Review AFL prelim final review geelong loses to sydney

[steady2]

...
Absolutely, they totally deserved their win but I find it a little disappointing that you then felt the need to slip this in...I get the frustration, the holding the ball interpretation this year has caused me to grind my teeth down to next to nothing but I feel that making this comment, especially when you follow up with......is akin to the attorney who makes a statement knowing full well it will be over-ruled but still got it out there for the jurors to hear so it is in their mind.

Umpires and their decisions are frustrating and annoying but I reckon (as I gather you do too) the Swans always had the answers.

We were outplayed most when it mattered and then kept at arm's length for the rest of the night. Sydney was simply better than us.

When the emotion of losing dies away (I, like a few others, are currently posting with some emotion right now) and decisions about guys like Enright, Bartel, Clark and perhaps even Lonergan are made we'll have some robust discussions about the list and the coaches and where we think we go next.

I look at what we did in going out to get 4 players (now aged 26 and in their prime) last year. We sacrificed good draft picks for a couple of those guys because, I assume, the club believes we are in a window and not in a re-build. Those decisions will shape discussions in the trade/draft period but I'm not too sure which way we'll jump.

If our next tier aren't cutting the mustard (and their sample sizes are getting larger and larger with each year to make judgements on), especially when it matters most, then some tough decisions might need to be made on 1 or 2 of those guys in that bracket. The question I have is; will it be to get earlier draft picks or to engineer some trade for an experienced player who can add something to the list that we're missing.

At the start of the year I was on record saying I felt we were a Top 4-6 side. Despite that I certainly wasn't thinking flag so the Cats probably exceeded my expectations and I should feel positive about the direction we're heading. However, as the season wore on I started to think that maybe we were good enough to win it all, especially in a year where it seemed very even across the top 6 or 7 sides. It might just be disappointment here but I have a nagging feeling that we may have missed an opportunity this year.

We finished second so we did alright. The flipside of that is we did have a fairly good run with injuries through the year, had a softish draw and seemed to hit the good sides at just the right time.

We won a lot of games despite some flaws in our game-plan/game style which has been discussed regularly throughout the year but reputations are built in September and, in recent times, we aren't really producing when it matters. Something is missing when we hit finals and the club needs to work out what it is.

Excellent post, however by "attorney" I assume you mean barrister or lawyer. My comment added to the fact that not all is doom and gloom. The issue I was particularly focused on related to in the last quarter when we were 30 points down and a clear around the neck should have been paid to a Geelong player but wasn't, seconds later an around the neck was played to a Swan player 25 metres out from their goal. The replay showed the Geelong free was definitely there and there was no too high on the Swans player, even the commentators mentioned how unlucky the Cats were. As I have said this was not a factor related to losing, but a factor as to why it is not all as woeful as some here think it is.

 

[Pivo]

Excellent post, however by "attorney" I assume you mean barrister or lawyer. My comment added to the fact that not all is doom and gloom. The issue I was particularly focused on related to in the last quarter when we were 30 points down and a clear around the neck should have been paid to a Geelong player but wasn't, seconds later an around the neck was played to a Swan player 25 metres out from their goal. The replay showed the Geelong free was definitely there and there was no too high on the Swans player, even the commentators mentioned how unlucky the Cats were. As I have said this was not a factor related to losing, but a factor as to why it is not all as woeful as some here think it is.

Attorney, barrister, lawyer...they all rival Hawthorn supporters in my book.

If you now follow up and tell me you're an attorney I'll take my shovel and leave.

 

[steady2]

Attorney, barrister, lawyer...they all rival Hawthorn supporters in my book.

If you now follow up and tell me you're an attorney I'll take my shovel and leave.

Too much American TV for you.

 

[patience]

Other teams are quicker to the ball and quicker with the ball. While our players are thinking about it, others are doing. We guard grass. We bomb into the forward line.

 

[you pick one]

Chris Scott "we got jumped"we f--king nothing you Scotty f--ked up as coach it was your job to minimize the damage the whole footy world knew what was coming last night in the first quarter you had time to put counter measures in place and you failed the test.

 

[vinum coupe]

Chris Scott "we got jumped"we f--king nothing you Scotty f--ked up as coach it was your job to minimize the damage the whole footy world knew what was coming last night in the first quarter you had time to put counter measures in place and you failed the test.

I thought it wouldn't ruin your weekend.

 

[Podsnap]

Have to agree with what Chappy said on K-Rock, apart from Danger and Selwood none of our players were looking to initiate contact to gain the ball. They were waiting for someone else to dig in and do the hard work and sitting out waiting for the ball.

If we are to improve this has to be a focus, Guthrie, Caddy, Menegola et all need to be willing to crash and bash each and every contest not pick and choose when to go in.

We also need to get back to the manic tackling we were doing in the first weeks of the season, our tackles then were sticking and teams couldn't get the release in the contest that they were able to do in the 2nd half of the season which would lead to the fast flow of the ball into our backline.

I think we need to get Chappy back to glare at them.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

I am looking forward to seeing how we tackle this as a club.

Thanks for the welcome, have loved going to 9 Geelong games this year (3 more than any other year when I was a lion) and hoping to make that 11 or 12 in 2017. The decision was the right one for me and have not regretted it for one second.

You have been a fantastic new supporter to have on board with the club. Stick with us.

 

[you pick one]

I thought it wouldn't ruin your weekend.

It hasn't.

 

[AM]

A couple of quotes from Danger's piece in the Hun tomorrow.

It’s not what actually happened in the game that keeps the mind racing, it’s more the feeling that we had more to give.

Sydney just wouldn’t let us do it. They put us under enormous pressure when we were going forward while we didn’t put them under enough pressure kicking inside 50.

Statistics often don’t tell the story which is the case with the inside 50 count given Geelong had 32 more than the Swans.

It’s one thing to kick it inside 50, it’s another thing to look dangerous when you kick it inside 50. They looked dangerous and we didn’t.

 

[steady2]

Chris Scott "we got jumped"we f--king nothing you Scotty f--ked up as coach it was your job to minimize the damage the whole footy world knew what was coming last night in the first quarter you had time to put counter measures in place and you failed the test.

Scott made no such comment. He made it crystal clear that the team was absolutely prepared and knew what the Swans would try to do. Perhaps you should look at the post match interview.

 

[yeah_nah_yeah]

Excellent post, however by "attorney" I assume you mean barrister or lawyer. My comment added to the fact that not all is doom and gloom. The issue I was particularly focused on related to in the last quarter when we were 30 points down and a clear around the neck should have been paid to a Geelong player but wasn't, seconds later an around the neck was played to a Swan player 25 metres out from their goal. The replay showed the Geelong free was definitely there and there was no too high on the Swans player, even the commentators mentioned how unlucky the Cats were. As I have said this was not a factor related to losing, but a factor as to why it is not all as woeful as some here think it is.

I lost it over that one! There was still a glimmer of a hope for us, but after that you just knew it wasn't going to happen.

 

[Max Caddy]

Chris Scott "we got jumped"we f--king nothing you Scotty f--ked up as coach it was your job to minimize the damage the whole footy world knew what was coming last night in the first quarter you had time to put counter measures in place and you failed the test.

Did he actually say that? I heard him say today that 'no, they didn't get ambushed'

 

[Partridge]

That's your opinion and that's fine. I don't see it the same way

Depends who it is to me. The majority that I've crossed opinions with, I've got zero interest in arguing with, as in the "see, see, you were wrong etc." line of discussion. We had and have different opinions. However there are a tiny minority I'd happily lay the boots into. They've laid into others (and me) all year, it's not outrageous to see them cop some back now.

 

[Partridge]

Everyone goes noisy when their view is correct and quiet when it isnt. You seriously think they are a special case there? The campaigners are those who brag when they are right and when they are wrong tell those who are right that they are scumbags and anti supporters. Complete hypocrits.

Don't forget they also think they can decide who 'real' supporters are. Hard to get more arrogant or self-entitled than that.

 

[Partridge]

This is in no way an excuse but the questions we are asking about Caddy, Motlop, Duncan, Blicavs, Guthrie ect the same question we were asking about Jimmy, Ling, Kelly, Gaz, Corey ect in 2006? without doing any research I imagine they are similar in games played at that time.

The game totals may be similar. The 2006 group might have even played less.

One massive thing occurred though that instilled discipline throughout the following season. They appointed Tom Harley captain. First thing he did was pull Johnson into line. The he himself returned from injury via the reserves. Let's see if a similar thing occurs in 2017.

 

[The Casey Cat]

The vision after the game with Joel and Paddy with head in hands...

I feel for these two and the heavy lifting they have done all year while their mates pick and choose when to join in but maybe they need to lift behind closed doors. Time to line Motlop, Duncan, Guthrie, Blivavs and Caddy up against the bloody wall and put the fear of god into them. Do they want to be premiership players one day? Are they comfortable just getting a game? What do they want to achieve and what do they think the path to that looks like (seems to be a discrepancy here between what they want and what reality is)?

Selwood and Danger deserve miles better but it doesn't look like they're going to get it without demanding it. If they are sick of the above turning up to ski while they turn up to fight for their lives then time to say so. Or else it will keep happening.

 

[you pick one]

Scott made no such comment. He made it crystal clear that the team was absolutely prepared and knew what the Swans would try to do. Perhaps you should look at the post match interview.

Did he actually say that? I heard him say today that 'no, they didn't get ambushed'

I pulled the we got jumped headline from the AFL web page yesterday which was about all i could get from my internet connection the last couple of days, ADSL2 and can't run video some days.Down load speed of 0.40 to 0.08 or timed out going by telstra speed test,this morning 8.89 go figure bloody frustrating.

 

[mcwilrob]

Cook said last night that they are in discussions and a new contract will be done either later this year or early next.

That is a HUGE mistake. The coaching was SHIZEN in the prelim. Blind Freddie knew the Swans would come out firing and there was nothing attempted to plan for/counter it,,,

 

[mcwilrob]

We

Well what a disappointing end. I guess what you want as a supporter is to find somewhere near your best every game, particularly in finals, and then you can cope with the losses a little easier when outplayed. While we were outplayed, we were miles off our best. But perhaps some of the things we were worried about during the year were highlighted again:

- Our field kicking skills are very poor. It causes a couple of problems - when we try to hit targets, we can't. And guys who know they can't hit targets don't go for the kicks that would open the game up (i.e. corridor), and we move the ball slowly down the line, or bomb it inside 50. I recall Blicavs with a free at half back, he seemed to have some options in the middle leading at him, hesitated, looked down the line, hesitated, ump calls play on, McGlynn (I think) nailed him in a tackle.

- As above, handball decision making is poor also. It feels like it's been a problem for 5 years. Sydney could work it out of congestion with fast, decisive handballing. We won a reasonable amount of inside ball, but we'd get it to a guy in a seemingly ok spot, who'd then handball to a guy in a worse spot.

- Forward structure was awful. Should not have allowed the Swans to dictate things for as long as they did from their defence. Henderson forward was a poor decision for one. Not because he is incapable, but he hasn't played there much at all for us - he's kicked 4 freaking goals for the year! How can you expect he and the mids to have that understanding on leading patterns, how to help Tommy get space etc.?

- Can't seem to get guys to front and square and lock it in against the good defences. At the ground our small guys were in the vicinity, but trailed their opponents in and let them impact.

- Special mention to Mitch Duncan's shepherding in marking contest efforts. Not sure if there is a stat for who gives away the most obvious shepherding frees in marking contests, but Mitch would have to be up there. He plays dumb footy at times.

That's all for now. Selwood tried his guts out as always, Boris kept trying to create something for us, Danger too. Not much else to get excited about. I was keeping the faith in the 2nd tier mids, particularly Caddy, but very flat on that group right now.

While it's an improvement on last year, and great to beat the Hawks, it feels like an awful waste of the year. There's no guarantees that any team just gets better next year. But here's hoping.

Go Cats.

Well said - good summation. A very inconsistent year led to a very inconsistent finals performance. We were lucky to get over Hawthorn - that win flattered us and Sydney showed us how lacking we can be when the effort isn't 100% by ALL players.

 

[steady2]

I pulled the we got jumped headline from the AFL web page yesterday which was about all i could get from my internet connection the last couple of days, ADSL2 and can't run video some days.Down load speed of 0.40 to 0.08 or timed out going by telstra speed test,this morning 8.89 go figure bloody frustrating.

He explained that Geelong were completely prepared but unable to counter the Swans early intensity, he said "...they jumped is...' referring to the Cats inability to match Sydney's intensity early. He gave no excuses for the performance and reiterated that the team has a lot work to do. If you chose to gain the necessary information first before churning out abuse it would be more helpful, then again, prejudice breeds knee-jerk reactions.

 

[mcwilrob]

We played like a bunch of pansies.

I believe the expression is "handbag toting nancy boys" The Cats lack of endeavour (a couple of exceptions aside) was deplorable in Q1. Was a little better after that but by then we had gifted Swannies the margin they basically won by in the end.

 

[dazbroncos]

Nah just saying ...

Alright no offence Catters just a hypothetical here.

Would you trade Hawkins for Walters and Neale?

No - and tell Blighty to * off too.

This has been covered by him already. You may or may not know that.

Move on.

GO Catters

 

[mcwilrob]

we weren't just mentally right at the beginning. It was always impossible to come back after such a horrified first quarter. We won't win a flag unless our supporting cast can step up and we have not seen any of them done that this year except for the injection of Menagola and Cowan.

One of Caddy, Gutherie and Blitz must improve. High hope on Cocky and Lang to deliver next year. Macca was disappointing but he will be better. We are desperate for a CHF, just someone who can contest is good enough for us. Tomahawk needs help. Kersten may be the answer but he needs to play as a CHF and not as a defensive forward. I think he has the talent to do the job for us.

Hope Boris and Bartel continue as they both can offer a lot while still developing the kids. Still champion players so assume we contest for the flag next year (that's the reason we recruited Danger, Hendo and others correct?) they will perform on the big stage. Mackie should retire as Kolo can take his spot and that gives us better balance.

On the coaching staff, pls don't extend Scott's contract. He has done shxt to prove himself yet after enjoyed the free ride with the players to win the premiership in 2011. Honestly I don't think he has many tricks in his bag to take us forward. There's no plan B whatsoever and that's evidenced throughout the season. He makes critical decisions too late (i.e. play Taylor up forward). Don't mind we replace him with someone like Sumich. If we decide keep Scott, must bring in some genuine assistants to help and challenge him. Current brunch are just not up to it.

Still pxssed with the loss because of the way we wasted it. Let's see if gws have the same issue with the bye and get smashed by the doggies in first quarter. I doubt it as this is a mental issue with the cats for the whole season. We don't beat the top 8 teams and then lost to low teams like Carlton, Collingwood and the Saints in one season. That's just insane.

Nonetheless still back the cats to make the GF next season as our A graders can beat anyone on their given days. Just need one or two second tier to take the next level. Let's keep the faith.

Agreed. Note the Doggies did not get swamped in the 1st Qtr...

 

[dazbroncos]

It's just a game of footy. They're not pathetic sad little campaigners just because they post the way they do on an internet forum.

When IMO, and that of plenty of others, the intent is to rile up and poke s**t at those already pissed off by a loss, then yes they are.

Add to the discussion and be pissed off about failures, but 28 weeks of it, accentuated at the losses and weak points of the season - a spade is a spade - particularly when they admit to it themselves.

Go Catters