Autopsy Geelong defeated by Tigers by 31 points.

[AM]

How many times can we keep beating the same drum that Scottball does not win pressure finals and that his only success in finals is due to what Thompson set up?

Often if you revive it.

 

[And_ROOS]

Often if you revive it.

Well im glad we went LWWL instead of LWL, always fun having the Grand Final build up before we embarrass ourselves on the big stage.

 

[Baudolino]

It was always going to feel surreal. And, at the ground, the atmosphere and experience they created for the entertainment were very effective.

But I still entirely agree that the day grand final feels so much more how it should be. For all the success of building night games into the overall AFL schedule, I still find they have some sense of being a 'novelty' when compared to what we have known traditionally.

Reality is, though, we might have moved to a place where the tradition of day games is becoming so isolated (for example, how many AFL games - let alone finals - are actually played during the day now) that the new generations watching the game just see it as archaic and no longer 'familiar' at all. To the point where the day game becomes the novelty, and the night game becomes the preferred timeslot for every 'big' game.

And as TV dollars continue to call the tune, I wonder how the collapse to mercenary decisions based on nothing more than how many advertising dollars will be reaped can be realistically avoided.

I'm generally a purist who hates it when longstanding AFL traditions are chipped away. However, I'm basically fine with the idea of a night Grand Final. It's incontestable that night games elevate the atmosphere of both the game and whatever entertainment they put on. Anyone who has been to nighttime sport already knows that to be a truism. The question is whether the cultural traditions associated with day grand finals (Grand Final BBQ with family and friends etc) outweigh that or not or whether the improved atmosphere is worth losing those touchstone elements of culture. And on that point I'm genuinely unsure. I can see arguments either way.

 

[Finknottle]

Oh God please no. Harry has been a great player, but was been running on fumes and doesn't offer intercept marking and mobility like he used to. Harry now just concentrates on beating a man, which is good but it's no longer Premiership-winning footy.

Yep, good time to retire. 1 kick, half a dozen handballs and no marks in the GF. Great career - 261 games.

 

[goyoucatters]

I'm generally a purist who hates it when longstanding AFL traditions are chipped away. However, I'm basically fine with the idea of a night Grand Final. It's incontestable that night games elevate the atmosphere of both the game and whatever entertainment they put on. Anyone who has been to nighttime sport already knows that to be a truism. The question is whether the cultural traditions associated with day grand finals (Grand Final BBQ with family and friends etc) outweigh that or not or whether the improved atmosphere is worth losing those touchstone elements of culture. And on that point I'm genuinely unsure. I can see arguments either way.

You've articulated the issues well. And, for myself, I'm still definitely in the 'culture' over 'atmosphere' camp. After all, I think simply playing a game at night becomes a means to generate an artificial sense of atmosphere for the contest more than anything else. Probably gives everything a boost when you have a relatively poor game in front of you, but really shouldn't matter if you have a truly intense contest taking place.

Have to acknowledge my bias here, but I thought the atmosphere at the 'G for the 2011 GF was absolutely electric. There's nothing about how charged that atmosphere felt that I believe would have been really enhanced by playing the game at night instead.

Just my view, of course.

 

[Finknottle]

Getting too passionate about your footy team is bad for your health. This finals series has been particularly tough.

 

[Play it Sam]

I'm generally a purist who hates it when longstanding AFL traditions are chipped away. However, I'm basically fine with the idea of a night Grand Final. It's incontestable that night games elevate the atmosphere of both the game and whatever entertainment they put on. Anyone who has been to nighttime sport already knows that to be a truism. The question is whether the cultural traditions associated with day grand finals (Grand Final BBQ with family and friends etc) outweigh that or not or whether the improved atmosphere is worth losing those touchstone elements of culture. And on that point I'm genuinely unsure. I can see arguments either way.

Night GF- Returning to our regional city (or further afar in country Vic) from the MCG means getting back at midnight if lucky. No team to City Hall or street celebrations like 2007. Maybe from a policing issue that is preferable. Interstate teams might not care so much.

If there are any families left that can afford to take kids to the Granny it's a long day and night.
Adults firing up with the all day BBQ find it hard not to overindulge before the night game commences (judging by our GF GDT) and where does that leave the kids? Culturally- get 'em young, I prefer the kids to be part of the excitement of family Cats barracking tradition, win or lose, especially GF week.
Apart from that- It makes the job of fighting off peer group pressure from the little opposition team/s muppets at kinder a lot easier.

 

[ShaunWDT]

Dahlhaus should cop it more than he does, did near enough to nothing and hes a bloke we recruited to add some experience to our forward half.

 

[rocker_oz33]

Dahlhaus should cop it more than he does, did near enough to nothing and hes a bloke we recruited to add some experience to our forward half.

He's not the player he used to be.

In he's first year at the cats was pretty good something like 5 tackles a game.
He's dropped off.

We need new blood up forward.

 

[Moggy]

I think I have just about come to terms with the loss, but I will say this before moving on.
The most galling thing for me is that it was our own mistakes that ended up costing us. It would be easier to take if Richmond ripped it out of our hands, but in the end mistakes in critical moments really hurt us.

Taking a step back, if you’d offered me a GF berth after round 1, I would have ripped your hand off. Runners up is above par and really an excellent season.

The fairytale was not to be, as it turned out. Sometimes the big bad wolf wins and grandma stays eaten.

Go cats!

 

[Cataholic]

As an aside what did everybody think of a night GF?

I'm hoping it was the first and last - did not feel right at all.

Thumbs down from me

 

[Footy_Fan2007]

What a joke! Our 'team of plodders' are mostly made up of triple premiership players who stand up when it matters most. Hardly a team of plodders. What does that make your team losing to us? Its baffling how some are still so offended by our success that they can't accept we are a good team. Your tears of salt are delicious

Richmond aren’t average. Richmond aren’t good. Richmond are a great team. As much as Saturday night was upsetting, we lost to an unbelievable team. Full credit to them.

 

[ATSAM]

Richmond aren’t average. Richmond aren’t good. Richmond are a great team. As much as Saturday night was upsetting, we lost to an unbelievable team. Full credit to them.

We did. But why weren't we prepared. We had been laudedfor our set ups and game plan just the weel before obviously prepared for Brisbane. Richmond played the way they always played but somehow they seemed to take us by surprise when they got going.

 

[Mad_Hatter]

We did. But why weren't we prepared. We had been laudedfor our set ups and game plan just the weel before obviously prepared for Brisbane. Richmond played the way they always played but somehow they seemed to take us by surprise when they got going.

We were prepared... we did have our plans.
Their system simply allows for it.
Not dissimilar to the great teams of recent years including our flag winning team, you can beat them for 95% of the game and they'll still find a way.
Their system is built on not having to play amazing football all the time, ours does.

 

[Partridge]

Thumbs down from me

Night football adds absolutely nothing that you don’t already get from a day Grand Final.

The most intense atmosphere and quarter of football I’ve ever seen was the last quarter in 2009. The most electric atmosphere was all of 1989.

Add fireworks, some cringeworthy C-grade “talent” at half time, and apparently it’s a spectacular. Authentic frontier gibberish.

 

[Drunkcat]

Getting too passionate about your footy team is bad for your health. This finals series has been particularly tough.

That's it after the Port game i just said what will be will be...it would hurt more being a player

 

[feelinfeline]

Well im glad we went LWWL instead of LWL, always fun having the Grand Final build up before we embarrass ourselves on the big stage.

If you were embarrassed, that's your issue, but the team didn't embarrass itself.

GWS last year embarrassed itself.

But, yes, if we'd played Richmond in the prelim, chances are we wouldn't have made the GF.

 

[Seeds]

2 days later and all i can say this is the worse grand final loss since the 90s.

this is way worse then 2008. In 2008 we had already won a flag and it was seen as hiccup with the club clearly having more grand finals in its future.

this current team is done. This was our shot. hawkins is 33. Ablett and taylor are gone. Selwood is 33. Dangerfield is 31 and clearly on the decline. Even the likes of duncan, stanley and blicavs are now hitting 30 and will start to decline. And virtually none of the kids are coming through and the ones that are look like B graders not A graders you can build a team around.


the other thing that hurts is effing richmond now have a 3 flag era further devaluing the 2007-11 cats team Achievements.


this hurts big time. Think im going to need to take a day off work.

 

[Cataholic]

Night football adds absolutely nothing that you don’t already get from a day Grand Final.

The most intense atmosphere and quarter of football I’ve ever seen was the last quarter in 2009. The most electric atmosphere was all of 1989.

Add fireworks, some cringeworthy C-grade “talent” at half time, and apparently it’s a spectacular. Authentic frontier gibberish.

The afternoon GF has worked a treat throughout the history of the game, and provides a perfect blend of atmosphere, anticipation and viewing time.

Why the AFL has decided to start undermining one of the last standing bastions of our game is beyond me.... Their wanton pursuit of change is destroying the soul of the game and morphing it into a plastic replica of what it once was.

 

[Seeds]

The afternoon GF has worked a treat throughout the history of the game, and provides a perfect blend of atmosphere, anticipation and viewing time.

Why the AFL has decided to start undermining one of the last standing bastions of our game is beyond me.... Their wanton pursuit of change is destroying the soul of the game and morphing it into a plastic replica of what it once was.

They did it because there was a real threat that conditions in brisbane would of been unplayable during the day in late october.

if the game was played saturday afternoon it would of been a disaster as it absolutely pelted dowm. There were literally giant lakes of water on the ground at 4 pm.

for now treat it as a one off due to covid As there are very good reasons why this time it had to be at night. Complain if they want to swap it when the game is in melbourne

the bigger complaints should be for the shorter game. Not the night game.

 

[RegHickeyStand]

How many times can we keep beating the same drum that Scottball does not win pressure finals and that his only success in finals is due to what Thompson set up?

For as long as the board thinks what he is doing is keeping the Geelong FC "relevant".

 

[you pick one]

Night GF- Returning to our regional city (or further afar in country Vic) from the MCG means getting back at midnight if lucky. No team to City Hall or street celebrations like 2007. Maybe from a policing issue that is preferable. Interstate teams might not care so much.

If there are any families left that can afford to take kids to the Granny it's a long day and night.
Adults firing up with the all day BBQ find it hard not to overindulge before the night game commences (judging by our GF GDT) and where does that leave the kids? Culturally- get 'em young, I prefer the kids to be part of the excitement of family Cats barracking tradition, win or lose, especially GF week.
Apart from that- It makes the job of fighting off peer group pressure from the little opposition team/s muppets at kinder a lot easier.

I used to sponsor a couple of young kids in Geelong with season tickets as I couldn't get there,once night games came in there mum stopped taking them they were just to little,now as a result neither follow the footy at all they are into soccer and basketball.

 

[Spazz Cat]

Night GF- Returning to our regional city (or further afar in country Vic) from the MCG means getting back at midnight if lucky. No team to City Hall or street celebrations like 2007. Maybe from a policing issue that is preferable. Interstate teams might not care so much.

If there are any families left that can afford to take kids to the Granny it's a long day and night.
Adults firing up with the all day BBQ find it hard not to overindulge before the night game commences (judging by our GF GDT) and where does that leave the kids? Culturally- get 'em young, I prefer the kids to be part of the excitement of family Cats barracking tradition, win or lose, especially GF week.
Apart from that- It makes the job of fighting off peer group pressure from the little opposition team/s muppets at kinder a lot easier.

Yep the night GF is shit for kids. And that's what footy should kind of be about.
But they don't have much money to spend I guess.
It's a great family gathering day in general but I'd say they are going to go with a twilight game no matter what.
I used to live in NSW and the night GF just doesn't really work. The atmosphere and excitement is really sucked out of it.
It's like sitting down to watch a movie.
There not that many BBQ's and gatherings and stuff.

 

[someday-somehow]

2 days later and all i can say this is the worse grand final loss since the 90s.

this is way worse then 2008. In 2008 we had already won a flag and it was seen as hiccup with the club clearly having more grand finals in its future.

this current team is done. This was our shot. hawkins is 33. Ablett and taylor are gone. Selwood is 33. Dangerfield is 31 and clearly on the decline. Even the likes of duncan, stanley and blicavs are now hitting 30 and will start to decline. And virtually none of the kids are coming through and the ones that are look like B graders not A graders you can build a team around.


the other thing that hurts is effing richmond now have a 3 flag era further devaluing the 2007-11 cats team Achievements.


this hurts big time. Think im going to need to take a day off work.

I can't think of any loss worse than 2008, but after some reflection I think some on this forum may need to realise the following:

One group of players has won a premiership (3) for this club in the last 57 years. That team was built by Thompson from the ground up - that dreaded word - rebuild!.

The legacy of that team was Selwood, Hawkins and to a lesser extent Harry Taylor, a midfield leader, a foward line leader and a defence leader - there was an opportunity to rebuild a new team from the ashes of the old, if that had happenned that team would be in their 3 year peak now.

Instead the club decided on plugging holes in a leaking dam wall with their fingers, obtaining cast-offs from other clubs to fill voids for that decade long - one last shot, and it has failed. The development of young talent has been foresaken to a large extent to keep us contending, in other words they lost sight of what ended the drought in the first place.

What makes us so special (I would call it arrogant) to say that "Geelong do not rebuild"?, similar things were said about Sydney a few years back and where are they now? Our best players Saturday night were our 20 somethings not our 30 somethings, we just didn't have enough of them.

Chris Scott

Chris Scott

Age

49

Ht

182cm

Wt

89kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.6

4star

K

11.2

4star

HB

5.4

4star

M

5.1

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

0.4

3star

No current season stats available

D

13.2

4star

K

10.2

4star

HB

3.0

3star

M

2.2

3star

T

2.8

5star

G

0.4

3star

and his team may be able to build a regimented game plan, they may be able to pull off a premiership if we don't come up against a dynasty team like Richmond and if everything goes right and the weather is perfect but it's clear they lack long term vision, either through their own hubris or just plain inability.

Jeremy Cameron

5

Jeremy Cameron

Age

32

Ht

196cm

Wt

94kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.5

3star

K

9.0

3star

HB

3.4

3star

M

5.4

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

2.6

5star

D

10.0

3star

K

7.1

3star

HB

2.9

2star

M

4.6

4star

T

2.0

3star

G

1.9

5star

D

8.2

2star

K

5.0

2star

HB

3.2

3star

M

4.6

5star

T

2.4

4star

G

2.0

5star

is not the answer, neither is Sean Higgins and neither was crouch, or jenkins, or Steven, or Dalhous, or Rohan, or Henderson, or Touhy, or Stanley, or Rivers or even P Dangerfield. Dynasties are drafted - not traded. I fear Chris Scott

Chris Scott

Age

49

Ht

182cm

Wt

89kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.6

4star

K

11.2

4star

HB

5.4

4star

M

5.1

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

0.4

3star

No current season stats available

D

13.2

4star

K

10.2

4star

HB

3.0

3star

M

2.2

3star

T

2.8

5star

G

0.4

3star

's legacy at our club will be a losing finals record and a decimated list by the time he leaves - not unlike Gary Ayers.

It's time the club dared to dream for that dynasty again - contending be damned!.

 

[Partridge]

Richmond aren’t average. Richmond aren’t good. Richmond are a great team. As much as Saturday night was upsetting, we lost to an unbelievable team. Full credit to them.

Yeah and they demolished a few fantasies that had been clung to as well:

- Can’t win away from the MCG. Yeah they can.
- Couldn't win a final interstate. The Port prelim especially proved that wrong. They did it last year too, but fans proved remarkably good at forgetting that.
- Couldn't cover injuries. They lost one of their ruckmen right before the finals, and lost probably their second best defender minutes into the Grand final and were a man down.

It's amazing how so many Geelong supporters seem mortally offended by Richmond's success, when they clearly copied a lot of things we did. Even down to getting Neil Balme. Doesn't diminish our achievements one iota, it just shows certain things - stable administration, good coach who focuses on coaching, developing a team through patient rebuilding, having someone take non-essential stuff off the coach - works. It did for us. It has for them.

Maybe there's something to it.