Are you feeling positive or negative about the 2019 Finals?

How will our finals campaign go?


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Nov 12, 2002
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If the 22 of Geelong play with the intesity of Kamdyn Macintosh from the Tigers, we will cause people problems deep into September.

This bloke is lmited as a player, not great skills or fitness per se.

But he does one thing that gets him a game each week.

Puts his head over it and plays every possession like its his last and is hard as every single time. If our 22 do that - it might not win us every game over the next 6 weeks but it will put us deep into them.


A certain GFC player that has some legend here did the same but I didn't want to go there so I looked outside the 4 walls of KP.

We do that, and we're up to our necks in it. We piss fart around the outside of contests looking for teamates to get it out for us... it wont end well.

If the exasperation of HT after the Lions loss still echoes and resonates with his 21 teammates - we have a good shot. If it's isolated to a few... we are in real Barney.

GO Catters

Exactly this. Watching them yesterday they work so hard together. Their running was relentless. Credit to Brisbane too who almost reeled them in.

Honestly can't see a great deal of difference between the top 3 teams at least (not sure about Collingwood, and we do match up well on them). Just depends who is better on the day.
 

Pollywaffle

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I’m positive we’ll bomb out straight sets, just lack that never say die attitude. Half the team just happy to play AFL and collect their pay check, flags aren’t important.
Hard to tell. I have also commented repeatedly about the ‘cruise mode effect’ which seemed to prevail in recent years.
Was bullish at the front end of the season but we seem to have slowly morphed back to where we were in previous years at this point. Unsettled and inconsistent with a tailing formline.
Still a chance, but can we match the desire of our opponents come big time?
Watching Richmond 1 percenters on Sunday made me less confident.
Intriguing times ahead.
Perhaps master coach Scott will surprise us all with something out of the box. Must surely be feeling the pressure, despite his glib on screen protestations.
May be good in some way (especially as a fan) to go in as finals underdogs.
 

Ray Donovan

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New season my logic from a Geelong perspective is always concerned with a game style that hasn't held up in finals. Slow ball movement lack of genuine line breakers ultra conservative under pressure.

But i have optimism it could turn around i think Collingwood is in a very similar position a season with good and bad form has been a yo-yo re-asserted themselves late against teams well outside the 8.

It's a really good matchup of teams whose strength both lies in the midfield will both defend really well and probably won't score big numbers.

Gary Rohan, Miers, Ablett, Dalhaus, Sav completely new forward line so that gives me cause for optimism.

Just a touch more class add dangerfield in cats achilles heel has been scoring the ball in finals bombing to Hawkins and failing to apply pressure down forward.
 

Cattery

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Jun 13, 2006
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If we can get over Collingwood (50/50 at worst) then potentially a PF "at home" against Brisbane, we probably won't get a better chance of making it through to a GF any time soon, have to make the most of this opportunity.

If the 22 of Geelong play with the intesity of Kamdyn Macintosh from the Tigers, we will cause people problems deep into September.

This bloke is lmited as a player, not great skills or fitness per se.

But he does one thing that gets him a game each week.

Puts his head over it and plays every possession like its his last and is hard as every single time. If our 22 do that - it might not win us every game over the next 6 weeks but it will put us deep into them.

A certain GFC player that has some legend here did the same but I didn't want to go there so I looked outside the 4 walls of KP.

We do that, and we're up to our necks in it. We piss fart around the outside of contests looking for teamates to get it out for us... it wont end well.

If the exasperation of HT after the Lions loss still echoes and resonates with his 21 teammates - we have a good shot. If it's isolated to a few... we are in real Barney.

GO Catters

Insert Luke Dahlhaus for Macintosh and you could make the same argument I reckon.
 

maxy87

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Feb 3, 2009
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Slightly more optimistic than the last few years but generally not holding a huge amount of hope for the finals. Admittedly, I haven’t been as closely engaged this year due to other commitments and being away from it all up in Sydney.

It’s a strange situation when your team finishes top but you’re apprehensive about their chances at the flag. But as others have touched on, the minor premiership is perhaps not a true reflection of the entire season in my opinion. For me it points to our relatively good run with injuries and of course, our ability to win consistently at Kardinia Park. That said, we have played the MCG much better this year than in previous campaigns under Chris Scott, sans 2011.

Big questions for the next 2-3 (maybe 4?) weeks:
• Ruck: Stanley is the pick of our rucks, but he is often beaten at stoppages by quality opponents. Makes up for this somewhat with athleticism around the ground. Can we go deep/win a flag without a strong ruck? Richmond managed it in 2007...

• Forwardline: Structure has been somewhat unsettled this year with Ratagulea in and out of the side. Hawkins has had another great season but his influence is limited when supply dries up and ball movement is stifled further up the ground. The output from the smalls has been patchy towards the back end of the season. Can the smalls like Rohan, Miers, Atkins and Dahlhaus rediscover that relentless tackling pressure from earlier in the season and hit the scoreboard? This will be critical.

• Midfield: this is the biggie for me. Flakey would be the first word that comes to mind. After Dangerfield, Selwood, Ablett and Kelly it drops away quite sharply in terms of ball-winning ability, decision-making, two-way running and toughness (though the aforementioned are all guilty of one-way running as well). I won’t get into the younger guys like Parfitt, Constable etc so much as they’re still developing and I think they have been quite good this year. But I can’t shake this feeling that apart from Dangerfield and Selwood, most of the the other mids don’t like the tough stuff. It’s a feeling I’ve held since about 2013/14 (obviously, Danger wasn’t at the club this far back). Honestly, you just don’t know what you’re going to get from guys like Menegola, Guthrie and (heaven forbid) even Duncan on any given week, let alone in a big final. I’ve seen many an instance in the last few years where some of these guys have gone completely missing when it matters most. The mids will need to reverse a fairly firmly established trend of contested possession deficits when it comes to Geelong finals performances in recent years. If they can, then we’re in with a chance. I’m not holding my breath though.

• Defence - no need to say much here. These guys have been the rock of the side for years. Despite personnel changes over the last few years they have continued to hold the line exceptionally. They won’t be the reason why we don’t reach the summit.

I think we’re in better shape than 2016 and 2017 but probably not as good as 2013. Generally I’m feeling somewhat nonplussed about what I see as largely an “emperor’s new clothes” gamestyle. I have felt this way for about 4-5 years now. The gamestyle allows us to collect wins at Kardinia Park and more often than not can get us enough wins to enable us to play finals. However, it papers over a lot of cracks in our list. Scratch the surface and you’ll see that in many instances it is almost entirely reliant on either Paddy Dangerfield winning enormous amounts of contested football or our defence suffocating the life out of the opposition.
I was pleased to see that we had made some changes over the off season to try and arrest some of these issues. I liked that fact that we moved Menzel on and made efforts to bring in some tackling and scoreboard pressure to our forwardline this year. I think these decisions have unequivocally improved the team, though probably not enough to get us into premiership discussions.

TLDR - I don’t think the Cats will get past the preliminary final, if they get there. Straight sets is also a real possibility and to be honest, I’ve seen enough from the current list and regime to be a little bit “meh” about it all..
 

goyoucatters

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TLDR - I don’t think the Cats will get past the preliminary final, if they get there. Straight sets is also a real possibility and to be honest, I’ve seen enough from the current list and regime to be a little bit “meh” about it all..

The scarring of our recent finals capitulations appears to have run very deep when you can be 'meh' about entering a finals series as minor premiers.

For me, I can understand those who are bullish about our chances, based on the clear improvement in our overall game style this year when compared to recent times. And I can accept (but not agree with) those who are unstintingly dismissive, convinced that this year could only ever result in the same outcome as we have endured in the past few seasons.

To be 'meh' about it all is something else entirely, though. Do you think it's simply psychological self-preservation at work? I certainly told myself twenty minutes into last year's EF that I was simply going to eschew any form of hope whatsoever for any subsequent finals series the GFC ever played. Yet I still find myself building an almost equal measure of expectation and dread as Friday night approaches.

After all, John Cleese was in some small way absolutely correct when he said...

"It's not the despair...I can stand the despair. It's the hope I can't stand."
 
I'm feeling ambivalent, verging on pessimistic. This comes from 7 years of poor finals showings AND reading posts by opposition supporters on BF.

But when I look at some of the "new" names in the Geelong team playing finals this year - Sav, Miers, Atkins, Dahlhaus, Rowan & Narkle, and then add Kelly & Ablett, I am hovering towards "quietly optimistic"
 

goyoucatters

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I'm feeling ambivalent, verging on pessimistic. This comes from 7 years of poor finals showings AND reading posts by opposition supporters on BF.

But when I look at some of the "new" names in the Geelong team playing finals this year - Sav, Miers, Atkins, Dahlhaus, Rowan & Narkle, and then add Kelly & Ablett, I am hovering towards "quietly optimistic"


It's not just the names who come in, though. Based on our named Round 23 2019 team, I also think the names omitted for this year's QF are noteworthy (if you accept Kolo will be an 'in', as a given)...

Out: Abbott, Hendo, Mena, Menz, Murda, Scoots
In: Stanley, Dahl, Miers, Narkle, Rata, Rohan

Apart from Chucky (who I still hope brings some real heat, anyway), I am confident that all of those changes leave us with not just a better 'best 22' player for right now. But also one who is more likely to play at the level required for finals, and not look completely off the pace or overawed.

Put simply, the 22 we put out Friday night will be demonstrably better than last year's finals team. And their collective best will definitely be good enough to win the game.

Of course, whether they actually bring that on the night is another matter entirely.
 

maxy87

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To be 'meh' about it all is something else entirely, though. Do you think it's simply psychological self-preservation at work?
Probably a combination of factors ranging from changing personal circumstances and other priorities that put things into perspective, potential “scarring” from finals capitulations and my own critical lens I apply over most things.
The main thing for me is that I can see a very clear pattern of results established over a substantial and growing sample size. After living through 2007-2011 I like to think I have a fairly solid idea of what a premiership team looks like. This list just isn’t that for me. I know that the 07-11 side was an anomaly but it is still a blueprint of many sorts for the right balance between attack, defence and mongrel. There’s just something about this current crop that is missing and I can’t quite put my finger on it - or perhaps I did in my previous post.
I’ll still watch on Friday with great interest but I won’t lose sleep over the result like I perhaps did in my more formative years.
 

goyoucatters

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Probably a combination of factors ranging from changing personal circumstances and other priorities that put things into perspective, potential “scarring” from finals capitulations and my own critical lens I apply over most things.
The main thing for me is that I can see a very clear pattern of results established over a substantial and growing sample size. After living through 2007-2011 I like to think I have a fairly solid idea of what a premiership team looks like. This list just isn’t that for me. I know that the 07-11 side was an anomaly but it is still a blueprint of many sorts for the right balance between attack, defence and mongrel. There’s just something about this current crop that is missing and I can’t quite put my finger on it - or perhaps I did in my previous post.
I’ll still watch on Friday with great interest but I won’t lose sleep over the result like I perhaps did in my more formative years.


How much of your sense that this is not a 'premiership team' like the '07 - '11 incarnation is a result of the changes in football across the comp since then, though? That was a simply phenomenal team, admittedly. But they played at the end of an era where the eventual strangulation of the game to within an inch of its life hadn't quite taken hold.

Given the way the game is coached now, I actually think it's virtually impossible for any team to create the same kind of aura that our boys enjoyed during those years. The Tigers would be the closest thing going around now.

But when your 'brand' is little more than 'Ultimate Mugby', it lacks the same lustre for mine.
 

Baby Duck

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We have just spent the last 8 years lulling everyone into a false sense of security. All our rivals will be licking their lips at the prospect of playing us, thinking we will start the game like a flaming dumpster rolling down a staircase...nah seriously, I am cautiously optimistic. The Pies were probably the best matchup for us. If we can start the game strongly with 5 opening quarter goals I will be much calmer. All these finals where we have been reactionary from the first bounce has left mental scars.

On SM-G955F using BigFooty.com mobile app
 
After living through 2007-2011 I like to think I have a fairly solid idea of what a premiership team looks like.
I wonder what the posters on this board were saying after 2008 ? No doubt lots of positive upbeat comments about looking forward to next year ...........
 

maxy87

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How much of your sense that this is not a 'premiership team' like the '07 - '11 incarnation is a result of the changes in football across the comp since then, though? That was a simply phenomenal team, admittedly. But they played at the end of an era where the eventual strangulation of the game to within an inch of its life hadn't quite taken hold.

Given the way the game is coached now, I actually think it's virtually impossible for any team to create the same kind of aura that our boys enjoyed during those years. The Tigers would be the closest thing going around now.

But when your 'brand' is little more than 'Ultimate Mugby', it lacks the same lustre for mine.
I think that is a really valid point. I try to tell myself that it’s just me and my perspective shifting but I can’t help but feel that footy has lost a lot of its uniqueness and charm over the last decade or so. The game has changed rapidly and is almost unrecognisable in parts to how it was played during the Cats’ golden era.
That being said, there’s still something about this current team that doesn’t quite feel ‘complete’, irrespective of the style the game is played in nowadays. As I’ve said, the midfield rotations are shallow for example. I’m really loathe to use the term ‘soft’ or heaven forbid the “h” word but I’m getting close. Our book ends are really solid - our top 5-6 are A graders and the bottom 5-6 play their role. It’s the mid-tier that I feel is comprised of very limited (often recycled and mature-aged) middle of the road players, some that were not drafted at 18 years old for a reason (e.g. Menegola) and others that we gave way too much away for (e.g.Stanley) all in the aim of staying “up there” for what I see are corporate objectives rather than footy department objectives.
We have done really well to generally maintain relevance and competitiveness in an era of free agency and the like. But I question to what end it is all for when I can’t see the summit. This is why I can’t get too enthused I’m afraid to say.
 
No surprises that I am feeling closer to pessimism that optimism.
As one who has felt that we do have a middle of the road list (6-10), I can only laud what CS has been able to do with this list so far.
Without the herculean efforts of Danger, I think we could struggle, and go out in 2. He is a rare talent, and we are lucky we have him, ditto Ablett. Those 2 seem to be on a mission, But it is the lesser lights that concern me when the heat and pressure is on. The frenetic pressure that teams like Pies, Dogs and Tigers can bring on has been our undoing.
We seemed to have answers for this up to round 12- so some hope. But deeper analysis of many of those wins suggests those wins were at times those teams were NQR- and that is legitimate.
*Pies started their preseason well after us- we were primed.
*WCE were hungover.
*Dogs lost the game in the last Q, at Geelong, and since then, seem to have found a much better avenue to goals.
*Tigers were severely depleted.
Our second half season form has been consistently inconsistent, but great wins v NM and Carlton, at Geelong does offer another glimmer of hope.
The prefinals bye has to be faced by all finals teams- not my biggest concern yet.
If we are in the contest at 3Q time, we are in with a big chance this week.
Then a new set of issues.
 
Last edited:

Herne Hill Hammer

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Positive, despite a lot of you having a crack at my posts and my thread regarding playing bruise free footy since the bye.

They're at least trying something different to beat this stupid bloody bye hoodoo.

I would say the gf is a pass but since I've posted repeatedly that we'll win it if we get there, then a flag has to be the pass mark for me.

We won't go out in straight sets because we haven't lost 2nd up from a bye since the '08 gf. A bad pf loss would be a disaster and Scott should walk if that were to happen.

I think the hardest to beat will be Western Bulldogs, but I guess they have been our finals bunnies since the mid 70s.

We'll see.
 
I don't get the relief that we are playing Pies. Their mids are extraordinary, their ruck is potentially the finals MVP, their small forwards are second to none, they're at home after a week off to get their injured ones up to scratch. If they beat us this week, I think and hope they go all the way, should we not make it.
 
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After living through 2007-2011 I like to think I have a fairly solid idea of what a premiership team looks like. This list just isn’t that for me.

A premiership team will always look different due to the relativity of the competition though.

I think this season is one of the more even in the last 20 or so years. There are teams that missed out on finals that could beat anyone on their day.

This is why I think we can win it. We may not look like a premiership team a la 2007 but neither do the competition.
 

Max Milburn

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No surprises that I am feeling closer to pessimism that optimism.
As one who has felt that we do have a middle of the road list (6-10), I can only laud what CS has been able to do with this list so far.
Without the herculean efforts of Danger, I think we could struggle, and go out in 2. He is a rare talent, and we are lucky we have him, ditto Ablett. Those 2 seem to be on a mission, But it is the lesser lights that concern me when the heat and pressure is on. The frenetic pressure that teams like Pies, Dogs and Tigers can bring on has been our undoing.
We seemed to have answers for this up to round 12- so some hope. But deeper analysis of many of those wins suggests those wins were at times those teams were NQR- and that is legitimate.
Pies started their preseason well after us- we were primed.
WCE were hungover.
Dogs lost the game in the last Q, at Geelong, and seem to have found a much better avenue to goals.
Tigers were severely depleted.
Our second half season form has been consistently inconsistent, but great wins v NM and Carlton, at Geelong does offer another glimmer of hope.
The prefinals bye has to be faced by all finals teams- not my biggest concern yet.
If we are in the contest at 3Q time, we are in with a big chance this week.
Then a new set of issues.
Cheer up mate. We don't play every team in the eight.
 

maxy87

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A premiership team will always look different due to the relativity of the competition though.

I think this season is one of the more even in the last 20 or so years. There are teams that missed out on finals that could beat anyone on their day.

This is why I think we can win it. We may not look like a premiership team a la 2007 but neither do the competition.
This is a valid point. Perhaps the new landscape of free agency, a diluted talent pool and a distorted draft makes the concept of a premiership ‘window’ redundant. In its place are a dozen or so teams scrambling each year for the prize..
In saying that, I still feel that, notwithstanding the shortcomings of the other contenders, we lack some components that most premiership teams have. For example, we lack a decent ruck, a consistent centre half forward, polish and pace on the outside of the contest, a strong small defender. But I think the midfield is the canary in the coal mine, really.
 
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