Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Breakfast with Gary and Tim.
Oh, it's a very big night, Friday night down at the Cattery GMHBA Stadium.
Chapter 2: What exciting event is happening at GMHBA Stadium this Friday?
The cat's take on the Western Bulldogs. That in itself is enough to get you excited. But the fact that Mark Blitzarves is going to play game number 300, it is still one of the more remarkable stories going in footy. And a man who's played, I reckon he's played probably every single one of them with him, is Tommy Stewart, the superstar Geelong vice-captain, and been good enough to join us. Go, Tom.
Morning, gents. How are we?
Good to talk to you, mate. Excitement? Is there a bit of hoopla going on down there? You've held him back from Gather Round and said, no, we'll make it a celebration this Friday night for big Mark Blitzer.
No, it is, mate. It's really exciting. Obviously, we're not getting any younger, as you know, mate. The big fella needed a rest last week, so we're excited to unroll him out in front of the GMHBA and the Geelong Faithful.
Hey, Tommy, who is Mark Blitzer? Just describe him to us. Nice question, Wisp. Good work.
Who is Mark Blitzer? Well, he's a character, he's a connector, and he's probably the life of the party off-field. Really? But he's a magnificent person. He's somebody who's given so much time to so many, and I think you'll see him well and truly celebrated in accordance to that on Friday night.
Is he as popular as any teammate that you've ever had down there at Geelong?
Yep, 100%. Yeah, as I said, he's a connector. He has this remarkable ability to be able to find a rapport with anybody from our oldest player on our list to a kid who's finding his way in their first year. Yeah, he's a special human. He's a really, really good man.
Those guys are so important, Tom, aren't they? Because, by example, it shows everybody else, like a young kid that steps into your football club and they see somebody, and I'm sure you do it too, they see Tom Stewart do it and they see Mark Blitzov do it, and then that becomes the way, that becomes what is, in effect, the culture of your football club.
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Chapter 3: Who is Mark Blitzov and why is he significant to the Geelong team?
Yeah, yeah, definitely. He's left-handed. And he struggles with the ball drop on the right foot. So I've tried to tell him that he's a left footer, but...
He's doing whatever he's doing. He's doing it all right. He's about to play 300. That's a beautiful way to be described by a teammate, as a connector and someone that relates so well to the old and the young. And I reckon Tommy's got a fair bit about that as well. And Danger last night was interesting.
He said, it's unbelievable to see in the coach's box, which he's been doing a lot of lately, and just watching their game and the rhythm of the game unfold and to hear the coaches say, I don't know, I'm paraphrasing, but he said, oh, we'll throw Blitz, he'll fix that.
Chapter 4: How does Tom Stewart describe Mark Blitzov's personality and impact?
And then another problem arises, they go, oh, well, chuck Blitz on that. And then a player will get off the leash, they go, oh, chuck Blitz on him. It's a beautiful thing for Scotty to have in his kit bag, Tommy.
Oh, it's an amazing weapon, yeah, and I think it's, again, it's the testament of the human. He's always had that happy knack of just impacting on every position that he finds himself in, and I think he holds that in high regard in his ability to impact games in every single phase of the game, offence, defence, transition, stoppage, and it's no mistake that he's
the competitor that he is, it's no mistake that he's the player that he has become and he has this insatiable appetite to learn and to help others, which is such an admirable quality, I think.
You've been very generous in your praise for him, which we expect nothing less, but your form's been outstanding as well. Your team, well, none let me say, how do you think you're tracking as a team? You've got a very solid victory up in Gather Round or over in Gather Round and now you get a big test against the Dogs Friday night.
Yeah, I think as a team, I think we've shown glimpses of who we're trying to be at stages throughout the early stages of this year. I think we've had patches where we've played some really sound footy, sound Geelong footy, and then we've probably had patches where we've let ourselves down and... allowed teams to get on top of us.
So we understand and the journey of every season is ever evolving, but we understand we're not the finished product and we're working on some nuance of our game that we think is really important, particularly coming up against a really strong outfit in the doggies. So we're excited to come up against what is probably the best team in the comp and excited to show our wares and get after them.
Hey, Tommy, are you trying to be something different as a team than you were last year? Are there some subtle changes that you've made or some more dramatic changes that you've made about the way you want to play?
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Chapter 5: What qualities make Mark Blitzov a valuable teammate?
Um... I think there's always small nuances at the edges that you try and tinker with, Tim, but I think at our core we understand who we are. We've obviously got some amazing weapons, Blitz included, across the park in which we try and maximise the damage that they can do in Jez and Bailey and Max and Sean Manor and the like that have really high impact on the game, so...
I think that, you know, we don't think that we're ever going to just roll out the same thing every year and expect it to go as well as it has in the past. And that's really well led by our coaches. And I think having Bucks jump on board and have his sort of ideology on the game and the way that he does things and the way that he believes the game should be played has been really good for us.
And, yeah, we're not... in love with the way we're going, but we have shown glimpses of the team that we want to be. So, yeah, it's, you know, it's round six, and we're coming up, as I said, against the best team in the comp, and what a time to put it all together and hopefully have a really good four-quarter performance.
Talking to Geelong champion Tom Stewart, you mentioned Bucks there, and it's interesting, how... Have you found it a really positive thing to have somebody come in from the outside who's obviously got a really high profile like a Nathan Buckley, he's coached at the highest level as well, and hear from somebody with a different view of the game?
I mean, is that something that's sort of spurred you on in some way or given you something that you hadn't had previously?
I can only sort of speak on my experiences with him. We had a lengthy conversation yesterday about the game and life and I've been so impressed by Bucks to be honest with you because he's come in and he's had this great appetite to learn what
we have done for a long period of time but he hasn't been shy and challenging the way that we do things as well in terms of not only the way we play the game but the people we try and be and the attitude we take into contests so I'm learning so much off him at 33 and it's been really refreshing to hear somebody who's you know spent a lot of time at a really successful club in Collingwood and then obviously taking himself out had his time in the media which he's still doing and then
jump back into the game a number of years after he had finished up at Collingwood. So in my experiences with him, he's been first class and I don't think anybody's shocked or surprised by that because of the player and the person that he is. I'm learning something new every day off him and he's really challenging me to try new things and to play some good footy.
Tommy, you're a bloody star, mate. It's going to be a big night, Friday night. We love that you hopped on. And you've got 200, game number 200 coming up in four or five weeks. And I'm sure we'll get someone from Geelong, a player on in there. They'll speak as glowingly as you have about Mark Blitzer. So thanks for your time. Good luck. And we look forward to watching it all unfold.
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