Geelong Vs. Richmond - the match of the ultimate underdog...

[Seeds]

Oh stop it. Yes is meant to be home state advantage and it's fine so long as GWS are playing by the same rules. MCG is aok for finals of all Vic teams. Bring it on.

No its not fine. Its a rule devised to penalise geelong and gold coast and no one else. Stop bending over and submitting.

 

[dean33]

That's nice, but it was all pretty straightforward for both GWS and Richmond. Beat Geelong, and you'll finish above us.

They couldn't, so they didn't. Sooking about the draw is once again a waste of time.

Who is sooking about the draw? We got what we wanted, a home final at the g. See you next week.

 

[Seeds]

Considering we have the worse free kick differential in the comp the only thing we are hoping for is not another 24 - 6 half time free kick count.

Stop taking the play on and then dropping the ball when tackled. Nearly every single one of those frees was for holding the ball.

 

[Seeds]

Feeling can not be serious about wanting this game in Geelong. The game is going to get 95,000.

Imagine an Essendon v Carlton final, where Essendon finished above Carlton. Can Essendon say they want their home game to be Telstra Dome for the finals ?

Essendons from melbourne. You think football fans would know this.

 

[dean33]

Public tickets are "sold out". (Whatever that actually means) Be prepared to see vast areas of the AFL and MCG members areas empty and be legitimately pissed off. There should be a policy that demands that both these areas are booked by members the week before and the unbooked seats sold to the public. I hate empty seats.

I bet you won't see any areas in the ground empty. 95,000 there, bookmark it.

 

[dean33]

Stop taking the play on and then dropping the ball when tackled. Nearly every single one of those frees was for holding the ball.

Not just the frees that were paid, the frees that weren't were just as bad. All good that is all behind us now, see you next week.

 

[Joker91]

Finals record of the last five season;

Geelong 2-6
Richmond 0-3

 

[woota]

Finals record of the last five season;

Geelong 2-6
Richmond 0-3

LOL loser. Richmond won their first 5 games this season - the first time they've done it since 1995. Richmond are a different team than they were in previous finals series.

 

[Gavin Excell]

Finals record of the last five season;

Geelong 2-6
Richmond 0-3

Its not great is it

 

[Joker91]

LOL loser. Richmond won their first 5 games this season - the first time they've done it since 1995. Richmond are a different team than they were in previous finals series.

I support Richmond? Just stating a fact, not having a dig at either side.

 

[Wojcinski]

Public tickets are "sold out". (Whatever that actually means) Be prepared to see vast areas of the AFL and MCG members areas empty and be legitimately pissed off. There should be a policy that demands that both these areas are booked by members the week before and the unbooked seats sold to the public. I hate empty seats.

That's what they do, so club members got access on monday, general public got access to row Q on tuesday, afl members get access today and then next week the public will get access to any unsold members or mcc seats

 

[The Casey Cat]

Finals record of the last five season;

Geelong 2-6
Richmond 0-3

Yea both about as bad as each other. Geelong dreadfully unconvincing in both wins. Not good.

 

[dean33]

As an afl member with a Richmond club support, like the prelim and grand final, members of competing clubs should get first option on seats. Crazy that it's open to all other afl members at the same time. Should go to gold members of the 2 competing clubs first, then other gold members and then silver members.

 

[The Casey Cat]

Mate, you live on the wrong side of Melbourne to be able to be independent on this. Either nobody gets an advantage and all finals are played at neutral venues or this 'home state final' bollocks should be called out for what it is. Either there is a benefit for all finishing higher on the ladder, or none. Until that happens, the integrity of the finals system can rightfully be questioned. Can you think of any reason why that shouldn't be the case?

Where I live has nothing to do with it. I've been to Geelong for a shit load of games and want us playing as many regular season home games there as possible. However I'm also realistic and accepting of our home finals being at the MCG against Melbourne sides. It's not a big deal, has never cost us anything we didn't deserve and again it's where the bloody GF is anyway so we should be happy for as much practice we can get there.

 

[gavaniacono]

I remember the 1967 GF and more importantly I remember the First Semi final defeat in 1969. Eight goals to Richmond and two to Geelong in first qtr..and Geelong kicked the first 2. Richmond went on to kick 25 and Geelong 7. A 118 point slaughter. So don't give us any of this underdog BS. Two teams run out and one will win. You are going coz you hope to win but even if Richmond win you will be none the wiser as to future prospects. Geelong have been ordinary in recent finals and therefor it is Geelong who are the underdogs.

Good to see another long tooth on here.

The 67 Tiges could be equated to 2017 tiges if one stretches the bow.

The 69 Tiges look a bit like 2017 swans, struggle to make finals then steamroll everything in its path. Swans havent done that yet. But many are predicting it.

The 80 (dont forget Tiges did Cats over in finals that year too) Tiges may well be a bit like crows 2017 who played poorly and lost their last ha game and come into finals with some qs around them, having dropped a couple on the run home. They may respind by winning the flag after being wokken up.

Or, Tiges freeze on big stage, and Dons on fire with speed overwhelm Swans with goals, removing a major Cats thorn.

Will be interesting, as usual.

 

[gavaniacono]

Where I live has nothing to do with it. I've been to Geelong for a shit load of games and want us playing as many regular season home games there as possible. However I'm also realistic and accepting of our home finals being at the MCG against Melbourne sides. It's not a big deal, has never cost us anything we didn't deserve and again it's where the bloody GF is anyway so we should be happy for as much practice we can get there.

Too much bloody common sense.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

Yea both about as bad as each other. Geelong dreadfully unconvincing in both wins. Not good.

A come from behind win against a Port Adelaide team that no-one gave a chance and a patchy win against Hawthorn, who had an straightforward chance to pinch it from us after the siren.

I think that it could easily be argued that our most meritorious finals performance since 2011 was the 2013 Preliminary Final loss, when we coughed up a 20 point three quarter time lead to the Hawks, after somewhat understandably running out of steam.

Let's look at all of those games since the premiership win.

Fremantle, 2012: The Cats had finished the home & away season with a wet sail and had been a rough chance to sneak into the top four late in the season. Getting Fremantle in an MCG Elimination Final was supposed to be a tune up, before we'd give the top four an almighty scare with an extended finals run. Whoops...Fremantle extended the lead past 50 points and after we had a bit of a run to give them a scare, cruised to a comfortable win.
Rating 2/10

Fremantle 2013: The infamous Simonds Stadium Final, which doesn't give enough credit to a fired up Dockers outfit, who simply outplayed us. The absence of Hawkins and Dawson Simpson (before you laugh, have a look at what Simpson was doing that season before he got injured) didn't help and the decision to go with Vardy, Blicavs and Josh Walker against Sandilands (rather than bringing in Trent West, playing Vardy as a forward and leaving Walker out) remains questionable. EDIT: there was also the mind-boggling decision to make Chapman the sub for his 250th, when he was in good form leading into the game.
Rating 4/10

Port Adelaide 2013: Paul Chapman and James Kelly dragged us over the line in a game that we were in serious danger of losing, against Port, who had been forced to travel to Victoria for the second time in a row, following a surprise win against the Pies. Chapman ended up being suspended for the next game.
Rating 5/10

Hawthorn 2013: We weren't given much of a chance in this one, as we were firmly in the 'QF losers beat the EF winners, then lose to the other QF winners' pattern in 2013. Chapman (who was probably BOG in the Port Adelaide win) and Enright were out and Tom Hawkins clearly shouldn't have been playing. Nevertheless, the Cats took it right up to the Hawks, with Geelong capitalising on its chances, while the Hawks were wasteful.

A seven goal to three third quarter put us within touching distance of another GF, but even at the time, it felt like we would need at least two and probably three goals to hold the Hawks off, as they'd peppered the goals all night and sooner or later, they would click. And so it was. After Franklin kicked the first goal of the last quarter and Josh Caddy nailed a steadier in the eighth minute, the next ten scores went to the Hawks, including the go-ahead goal. Varcoe missed a golden opportunity on the run to tie the scores with less than a minute to go, but really, it's hard to see us winning anyway, if it had gone to extra time.
Rating 7.5/10

Hawthorn 2014: Honestly, I don't remember much about this game, as it sort of blends into the 'Mission Accomplished' match from a few weeks earlier. This was a turning point year for me; we were still winning, but I couldn't count how many games we'd either just got out of jail, or we'd been up by 4-5 goals and couldn't close the door on an inferior opponent, like we would have 3-5 years earlier. Selwood was masterful, but had little help. Comfortable win to Hawthorn.
Rating 3/10

North Melbourne 2014: This is the point where I seriously started to consider whether we were the team that went flat out from April to August to get a good ladder position and then just had nothing left when every other team went up a gear in September. Todd Goldstein at the height of his powers versus Blicavs and Josh Walker...you can probably guess how that match-up went. Tom Hawkins was sensational, but again, just not enough help and too many teammates who barely made a contribution. An exciting comeback, but ultimately another knockout final lost by a kick.
Rating 3/10

Hawthorn 2016: I thought that we actually controlled this game pretty well, though it was an arm wrestle throughout. A burst in the second half of the third quarter gave us the edge, but we couldn't close down the plucky Hawks and they just kept coming back. I think that if Isaac Smith had kicked that goal, we would have been wondering how we lost that game. It felt like we'd done enough with a lot of room for improvement.
Rating 7/10

Sydney 2016: Seven goals to zip in the first quarter and that ended up being pretty much the final margin, with it never getting within 30 points, and blowing out to around 50 at times. A 1.2 to 1.3 final quarter probably sums things up...if you're down by 40-odd heading in to the last quarter of a Preliminary Final, you go all out attack and risk losing by 60 for the slight chance of actually going on a big run. We simply couldn't score against them and I remember the delivery inside 50 being absolutely disgraceful all night. A few players put up decent stats, but really it was exhibit A for the 'Geelong is a two man team' detractors.
Rating 2/10 (one for Selwood and one for Dangerfield)

The MCG factor is important too, not so much that it's Richmond's home ground, but just that we've looked pretty ordinary there for a year (although three wins against Hawthorn has been nice). The obvious reason is that there's too much space for our zone to set up effectively and suffocate the opposition, although the recent game against Collingwood gives me some hope that we've figured it out (three goals against in three quarters). And even though we've kept our winning streak going against Richmond, I can't remember the last time that we really took them to the cleaners (including a get out of jail win last year).

 

[Gavin Excell]

A come from behind win against a Port Adelaide team that no-one gave a chance and a patchy win against Hawthorn, who had an straightforward chance to pinch it from us after the siren.

I think that it could easily be argued that our most meritorious finals performance since 2011 was the 2013 Preliminary Final loss, when we coughed up a 20 point three quarter time lead to the Hawks, after somewhat understandably running out of steam.

Let's look at all of those games since the premiership win.

Fremantle, 2012: The Cats had finished the home & away season with a wet sail and had been a rough chance to sneak into the top four late in the season. Getting Fremantle in an MCG Elimination Final was supposed to be a tune up, before we'd give the top four an almighty scare with an extended finals run. Whoops...Fremantle extended the lead past 50 points and after we had a bit of a run to give them a scare, cruised to a comfortable win.
Rating 2/10

Fremantle 2013: The infamous Simonds Stadium Final, which doesn't give enough credit to a fired up Dockers outfit, who simply outplayed us. The absence of Hawkins and Dawson Simpson (before you laugh, have a look at what Simpson was doing that season before he got injured) didn't help and the decision to go with Vardy, Blicavs and Josh Walker against Sandilands (rather than bringing in Trent West, playing Vardy as a forward and leaving Walker out) remains questionable.
Rating 4/10

Port Adelaide 2013: Paul Chapman and James Kelly dragged us over the line in a game that we were in serious danger of losing, against Port, who had been forced to travel to Victoria for the second time in a row, following a surprise win against the Pies. Chapman ended up being suspended for the game.
Rating 5/10

Hawthorn 2013: We weren't given much of a chance in this one, as we were firmly in the pattern of the 'QF losers beat the EF winners, then lose to the other QF winners' pattern. Chapman (who was probably BOG in the Port Adelaide win) and Enright were out and Tom Hawkins clearly shouldn't have been playing. Nevertheless, the Cats took it right up to the Hawks, with Geelong capitalising on its chances, while the Hawks were wasteful.

A seven goal to three third quarter put us within touching distance of another GF, but even at the time, it felt like we would need at least two and probably three goals to hold the Hawks off, as they'd peppered the goals all night and sooner or later, they would click. And so it was. After Franklin kicked the first goal of the last quarter and Josh Caddy nailed a steadier in the eighth minute, the next ten scores went to the Hawks, including the go-ahead goal. Varcoe missed a golden opportunity on the run to tie the scores with less than a minute to go, but really, it's hard to see us winning anyway, if it had gone to extra time.
Rating 7.5/10

Hawthorn 2014: Honestly, I don't remember much about this game, as it sort of blends into the 'Mission Accomplished' match from a few weeks earlier. This was a turning point year for me; we were still winning, but I couldn't count how many games we'd either just got out of jail, or we'd been up by 4-5 goals and couldn't close the door on an inferior opponent, like we would have 3-5 years earlier. Selwood was masterful, but had little help. Comfortable win to Hawthorn.
Rating 3/10

North Melbourne 2014: This is the point where I seriously started to consider whether we were the team that went flat out from April to August to get a good ladder position and then just had nothing left when every other team went up a gear in September. Todd Goldstein at the height of his powers versus Blicavs and Josh Walker...you can probably guess how that match-up went. Tom Hawkins was sensational, but again, just not enough help and too many teammates who barely made a contribution. An exciting comeback, but ultimately another knockout final lost by a kick.

Hawthorn 2016: I thought that we actually controlled this game pretty well, though it was an arm wrestle throughout. A burst in the second half of the third quarter gave us the edge, but we couldn't close down the plucky Hawks and they just kept coming back. I think that if Isaac Smith had kicked that goal, we would have been wondering how we lost that game. It felt like we'd done enough with a lot of room for improvement.
Rating 7/10

Sydney 2016: Seven goals to zip in the first quarter and that ended up being pretty much the final margin, with it never getting within 30 points, and blowing out to around 50 at times. A 1.2 to 1.3 final quarter probably sums things up...if you're down by 40-odd heading in to the last quarter of a Preliminary Final, you go all out attack and risk losing by 60 for the slight chance of actually going on a big run. We simply couldn't score against them and I remember the delivery inside 50 being absolutely disgraceful all night. A few players put up decent stats, but really it was exhibit A for the 'Geelong is a two man team' detractors.
Rating 2/10 (one for Selwood and one for Dangerfield)

The MCG factor is important too, not so much that it's Richmond's home ground, but just that we've looked pretty ordinary there for a year (although three wins against Hawthorn has been nice). The obvious reason is that there's too much space for our zone to set up effectively and suffocate the opposition, although the recent game against Collingwood gives me some hope that we've figured it out (three goals against in three quarters). And even though we've kept our winning streak going against Richmond, I can't remember the last time that we really took them to the cleaners (including a get out of jail win last year).

It - cats record in finals since 2011 - is very poor. Its a real knock on Scott as a coach. A straight sets exit would severely compound that

 

[MotleyLemon]

As an afl member with a Richmond club support, like the prelim and grand final, members of competing clubs should get first option on seats. Crazy that it's open to all other afl members at the same time. Should go to gold members of the 2 competing clubs first, then other gold members and then silver members.

"Home" team members should get access a day earlier.

 

[dean33]

"Home" team members should get access a day earlier.

No they shouldn't, both competing clubs should get first crack like what happens in the prelim and grand final.

 

[Ricketz]

Where I live has nothing to do with it. I've been to Geelong for a shit load of games and want us playing as many regular season home games there as possible. However I'm also realistic and accepting of our home finals being at the MCG against Melbourne sides. It's not a big deal, has never cost us anything we didn't deserve and again it's where the bloody GF is anyway so we should be happy for as much practice we can get there.

If there is a benefit to playing home games at Simmonds during the season proper, that benefit is also there for the finals series. I get that you don't care, but your own inconsistency in statements indicates that even you know that we are disadvantaging ourselves playing at the G instead of Simmonds. Regardless, our track record at Simmonds proves we have a very real advantage there. I still don't get supporters who are willing to roll over on this issue under those circumstances, let alone those who try to shut down the debate entirely.

 

[Ricketz]

No they shouldn't, both competing clubs should get first crack like what happens in the prelim and grand final.

Why? What did your club do to make your fans deserve it?

 

[slimdusty4]

Not really. Is how it's always been. Only reason it wasn't in 2013 was a freak amount of Melbourne finals and AFL pissed at Freo for tanking last round.

MCG fine by us and where the game should be.

yeah, this, no one kicked up a fuss last year when the cats hosted hawthorn and sydney at the g, why is it an issue now?
even more laughable, when you see how many fans (geelong fans in particular), are whinging about missing out on tickets.

Getting Carlton and Brisbane twice was a massive leg up considering how the top 8 ended up... you can't deny that.

BTW 3 of our top 5 out, you couldn't beat us.. venue was an excuse, at least for your coach..

well considering the venue has more similarities to an athletics track, than an Australian rules football oval... i'd say it's quite valid.
also, you get the west coast treatment there, not so at the MCG.

 

[Scanlens Man]

Ironically Richmond will be underdog for this game at "home" after been favourites for the Kardinia Park game away.

The latter being a bullshit media pump-up of course, Geelong's record down there is phenomenal, I'm not going to look it up but someone said they've only lost twice there since 2015, both times to the Swans. As if they weren't going to win with whoever was running around in the hoops.

So I call bullshit, and actually really fancy the Tigers as "underdogs" on the bigger spaces of the MCG with the crowd - and noise of affirmation - on their side.

One reason hoping we beat Adelaide and get a home prelim

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

yeah, this, no one kicked up a fuss last year when the cats hosted hawthorn and sydney at the g, why is it an issue now?
even more laughable, when you see how many fans (geelong fans in particular), are whinging about missing out on tickets.

There is an argument that the ground has now been sufficiently developed to the standard that would be expected of an AFL finals venue and that if it was in any of the other AFL states, no-one would have a problem with it hosting finals.

However, to expect the AFL to hold finals that are going to crack 90K comfortably in Geelong is pretty fanciful. And it was never an issue for Geelong to play 'home' finals at the MCG when it was a juggernaut in the 2007-11 period. There's really no excuse for not being able to play finals at the MCG. If your team's gamestyle doesn't hold up there, that's a fundamental flaw.