Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Ah, Sando. Good games to deal with here. Hey, is the grand final rematch too late?
Chapter 2: What makes the grand final rematch significant in Round 10?
Yeah, it is. And I know I heard you and Simo 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 if it is round one early in the season or mid-season, this rivalry has quickly become one of the AFL's most important rivals.
But I think both coaches did really well in their press conferences to downplay any sort of external noise. And I think, you know, 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... 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. Yep. He doesn't use it at any stage until then. 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, can last.
What there is, is there's so many data points because they played four times last year. And yeah, 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 out of there, like structurally, match-up-wise, just didn't go right.
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Chapter 3: How does the emotional impact of past games affect player performance?
How do you avoid the emotional satisfaction, I guess, after already winning the premiership? 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.
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.
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Chapter 4: What strategies will Chris Scott use to counter Brisbane's strengths?
Would you rather win and win ugly or would you think you'd rather play the Collingwood style that we've become accustomed to? And it might be entertaining, but then you're going to lose the game. So I think that's the ā I mean, I think Craig McRae's got to try and win this game, which I think my answer is they might have to win this one ugly if they're going to beat the Swans.
It might be a horrible game of footy to watch if he's going to make this a real defensive arm wrestle.
So what are the areas that the Swans would look to exploit in Collingwood?
Yeah, just for a second. So I've talked all about Collingwood there. So just for a second for the Swans fans that are listening, I think Collingwood's weakness this year has been effective clearance. And, you know, McRae, he's got to find a way to try and prevent Sydney getting on top in this phase of the game. That's a great strength for the Swans.
So head-to-head, Collingwood have only won clearances twice this year in nine games. So we know Darcy Cameron, you know, one of the best ruckmen in the AFL at the moment, last year's best and fairest winner. That task just becomes so much harder this week. And what also marries into clearances is contested possession. Collingwood have only won contested possessions twice this year as well.
So twice out of nine games. So that's not clearance, but that's loose ball gets, hard ball gets, ground ball hunt, aerial. They're just areas that I think Sydney are going to go after. So, yeah, that's probably two points, clearance, contested possessions at the Swans. we'll focus on.
But yeah, it feels like it's going to be a real challenge for Craig McRae to beat this Swan side that's really humming at the moment. Do you think Sydney win? I think so. With Cournot coming in, Sorong, Tom McCartan back, and the Pies without those four you mentioned, more Pendlebury, Cameron and Lipinski. It feels like it's going to be a Swans victory.
Pies will be brave, though, and I said they might try and make this ugly, but it feels like it might be about 25, 26 points in this one for the Swans. All right, the set-up for Friday night.
Saturday twilight, it's the beauty of the MCG. It's been marketed so well. It's the Picket Pocket and the Wizard Bay, Melbourne and Hawthorne, with much to appeal, Sandoz. So let's dig into it, shall we?
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