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Geelong Cats AFL Fantasy 2024 team preview | #PODPOD
2.8k Plays1 year ago
It seems as though the Cats are closing in on a full rebuild in the next few years. But is 2024 the last hurrah? Can the Cats defy the odds and compete once again or will Father Time remain undefeated?
Regardless of how the Cats perform on the football field, we still have plenty of options in the AFL Fantasy format. Could Chris Scott inject the youth this year or will the veterans come to save the day?
With plenty of questions still to be answered – Dos, The Statesman, Lewy, Holmesy, and Harmey look at all the potential options in AFL Fantasy 2024, including Tom Stewart, Cam Guthrie, Jack Bowes, Shaun Mannagh, Jye Clark, Osin Mullin, Tanner Bruhn, Toby Conway, and much more!
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Harmey: @jonharmey
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Transcript
Introduction to AFL Fantasy and Geelong Team
00:00:17
Speaker
G'day and welcome to the Pod Pod. Talkin' all things AFL fantasy and talkin' all things Geelong on this team preview episode. State of lovin' the tunes.
00:00:33
Speaker
Absolutely loving him. He can't stop laughing at every start of every podcast. But yes, we are doing some more team previews for you this week and Geelong is next up on the board. I've got with me five time top 100 finisher, Stado. How are you, mate? Very hot right now, to be honest, but thanks for the song, man. I needed a bit of lift.
00:00:56
Speaker
Beautiful, I've got a big introduction today because we've got all of the pod squad on deck. We also have two time top 10 finisher John Harvey on the board and we've got a few team previews coming up. But your bombers are coming up soon, Harvey, but not quite yet. So you've got to get through Geelong again this day. Oh, yeah. Yeah, no, we're above Geelong. Easy. So glad to be here, Dospy.
00:01:21
Speaker
All right, mate, and we've also got another two-time top 10 finisher, the Globe Trotter of the world, back from another overseas trip. He is a man of the world. We've got Holmesy on board again. Good to have you back, mate. Yeah, Dossi, thanks. Thanks, mate. It's good to be back. And, yeah, pre-season's really ramping up now. It's the most exciting time of year, so looking forward to cracking into some more of these team previews. Beauty and, as always, Louis and OG of the Pod Pod. Good to have you on deck as well on this one, mate.
00:01:52
Speaker
Good to be here, mate. All right, we're going to jump in the same structure we've gone with all the other teams so far in our team preview podcast.
Geelong's Performance and Team Dynamics
00:02:00
Speaker
Geelong, going through the team numbers from 2023 to kick things off. Finished 12th on the ladder last year, 13th for AFL fantasy scoring. As we probably already know, they were the oldest team in the league, the fossils of the league, average age of 27.4, and of course the most experienced in terms of games played.
00:02:20
Speaker
15th for disposals, but fifth for meters gained per disposal. So I think we've gone through a few of these teams that are like that pretty good with their meters gain per disposal tend to get it inside 50 a bit more. And that was a little bit similar for the cats, but I've got some interesting stats here, which I thought were quite good for the cats.
00:02:39
Speaker
Despite coming ninth for inside 50s per game, they were number one for marks inside 50 and number one for goal assists as well. In part, thank you. Thanks to our Grinal Messi, of course there, but they were also 12th.
00:02:56
Speaker
for average one-on-one contests per game, but number one for average wins in these contests. So basically their inside 50 delivery is absolutely solid and their forwards can take an absolute clunk as well. But are these numbers sustainable? And if not, could the cats fall off in a big way, Hami? Because that's kind of where I see it. I think they're in for a fall off this year.
00:03:22
Speaker
What further than last year and like there was times last year and they really battled especially in the back end of the season so I Don't know. I reckon there's probably a little bit of upside with the cats It's not as if they've got no good players is it and Cameron will be back
Impact of Player Changes and Trades
00:03:38
Speaker
It's just that sustainability of, you know, not only the clunks that they're taking and just that delivery inside 50. Stato, where do you sit on the cats? Do you think, from a fantasy perspective, is there some upside all around the board, like Hami's kind of suggesting here? There's opportunities for the younger players to get more senior roles. But I think we know the way the cats will play is they'll start with the older hands in the senior roles to see if they can get back on track first.
00:04:07
Speaker
If it's struggling, so their opportunities to finals are struggling, I think you'll see a major shift in the way they operate, but some experience have left their team in the last couple of years. So look, it's hard when you lose some high quality top end and you've got a few players like Hawkins that are probably right at the end of their career. So there's some challenges for them, but there's also some talent on their list and that's the important bit.
00:04:38
Speaker
Yeah, let's take a look at their trade period. So they had some ins, of course, a bunch of draft picks, including Connor O'Sullivan, their top pick at pick number 11. And a big name in fantasy circles this year was Sean Manor, 26-year-old gun mature age recruit who dominated for Werribee last year. Plus, they also picked up Emerson Jekka from the Hawks, who looks to be taking a switch into the defensive line after being an attacking player at the Hawks.
00:05:07
Speaker
Isaac Smith, retired, great player for them, playing plenty of games for the Hawks and the Cats. Jonathan Segla, also retiring, leaving a little bit of a hole in that Ruck lineup that was already pretty dire. We've got Sam Menegola, just had him, he was a fantasy name for a few years there. D-listed and or retired, unsure on that front which was which. We've got Sam Simpson, D-listed, just mention him because he was also a fantasy name for a few years there.
00:05:33
Speaker
Sarva Radaglia was the other name heading out of Geelong, headed off to Port Power. Now, Stado, back to you again, mate. Discuss the bye round for the cats. They don't have the opening round, but they have that round 14 bye. What does that mean for fantasy coaches this year?
00:05:49
Speaker
Well, it certainly means that we can pick them in confidence and know they're not going to interrupt us in two, three, five, six rounds. That's important. Round 14 is not too bad because it's the back end of the rounds. You've only got one more round afterwards. So if you're picking someone that you don't believe is going to be in your end of year squad,
00:06:13
Speaker
like probably your boy, Jack Bowles from last year, then is performing AOK for you, then you can actually get them ready to probably swap them to around 12 or around 13 by player come their by. So it's a really good position to be in around 14 or around 15.
00:06:37
Speaker
Fantastic insights as always on the buy-around. State-O. Unbelievable access. So let's get into the popular picks for this season for the Cats. There's only three players with over 10% ownership and let's get into the first one. Sean Manor, as I mentioned before, a 200K mid-forward 43% ownership, that mature age recruit.
00:06:59
Speaker
from where be now i remember hearing on i think it was the dylan friends podcast michael barlow talking to deal about this player saying you know he is a fantastic plan should crack in straight away at a level, how many i want your thoughts is he is he a lock and load player if name round one we've seen plenty of mature age recruits get it done over the year but,
00:07:22
Speaker
Look, he seemed very comfortable at VFO level, and do you see him doing this again at IFL level next year, or this year I should say now?
00:07:30
Speaker
Yeah, I'd like to think so. I mean, it's a sort of play, like we talk about them two ages. What's the motivation for them coming in? But the thing is, he's got to be hungry, isn't he? He's been waiting years for his opportunity. And, you know, this is it. If he's named round one, I reckon he's a really good chance. Yeah, and maybe that spot on the wings open because of, yeah.
00:07:57
Speaker
Is he going out? So yeah, I think that I think he's a good pick. Yep. All right. There's another rookie that is a popular pick for the cats. It's $237,000 midfielder, 28% owned, Jay Clark, Holmsey. Your thoughts on this guy, you know, maybe having more of an impact in, I think it's his second year for footy this year.
00:08:19
Speaker
He was their high draft pick last year. I think they drafted him at pick number seven. The word out of the club is that he's their future midfielder. Once Selwood's gone out, he only played the one game last year where he came on a sub. I think he scored 37 from limited time on ground, but that was with seven tackles. Absolutely. If he's there round one, have a look at roll.
00:08:41
Speaker
As we always say with Geelong, they do like to go with their more seasoned body. So even if he is their round one, we're not sure what kind of a role he's going to have, but definitely one to look at at 237K.
00:08:53
Speaker
I'll just give some context as well for the listeners. These numbers are from Cape League Pod, looking at the state league scores from last year. So Jai Clark, not huge, fantasy numbers last year at VFL level. He averaged around 16 disposals a game, four marks, four tackles, 67 fantasy points. So obviously he's having hopefully a big off season and a lot of improvement in his game and you just want him to get some coin.
00:09:20
Speaker
there as well. But let's look at Sean Manor. This is where fantasy coaches are pretty excited here. So he averaged 110.5 fantasy points for Werribee last year and what was the team that nearly went all the way in the VFL. Nearly 17 kicks a game, eight handballs, four marks, six tackles. So pretty exciting stuff if he does get a game there as well. And finally, the last of the popular picks for Geelong, Louis, we have Tom Stewart.
Key Players for the Upcoming Season
00:09:47
Speaker
Ninety six average last year, that's eight hundred sixty nine thousand dollar price tag you're going to have to pay up for Tom Stewart. Twelve percent of coaches are keen. What about what do you think of Tom Stewart coming in this year?
00:10:01
Speaker
Yeah, I'm a big fan of Tom Stewart. One thing that he's got in his game is consistency. In the last previous seasons, we've seen a ceiling from him too, which was quite often the knock on him. I think him not having an early buy across that six rounds actually makes him a really solid starting pick to look at.
00:10:18
Speaker
When you start to unpack the fixture, he's got Saints, Hawks, Dogs and North in his first five, which when I go and look at the conceded points by fantasy teams last year, that's actually four of the top five. So a bloke like Tom Stewart could absolutely fill up here. And also you may remember in round one last year, Holmes, he got injured. And so if you take that out of his score, he averaged about 100 for the season. So maybe there's a building value there.
00:10:46
Speaker
Yeah, it always seems like he should have a season where he averages over 100, but he's Tom Stewart. He just has something that goes wrong and he ends up that mid-90s average. So who knows? I'm pretty keen, especially with the retirement of Isaac Smith. He wasn't the biggest ball winner, but he was someone that they looked to exit D-50 with and up that wing a lot of the time. So there might be a little bit of a score bump there for Tom Stewart or even a Mitch Duncan. So, yeah.
00:11:12
Speaker
I also think, and I'm not probably as bullish on the Cats chances this year as what maybe some of you are, but teams seem to be going faster. That's the game plan that the competition is moving to. You look at the Cats list and they're a bit slow because they're getting old. I'm expecting them to get beaten on transition a few times, which might mean that Tom Stewart gets a bit more opportunity in that defensive lineup.
00:11:37
Speaker
You never know if things do look a bit grim, I'm not saying they will, then there might be a little bit more chip chip, which was something that we saw a few years ago until Chris Scott sort of went away from that just slightly. So pretty high on Tom Stewart, he's a consistent player and in a season like what we're approaching with the buy arounds across the first six rounds, he might be a really safe play to start.
00:12:01
Speaker
He's already had a more midfield time article written about him as well so I think there is a little bit of buzz that he might spend some more time in the middle as you're saying Louie with that slow sort of brigade in there at the moment. I mean that's an added little wrinkle for Tom Stewart as well more mid time.
00:12:19
Speaker
Yeah, I don't think he's going to be a midfielder, but what I will say, there are games when they decide to lock down on him. So if they do lock down, why wouldn't they just throw him in the midfield to try and release him up a bit and sort of change the status quo a bit? So I think that might be a bit of a variable for Tom Stewart if he does get a tag.
00:12:36
Speaker
Yeah, a bit of a way to shake it. Don't mind that. Let's look at the big dogs, the top three averaging players from last year. We've just spoken about Tom Stewart. He was the number one at 96 average there. Number two was Mitch Duncan, as you also have alluded to there. $824,000 defender priced at 91. Little bit long in the tooth state. Oh, is he one that we could look at, though? A guy that's done it in the past and, you know, has a ceiling, has consistency. Just the soft tissues get the best of him most of the time.
00:13:04
Speaker
Yeah, scoring power is magnificent, but the injury concern, yeah, that just pushes me away from that. If he was priced in the 600s, I might take a punt on him for the first five, six weeks, see how it goes, but at 824, it's just too much money to take that risk with, but look, there's a world where he averages a hundred and plays 23 games, but I just, yeah.
00:13:34
Speaker
Just too much oil worry for me. I reckon he's probably the type that you can get as a steel and draft this year. Agreed.
00:13:43
Speaker
Risky for classic though is what I'm hearing from the circle and you know that age factor is always a concern. Let's talk about another borderline fossil. I might say in the third most, the third top averaging player from last year was Cam Guthrie. Now he's already been spoken about a little bit of value in fantasy circles. 762,000 priced at 87. Hami, your thoughts on Cam Guthrie having a bounce back year?
00:14:12
Speaker
Yeah well I think somebody mentioned their midfield earlier and he's going to have to be a stable in that midfield and you know what do you have a toe injury I think so and he had an operation mid-season so I think that he's been training strongly and I think he's going to be in for a decent season I guess the question for us as fantasy coaches is how much upside is there on his priced at figure of 84 so
00:14:41
Speaker
I mean, he could possibly go 100, but that's still only 15 points upside. So that's a decision that you've got to make. And yeah, I think that there is upside in him, but I'm not sure if it's going to be enough for us to start with him. It's an awkward price bracket, isn't it? That's $700,000 to $800,000. You've got to be pretty certain. And in a midfield where we're not really certain yet, you'd probably have to say a fair bit in preseason, wouldn't you, Lou?
00:15:08
Speaker
You would, but it's it is a bit of a awkward price tag, but it's also priced around other midfielders which were punting to sort of break out and they're more towards that three fourth midfielder in the rotation. So I wouldn't be surprised if Kam Guthrie was their number one mid.
00:15:25
Speaker
they're going to need experience in there early. I think there's a bit of a gap between the mature players and the younger players. I think we will see blokes like Tanner Bruin and Max Holmes go through there. I think danger is pretty dangerous up forward, but he will spend a bit of time in the mids. But I'm seeing Cam Guthrie as a clear centre-bounce midfielder here. So if he can start
00:15:47
Speaker
At 100, 105 and you can jump off maybe after round six or seven when the buyers are done, then could be a real smash play and he's staring us right in the face. I think the only off taste that some people have perhaps is that he's 31 years old. And his time on ground, it's like he hasn't gone above 74% time on ground since 2018 or 2017 is when he had like above 74%. He just plays low talk.
00:16:15
Speaker
I was just gonna say, he could very well do what Louis said, 100, 105 over the first six rounds, no question about that, because, you know, 2022, his average is 96, 2021, 110. 2020, I think that was the COVID year, wasn't it? He was over 100 again, so he's done it before, and he's just missed half of last season, so he's gonna wanna come out firing. And what was his position again for the first four or five rounds?
00:16:44
Speaker
Well the the Tom Stewart fixture was for defenders but he's got Saints, Hawks, Dogs North and then Adelaide was in there too but Cam Guthrie he's a two-way worker so I wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if he's pushing down and back into defense to help out and he's got a brother down there to kick to him too.
00:17:02
Speaker
Alright, enough Cam Guthrie talk for the podcast for me, but let's get to the pods of the squad here. So, some pods for Geelong. So, a bunch of rookie price players sitting between 5% and 7% ownership. Classifying these as pods for our little segment here. So, is there any thoughts on, and do we know anything? And it's okay if we don't. We're not going to claim we know things about players we have no idea. These guys are all rookies. So,
00:17:27
Speaker
If no comment, all good. Lawson Humphries, $200K defender mid. Connor O'Sullivan, as I said, the top pick in the draft, $270,000 defender. The top pick for Geelong, that is, 11th in the draft. Mitch Hardy, $200K mid, and he was the mid-season drafter. I believe we've discovered Pre-Show from Harvey.
00:17:47
Speaker
As well as Joe Firthy a 200k rock who presumably people are just leaving there as a potential rock basement price option just looking at some numbers before we Dissect the rest Lawson Humphries played in the wasp waffle reserves last year 11 games played average 97 in that waffle reserves Connor Oh Sullivan, let's have a look. Let's bring these ones up 88 points in the talent league so
00:18:16
Speaker
20 disposals, seven marks, just to give you an idea. Hardy obviously was playing in the VFL, so I'll have to get his numbers up separately, but any thoughts on any of those names lads?
00:18:29
Speaker
I think the only one I'd really look at is potentially Mullen after seeing them introduce him into the squad last year, just not really knowing what his upside is, having come over from Ireland. But none of those names are really on my radar at the moment, Dossie, until we potentially see them play some games in the pre-season or into round one. So it's good that you've named them, just maybe make a note of it. But I'm not going to sit here and say I've got any information on those players.
00:18:54
Speaker
Mitch Hardy, 70 points average in the VFL for Geelong as well. So not jumping off the page, but if he's got a role, like you said, our homesy, let's keep an eye on him. Let's talk about Ocean Mullen then, because he's a pretty popular name in fantasy circles as well. In niche fantasy circles, I might say. I just saw a picture, some footage right before we jumped on here of him exploding out the gates on some Geelong social media stuff there. So the Irish Nick Daikos, Louis,
00:19:22
Speaker
Could he be a little option for us in defence for 245k? Yeah, absolutely, mate. The buyer really plays into our favour here. So if he's getting regular games and I think he did get semi-regular games for Geelong last year, didn't he? Did he stay in the side? I can't remember. I think it was a total of six games and a couple was the sub there, I reckon. Yeah, so he's clearly close enough, one to track for sure. But if you can sneak him onto your bench, that could be a nice play.
00:19:53
Speaker
I don't think he'll be a big scorer though. I mean, that's what came with a little bit of a shake there. But I'm just going to move on to some players. Yeah. Go on army. You look at his score. Yeah. He looked at his scores from last season and he didn't really get much done. And watching him play, he did look a little bit like a fish out of water. So I'm not convinced mate. Players can't improve army. Players can't improve a fair bit.
00:20:22
Speaker
He didn't grow up playing footy, so let's look at the positives here.
Midfield Prospects and Fantasy Bargains
00:20:27
Speaker
All right, let's look at some players that could be taking a bit more reigns in the midfield. That's what we always like to do in fantasy. Max Holmes, $685,000 midfielder only, Stado, priced at $76,000. Could he take his game to another level this year? You were probably expecting a lot from him last year and he didn't really deliver. And what we actually found as well that he's
00:20:47
Speaker
Disposal wasn't fantastic. So I still haven't worked out whether he's better outside and use the run. Seeing his use inside wasn't fantastic. So look, really awkward price. I think Guthrie is a better option than Max at the moment. So I'm not that keen. Draft wise, might look him right at the back end and bit of support, but on field, no.
00:21:20
Speaker
Tanner Bruin, 638K, mid priced at 71, home Z. Could you see that in his second year at the Cats, the former GWS giant taking his game to another level and maybe picking up some of the slack of some of those veterans at the Cats?
00:21:37
Speaker
Yeah, look, if you still had forward status, knowing what we know about the forwards this year, you'd be a little bit more comfortable taking him on. But as a mid-only price at 71, what we do know about Geelong or what they did do last year was that they had a lot of bodies going through that midfield and he's always been a low time on ground impact style player. So I don't think there's going to be enough upside on his scoring this year to be relevant for us to pick in the midfield. But he should improve because, you know, players can improve harmony. They're not just the same going back from last year.
00:22:09
Speaker
All right, let's there's a few quick requests that we've got to from X formerly known as Twitter from the fans there. We are at Pod Pod AFL if you want to follow along there, but a grind or messy. AKA grind Myers. Harmony plans some midfield time. Apparently a training second in the time trial. Could you see him? Maybe he was obviously a damaging forward though, but if he gets injected in there for a bit of pace.
00:22:35
Speaker
Oh, I think he's a very valuable forward, him and Stingle up forward. They're a good duo. So I think he's not a bad option in a draft comp, but I don't think in a classic.
00:22:49
Speaker
We had a request for Mitch Nevitt, Stado, I just want to throw this one to you. $4.35k mid-average $51k last year. We had a request for Mitch Nevitt. I think he can play. My real drama is the eight games last year and Geelong really falling off the tank and giving some games to young players really hurt us in fantasy footy this year. If he was a $200k or $250k rookie price player, I'd be pretty keen, but for
00:23:17
Speaker
135 when he's probably not going to get that pure midfield time that he would like is a bit devastating to be honest and sort of takes him his name off the list but I will say watching him play I was pretty impressed.
00:23:34
Speaker
Okay. Uh, this one, Louie, I know you've been slyly in the group chat, spoken this guy's name. So I've been keen to throw this one to you. Toby Conway, $316,000 rock. I think he's sitting at R2 for you, isn't he, at the moment? Uh, Lou?
00:23:53
Speaker
Maybe in your side mate wouldn't surprise me at all. Toby Conway, I just like him because he got games at the end of last year. It seems like Geelong have been looking for a Ruckman for the best part of five years. Stanley often plays, but I just get the feeling that they don't really like him in that role.
00:24:11
Speaker
Blitz subs can always chop out, which I see as a positive for Conway getting games. I think you're going to have to get games into him ASAP because the cliffs coming fast in terms of their ruckman. So I tend to agree with Statesman that we might not see him for round one. He might be one that comes in round six, round seven, round eight.
00:24:32
Speaker
you know, shit starts hitting the fan in terms of their results. And in which case he might be one to jump on early. But what 74 average in the VFL or thereabouts, there's there's a little bit about him. I don't think he's going to be a massive scorer, but not often we get a playing three. So if he can sit there and generate and tick cash over for you for a little while, then then that's a nice one. And it's a bonus if you can pop one early to with two very high value
00:25:02
Speaker
premium rucks available for us. Having a playing R3 that hasn't got the buyers around five and six becomes so important. So sweet or Conway really becomes important for our structure. I'm nodding the head. That's what you wanted to throw in there.
00:25:20
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, we don't really need to touch on it too much now with this Geelong podcast. But yeah, if for someone like myself, it's pretty keen to start Grundy and Gorn, I'm going to need someone playing at R3. So if Conway's that man because Sweet doesn't get up, then it has to be considered.
00:25:36
Speaker
All right, last but not least, Jack Bose been waiting all show to get this one in their five hundred and forty eight thousand dollar defender zero point five percent ownership. That is a big mistake for a fantasy coach is huge mistake. I've already seen the Geelong Cats Media putting it out there. They snuck. You know, they didn't realize that Sherlock Dossie was going to be on the case noticing that he was attending those center bounces at training. They just put out some footage in a sense of midfielders.
00:26:07
Speaker
Yeah, in the best team he was. He was in the better squad. So, good on Jack Bose. Look, a bit more midfield time. He rejected that offer from Essendon to be their new man over there. Rejected the number five the other year. Rejected a few other offers, but look, Jack Bose, I'm huge on him. Hami, I think you have a little soft spot for him. So, let's finish on your take on Jack Bose.
00:26:29
Speaker
Oh, yeah, he was in my opening team that I selected when I first logged into the app this year since Manny's way out. But I can see your point, Dosti. Let's have a look at his scores from last year, hey? He had a 10, he had a 9. They were sub-affected, okay? So we won't worry about that. Solid. Did you have him for both those games, Dosti? The 9 and the 10? I think I may have, yes.
00:26:57
Speaker
I would have how he would have gone 11 the next week. He came out after that 9 though, Dossie. 101. There it is. There you go. But then two weeks later, he's got a 28. No sub there. Non sub affected.
00:27:13
Speaker
Anyway, it could be some value. It could be worth a look. Preseason playing midfield. All right. That'll do it for our Geelong podcast. Make sure you're following along on all the socials at Pod Pod AFL. We're on ex-formally Twitter. We're on YouTube, Instagram, and of course the TikTok state. I loves a bit of TikTok.
00:27:33
Speaker
But make sure you leave a rating on Spotify if you're listening to that or Apple or reviews all that sort of stuff and we'll see you on the next Team preview podcast. We're checking out your beloved Essendon army