Prediction Geelong's fortunes for season 2019

[candiehappy]

in 89 could not drag a fairly good side otherwise, over the line.

an extraordinary midfield and forward line. No backline to speak of.

 

[Max Milburn]

an extraordinary midfield and forward line. No backline to speak of.

These blokes disagree...
B: 49 Spiro Malakellis 28 Tim Darcy 24 Mark Bos
HB: 2 Bruce Lindner 23 Michael Schulze 1 Steven Hocking

And the scoreline says they were only 6 points worse than these blokes...
B: 4 Andrew Collins 24 Chris Langford 7 Gary Ayres
HB: 20 Scott Maginness 2 Chris Mew 34 John Kennedy

 

[candiehappy]

These blokes disagree...
B: 49 Spiro Malakellis 28 Tim Darcy 24 Mark Bos
HB: 2 Bruce Lindner 23 Michael Schulze 1 Steven Hocking

And the scoreline says they were only 6 points worse than these blokes...
B: 4 Andrew Collins 24 Chris Langford 7 Gary Ayres
HB: 20 Scott Maginness 2 Chris Mew 34 John Kennedy

that's not a great cats backline, let's be fair. Neither Schulze or Darcy were really notable as FB or CHB.

Chris Mew light years ahead Schulze. But he had to play on GAS ...........

 

[bellpark]

Think we drop down this year to around 9th. Nearly a third of best team 30 or more, not the volume of quality young players developed to have enough impact this year (lost opportunity last year), and tough draw for 2019. Early stories about Constable, etc getting a few games says to me the rebuild/culture at the club coaching team is way too conservative for us to keep up with other teams. I predict Melbourne wins it (I think Stephen May will be the recruit of the year).

 

[Max Milburn]

But he had to play on GAS ...........

He he. Sucked in Mew!
And how dare you malign the greatest of all the Malakellis clan!

 

[Max Milburn]

that's not a great cats backline, let's be fair. Neither Schulze or Darcy were really notable as FB or CHB.

Chris Mew light years ahead Schulze. But he had to play on GAS ...........

Let's face it, the reason we lost that game was because Brereton and Dippa were both too stupid to realise that they should have been lying in hospital bed.

 

[Spazz Cat]

These blokes disagree...
B: 49 Spiro Malakellis 28 Tim Darcy 24 Mark Bos
HB: 2 Bruce Lindner 23 Michael Schulze 1 Steven Hocking

And the scoreline says they were only 6 points worse than these blokes...
B: 4 Andrew Collins 24 Chris Langford 7 Gary Ayres
HB: 20 Scott Maginness 2 Chris Mew 34 John Kennedy

Brutal. Bos was good.

 

[Whiskers]

Meh I think we will do alright this year.
People forget we were only a kick away from the top 4. We beat hawks just once and we are 4th with the 2nd best % in the league.
Suddenly our year would look far better due to a single kick. We were in every h&a game except 1. Our weakness seemed to be close games yet everyone only remembers beating the Dees.
Imagine missing the finals with a % of 130. I don’t think 8th reflected our year but our final has made us look terrible.
So for the 1st time in a long time we are not one of those hunted clubs, we are only a hunter.
It seems we have put in a thorough review of what needs to be fixed so good performances like a top 4 finish in 2017 won’t have us papering over cracks this year.
Combine this with a far easier fixture, we don’t play Richmond twice and play eagles in Geelong not Perth, plus we won’t lose to the hawks twice.
We have a fit Dangerfield, a team better at forward pressure, a young backline who should improve plus Henderson playing often and we improve on 8th easily.
Our poor finish last year will be a blessing in disguise. We aren’t terrible but everyone (inc most of our own fans) believe we are.

 

[Vdubs]

Brutal. Bos was good.

So were Lindner, Darcy and SH. Darcy was just played out of position, a 186 cm FB!!

 

[Spazz Cat]

So were Lindner, Darcy and SH. Darcy was just played out of position, a 186 cm FB!!

Linder was talented as a forward IMO. SH was serviceable enough. Our version of Andy Collins but not as good.
Yep, Darcy didn't have much of a chance at full back.

 

[Landgraft]

Meh I think we will do alright this year.
People forget we were only a kick away from the top 4. We beat hawks just once and we are 4th with the 2nd best % in the league.
Suddenly our year would look far better due to a single kick. We were in every h&a game except 1. Our weakness seemed to be close games yet everyone only remembers beating the Dees.
Imagine missing the finals with a % of 130. I don’t think 8th reflected our year but our final has made us look terrible.
So for the 1st time in a long time we are not one of those hunted clubs, we are only a hunter.
It seems we have put in a thorough review of what needs to be fixed so good performances like a top 4 finish in 2017 won’t have us papering over cracks this year.
Combine this with a far easier fixture, we don’t play Richmond twice and play eagles in Geelong not Perth, plus we won’t lose to the hawks twice.
We have a fit Dangerfield, a team better at forward pressure, a young backline who should improve plus Henderson playing often and we improve on 8th easily.
Our poor finish last year will be a blessing in disguise. We aren’t terrible but everyone (inc most of our own fans) believe we are.

I honestly think we played better footy last year than we did in 2017, but just weren't able to get the reward for it (and were probably a bit fortunate to win some of our 2017 games).

 

[Partridge]

Brutal. Bos was good.

Bos was a very good player. Had tons of footy left in him too.

I always thought Darcy was pretty unlucky. Was never anything more than a half back flanker, but played full back because we had no one else. Kept Dunstall to 4 goals both times in 1989 which wasn't actually that bad.

 

[Turbocat]

Bos was a very good player. Had tons of footy left in him too.

I always thought Darcy was pretty unlucky. Was never anything more than a half back flanker, but played full back because we had no one else. Kept Dunstall to 4 goals both times in 1989 which wasn't actually that bad.

You are not wong.. not many players from thatera would be a strong chance to improve our 07-11 side but he was one who would have..

 

[goyoucatters]

I honestly think we played better footy last year than we did in 2017, but just weren't able to get the reward for it (and were probably a bit fortunate to win some of our 2017 games).

I thought that's how it looked as well. Didn't get the reward for it in the W-L column but we continued to score at almost exactly the same rate whilst conceding two goals less on average every single game.

As for finals, though, last year's debacle certainly didn't look any better than the PF embarrassment of '17. So no improvement there.

 

[Turbocat]

I honestly think we played better footy last year than we did in 2017, but just weren't able to get the reward for it (and were probably a bit fortunate to win some of our 2017 games).

Just gut feel?

 

[Turbocat]

Linder was talented as a forward IMO. SH was serviceable enough. Our version of Andy Collins but not as good.
Yep, Darcy didn't have much of a chance at full back.

Linder was a SANFL superstar... and looked like diet coke up against the real thing when in the same side as #5.
Played a couple of very good games for us though.. one in Sydney was memorable..

 

[goyoucatters]

You are not wong.. not many players from thatera would be a strong chance to improve our 07-11 side but he was one who would have..

Extremely tough. Enormously effective. And exceptionally underrated.

Not that I think he cared about what people thought in the slightest.

Pure footy player. Nothing more, nothing less.

So no matter how much more footy I watch over the years, he'll always be in my top 10 favourite Cats.

 

[Turbocat]

Extremely tough. Enormously effective. And exceptionally underrated.

Not that I think he cared about what people thought in the slightest.

Pure footy player. Nothing more, nothing less.

So no matter how much more footy I watch over the years, he'll always be in my top 10 favourite Cats.

Underrated... he one a B&F I think ... probably a bit like Boris underrated.. not internally I think.

 

[Turbocat]

Bos was a very good player. Had tons of footy left in him too.

I always thought Darcy was pretty unlucky. Was never anything more than a half back flanker, but played full back because we had no one else. Kept Dunstall to 4 goals both times in 1989 which wasn't actually that bad.

Did he play FB in a state game? Your are right though... Blight would have killed to have a Scarlett or even a Lonergan. Our side in that era was to biased front of centre ..they should have traded to strengthen our backline

 

[goyoucatters]

Underrated... he one a B&F I think ... probably a bit like Boris underrated.. not internally I think.

Not internally, I agree.

But by the supporter base and the wider footy world, I think he was probably seen as mostly serviceable and reliable.

And I would say he was markedly better than that.

 

[Jhye Clark 13]

I thought that's how it looked as well. Didn't get the reward for it in the W-L column but we continued to score at almost exactly the same rate whilst conceding two goals less on average every single game.

As for finals, though, last year's debacle certainly didn't look any better than the PF embarrassment of '17. So no improvement there.

We lost by 29 points last year and at times looked as though we had momentum and could snatch a win. We were never in the '17 prelim.

 

[Frappe]

So were Lindner, Darcy and SH. Darcy was just played out of position, a 186 cm FB!!

His best position was wing/HF.

 

[Frappe]

Did he play FB in a state game? Your are right though... Blight would have killed to have a Scarlett or even a Lonergan. Our side in that era was to biased front of centre ..they should have traded to strengthen our backline

He played BP in the 1989 SoO game at MCG vs SA.

 

[Frappe]

Linder was a SANFL superstar... and looked like diet coke up against the real thing when in the same side as #5.
Played a couple of very good games for us though.. one in Sydney was memorable..

He was inconsistent but was the 2nd most gifted player I saw in GAS time.

 

[Max Milburn]

I reckon looking at the last two years isn't that helpful when looking forward.
A lot of personnel changes this year, and the whole team needs a complete reset when it comes to how they approach finals...if we get there.