Yes, disappointing that it was a fairly small crowd for a big match for both sides. Plus, 62K+ (I think) would have taken our crowds to 1 million.

Pros, in no particular order:
Armfield
Wiggins
Robbo's efforts, if not his finishing.
Setanta
Thornton
Gibbs
Walker
Judd
Murphy
Fev, especially the team efforts
Russell. Best match for him so far, after some great improvement lately.
Kreuzer
Hammer, especially the effort and desperation and willingness to put his body on the line
Scotland
Stevens......was good. Not great, but he did his bit

Apologies if I've left anyone out, it was a great team effort.

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And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.

Pros:
We don't have to put up with Synbad's mind numbing negative dribble for a full 24 hours!

Cons:
Synbad will eventually succumb by sunday or monday - & tell us all that last nights win was just a fluke & that Ratten has no idea.

KK you did forget AJ

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Cheats never prosper (except in the AFL)

Pro

From about the 10 minute mark of the 1st qtr we started intercepting Geelong's passes & forcing them into errors - hasn't happenned often to the Cats in the last 3 years
Armfield probably had his cleanest game skillswise so far. Combined run with good disposal
Russell looked at home at half back - maybe that's his future?
Judd gradually shook Ling off to finish in our best
Betts may not have starred o the stats sheet but had an influence & was strong in the contests

Cons

Very few, even team effort. Couple of times in the 1st half we tried one too many handballs, but overall very little to complain about last night.

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#DonTheStash

After the first 2 goals in 5min of the 1st 1/4, it was 14 goals to 6. That's some sort of caning

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T E A M

PROS:

- fantastic contributions from the "bottom 6" brigade who performed their roles with authority AND provided run and carry.
- really pleased with the way thornton and bower are standing up.
- setanta's mobility and marking.
- 4 quarter, few passengers, lead at every change win!
- much better ball movement and intensity
- rucks are coming along very nicely.
- finally beat them. yes, they were missing defenders and they do generate a lot of drive from their backs, but their midfield was probably only missing chapman so that was a good test for our mids.
- no melvey cyber-noise.

CONS:

- field and goal kicking
- replay highlighted a few instances of not covering for a team-mate who is out of position.
- listening to peter schwab on 774 abc ... he's almost geischenesque: dud coach, dud umpires boss and now dud presenter (nothing special as a player either i reckon)

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... an eagle flew out of the night. he was something to observe, came in close i heard a voice, bending stretching every nerve, had to listen had no choice ...

Pros!

Everything. When I woke up this morning I checked the score just to make sure.
Russell was superb.
Judd was magic.
Great all round game.
Melvey's disappearance continues!

Cons!

None.

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dane's trolling again

PROS:

Our constant pressure contributed to much of Geelong's poor play.






CONS:

Many said that last night's match would show us 'where we're at', after some pretty 'ordinary' wins.

As Geelong were far from their best (despite what I mentioned as a PRO), I'm not so sure we can still see this as a benchmark game.



DO IT AGAIN BLUES NEXT WEEK!!!

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THEY LIKE TO SEND UP!!!!!!!!

Until each team plays each other the same number of times, the AFL, as a fair dinkum competition, cannot be taken seriously.

He (Mr Swann) said the honour and pride associated with the club's traditional navy blue jumper was priceless.

PRO

- We beat the Cats OMFG
- Daring run and share - plenty of risk but we backed ourselves great stuff
- The intensity and aggression was way way up.
- Finals certainty, now I can barrack for StK 2nds to lose to break this ridiculous perfect season
- Russell - he's improved gradually the last 2 years, but how much did he look a PLAYER? Confident, strong, sure hands, aggressive, calm, fast ball carrying, nice long kick
- Setanta - can't afford to have him out of the side - our best overhead contested mark
- Army -
- Thornton - great game again
- Fevola - outstanding game- that chase was seriously inspirational
- Gibbs - BOG by a mile in first half. Added the intensity he called for and gave us the upper hand
- Simpson - started average, after that was incredible
- Judd - broke Ling

Cons

- Geelong have been a great team - incredible players, but it's their teamwork that made them so mesmerising. Last night the players and the teamwork were poor. It was a long time ago but I had pretty strong deja vu to Carlton 1996. Great team holding on, great win loss record for the season but at some stage the strain is too much and it falls apart. Can't see the Cats re-grouping.
- The Betts / Harley matchup - Bomber's one tatical win, only because we kept bombing it to them
- Wiggins - struggled
- Houlihan - mixed bag, but too many clangers and slow
- Stevens - struggled at times but kept trying
- We made way too many terrible errors, honestly the Cats were just atrocious.

Pros

-Some great play through the corridor last night. Took them on with quick ball movement for large parts of the game.
-Hammers contest (where he briefly injured himself) was fantastic and symbolised the team effort.
_Rapt with Russell and Armfields games.
-Too many other positives to list.


Cons
-Can`t get away from the feeling that the Cats weren`t too fussed about loosing this game.

Con: It "losing" not "loosing".
The Cats looked pretty fussed after the game in the changing room. You don't win 60/64 games by not being "fussed if you lose"

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T E A M

Gary Ablett was in tears after the game

It's " It's", not "It".

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THEY LIKE TO SEND UP!!!!!!!!

Until each team plays each other the same number of times, the AFL, as a fair dinkum competition, cannot be taken seriously.

He (Mr Swann) said the honour and pride associated with the club's traditional navy blue jumper was priceless.

We had a cunning plan

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That’s not a political statement — it’s a harsh reality, and we must act,” she said. “He is a clear and present danger to the things that keep us strong and free. I support impeachment.”

I cannot believe this place.
We beat Geelong and there are still negatives.
WTF. Get it together.

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dane's trolling again

PROS

Rucks: Kreuzer and Hammer dominated and it all started from their effort

Midfield: Judd Gibbs Murphy Hadley Simpson Carrazzo Joseph Stevens Scotland Houla easily beat the most feared midfield in the Comp (Bartel, Ablett, Ling, Corey...) Fab 10 Congrats to Stevens' 100 CFC games and getting his name on the locker.

Backline: Thornton has amazing touch atm. Definetely AA. Leadership. Russell's best game ever. He eclipsed the best HF in the business. Armfield is just a fantastic competitor and never out of the contest, provides much needed pace. Two weeks in a row now for him without costly clangers

Forwards: Fevola Setanta and Betts. What a great mix of types. Fantastic forward pressure and very good hands. Setantas contested marks are becoming the norm...imo, he's better than Earl in the modern game.

Coach: Great use of the bench and rotating the midfield. Great selections. Thanks for bringing the 2010 (Plan C) game plan to the G on a Friday night. I can see the boys have their defensive game sorted and the run and daring just links things up nicely when attacking. Pace all over the ground

Team: Intensity, Improvement in skills (still have some improving to go), and players helped each other. Always a player available for the next pass. Fantastic finals footy. Great bl;ocking for Judd by Carrazzo, Walker, Murphy, Gibbs, Joseph. Everone was on the look out for each other. Awareness.

Bottom 6: Wiggins, Walker Robinson Armfield Joseph Russell were all fantastic contributors and Russell Army and Joseph were standouts. Walker has another game under his belt and will be hitting his straps in a couple of weeks.

Future: We won without...Warnock/ Jacobs.....Jamison/ Austin.....Waite....Yarran/ Garlett....Grigg who will add value for the finals campaign in 2009 and in 2010 will help us become a power again.

Slogan: They know we're coming. How apt. We're a happy lost at Crlton

CONS:

Didn't get 62K at the ground to be first to 1 million

Fevola's kicking. Should have kicked 8 instead of 4.6 (it'll come against the Saints in the GF)

Disposal by hand and foot needs some working on. Sharpen the sword boys coz finals are coming.

Harley vs Betts and the lobbing passes Betts had no chance of marking were wasted opportunities.

Setanta's missed opportunity after brilliantly smothering/ catching the kick in (PRO and CON)

Should have won the game by 9-10 goals.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Just watched the game again on Foxtel. Very sweet.

Pros
.... you mean apart from the brilliance and workrate of the usual suspects ....

Armfield looked capable and composed. Really adds dash in the back half. I'm becoming a believer.
AJ!! How good is this kid? Not just the 'stopping' which is brilliant, he looks so good when he has the ball in his hands. Doesn't panic and has blistering speed. Will become a real weapon.
Big Setant continuing to show be can become a BIG headache for opposition defenses; showed some real football smarts and creativity last night when the ball hit the ground.
JR - same commitment you get every week from this kid but showing more self belief and things are starting to fall his way
Hadley - always believed this guy will be a key player for us this year. We look so much better with him in the team.

No Cons

Sorry spelling police.(BTW It`s)
All I`m saying is as far as their finals campaign goes, they probably would`t be that upset, with a heap of players out and some only just returning. St Kilda are doing much the same today. Call it match management.
Geelong will still be right up there when it counts.

Agree with al the pros so far, great team effort.

Gotta add Kreuzers tackle on Ablett in the 2nd qtr. Picked him up and drove him into the ground like a rag doll. Un-tackleable my ass

If the whole team does this and can maintain it four quarters you will win more then you lose in the modern game. Pressure = turnovers = opportunities.

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