Roast Andrew Mackie

[Partridge]

It would seem a few fans here are less than totally thrilled with Andrew Mackie's game against Fremantle last night, in particular with his disposal and decision making.

Speaking for a minority of Geelong supporters, I don't want to say I told you so, but .........I told you so.

When I make statements about players, I try to keep it clear and unambiguous. I use plain English. I saw Mackie in the NAB Cup against St.Kilda and didn't see any improvement at all. I saw him against Carlton against Princes Park and it was the same. Last night hopefully has woken up everyone to reality.

His kicking for a professional footballer is nothing short of disgraceful. It got to the point last night I was closing my eyes every time he got the ball, so badly he was butchering it. Not to mention his absolute inability to keep his feet when tackling someone, I just cannot see how he can keep his spot with Scarlett and hopefully Lonergan to return.

Very curious to see what possible grounds there are for retaining him, given his (very) current woeful form.

 

[Rellik666]

I only saw the first half and he was woeful, did he improve at all?

Some of the newer members of the team certainly showed him up on Saturday!

 

[Hinkley29]

Mackie was ordinary, and seemed to be trying to butcher the ball every time he got it. Was heart in mouth stuff at times. I agree his head is squarely on the block at the selection table this week.

However, if we are really being fair dinkum, this roast thread should be about Pods. His game on Saturday night was just diabolical. If I didn't know better, I would have sworn that he was crook as he just seemed lethargic and disinterested. I know it was his first game back and all, but he should go out for Moons this week. They have obviously decided that Hawkins is the second ruck, and I actually thought he showed some decent signs this week. So that means that it is Pods vs Moons for the key forward target, and Moons game against St Kilda was farrrrr better than Pods against Freo. Pods needs to go back to the VFL and get some form before coming back.

 

[SJ]

He was awful.

Not sure why we still have him running around on the last line of defence. We don't need him there and he just gives up the ball so often.

Put him on the wing where he has less accountability, more space and a greater chance to hurt the opposition going forward.

Or drop him.

 

[Vdubs]

Agree, his kicking was atrocious and he had 4 clangers out of 21 possessions. He was aware of this himself and was apologising to teammates several times. That kicking under pressure will ONLY improve in the 1's, and he is too good at directing play, and getting the ball to drop at this stage.

Extra training and drilling this week is imperative

He scores 82 each week so far in DT, which I don't get into, but there are clearly worse players, and with Scarlett/Loners back, Mackie could be more useful on the ball.

So I am in the minority but he must remain in the team at least this week and he will be very important against Hawks, again.

 

[DanA]

I just don't like the way he plays football.

He's a seagull on the edge of packs
Easily knocked off the ball
Weak in marking contests
And doen't tackle with any ferocity

If he wants to play such a heavily outside role then his disposal needs to be spot on and it hasn't been great for some time. I just can't see what he brings to the table at the moment.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

Agree, his kicking was atrocious and he had 4 clangers out of 21 possessions. He was aware of this himself and was apologising to teammates several times. That kicking under pressure will ONLY improve in the 1's, and he is too good at directing play, and getting the ball to drop at this stage.

Extra training and drilling this week is imperative

He scores 82 each week so far in DT, which I don't get into, but there are clearly worse players, and with Scarlett/Loners back, Mackie could be more useful on the ball.

So I am in the minority but he must remain in the team at least this week and he will be very important against Hawks, again.

Look, it's nice of him to apologise and everything, but that counts for naught when he does the very same thing with the next kick. Apologise/don't apologise...doesn't matter. But what you must not do is make an error again with your next kick. And you afford Bartel the opportunity to fix up an issue he's got in the seniors. Or Chapman. Or Enright. Or Johnson. A clearly marginal best 22 player does not have that right. Otherwise we'd be persisting with Hogan while he learns to go with the first option, or Shannon Byrnes a few years back when he simply could not kick straight, or Kane Tenace until his skills finally became commensurate with his speed.

I'm not anti-Mackie. I won't get a buzz if he plays against Port and does poorly, so I can say I told you so. If he isn't dropped, I would love nothing more than for him to stick it back in our faces with six months of his 2009 vintage. I know how valuable he can be. Which is why it's so frustrating to see the way he has played for a full year now. Get back to the seconds and get yourself back to the Mackie of old. Pretty please.

 

[JUBJUB]

and people were shocker last year he was dropped.Still shocked ?
He's a lazy footballer who plays half arsed.His kicking on saturday night showed that.

 

[vinum coupe]

I wasn't shocked last year at all.

And I think he's playing a whole lot better this year.
If he didn't kick those shockers we wouldn't even have anything negative to say.

Haters gonna hate

 

[SJ]

I wasn't shocked last year at all.

And I think he's playing a whole lot better this year.
If he didn't kick those shockers we wouldn't even have anything negative to say.

Haters gonna hate

Strangest argument I've heard for a long time.

'If he didn't play badly we wouldn't be able to criticise him.'

 

[Hinkley29]

I wasn't shocked last year at all.

And I think he's playing a whole lot better this year.
If he didn't kick those shockers we wouldn't even have anything negative to say.

Haters gonna hate

But that is the point.

If your role is as a loose half back, and you are butchering the ball, then you are going to kill your team.

Maybe he is just being played out of position, but it is absolutely fair to question the place of a loose half back who keeps turning it over in dangerous spots.

 

[Craigyboy]

TBH I don't mind him overall.....Absolute shocker on Saturday Night though - clearly lacking confidence, because that's the only way you can explain three miss kicks in a row. He is capable of much better, which he has displayed in the past.

There are one or two others Players in the current side that are performing far worse. I'm more inclined to lose patience with them as opposed to Mackie. Tom Hawkins I'm looking at you.

 

[bobbycatsfanme]

I'm one of the supporters who like him and believe he's far too valuable to drop to the reserves. I would have him infront of Josh Hunt and Tom Lonergan because of his deceptive pace, size and marking. He is also a massive roast of the footy especially when getting on the end of a pass and kicking goals from outside 50 on the run. You look through the entire list of AFL players and name another key backman who has yet to play 150 games and kicked 64 goals and I doubt there would be many that have. At 26 years of age he's had an excellent start in his career and only recently has he started to lack confidence in his game for whatever reason we aren't sure. He's been a huge part of our dominance and this is just a hurdle he will soon get over and pretty confident will prove the doubters wrong come seasons end.
Don't crucify him because of his game on Saturday but rather give him 4 weeks of footy to run into good form as most players in the league will need considering the big pre-season these guys have had. You probably say "exactly he's has a big pre-season" but they are on a program that is specifically based to ensure peak physical fitness finally starts paying off in late August and September. The early matches are the games they should be losing but luckily we still good enough to scrape through so give him a month and you'll see

 

[vinum coupe]

Strangest argument I've heard for a long time.

'If he didn't play badly we wouldn't be able to criticise him.'

I know.

But it's not that he doesn't run, get into position. Be defensive etc. etc.
His disposal was crap, and yes it's worthy of criticism.

Last year I was one of the knockers about his disposal. And others said his weapon is his long range quality kicking !!!

What I am getting at is that his overall game is not crap. Drop him. I don't care. But people don't watch footy if they think he isn't a bloody good footballer. He did a lot of very, very good things on Saturday and then completely rooted them with the kicks.

Eliminate poor kicks and he has the ability to open teams up.

 

[SJ]

Only kicked 12 goals from his past 53 games though.

I agree with you that this is where he can hurt the opposition, one of the reasons why I'd move him out of defence and onto a wing.

 

[bobbycatsfanme]

has he ever started a game forward? I don't think I have ever seen him go forward and stay there for a quarter of footy. He reads the play perfectly so finding the pill is no worry

 

[darren forssman]

has he ever started a game forward? I don't think I have ever seen him go forward and stay there for a quarter of footy. He reads the play perfectly so finding the pill is no worry

back in the early days, think he kicked 3 or 4 in a quarter against norf in his first or second season.

 

[bobbycatsfanme]

no he didn't darren you shitting me right? 3 goals in a quarter from Mackie....why the **** isn't he still playing forward if your are genuine?

 

[thejester]

I thought he played pretty well if you ignore his kicking. I know that's a bit like saying Twilight is good if you ignore the vampire teen romance, but still. Has obviously lost confidence in his own footskills, not sure if dropping him to the reserves is the answer tho.

 

[Vdubs]

no he didn't darren you shitting me right? 3 goals in a quarter from Mackie....why the **** isn't he still playing forward if your are genuine?

Too right he did , I was there. Got 3 early goals almost effortlessly. Got absolutely crunched after set up by a Ben Graham hospital pass, got injured, missed some footy, reinvented himself on the wing then as an attacking HBF, and the rest is history. I would love to see him on the ball, running into goal, getting some confidence back.

 

[ATSAM]

Always been a high turner over of the ball. always. But that wasn't why he was dropped for the finals last year. That remains a mystery because he hadn't ever been dropped before. One of Thompsons great moves!!!
But always thought that Mackie was better on the wing or as a forward anyway.

 

[_cam]

I'd play him as the sub this week, just to show him his at risk of being dropped. If he doesn't make some kind of impact when he gets subbed on throw him back in the 2s

 

[year of the cat]

In 2007 he was one of the elite kicks in the team. His 50m plus passes from the half back line were a thing of beauty. He has the ability. What seems to have happened is either he has dropped in confidence or he has a lack of care now with his disposal.

What I can't stand is the indiscriminate kicks out of defence which Partridge is referring to. Those kicks where he tries a torpedo from the last line or in the prelim final last year when he just kicked it off the ground in the back half straight to a pies player that in turn resulted in a goal. It's this lack of care that pisses me off. The guy has the ability to make good decisions but at the moment too often he is having massive brain fades. To me that is an attitude problem.

 

[darren forssman]

Too right he did , I was there. Got 3 early goals almost effortlessly. Got absolutely crunched after set up by a Ben Graham hospital pass, got injured, missed some footy, reinvented himself on the wing then as an attacking HBF, and the rest is history. I would love to see him on the ball, running into goal, getting some confidence back.

was it his first or second season?

i think he told bummer that he didnt want to play forward and that caused the reinvention.

 

[JUBJUB]

has he ever started a game forward? I don't think I have ever seen him go forward and stay there for a quarter of footy. He reads the play perfectly so finding the pill is no worry

He's rarely played forward since Ben Graham nearly had him killed in a game at the MCG