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THE shocking ankle break to Esava Ratugolea against Carlton paves the way for another player to take the mantle of Geelong’s second key forward alongside Tom Hawkins. Which way does Chris Scott turn in the long run? Should Zac Smith or Ryan Abbott come into the side to allow Rhys Stanley to spend more time forward, or does Scott go for a like-for-like player such as Wylie Buzza and let Stanley continue playing in the ruck? Hawkins needs support, and the Cats prefer to have a back-up ruckman, even if on occasions Patrick Dangerfield has been forced to compete at stoppages.
Buzza played six games for Geelong last season and while his numbers were modest, he always has a crack. Like Ratugolea, he attacks the ball and the man with ferocious intent, and when the footy is on the ground or in an opponent’s hands he is relentless in trying to win it back.
He has been a tackling machine at VFL level and has kicked five goals and taken 17 marks in his past two games but the key now is to produce a similar output at AFL level.
Scott has said he likes having a second ruckman in the team, with Abbott and Buzza providing the opportunity to go with a similar structure.
Buzza could be the ideal foil to Hawkins in attack and will help out whoever is playing in the ruck, so he should be given a sustained run while Ratugolea is in rehab.
WHAT does Geelong do with Patrick Dangerfield? Dangerfield is the best player in the team but cannot be everywhere at once, so where is he most valuable? The strong argument is as a deep forward, but if you take him out of the middle, it limits his capacity to stamp his influence at stoppages where the Cats have had issues. There is no denying Dangerfield’s potency near goal but it is a matter of getting the balancing act right and deploying him in attack when the situation necessitates. It appears clear that Gary Ablett has been instructed to spend more time inside-50 than on the ball but what effect is he having as a forward? Would he be better used up the ground or does it make Geelong defensively vulnerable to have him running through the guts largely unaccountable to an opponent? Ablett’s numbers are down and he has conceded his output in games is probably not going to get to back to where it was in his prime, but regardless, his value to the team can’t be denied. He just needs to settle into his new role and when he does he could easily be a three-goal-a-game player with the ability to bring teammates into the match with his vision and creativity.