News Kelly and Stokes to announce retirements Wednesday

[Teriyakicat]

The Age now reporting that Stokes and Kelly will both play farewell games v Crows.

Sorry- I just cannot like that comment

 

[google_this]

I thought sj was a safe one for next year, makes me think he has a 2yr deal somewhere, Bartel has been awful, I hope he gets it together again next year. I'd kept Kelly above Bartel on recent form. It's sad to see all the champs go, but old blokes don't get better, they get worse and I think that clearing the decks is a good move as I don't see us being a threat next year even with Danger. For the crystal ball prize, I think our next granny will consist of 80-100 gamers gregson, cockatoo, Lang etc. Bulldogs and Saints have done the hard yards and have a promising few years coming up, we must follow suit

 

[year of the cat]

Love them both but if you were weighing up whether to keep one of Johnson or Bartel to play in a forward pocket next year, you'd pick Johnson everyday of the week. His 2nd half of the year was actually very good, and getting rid of your 2nd highest goal scorer for the year is absurd. There's no quotes from any parties on this that matter so far so fingers crossed we aren't too stupid about this.

I'm pretty sure I saw that Johnson was one of only 3 players this season averaging over 20 possessions and one goal per game. Wingard was another. Can't recall the third.

He has his brain fades but those numbers do support I would have thought an ability to go on another year.

 

[Munich]

Well for what it's worth guys, that Geelong psychic that predicted 07 etc and who's quite well known told my brother yesterday that we'll be waiting another 20 years for our next flag.

2035 Year of the Father/Sons!!!!!

 

[year of the cat]

Well for what it's worth guys, that Geelong psychic that predicted 07 etc and who's quite well known told my brother yesterday that we'll be waiting another 20 years for our next flag.

2035 Year of the Father/Sons!!!!!

But I think many of us want to know - is Chris Scott still coaching us?

 

[FoolCat]

Well for what it's worth guys, that Geelong psychic that predicted 07 etc and who's quite well known told my brother yesterday that we'll be waiting another 20 years for our next flag.

2035 Year of the Father/Sons!!!!!

Bookmarked

 

[BlightysCats]

But I think many of us want to know - is Chris Scott still coaching us?

No he got replaced by Bomber Thompson's famous club sandwich from our game v West Coast over there in 2008.

 

[STP18]

I'm pretty sure I saw that Johnson was one of only 3 players this season averaging over 20 possessions and one goal per game. Wingard was another. Can't recall the third.

He has his brain fades but those numbers do support I would have thought an ability to go on another year.

Think it may have been Deledio. Pretty good company to be in considering he had a poor start to the year. We've already got 6 guys moving off the list at the end of the season, so I don't see why we can't keep him on in a permanent forward pocket position considering our lack of fire power.

 

[maxy87]

The winds of change keep blowing and as more premiership heroes retire, the make-up of the side continues to evolve. Stokesy and Kel have been great players for us during the era and in the last few years have been servicable in providing experience and bigger bodies while we integrate more youngsters into the team.

Unfortunately though, age has caught up with both and the skill errors, poor decisions and getting late to contests has been a more regular occurrence than we would like. It happens. What matters is that they were part of the most successful era in this club's history.

The 1999-2002 draft group are in a way "my players" in a sense that most of my teenage and young adult years were spent following the club and the progression of these guys' careers. So in a way the retirements of most of these blokes is a metaphor for "growing up".

I'm actually heading to the game on Saturday as I organised it earlier in the year thinking the rubber would be live, so I'm looking forward to the chance to pay my respects to these two as a consolation.

 

[Teriyakicat]

Careful Teri!!!!!!

oops- sorry. Thanks for reminding me!
He Who Shall NOT Be Named... no description given.

I really feel sorry for these blokes in one way but glad they're going out together- it'll take the media vulture pressure off them a little because the cameras can't follow all of them at the same time to their homes

 

[Munich]

But I think many of us want to know - is Chris Scott still coaching us?

Lol, we don't need a psychic to answer that one

 

[David the Cat]

More to the point......will BlightyCats still be rattling on about Scott?

 

[Munich]

Bookmarked

She actually said it's the question she hears the most frequently.

 

[Willo_]

More to the point......will BlightyCats still be rattling on about Scott?

I don't think we need a psychic to answer that one either!

 

[Biggy_Boy]

She actually said it's the question she hears the most frequently.

Just to make sure the 07 thing wasn't a fluke, ask her who will win the flag this year.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Absolute rubbish.

Thanks David, saved me the response. Load of garbage.

 

[Munich]

Just to make sure the 07 thing wasn't a fluke, ask her who will win the flag this year.

I think I'd rather not know, imagine if she said Hawthorn.

Spew.

 

[Pivo]

Kelly paid the ultimate sacrifice for our club, he broke a nut, what a tough man. And Stokesy I remember watching play an SANFL grand final and thinking s**t this guy is good, that was his last SANFL game and I was cheering Cats picked him up.

I'm an Eagles supporter (long time West Torrens fan) and remember Stokes playing some terrific games for the Eagles in SA prior to getting drafted.

Remember a fellow Geelong supporter asking me if I knew anything about Stokes when we drafted him and I said "I reckon he will surprise a few people based on what I've seen."

I'd be confident that you'd have gotten long odds on Stokes getting to 100 games when he was first drafted let alone playing 188.

Still remember the roar he got coming to the interchange down in Geelong in 2006 after he ran himself to exhaustion tackling and trying to regain possession and his start in the '07 Prelim against Collingwood was so important in a game that went down to the wire.

The guy no-one wanted turned out to be a real gem for us.

And I'm sure Woodville-West Torrens would love him back for a year.

Well done Stokesy!!

 

[tenderwarrior]

My thoughts are Johnson was offered a one year deal, but has another offer on the table for twice as long. Similar to what we hear about Chapman in that respect - offered a contract but declined. If this is the case, who can begrudge him? Yes, it is sad for the supporters, but it is his life.

The other option is that he wasn't offered any deal, which is also feasible. I guess time will tell. Either way, he has been a gem.

 

[Cezz The Catter]

Both personify what footies about, by far not the best but driven team players who play there role. Thanks for the glory years!

 

[Baudolino]

If form counted for anything ( re the vets ) - SJ and Enright were a mile ahead of the rest

Yes, but even that's underselling his form. It wasn't like he merely had a good year relative to the other veterans. He had a fantastic year by anyone's standards. The overwhelming majority of AFL mids and forwards never produce a single 20 disposal, 1.5 goal a game season across the entire careers.

From every single relevant standpoint - exposed form, structural importance, stylistic uniqueness, quality of potential replacements, list space available given number of other departures, significance of scoreboard impact, etc etc - cutting Johnson cannot be seen as anything other than a diabolically stupid, farcical decision. It makes literally zero sense. We have no incentive to do it and we're actively hurting the redevelopment of our list. I consider it nothing less than list management suicide.

 

[BlightysCats]

More to the point......will BlightyCats still be rattling on about Scott?

Mate the day he walks out the door I'll never mention him again, I'll be too excited about our future success.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

I'm pretty sure I saw that Johnson was one of only 3 players this season averaging over 20 possessions and one goal per game. Wingard was another. Can't recall the third.

He has his brain fades but those numbers do support I would have thought an ability to go on another year.

I will reserve my judgement until we know if he is going and why. Let's not forget Chapman went because he wanted a 2 year contract and the club would rightly only give him 1, they have been proved right by his struggles to get on the park this year. While I would like SJ to stay, if he has 2 years at another club we shouldnt be matching it.

As for the other two they have had great careers. Kelly I never thought would be the same player after his broken leg but he has comeback to be a very very good player. I feel like Corey he will be underrated and not be considered elite like some of his premiership teammates, but this is unfair as he has been a really good player. His selfless role in 09 playing back pocket after Hunt went down and his outstanding GF helped win us that flag and show his quality.

Stokes has been fantastic for such a late draft selection, good on him to be persistent to get drafted and contribute from the get go. Sure he wasnt the most talented but he was a team orientated player and that helped him become a great role player. I thought he was finished in 2013 but his late career re-invention was fantastic and a credit to him. All the best to them in whatever they do after footy.

 

[Lana]

My thoughts are Johnson was offered a one year deal, but has another offer on the table for twice as long. Similar to what we hear about Chapman in that respect - offered a contract but declined. If this is the case, who can begrudge him? Yes, it is sad for the supporters, but it is his life.

The other option is that he wasn't offered any deal, which is also feasible. I guess time will tell. Either way, he has been a gem.

We'll find out during trade week if he knocked back a contract, as we might get a compensation pick in return, I can't remember but did Carlton get one for Waite? if they did we'd probably get one for Johnson.

 

[Bobby_]

Yes, but even that's underselling his form. It wasn't like he merely had a good year relative to the other veterans. He had a fantastic year by anyone's standards. The overwhelming majority of AFL mids and forwards never produce a single 20 disposal, 1.5 goal a game season across the entire careers.

From literally every single relevant standpoint - exposed form, structural importance, stylistic uniqueness, quality of potential replacements, list space available given number of other departures, significance of scoreboard impact, etc etc - cutting Johnson cannot be seen as anything other than a diabolically stupid, farcical decision. It makes literally zero sense. We have no incentive to do it and we're actively hurting the redevelopment of our list. I consider it nothing less than list management suicide.

If Johnson stays, How do we fit all the young guys in the forward line who are about to start their careers? Guys like McCarthy, Gregson, Kersten, Menzel, Cockatoo, not to mention the tall timbers in Vardy, Clark, Hawkins, Walker.
They are going to be inside forward fifty on most occasions. Would you prefer to cut one of those players so that Johnson can play on for 1 more year?
What is the point of that. Why not go through the trial and error process and see which of these blokes have got what it takes?