Quick Thoughts - Geelong vs Brisbane
General - Mediocre game from both sides, ended up close, not sure how given how bad Brisbane were but probably says a bit about the Cats. One of those games as a neutral fan where the umpiring felt really one-sided (got the tip at least) and had one glaring bad call where the umpire absolutely choked under pressure that we all know about. Was also fantasy aids so fun night!
Cats - Not sure they'd be very happy with this one. Brisbane couldn't have played much worse in the first half and yet they were right in it and then they fell apart late and were run over the top by a team with no ruckman and pretty much still unable to find the ball. They got the win and Hawkins played great but pretty hard to find a positive outside that.
Guthrie - One of the only Cats to run out the game, he was huge in the last and is looking good again.
Smith - His SC ratio seemed so generous, so many butcher jobs but his run was still valuable.
Stanley - Took relative advantage of no opponent. The struggle to dominate OMc playing on one leg a concern but was better after that.
Selwood - Monster game from him, even stealing kick-ins... It's a trap though, surely?
Tuohy - Huge game, was one of their best all night, did fade as you'd expect off limited preseason.
Atkins - Really solid off half back again. Looks to have found a home.
Hawkins - Dominant, the Lions inability to adjust to him taking it out of the ruck, after doing it all year last year, and all game last night to set up the game winning goal is just shameful but good on him.
Stewart - Meh, super low TOG and got trapped on the bench both times the Cats actually waxed down back for the night. Took a huge intercept mark and then clangered it into a negative late in the game, dropped a lot of marks. Could have been a huge score.
Clark - Similar to Stewart, everytime he did something good he'd pull out a massive clanger to undo it. He played "well" in that he got to the right places and found plenty of it, clangers not his norm.
O'Connor - Excellent tagging job on Neale, one to watch.
Blicavs - All over the shop and should have cost them the game, bad call.
Evans - Really solid game from him, too early and the role not good.
Lions - Woeful, they might have been worse than last week, they were just as soft, second to the ball and still behind on tackles most of the night, finished a bit better but they were just terrible.
Lyons - Showed some heart but and was one of their best.
Rich - Plenty of supply and was good, couple of bad mistakes though in the real stuff.
Daniher - When Brisbane finally got the ball he looked good but the idea he's in a good side now is definitely fading after two rounds! No need to panic, looks very fit at least.
McCluggage - Sloppy game for him, he worked hard but burned it a lot.
Zorko - Undisciplined all night and it really hurt them. Role as expected but when no ball forward that becomes a negative, did most of his scoring around the ball in midfield bursts.
Bailey - Played well but went missing for large stints of the game... spot the guy who picked him in DT.
Neale - Hard tag from O'Connor, clearly got in his head and he wilted badly under it. Was released a bit in the 4th and managed to get an absurd ratio going on the back of it. He's still got his ticket but if he doesn't start playing better he's going to lose it real fast. Just looks to have lost all his explosiveness to me and as good an upgrade target as he looms I need to actually see something from him before jumping. Hate to say it but he looks a lot like Cripps did last year where the body just doesn't seem to be able to do what it used to.
Prior - I thought he did some good things and showed more fight than most of the senior players.
Fullarton - Really poor score for him, got to be the main ruck for a good chunk of the night and just couldn't find a way to score. They pretty much have to pick an actual ruck over him if he can't find hands to the ball against Stanley and Blicavs.
Sharp - Well if he gets picked next week it's on the back of one tackle, which was sensational and just about Brisbane's only highlight and actually did help turn the game leading to a goal. Unfortunately it's pretty much all he did all night...