AFL 2009 - Round 7 - Geelong Cats Vs Sydney Swans

Geelong play hosts to Sydney this week at Skilled Stadium in their round 7 clash.

This match looms as a danger game for the cats with Gary Ablett to possibly miss with a groin injury sustained in last week's game against Melbourne at the MCG. Should Ablett not play, the load will fall upon Joel Corey and Joel Selwood's shoulders with either Paul Chapman or JimmyBartel joining the duo.

Selwood would be looking forward to playing alongside one of his most admired opponents in Brett Kirk.

As usual the danger will come from Adam Bloody Goodes who always seems to play well.

Will Scarlett go to Big Bad Barry Hall? Will Kirk tag Selwood. These appear to be the most mouth watering match-ups on paper.

Last week the Cats nearly kicked themselves out of the game with a 15 goal 21 behind scoreline. If that game was against quality opposition the result would not have been so one-sided.

Hopefully The Big Hairy Cat Cameron Mooney will bring his kicking boots and put through some of those shots from 30-40m out. Tom "Tomahawk" Hawkins also needs to be more confident in front of goal. With Sydney shutting down the game and the weather likely to play a part, there doesn't look like they will get as many chances on goal as in previous weeks. This means that all opportunities need to be taken.

It would also be nice if Steve Johnson could stay inside the forward 50, rather than wafting upfield as he has been doing lately. We get much more value out of him around the goal-square.

Shannon Byrnes needs to lift and would be well advised to take every opportunity that comes his way. Same with Travis Varcoe.

The back 6 lead by Scarlett should be able to keep the Sydney forwards quiet, perhaps even keeping them to 10 goals or less.

In the end this game depends on which Geelong side turns up: The ruthless mob that tears teams apart at the slightest sign of weakness, or the lazy rabble that gets 2-3 goals up and then takes a rest. With St Kilda sitting pretty with percentage hovering around the 200pt mark I certainly hope it's the former.

Geelong Cats, Gary Ablett & Super Coach / Dream Team

If you are playing any of the fantasy AFL games this year, this was the time to make some easy money by trading for Gary Ablett before this weeks game against the Melbourne Demons at the MCG on Sunday.

Averaging nearly 40 possessions per week Ablett is sure to score above 150 points, which means that those coaches that have Gary Ablett as captain will score over 300 points for a single midfielder.

Even trading him into your Supercoach team for this weeks gamewould have earnt you a tidy profit.

Future movers in the Supercoach world from a Geelong Cats perspective are Cameron Mooney, who has had a slow start but should start kicking bags.

Brad Ottens had a minute impact in round two and should increase his value upon return within a month.

Travis Varcoe has started to have an impact and may well score in the low 100's, as with Shannon Byrnes.

But the real powdered white gold is Gary Ablett. Yes, powdered white gold. I went there.