Cats and the Bye - Some Numbers

The bye seems to be as much a mental switch off as a physical one.

There were a lot of our blokes blowing really hard 10 mins into the first 1/4.

Our fitness is fine overall - but it seems that first game back after a break the 10% drop in intensity ( which is all it needs to be) these days) is enough to make us look like crap - and we are crap playing like that.

I dont begrudge the players and coaches the week off - or the ability to get away from it all for a few days as its essential IMO - and being in a business of 24/7/365 I get the need perhaps more than most to be able to shutdown and get away from it.

All that said, something has to change.

Bombers was 7-4 I think in his time at GFC and he said in 360 it was murder getting them back motivated.

Makes me think its totally mental. You dont drop the level of conditioning these blokes have in a week. Getting them "turned back on" seems to be the issue IMO.

They need and earn the switch off - getting the bastards back online has been the epic fail.

And massive kudos to Herne Hill Hammer for work here.

GO Catters
 

H E Pennypacker

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2013 v Brisbane @ GABBA round 13, we were 2nd with 10 wins, they were 4th last with 3 wins. Brisbane 15.13 103 d Geelong 14.14 98. McGrath's 200th. Geelong pretty comfortably in front all day. Brisbane kick 8.5 to 1.4 in the last with McGrath kicking the winner.

Followed up the loss with a 41 point win over Freo @ Kardinia.


2014 v North @ Docklands round 19, we were 3rd with 13 wins, North were 6th with 10 wins. Geelong 16.15 111 d North 10.19 79. This is a win for the Cats, don't know why I haven't picked it up before. We played round 18 that year on 19 Jul v GWS and played round 19 on 02 Aug. That's a 14 day break. Geelong pretty comfortable after a close first quarter.

Followed up that game with a 2pt win over Freo at Kardinia. It was a battle for 3rd spot on the ladder. Freo had a much superior percentage.


2016 v Sydney @ Kardinia round 16, both teams on 10 wins sitting 2nd and 4th respectively. Geelong 9.6 60 lost to Sydney 15.8 98. No big starts or surges, Sydney just pull out a goal or 2 each quarter.

Followed up the loss with a 17 point win over Freo @ Subiaco.


2017 v WCE @ Subiaco round 13, lost to WCE @ Subiaco. WCE kick 7.9 to 2.3 in the first half.

Is this a good omen? Do we follow this up with yet another win over Freo after the loss following the bye?
 
What do you blokes mean by attitude? I didn't see that as a problem at all last night,thought the endeavour was there but the skill and execution was the missing link.
When I say attitude that probably isn't the right word for it. I'm sure they are there to play, I'm just not sure they are as wired in as they are on the back of repetitive weeks playing.
And that contributes to the fumbles, sloppy play etc. We generally settle after a bit when back into it properly and make some sort of a challenge
 
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One thing I notice is that over the bye weekend all of the big guns head to nice warm parts of Australia and post to social media lying by the pool, at the beach, etc. Obviously that's what the CBA entitles them to do but if I was in the leadership group next year I'd be doing a "voluntary" training/bonding weekend in Geelong.

I heard someone say about the departure times , and what time they are back at the club... some clubs hang around other depart immediately and are back earlier. Must be something to do with what the group are doing

But in the end .. they must really care to much or they would have changed and beaten it by now.
 

BotsMaster

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I posted in the review thread about the lack of preparation.

Four days prep is all we had once the players returned from their compulsory break. Would have been interesting how the game would have played out if it was scheduled on the weekend and not a Thursday night.
Then the club should have organised the players break much better.
 
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Then the club should have organised the players break much better.

The fixturing didn't help either. Thursday night, in Perth, the longest away trip in the game.

Maybe someone with a greater knowledge of the players' CBA can tell us, how much time the players must have away from the club during bye weeks?
 
Benjamin Franklin once said "in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."

I'd like to change that quote to "in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes and Geelong losing after the bye."
 

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In the period 2011 until now, here is every other club's record coming off a bye.
Hawthorn 7/1
West Coast Eagles 6/3
Adelaide 5/3
Fremantle 5/3
Nice work with the stats Hammer!!

Although, I read these stats differently. I don't see this as a Geelong problem, I see this as an AFL problem. When only 4 out of 18 clubs have a positive win loss ratio then questions need to be asked about the staggered bye. If clubs are being disadvantaged by having a week off against a club who played the previous week then the simple solution to level the playing field would be to set aside a weekend where all clubs have the bye. This will never happen when a billion dollar TV rights deal is in place demanding games to be televised every week.

As for the Cats record after the bye, I agree it is one of the worst in the comp but those games were against sides similarly placed on the ladder. I would not expect us to win them all anyway. The only real shock was the Brissy loss. You should never lose a game when you are 40-50 points and I would suggest the blames lies elsewhere for this loss.
 
#analysis

http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/19693539/afl-footy-forensics-matt-cowgill-effects-byes

Geelong's post-bye woes seem less worrying the closer we look. Winning only one out of four games that you were predicted to win -- as Geelong have after the bye -- is a result that could easily arise due to random chance and other factors that have nothing to do with a week off.

r222544_1295x863_3-2.png

SOURCE: AFLTABLES.COM. NOTE THAT GEELONG'S 2015 BYE PRECEDED THE CANCELLED GAME.
 

Herne Hill Hammer

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Another bye, another loss.

Still haven't lost 2nd up so absolute morals against the Swans on Thursday.
 

Spazz Cat

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Don't worry about it. It's not a problem. Last year CS said we beat Hawthorn in a final after a week off in 2016 so it's not an issue.
How dare any of you pretend to know more than the club.
 

AlcoaCat

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One thing I notice is that over the bye weekend all of the big guns head to nice warm parts of Australia and post to social media lying by the pool, at the beach, etc. Obviously that's what the CBA entitles them to do but if I was in the leadership group next year I'd be doing a "voluntary" training/bonding weekend in Geelong.

Absolutely right. They're pros. The rest of the herd (us) have to work through a grim Melbourne winter; why can't they? They know they will be playing in tough conditions after a break, so far better that they go surfing down in Torquay and get arseholed at Scarlo's than swanning up to the epicentre of loserdom (the Gold Coast) to mentally and physically check out.

Cheap aphorism for the day: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
 
Absolutely right. They're pros. The rest of the herd (us) have to work through a grim Melbourne winter; why can't they? They know they will be playing in tough conditions after a break, so far better that they go surfing down in Torquay and get arseholed at Scarlo's than swanning up to the epicentre of loserdom (the Gold Coast) to mentally and physically check out.

Cheap aphorism for the day: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
Heh. That post was 12 months old but just as relevant today.
 

Herne Hill Hammer

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Another bye, another loss.

Still haven't lost 2nd up so absolute morals against the Swans on Thursday.

You're welcome. I hope some of you got on them. :D

The tweet you posted isn't quite correct catempire , the game after the bye in 2015 was the abandoned Adelaide game, so the first game Geelong played after the bye was a 41 point loss to North. The 2nd game was a win against Footscray.
 
You're welcome. I hope some of you got on them. :D

The tweet you posted isn't quite correct catempire , the game after the bye in 2015 was the abandoned Adelaide game, so the first game Geelong played after the bye was a 41 point loss to North. The 2nd game was a win against Footscray.
When these things are accurate, I take credit. Errors are always someone else’s!
 

BotsMaster

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Don't worry about it. It's not a problem. Last year CS said we beat Hawthorn in a final after a week off in 2016 so it's not an issue.
How dare any of you pretend to know more than the club.
Didn't he say after the Footscray game that we're not going to pretend it's not an issue?
 

goyoucatters

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Oh it is an issue now? 7 years must be the minimum research time.

It's clearly been an issue for some years.

Scott simply clarified that the club is no longer going to pretend that it's not an issue.

Many will ridicule him for coming out and saying it.

I, for one, am glad that it is finally getting named for the clear train-wreck that it is.

It's hard to envisage an end to this H&A season that doesn't see that result against the Dogs costing us dearly when it comes to our finals destiny this year.

That, and the moderated 'effort' relative to opponents, have both been rightly named publicly by the senior coach now.

We can only hope that produces a response from the entire team the next time those same issues arise for the playing group.
 

Spazz Cat

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It's clearly been an issue for some years.

Scott simply clarified that the club is no longer going to pretend that it's not an issue.

Many will ridicule him for coming out and saying it.

I, for one, am glad that it is finally getting named for the clear train-wreck that it is.

It's hard to envisage an end to this H&A season that doesn't see that result against the Dogs costing us dearly when it comes to our finals destiny this year.

That, and the moderated 'effort' relative to opponents, have both been rightly named publicly by the senior coach now.

We can only hope that produces a response from the entire team the next time those same issues arise for the playing group.
Yep, agree with all above
 
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