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Listening to Scott’s presser, lots of the questions he didn’t want to answer and kept saying “he’ll say too much”, just kept it short and said we haven’t played that bad in a long time.

Not sure about that but I feel like behind closed doors he’d be telling the senior guys he’s very disappointed with what they dishes up.
 
CatToTheFuture said:
I don't doubt the numbers, but I think maybe it can fail the eye test when the comparison is of Cripps shrugging tackler and getting a clean disposal away to a player on his own streaming out front of the pack versus Atkins toe poking a dribble out in front of Smith that he has to hack kick forward because he's being chased down.

Both get marked the same in the book but one is giving you no space on the outside. Is it just linguistic shorthand where getting smashed at the clearances actually talks to quality not quantity?
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Sure. And the eye test told me we were smashing them for a period in the last quarter too. Was it 10 in a row or something?

You haven’t quite got the definition of a clearance right by the way. A toe poke that doesn’t clear congestion isn’t a clearance.

In any event, clearances were not the reason we lost this game. Not by a long stretch.
 

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catempire said:
Sure. And the eye test told me we were smashing them for a period in the last quarter too. Was it 10 in a row or something?

You haven’t quite got the definition of a clearance right by the way. A toe poke that doesn’t clear congestion isn’t a clearance.

In any event, clearances were not the reason we lost this game. Not by a long stretch.
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Yeah there was definitely a period in the 4th where we smashed them in the contest. That was good.

There were a few soccers that pushed the ball out of congestion though that didn't really advantage us though that I'm pretty sure met the criteria for a clearance.

Regardless we were getting the ball out just as much on the numbers as you said.
 
Frappe said:
I’ve noticed a few times Close has worked into space and the ball has come over the back, however the next defender in line has moved up so unless the ball delivery is perfect, it becomes another contest.

Either opposition has worked it out or next forward has pushed up too far.
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Yeah forwards pushing up too far makes sense, but we should be getting an opportunity for longer kicks to emptier forward lines then?
 
ShaunWDT said:
I didnt understand the logic of making him sub, period of the game you want to inject a bit of speed and heat and you're bringing on a pseudo key forward that offers next to nothing defensively.
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I kind of didn't understand the logic of playing him. Dangerfield is playing his role. He's trying to be useful as a 5th wheel
 
Unfortunately some of the young players can't step up and cement their place in the team, some players are gifted games due to injuries and bit lack of form.
 
iameviljez said:
… move CoS or Blitz, neither of whom are good forwards, up forward???
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With J Henry to return in the next fortnight as per Scott last night, and Kolo probably back v Pies, we will have a few options.

I'd like to see COS forward - believe he spent a lot of time forward as a junior - and we will have the luxury of trying it once we have SDK/Blitz, Henry and Kolo all down back.
 
CatToTheFuture said:
Sure but for how many minutes? Dude is 35

Also if that's your planned sub then you are constrained for flexibility
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Pendlebury and Sidebottom have played exclusively centre square mid this year at age 37 and 34, respectively.

When we are being smashed in the middle I think we should be swinging Danger in there for 10-15 minute stints. We didn't do it v Hawthorn and just got over the line. We didn't put Danger in there yesterday until the last quarter from memory, when we were already five goals down.

Our CBAs for the last few weeks have been dominated by just three mids (Atkins, Smith, Holmes) - they can't do it alone and if the ball isn't getting forward enough it is wasteful to keep Danger there, when he's still a match winner.

IMG_6742.jpeg
 

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fpm84 said:
Pendlebury and Sidebottom have played exclusively centre square mid this year at age 37 and 34, respectively.

When we are being smashed in the middle I think we should be swinging Danger in there for 10-15 minute stints. We didn't do it v Hawthorn and just got over the line. We didn't put Danger in there yesterday until the last quarter from memory, when we were already five goals down.

Our CBAs for the last few weeks have been dominated by just three mids (Atkins, Smith, Holmes) - they can't do it alone and if the ball isn't getting forward enough it is wasteful to keep Danger there, when he's still a match winner.

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Pendles and sidebottom aren't human cannonballs like danger though. I dunno, I would just expect that his body wouldn't hold up but could be wrong.
 
It was always going to be a tough ask. A very young Geelong side, missing some key structural players, coming off a bruising fortnight of finals-like intensity, up against Carlton’s best team of the season on their home deck with everything to play for.

We were coming off a short 6-day break, without arguably our most important link player in Gryan Miers. His absence was huge – without his workrate, connection, and ability to create scoring chains, our ball movement looked stagnant and predictable.

It’s also important to remember the context: back-to-back taxing efforts against Adelaide (away) and Hawthorn (Easter Monday) took a lot of emotional and physical energy. Geelong threw everything into those wins. You simply can't play at that finals-level intensity three weeks in a row during the home-and-away season – especially not with a young group still learning to handle the grind.

Our leaders didn’t stand up when we needed them. Cameron and Stewart, in particular, had off nights. Max Holmes, who has been superb all year, looked heavy-legged – unsurprising given the workload he’s been carrying. Bailey Smith deserves credit for battling hard all night, but he was one of the few who still had some spark.

Rhys Stanley also looked like he badly needed a rest. I doubt playing three games in a row was ever part of the plan, but unfortunately we didn’t have the luxury to rest him — and we’ll likely need him again next week against Collingwood. I actually wouldn’t mind throwing him forward at times to stretch their defence and provide another tall option inside 50.

Our forward line overall clearly lacks polish and structure without Hawkins – and even Gary Rohan, whose pressure and ability to create chaos at ground level are sorely missed.

We now find ourselves in a really tricky position. We desperately need to rest players, but unlike previous seasons, we just don’t have the depth to rotate properly. Missing critical midfield rotations like Tanner Bruhn and Cam Guthrie, and now Miers for at least two weeks, is going to put enormous extra toll on Holmes, Smith, and Atkins. Jhye Clark simply isn’t ready to take on significant midfield minutes yet, and it shows.

If we play anything like we did yesterday against Collingwood, we’ll lose by 10+ goals.

There’s no need to hit the panic button yet, but the next month will tell us a lot about where this young group really is.

Side note: Nick Haynes and Mitch McGovern also played probably their best games for Carlton. We made them look like A-graders.
 
CatToTheFuture said:
Pendles and sidebottom aren't human cannonballs like danger though. I dunno, I would just expect that his body wouldn't hold up but could be wrong.
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I agree that Danger can't physically play permanent mid anymore, his move forward is as much about preserving his body / prolonging his career as it is about giving more ownership to younger players in the middle.

But it just seems a no brainer that he would play closer to a 50/50 or 60/40 split. There were 26 centre bounces yesterday and Danger only attended six - to my eye they were all in the last quarter when we were attempting a big comeback. I wish we'd swung him into the middle in the second quarter when Carlton effectively set up their match winning lead...
 

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catempire said:
Just leave him close to goal where he has elite reaction times and can do freakish things.

He’s soft. There, I’ve said it.
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Yep, station him close to goal. If you think back to our Premiership side, Isaac Smith was offering so much overlap run from that wing position. I would love a more traditional winger in that spot, but we don’t have one, so maybe they can try Lawson or O’Sullivan with Kolo and Henry close.

Carrying Jack Martin and Guthrie on the list when unlikely to play is really hurting us.
 
Gazzathegoat said:
Side note: Nick Haynes and Mitch McGovern also played probably their best games for Carlton. We made them look like A-graders.
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Haynes on his day is/was an A grader. Good get if they can keep him on the park.
Right about McGovern though.
Fogarty played a big part early in one of those typical Geelong ‘revenge of the rejects’ scenarios
 
fpm84 said:
Pendlebury and Sidebottom have played exclusively centre square mid this year at age 37 and 34, respectively.
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Pendlebury and Sidebottom are Chappy-style low range operators when in the middle - plenty of torque, not much speed, all day long. They aren't explosive hamstring busters like Dangerfield.
 
fpm84 said:
With J Henry to return in the next fortnight as per Scott last night, and Kolo probably back v Pies, we will have a few options.

I'd like to see COS forward - believe he spent a lot of time forward as a junior - and we will have the luxury of trying it once we have SDK/Blitz, Henry and Kolo all down back.
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Honestly, the one thing that has worked consistently well over the last three years has been our forward line. It's been a very rare game that we have won the i50s yet still lost the game.
 

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