Johnson, Byrnes
Field umpires: James, Chamberlain, Pannell
We run into a hot Adelaide Crows just when we don't really want to. I can't see a repeat of last week. It was a great interstate win, but this is the Adelaide Crows and not the joke that is the Fremantle Dockers. Harley & Rooke come back into the side from injury replacing Spencer & somewhat surprisingly Byrnes. Let's just hope the boys give a good account of themselves against the leagues best.
Prediction: Adelaide by 36 points
Posted by Sammy D at 06:21 PM | Comments (1)