Autopsy 2015 - Good, Bad and Ugly

[SJ]

1 - Who in particular do you think we should have not picked up? I think the majority had enough logic behind them, or we did not have to give up much for them (Blease we gave up nothing, McIntosh - I can see why we did it but also noted the risks etc, Rivers I was happy with etc)
2 - To a degree, I agree with you. Who in particular do you mean? Can't agree or disagree without specifics. But yes, odd to promote if the writing was on the wall regardless.
3 - Again, which players? T.Hunt? Yes, he is AFL standard, but I do not think he has set the world on fire at Richmond. I wouldn't say that decision will come back to bite us. Varcoe another one? I do not know what else you expect us to do.
4 - This does my head in.
5 - Who have we missed out on over the last 36 months which are a) obvious a bad decision now or b) obvious at the time?

1. At the very minimum we gave up list spots and the capacity to get 2-3 years into new players. I don't know why everyone overlooks the fact that you have a finite number of players you can have on your list at any one time and that this resource needs to be optimised, in the same way as salary cap space and draft pick value.
2. Burbury, Stringer.
3. Hunt is not setting the world on fire at Richmond, but we have about 38 players not setting the world on fire at Geelong.
4. M Brown, Smedts, Walker have all showed potential in their favoured areas but to various degrees have stagnated due to being played out of position (see Tom Hawkins 2010-2011).
5. You mean players? I can't tell you because I'm not a draft guru. It's not about 'who?' but 'how many?' for me. The best prospects can falter and the worst can flourish. No draft pick is a lock, but with good drafting and a good sample you can hit a lot of quality. 2012 was a year where a big rebuild alarm was going off for me but Geelong took three players in total in the draft with only one in the top 76. He is the only one that remains. One player left after 2.5 years!

 

[cats2rise]

1. Agree, but who in particular irks you the most? Apart from Blease, none has 'disaster' written all over them in my opinion. If the club decides its better to take a McIntosh, Rivers etc rather than a youngster who they value does not have enough potential, I would rather take the risk in that instance. Occasionally. If we make a habit of it, this will will be very, very concerning. I am hoping it was a club-based decision on the thought that we would challenge more more time in 2013/2014/2015, which obviously was incorrect.

2. Injuries played their part with Burbury. Agree with Stringer.

3. Why would you rather him not firing at Geelong? Apart from depth, what does he add that we lack at the moment? I can't see how this can be labelled a 'mystifying list management decision.'

4. Brown is in interesting one. I think it came down to too many injuries when the club had more of an opportunity to gift him games. I think there is a myth in the AFL that some blokes just have to be swingmen which I disagree with as tt can unsettle a player and infuriates me. Agree with Smedts. Add Caddy playing a bit too much footy up forward at times too. Disagree with Walker. I think him only being a pretty good VFL player has more say in it than that. The club obviously has made a decision on Simpson, therefore Walker was forced into playing out of position.

5. I think you are being a bit harsh on the club by suggesting there have been 'mystifying' list decisions made here. One of those 2012 picks we traded went to Caddy. The other (#37) went out the door for McIntosh, and hey, things do not always work out. I wouldnt classify that as mystifying as it was potentially going to solve a major problem.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Good:

• Mark Blicavs. What a fast learner. It's disappointing that through other failures from within the club he again ended up shouldering the ruckwork. This needs to stop but regardless he has a great season and should feature high up in the Carji. Not many can say they've towelled Pendlebury so convincingly.
• The emergence of Lang, Gregson and Thurlow within the team and duly deserving of their rising star nominations.
• Actually seeing Menzel playing footy, that definitely cheered me up on a dirty night last Friday. Will be watching the Fox special on him this week.
• Vardy returning and showing glimpses of what he's capable of as a footballer.
• Kolodjashnij pushing an established best 22 player out and slotting into the team seamlessly. Must keep him.
• Jared Rivers. Didn't have the end he would have hoped for but was a very solid contributor to this football club and should be proud of his career.
• Josh Caddy. In a year where we again struggled in the midfield, he stepped up and was on track before injury to become the first player other than Selwood to record 100 clearances since 2012 (Kelly). He's improving where some others are stagnating.
• The club having a clear focus on bringing in players who will help us in the future and are relatively durable and could cost us very little potentially. Just hope we don't overspend for Henderson.
• Steven Motlop. Not quite as good as his 2013 season but he also had a very solid season. Now sign on the dotted line Steven.
• The club apparently being offered all 4 points in the abandoned Crows match but only accepting the 2 points. Class act GFC.

Bad:

• Injuries, injuries, injuries. So many damn injuries this season.
• Giving hyphen 3 years yet not playing him regularly.
• Not having Duncan available for half the season, very important player.
• Trying to pick which veterans are least deserving of the chop given it's a weak draft year.
• SJ, has played well enough this season to deserve another year but his discipline isn't great and was twice this season denied a goal by showboating in the goal square.
• Missing finals, had us as a 6-8 team so that is disappointing.
• Showing Hunt the door as a list squeeze problem then recruiting Blease, who couldn't get a game when we had about 28 blokes fit. Hunt would have. Head scratching recruiting decision.
• Experimenting with players positions. Smedts in defence. Duncan on the Hill brothers... WTF!
• Walker and Kersten. had great opportunities to stake claims with competing players being injured but both underwhelmed and both won't be first choice next season. Kersten will be behind Menzel and Walker behind Vardy, Clark and if we recruit a ruck even Stanley. Walker should be tried in defence otherwise do the right thing by him and trade him.
• Hawkins being a lazy forward. wrestling is his strength but he doesn't lead at the football. Get on your bike Tom.

Ugly:

• Our midfield woes. 2nd consecutive season as the worst clearance side, we're just lucky we have quality players or that'd see us as a bottom 4 side.
• The ruck. By god I hope we're recruiting a ruck through draft or FA this off season. A shambles yet again.
• Pushing Bartel and Kelly to early retirements by playing them in defence, it's just sad to see champions of the club reduced to this.
• Losing to Melbourne and Collingwood and drawing to St.K when we had a lot to play for in various ways.
• On that, putting up the most insipid performance for Enright's 300th match. Shameful.

 

[cats2rise]

Ugly:

• Pushing Bartel and Kelly to early retirements by playing them in defence, it's just sad to see champions of the club reduced to this.

Whatever happened to the chatter on this board about Bartel being a fantastic mark for his size who should rest on the HFF and kick goals? Gee I miss that.

 

[SJ]

Perfectly put NSFB.

 

[SJ]

Whatever happened to the chatter on this board about Bartel being a fantastic mark for his size who should rest on the HFF and kick goals? Gee I miss that.

Whatever happened to Bartel kicking over a goal a game like he did in 2014?

He's scored just one behind this season.

 

[cats2rise]

Whatever happened to Bartel kicking over a goal a game like he did in 2014?

He's scored just one behind this season.

I had to double check that. Now that's mystifying.

 

[romeohwho]

Good -Menzel
Bad- midfield issues
Ugly-Melbourne loss

 

[Biggy_Boy]

Whatever happened to Bartel kicking over a goal a game like he did in 2014?

He's scored just one behind this season.

Not as easy to kick goals in defence.

 

[Farmer2Goggin]

Hawkins is a big problem and I was about to start a new thread on his very worrying habits.

Death of a parent is absolutely devastating and no doubt has had a big effect this season.
He needs to work on his mobility in the off season and get back to being more than a wrestler. Not only does he need to lead and jump for the footy he must chase and harass more - the amount of time he gives up the chase only to see the defender stop and prop ( knowing they are not in danger) infuriates me no end.
He was the best PF in 2014 , he's gone seriously backwards in 2015.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Not as easy to kick goals in defence.

He's no Ablett Sr in that regard....

 

[Biggy_Boy]

[QUOTE="Whit3y, post: 40555656, member: 37422

hawkins had a very average year in my mind, whether its the way the ball is kicked to him or hawkins simply wanting to wrestle and not leading, when you wrestle you leave yourself open to either giving away a freekick or having a third man up spoiling, 11 games this year his kicked 2 goals or less isnt good enough for someone like tom

Have to agree with this assessment. For me Hawkins is a major disappointment, and I wonder if he is at the crossroads? He is currently 13th on the goal kicking ladder. St Kilda have two players ahead, each on 48 goals (Bruce and Riewoldt).

I have lived in hope that "next week" Hawkins would kick a bag full, but it never happens.[/QUOTE]

He's not going to start delivering decent hauls on a consistent basis until the team improves around him or he changes his style of play. At the moment, he's too easy to nullify.

 

[Sttew]

Death of a parent is absolutely devastating and no doubt has had a big effect this season.
He needs to work on his mobility in the off season and get back to being more than a wrestler. Not only does he need to lead and jump for the footy he must chase and harass more - the amount of time he gives up the chase only to see the defender stop and prop ( knowing they are not in danger) infuriates me no end.
He was the best PF in 2014 , he's gone seriously backwards in 2015.

I'd forgotten about that. No doubt it had a massive impact. But he has never been a forward to kick a bag full of goals. What's his highest? 6 or 7? And how often has he done that?

His kicking is okay, but as others have pointed out, a man of his size and build should be imposing himself on the ball more than he has.

 

[SJ]

I'd forgotten about that. No doubt it had a massive impact. But he has never been a forward to kick a bag full of goals. What's his highest? 6 or 7? And how often has he done that?

His kicking is okay, but as others have pointed out, a man of his size and build should be imposing himself on the ball more than he has.

Although I do not want to underplay the magnitude of that loss in his life, his form really hasn't deviated once (either way) this year.

 

[cats2rise]

I'd forgotten about that. No doubt it had a massive impact. But he has never been a forward to kick a bag full of goals. What's his highest? 6 or 7? And how often has he done that?

His kicking is okay, but as others have pointed out, a man of his size and build should be imposing himself on the ball more than he has.

Tom has never been a big bag kicker, but he brings so many in to games when he is at his best.

There was a stretch earlier in the year where he was dominating first quarters and kicking 1-2 himself but being part of another 1-3. Brian Taylor and co went nuts about how he set the game up when it mattered, but I thought it more he wasn't stretching four good quarters together rather than anything,

He helps to kick a big bag when he is at his best, and he didn't do this much at all this season. I love when he wrestles and takes a mark, but gee, he seemed to want to do that at every contest this year, whereas I think he is best as that unmovable beast on the move.

 

[Moneypenny]

Just stunningly beautiful
Menz playing AFL again. Is anyone else in disbelief that it just happened? I'm actually emotional about it. Goosebumps. Goosebumps everywhere. combined with Vards returning, it surely makes 2015 a year to remember.

Good

• Those unfortunately rare moments when the team actually got it right and played well - I'm thinking the Port game, the first Collingwood game (what a role reversal ...) and the home Sydney game especially.
• Not coincidentally we've found out that we're a much better team with Mitch Duncan, Rhys Stanley and Josh Caddy. Not great right now because they're all injured atm but it bodes well for future success.
• The newbies!!! I feel like Greggles, Lang, Nakia and Kolo have injected some enthusiasm and refreshed the side. Watching them grow is a highlight in itself.
• Thurlow. This guy had barely any preseason right? Insane.
• Guthrie and Blitz. Just so solid. Keep doing what you're doing guys.
• The Battle of the Stevens has been a great sideshow, really. Sublime, ridiculous, brain farts at 10 paces but it's all entertaining. I think Mots wins for longevity, but if for whatever reason he leaves, SJ wins by default.

Bad

• Following the last point: Contract discussions and the will they won't they discussion that has gone on all year. Just tedious. I'd rather wait for the finals until the rumour mill to really kick in, we won't actually have anything else to talk about then.
• My prediction we'd be pushing for Top 4 at the start of the year. Never ask me for my opinion because I obviously have no idea what I'm talking about.
• The media really enjoying parroting their eulogies, obituaries, eugoogolies etc about the end of our era even though it probably ended last year. In any case it's been over for a while. You really missed the boat guys. Don't hold your breath that we'll stay down for very long either. I hope.
• Injuries just really f'd us over.
• Not having any younger guys in the leadership team. Why? How? Not impressed.
• Not playing finals is disappointing, and you could argue we've underperformed this year for whatever reason. But having a Top 10 draft pick can't be that bad. Hopefully the players will be consumed with jealousy and self-remonstration watching eight other teams head into finals and set their sights on improvement next year. I keep hoping for this but it never eventuates. Please please please please please.

Ugly

• Melbourne game. Boris' 300. Encapsulates everything cringeworthy about the season really.
• Unrelated to the Cats but the Adam Goodes saga. Just a disgusting display of bullying behaviour (mmm great alliteration there)
• This board when we lose. Oooo boy, some people need a chill pill before they post.
• Some of my posts are just way too long and rambley. Sorry about that.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Quality as always Ms.Moneypenny

 

[AlcoaCat]

Quality as always Ms.Moneypenny

Seconded

 

[Goggin Our Best]

Hawkins and the Geelong forward line is a major worry

I hope they dont just rock up to next season with the same format - but Hawkins is so slow - so where else can you play him - StKilda and Victoria for that matter wernt frightened to throw Lockett into the ruck at times

Id love them to give Jake Kolo a try at CHF - hes good mark - moves well and a good kick - got a fair bit going for him . Walker and Kersten they can trade those 2 out for all i care

Id also like Lang ( whose had a pretty good year) to be given a go as a midfielder ( depending on what happens with PD) - Geelong need a few midfielders with a bit of zip - blokes who are quick off the mark - thats why Duncan when he is out - is a massive out . No more Caddy ( even though he is a reasonable player) type midfielders - bloody enormous - id rather Lang type ones who have got a turn of foot - and can cut up the opposition .

 

[Teriyakicat]

Hawkins is a big problem and I was about to start a new thread on his very worrying habits.

oh please don't hold back, SJ. Everyone else has been done to death. Might as well let them all chew over the bones of Hawkins.

 

[Teriyakicat]

Quality as always Ms.Moneypenny

Seconded

Thirded, Ms Moneypenny

 

[Lethality]

Hawkins and the Geelong forward line is a major worry

I hope they dont just rock up to next season with the same format - but Hawkins is so slow - so where else can you play him -

Hawkins has been an effective ruckman in the past, and the new versatility fad probably dictates that he gets thrown around a bit more anyway.

 

[sarah.13]

Hawkins has been an effective ruckman in the past, and the new versatility fad probably dictates that he gets thrown around a bit more anyway.

Hawkins has NEVER been an effective ruckman whilst at geelong.

 

[FredLeDeux]

Hawkins has NEVER been an effective ruckman whilst at geelong.

Ignore him, it's just HoochyPoochy trying to start a meaningless storm among Geelong barrackers, for the third or fourth time since the Collingwood game. It's just his peaheart way of gloating without getting himself rubbed out.

 

[dazbroncos]

Hawkins has been an effective ruckman in the past, and the new versatility fad probably dictates that he gets thrown around a bit more anyway.

And GAS was a better all round player than Leigh Matthews.

Troll elsewhere HP.

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