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Chapter 1: Is the grand final rematch too late for Brisbane and Geelong?
Is the grand final rematch too late?
Yeah, it is. And I know I heard you and Simmo talking about it before and you sort of stole my thunder because I think it's lost its impact now at round 10. I would have loved to have this to open the season or early in the year. I love your idea about Friday night grand final rematch at Gather Round. That would be cool.
But, yeah, I mean, this is ā I mean, the clubs will publicly downplay the emotional angle, but, I mean, internally this matters. This does matter. There's still ā Regardless of if it is round one early in the season or mid-season, this rivalry has quickly become one of the AFL's most important.
Chapter 2: What emotional factors influence the Brisbane vs. Geelong rivalry?
But I think both coaches did really well in their press conferences to downplay any sort of external noise. And I think Scotty's comments around what wins now is very different to what happened then. So I thought that was really clever.
But yeah, it is too late, I feel, for us to get really excited about it because it feels like there's enough of the season gone now that this is just Geelong versus Brisbane. So the grand final rematch buzz and excitement doesn't feel like it's legitimate. But I mean, that emotion doesn't really last that long anyway for players.
So I think about the first 10 minutes of the game, to be fair, I think that's when the emotion really does spike. But then, you know, instinct and structure and fatigue takes over. And once the ball sort of bounced... players definitely settle back into their system and their typical sort of habits, you know, surprisingly quite quickly.
But I know the crowd, I know the media, we'll build that emotion up for a little bit longer. But for the players, I reckon about there's a 10-minute spike in, you know, this is the rematch and then it's just another game of footy.
So I remember Faggs telling the story that they had beaten by Collingwood in the 2023 grand final. And he doesn't use it until halftime of the 2025 preliminary final. He doesn't use it at any stage until then.
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Chapter 3: What adjustments will Chris Scott make to beat Brisbane?
And then he draws on the, they took our dream away from us and we're trailing them in a preliminary final. Yeah, that's brilliant. It's just these, yeah, these things can last. What there is, is there's so many data points because they played four times last year. And yeah, there's a lot tactically involved here.
So the grand final emotion is not relevant, but such a big body of work is relevant, is it not?
Yeah, for sure. And, you know, if you think about, you know, what would Chris Scott do differently? And there's so many, like, without question, Chris Scott and his coaching group would have watched the grand final back this week. So early in the week to prepare for... what went right and what went wrong.
And a lot of things didn't, a lot of things out of there, like structurally, matchup-wise, just didn't go right. Like it was, it would be a really difficult game to review, but there was some stuff there that will stick out really well. really obviously for Chris Scott to make adjustments to. And then obviously Fagan will be the other way.
Chapter 4: How can Brisbane maintain their winning momentum against Geelong?
And I know I agree with Simo. Do you just have the exact same template that what won you the grand final last year against this team? So they're the challenges that happens in football a lot. You like to be one step ahead of your opposing coach. But also too, you can't try and be too cute with your strategy and how that you set up because it can backfire as well.
If a plan works, I'd stick with it. That's typically, and I like what Timo said too, there's... There's a lot of coaches that do the same training drills over and over and over every week. And they have the same game plan every week because it works. So why change it? And yes, sides will adapt when they play you.
But if it's good enough, the mighty Green Bay Packers had that one play they ran and just won Super Bowl after Super Bowl with Vince Lombardi. So if it's not broken, don't fix it.
All right, let's delve. What will Chris Scott focus on to beat Brisbane?
Chapter 5: What tactical changes should Geelong implement for better defense?
Well, I think with Scotty, and on review, he would have looked at the transitional defence that they struggled with in the grand final last year. They also had some issues around stoppage and clearance, which was obvious, and those turnover chains were... were what really hurt them the most, I think, on grand final day. So I think we'll see a much better defensive balance behind the ball.
So in the grand final, Brisbane really did punish Geelong on turnover. And as the game opened up, Geelong became incredibly vulnerable to getting scored against quickly. But remember, there was no Tom Stewart in the grand final either. So he's the leader back there. He's the, I guess, the defensive quarterback.
So I think this time Geelong should have a better defensive system and they'll obviously look to protect the corridor a lot more conservatively. I think we'll see more midfield accountability. I think it was a little bit of cats running one way, lions running the other on grand final day.
And that does happen because when you just try so hard as an individual, you feel like you've just got to get the ball to have an influence. So I just felt that on grand final day, Brisbane's midfield run and spread really did hurt Geelong once momentum shifted. So I think you'll expect to see Chris Scott apply a bit of a tighter defensive responsibility around stoppage.
Chapter 6: How does Geelong's past loss affect their current strategy?
And he'll just try and prevent and slow down Brisbane's outside run with just better layers Not only inside the contest, but outside and around the contest as well. So once again, in that sort of environment, grand finals, you commit way too many to the contest because you just want to win the ball. You think my biggest influence is if I get the footy.
at the expense of contest balance and layers. And that's probably what Chris Scott would see when watching the game back. But as I said, not much went right for Geelong on that day. There was obviously the injury to Jeremy Cameron and so many guys down in form.
Most of his game plan he'll back in, but there might be some adjustments, particularly around stoppage, that midfield accountability, and obviously that transition defence. And the defensive system behind the ball with Tom Stewart should be what you'd expect to see adjustments around. What would Brisbane's focus points be? Yeah, well, it's a different one to Chris Scott, isn't it? Because...
It's a hard one. How do you avoid the emotional satisfaction, I guess, after already winning the premiership?
Chapter 7: What are the critical matchups to watch in this game?
It's a psychological challenge for the coach. Subconsciously, there has to be an emotional drop-off in intensity and focus. And as much as you say that these boys will be razor sharp when it comes to winning this game and the importance of it, they will be. But it just ever so subtly, there's not that same desire as grand final day.
And maybe I'm wrong, but I just feel that the way to beat that if you're Chris Fagan is you drive a fast start. you're looking for opportunities to hit the scoreboard early and put Geelong immediately under doubt with their psyche. So for the Cats, here we go again. This Brisbane side is just too good if they can hit the scoreboard early.
So I just think Brisbane, they're most dangerous when their contest method inside feeds their outside run. So that was so good on grand final day at winning the inside, but their run and overlap on the outside, particularly through the corridor, it just gave their forwards really quick entries. And I think that has to be their focus again, inside method, outside layers.
access the corridor and give their forwards opportunities early. So Fagan, he won't want this to be a slow territory grind. He'll want this to be open and free flowing and Brisbane can play their natural game style.
Chapter 8: Who is favored to win the Brisbane vs. Geelong clash and why?
But to be honest as well, I mean, Brisbane's pressure in the grand final, that eventually broke down Geelong's composure. They were panicking. They were making a lot more mistakes than what they typically will do. So expect a focus for Brisbane on frontal pressure, taking away the Cats' uncontested marks and force Geelong long down the line.
But yeah, as soon as the game became transitional on grand final day, that felt like that was the defining moment for the Lions. That felt like when they were getting on top and started to win. So that'll be what Chris Scott will be trying to deny.
So they've won four of the past five in the matchup, including a preliminary final and a grand final. That's the Lions who are holding sway head to head. How does it affect Geelong's belief to take the game on?
Well, as much as the Cats might argue this, I mean, particularly their veteran leaders would still be carrying that loss deeply. Like players still talk about grand final losses, you know, 20, 30 years after they've happened. So when players say, oh, you know, we've moved on, You know, I just wonder if the Cats have to become slightly more conservative in this game with their offense.
So just deny the Lions the ball at different times. I just don't think Geelong are likely to want an open field running game in this one. I just think they'll want a bit more patience, a bit more controlled entries and just a better stoppage discipline than what we saw in September last year.
All right, give me a checklist for tonight, the most important areas that will decide the game.
Yeah, well, I think tonight, I think the area to focus on mostly will be that transitional defence. So I just think whoever defends turnover best probably wins. I mean, both of these teams do score heavily from intercepts and have the ability to be able to punish teams that have really poor exits from their D50. And at the right time, you know, use the ball aggressively if the confidence is up.
But I don't know, from a Cats point of view, if this becomes controlled, contested, territory heavy, low scoring, you know, that gives the Cats an opportunity. But if the game becomes open, transitional, fast end-to-end, then I think that favours the Lions, particularly at the Gabba. So I think there's a couple of different styles that we might see both coaches try and employ tonight.
But if it becomes controlled and contested, maybe that sort of helps the Cats a little bit. But as soon as it becomes transitional and fast running open end, that probably favours the Lions.
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