August 01, 2007

Thompson to stay, King to play?

News on Geelongblog.com?...Who'd have thunk it?

Geelong fans worried about Bomber Thompson, who is out of contract at the end of year, possibly going back 'home' to Windy Hill can rest easier as the top of the ladder coach ruled it out yesterday.

Mark Thompson has effectively ruled himself out of the Essendon coaching race, reaffirming yesterday that he will not discuss his future until the end of Geelong's finals campaign.

With the premiership favourite guaranteed to go at least into the second week of the finals series, Thompson's stance of not talking to anyone - including the Cats - about next year means the former Essendon premiership captain is not an option to replace Kevin Sheedy.

The Cats coach confirmed yesterday that his manager, Michael Quinlan, had been contacted by the Bombers, but Thompson said he wasn't interested in hearing anything they had to say.

Essendon chief executive Peter Jackson has already said his club would not wait until the end of September to appoint its new coach.

Thompson spoke to the Cats leadership group on Monday about whether his contract situation was causing a distraction and was told it was not a problem.

In the strongest indication yet that he would remain at Skilled Stadium next year, Thompson said he would have brought forward talks with the Cats if the issue were affecting his players.

"I have spoken to some of the players because I thought if it was a distraction to them, then something would have to be done," he said.

"They don't see it as a distraction. They are fine with sticking to the plan. We made a stance at the start of the year and we are going to stick to it and I think the players are happy with that.

"We don't want any distractions in this footy club. We just want to remain focused and our focus is on this week's game against the Tigers. I am not thinking about next year.

"I can't tell you what Essendon should do. I can just tell you what I am doing and that is coaching Geelong this week.

"I don't think this club has been in a better position at this time of the year (before), so why would I do anything to upset any part, deliberately upset any part of that? It is just stupid."

Geelong chief executive Brian Cook said last night that he was confident Thompson's eight-year reign as coach would continue next year.

"I'm sure that Mark has no intention of coaching anywhere else," Cook said.

"It is obvious at the moment that he is so determined to ensure that nothing gets in the way of his mission this year."

Thompson, who captained Essendon's 1993 premiership team, said he was surprised by Sheedy's axing last week.

"He has done an enormous job for Essendon and I am a bit surprised it has happened so quickly," Thompson said.

"He is just an unbelievable person. He's still young at 59, he has got a young mind and a lot of energy, so there is no doubt he could (keep coaching)."

I am glad to see Thompson has stuck by his word of not talking contracts until the end of the season with any club. It would have been a devious act to talk to Essendon but not to Geelong after the faith Cook & Costa have put in him over the past 8 seasons.
Why would he consider leaving now anyways? He seems to have finally put together a squad capable of winning the premiership & the culture of the club seems to be changing for the good, why bail when the fruits of his work are so close to being realised. It doesn't make much sense but it is reassuring to have it publicly ruled out.

Now, to something not so reassuring...

Steven King is back. Geelong's former captain will return to the senior side for the first time since round five when the Cats host Richmond at Skilled Stadium on Saturday.

Coach Mark Thompson yesterday confirmed King, who has spent three games in the VFL since returning from knee surgery, would form a three-pronged ruck combination with in-form big men Brad Ottens and Mark Blake.

``I think it is perfect timing,'' Thompson said.

``I think it was more about him (King) getting right before bringing him back. He is in a really good headspace, he is in terrific form and we've always rushed him (back in the past).

``This time we wanted to get him fit, football fit and match fit, and then get some (VFL) games into him (and) get him in really reasonable form.''

Thompson said he was unsure at this stage how the three big men would be used on Saturday, although he expected Ottens to spend more time forward, allowing Blake and King to predominantly share the ruck duties.

``Otto hasn't played in the forward line for a long time so it might be just a little reminder to get him back into some forward line form,'' Thompson said.

King, 28, had a delayed start to the season after a calf injury sidelined him for the first three matches.

He was brought into the senior team in round four against Hawthorn, but struggled with just seven hitouts and eight disposals for the match.

He was then dumped after his round five performance, where he was clearly beaten by Kangaroos young gun Hamish McIntosh in what was Geelong's last loss this season.

King suffered cartilage damage to his right knee while playing in the VFL against Bendigo Bombers two weeks later and was rushed in for arthroscopic surgery on May 18.

He returned to the VFL team after a six-week break and had a massive 42 hitouts in his last match a fortnight ago, before the VFL team had the bye last week.

The Richmond game presents King with an ideal opportunity to rediscover form at a senior level given that the Tigers' ruck stocks have been depleted this season.

Geelong will be at close to full strength for the match, although doubt still remains over the fitness of Paul Chapman and Andrew Mackie.

Chapman, who was left out of last week's team due to an adductor injury, ran yesterday and will be assessed today, while Mackie, who went off the ground with a sore calf last Saturday, will also be tested today.

``We're pretty confident he will be right,'' Thompson said of Mackie.

Why oh why? I agree if you are going to give King a shot it is going to be against Richmond at home, but why play 3 ruckman? Otto has been great in the ruck all year while Blake has really come on but he could be rested for a week or two. There is no need to go in top heavy and play all 3.

They are possibly trying to take advantage of Richmond's short & not yet developed backmen but I just don't think it is worth the risk. Otto as a permanent forward hasn't paid off too often in the past, so why try and mix it up now?

King of course has only played twice this season, both in losing sides & made a crucial & possibly game costing error in one of those games.

The club has been brilliant thus far this season, so I will put my faith in whatever decision they make, but expect a backlash if this goes tits up, regardless of 12 straight wins.

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June 13, 2007

Rooke to miss Lions clash

Max Rooke accepted his 1 match suspension

Rooke accepts one-game penalty

Geelong's Max Rooke will miss this weekend's match against Brisbane after he accepted a one-game ban for bumping.

Rooke was charged for his front-on bump on Adelaide captain Mark Ricciuto in the third quarter of Sunday's match at AAMI Stadium.

His hit left Ricciuto dazed and groggy and forced him from the field.

Ricciuto did not return in the final quarter, with Adelaide trainers seen working on his back.

The Cats host the Lions at Skilled Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Not malice in it from Max, but it was pretty obvious he was going to cop a week because of it. The real issue is, how come players are only getting one week for this when in pre-season Matty Stokes got done for 4. Typical AFL hypocrisy...not that I am complaining!

Now for some wonderful news...

Cats cheer Lonergan's VFL comeback

On August 27 last year, young Geelong defender Tom Lonergan was placed in an induced coma after surgeons removed his right kidney.

That day at Skilled Stadium, Lonergan, in only his seventh match, had been involved in a sickening collision with Melbourne's Brad Green, running back with the flight of the ball and into the path of Green as the Cats tried to hold on in a desperate last quarter.

On Sunday, Lonergan makes a return to competitive football, selected in the Cats' VFL side to play Tasmania.

It has been a rough road, with serious complications that almost cost Lonergan his life, but yesterday Geelong coach Mark Thompson was eager to announce what he called "huge news" and a "sensational effort".

"I'm not sure once the game starts whether it'll have much effect (on teammates), but I think in the lead-up … everyone's very proud of what he's done and they're really happy to have him around here," Thompson said.

"They think it is a really gutsy effort to want to play and force himself back to the level of fitness to be able to take the field this week, it's a sensational effort."

Lonergan lost 17 kilograms as he first battled to walk and then slowly resume training. Geelong placed him on the rookie list to allow him to potentially continue his career at the highest level.

According to Geelong's doctor, Chris Bradshaw, the ability of the human body to function on less than one kidney meant the danger to Lonergan's long-term health, even if he was to receive major trauma to his remaining kidney, was real but limited.

"They still reckon that in most cases of renal trauma you can save a good part of the kidney. If he had the same renal trauma to the remaining one you would imagine that they could probably save most of the kidney and he'd be OK. But there is obviously an increased risk for him," Bradshaw said.

"I think the reality is we're blessed that we can probably get by with one-third of one kidney and still sort of be OK and be healthy. Obviously, his renal function and reserves aren't as good as a normal person.

"He was lucky to come through all the stuff. But the body is pretty good in coping. The actual loss of a kidney I think is probably, as an injury, not quite as severe as a cruciate ligament in terms of the recovery from it. But the fact that he had such major surgery and such major complications has made it all the more unpleasant for him."

Late last year, Lonergan told The Age he had thought about retiring but realised "in the end I love footy and I wanted to get back out there and prove that I can play and this is a little step, another step I've got to take".

After watching the Kangaroos' Jason McCartney return for one match after surviving the Bali bombings, Bradshaw said he understood such a drive.

"If you walked away and that was the last thing you'd done in footy you'd always be wondering. Psychologically you sort of feel like you have to give it a crack again," he said.

"Jason McCartney played that one senior game before he called it quits … he made the monumental effort to prove that he could get back and do it. Hopefully Tommy will be different, he hasn't got the external scars that Jason McCartney had. Hopefully he'll just get better and better and better."

We wish Tom all the best in his return to football and hope a lot of fans make the effort to get down there early on Sunday to see him make his return and to show their support.

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May 19, 2007

King Knee Blow

Todays Geelong Advertiser is reporting that Steven King has had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee yesterday and will miss at least 4 weeks.

After missing the first three games of the season, King returned unspectacularly in Rounds 4 & 5 which resulted in losses to Hawthorn & the Kangaroos respectively and was returned to the VFL in the past couple of weeks.

While this injury puts to rest some fears that King would force his way into the senior line up at the expense of Mark Blake or as a third ruckman it does leave us somewhat short in the ruckman department if Brad Ottens was to live up to his injury prone status in the next few weeks.

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April 04, 2007

Harley out for 6 weeks

Finger sidelines Harley

Geelong skipper Tom Harley will be sidelined for up to six weeks after undergoing hand surgery on Monday.

Harley suffered a ruptured tendon in his left hand in Sunday’s clash with the Western Bulldogs. He visited a specialist today and was immediately scheduled for surgery.

“There was a chance that Tom could have battled through the season with the injury, but the specialist felt he would need to have it operated on before the end of the season so the best decision was to have it done now,” Geelong’s general manager of football operations Neil Balme said.

“Obviously he’s disappointed, as we are, but injuries are part of the game and we just have to deal with it.”

The other major concern coming out of the game was a shoulder injury sustained by defender David Johnson. He will have scans on the shoulder today.

This is a big blow for the side as it leaves a gap for either Sam Hunt, Playfair or Spencer to come in. All who are no where as reliable as Tom Harley. Other effects is Cameron Ling is almost certain to be captain over this period. Whether he is the man for the job is yet to be seen as in my book he'd be on the fringe of our best 22 at the moment.

Posted by Sammy D at 12:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 15, 2007

Reynolds season over, ruptures ACL.

Reynolds out after ACL rupture

Joel Reynolds' hopes of resurrecting his AFL career at Geelong now appear in jeopardy after the Cats confirmed on Tuesday that the former Essendon player would miss the entire 2007 season.

Reynolds, who was dropped by Essendon at the end of last season after 38 games in five years, suffered a serious knee injury while playing in the Cats reserve team in a VFL practice match on Sunday.

Scans have revealed the 22-year-old suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, automatically ruling him out for this year.

Reynolds will have surgery on Saturday with the injury coming at the worst possible time for him as he looked to make the most of his second chance at the Cats.

Originally from Geelong, Reynolds was drafted by the Bombers at pick 27 in the 2002 national draft but struggled to get a regular game at the club where his grandfather Dick Reynolds was arguably the club's greatest-ever figure.

He was given a second chance by the Cats at last year's rookie draft after training with the club over the summer, but now has no chance to force his way onto the senior list in 2007.

“Joel was able to have a full preseason for almost the first time in his career, and he was playing and training well for us,” Geelong’s general manager of football operations Neil Balme said.

“This is devastating for Joel and we share his disappointment.”

Such a cruel blow to Joel Reynolds who had played pretty well in pre-season. Now his AFL career is in tatters as it will be very hard to come back from this injury when he was a mature player on our rookie list. We wish him all the best for his recovery and hope that he makes it back in the blue & white hoops.

Posted by Sammy D at 12:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Kelly to miss start of season

First Stokes, now James Kelly...

Kelly accepts penalty

Geelong midfielder James Kelly will miss the start of the 2007 AFL season after accepting the penalty handed down by the match review committee.

Kelly accepted a two-match sanction for engaging in rough conduct with Brisbane Lions defender Jed Adcock during last Friday night's NAB Cup semi-final at Telstra Dome.

The penalty is a significant setback for Kelly who had set himself for a big 2007 in the Cats' midfield after a disappointing 2006 during which he struggled for form and consistency.

Kelly will be unavailable for matches against the Western Bulldogs and Carlton.

This is definitely not the start of the season the club, Mark Thompson or James Kelly were looking for.

After a disappointing 2006 the club were definitely hoping for a strong start to the season enabling them to push on and put finals within reach early. Now with Kelly & Stokes out of the first two matches (Stokes will also miss the 3rd game of the season) this puts us behind the eight ball as they are both important midfielders in our rotation.

This has a knock on effect in regards to Bomber Thompson. An unsuccessful season will no doubt see him out the door at the end of the season and he will not be happy losing Kelly on top of Stokes for the beginning of our tilt.

Lastly to James Kelly. Kelly has struggled ever since coming back from a broken leg in 2005. Often criticised for his lazy style and lack of committment the final thing he needed in a possible career defining season is to be sitting on the sidelines in the first couple of weeks due to a reckless act.

Posted by Sammy D at 11:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 06, 2007

Stokes gets hit for 4

Matthew Stokes will miss the start of the AFL Season

Young Cat suspended for four matches
Paul Gough, Sportal for afl.com.au

Exciting Geelong youngster Matthew Stokes became the first victim of the AFL’s crackdown on front-on, head-high contact after he was suspended for four matches by the AFL tribunal on Tuesday night.

Stokes could have accepted a three-match ban from the AFL’s match review panel but chose to take his case to the tribunal, arguing that his actions in bumping Port's Domenic Cassisi from the front during last Saturday night's NAB Cup match in Darwin was negligent rather than reckless.

However, the three-man jury comprised of former players Emmett Dunne, David Pittman and Wayne Schimmelbusch agreed with the match review panel's original finding of a level-three offence worth 400 points and imposed the four-game ban.

It means Stokes, who played nine games in his debut season last year and who has been one of the Cats’ best players in their run to the NAB Cup semi-finals, will miss at least the first two home-and-away games in 2007 and the first three should the Cats not progress to the NAB Cup grand final on March 17 by beating Brisbane this week.

Later, Fremantle's Michael Johnson also received a four-match ban for his head-high contact on the Kangaroos' Lachlan Hansen during their NAB Cup match at Telstra Dome.

After the hearing, Geelong football operations manager Neil Balme admitted the tribunal had sent a strong message to all players that front-on bumps would not be tolerated, particularly ones that made head-high contact such as Stokes’ clash with Cassisi.

“We understand the rule and how important it is and there is certainly no dispute about that but it’s very severe on the (reported) player obviously,” Balme said.

I was disappointed to hear we would challenge this as with the AFL crackdown on these kind of incidents I knew we were going to be hit hard. If we make it to the NAB Cup GF the last game he'll missis the Carlton game (Round 2) which hopefully we can afford to lose him for.

4 weeks is a lot for player on a first offence. I would hate to think what somebody with a bad record would cop. Speaking of bad records I wait with anticipation of Farmer's verdict. If this kind of contact is worth 4, a player with Farmers record and a serious charge of eye gouging he should cop 10 minimum, but knowing the tribunals consistency he's bound to cop only about 6, or dare I say it....4.

Posted by Sammy D at 10:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 27, 2007

Cats run over Tigers in first round of NAB Cup

Brad Ottens was too much for Richmond's backline
Photo: Eddie Jim

There was much anticipation as I walked over to Skilled Stadium with my mates around quarter to 1 on Sunday. It had been a long time since I slid on the hoops, grand final day 2006 infact (don't ask). However, this vibrant mood quickly dissipated as we came across several lengthy queue's to get into the ground.

At the time I thought it was the club who had made a major mistake, however it turned out to be two of my least favourite organisations (The AFL & The Geelong City Council) had once against conspired against me and many others managing to turn a simple procedure into a monumental cock-up. Lines remained outside the ground all day. Despite getting at the ground at 10 to 1, we didn't get in until just before 2 causing us to miss virtually the entire first half of the reserves.

Once inside the ground the reserves did little to improve my mood as many of the players were wearing numbers they are not normally accustomed too. For instance Varcoe was wearing #3, Djerrkura #16 & Reynolds #32. This made it extremely hard to tell who was who unless you knew what they looked like. The positives were Djerrkura looked good, Reynolds took some nice grabs and I finally got to see Stephen Owen get a decent hitout.

Onto the main course. Geelong put on a very impressive performance for a first up hitout. There was plenty of run from the backline, plenty of defensive forward pressure while Ottens & Mooney were having a field day kicking 4 each.

You can't afford to get carried away with these types of performances during pre-season so I'll basically just look at the new guys. After a limited first half Selwood looked extremely good in the 2nd half gathering 10 possessions in the 3rd quarter and looks a very good pick up. Prismall looked absolute class, expect more from him this season. Sam Hunt did't do too badly but definitely isn't in our starting 22 after that performance while on another day Nathan would have kicked 4 like Otto & Moons. Gazza played a lot more time in the middle and looked like he'd spent his entire career there, great hands & agility as usual. Overall it was a dominant performance against a side missing a few key players. The major downpoint being Darren Milburn getting kicked in the head accidentally by Andrew Krakouer, Dasher will no doubt miss the trip to Darwin.

GEELONG: 1.6.2, 2.11.3, 3.16.8, 3.17.10 (139)
RICHMOND: 0.2.0, 0.6.0, 0.10.0, 1.14.3 (96)

NINE POINT GOALS: Geelong: Prismall, Enright, Bartel
Richmond: Tivendale
SIX POINT GOALS: Geelong: Ottens 4, Mooney 4, G Ablett 2, Gardiner 2, Byrnes, Stokes, Prismall, Milburn, N Ablett
Richmond: Brown 3, Deledio 3, Richardson 2, Tuck 2, Pettifer, Hyde, Foley, Meyer
BEST: Geelong: G Ablett, Ottens, Mooney, Kelly, Stokes, Byrnes, Enright, Wojcinski, Ling
Richmond: Foley, Brown, Howat, J Bowden, Deledio
INJURIES: Geelong: Milburn (cut head)
Richmond: Richardson (hamstring), Krakouer (knee)
REPORTS: Krakouer (Richmond) reported for kicking Milburn (Geelong) by umpire Nicholls in the second quarter
UMPIRES: Allen, Nicholls, Ryan, Lee-Archer
CROWD: Est 15,000 at Skilled Stadium, Geelong

As stated above next week we're off to Darwin to play the Power on Saturday night. Bomber has voiced that he will probably leave some experienced players behind for the trip which I believe is a very good idea and give a few more younger players a shot.

Posted by Sammy D at 03:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 19, 2007

Tenace goes down in intra-club hitout

I don't really rate intra-club hit-outs. They are basically glorified match fitness workouts. Players of different calibre's often find themselves playing on each other in unrealistic match ups that simply wouldn't occur if we were playing against a real opposition in a regular season match. For instance somebody like Matty Spencer would never get a gig manning up Brad Ottens, hence when Ottens destroys him and kicks 6 it creates needless hype. However they do serve their purpose with some much needed teamwork and the aforementioned fitness. The above are reasons why you aren't receiving a massive post detailing every bit of information that happened on Saturday morning...oh and also because I wasn't there.

From all reports the only casualty to come out of the clash was Kane Tenace who is expected to miss 2-3 weeks with an ankle injury. This could very well be a damaging early season blow with Thompson and Co. very much focussing on pace this season. Nathan Ablett missed with a quad complaint but should be back next week for the NAB Cup opener.

Max Rooke, David Johnson & Paul Chapman all missed and will play VFL football in coming weeks as they are a few weeks behind the rest of the playing group.

Posted by Sammy D at 09:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 13, 2007

Cats to split games between Foxtel & commercial TV

The AFL along with Channels Seven, Ten and Foxtel have agreed on the break up of coverage for the 2007 season.

Under the AFL fixture, Geelong is guaranteed 10 free to air games and nine on Foxtel, with three to be determined.

Posted by Sammy D at 07:47 PM | Comments (0)

The Review: Week 13 (January 18th - January 24th)

Geelong suffered a set back this week when it was revealed new father son recruit Tom Hawkins had incurred an injury in pre-season training and has been forced on to a modified program:

First year Geelong forward Tom Hawkins will be on a modified training program after being diagnosed with a stress reaction in his right fibula.

“We have picked up the issue early and that has minimized the level of the injury,” Geelong’s general manager of football operations Neil Balme said.

“He felt some soreness and alerted our medical staff, and the scans today showed the stress reaction. We’re pleased that this was picked up early by both Tom and the medical team.

“Tom will wear a protective boot for the next week and his training will be modified to a non weight bearing program.”

Hawkins is expected to be on a modified training program for four to eight weeks.

Hawkins is expected to be on a modified program for four to eight weeks. He was selected by Geelong under the father-son rule in last year’s draft. He earned All Australian under 18 honours and the Larke medal as the best player at the national under 18 championship in 2006.

The 18 year old Hawkins is the son of former Cats’ defender Jack Hawkins who played 182 games with the club.

Posted by Sammy D at 07:34 PM | Comments (0)

The Review: Week 12 (January 11th - January 17th)

The quietest week in the history of the Geelong Football Club?

*Tumbleweeds roll over Kardinia Park*

Posted by Sammy D at 07:30 PM | Comments (0)

The Review: Week 11 (January 4th - January 10th)

The dominating news of the week was of course still the troublesome Steve 'Dog' Johnson. On Monday the 8th of January the playing group took a step in the right direction, suspending him from the senior playing group indefinitely. He will train with the VFL side.

“The club has not taken this decision lightly,” Geelong’s general manager of football operations Neil Balme said.

“Steve has been given numerous chances and it is fair to say that he is now down to his last opportunity to prove that he wants to stay with the club.

“We understand that young people make mistakes in all walks of life. This includes AFL players. We do believe in allowing people to grow, learn from their mistakes and mature.

“We have provided ample opportunity for Steve to display the behaviour that we expect from all of our players. The ball is now firmly in his court to prove that he is worthy of a return to the senior group.”

Meanwhile Tom Harley revealed that Johnson was shocked at the severity of the punishment;

"He's a remorseful guy and he spoke to the group really well on Monday when he explained his actions and accepted the sanctions," Harley said at Skilled Stadium on Wednesday.

"As far as a character-building exercise for him, I think it may be a good thing. I thought it (the decision) was handled really well. We actually had a leadership meeting on the Friday and bounced around a few ideas and we're really happy with the result."

"It's been dealt with and there has obviously been some speculation as to whether it was too hard or too soft, but we're really happy with it and Steve's accepted it and it's time to move on from it now."

"The best thing about it is that it gives Steve another chance and if he's fair dinkum about his footy he'll come back and get himself right and get himself in good nick and then we'll assess it from there."

Posted by Sammy D at 07:19 PM | Comments (0)

February 03, 2007

The Review: Week 10 (December 28th - January 3rd)

Steve Johnson: In trouble...again

Cats disappointed in Johnson: Balme

The Geelong Football Club advises that forward Steve Johnson was arrested on 24 December in Wangaratta for being drunk in a public place.

Johnson was on leave from the club over the Christmas break when the alleged incident occurred and only advised the club of the situation today.

“We are bitterly disappointed that this situation has occurred and that there has been a delay in telling us about it,” Geelong general manager of football operations Neil Balme said.

“We expect that all of our players behave well and we are particularly disappointed in Steve as he has been rehabilitating his knee following post-season surgery.

“A number of key decision makers will not return to the club until next week, and as such no punishment will be determined until then. We expect to be in a position to announce any sanction on Tuesday 9 January. Until such time the club will not speculate as to any potential penalty.”

Pathetic from Johnson, not only is he in trouble with the law again, but he delayed telling the club about it for days upon days. His career is going down the toilet and he only has himself to blame.

Posted by Sammy D at 06:14 PM | Comments (0)

The Review: Week 9 (December 21st - December 27th)

Captain Tom Harley wants the club to regain respect

While everybody was sleep off their Christmas hangovers Tom Harley was preaching that Geelong needed to regain the respect that it lost last season;

Cats look to regain respect

Geelong skipper Tom Harley has signaled a determination to regain the respect the club lost during its difficult 2006 campaign.

Harley believes that the strong summer training regime will stand the club in good stead in the 2007 season.

“We made a lot of inroads during the ‘04-’05 seasons, and we gained a lot of respect for the way we went about our footy,” Harley said.

“We pretty much lost every shred of that last year. I think it is going to be a really exciting and impressive year. We've had this massive review, and made some internal changes, and I think it's great - we'll bounce back to where we belong.”

Harley also believes the club’s members that have supported the Cats over the years will see a return to the style of play the team has become known for.

“Obviously we think we're doing everything right, and it'd be a shame for our supporters to miss out on that,” he said.

The Cats have almost the entire list on the training track and Harley believes that augurs well for the season.

“The guys are training amazingly well so far. Everyone bar two or three are on the track at the moment, and everyone’s on track to be there after Christmas.”

Meanwhile the club denied rumors that Gary Ablett's arm was broken or that he was taken to hospital early Christmas morning.

Neil Balme stated;

‘‘I have heard those rumours and I’m almost certain, without having seen him, that it’s not true,’’ Balme said.

‘‘I spoke to (chief executive) Brian Cook and (media manager) Kevin Diggerson and all the mail is it’s absolutely not true.’’

Posted by Sammy D at 06:00 PM | Comments (0)

The Review: Week 8 (December 14th - December 20th)

With it getting close to Christmas nothing much was going on down at Skilled Stadium, except for this article about Mark Thompson and the upcoming season's importance on his position;

Timing is everything

Geelong coach Mark Thompson concedes his time is running out to deliver Cats supporters that elusive premiership.

As he prepares for his eighth season at the helm of the Cats, Thompson said he was aware he was close to the end of his tenure as coach.

"No, I don't think I've got a fair bit of time, it's getting pretty close," he said.

"We've got to have a better year than last year."

Thompson said he wouldn't set an expectation for a result that, if not met in 2007, would see him walk away from Skilled Stadium at season's end.

He said he didn't know whether it would be his decision, or the club's, that would see him continue on after next season.

"I've got no idea. All we've got to do is win some games. (We'll) see what happens after that," he said.

As the Cats prepare for their final training week before the Christmas break, the coach said he had been impressed by the performance of Brent Prismall, Mark Blake, Travis Varcoe and Brad Ottens on the training track so far this pre-season.

"I like the amount of time (they're training), how often they're training, how much better they look this year than they did last year," he said.

"That's the plan - that they put enormous pressure on everybody that's in the team at the moment so that everyone works hard together.

"We're going to promote the guys who really deserve a game. Hopefully there's a lot of young boys that do make their way into the team."

Thompson said he had not set any team expectations for next season, but was looking forward to seeing some of his younger players flourish in 2007.

"I'd like to see (Travis) Varcoe play a lot of football. I'd like to see Tom Hawkins play, in his first year, at least five to 10 games. Nathan Ablett and (Andrew) Mackie you'd like to see play 15-20 games," he said.

Geelong's chances next season will again hinge on the success of its forward line, which Thompson says has more options than ever.

"You've got Ottens, Nathan Ablett, (Paul) Chapman, Gary Ablett, (Charlie) Gardiner (and) Cam Mooney at centre- half forward -there's six there," he said.

"There's probably up to eight or 10 guys that we would be really happy to play in the forward line."

One of those options is father-son recruit Tom Hawkins, who Thompson says is certainly being factored into the Cats' 2007 forward line structure, despite having to battle the weight of expectation that is coming the 18-year-old's way.

"We always worry about it - that we don't put too much pressure on young men -but in saying that, if he's ready to play we're going to play him," Thompson said.

"We're going to play our best 22 that we think's right to Win games and if he's part of that we won't be holding him back be- cause we want to look after him and nurse him along.

"If he's good enough to play, he'll play. He's been trained up as a forward -that's where he's going to play."

Thompson said he was very pleased with the club's recruits, saying they all fulfilled the club's desire to take kids "who can run, and run pretty quickly, and who are footy smart and can kick the ball".

"I think all the boys that we've got at the club are pretty strong in those areas we're looking for," he said.

"Hawkins, (Joel) Selwood, (Nathan) Djerrkura, (Simon) Hogan - good runners, good decision makers, can kick the ball well."

Yes Mark, we do need to win some games.

Posted by Sammy D at 12:02 AM | Comments (0)

February 02, 2007

The Review: Week 7 (December 7th - December 13th)

Geelongblog.com got data back from the GFC saying it was the 49th favourite source information for fans narrowly trailing some butcher in East Geelong and just ahead of the Asian guy in my local milkbar. #1 source of information was of course gfc.com.au.

Pre-season was in full swing with fitness coach Paul Haines excited by the early progress;

"It's a real bonus to see guys like Brad Ottens and Steven King out on the track and King (who has not played a full season since 2002) is training unbelievably well," Haines said.

Haines has also seen massive improvement in some of the Cats' young players as well.

"Brent Prismall is working really well, he is in great nick, and young guys like Ryan Gamble have bulked up as well."

Rookie Draft

Joel Reymolds - #37
Height: 188cm
Weight: 84kg
Clubs: St. Josephs, Geelong U/18s, Essendon
DOB: 5/6/1984

Reynolds played 38 games in five seasons at Windy Hill. The 22 year old Reynolds played 11 games last season before being delisted by the Bombers. He was originally a second round selection and made his debut in round three, 2002 against Brisbane. Reynolds is the grandson of all time AFL great Dick Reynolds. He played his under 18 football with the Geelong Falcons.

Liam Bedford - #42
Height: 180cm
Weight: 68kg
Clubs: Claremont
DOB: 12/7/1988

Bedford hails from Western Australia and played with Claremont. He is an 18-year old wingman/ half back. He stands at 180cm and has exceptional pace. He was taken with the 23rd pick. Bedford played WAFL Colts and reserves with Claremont, and he helped the Tigers reach the Colts grand final where they went down by a goal to East Perth.

Jason Davenport - #41
Height: 185cm
Weight: 82kg
Clubs: Geelong VFL
DOB: 4/9/1985
Achievements: Fothergill-Round Medal (2006)

Davenport is something of a late comer to football after concentrating on basketball in his teens. He was one of the VFL's leading players as a dynamic midfield and earned a call up through a rookie draft.

Tom Lonergan - #13
Height: 197cm
Weight: 97kg
Clubs: Yarrawonga, Calder U/18s
DOB: 17/5/1984

Suffered one the most serious injuries of 2006 when he courageously backed into a pack in round 21 and a few days later had a kidney removed as a result of the collision. It was a major operation and it will be a slow process before he takes the field again. The young big man was playing his third senior game of the season after being part of the Cats’ NAB Cup premiership side. The Cats have moved Lonergan on to their rookie list after he decided last November that he would play on. The football world will be watching and no doubt applauding his comeback.

Posted by Sammy D at 11:23 PM | Comments (0)

January 30, 2007

The Review: Week 6 (November 30th - December 6th)

Things started to slow down in terms of news at Skilled Stadium, to cover for this a few interviews were held.

We heard about Sam Hunt's second chance, how Joel Selwood is alright with comparisons to his brothers & how Neil Balme will have a soothing influence on the club.

The club announced they will be travelling to Swan Hill to hold a community camp from February 6-9.

David Whealdon: Geelong's new skills acquisition coach

On December 5th, Geelong announced David Whealdon as skills acquisition coach. It is his second stint at the club after being there from 1985-1990 in a variety of roles.

Wheadon’s AFL coaching background

Geelong
1985-90: Reserves coach, skills coach, assistant coach

Carlton
1991: Assistant coach

Essendon
1992-97: Football development manager, assistant coach, reserves coach

Collingwood
1998-99: Assistant coach

Richmond
2000-06: Assistant coach, T@FE co-ordinator

Posted by Sammy D at 03:40 PM | Comments (0)

The Review: Week 5 (November 23rd - November 29th)

It was quiet mid-week leading up to the AFL Draft.

The Geelong Advertiser was reporting that Geelong would be on free to air TV every week next season, while the boys were finally back training at Skilled Stadium for the first time during pre-season. Lastly we heard how Tom Hawkins was relaxed knowing he was heading to the Geelong Football Club in the next days draft.

Nathan Ablett agreed to a 2-3 year contract

There was more good news on the morning on the National Draft with news that Nathan Ablett had agreed to a contract believed to be 2-3 years for around $150,000 a season. Defenders Sam Hunt & Tim Callan had also agreed to new deals.

DRAFT PICKS

Joel Selwood - #14
Height: 182cm
Weight: 82kg
Club: Bendigo U/18s
DOB: 26/5/1988
Achievements: All Australian U/18, Vic Country U/18, 2005 Barassi Medal

The younger brother of West Coast’s Adam and Brisbane’s Troy was snapped up by the Cats with their first pick at the 2006 NAB AFL Draft. Although smaller than his twin brothers, the younger Selwood has been ticked in all the right boxes. He is a natural leader, strong at the contest and looks a readymade midfielder despite playing only three games in 2006 because of a knee injury. It was a massive relief for his Bendigo-based family that he has remained in Victoria.

Nathan Djerrkura - #18
Height: 186cm
Weight: 80kg
Clubs: NT Thunder/Scotch College
DOB: 19/9/1988
Achievements: All Australian U/18, Northern Territory U/18

The small midfielder was the Northern Territory’s best player at the 2006 NAB AFL Under-18 Championships. An inside player, he likes to put his body on the line and has great pace and evasive skills. Attended Scotch College in Melbourne last year and is keen to embark on an AFL career.

Tom Hawkins - #26
Height: 197cm
Weight: 105kg
Clubs: Melbourne Grammar
DOB: 27/7/1988
Achievements: All Australian U/18, Victoria Metro U/18

The son of former star defender Jack Hawkins follows a long line of father-son selections at the club and there are high hopes for the young forward. Standing 197cm, he had been mainly concentrating on school football but, when he was unveiled at the 2006 NAB AFL Under-18 Championships, Geelong fans had their first glimpse of a possible star in the making. A strong overhead mark and a lovely kick, Hawkins would undoubtedly have gone in the top few picks in the NAB AFL Draft such were the raps on him. Is expected to play senior football in 2007.

Simon Hogan - #34
Height: 181cm
Weight: 72kg
Club: Geelong Falcons
DOB: 16/8/1988
Achievements: Geelong Falcons most improved player

Quick, lightly framed midfielder from the Geelong Falcons who thrust himself into the draft spotlight with some excellent performances at the NAB AFL Draft Camp. Finished in the top 10 in five of the nine categories and was No. 1 for the shuttle run and the repeat sprints. Has plenty of improvement in him and will be given time to develop.

To round off the week it was reported that Tom Lonergan was making good progress in his attempt to get his career back on track after his emergency surgery.

Posted by Sammy D at 02:41 PM | Comments (0)

The Review: Week 4 (November 16th - November 22nd)

Brent Prismall aims to play every senior game in 2007

With the draft coming up, Brent Prismall spoke about the "learning curve" that is AFL football. After believing he didn't deserve to play AFL football in his first season at the club he made his debut in Round 5 against Sydney breaking his arm just after getting his first ever AFL possession. He recovered to play 7 more games including the last 5 of the season.

"I definitely felt different this year. I'm not sure why, but in the back of your mind you always think when you get drafted, you're a chance to play senior footy that year," Prismall told gfc.com.au on Thursday.

"But looking back on my first year, I wasn't as fit as I should have been and I just didn't appreciate the hard work I had to do to get into the senior team."

"I think I've done that now but by no means have I hit the levels I need to be at. I still need to keep improving with my fitness and my skill and stuff. But I've got a bit more of an understanding of my body and AFL footy and what goes with it."

Prismall knows the worth of a strong pre-season and credits hard work at the start of this year to the fitness he was able to recover after his broken arm.

"After I had my arm broken, I really wanted to get back in there and looking back now, I got rewards for all that hard work I put in during that five week period when I couldn't do anything," he said.

"Over the pre-season (in 2006) I worked hard so that was pretty much why I got those rewards towards the end of the year."

As for this year, the former Western Jet says the Cats are already working hard after coming back from holidays and are reaping the rewards from hitting the track with vigour.

"It's been good. It's been solid and different but we're already starting to see rewards at the end of the tunnel," he said.

"We're really enjoying it."

"The name is Max and don't you forget it"

Jarad Rooke made his intentions clear that from now on he wants to be known as Max Rooke. The reasoning behind it being it's his middle name, his grandfathers name and what he prefers. We love it Max...well we don't really but we'll live.

Lastly the club reported it made a profit for the seventh consecutive year. The net profit for the year 2006 is reported to be $341,000 down on last years net profit of $737,000 with Cook stating the reason being an extra $1m was committed to the football department.

Posted by Sammy D at 02:16 PM | Comments (0)

December 14, 2006

The Review: Week 3 (November 9th- November 15th)

Tom Lonergan plans to play on after his horrific accident last season

It was a relatively quite week at the Geelong Football Club after some big changes in recent weeks.

Tom Lonergan decided he will continue on playing AFL football after his life threatening injury last season which involved the removal of a kidney.

In a roundabout move Geelong will delist Tom Lonergan later this week, with the intention of picking him up in the Rookie Draft. Under the circumstances the club are confident no other club will look at picking him.

Lonergan has managed 7 AFL games for the Cats as a tall forward/back.

Apart from Lonergan the news was coming off the field from our President & CEO.

Brian Cook (Geelong CEO) has set the 2007 seasons membership target at 32,291. Exactly 1 more than what the club achieved last season (32,290) with a view to getting to 36,000 members in the next 4 years.

It seems a wishful target at best in my opinion as there is no way I can forsee our membership improving this year after last season unless we start with an incredible 6-0 run or similar.

GFC membership levels 1999-2006
1999: 21,032
2000: 25,595
2001: 25,420
2002: 23,756
2003: 24,017
2004: 25,021
2005: 30,821
2006: 32,290

Lastly Frank Costa put fear into Victorian football fans claiming he thinks 2 Melbourne clubs will be forced to move within 5 years due to rising financial issues. Costa stated,

The real fact about footy is that every year the cost of running this club goes up by $1 million, so in Victoria every year we need to find an extra $10 million. There is no way Victoria in this strong national competition can keep funding 10 teams when other states have got one. That change will happen.

Posted by Sammy D at 12:37 PM | Comments (0)

December 13, 2006

The Review: Week 2 (November 2nd - November 8th)

Favourite son Brenton Sanderson back at The Cattery

The club welcomed back a favourite face in the form of Brenton Sanderson who will return in an assistant coaching role after a successful stint helping Port Power's young stars in the 2006 campaign. He will become the Cats midfield coach replacing Andy Lovell.

Port Adelaide were far from happy with Sanderson coming back and are seeking legal advice.

Training with Geelong - Joel Reynolds & Adam Iacobucci

Geelong have invited former AFL players Joel Reynolds & Adam Iacobucci to train with them over pre-season with the two players looking for permanent spots on the Cats list.

Reynolds, grandson of AFL great Dick Reynolds, managed 38 games in 5 seasons with the Bombers. Iacobucci meanwhile managed 4 games in 2 seasons with the Magpies and finished 3rd in Collingwood's VFL teams best & fairest last season.

Lastly Geelong added to its football department with the appointments of Paul Haines as fitness & conditioning coach, Dean Robinson as rehabilitation & strength coach & Duncan Kellaway as 2nd physiotherapist.

Posted by Sammy D at 08:33 PM | Comments (0)

We're Back: The Review Week 1

That's right, we're back after almost a month & a half's absence. Sorry to all the regular readers out there, but after the nightmare that was season 2006 I had to get away from thinking about the club for some time and recharge the batteries.

Moving on, we'll quickly hopefully have a few posts up shortly reviewing everything that has gone on while the site was on an unofficial hiatus. This being the first of which, so let's get into it.

Week 1 (October 25th-November 1st)

Kent Kingsley, one of 3 players delisted by the Geelong Football Club on October 26th

On October 26th the Geelong Football Club started with its plans for the 2007 season delisting Kent Kingsley, Paul Koulouriotis & Matthew McCarthy.

Kingsley was leading goalkicker for 4 seasons with the Cats and managed 227 goals in 110 games, but only managed 10 goals in 9 games this season.

McCarthy whose career was continiously wrecked with injuries finished with 24 goals in 22 games. His best effort was a 5 goal haul against Carlton this season.

Meanwhile Koulouriotis played 18 games for the club after crossing from Port Power.

The club also told Will Slade, Tim Sheringham & Nick Batchelor their rookie contracts would not be renewed. Slade was the only player of the three to manage a senior appearance playing 17 games for the club including the first 6 of the 2006 season.

Gary Davidson: Being replaced by Neil Balme

A few days later the club started to make the changes in administration. Neil Balme, former Melbourne coach and member of the Collingwood football department was annouced General Manager of Football Operations taking over from the devil *cough*...I mean Gary Davidson. Steve Hocking was moved into the role of day-to-day management of football operations.

Sam Hunt's good work in the VFL earnt him a spot on the senior list

The arrival of November saw Sam Hunt elevated to the senior list from his rookie status after Darren Milburn was placed on the veteran's list. It was just reward for some fine VFL form last season.

Posted by Sammy D at 07:40 PM | Comments (0)

October 25, 2006

2007 AFL Fixture: GFC Style

Round 1 - Sunday April 1 @ Western Bulldogs TD 2:10pm
Round 2 - Saturday April 7 Vs. Carlton TD 7:10pm N
Round 3 - Sunday April 15 @ Melbourne MCG 2:10pm
Round 4 - Sunday April 22 @ Hawthorn Aurora 1:10pm
Round 5 - Sunday April 29 Vs. Kangaroos Skilled 2:10pm
Round 6 - Sunday May 6 @ Richmond TD 5:10pm TW
Round 7 - Sunday May 13 Vs. West Coast Skilled 1:10pm
Round 8 - Saturday May 19 Vs. Fremantle Skilled 2:10pm
Round 9 - Sunday May 27 @ Port Adelaide AAMI 4:10pm TW
Round 10 - Sunday June 3 @ St. Kilda TD 5:10pm TW
Round 11 - Sunday June 10 @ Adelaide AAMI 12:40pm
Round 12 - Sunday June 17 Vs. Brisbane Skilled 1:10pm
Round 13 - Saturday June 30 Vs. Sydney Skilled 2:10pm
Round 14 - Friday July 6 @ Essendon TD 7:40pm N
Round 15 - Saturday July 14 Vs. Collingwood MCG 2:10pm
Round 16 - Friday July 20 Vs. Western Bulldogs TD 7:40pm N
Round 17 - Saturday July 28 @ Fremantle Subiaco 2:10pm
Round 18 - Saturday August 4 Vs. Richmond Skilled 2:10pm
Round 19 - Sunday August 12 Vs. Adelaide Skilled 2:10pm
Round 20 - Sunday August 19 @ Kangaroos TD 2:10pm
Round 21 - Sunday August 26 Vs. Port Adelaide Skilled 2:10pm
Round 22 - Saturday September 1 @ Brisbane GABBA 7:10pm N

The Round Up

Home Games: 11 - 8 Skilled, 2 Telstra Dome, 1 MCG
Away Games: 11 - 5 Telstra Dome, 1 MCG, 5 Interstate (2 SA, 1 WA, 1 QLD, 1 TAS)

Timeslots:
Friday Nights - 2
Saturdays - 5
Saturday Nights - 2
Early Sunday - 4
Sunday - 6
Twilight Sunday - 3

Overall an interesting draw. Not really a fan of Twilight games so it will be interesting how the crowds respond to those games considering they're on Sundays.

Glad to see we get a home game at the MCG, but I would have liked a couple more.

Travel wise it isn't too bad at all and we only manage to play 3 of last years top 8 twice so that's a positive also.

In other words no excuses can by made this season based on the fixture.

Oh and we have Richmond in the NAB Cup February 25th @ Skilled Stadium, 3:40pm on a Sunday?! If we win we'll face the winner of Port Adelaide/Adelaide at TIO Stadium...which after some research is in Darwin.

Posted by Sammy D at 02:53 PM | Comments (0)

October 10, 2006

Trade Week Day 2

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Plenty of doughnuts and coffee were consumed on day 2, but not much progress for clubs. Steve Johnson has done more running in the last 2 days than he did all year, trying to pass fitness tests at Collingwood and Essendon. Listening to Sheedy on SEN yesterday afternoon, I don’t think he was too impressed with the results. We’ll have to wait and see but expect Johnson to stay unless we get a handsome price in exchange, given the mercurial forward is contracted.

Nothing else to report from day 2, I expect the same to be said for the next few days.

Oh and Sammy D would like to point out SEN reported our chase for Bradshaw was “hotting up” about 72,812 times without any substance at all.

Posted by Sammy D at 09:40 PM | Comments (0)

October 09, 2006

Trade Day 1 Summary

Not a big day of movement, and reluctance on Geelong’s part could see them lose out again in their chase of Lions Key Forward Daniel Bradshaw. The Lions are reportedly willing to part with their spearhead in exchange for James Kelly, a player who had limited impact in 2006.

This suggests one of two things from the Cats hierarchy; either they rate James Kelly extremely highly, or believe they can land one of the promising talls with their first pick of the draft.

Securing Bradshaw would you would surmise mean that we must use our first pick on a quality midfielder. Perhaps the Cats believe one of Thorp, Gumbleton or Sellar will be around and they want to keep their options open come draft day. Perhaps they just believe they can get Bradshaw for a cheaper price.

Tim Callan could become a Saint before the week is out, not sure what the Cats would see as adequate compensation seeing as they don’t rate him high enough to play in the seniors. I’m sure their rating of him will go up when it comes to getting something in return. A pick inside the top 40’s would be a good return.

No one seems keen on Kent, but then why would you when you could pick him up for nothing in the Pre-season draft. Not sure if the Cats will care too much as it may make the delisting process easier should they trade deadwood like Gardiner and McCarthy who have also been shopped around with little success.

That is it for day one, hopefully more news at the end of day two!

Posted by Sammy D at 08:38 PM | Comments (0)

October 06, 2006

Best & Fairest Night

Carji Greeves Medal Top 10
1. Paul Chapman – 462
2. Jimmy Bartel – 383
3. Gary Ablett – 371
4. Cameron Ling – 329
5. Corey Enright – 291
6. Darren Milburn – 287
7. Joel Corey - 267
7. Matthew Scarlett - 267
9. Brad Ottens – 256
10. Jarad Rooke – 220

GFC Hall of Fame
Steven King
Darren Milburn
Matthew Scarlett

GFC Life Membership
Frank Costa
Matthew Scarlett
Bryan Carr
Stuart Field
Paul Costa

Best First Year Player
Brent Prismall

Best Clubman
Tom Harley

Coach’s Award
Paul Chapman

Community Champion
Cameron Mooney

VFL Best & Fairest Top 3
1. James Byrne
2. Tom Lonergan
3. Tim Callan

Well done to Chappy and all the other award winners!

Posted by Sammy D at 12:24 PM | Comments (0)

October 03, 2006

Brad Ottens: Mark of the Year

Just incase you've been on another planet, here's Otten's mark that won the Mark of the Year competition for 2006:

Brad Ottens

Posted by Sammy D at 04:09 PM | Comments (0)

September 26, 2006

Chapman Cracks Top 10 on Brownlow Night

Well done Chappy! According to gfc.com.au he's the first cat to crack the top 10 since Brad Sholl in 1997 and the first to get 14 or more since Garry Hocking in 1998. Anyways here's the votes:

Geelong Vs. Brisbane
3. Paul Chapman (Geel)
2. Joel Corey (Geel)
1. Jimmy Bartel* (Geel)

Geelong Vs. Kangaroos
3. Joel Corey (Geel)
2. Kent Kingsley (Geel)
1. Matt Egan (Geel)

Geelong Vs. Hawthorn
3. Luke Hodge (Haw)
2. Sam Mitchell (Haw)
1. Richie Vandenberg* (Haw)

Western Bulldogs Vs. Geelong
3. Scott West (WB)
2. Joel Corey (Geel)
1. Robert Murphy (WB)

Sydney Swans Vs. Geelong
3. Barry Hall (Syd)
2. Adam Schneider (Syd)
1. Cameron Mooney* (Geel)

Melbourne Vs. Geelong
3. Brock McLean* (Melb)
2. Cameron Ling (Geel)
1. Aaron Davey (Melb)

St. Kilda Vs. Geelong
3. Paul Chapman (Geel)
2. Cameron Ling (Geel)
1. Darren Milburn (Geel)

Collingwood Vs. Geelong
3. Dane Swan (Coll)
2. Leon Davis (Coll)
1. Heath Shaw (Coll)

Geelong Vs. Richmond
3. Chris Newman (Rich)
2. Paul Chapman (Geel)
1. Richard Tambling (Rich)

Geelong Vs. West Coast
3. Daniel Kerr* (WCE)
2. Dean Cox (WCE)
1. Ben Cousins (WCE)

Geelong Vs. Essendon
3. Paul Chapman (Geel)
2. Dustin Fletcher (Ess)
1. Gary Ablett (Geel)

Fremantle Vs. Geelong
3. Gary Ablett (Geel)
2. Cameron Mooney* (Geel)
1. Josh Hunt (Geel)

Adelaide Vs. Geelong
3. Martin Mattner (Adel)
2. Rhett Biglands (Adel)
1. Brett Burton* (Adel)

Carlton Vs. Geelong
3. Steven King (Geel)
2. Cameron Ling (Geel)
1. Cameron Mooney* (Geel)

Geelong Vs. Port Adelaide
3. Shaun Burgoyne (Port)
2. Matthew Stokes (Geel)
1. Jimmy Bartel* (Geel)

Geelong Vs. Western Bulldogs
3. Joel Corey (Geel)
2. Brad Johnson (WB)
1. Corey Enright (Geel)

Kangaroos Vs. Geelong
3. Drew Petrie (Kan)
2. Jess Sinclair (Kan)
1. Brett Harvey (Kan)

Brisbane Vs. Geelong
3. Paul Chapman (Geel)
2. Luke Power (Bris)
1. Daniel Bradshaw (Bris)

Geelong Vs. St. Kilda
3. Nick Dal Santo (St.K)
2. Samuel Fisher (St.K)
1. Andrew Mackie (Geel)

Geelong Vs. Sydney
3. Jarad Rooke (Geel)
2. Matthew Scarlett* (Geel)
1. Adam Goodes (Syd)

Geelong Vs. Melbourne
3. James McDonald (Melb)
2. Cameron Bruce (Melb)
1. Gary Ablett (Geel)

Hawthorn Vs. Geelong
3. Shane Crawford (Haw)
2. Mark Williams (Haw)
1. Sam Mitchell (Haw)

Geelong Leaderboard
Paul Chapman - 14
Joel Corey - 10
Cameron Ling - 6
Gary Ablett - 5
Cameron Mooney* - 4
Jarad Rooke - 3
Steven King - 3
Jimmy Bartel* - 2
Kent Kingsley - 2
Matthew Stokes - 2
Matthew Scarlett* - 2
Josh Hunt - 1
Matt Egan - 1
Corey Enright - 1
Andrew Mackie - 1
Darren Milburn - 1

Posted by Sammy D at 03:08 PM | Comments (0)

Harley to lead Cats in 2007

Harley to lead Cats in '07

Tom Harley will skipper the Cats in 2007 after Steven King expressed his desire to step away from the role and concentrate on his football.

Harley, a veteran of 142 games was one of three vice-captains in 2006 and is one of the club’s most respected players.

“Whilst Steven sees the captaincy as a great honour, the time has come for him to concentrate on his role as one of the premier ruckmen in the AFL,” Geelong president Frank Costa said.

“Steven communicated this to the club and we agree with his view on the captaincy.

“Tom has earned enormous respect throughout the club and indeed in the wider football community. He is a player that has worked as hard as anyone to have a successful career. Everyone knows that we are a much better team when Tom is on the field and he again showed this in 2006.”

Firstly I'd like to congratulate Tom Harley on becoming the new captain of the GFC and wish him the best of luck in the role.

King has done the right thing in stepping down, if he didn't step down I'm sure he wouldn't have been captain at the club next season anyways, but why Tom Harley?

Harley seems to have excellent communication skills everytime I hear him interviewed on TV or radio and bleeds blue & white. After the Round 2 game versus Carlton in 2004 a Tom Harley post match interview on 3AW inspired Robert Walls to go out and buy a Geelong Football Club membership. In my opinion Harley is a better communicator than Steven King.

However the issue surrounding Harley is, is he fit enough to get on ground 22+ games a year. Afterall, that was King's major criticism, that he could never get his body right and spent tens of games of his tenure on the sidelines or in the coaches box. Harley after all does have an unhealthly history with injuries. He has managed only 13 games a season for the past 2 years, however Brian Cook has stated "he is in the best physical shape he has been in for a long time".

We certainly hope so Brian...

Posted by Sammy D at 02:58 PM | Comments (0)

Thompson to stay & King steps down as captain...among other things.

Well probably the most public football department review in the history of football has finally come to an end. If you are a GFC member you will receive the outcome of the review in the mail. But for those who cannot wait or aren't members here's what they media are reporting:

Cats stick with Thompson amid a raft of changes

Mark Thompson will coach a restructured Geelong Football Club for at least one more season after convincing the board yesterday he still had the passion for the job and was prepared to change his style.

Among a series of significant on- and off-field changes, the club has appointed experienced defender Tom Harley as its new captain after Steven King said he no longer wanted the job, while influential president Frank Costa has indicated he could now remain at the helm for at least another three years.

Chief executive Brian Cook, who has admitted his lengthy and controversial review had been the hardest two months of his career, will take charge of the football department temporarily while the club searches for a new football chief, who will carry much of the load previously shouldered by Thompson.

"The players all indicated their admiration and respect for Mark's coaching ability," Cook told The Age yesterday. "But it became clear to us the time he had for (coaching) has been eroded. The job almost got too big for Mark and he was trying to do everything. At Geelong, we weren't really aware it was happening, but we were going down the St Kilda road of Grant Thomas, although not quite to that extent."

The coach refused to blame the break-up of his marriage on his diminished coaching focus, though he admitted: "You don't know from the inside whether it did or not … but this year, we had a lot of distractions and I just have to change that and concentrate on my strengths, start work on the pre-season program and put the boots back on..."

This view was supported by players interviewed by Cook, who admitted his review came one year too late. "I think the circumstances of the loss to Sydney in the finals last year camouflaged a lot of problems," he said. "We thought we were better than we were."

Thompson's survival is a victory for Costa's authority, given that as recently as a fortnight ago, four board members raised strong doubts about whether the coach should continue. Cook says he anticipated no resignations from the board and that any challenge to Costa now would come from outside.

In a series of moves ratified by the Geelong board early yesterday:

■ Thompson will concentrate purely on day-to-day coaching next season after conceding he had become distracted by extra responsibilities;

■ The Cats will replace assistant Andy Lovell with a new midfield coach, conceding its midfielders had not advanced this season;

■ A further $400,000 will be injected into the football department for a soon-to-be-appointed development coach and a new strength and conditioning chief;

■ The Cats' on-field leadership group has pushed for and will receive a bigger say over trade decisions, list management and day-to-day football decisions, including a revolving position on the match committee;

■ The Cats will advertise for a football operations chief in the mould of Sydney's Andrew Ireland, who would oversee coaching, list management, football budgets and possibly chair the match committee;

■ Football manager Garry Davidson's future at the club could not be guaranteed and would depend on the new football boss, with Steven Hocking a potential candidate;

■ The club would await a review of Geelong's recruiting, being undertaken by AFL executives Tony Peek and Kevin Sheehan, before moving to boost the recruiting department;

■ Costa would fight any challenge to his presidency from former vice-president Denis McMurrich and had the cautious blessing of his family to serve a further three years should he be forced to face an election.

Cook and Costa insisted Thompson would serve the final year of his contract with the unanimous support of the board, despite the previous misgivings of several directors, including Gareth Andrews and Doug Wade. Thompson said he was prepared to withstand the scrutiny of his short-term deal knowing he had not always enjoyed the full confidence of all the Geelong directors.

"I've had a pretty tough year but I think I've handled it pretty well," Thompson said. "I've got a thick hide. If I can survive what I've taken this year, I can survive anything. Whatever comes, I can take it. I'm a man."

McMurrich said he would petition the club to have the board elections held before the end of the year. The club also faces a special general meeting on October 11.

There is a lot to take out of that article and it will be interesting to see how in depth the letter is that is mailed out to the members, but here is my take on things:

Firstly I am not over the moon Thompson will coach on, but I think we all saw this coming with one year left on his contract and I am willing to give him one last shot and it will be interesting to see how things progress this off-season and next year.

I agree with Cook that the Sydney game disguised a lot of problems. I've been saying all year that our 2005 wasn't up to standard and our finals campaign hid a lot of problems. Being 7-3 after 10 rounds we should have been looking at top 4 instead of stumbling into the 8 like we did. In a lot of way 2006 is the same as 2005 but reversed except for not making the finals which is a good thing as it kept the pressure on the hierarchy at the club.

Now for the proposed changes; it is obviously a plus to have Thompson focus on the coaching side of things. I heard Cook interviewed Monday morning on SEN 1116 and he said everyone he talked to thought Thompson was excellent with the coaching side of things and his tactics. Now I don't think his tactics are too flash, but it occurred to me that too often when you win coaching moves/tactics are overlooked yet they are critically reviewed by nearly everyone during a loss so I will try and keep a more open mind this season on Thompson's coaching skills and moves.

The termination or end of Andy Lovell was easily the most predictable thing to come out of the review. Since Cresswell has left the club's midfield has gone backwards under Lovell, end of.

More money into the football department is always a good thing, however the interstate clubs are so far ahead in this department to most Victorian clubs how much difference will $400k actually make?

The 4th dot point I am not so thrilled about. Why should the leadership group have a say in trades & list management etc. It seems at first thoughts to be too easily corrupted by the group to get who they want to play in etc. Maybe they should get some say, I just hope it isn't too heavily weighted.

A Football Operations Chief sounds like the thing to do, to get Thompson back to focussing on coaching. The next point is my favourite. I've been wanting this for so long...DAVIDSON OUT

The club's recruiting certainly needs to be looked at so this is a good move. You just have to compare some of our picks to a side like Sydney's picks recently to see where improvement is needed.

As for the final point about a possible McMurrich challenge, I believe I read he will not challenge the board anymore after the reviews findings, but if he does, why would he bother? He was a part of they Hovey regime that got the club into the financial state that we found ourselves in 1999.

The majority of members it seems are still behind the combination of Costa & Cook and in my opinion rightly so. Without them right now we could be playing all our home games at the Gold Coast or West Sydney. Instead we have a brand new stand and our city still has a football team in the national competition.

Posted by Sammy D at 02:19 PM | Comments (0)

September 14, 2006

Costa Speaks

Thomas' demise of no consequence: Costa

The sacking of St Kilda coach Grant Thomas has not pressured Geelong to take the same path, according to club president Frank Costa.

Costa said Thomas' demise after the Saints' early exit from the finals would in no way affect Cats coach Mark Thompson's position, despite Geelong finishing two places outside the final eight.

``We will not be making knee-jerk reactions. If you look at the administration of this football club after the last seven years, we've never made a knee-jerk reaction to the challenges we've found ourselves with, it's always been carefully calculated, assessed and planned,'' he said.

``At the same time we're not going to muck around either, but you look at Denis Pagan who didn't get his team into the finals and he wasn't sacked so what happened (to Thomas) makes no difference to us. Our case is isolated and separate, Mark has another 12 months to go on his contract and we'll assess everything carefully and properly.''

Thomas was shown the door just four days after the Saints' finals campaign ended when they went down to Melbourne in the elimination final last Friday night.

The Saints' shock decision was in stark contrast to the Cats' end of season review, which began almost four weeks ago.

But Costa said he remained confident the process the club had gone through was the right one and expected the review to wind up by the end of the week.

``I'm very happy with it, it has been the correct process, we've thought about it acutely and I'm very pleased it's been handled in a professional manner,'' he said.

``It's a very serious issue for the club to sort out and we've got to make sure that we go forward. It's close to the end, it will be completed by the weekend and we will come out in a transparent way as much as we can with the findings and strategies to let everyone know what is going on and what is going to happen.''

Posted by Sammy D at 02:07 PM | Comments (0)

September 13, 2006

Club Hands Blotto Otto Maximum Fine

Ottens hit hard

The Geelong Football Club has fined forward Brad Ottens $5,000 and will receive education on the trauma caused by drink driving after being caught exceeding .05. The sanction is the maximum allowed under the AFL player code of conduct.

Half of the fine will be donated to Road Trauma Support Team, an organization that assists people affected by road trauma in Victoria, and the other half will be donated to the AFL players’ association charity fund.

Ottens met with Geelong chief executive Brian Cook and senior coach Mark Thompson on Monday and he also spoke with the club’s leadership group in determining an appropriate punishment.

“There is no excuse for my actions and it is now up to me to win back the respect that I’ve lost from this incident,” Ottens said.

“I am truly sorry and I understand the impact that drink driving has on people’s lives. In the end it is up to me to prove through my actions that I have learnt from this and to help educate others to not make the mistake that I made.”

Ottens will lose his licence for 11 months and will be fined $450 after being found over the limit at 1am on Saturday.

Personally I think the fact that the maximum fine is only $5000 is a joke but at least the club played hard ball on this issue. Now it is time for them to play hard ball in respect to a few other issues...

Posted by Sammy D at 09:36 PM | Comments (0)

September 12, 2006

Cats To Dip Toe In The Bradshaw Pool Again?

Bradshaw a target

Uncontracted Brisbane Lions star Daniel Bradshaw is in Geelong's sights for next month's trade period.

The Lions' leading goal-kicker is yet to re-sign with the club and according to his manager Ron Joseph is on the open market.

Bradshaw enjoyed a career-best season with the Lions having lived much of his football life in the shadows of gun Brisbane forwards Alastair Lynch and Jonathan Brown.

But the 27-year-old came of age this year, booting 59 goals to join the AFL's top 10 goal-kickers.

He also took a club-high 159 marks for the season.

Geelong is rumoured to be interested in snaring the ready-made forward's services.

With out-of-favour and out-of-contract Cats forward Kent Kingsley set to continue his career elsewhere, Bradshaw could add some much-needed fire power to Geelong's forward line.

Small forwards Gary Ablett and Paul Chapman led the Cats' goal-scorers with 35 and 31 goals respectively.

Full forward and ruckman Brad Ottens kicked 26 goals for the year, with a conversion rate of just over 50 per cent.

While Nathan Ablett is being groomed as the Cats' next centre half-forward, the experience and versatility of Bradshaw would give the club another option in front of goals.

It is also believed Bradshaw, who was born in Melbourne and grew up in Wodonga, is open to a move to another club after 11 seasons with Brisbane, who this year finished 13th on the ladder.

Bradshaw would be a good pick up for us, depending on what we have to give up for him, however is there really any chance he will come to us? We've been in for him before and that didn't amount to anything and we have enough trouble attracting players to Geelong as it is.

Posted by Sammy D at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)

September 11, 2006

Lonergan Recovering As Otto Gets Blotto

Tom Lonergan keen to purr

Courageous Cat Tom Lonergan has thanked fans and wellwishers as he recovers in Geelong Hospital after the removal of a kidney.

The key defender is on the mend, but it could still be weeks before he leaves hospital.

Lonergan has been told that he has lost a kidney, but whether he plays football again is still to be decided.

Speaking through his manager, Anthony McConville, Lonergan said he was "amazed at the overwhelming support from Geelong Football Club, family, friends and people from right around Australia".

Mr McConville said Lonergan really appreciated the support, which was helping his recovery.

"He's keen to get out of hospital and get on with his life," he said.

Great stuff Tommy, may your recovery continue uninterupted.

Brad Ottens blows 0.116

Geelong forward Brad Ottens has dealt the embattled Cats another blow by being caught drink-driving.

he AFL player recorded a blood-alcohol reading of 0.116, more than double the legal limit, after being pulled over by police for a breath test in Doncaster about 1am yesterday.

The incident has left the club, suffering from a woeful on-field season, coaching crisis and kidney injury to Tom Lonergan, reeling.

Geelong chief executive Brian Cook said the Ottens incident was "unfortunate timing".

"It's extremely disappointing and frustrating. We've had our fair share of problems recently. We haven't had a good year," he said.

"I just wish we could put these things behind us."

Mr Cook said Ottens would face disciplinary action under the AFL Player's Code of Conduct.

He could also lose his licence for 11 months and be fined $450.

Mr Cook said the incident was Ottens' "first strike" since joining the Cats two years ago.

He did not know Ottens had been suspended for a match over drunkenness while at the Tigers in 2000.

"I wasn't aware of that," he said.

"He's been among the more mature players at the club. We expect more of him."

Mr Cook, who was relieved no one was injured by Ottens' mistake, said the player's career was not under threat.

"He's still contracted with us. In my opinion, that's not in jeopardy," he said.

Mr Cook said Ottens had dinner and a few drinks at a hotel in Templestowe with his brother before being stopped for a random breath test on Manningham Rd.

He said Ottens had been taken to the Doncaster police station for further testing and a reading of 0.116 had been recorded.

Mr Cook said Ottens was extremely remorseful.

Stupid, dangerous & totally unprofessional. This is the last thing we need and combined with the Scarlett statement our lack of discipline & leadership at the club is really showing right now. It appears the playing staff are as big a shambles as they are off the field as they are on it.

Posted by Sammy D at 01:17 PM | Comments (0)

September 07, 2006

Scarlett Throws Support Behind Thompson

Scarlett or Cresswell? You decide...

Geelong's leadership group has thrown its weight behind embattled coach Mark Thompson.

Matthew Scarlett, the club's full-back and best player, told the Herald Sun last night the overwhelming majority of players wanted Thompson to continue next year.

"He's the only man we want and we need him to coach next year," Scarlett said.

He warned he would quit the club if Thompson was dumped and replaced by Daryn Cresswell, who has been linked to the Cats since the announcement this week of his sudden departure from the Brisbane Lions.

"If Bomber got the arse and Daryn Cresswell came back, I'd be the first one to walk out," Scarlett said. "There's many others who would do the same thing, but I'm not prepared to name names."

Cresswell is a former assistant to Thompson at Geelong.

"We (the leadership group) are sick of all the stuff about not supporting Bomber. It's not true," Scarlett said.

The leadership group comprises Scarlett, Steven King, Cameron Ling, Tom Harley, Joel Corey, Paul Chapman and Cameron Mooney.

Scarlett said the players accepted responsibility for the embarrassing 61-point loss to Hawthorn at Telstra Dome on Sunday.

"It can't be a reflection on the coach," he said. "We played and we should cop the heat. We do need him and hopefully he's here next year."

Thompson's future is in the hands of chief executive Brian Cook, who is reviewing the club's operations for a comprehensive report and recommendation to the board.

Thompson is under contract for one more year, but his stocks were seen to dive on the back of Sunday's dismal effort.

The Cats have missed the final eight after finishing an unlucky fifth in 2005.

They finished 10th with 10 wins and a draw.

Meanwhile if Thompson stays Mackie might leave...

Mackie attracts interest from Port

The departures expected from Skilled Stadium in the coming weeks might begin unexpectedly with Andrew Mackie, the 22-year-old South Australian being courted by Port Adelaide after twice declining a new contract offer from Geelong.

Mackie is understood to have attracted interest from both South Australian clubs who are aware that he deferred contract negotiations with Geelong mid-season and as recently as a fortnight ago refused to consider a two-year offer from the Cats.

The financial terms of the contract offered by Geelong to the 2002 first-round draftee are believed to be well below his expectations and a combination of the opportunity to return home, assurances of regular games and the turbulence at Geelong are understood to have Mackie leaning towards a move.

The fact that Port finished 12th this season and therefore holds fifth pick in the pre-season draft is also a factor.

Mackie played 14 games this year for a total of 37 in four seasons, a modest return that is believed to have frustrated the versatile 192-centimetre player who won't negotiate with Geelong until a review of the football department is completed by chief executive Brian Cook. The review, which is likely to be completed by the end of this month, is widely expected to result in a major shake-up in the wake of the team's troubled season and failure to reach the finals."The Geelong offer has been declined at this stage," Mackie's manager Anthony McConville said yesterday.

"The season has come to its end, which is when we indicated we would be happy to start talking again, but I don't think negotiations are likely to begin until the air has cleared down there.

"I think the outcome of the review needs to be seen first, so that Andrew can be certain about what he might or might not be agreeing to."

In other articles I've read but cannot find Kent Kingsley admits that he won't be Geelong player next season if Bomber is around & rumors of David Wojcinski looking to be traded having not signed a new contract.

Posted by Sammy D at 12:07 PM | Comments (0)

September 05, 2006

Cresswell Coming Back To Be Top Cat?

Cresswell wants senior post

Brisbane Lions assistant coach Daryn Cresswell has resigned from the club to further explore senior coaching opportunities in Victoria.

According to a press statement released by the Lions on Tuesday, Cresswell leaves on good terms after two years working with the club's midfielders and forwards.

"I have enjoyed my time in Brisbane a great deal and I have learnt some valuable coaching lessons along the way working with Leigh Matthews and the other members of the coaching staff," Cresswell said.

"I have never made any secret of the fact that I have aspirations to hold a senior coaching position and as part of my ongoing personal development, I feel the time is right to take another step forward in that direction."

Cresswell, 35, played 244 games with the Sydney Swans before becoming an assistant coach at Geelong where he worked closely with the Cats' midfield group, then on to Brisbane.

"'Cressa' has been an integral part of our football operation and everyone at the club wishes him and his family the very best for the future," Lions football manager Graeme Allan said.

A few stories circulating on this at the moment. Firstly the gossip is that Cresswell didn't resign as such, but more so pushed to make way room for Justin Leppitsch.

Secondly where we he go? The two senior spots that would possibly come available seem to be ours & Carlton's. Why would Cresswell go to Carlton? But why would Cresswell come back to Geelong if his reason for leaving in the first place is true?

Stay tuned folks, a lot of Geelong fans may get their wish soon...

Posted by Sammy D at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

August 29, 2006

Lonergan Goes Under The Knife For Second Time

More surgery for Lonergan

Geelong defender Tom Lonergan remains in hospital in an induced coma as he recovers from kidney surgery after it was revealed on Monday he lost more than half the blood in his body.

So serious was the injury sustained by Lonergan, when he bravely backed into a pack during Saturday's game against Geelong, that doctors were forced to remove one of his kidneys.

Lonergan remains in Geelong Hospital in a serious but stable condition but despite the extent of his injuries, the Cats are optimistic he will make a full recovery and will be able to continue his AFL career.

Geelong's club doctor Chris Bradshaw said the club's main concern was making sure the 22-year-old's condition progressed well in the next few days with Lonergan facing further surgery on Monday night to remove the surgery packs used during the initial operation on Sunday morning.

"After surgery today to take the packs out, after that he should be brought out of that induced coma," Bradshaw said.

Lonergan has been in an induced coma since complications arose early on Sunday morning after it was initially felt he would not need surgery.

"About 3am on Sunday morning his blood pressure was dropping and a quick decision was made to take him to theatre and it was found he had lost about three litres of blood,' Bradshaw said, adding the human body held around five litres of blood.

"So there was a fair bit of bleeding and it necessitated in taking out his kidney and that happened in about a six hour procedure on Sunday morning."

Bradshaw admitted that had the surgeons at Geelong hospital not acted so quickly, Lonergan's condition could have been much worse.

"He was being monitored carefully and the minute his blood pressure started dropping, they acted quickly."

"It could have got dire but it was under control the whole time."

Bradshaw said the human body could function with only one third of one kidney so Lonergan will be capable of resuming his career.

However at this stage the club is not even thinking about his immediate playing future.

"I think he has got a good chance of playing again but I am concerned about getting him through the next few days first and then we can work out his long-term outlook," Bradshaw said.

"He is in a serious but stable condition and we are fairly optimistic about his recovery but we are obviously very cautious at the same time."

While Bradshaw said such serious internal injuries were not common in the AFL, he said players had played with one kidney before.

"I am fairly optimistic about his playing future as long as he gets through the next few days okay."

Bradshaw said during his time as Richmond's club doctor one of the players was able to successfully play with one kidney after it was revealed the player in fact only had one kidney after he was sent for tests when blood was found in his urine.

Just two years ago ex-Collingwood player Bo Nixon played one game for Hawthorn after having lost a kidney through illness with Nixon wearing a guard to protect his remaining kidney.

And one of Geelong's greatest players and now Channel Nine television personality John "Sam" Newman lost part of his kidney at the age of 21 but went on to play for the Cats for another 13 seasons.

Bradshaw also revealed that Lonergan had suffered an earlier injury to the same kidney while playing junior football at 16, which contributed to the seriousness of his latest injury.

"Apparently the scar tissue from that injury made it a bit more dire when he got hit this time," he said.

"The bottom half of the kidney was severely lacerated and severely bruised and he also had an injury to the main vein that comes up to the heart and that is what caused the bleeding."

Geelongblog.com thoughts are with Tommy after this horrific injury and we wish him all the best in recovery.

Posted by Sammy D at 01:23 PM | Comments (0)

August 23, 2006

Season Over For Mooney

Courtesy: Herald Sun/Channel 9

Mooney done for '06

Geelong's Cameron Mooney has accepted his fourth suspension of the season, effectively bringing an early end to his tortured 2006 year.

Mooney will miss the last two home and away games of the season and will not play again this season, unless in the unlikely event the Cats make the finals, after accepting a two match ban for striking Sydney's Amon Buchanan.

The words you bloody stupid tool come to mind. That's 5 weeks of suspensions total for the season from 4 offences. Next time just break Aaron Hamill's jaw in Round 1 and get it out of the way in one shot.

Posted by Sammy D at 12:05 PM | Comments (0)

August 09, 2006

Bartel To Miss St. Kilda Clash

Jimmy Bartel where he will be on Sunday, in the stands

Bartel Penalty Cut

Geelong has been successful in downgrading midfielder Jimmy Bartel's rough conduct charge from reckless to negligent, meaning he will miss only one game instead of the two he was originally offered.

The Cats argued that Bartel was negligent in making contact with Brisbane Lion Troy Selwood and that he tried to pull up when approaching the Lions midfielder who was stumbling forward after brushing past an umpire.

Bartel was originally charged with a level three offence for engaging in rough conduct against Selwood during the first quarter of the match at the Gabba last Sunday.

The Cats showed extensive footage of the incident that left Selwood momentarily dazed but without any further concussion and argued that Bartel had his eyes on the ball throughout the entire incident.

Player advocate Peter Murdoch QC argued that Bartel had been intending to block for teammate Joel Corey while Bartel himself said he had turned his back on Selwood once he knew contact was inevitable.

"I saw (Selwood) stumble and the ball bounced away. I turned my body to block for Corey and turned my back on Selwood," Bartel said.

"My intention was to stop (Selwood) getting the ball and I wanted to make contact to his shoulder as he was falling."

Jimmy is going to be a huge loss for us on Sunday. In my opinion he's been our best out & out midfielder this season and we will miss his input and the club STILL push for finals.

Still he deserves the week he gets. As soon as I saw it live I knew he was in trouble and this isn't the first time he's made contact like that. However we are still a chance to beat St. Kilda who are missing a top quality midfielder in Lenny Hayes, but this will make it a lot harder.

Posted by Sammy D at 09:32 AM | Comments (0)

August 02, 2006

Midweek Happenings

The backlash from our pitiful performance in Canberra has started with all & sundry sticking the boot in & fair enough in my opinion. Here's a bit of a round up of what's going on.

Ablett Out

Geelong's worst fears have not been revealed as star playmaker Gary Ablett has been cleared of a serious shoulder injury, but he will still miss up to three weeks of football.

Ablett was crunched by Jess Sinclair in the first quarter of the Kangaroos' win over the Cats on Sunday at Manuka Oval and took no further part in the match - he went to the rooms after the incident before returning to the bench with his arm in a sling.

But scans taken on Monday of the injury have revealed that Ablett - who has not missed a game this season - has suffered 'grade one' damage to his AC joint and will not require surgery.

I'd sit Gazza for the rest of the season. His body is always battling to be fit during the week & this is the perfect chance to give him so rest with finals out of the picture. I know he won't want to call it a day on his season, but there are more important things at hand than winning Geelongblog.com Player of the Year.

Mooney Suspended Again

Geelong has decided to accept a one-match ban handed down to the wayward Cameron Mooney by the AFL match review panel on Monday - his third suspension of 2006.

Mooney was reported for charging the Kangaroos' Daniel Pratt on Sunday in what was his first game back after having just served his second one-match suspension of the season.

Oh Moons, I think you could be a great leader of the GFC but with these indiscretions repeatedly popping up it will never ever happen will it? Good to see the club have finally fined you. If you're going to going to get reported for 3 weeks a season you might as well sit them all at once and actually damage your opponent rather than getting a week each for all these soft acts.

The Duke On The Move?

Kent Kingsley is out of contract and contemplating his footballing future. The four-time leading goalkicker has fallen out of favour at the Cattery after a lean year and, with only five rounds remaining in the AFL season, is yet to even start negotiating a new deal with Geelong.

Unless the Cats bring something to the table soon, he may have to accept a rival club's offer, with at least one Melbourne-based team understood to have floated a three-year deal.

Although Kingsley's manager, Paul Connors, could not confirm the offer yesterday, there is an increasing amount of interest in the 27-year-old.

Could this be the end of the KKK? Call me crazy but I hope not. I expect him to be recalled after his 6 goals in the reserves on the weekend and I think despite all his flaws he is still the 3rd best tall forward we have behind Ottens & Mooney.

Having observed him on the weekend he seems to have altered his kicking style a touch & is kicking through the ball a lot more than previously. Whether this helps his accuracy problem or not is yet to be seen, but with a tall forward clearout expected at the end of the season Kent is a player I'd be keen to hold onto for another 1-2 years unless a dream trade offer came along.

And finally we come to,

Bomber Thompson

No articles for this one as it is all speculation. With the club almost certain to miss the finals this year, in a season which promised so much at the start Bomber's position is under a huge amount of scrutiny.

I've heard many theories recently. Some tend to think Bomber will fall on his sword 'if' we don't make finals. This makes sense to me, Thompson has never said he was in the coaching gig for the long haul and seems like the guy who is willing to admit he has taken the club as far as he can take it & come up short.

Another one is Cook & Costa are sharpening the knives for various reasons. The first reason is pretty obvious, they'll cut the cord 'if' (there's that bloody word again) we don't make the eight. The other one is way too personal to be aired on the blog but it will result in Thompsons sacking nonetheless.

So hypothetically Thompson goes, who comes into replace him? Cresswell seems to be a popular choice but here's a name I will throw up just because I heard it two weeks ago in one of the aforementioned rumors...

Wayne Carey

Thoughts? Feel free to voice them in the comments section or here @ Big Footy.

Posted by Sammy D at 01:15 PM | Comments (0)

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)

July 22, 2006

Cats Off To Visit The Queen

Cats, Power off to London

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 Challenge

Geelong 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 Cats

The 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)

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)

June 29, 2006

Clash Strip

GFC has finally come out with a clash strip for next season and it is available for fans to choose. Whether it actually stops any clashes will refused to be debated on here because seriously, who cares apart from the AFL.

Strip Tease

Geelong Football Club has revealed the three options from which it must select a clash guernsey to wear from next season.

Needing only to wear the new jumper for away matches against the Kangaroos, the club yesterday gave the Geelong Advertiser the exclusive first glimpse of its three most popular alternatives after months of research and design work.

Undecided on whether to elect either a more modern, fashionable, or traditional strip, Cats' chief executive Brian Cook yesterday called upon Geelong fans to help select its new look.

"We'd love to get the feedback from a whole range of people of all different ages and put it together so we can say `this is the most popular jumper','' Cook said.

The AFL has ruled that every club must wear an alternate guernsey for games which their traditional strip clashes with the opposition.

While some clubs fight the AFL over the decision, Geelong has embraced the challenge, even though Cook conceded a move to replace the hoops with cats claw scratch marks in one design is sure to strike a nerve with some traditionalists.

Interestingly, this somewhat slightly controversial design proved an overwhelming favourite in a Geelong Advertiser poll of about 40 people yesterday.

Cook said the club was interested in developing the cats claw branding but insisted that Geelong would definitely stick with wearing the hoops, as bound by its constitution, in all but about one away game against the Kangaroos every one or two years.

"Over the next three years when we play 70 games, 68 will be in the hoops. There might be two where we have to wear the alternative guernsey,'' Cook said.

We've gone to our members before and they've agreed that we have got flexibility (in designing a clash jumper) so long as it's predominantly navy blue, with the logo on the front.

"So we've come up with something that's a bit futuristic, one fashion and a bit more traditional the other. You take your pick.''

The AFL initially said Geelong's jumper also clashed with Collingwood, but no longer believe this is the case.

Cook said the club had consulted many key stakeholders, including school children, directors and staff in narrowing the field from about 12 options to the final three.

He said players preferred a white clash guernsey when the design process began and that they would probably wear white shorts and socks with the chosen option.

Geelong must submit one to the AFL for approval next month.

I'm a fan on the middle one, with my 2nd favourite being the one on the right. The one of the left is horrible and I certainly won't be purchasing it if we go with that version. As for the hoops controversy. I have no problem if it doesn't have hoops, as long as our home guernsey doesn't change I don't see it as an issue. If changing the club constitution for away or clash guernseys is good enough for some of the biggest sporting clubs in the world it is good enough for me. Although it is pretty pointless for only 1 game a season, I'm sure it'll be a good revenue raiser for the club and no doubt that is one of the reasons the club has been so open to the idea.

Posted by Sammy D at 12:09 AM | Comments (0)

May 20, 2006

Chip off the old block

If you're a cats fan it's unlikely you will not have heard of Tom Hawkins and we hope to hear his name for all the right reasons is years to come:

Cats jump at chance to snare Hawkins

GEELONG has snared another father-son bargain, with Tom Hawkins, an exciting tall position prospect likened to Brisbane Lions superstar Jonathan Brown, committing to the Cats.

The son of "Jumping" Jack Hawkins will become the sixth father-son draftee on the Cats' list at this year's national draft.

After being on the Cats' radar for two years, club officials and the Hawkins family have reached a verbal agreement.

The 17-year-old, who is captain of the Melbourne Grammar team, starred for Australia in the recent international series against Ireland.

At 198cm and 97kg, Hawkins is the tall forward prospect the Cats have been desperately seeking to develop.

Australian coach Alan McConnell described Hawkins as strong and powerful in the same mould as Brown.

"He is big, strong, powerful and has a good attack on the footy," McConnell said yesterday.

"I'm not saying he is going to be Jonathan Brown, but there is a lot of Jonathan Brown in him in terms of his physical presence, and he plays a little bit the same way.

"He runs straight lines. He's not an enforcer, but he certainly has a presence and composure about him when he plays."

Hawkins has been part of the AIS scholarship program run by McConnell during the past 12 months.

Under the father-son draft rules Geelong has to part with only a third-round selection for Hawkins.

It is a deal other recruiters have described as a "gold mine" for the Cats.

"He's a beauty, a definite first-round and wouldn't have been out of place in the top 10," a rival recruiter said.

McConnell agrees the Cats are on a winner with the exciting key forward.

"Tommy would have been in the first round without any question," he said.

The Cats have been the major beneficiary of the father-son rule with selections such as Matthew Scarlett (pick No. 45) and Gary Ablett (No. 40). Other father-sons on the list include Nathan Ablett, Mark Blake and Tim Callan.

Jack Hawkins played 182 games with Geelong from 1973-81 and was named at centre half-back in Geelong's team of the half-century (1946-96).

His uncles Michael and Robb Hawkins played senior football at Geelong. A grandfather on his mother Jenny's side, Fred Le Deux, played 18 games with the Cats from 1956-58.

Continuing the links, Tom's sister Jane goes out with Cats midfielder Jimmy Bartel.

Tom moved down from the family's farm in Finley three years ago to board at Melbourne Grammar.

While eligible to play for New South Wales in next month's under-18 national championships, he has sought a clearance to Vic Metro, given he lives in Melbourne and is unable to attend any NSW training camps.

He is also expected to play some TAC Cup matches with the Sandringham Dragons.

Hawkins was exceptional in his first appearance for the Dragons in the under-18 competition last year, kicking four goals.

Great news as it avoids a Marc Murphy situation which was the last thing we wanted.

Posted by Sammy D at 02:29 PM | Comments (0)

May 09, 2006

Moons To Miss

Can anybody say 'two & five'?

Mooney gets one week

Geelong has suffered a massive blow as it strives to avoid a fifth consecutive loss after key utility Cameron Mooney was found guilty of misconduct at the AFL Tribunal and suspended for one match.

The experienced and versatile big man paid the penalty for past discretions after the tribunal jury found Mooney's conduct in making contact to the face of Melbourne's Ben Holland was negligent.

Had Mooney not been suspended in the past three years coupled with residual demerit points from the past 12 months he carried over, the 26-year-old would have avoided suspension for his clash with Holland in the third quarter of last Friday's match.

After Holland gave away a free kick to Mooney in Geelong's forward 50 and the Cat kicked a goal, Mooney charged towards his Melbourne opponent to bump him in a "show of strength".

The Geelong forward admitted to making slight and accidental contact to Holland's face as a result of his actions and the Demon went to ground.

At Geelong's request, Holland gave evidence to the tribunal and said the clash of heads was "very slight" and "coincidental" with the clash of bodies. He admitted to trying to exacerbate the situation and get a free kick.

"There was contact and I went to the ground," Holland said. "I was probably milking it for a free kick.

"I probably didn't need to go to the ground. The force of the contact wasn't great enough."

The AFL's match review panel had assessed the incident as negligent conduct, with low impact, behind play and high contact. Subsequently, Mooney was charged with misconduct for making contact to the face of an opponent.

This equated to a Level Two offence and 125 base demerit points. However, due to Mooney being suspended for three matches in the past three years, a 20 per cent loading was added and he also carried over 12.5 residual points from an offence in the past 12 months.

This resulted in Mooney defending 162.5 total demerit points and by pleading guilty and receiving a 25 per cent discount, the Cat would have still been facing a one-match suspension.

After more than 90 minutes of evidence, tribunal chairman David Jones instructed the jury that they had to be satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the conduct was negligent and also that it constituted a misconduct charge.

The jury - comprised of David Pittman, Richard Loveridge and Wayne Schimmelbusch - had a short deliberation was satisfied on both those counts and as a result Mooney will miss Geelong's crucial Friday night clash against St Kilda at Telstra Dome.

To be honest I think that decision is absolutely bollocks, but if Mooney is stupid enough to repeatedly put himself in those situations he deserves what he gets.

How about Ben Holland...

"There was contact and I went to the ground," Holland said. "I was probably milking it for a free kick.

"I probably didn't need to go to the ground. The force of the contact wasn't great enough."

What an utter piece of rubbish he is. "Probably" that is real conclusive and helpful Benny boy. You either did or you didn't, not six of one and half a dozen of the other. Stupid utter crap. I don't see how we will get within 6 goals of the Saints now.

Posted by Sammy D at 11:54 PM | Comments (0)

Just What We Needed...

Thought things couldn't possibly get any worse? WRONG!

Cats sweat on Mooney

Geelong's bid to end its losing streak in Friday night's must-win clash against St Kilda at Telstra Dome has received a huge blow after key big man Cameron Mooney was offered a one-match suspension over his clash with Melbourne's Ben Holland.

And because of his previous record Mooney does not have the option of having the suspension reduced to a reprimand after the AFL's match review panel charged with him with making contact to the face of Holland.

The incident was widely captured on television and clearly surprised Holland, although it appeared far from forceful.

The Cats can ill-afford to lose Mooney, as they try to end a four-match losing streak and get a season that started so promisingly back on track, as he is one of their most versatile players.

The panel ruled his actions a level two misconduct offence with the incident assessed as negligent conduct (one point), low impact (one point), behind play (one point) and high contact (two points) - equating to 125 demerit points and a one-match suspension.

However this was increased to 162.5 points because of his previous record, which means that even if he accepts the charge and receives the 25 percent discount he will still be above the cut-off for a one-match ban with 121.88 points.

I am certain we will challenge this & we should get away with it seeing the umpire was right there and didn't even give a free kick for it, however it pretty much sums up how everything is going for us right now. Everyone is flying off the handle and not thinking. The results of the case will be reported as soon as they're available.

Posted by Sammy D at 12:02 PM | Comments (0)

May 03, 2006

Poor Prismall

Here's the latest on Brent Prismall

GEELONG midfielder Brent Prismall will be sidelined for about two months after breaking his arm in a disastrous senior debut on Saturday night.

The 19-year-old has had surgery to insert a plate into his left forearm, which was broken in a collision with teammate David Wojcinski against Sydney at Telstra Stadium.

It would be a devastating blow for Prismall, who has been one of the Cats' most improved players over the pre-season and forced his way into the senior side with some excellent VFL form.

The club had him listed as missing six to eight weeks.

Veteran wingman Peter Riccardi, 33, looks almost certain to replace Prismall, in one of a few changes for the Cats ahead of their round six clash with Melbourne on Friday night at the MCG.

Spearhead Kent Kingsley will definitely come back from a hamstring injury, while centre half-forward Henry Playfair and first-year forward/midfielder Matthew Stokes are also a chance.

Good to see Rico & Kingsley virtually definites to come back in while I think it'd be good to see Stokes in the thick of things also.

Posted by Sammy D at 03:22 PM | Comments (0)

April 12, 2006

Scarlett See's Red

Matty Scarlett has accepted his two weeks for striking Leigh Harding, Will Slade has accepted a wresting charge and was fined, while King challenged at got off. Can't blame Slade for not being bothered to be honest, King must be a bit tight when it comes to kablingy.

Anyways, this means Scarlett will miss the matches against Hawthorn & the Western Bulldogs, which are probably two of the best sides to miss him for due to their lack of a quality tall forward, however it was stupid and he will be missed.

I think it's quite clear the club didn't want to take the punt & challenge the offer as it could have ended with Scarlett being out for the Swans & Barry Hall.

Posted by Sammy D at 12:34 AM | Comments (0)

April 07, 2006

DAVIDSON OUT!

All aboard the Davidson out train again!

Dickhead

SENIOR Geelong Football Club administrator Garry Davidson is off the road for six months after failing a breathalyser test last week.

The general manager of football operations blew .075 after he was stopped in Shannon Avenue, near his Highton home, at 8pm last Friday.

A contrite Davidson yesterday took the unusual step of contacting the Geelong Advertiser and apologising for his ``gross error of judgment''.

Ironically, Davidson's driving offence comes only two weeks after the club signed a one-year sponsorship deal with the Transport Accident Commission, whose latest slogan is: ``Only a little bit over? You bloody idiot.''

Davidson said he had consumed ``a few'' glasses of wine over dinner at home with his wife and was on his way out when stopped by police.

``It was a gross error of judgment,'' he said yesterday. ``If I knew I was over the limit I wouldn't have driven.

``It didn't come off the back of a big night out.''

Davidson said he rang club chief executive Brian Cook about an hour after the incident and had since spoken to president Frank Costa and all members of the board, bar one. ``I left a message for the only one I couldn't contact,'' he added.

He said he had also told all the coaches, the player leadership group, staff in the football department and the management team.

He said there had not been any adverse reactions.

``People have been surprised because they know it's not my nature. People have been supportive and have encouraged me to move forward,'' he said.

The operations manager also said the loss of his licence would be an inconvenience.

Davidson was also fined $300.

Club CEO Brian Cook said yesterday: ``We are taking this matter seriously and myself and the board have expressed our disappointment to Garry personally.

``In terms of sanctions, I'm trying to treat this case similarly to that of a player. Of course, it's not exactly the same.

``There are options such as a financial fine, community work, voluntary work, there are three or four areas. We haven't finalised the sanctions but he will be whacked. So it's a doubly whammy.

``If it's to be just a fine it goes up to $5000.''

Cook said Davidson's position at the Geelong Football Club was not in jeopardy.

Last year the TAC cancelled a far more lucrative contract with the Richmond Football Club after repeated drink-driving transgressions by Tigers' players.

Sack this clown now Cooky!

Posted by Sammy D at 01:41 PM | Comments (0)

April 04, 2006

...And it's starts

Well Big Henry Playfair is out for a while with a shoulder injury which will hurt us at CHF, but I suppose it is better to have the injuries early in the season rather than at the business end.

Depending on who you listen to the severity of the injury differs. Channel 10 stated he will miss at least 1 month, while Bomber Thompson said 'On The Couch' he will miss 1-2 weeks.

Big loss to our structure, but hopefully a Mooney or even Gardiner can fill the hole Big H will leave.

Posted by Sammy D at 11:28 PM | Comments (0)

March 20, 2006

Kelly To Miss Two, Ling Right To Go

Here's what the Official Site has to say about the injuries to our key midfield duo. However, the club isn't often straight up with a lot of it's injuries so don't be surprised if it is a bit longer than expected for both...

Geelong midfielder James Kelly will miss the start of the 2006 premiership season.

Kelly suffered a fracture to his scapula (shoulder blade) during Geelong's NAB Cup win against Adelaide at AAMI Stadium last Saturday night.

The club has penciled Kelly in for a round three return against Hawthorn at Skilled Stadium.

In better news for the Cats, an MRI scan has cleared vice-captain Cameron Ling of any serious knee damage.

Ling, who took a knock to his knee during the NAB Cup grand final, is expected to line up for Geelong in its opening round clash against the Brisbane Lions at Skilled Stadium.

A bit of a blow as we might need Kels against the tough opposition of Brisbane & Kangaroos, but hopefully this will give somebody like Prismall his first chance on the big stage or someone on the fringe in Koula or Byrnes to cement a spot.

Meanwhile 'Angry Will' won't be losing any sleep over the tribunal...

Geelong rookie Will Slade has been charged by the AFL Match Review Panel with a level two striking offence against Adelaide's Brett Burton during last Saturday night's NAB Cup grand final.

The incident occurred during the third quarter of Geelong's NAB Cup victory and Slade can now accept a reprimand and 93.75 points towards his future record with an early plea.

Geelong and Slade have until 11am on Tuesday to accept or contest the case.

Slade also made high contact with Adelaide's Matthew Bode but the panel deemed that he fended off Bode with a pushing action rather than a strike and no further action was taken.

Slade could be seen to be a touch lucky, but given he isn't on the senior list it wouldn't have really mattered a great deal anyway.

Posted by Sammy D at 09:30 PM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2006

We F*cking Won Something!

Unbelievable!

Posted by Sammy D at 12:44 PM | Comments (0)

February 24, 2006

Weekly Round-Up

Well leading up to our first competitive hit out in months & months most of the talk has been about this week's NAB match. We'll be covering that in the match preview so this might be a bit skint.

Firstly to the boring administrative business that continues to go on around the club. Barry Stoneham due to his new positions at the club has stood down from the AFL Tribunal jury effective immediately.

Also the club has announced Stuart Fox as it's new Chief Operating Officer (COO). Fox has been with the club since 2000 when he was appointed as Stadium Manager, which was expanded on with control over Club Cats and in 2003 being annointed Business Operations Manager which he has been doing up until this latest promotion. Fox is seen as Brian Cook's successor when Cooky chooses to move on.

Injury latest

Steven Johnson, Ankle, has been placed on a running and conditioning program, aim to play mid to late March.

Tom Harley, Knee, has started running drills this week, ongoing rehabiliation. Tom is advancing well.

Sam Hunt, Knee. Sam is progressing well and has started skills.

Steven King, Achilles, Has commenced agilities and warm up skills. Steven is progressing well and could be ready for round two of NAB cup.

Tom Lonergan, now available for selection.

David Wojcinski, Knee, Has commenced full skills and could be ready for selection for round one AFL.

Peter Riccardi, Hamstring, commenced rehab program and could be ready for round one AFL.

Travis Varcoe, Foot, Continuing rehab program

Stephen Owen, Placed on conditioning program

Matt McCarthy, Back, has commenced conditioning program.

Lastly on the injury front the shrowd of mystery surrounding Henry Playfair has been lifted.

GEELONG is relieved by news that big Cat Henry Playfair has been cleared of osteitis pubis.

Initial reports were that Playfair faced a lengthy stint on the sidelines with the dreaded groin condition, although those fears were erased by recent scans showing only a small muscle tear.

Geelong training services manager Steve Hocking said Playfair, 23, would probably sit out the NAB Cup to ensure he is right for round one of the season proper.

``There were a lot of people concerned for him, including Henry himself,'' Hocking said.

``But what we initially thought to be a very minor case of osteitis pubis has turned out to be just a slight tear.

``So we are very happy with that result.

``It's repairing itself currently. He's definitely going to be up and about for round one.''

So some good news on the H front after I was starting to jump to a few conclusions in my mind, hopefully he is 100% and ready to go for the Lions visit to Skilled.

That's all for this week. Go Cats!

Posted by Sammy D at 08:58 PM | Comments (0)

February 17, 2006

News From Around The Traps

Firstly we shall mention a few new additions to the staff down at Kardinia Park. Geelong Football Club have announced Steven Hocking as our new Training Services Manager:

Hocking, who played 199 games with the Cats in an 11-year career, will be responsible for the planning, management and implementation of all training services for the club.

This will also include the co-ordination of all medical, physiotherapy and fitness and conditioning requirements on training and match days.

The 41-year-old has spent the past two seasons as the chairman of the Cats match committee.

This pretty much squishes any chance of younger brother and GFC legend Garry Hocking being down at the club in any formal position anytime soon due to their family differences.

A totally new appointment would be that of Big Barry Stoneham. Bazza managed 241 games for the cats and is highly regarded at KP as a "club great". Stoneham takes over 3 positions (Runner, Talls coach & Ruck coach).

I don't know how Stoneham will go as a coach, but at least we have finally appointed someone as a full time ruck coach since Damien Bourke left at the end of 2004. What's even better news is, it isn't Peter 'Crackers' Keenan who has filled in since then and if his coaching is as good as his weekly page in The Advertiser no wonder King has been redundant of late.

Lastly to the fine media beat-up, oops, did I say beat up? I mean news reporting by those bunch of morons down at the Herald Sun.

VICE-CAPTAIN Matthew Scarlett and forward Kent Kingsley have been disciplined after abandoning Geelong's community camp for a night.

In a move that angered senior teammates, the two chose to leave a private leadership gathering at Aireys Inlet last Wednesday night for personal reasons.

They returned to their homes in Geelong and Torquay before going back to Aireys Inlet the next morning, when they apologised.

They have since said sorry to coach Mark Thompson and his staff, who were not at the seaside retreat. It's not known what Kingsley's issues were, but Scarlett said yesterday he had spent most of Wednesday night in hospital with his girlfriend's father, who had broken a leg.

The leadership group -- which contains captain Steven King, Cameron Ling, Tom Harley, Joel Corey, Cameron Mooney, Paul Chapman, Scarlett and Kingsley -- handled the matter themselves including, it's believed, the penalty.

Thompson, Scarlett and Kingsley denied alcohol was involved.

Scarlett, who was recently appointed vice-captain, and Kingsley yesterday confirmed they had been disciplined.

"The issue is the way we handled it," Scarlett said.

"We didn't tell the guys what we were doing. That's what the other senior guys were disappointed about, because we just left.

"We left pretty rudely and we have both admitted that.

"It's been dealt with, we've apologised to the boys and as far as we're concerned it was disappointing but it's over now."

Kingsley said: "The leadership group was disappointed in the manner we left . . . family comes first and I had some personal stuff I had to deal with as well."

Thompson, who yesterday spoke to the players at training, admitted he was disappointed with the behaviour of his "bookends".

A dual All-Australian full-back, Scarlett, 26, has played 160 games for the Cats and is considered a possible future captain.

Kingsley, who was recruited from the Kangaroos, has played 101 games and been a key forward in Geelong's resurgence in recent seasons.

"The good thing is they came back the next day, faced up to it, copped their medicine and I don't think you'll see that happening again," Thompson said.

He said after three days of school visits, autograph and training sessions in Warrnambool, Scarlett and Kingsley arrived at Aireys Inlet "probably not in the greatest shape mentally".

"They were tired and cranky and the other players were a bit annoyed. They said, 'You could stay or you could go', and Kent and Matthew decided to go," Thompson said.

"The other players weren't happy they left, to be honest, and told them so. If they had their time again, they admit they would've handled it differently because it is unacceptable.

"And the players told them it was unacceptable."

Thompson said the positives were the response and maturity of the recently named leadership group.

"The leadership group which was set up was tested for the first time and has come through with flying colours," he said.

"The players handled it, they wanted a few outcomes and they went over the whole thing again.

"I was disappointed with it, but I haven't had much to do with it really. But I'm pretty happy with the way the players handled it."

Yes, Scarlo & Kent did the wrong thing and should be duly punished. Infact I would go as far as saying it was a rather piss poor effort on behalf of them. Football is their employment, the rest of us can't just disappear when it comes to meetings at work so why should they be able to. So I am sure they will be dealt with via the club, players, leadership group whatever. But, how the hell this got back page headlines in the HS is simply amazing. Must have been a very slow news day. Ahh, tabloid journalism, gotta love it....

Lastly I will quickly mention that Gary Ablett Snr. has recently been present down at the club watching from the stands & the bench and even has had words to Travis Varcoe about the #5. Great to have you back in any form Gazza.

Intraclub Practice Match #2 Report to follow shortly w/ pictures.

Posted by Sammy D at 10:35 PM | Comments (0)

February 09, 2006

Newspaper Clippings

Here's a look around to see what has been making news at Kardinia Park the past week or two:

• The club repayed a loan payment early saving thousands of dollars in interest and showing how far the club has come financially under Cook & Costa
• The club travelled to Warrnambool as part of the AFL's community camp scheme
• Plans have been put in place to increase the stadium capacity to 36,000 but it would not start until the club had paid off it's current debt from the last redevelopment which is to be paid off 2008/09
• Thompson has stated Jarad Rooke will play a lot more time in the midfield after having success against Judd, Johnstone & Kirk at the end of last season.

Posted by Sammy D at 12:56 PM | Comments (0)

January 29, 2006

Throw Your Support Behind The Next Big Thing!

Sponsor a GFC player - Travis Varcoe



Hi Cat fans,

Ever wanted to be a footballer, but lacked that one thing - 'talent'?

We can't make that wish come true, however we can do the next best thing: sponsoring a footballer.

The Geelong BigFooty board is getting together passionate supporters to become the official sponsors of the most exciting and talked about talent to join the club in last years draft – Travis Varcoe. We don't
need to tell you what a fantastic prospect this player is and now is your opportunity to jump on the Varcoe bandwagon by contributing money.

How much you contribute is entirely up to yourself, however the minimum pledge is $20. The more you contribute, the more you can benefit. The aim is to raise $1100.

All contributors get special recognition of their contribution to the sponsorship on their user profile. Also a BFSC membership will be given to every contribution received AND all contributors are entered* into the draw for the spoils of sponsorship including:

• A signed photo of yourself and Travis

• An adult 11 game membership

• A September club membership (Grand Final access if Geelong makes the GF)

• A ticket to the sponsors dinner – Enjoy a dinner with Travis and all the team. As only 80 people attend the dinner, then you'll get unrivalled access to meet all the team in a relaxed and convivial
atmosphere

• other goodies as we can arrange them – eg signed jumper.

All money raised will go to the sponsorship program and the GFC.

We expect this to be very popular, so if you want to miss out and be part of the action, go to:

https://nameplacedomains.com/bigfooty/contribute.php

and pledge your support now. This site will give you four choices on how to pay, online secure credit card, bank transfer, cheque or Pay Pal. Remember that only those who actually fulfil their pledge are eligible for inclusion.


Cheers,
The Geelong Mods
and
the BigFooty.com team


*Draw entries will be proportional to the amount pledged. One prize per person with the draw being done in the order of 1. Sponsor Dinner 2. Adult Membership 3. September club 4. Photo 5. other goodies. This
may change as prizes vary but the 'best' prize will be drawn first. The more you contribute the better your chances.

Here at Geelongblog.com we will be getting behind Travis and encourage you to do likewise! You'll feel a lot more important when he wins us the premiership one day ;)

Posted by Sammy D at 11:19 PM | Comments (0)

Watching Grass Grow Vs. Watching Paint Dry

Well as you can tell by the amount of action on here recently, this is without a doubt the most exciting period of the year in respect to AFL football! I haven't been this excited since the arrival of Brent Grgic!

Seriously though folks, here's what you might have missed over the past month or so...

• Gary Ablett signed a 3 year contract extension with the club securing his future at the club until 2009 in a deal believed to be worth in excess of $1m. His manager Michael Baker had this to say:

  He's really happy at Geelong and he just wanted to get the contract out of the way as quickly as he could. It just gives him an opportunity to concentrate on his footy rather than worrying about all the what-ifs and what-nots.

• The club has stuck by Steven King in announcing that once again he will be the captain of the club for season 2006. However, he will have 3 vice captains supporting him in the form of Matthew Scarlett, Tom Harley & Cameron Ling. The rest of the leadership group consists of Joel Corey, Paul Chapman & Cameron Mooney

Over the next month or so we will try to put together a few special articles to pass the time that don't involve every second player coming out and saying how they'll be bigger & better this season. At least in Charlie Gardiner's case, we can hope...

Posted by Sammy D at 10:57 PM | Comments (0)

December 13, 2005

Rookie Draft

The following will be wearing the Blue & White hoops next season under the status of "Rookie", not to be confused with a first year player for all you American's out there...

Todd Grima
Height: 192 cm
Guernsey Number: 36
Weight: 87 kg
Recruited From: Northern Bombers (Tas)
Date of Birth: 5 February 1987

Grima started this year's under 18 championships in a blaze of glory, when he booted 10 goals against the Northern Territory in the opening division two match. By the end of the carnival he was an All-Australian player. Grima also made his debut for the Tassie Devils in the VFL this year. He was also very close to be drafted last year.

Will Slade
Height: 182cm
Weight: 83kg
Recruited From: Scotch College/Oakleigh U18
Debut: vs. St Kilda, round 19, 2002
Date of Birth: 24 October 1983

Slade played 11 games for Geelong between 2002-2003 before suffering from repetitive bouts of osteitis pubis. He was delisted at the end of this season.

Sam Hunt
Height: 193cm
Weight: 90kg
Guernsey Number: 30
Recruited From: St Josephs (VCFL)/Geelong U18
Date of Birth: 13 April 1983

Although he has been on the Essendon list since 2001, he has played just three senior games up until 2004. A tall key position defender, he spent the entire 2004 season with the Bendigo Bombers and played 4 games for the Bombers in 2005

Posted by Sammy D at 12:29 PM | Comments (0)

Number Changes

Josh Hunt has gone from #41 to #8
Paul Koulouriotis has gone from #36 to #14
Tim Sheringham has gone to #41

Varcoe has taken on the magical #5
Stokes # 27
Owen #31
Gamble #34

Well, it's pretty obvious what the one issue is here...Can Owen & Gamble live up to the standards set by Rahilly & Chambers? Only time will tell...

Posted by Sammy D at 12:26 PM | Comments (0)

November 28, 2005

Draft Day

Well. The NAB National Draft has come and gone. I'm no draft expert so I'll leave it to the GFC to give you a run down on what we got...

#15 - Travis Varcoe

Height: 179 cm
Weight: 71 kg
Recruited From: Central Districts
Date of Birth: 10 April 1988

An incredibly fast midfielder who is a great team player. Can also play forward and back and is a creative player. Made his senior SANFL debut with Central Districts this year. Missed the under 18 championship due to injury this year, but was a SA under 16 rep in 2004.

#31 - Trent West

Height: 198 cm
Weight: 90kg
Recruited From: Gippsland U/18
Date of Birth: 17 October 1987

One of the few ruckmen in the draft, West had a fine year, representing Vic Country in the under 18 championships, while he also played in Gippsland's premiership team, winning 32 hit outs for the match. Although still a developing ruckman, West is mobile for his size and he can win the ball. He has terrific endurance for a big man, recording level 14.1 in the beep test at the Draft Camp.

#35 - Stephen Owen

Height: 187 cm
Weight: 75 kg
Recruited From: North Ballarat U/18

Played 17 games and kicked 21 goals for North Ballarat in the TAC Cup in 2005. Picked up 234 disposals on the year and laid 83 tackles. Owen was named as the Rebels best first year player in 2005.

#47 - Ryan Gamble

Height: 180 cm
Weight: 72 kg
Recruited From: Glenelg
Date of Birth: 23 September 1987

Gamble is an agile midfielder. He hails from Glenelg.

#61 - Matthew Stokes

Height: 170 cm
Weight: 73 kg
Recruited From: Woodville-West Torrens
Date of Birth: 22 November 1984

Impressive forward who helped Woodville-West Torrens Eagles to the last two SANFL grand finals. Booted 73 goals in 65 SANFL games. Was named as the Eagles most improved player in 2003. Originally from the Northern Territory, he won All Australian Under 18 honour as a 16 year old and selected in AIS/AFL Academy in 2000.

Posted by Sammy D at 04:15 PM | Comments (0)

November 18, 2005

Stuffed That Happened While Stuff Was Going On

Due to the craziness of University exams this site has been reduced to a empty pile of shite, as compared to its normal stature, a boring pile of shite. So here's a catch up of what we missed over the past few weeks...

* Nick Batchelor was elevated to nominated rookie status

* Just retired Brenton Sanderson joined Port Adelaide as a development coach

* Pre season training started with Will Slade & former Docker Andrew Siegert invited to train with the squad. Noticed Siegert was wearing a knee brace, no thanks Andrew

* We drew Carlton in the NAB Cup. Saturday Night Feb 25 at the Telstra Dome with the winner to face either Kangaroos or Sydney at Cazaly Stadium(where?) the next week.

* Announced Cats AFL Community camp is in Warrnambool

* Recorded a record operating profit of $1.6m for the year. Well done to Frank, Cooky & the rest of the staff down at the club.

* Cam Thurley will nominate for the National Draft after he & the club couldn't reach a contract agreement. It is rumored that Thurley wanted 2 years and the club were not willing to give him that. By no means a huge loss, but disappointing nonetheless.

Posted by Sammy D at 10:31 AM | Comments (0)

October 16, 2005

Ricco To Go Around Again

Just thought I'd pop in and let everybody know that Peter Riccardi plans to have one last shot at the Premiership Cup with Geelong of course. Glad to see Peter in the hoops for another year and hopefully he can notch up the 18 games he needs for his 300 AFL games, and of course, help make all our dreams come true on that last Saturday in September

Posted by Sammy D at 04:37 PM | Comments (0)

October 13, 2005

Cats Cut The Crap

Geelong has gone about making some space on it's list by cutting small defender Will Slade & half forward David Haynes. We wish these two all the best with their future careers.

Posted by Sammy D at 12:26 PM | Comments (0)

October 11, 2005

Trade Review

Well as expected it turned out to be a very quiet trade week for the Geelong Football Club.

In a nutshell:

Gain: Pick 35
Loss: Paul Chambers

The Herald Sun had us linked to Melbourne player Chris Heffernan on the last day, but his preferred destination was Essendon...and in the end he didn't move anywhere anyways.

Basically it seems we are going to suffer a little short term for a better long term. I'd say there is around an 80% chance whoever we draft at Pick 35 will turn out to be a better player than Paul Chambers. However we are running the risk of having a short & injury prone ruck division now. I have no doubt we will look at a ruckman in this years draft.

That's about all for now. Expect more news on delistings and a season review in the near future.

Go Cats!

Posted by Sammy D at 02:10 PM | Comments (0)

October 06, 2005

Off Season Trade Rumor #3

Talks being held involving McCarthy, Gardiner, Sporn, Pick 31 & Lappin...

The deal:

To Carlton: McCarthy, Gardiner & Pick #31
To Geelong: Lappin & Sporn

This is as likely to happen as the rest of our off season trade rumors ;)

Posted by Sammy D at 02:44 PM | Comments (0)

Premiers Lure 'Unco' Chambers

So much for a boring trade week...well, trade week still has been boring but somewhat surprisingly we've been involved with the second trade of the week.

Back-up ruckman Paul Chambers has moved up the coast to premiers Sydney in exchange for a second round draft pick (#35).

Chambers, a member of the 2002 VFL Premiership side, was pick #10 in the 2001 Rookie draft. Since promotion to the senior list he has managed 32 games in four seasons with Geelong.

'Bomber' Thompson had this to say about Chambers & the trade:

“Paul has always given us 100% whenever we have called on him and we wish success at Sydney.

We feel with Steven King and Brad Ottens as experienced ruckmen and the continued development of Mark Blake, and the options we have with Henry Playfair and Cameron Mooney, Paul’s opportunities would have been limited. We wanted to be fair to Paul and the Swans have a need for another ruckman and we have been able to work with Sydney so that everyone benefits."

Can't say I'm sad to see Unco go. He always gave 110% on the field, but I could never see him taking the club forward so I am happy to take pick #35 for him. Although it will be interesting to see how this pans out. With our injury prone ruckmen this could come back and bite us on the ass very quickly.

We wish Paul all the best for the rest of his career and thank him for his short service at the club.

Posted by Sammy D at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)

October 04, 2005

Official Fixture Release

Round 1 Vs. Brisbane SS Sat Apr 1
Round 2 Vs. Kangaroos SS Sat Apr 8
Round 3 Vs. Hawthorn SS Sat Apr 15
Round 4 @ Western Bulldogs TD Sat Apr 22
Round 5 @ Sydney TS Sat Apr 29 (N)
Round 6 @ Melbourne MCG Fri May 5 (N)
Round 7 @ St. Kilda TD Fri May 12 (N)
Round 8 @ Collingwood MCG Sat May 20 (N)
Round 9 Vs. Richmond SS Sat May 27
Round 10 Vs. West Coast SS Sat June 3
Round 11 Vs. Essendon TD Fri June 9 (N)
Round 12 @ Fremantle Sub Sat June 17
Round 13 @ Adelaide AAMI Sun July 2
Round 14 @ Carlton TD Sat July 8
Round 15 Vs. Port Adelaide SS Sun July 16
Round 16 Vs. Western Bulldogs TD Sun July 23
Round 17 @ Kangaroos Manuka Sun July 30
Round 18 @ Brisbane Gabba Sun August 6
Round 19 Vs. St. Kilda TD Sun August 13
Round 20 Vs. Sydney SS Sat August 19
Round 21 Vs. Melbourne SS Sat August 26
Round 22 @ Hawthorn TD Sun September 3

An interesting draw to say the least. We get quite a few home games in a row, but just a couple of concerns...

1. Twice we have double header road trips Fremantle/Adelaide* & Kangaroos/Brisbane which will be testing.
2. 5 away games in a row Rounds 4-8 although 4 of them are in Melbourne.
3. Strange decision to play our home game against the Western Bulldogs at TD instead of maybe Melbourne/Hawthorn?

*Split round in between games

Posted by Sammy D at 03:38 PM | Comments (0)

Trade Week: Day 1 So Very Very Bored

Not much to come out of this first day of Trade week. Apparently the names we are throwing around as tradeables are as follows; Gardiner, McCarthy, Haynes & Chambers.

In other exciting Trade Week news Optus Oval serves a good pie & sauce according to Kevin Sheedy. Yes, today was just THAT exciting!

Posted by Sammy D at 12:29 AM | Comments (0)

October 02, 2005

Early Fixture News

2006 Skilled Stadium Games

Round 1 Vs. Brisbane Saturday
Round 2 Vs. Kangaroos Saturday
Round 3 Vs. Hawthorn Saturday
Round 9 Vs. Richmond Saturday
Round 10 Vs. West Coast Saturday
Round 15 Vs. Port Power Sunday
Round 20 Vs. Sydney Saturday
Round 21 Vs. Melbourne Saturday

Other Random Bits:




• 5 interstate games including Kangaroos in Canberra
  
• Only four 6 day breaks
  
• Home gams 8 @ Skilled Stadium & 3 @ Telstra Dome
  
• 10 Saturday games, 7 Sunday games & 5 night games
  

"I'm not jumping over the moon about it. It has its good and bad points. Because the MCG can't be used during the first six rounds of the season I think it's going to be one of those years where no one is going to be completely happy with their fixture."

- Brian Cook GFC CEO

Full fixture available Tuesday

Posted by Sammy D at 11:41 AM | Comments (0)

September 30, 2005

Carji is Coreys

The season is now officially closed for the Geelong Football Club as the clubs Best & Fairest Awards Dinner was held last night at the Crown in Melbourne.

The most prestigious award went to Joel Corey, a deserved winner in any reasonable Cats fans mind as he was clearly in our top 3 players this season. Stiff was Darren Milburn whose hard work week in, week out seems to go mostly unnoticed, Paul Chapman & Corey Enright whose shots at the medal were haulted by unfortunate injuries.

Congrats to Smithy!

The top 10:
509 – Joel Corey
465 – Matthew Scarlett
436 – Gary Ablett
434 – Cameron Ling
419 – Darren Milburn
389 – Paul Chapman
388 – Jimmy Bartel
305 – James Kelly
272 – Cameron Mooney
270 – Kent Kingsley

Kent's 270 was not enough to nab him a Top 5 position in the B&F standings meaning we will be looking forward to seeing the Kolonel dress up as Chant Guy and go chant with him at a VFL game for it's entirity next season. Don't miss that one folks!

Gary Ablett's high position must be noted as surprising as he didn't have a stand out season by any means despite trying hard as he was tagged well throughout the season.

Other awards:

GFC hall of fame induction - Brenton Sanderson
Most determined & most dedicated player - Cameron Ling
Best team & most constructive player - Darren Milburn
Most improved player - Josh Hunt
Best first year player - Matt Egan
Leading goal kicker - Kent Kingsley
Best clubman - Brenton Sanderson
Coach’s award - Joel Corey
Most votes in Brownlow - Cameron Ling
Community champion - Kent Kingsley
VFL best & fairest - Matthew Spencer
VFL runner up best & fairest - James Byrne
VFL third best & fairest - James Rahilly


In other news it is now official that Jimmy & Dog will be in the hoops next season:

Geelong Football Club will turn its attention to trade week relieved that all its young guns are locked away after signing star midfielder Jimmy Bartel yesterday.

The 21-year-old agreed to a three-year deal worth about $275,000 a season.

He knocked back offers from rival Melbourne clubs reportedly worth about $100,000 a year more to stay at Geelong.

Geelong president Frank Costa last night said the club was delighted to announce that all its out-of-contract stars had decided to stay on.

``It's a real thrill to the board and management of the club that these boys want to stick together because they feel they are on the brink of something special,'' Costa said.

Geelong will now take a low-key approach to trade week, having used 100 per cent of its salary cap for the first time. Forward David Haynes is believed to be the only senior player on offer after notching just three games this season.

Great news for the club as it would have been a kick in the teeth to lose Jimmy, especially after St. Kilda has managed to keep all it's young stars.

Looks like it is going to be a relitively quiet trade week down at Kardinia Park it seems.

Posted by Sammy D at 08:02 PM | Comments (0)

September 29, 2005

Signings

This is basically to ensure that our front page isn't blank!

Reports have been made that Jimmy Bartel & Steve Johnson have both put pen to paper and will play on in the hoops for the next 2-3 seasons which is excellent news.

Announcements will hopefully be made at tonights Best & Fairest dinner. Best of luck to Dasher Milburn who hopefully gets some recognition his season deserved!

Posted by Sammy D at 09:21 PM | Comments (0)

September 20, 2005

Surgery, Contracts & Retirements

Well, the season hasn't even finished yet but business is business and the club is well into plans for next season already so here is a few loose ends.

Firstly list changes. James Rahilly has decided to go out on his own terms rather than wait around a couple of weeks before inevitably getting the axe. He can be considered lucky to have a spot on our list this season, as Benny Grahams shock NFL career move prolonged his career another season.

Rather than persevering with trying to crack into the Geelong seniors, Rahilly has made the mature decision to retire after identifying he had succeeded in getting the best out of himself throughout his eight-year career.

"I've had chronic ankle and foot problems and I really haven't been able to perform at the top level, and the last two years playing reserves, through opportunities and injuries, has just been sort of frustrating," Rahilly told gfc.com.au on Monday.

"I made (the decision) towards the end of the year as I just didn't see any sort of future at the club and I don't think the motivation was there to try and be traded to another club. I just thought it was the right time."

He made his decision based on his inability to match it physically with the standards of the AFL, combined with wanting to end things on his own terms.

"It was more about being able to do what I used to do, which I can't do anymore," Rahilly said.

"Changing direction is a big thing for me, and I can't jump or take off anymore when I'm running so it just makes it hard to play at an elite level, in the twos I can get away with it but in the seniors you can't.

"I didn't want to stick around the club and play at a seconds level and just play seniors when there were a few injuries."

His decision to end his career didn't come as a complete surprise to his teammates, who had already lost veteran Brenton Sanderson after he announced his retirement towards the end of the home-and-away season.

"I mentioned it to a few of them and they all had an idea that I would finish up at the end of this year. I might not have been at the club anyway, so they sort of understood where I was coming from."

Rahilly admitted that a farewell game wasn't on his agenda and that he would rather part company with the club – and his playing days – on a quiet scale.

He also remained adamant that come the pre-season next year he won't regret making the decision to cut short his football career.

"I'm happy to go pretty quietly and I wouldn't want too much to happen about it, I just wanted to quietly bow out, I suppose," he said.

"I don't think I'll get itchy feet (next year). I know I've made the right decision for sure."

Rahilly talked to coach Mark 'Bomber' Thompson before making the final decision, and was happy to have the full support of the Geelong coaching staff.

"Bomber just said, 'what do you want to do', and I just said 'I don't think I can go on', and we talked about it and he agreed with everything I said and was happy for me to do that," Rahilly said.

"I know have no regrets, I've done all I can basically. (The coaching staff) know I have too, so I don't regret not playing next year."

Thompson wished Rahilly all the best and praised the enthusiasm the midfielder brought to the side.

"James has been a true professional and has always prepared and played the game to his full capabilities," Thompson said.

"Unfortunately injuries have hampered James in recent seasons but he has never allowed that to dampen his enthusiasm for the club and his teammates. When we were bringing many young players onto the list and into the team he played a significant role in helping them with their development as league footballers and we appreciate everything he has done in his time here.

"I have no doubt that James will be successful in whatever he chooses to do in the future and wish him all the best."

Rahilly said he would now focus on travelling around the UK with his girlfriend in 2006 before contemplating a career in the housing industry. He did not completely rule out returning to football in some capacity.

"It's just a new chapter in my life and I'm looking forward to it. I know I got the best out of myself and I think there are players who hang onto their careers a bit too long, and it would have been great to keep going at my age, I am only 26, but I think it's the right time."

Rahilly played 90 AFL games for Geelong since his debut in Round 6, 1998 against Hawthorn at Kardinia Park. He managed to play 4 games this season when the club was hard hit by injuries. Achievements include a VFL Premiership (2002), Norm Goss Medalist (BOG VFL GF), Best Clubman in 2003 & Best First Year Player 1998 (Club).

I doubt you will find too many Geelong fans who will be disappointed with this decision but we thank him for his dedication and time put into the club and will leave you with a classic Dermie quote:

James Rahilly would be one of the best players in the AFL if he could kick



Also changes have been made to our Rookie list with Luke Buckland & Jarrod Garth getting the chop while Tim Sheringham & Nick Batchelor being retained.
Bucky would be an outside chance to be drafted by us depending who is available and trade activity.

Also the ongoing contract saga with Jimmy Bartel is soon to be at an end if the Geelong Advertiser is to be believed

Geelong star Jimmy Bartel is expected to make a decision on his football future tomorrow.

The uncontracted midfielder has attracted plenty of attention in the last three months after negotiations with the Cats stalled mid-year.

It is believed the Kangaroos are the latest club to make a play for Bartel.
Collingwood is also believed to have shows interest in signing the 21-year-old.

But Geelong football manager Garry Davidson remains confident of retaining Bartel despite the competition.

He said the club is ``very close'' to signing both Bartel and goal-sneak Steve Johnson.

``At this stage we're quietly confident,'' Davidson said.

``We're very close on both of them and we're not expecting any problems in signing either.''

Obviously Bartel is a must sign and any Geelong supporter would be gutted to see him go, especially for free...

Lastly the following players have had surgery:

Steven King (Wrist)
Cameron Thurley (Wrist)
Tom Lonergan (Wrist)
Josh Hunt (Shoulder)
Paul Koulouriotis (Shoulder)

Meanwhile Tom Harley has met with advisors in regards to his Hip problem




Posted by Sammy D at 11:55 AM | Comments (0)

Brownlow Opens Up Old Wounds

Well last night was possibly the most boring night in the football calendar. No, Sydney were not playing last night, it was Brownlow time. One could argue that being a Geelong supporter has meant Brownlow night has been boring since Garry Hocking stopped dominating games, but even so Eddie McGuire + Andrew "Gomez" Demetriou = Bed Time

Here's our matches:
[Geelong Players in Bold]
* Ineligable

Round 1 Vs. Richmond
3. Cameron Ling
2. James Kelly
1. Paul Chapman

Round 2 Vs. West Coast
3. Ashley Hansen
2. Shannon Byrnes
1. Andrew Embley

Round 3 Vs. Melbourne
3. Cameron Bruce
2. Clint Bizzell
1. Josh Hunt*

Round 4 Vs. Essendon
3. Corey Enright
2. Josh Hunt*
1. Paul Chapman

Round 5 Vs. Port Adelaide
3. Cameron Ling
2. Brad Ottens
1. Warren Tredrea

Round 6 Vs. Western Bulldogs
3. Jimmy Bartel
2. Lindsay Gilbee
1. Matthew Scarlett

Round 7 Vs. St. Kilda
3. Darren Milburn
2. Joel Corey
1. Luke Ball

Round 8 Vs. Carlton
3. Gary Ablett Jnr.
2. Joel Corey
1. Darren Milburn

Round 9 Vs. Kangaroos
3. Steve Johnson
2. Jimmy Bartel
1. Shannon Grant

Round 10 Vs. Fremantle
3. Paul Hasleby
2. Jeff Farmer
1. Jimmy Bartel

Round 11 Vs. Collingwood
3. Brodie Holland
2. James Clement
1. Alan Didak*

Round 12 Vs. Adelaide
3. Nathan Bassett
2. Matthew Scarlett
1. Cameron Ling

Round 13 Vs. Brisbane
3. Jason Akermanis
2. Jed Adcock
1. Daniel Merrett

Round 14 Vs. Hawthorn
3. Cameron Ling
2. Kent Kingsley
1. Joel Corey

Round 15 Vs. Sydney
3. Ryan O'Keefe
2. Barry Hall
1. Adam Goodes

Round 16 Vs. Port Adelaide
3. Jimmy Bartel
2. Joel Corey
1. Kent Kingsley

Round 17 Vs. Western Bulldogs
3. Nathan Eagleton
2. Scott West
1. Ryan Griffin

Round 18 Vs. Essendon
3. Scott Lucas
2. Dustin Fletcher
1. Joel Corey

Round 19 Vs. St. Kilda
3. Aaron Hamill
2. Nick Dal Santo
1. Matthew Scarlett

Round 20 Vs. Melbourne
3. Cameron Ling
2. Travis Johnstone
1. Russell Robertson

Round 21 Vs. West Coast
3. Jarad Rooke
2. Matthew Scarlett
1. Cameron Mooney*

Round 22 Vs. Richmond
3. Joel Corey
2. Brett Deledio
1. James Kelly

Geelong Leader Board

1. Cameron Ling 13
2. Joel Corey 11
3. Jimmy Bartel 9
4. Matthew Scarlett 6
5. Darren Milburn 4
6. Gary Ablett Jnr 3
6. James Kelly 3
6. Jarad Rooke 3
6. Josh Hunt* 3
6. Kent Kingsley 3
6. Corey Enright 3
6. Steve Johnson 3
13. Paul Chapman 2
13. Shannon Byrnes 2
13. Brad Ottens 2
16. Cameron Mooney* 1

Top 10

1. Ben Cousins West Coast 20
2. Daniel Kerr West Coast 19
3. Nick Dal Santo St. Kilda 18
4. Scott West Western Bulldogs 17
5. Tyson Edwards Adelaide 16
5. Barry Hall Sydney 16
7. Luke Hodge Hawthorn 15
7. Chris Judd West Coast 15*
9. Luke Power Brisbane 14
9. Matthew Pavlich Fremantle 14

Needless to say there were quite a few confusing votes handed out by the men in white/yellow/orange/red/magenta last night. So many so we won't go into them, but congratulatiosn to Ben Cousins on taking out his first brownlow medal. I cannot speak higher of him, he is a total class act as his performances this season have shown.

But what could have been. Cousins was a Geelong supporter as a kid and cried after the Grand Final loss to West Coast in 1992. He was reportedly keen to come to Geelong under the father son rule but he didn't want to leave his family and they were settle and unwilling to move from Perth. Sigh...

Credit to Scarlo for pretending to fall asleep and getting woken up by his name being read out before shoving another Crownie down his gullet. Classy.



Posted by Sammy D at 10:53 AM | Comments (0)

August 30, 2005

Finals: Day Two

Seeing we have hit the business end of the season we here at geelongblog.com thought it was about time we got back on the old news horse.

The Age:

Demon losses a spur for Cats

GEELONG will be spurred by its two losses to Melbourne this year — one a heart-breaking theft, the other a thrashing — as as it prepares for its elimination final against the Demons.

The Cats could also bolster their line-up with the return of Josh Hunt, who had an emergency appendectomy 10 days ago, and David Johnson (hamstring), while coach Mark Thompson anticipates the return of Corey Enright (A/C joint) should the Cats survive the cut-throat final and play in the second week.

Thompson said the losses to Melbourne had stung the Cats, having lost by a point in round 20 at Skilled Stadium, which infuriated Thompson, and by eight goals in round three at the MCG.

"They smashed us the first time we played them and they stole the game off us the second time so they've beaten us twice this year and it should make for an interesting game. We want to do well next week. We want to win a final," he said.

Thompson believes the experience gained from last year's finals campaign — thrashed by Port Adelaide, beating Essendon, and narrowly losing to the Brisbane Lions — will prove of great value to his side as it enters the finals without the form that carried the Cats there last year.

The Cats have won only two of their past six games. Last year, they entered the finals on the back of seven wins in their last eight games. "Even though we haven't got the momentum that we did last year, we've got the experience from last year, which I think is probably more important," Thompson said.

Herald Sun:

Dees injury therapy up in the air

FLOWERS blooming, Mad Monday drinking marathons . . . and hyperbaric chamber treatment. Hey, it must be finals time.

Even wounded Melbourne skipper David Neitz could muse over the oxygen technique to fast-track the healing process.

The Demons will consider sending Neitz to one of the chambers in a bid to recover from an aggravated knee injury and lead them in their elimination final against Geelong at the MCG on Saturday.

"The club is investigating the hyperbaric chamber, whether that will have an effect on this type of injury. If it will, I'll be in there and just do whatever has to be done," Neitz said yesterday. "We haven't brought that topic up until this week, it is a bit like that this time of the year."

Collingwood captain Nathan Buckley headed for the chamber after tendon surgery early this season and even steeplechaser Liquid Lunch spent time in the expensive equipment at Flemington before winning the Grand National in July.

Neitz put on his bravest face yesterday, convinced he had only tweaked the strained posterior cruciate ligament that has dogged him for the past month.

"It has pulled up reasonably well this morning. I suppose it was a test getting out of bed and seeing how it felt. But it actually felt quite good, so I'm pretty hopeful for the weekend," he said.

"I'll have to wait to see what the coach is thinking. But at the moment it actually feels a lot better than I thought it would.

"It's finals footy, so you have to be pretty well right. The intensity level lifts higher, so I guess that's the decision that I've got to make during the week as to how good it is and needs to be."

As Neitz talked up his chances at the Junction Oval, recovering teammates Cameron Bruce (knee) and Brad Miller (quad) were among only a handful of players to venture out for a light run. Neitz said Bruce and Miller, late withdrawals against Essendon on Sunday, were certain to return.

He said Melbourne's three-game winning run to qualify for the finals had created an "exciting" atmosphere around the club, especially compared to last season's negative approach in the wake of five successive losses.

"Jared Rivers played really well for Sandringham and Clint Bizzell as well. Mark Jamar also played really well for Sandringham, so there's a number of guys who can come in and there's quite a few options," he said.


GFC:

Painful memory drives Cats

Geelong will use its heart-wrenching one-point loss to Melbourne at Skilled Stadium in round 20 as both a learning tool and motivational spur for Saturday's elimination final between the clubs at the MCG.

The Demons snapped a losing streak at the venue stretching back to 1988, after reeling in a 34-point second-quarter deficit to triumph by just one point and keep their finals hopes alive after a run of seven straight defeats this season.

Geelong coach Mark Thompson said the review of the match the following week was "pretty interesting" because the Cats should not given up such a big lead, particularly with so much at stake for their season.

"We showed them (the players) how Melbourne got on top of us and how we let them back in and gave the game to them," Thompson said on Tuesday.

"They shouldn't forget those things. We'll probably address it again this week. Our pre-match stuff is done on Wednesdays so that will be done tomorrow and we'll certainly get through that and try and avoid letting that happen again."

Thompson admitted it was one of the Cats' worst defeats of the season.

"The circumstances were bad. We were pretty desperate for a win. We were back at our home ground.

"Teams shouldn't lose from that position and we just let it slip so easily. In that regard it was an emotional loss for a lot of people around the club."

Geelong skipper Steven King, who didn't play against the Dees three weeks ago due to a finger injury, said the club had responded well from that disappointing result.

"It was a bit of a wake-up call for us as well. I think the way the team has bounced back from that has been a real positive.

"I obviously didn't play but the boys were shattered. The Monday was pretty uncomfortable. It wasn't a great day to rock up to work but that's the way it goes. But the way the boys handled it is a credit to themselves."

Geelong bounced back from that defeat by smashing the top-of-the-table West Coast Eagles by 77 points, in one of three consecutive games for the Cats at Skilled Stadium to end the home-and-away season.

Thompson said the ferocious, hard-tackling game shown by the Cats against the Eagles was the sort of form they need to take into the finals.

"It was just enormous - fantastic to watch, fantastic to be part of. Fingers crossed, it's the one we want to bring out to the game."

Thompson admitted the Cats aren't playing as well entering the finals, compared to this time last year, and their topsy-turvy form was a worry.

"It is a concern because we haven't really had the solid performances on the ground but some of our good performances have been fantastic. That's the sort of team that hopefully we put out on the weekend - the team that does really well, that attacks the ball hard, that tackles hard, that puts enormous defensive pressure on, that plays with run and flair and takes them on and uses the ball through the middle of the ground. That's the team that we want to bring to the MCG on Saturday.

"I’m sure that there's been a lot of teams that haven't had great momentum towards the end of the year but performed particularly well.

"I'm hoping that we get to the game and everybody knows that this could be the last game for the year."

Egan eyes finals

Geelong defender Matt Egan is eyeing his first finals campaign after playing a key role in defence in the Cats' one-point win over Richmond on Sunday.

Egan has been one of the Cats' great success stories this season, playing 13 games, including the last 10 of the regular season to secure his spot in a backline which features names like Harley, Mooney and Scarlett.

He proved his value when Tom Harley was sidelined in the latter part of the year, and the Cats have kept the faith with him since Harley returned in round 21.

"It's been pretty consistent I think. I haven't done anything major but sort of holding my spot and trying to beat my man," he said. "I think if you're out there you've got to think you can beat anyone you're playing on."

Egan admits that confidence is helped by the fact he is supported by an All Australian full back, plus a backline that has built a reputation as one of the best in the competition.

"At the start of the game when you look around and there's Tom Harley, Darren Milburn and Matt Scarlett, all very experienced players. I feel lucky to be down there."

Egan believes the Cats can play a major role in September action after securing a final at the MCG against Melbourne.

"We've won our last two games, which is good. It's good momentum going into the finals. If we can keep the winning streak going then we'll do well."

The prospect of playing his first final looms large for the 22-year-old, and he says he will draw on the experiences of his teammates last year to help him prepare.

"I can't wait, with the big crowd. It will be awesome," he said. "I'll be getting all the information I can off the more experienced players. I can't wait."

Injury List

GEELONG
Brad Ottens (groin) season
Tim Callan (shoulder) season
Tom Lonergan (hamstring) 1 week
Matthew McCarthy (shoulder) 1 week
David Wojcinski (knee) season
Corey Enright (shoulder) 2-4 weeks

MELBOURNE
David Neitz (knee) test
Brent Moloney (hip) test
Cameron Bruce (knee) test
Brad Miller (thigh) test
Phil Read (hip) test
Daniel Bell (ankle) test
Colin Sylvia (shoulder) season

Posted by Sammy D at 06:57 PM | Comments (0)

June 08, 2005

Hunt, Injuries, Our Spine & Bomber To Blame?

As reported earlier the missle launcher himself escaped the alligations of the crazy yellow martians and managed to pencil his name into our starting line-up on Sunday bar unforseen circumstances and/or pure stupidity on behalf of the selection committee. Huzzah

Geelong's Josh Hunt has escaped with a reprimand despite pleading guilty to striking Collingwood rookie Chris Egan at the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday night.

After entering the surprise plea the Geelong defence team, led by Sean Carroll, then successfully argued that his conduct was reckless and in play rather than intentional and behind play.

In his defence, Hunt said he had made contact with Egan's side and stomach as he attempted to manoeuvre Egan away from Scarlett's path.

The defence team successfully argued that while Hunt had made contact with Egan his intent had not been "to strike a blow".

Well thats one problem crossed off our growing list...

Meanwhile Bomber has come out & taken a few bullets for the team it seems.

Geelong coach Mark Thompson says he's as much to blame as his players for the form slump the team finds itself in after two shock losses in the past fortnight.

Thompson said the Cats' winning form earlier in the season may have led to complacency creeping in both on the field and in the coaches' box, and the group would present a united front as it attempts to regain its winning ways.

"I've done a lot wrong," Thompson admitted at Skilled Stadium on Wednesday.

"(But) we're all in it together. It's not just us blaming the players for their poor form - together we've got to find a way to win.

"Sometimes you do (get complacent). I think it's human nature that that happens to people in general, and we're no different as coaches."

I don't know if I buy this from Bomber. I think it's just to take some pressure off the team, which no doubt is slowly starting to mount, expectations are high in this town.

I ventured down to KP this afternoon to have a look at the boys in action. Of note was..

• Ottens & King did not train. Later I heard on the news they both trained indoors...
• David Johnson walked laps with Tim "Fresh" Callan. I think that just about puts a bullet in Fresh's chances of playing this week.
• Ricco training for the night involved running about 8 200m sprints
• Sanderson, Playfair & Corey all look fit & well, especially Sando
• Still not convinced on Lings & Scarletts fitness
• James Rahilly looked to roll his ankle during a drill but was fine. Skills were very bad early & I mean bad...even for Rahilly
• One major Bomber bake to note. In a match drill got into everyone for not being accountable.

Click for the official training report
Click here for a opinion piece about our spine by Gary Lyon

Posted by Sammy D at 11:49 PM | Comments (0)

June 07, 2005

FREE HUNT!

Josh Hunt got a reprimand and is available for the weekend! Reports tomorrow

Posted by Sammy D at 09:07 PM | Comments (0)

June 06, 2005

Hunt Up Shite Creek Without A Paddle

As stated earlier Josh Hunt has been reported this week for Striking Collingwood's Chris Egan

Hunt was reported by umpire Corin Rowe in the second quarter of last Friday night's loss to Collingwood for striking brash Magpie youngster Chris Egan. Hunt maintains that he only pushed Egan, with this misconstrued by the umpire as a strike.

It is believed there is no direct footage of the tangle between the players but the down-the-ground video was being sought to see if it clarified the situation.

So basically it's Hunts word against the umpires, and we all know who wins out in that duel don't we? I'll publish the verdict as soon as it's made known.

If Hunt is innocent as he believes he is, he can thought to be stiff that Channel Nines coverage did not catch the incident. Of course Eddie McGuire quick to knock his competitors at every opportunity has already had a go at Fox Footy earlier in the year for not catching an incident behind play. Will this be brought up on The Footy Show this Thursday? I very much doubt it...

Posted by Sammy D at 01:58 PM | Comments (0)

June 02, 2005

Exclusive Gates Finally Opened For God Himself

The AFL Hall of Fame has finally done what it should have done four years ago, it's let Gary Ablett Snr. in.

Gary Ablett will be inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame next week after being overlooked four times because of his controversial post-retirement life.

The flawless footballer but flawed character said last night he was thrilled with the belated honour. He will be inducted along with seven other AFL figures at a black-tie ceremony on Monday night.

"I am thrilled to be inducted," Ablett said through his manager Michael Baker.

"It's an enormous honour to be in the Hall of Fame and to be alongside such terrific players."

It is understood Geelong chief executive Brian Cook will represent Ablett and read an acceptance speech.

Baker said Ablett's sons Gary and Nathan, who play for Geelong, were overjoyed with the honour bestowed on their father as they could not understand why he was not an automatic selection.

"The kids are rapt because they believe he should always have been there.

Ablett played 248 AFL games - 242 for Geelong and six for Hawthorn - between 1982 and 1997. He booted 1030 goals, represented Victoria 11 times and was named in the All-Australian team seven times. He was All-Australian captain in 1995 and co-captained Geelong in 1995 and 1996.

I will not ramble on about it because I'm sure we all know the story by now. He is without a doubt the most majestic football player I have ever had the pleasure of viewing.

Ablett: The Facts

Games - 248 (Geelong 242, Hawthorn 6)
Goals - 1030
Finals - 16 (64 goals)
Club Best & Fairest - 1984
Norm Smith Medalist - 1989
Coleman Medal - 1993-95
All Australian - 1984, 89, 90, 92, 93, 94, 95
Geelong Captain - 1995, 96 (Co Captain both years)

When it comes to thinking of the great man there are many special moments on the football field to remember:




• Kicking 9 goals on a wing in the State of Origin
  
• The 1989 finals series
  
• The 14 goal hauls Vs. Richmond ('89), Essendon ('93) & Sydney ('94)
  
• "That Mark" over Pert
  
• Kicking the winning goal after the siren Preliminary Final Vs. North Melbourne
  
• The tons 93-95
  

They were all fine moments, but we here at geelongblog.com wanna hear your favourite memories of Gazza - The Footballer, in words, pictures or both.

For me three moments stick out in my mind...

Gazza Moment #1 - It was my first ever visit to the MCG. Round 9, 1992 Vs. Essendon. A free flowing, high scoring game (did we know any other way back then?), but Gazza hadn't registered a major on the scoresheet going into the 3rd quarter. It was then that he gathered the ball 50m out on the flank right infront of me in the MCC Ladies Pavilion. Confronted by a Daniher he sold a dummy to him only that Bomber Thompson was coming up from behind him (whether he knew or not only he knows). Anyways the dummy left Daniher & Thompson staring at each other face to face as Gazza run in & slotted through the major from 35-40m.

Gazza Moment #2 - 1992 Qualifying Final time against Footscray. Geelong are struggling down by 4-5 goals into the second quarter. Mansfield receives a free kick on the flank/wing around 60m out from goal after a clumsy Toohey challenge. Barnes goes in to get the ball for the young & dazed Mansfield only to have Toohey push him over onto the ground. No 50m penalty! Eventually the ball gets into the hands of Mansfield who goes back behind the mark but still isn't with it. Ever the quick thinker Gazza runs behind Mansfield and calls for the short handball, on receival he launches a 55m drop punt on his left foot through the big sticks. We would come back to win comfortably. His kicking on either foot was just unbelievable.

Gazza Moment #3 - Round 11, 1995 Vs. Essendon at the MCG again. Down by 6 goals midway through the second quarter the cats spark a revival and go into 3 quarter time less than 2 goals down. Ablett slots the first two goals of the quarter to put us ahead, then it happened. Liam Pickering having got the ball in the pocket tries to centre the ball to the square where Ablett & Brownless are eagerly waiting, but the ball goes over the square into the opposite pocket. Somehow due to a freak bounce the ball bounces around the boundary line without going out of play until its about 20-25m out from goal. Ablett leads the race and gets there first, thanks to a mammoth sheppard by Brownless on the desperate Dustin Fletcher he has time to sum up the situation, Fletcher uses Brownless as a step ladder as he tries to smother the Ablett snap around his body on his left again. Needless to say it split the middle & produced a rare outburst of Ablett emotion.
"This quarter has been going for 14 minutes, nobody has kicked a goal except Ablett. He has 3!" - Drew Morphett
He finished with 8 in an inspired display & another special comeback

Ok, enough of my claptrap...to post your favourite Gazza moment(s) follow the link here

Posted by Sammy D at 11:34 AM | Comments (0)

May 30, 2005

Dog Has Fleas

This guy just cant take a break at the minute



Geelong forward Steve Johnson will be sidelined for six weeks after undergoing ankle surgery on Friday night.

Johnson has been hampered by an injured right ankle for much of the season, and rather than trying to nurse him through the rest of 2005, the Cats opted for the operation, with an arthroscope discovering a cyst and some scar tissue in the joint.

"It's best to do it, get it out of the way - he's been playing a game, missing a game and not been able to train much," Geelong coach Mark Thompson said after Saturday's shock nine-point loss to Fremantle at Skilled Stadium.

"We thought, 'let's just get it done' and if it's six weeks it will be a good result and he can come back and play some footy before the end of the year. We always miss it when he's not in the side, he's unpredictable and he's elusive and he's a goal-kicker."

Johnson broke the same ankle during the 2004 pre-season in an off-field mishap, but medical staff say his current problems are not related to that previous injury.

Obviously the club are doing the right thing for the long run. Let's hope that he can get this over with, get a pre-season under his belt and be the mercurial dog we have had a quality albeit small taste of.

Meanwhile at Cat HQ the mystery around Matthew Egan's non-selection still has me stunned & disappointed

"We were always going to be short a couple, our defence has been a few players short (without) Tom Harley and Cameron Mooney," Thompson said.

"I thought Jarad Rooke played a terrific game. I know Pavlich started well, but Jarad probably shouldn't be playing on someone like that for a whole day. It should've been shared with other people, but we just didn't have as many options today down there."

Hmm, let me see. Our defence is going to be short. How about we bring a promising tall defender to try and cover that hole? Nah, lets bring in two medium sized forwards instead...

Posted by Sammy D at 08:50 PM | Comments (0)