I'm sorry for making a new thread but I really feel like something needs to be said to everybody jumping off the bandwagon and throwing shit on all of our players.
This was always going to be a danger game. Nobody at the club was going into this one under any illusions. There were certain factors today - some in our control, some out of our control - that contributed to the loss. Let's examine them.
The factors OUT of our control:
Caddy out. Christensen out. Motlop out. Simpson out.
These names are massive against Port. This combination of players out could not have been accentuated any more by any other side. Port are the fittest, fastest team in the competition. We needed legspeed today, and we needed first use of the ball. With Motlop and Christensen still out of the team, that legspeed couldn't come from anywhere else. Compounding this issue in the midfield was the fact that our second ruck was withdrawn and was replaced by a man who has only played 10 games. We were denied hitouts and furthermore, clearances. You need as many as you can get when you're playing the fastest midfield in the comp.
The factors IN our control:
Set shots on goal.
Honestly, I felt like this entire match came down to the second quarter. We kicked 5 behinds and should have capitalised easily. Horlin-Smith from 20m out directly in front. Guthrie directly in front. Murdoch hurrying a shot he didn't have to hurry and missing badly. Duncan missing in front. Hawkins missing in front. The second quarter was full of Geelong momentum but none of it amounted to anything. To compound that, most misses were shortly followed by Power rebounds and goals. This is what Scott meant in the Press Conference when he said that the scoreboard wasn't indicative of the evenness of the game. I really felt the Cats deflating after missing so many shots and seeing the score difference expand. You just knew something was seeping out of the game. It's understandable. It doesn't happen to us often. Unfortunately it happened today against a side that were at their very best.
It would have been nice to win this one and sit on top of the ladder. But it isn't all doom and gloom. We pretty much lost it ourselves rather than having it taken from us. That doesn't often happen at Geelong. Pencil it in as a bad day and move on. The season is looking promising for us. We have youngsters to come back into the side that will inject speed and control into the middle. We are equal top of the ladder, with two of the other three to play each other in the coming weeks. Some stars had absolute shockers today. How often does Selwood play a bad game? Ditto Taylor. Ditto Johnson. I'm expecting us to come out next week and belt the tigers by ten goals plus.
Don't jump off the bandwagon yet, Cat fans. I've got a feeling that it will be rolling deep into September this year.
This was always going to be a danger game. Nobody at the club was going into this one under any illusions. There were certain factors today - some in our control, some out of our control - that contributed to the loss. Let's examine them.
The factors OUT of our control:
Caddy out. Christensen out. Motlop out. Simpson out.
These names are massive against Port. This combination of players out could not have been accentuated any more by any other side. Port are the fittest, fastest team in the competition. We needed legspeed today, and we needed first use of the ball. With Motlop and Christensen still out of the team, that legspeed couldn't come from anywhere else. Compounding this issue in the midfield was the fact that our second ruck was withdrawn and was replaced by a man who has only played 10 games. We were denied hitouts and furthermore, clearances. You need as many as you can get when you're playing the fastest midfield in the comp.
The factors IN our control:
Set shots on goal.
Honestly, I felt like this entire match came down to the second quarter. We kicked 5 behinds and should have capitalised easily. Horlin-Smith from 20m out directly in front. Guthrie directly in front. Murdoch hurrying a shot he didn't have to hurry and missing badly. Duncan missing in front. Hawkins missing in front. The second quarter was full of Geelong momentum but none of it amounted to anything. To compound that, most misses were shortly followed by Power rebounds and goals. This is what Scott meant in the Press Conference when he said that the scoreboard wasn't indicative of the evenness of the game. I really felt the Cats deflating after missing so many shots and seeing the score difference expand. You just knew something was seeping out of the game. It's understandable. It doesn't happen to us often. Unfortunately it happened today against a side that were at their very best.
It would have been nice to win this one and sit on top of the ladder. But it isn't all doom and gloom. We pretty much lost it ourselves rather than having it taken from us. That doesn't often happen at Geelong. Pencil it in as a bad day and move on. The season is looking promising for us. We have youngsters to come back into the side that will inject speed and control into the middle. We are equal top of the ladder, with two of the other three to play each other in the coming weeks. Some stars had absolute shockers today. How often does Selwood play a bad game? Ditto Taylor. Ditto Johnson. I'm expecting us to come out next week and belt the tigers by ten goals plus.
Don't jump off the bandwagon yet, Cat fans. I've got a feeling that it will be rolling deep into September this year.
