Bottom Line

[MarkT2]

Cats have it in the bag unless something goes badly astray at their end. We have to be there - be second best and ready to pounce - just in case things do go south for them.

Right now we are second option with Dogs looking for the key and Saints looking for Roo. Luckily for us the Saints coach decimated the list by telling them they were a one man side because pound for pound they are 3 miles in front of us.

So how do we maximise our options?

Firstly Presti has to be there.
Secondly, McCaffer has to not be there. Maybe next year but not this one!
After that it starts to get Hazzyyy.

O'Bree? Anthony? Fraser? Wood? Goldsack? All have claims but flaws. I feel like Medhust is a must but somethings missing with him.

Do we try and get one from left field? Josh Thomas?

Do we pick 22 and stay with them if fit? There is something in that IMO.

Has anyone got any inspiration?

We are an inch away but need to make up a mile!

 

[Wooljay]

Picking 22 and sticking with it doesn't work, MM has always played horses for courses and will continue to do so. All the club can do is play the best possible team depending on our opposition, and manage the players to the best of their ability. Presti is obviously being heavily managed, but I think we dearly need him back in the side. We also need to play people on form, give players chances, but don't let them drag down our side with repeat poor performances.

 

[The Royal Sampler]

I don't know if the powers-that-be are playing ducks and drakes, because it's clear we've improved and yet we've played so poorly against last year's GF teams. We have been hammered by Hawthorn the last few years, routinely losing by 10 goals, and yet we turned around that result this year.

However, we've only managed 4 and 6 goals against St. Kilda and Geelong this year, playing a defensive gamestyle and a small forwardline. For some reason, perhaps the desire to play our cards close to our chest, we haven't employed our usual gamestyle against these two teams (ie. 3 marking forwards as is the norm), and the result has been some disappointing and inaccurate losses.

 

[Yam yam]

What a grim outlook.

We have alot of improving to do, and this is what the H&A season is for. In the end, come finals time, it doesn't matter where you finished, it only matters that you're there.

Form also fluctuates constantly, to say the cats need a drastic slump imo is giving them a little too much credit. Alot of things can change between now and September, to say they have it 'in the bag' is rash and premature.

 

[Thommo 42]

I didn't think we were that far off.

Jolly needs to sort out why he keeps getting penalised for stuff he was free to do at Sydney and eliminate it from his game so he can compete the way he should and not be beaten by a hack like Blake.

We need Medhurst in for Macaffer

We need Dick in the side and fit, at this stage unfortunately I think that should be at the expense of Davis.

Presti in for Brown and Fraser in for Wood, both slight upgrades that can make the difference in a close game.

All of the above can close that gap imo.

 

[Lockyer24]

Against the Saints and Cats, we got too defensive, and obviously didn't take our chances when they presented themselves. In terms of providing scoreboard pressure to the opposition when we had long periods of ball control, we couldn't have been any worse.

We have been winning games playing attacking footy, pushing numbers forward and owning our half of the ground and keeping the ball there. Against the Cats it was noticeable that we were trusting our forwards to kick us a score, long bombing it to them in 1 on 2 situations. We also fell into bad habit of predictably using the boundary line.
We need to hold onto the ball and move it through the middle and not release until a good option opens up inside 50. If the opposition crowds back you bang it over their head and have a ping. (We probably need more long kicking zonebusters)

The Cats have an excellent defensive structure both in terms of personnel and systematic blocking up of space.

It's a fine balancing act though playing attacking footy, not to get caught out on the counter attack. Geelong cutting us up through the middle when we were on the back foot was the difference in the end. Taking our chances and being a bit smarter will reduce these opportunities they get to hurt us back the other way, and all of a sudden those 6 scoring shots they had more than us may start to swing back out way.

The Cats game this year was the first game we lost on the scoring shot count.

 

[StillWaiting5689]

Cats have it in the bag unless something goes badly astray at their end.

Don't know about this, they should be favourites but I don't think that it is simply theirs to lose. I think if we play at our best we can beat them - it is not a matter of them just screwing it all up somehow.

 

[THATSGOLD]

you can't just sit there and say its only us and geelong!
western bulldogs?? st kilda??

 

[MarkT2]

....perhaps the desire to play our cards close to our chest.....

Naive and optomistic. It doesn't happen.

We tried our best against the best and came up short. Saints have fallen away and we'd have then covered right now.

 

[MarkT2]

In the end, come finals time, it doesn't matter where you finished, it only matters that you're there.

What matters most of all is who has the best players. Geelong have them. We need luck. That's just how it is. What we need to do is maximise our chances and be ready if the door becomes ajar.

 

[MarkT2]

Don't know about this, they should be favourites but I don't think that it is simply theirs to lose. I think if we play at our best we can beat them - it is not a matter of them just screwing it all up somehow.

If we play to our best and Geelong play to their best we lose every time. No debate IMO. If we play to our best and they aren't there or they aren't at their best maybe we win. Good chance IMO. That's our lot for 2010. It's up on prior years - well up. We weren't in the ballpark until this year.

The point of the thread though was how do we put ourselves in the best position?

 

[StillWaiting5689]

You could say the same about the Saints as well. But very rarely would two sides play their best for four quarters. Usually if a team is playing their best it is at the expense of the other teams. If we played our best I highly doubt Geelong would be as well. It comes down to who wants it more and who is willing to do the hard things as well as skill execution and gameplan. I think with each of the top four teams being able to beat each other if they play well it becomes more than a 50% mental game for the players.

 

[Quicky]

We need to sort out our midfield and get Pendles and Wellingham in the guts and O'Bree out.

Presti back in defence will lift our team. Maxy, Harry and Shaw can improve their performances.

We need Davis to lift and get back to good form.

Medhurst back in the team is a definite as a third tall target. Dicks forward pressure is also missed and will allow Davis more midfield time.

I think we need to decide whether Dawes or Anthony is our better second KPF. Anthony I rate more highly but Dawes seems to fit in structurally better. Can we have all three with a second ruck (Wood or Fraser) dropped?? Or would we be better with another runner??

I don't think we are as far off as Geelong as Fridays performance seems to suggest. Most of all I think we just need to back our gameplan and take risks moving the ball. If we don't do this Geelongs backline is simply too strong and we'll lose every time. It's the teams that take risks and have a fanatical attack at the ball that have upset Geelong and this is what we need to focus on I think.

 

[daics cousin]

You how to beat the cats and stkilda.Play attacking footy,and tackle tackle ,tackle them,dump them into the turf.
Then kick straight and make the most of our opportunities....Hurt them on the score board,before they hurts us.Must play hard tough unsociable footy.

Its as simple as that.If they play their zoning game,or posseion footy,man up straight away man on man force them to kick to a contest,and never i say never leave players like scarlett unattended,make them accountable.

This will go a long way to beating both these sides,An example,when was the last time we beat geelong wasn't it 2 years ago when we destroyed them by 86 points.Cast your minds back to how we played that game.

 

[Old Spice]

Not a simple equation of Cats best team so can beat anyone else. Carlton beat both Geelong and Saints and lost to Essendon and Hawks. It's a bit scissor-paper-rocky.

Something about Carlton's small forward line and direct drive from the centre through the middle and into the forward line creates issues and spreads Geelong's defence.

I've been very happy with the use of the press this year, but against Geelong we certainly went wide. My suspicion is that players didn't want to be the ones to turn it over going into the corridor so played it safe along the boundary line.

The result of that of course is to create issues for our forward line. Kicking from the boundary line means we only have access to, at best, 40% of the space in our forward 50.

Obviously the longer the kick from the boundary toward centre half forward, the longer the hang-time, which gives a floating defender more time to chop it off and kick it back into the middle - an area which was vacated on the way in.

Conversely, if you can send it forward somewhere within the corridor, the forwards can lead to most parts of the forward 50 and stretch the defence, giving our forwards one on ones and allowing mids to rush in.

That's what we need in my view to beat the Cats, but easier said than done.

 

[Pie eyed]

The bottom line is Collingwood have played 3 bad games from 9.
We squandered opportunities to actually win two of them, against the two Grand Finalists, and were lucky to beat Melbourne who came out like a top 4 side against the popular wisdom.

The side has 13 round to firstly establish a final 4, then lock in a top 2 position.

Then and only then will our form against the other finalists and specifically top 4 sides matter a hoot.

We the supporters should be looking at the whole season not a few single games in isolation. I'm sure this is what the coaches and players are focussed on once a game is played.

 

[daics cousin]

Yes well Mark Thompson the way he has been acting and talking lately leads me to believe he thinks he has the flag in the bag.

I noticed in a lot of interviews he is way too relaxed......So Geelong are May premiers..............i wouldn't get too relaxed quite yet mark !

Ablett has one foot in the door at geelong and one foot out the door,


Here's why Ablett will leave

Has won 2 flags with the cats !Still at the cats this yaer hoping to make it three.

Has won norm smith medal and brownlow medal at geelong.Achieved the pinnacle.

Is no longer with his girlfriend,his father lives up North,his brother has signed with the Gold Coast......Nothing left at geelong for him which is family related,

Has been offered 2 million in his first year,with 1.5 million per year for 3 years.

Will most likely capt Gold Coast.

Have a relaxed life style up north without the scrutiny he gets in Melbourne.

Collingwood will defeat Geelong in the 2010 Grand final.

i rest my case.

 

[Quicky]

Ablett has one foot in the door at geelong and one foot out the door,

Here's why Ablett will leave

Has won 2 flags with the cats !Still at the cats this yaer hoping to make it three.

Has won norm smith medal and brownlow medal at geelong.Achieved the pinnacle.

Is no longer with his girlfriend,his father lives up North,his brother has signed with the Gold Coast......Nothing left at geelong for him which is family related

The bolded bit isn't true. His mum still lives on the surfcoast.

 

[The Royal Sampler]

Naive and optomistic. It doesn't happen.

We tried our best against the best and came up short. Saints have fallen away and we'd have then covered right now.

I agree, but I'm miffed as to why we've only played two marking targets against those two teams and three or more against everyone else. Only Cloke and Medhurst played against St. Kilda, and only Cloke and Dawes played against Geelong. I think Medhurst and or Anthony would be handy inclusions but for some reason we've gone with a smaller forward line.

 

[Pie eyed]

Naive and optomistic. It doesn't happen.

We tried our best against the best and came up short. Saints have fallen away and we'd have then covered right now.

True we tried our best, but the result was far from our best.
I see us as far closer to the Cats and Saints than the two results show.

The matches in the second half of the season will tell more.

 

[loki04]

I don't know if the powers-that-be are playing ducks and drakes, because it's clear we've improved and yet we've played so poorly against last year's GF teams. We have been hammered by Hawthorn the last few years, routinely losing by 10 goals, and yet we turned around that result this year.

However, we've only managed 4 and 6 goals against St. Kilda and Geelong this year, playing a defensive gamestyle and a small forwardline. For some reason, perhaps the desire to play our cards close to our chest, we haven't employed our usual gamestyle against these two teams (ie. 3 marking forwards as is the norm), and the result has been some disappointing and inaccurate losses.

We played a Hawthorn team that had 10 players on its injury list, 6-8 best 22 players and 1 that routinely carves us up in Franklin out.

We have bridged the gap on the Hawks but I wouldn't read too much into that particular game.

As far as our chances this year go we are a top 4 side in the hunt but all things being equal Geelong are definite favorites.

 

[The Royal Sampler]

^ True dat. Aside from that game, we've gone backwards about 7 points on our H & A game vs. the Cats, and improved about 7-8 goals on our early season result last year against the Saints... very hard to get a decent read on where we're at.

 

[Number 10]

The upside is - Apparently BEAMSY IS HAVING A BABY (well maybe)!! ha, apparently he went out with the St Kilda slapper. Hopefully SHE was good at footy at those clinics.

hehe

 

[daics_35]

Ablett has 3 more weeks till he has to tell Geelong of his plans. If he decides to leave Geelong i think it could derail their season and it will affect the coach because he will be coaching someone who he knows wont be at Geelong next year. That could benifit us. I think that we havnt put our best 22 against the Saints, Cats and even the dogs in round 1 becuase Mick knows if we are up there in the Prelim we have to have a few tricks up oursleaves. So atm i dont care who we lose to (except carltank) as long as we are top 2 at the end of the season. Then its our time to shine.

 

[Swooper18]

Steve Johnson (2007), Luke Hodge (2008) & Paul Chapman are the last three winners of the Norm Smith Medal. Sorry daics cousin, you need to sharpen up, or I will type the facts that are correct.