(The Captains Own) GFC player review
The Guns
Gary Ablett, Paul Chapman, Joel Corey, Darren Milburn, Cameron Mooney, Matthew Scarlett.
This group picks itself really and will probably finish 1-5 in the Cats Best & Fairest. With the exception of Mooney of course; that whole ‘fairest’ thing really gets him. He’s in this group, however, because the Cats are a different, much better, team with him at centre half forward. Interesting to note, Cam was once voted ‘most likely to punch a teacher’ by his school peers.
The 2nd tier
Jimmy Bartel, Corey Enright, Brad Ottens, Jarad Rooke, Cameron Ling, David Wojcinski, Josh Hunt, Matthew Egan.
‘Tickets’ Bartel is probably in between this group and the one above, and Corey Enright is pretty close. The rest have been consistently good without really breaking out and having massive games. Josh Hunt improved as the season went on, Egan has been amazingly good for an inexperienced player and Wojcinski, although down a little due to coming back from injury, has shown that when he runs, Geelong plays well. Great hair too.
Last Chance
Tom Harley, James Kelly, Kane Tenace, Steven King, David Johnson, Shannon Byrnes.
For the sake of this article, we’ll say these guys deserve at least another year to prove themselves; and most have some genuine excuse, be it injury or just lack of opportunity. Others just don’t fit into the team balance. However, a series of tough decisions need to be made and don’t be surprised if some of these are delisted this year. The clock is ticking. Ooh, dramatic!
Who fucking knows?
Steve Johnson.
The guy gets his own section because, well, I guess the title says it all. He could comfortably fit into any of the other categories on any given day. Personally I think Geelong need his ‘tin-ass’ and willingness to roll the dice in the forward line. And besides, who else is going to be there to receive those handpasses over the top in the goal square?
The Future
Nathan Ablett, Matthew Spencer, Mark Blake, Tim Callan, Andrew Mackie, Brent Prismall, Matthew Stokes, Travis Varcoe.
In this group there is potentially a 10 year key forward, a tall key defender, a 200+ game ruckman, a courageous tagger/defender, a clever utility, a classy midfielder, a high energy small forward and possibly the quickest player in Geelong history. Of course, now that I’ve mentioned all that, they’ll be involved in a plane crash and be forced to eat each other’s flesh to survive. Ah well, at least Mackie will be safe.
Delist immediately
Peter Riccardi (retired), Will Slade, Matthew McCarthy, Paul Koulouriotis, Sam Hunt, Tim Sherringham.
We never really offered our Peter Riccardi tribute here at Big League, and in a weird way, it’s kind of fitting, seeing as though one of Geelong’s best players over the past 15 years also had his testimonial dinner cancelled. He is exactly the kind of player Geelong will be looking to recruit now; fast, durable and never missed a target. We all have favourite memories of him but, gee, does anything stand out more than that mullet? And a curly mullet to boot. Outstanding, Ricco, outstanding. As for the rest, Koula’s chance has passed, Sherringham never really panned out, Sam Hunt was a cheap gamble, The Matthew McCarthy Era was all too short-lived, and as for Will Slade, well, the injuries hurt, but not as much as constantly giving the ball to the other team.
Trade Bait
Kent Kingsley, Henry Playfair, Charlie Gardiner.
Notice they’re all key forward types? I just thought these 3 might return something for teams looking to ‘top up’. Who might take them, you ask? The Bulldogs might take a one year punt, The Kangaroos have a long recycling history, likewise Sydney, Carlton is always a chance, and for some reason Port Adelaide seems to make sense.
Time for further assessment
Nick Batchelor, Ryan Gamble, Todd Grima, Tom Lonergan, Stephen Owen, Trent West.
Poor Tom Lonergan. He had been in the best every week in the reserves, he finally got his chance against Melbourne and then gets crushed doing the team thing. I haven’t seen much of Grima, Owen or West, and Gamble’s only senior game was a brief but promising audition.
The GunsGary Ablett, Paul Chapman, Joel Corey, Darren Milburn, Cameron Mooney, Matthew Scarlett.
This group picks itself really and will probably finish 1-5 in the Cats Best & Fairest. With the exception of Mooney of course; that whole ‘fairest’ thing really gets him. He’s in this group, however, because the Cats are a different, much better, team with him at centre half forward. Interesting to note, Cam was once voted ‘most likely to punch a teacher’ by his school peers.
The 2nd tier
Jimmy Bartel, Corey Enright, Brad Ottens, Jarad Rooke, Cameron Ling, David Wojcinski, Josh Hunt, Matthew Egan.
‘Tickets’ Bartel is probably in between this group and the one above, and Corey Enright is pretty close. The rest have been consistently good without really breaking out and having massive games. Josh Hunt improved as the season went on, Egan has been amazingly good for an inexperienced player and Wojcinski, although down a little due to coming back from injury, has shown that when he runs, Geelong plays well. Great hair too.
Last Chance
Tom Harley, James Kelly, Kane Tenace, Steven King, David Johnson, Shannon Byrnes.
For the sake of this article, we’ll say these guys deserve at least another year to prove themselves; and most have some genuine excuse, be it injury or just lack of opportunity. Others just don’t fit into the team balance. However, a series of tough decisions need to be made and don’t be surprised if some of these are delisted this year. The clock is ticking. Ooh, dramatic!
Who fucking knows?
Steve Johnson.
The guy gets his own section because, well, I guess the title says it all. He could comfortably fit into any of the other categories on any given day. Personally I think Geelong need his ‘tin-ass’ and willingness to roll the dice in the forward line. And besides, who else is going to be there to receive those handpasses over the top in the goal square?
The Future
Nathan Ablett, Matthew Spencer, Mark Blake, Tim Callan, Andrew Mackie, Brent Prismall, Matthew Stokes, Travis Varcoe.
In this group there is potentially a 10 year key forward, a tall key defender, a 200+ game ruckman, a courageous tagger/defender, a clever utility, a classy midfielder, a high energy small forward and possibly the quickest player in Geelong history. Of course, now that I’ve mentioned all that, they’ll be involved in a plane crash and be forced to eat each other’s flesh to survive. Ah well, at least Mackie will be safe.
Delist immediately
Peter Riccardi (retired), Will Slade, Matthew McCarthy, Paul Koulouriotis, Sam Hunt, Tim Sherringham.
We never really offered our Peter Riccardi tribute here at Big League, and in a weird way, it’s kind of fitting, seeing as though one of Geelong’s best players over the past 15 years also had his testimonial dinner cancelled. He is exactly the kind of player Geelong will be looking to recruit now; fast, durable and never missed a target. We all have favourite memories of him but, gee, does anything stand out more than that mullet? And a curly mullet to boot. Outstanding, Ricco, outstanding. As for the rest, Koula’s chance has passed, Sherringham never really panned out, Sam Hunt was a cheap gamble, The Matthew McCarthy Era was all too short-lived, and as for Will Slade, well, the injuries hurt, but not as much as constantly giving the ball to the other team.
Trade Bait
Kent Kingsley, Henry Playfair, Charlie Gardiner.
Notice they’re all key forward types? I just thought these 3 might return something for teams looking to ‘top up’. Who might take them, you ask? The Bulldogs might take a one year punt, The Kangaroos have a long recycling history, likewise Sydney, Carlton is always a chance, and for some reason Port Adelaide seems to make sense.
Time for further assessment
Nick Batchelor, Ryan Gamble, Todd Grima, Tom Lonergan, Stephen Owen, Trent West.
Poor Tom Lonergan. He had been in the best every week in the reserves, he finally got his chance against Melbourne and then gets crushed doing the team thing. I haven’t seen much of Grima, Owen or West, and Gamble’s only senior game was a brief but promising audition.
posted by the captain at 8:36 pm
11 Comments:
agree with all that apart from Playfair == a clear run with fitness and I think he can still fix CHF
Nice synopsis Captain, although I'd put Rooke in the upper tier of players. He did a handsome job negating most opposition key players this season and if the rest of the team displayed the tenacity he has, we'd certainly have been playing finals.
Great assessment boys, A coupld I would query but not necessarily disagree with-
I agree, I think Rooke would be there with Tickets as one of those players in between tier one and two
Harley looked really good for a while when he got some fitness but you're right, just about last chance.
It would be awesome to get the most out of James Kelly, he could certainly be one of the players to drive us towards the place on the ladder that we should be.
I disagree with Shannon Byrnes being in the last chance pile. I'd move him into the future. I never understood why he was dropped on a couple of occasions.
Is Sam Hunt any relation to Josh? I've been wondering for a while now, its one of those pieces of information that doesn't make it to Perth.
Did Mooney really get voted most likely to punch a teacher?
Hank Playfair, despite his honest efforts, suffers from an incurable problem; unco-ordination.
For me, Rooke probably lacks the polish and/or consistency to be in the elite. As you say though, no questioning his tenacity.
Sam Hunt - no relation to Josh. And, no, that's not true about Mooney. I completely made it up.
Keep the suggestions on players coming. As always, we appreciate your involvement.
Personally, I think we're being a little harsh on Stephen King here. Last chance? C'mon, has it really got to that stage? I mean, sure he probably never reached his full potential, and injury worries never really saw him captain the side properly, but we'd be a far thinner team without Big Wheel. I don't think our list is deep enough just yet to be giving ex-All Aussie talls an ultamatim. In my opinion, as long as this guy is fit enough to step on the field, it's better to have him than not to have him. If only for his size. Long live the King!
King's second half (ie when he was fit) wasn't bad. Its only the in and out of King that annoys me.
Interesting article in from the West Australian. Our boy Benny Graham named one of the captains for the Jets!
I wasn't sure whether he would have understood all the rules yet
joel corey? whats the story? piss him off to the trade list for me.hangs around the back line picking up junk possessions & coughing it up to the opposition. unless he books in over summer for a transplant of that pea heart of his.
Interesting last comment on Joel Corey. Admittedly, I thought about putting him the the 2nd tier group, but never trade bait.
I'd say the whole league has a culture of junk possessions, which raises an interesting question; which stats are now the most definitive? Hard to say, but Joel Corey did lead Geelong in clearances this season, good for 18th in the league. As for coughing it up, well, the whole team was guilty of this too often.
What is clear is that Geelong need a midfield leader; don't be suprised if Ablett & Chapman get every chance to fulfill this role in the middle this year.
at last..the real brad ottens has stood up or shall i say fucked up.you only get what you pay for and the cats deserve a refund for faulty goods..how many times could he have won u the match but either kicked it out of bounds or a point now gets on the piss and tries to drive ..the guys a loser cut him cats if u have any balls he didnt get the name judas for nothing.
Geez, you Richmond blokes really know how to hold a grudge, don't you? I'd be more angry at Matthew Richardson for existing.
Shannon's recently signed a 2 year contract! I know contracts can be broken, but hopefully, with lots of hard work over the summer, his disposal accuracy and kicking will be improved.
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