Have you considered?

[romeoh]

a team does not go from belting Melbourne by 185 points one week to belting Gold Coast Suns by 150 the next and in those two matches, Ling averaged 20 disposals (1.5 clearances), 1 goal & 1 goal assist.
Ottens only played the following week against the Suns and contributed 28 hit-outs, 13 disposals, 2 clearances and 0 goals.

Those two players are hardly the reason why we have completely dropped off the face of the earth within the space of 11 months.

Not buying into the Milburn or Mooney thing either because both of them combined for a total of 22 matches last season while Milburn played many of those coming off the bench as a sub and both players did not feature at all in the final series when we were playing our finest footy of the season.

Some were questioning Chapman before finals began last year, he ended playing well (didn't dominate) but did his job.
He was questioned start of 2012, he has since gone on to play better footy than he did at any stage of the 2011 season so he's no excuse.
Joel Corey .....yes, he's one of the older players who is struggling, but has not dropped away as far as many are suggesting.
Compare his stats right now to those last year and you'll be surprised.

Defenders?
Scarlett missed 4 weeks through suspension...it may have cost us a game but I highly doubt it.
Forwards?
Pods & Hawkins have performed better now than at this same time last year and we have managed the loss of Menzel with Motlop who's averaging more goals than Menzel did same time last year also.

Hunger?.....maybe it is hunger or maybe it's the fact that history suggests going back2back is nearly impossible unless you try and do something radically different.
We are right now well and truly under the radar.
No one, not even the flog David King or Malthouse have a single idea what our current game style is about.
The good news is that we sure as hell know everyone else's game plan as they have shown their cards early and we have seen what their best has to offer.
Hawthorn's best is very good and so too is Collingwood's. West Coast and Sydney's best is terrific but Geelong has yet to even show a glimpse of what it has to offer and you can bet with 7 weeks remaining in the season...we are going to see something before the season is out.

So if we have been winning games with only a few of our stars stepping up like the media keep suggesting, what actually happens when everyone starts to play well and in unison

Am thoroughly enjoying your approach but am a little worried re our form. We have not played well all year and our form has dropped off rather than gotten better. I keep thinking we can improve our form-and I don't mean flick a switch and be terrific- I mean just play a little better. Scott said he expected us to be playing our best footy in the latter part of the season but it is looking like the opposite is true. Not many of them look like they are enjoying their football, even Selwood who works his guts out, looks like he is finding it hard. It is bad luck if that is the case because such a winnable flag this year. Still I hope rather than expect to find something for the Essendon game. Fancy a win against the Bombers after last year.

 

[footscore]

Am thoroughly enjoying your approach but am a little worried re our form. We have not played well all year and our form has dropped off rather than gotten better. I keep thinking we can improve our form-and I don't mean flick a switch and be terrific- I mean just play a little better. Scott said he expected us to be playing our best footy in the latter part of the season but it is looking like the opposite is true. Not many of them look like they are enjoying their football, even Selwood who works his guts out, looks like he is finding it hard. It is bad luck if that is the case because such a winnable flag this year. Still I hope rather than expect to find something for the Essendon game. Fancy a win against the Bombers after last year.

yeh good points, I just wanted to get my little rant of my chest which is why I posted a full page drama piece

Still 7 weeks and all of us except a select few would be in agreeance that playing our best football would not be ideal right now, correct?
If we can play well this week, improve the second week and then start to build toward running out 4 full quarters of football by 5 weeks time, we will be in good shape imo.

 

[canny30]

shades of 1993, except we were 7-8 with 5 rounds to go from memory.

It's very clear where Geelong are at. 9-6 and a tough run home against better performing sides at this stage.

 

[Cool Cat]

To improve our chances of winning we need to do a few things.

1. Kick straight. Scoreboard pressure is a big factor IMO. Its killing us. Cost us in 2008 too.
2. Kick long from the wing / half back. Why we try chipping the ball thru the middle (especially on a very wet nights/days) has me completely baffled.
3. leading on from 2 - don't press too hard in defence. Might as well let them score on their merits than hand them a goal on a platter as we turn it over with every one forward of the wing and 3 opposition left ahead of any defence.
4. Kick long asap on winning a clearance if under pressure. Pendelbury highlights show him doing just this to effect. Ling always kicked quickly rather than try to fashion a fancy exit.

At least we won't have to watch opposition sides run in 10 tries - they will have to earn each goal.

Good post. Agree with all of this. It seems so simple.

 

[Partridge]

What happens if Hawkins is kicking straight though?
And Podsiadly is in the same form he was in early in the season

But there's more to it than that. There's no one solution, it's a combination of poor conversion (highlighted above), not enough pace, midfield getting beaten, older players declining and younger players not ready yet. Too many things have to be corrected in time.

Be an amazing, incredible achievement if they can click in September. First they've got to get there.

 

[Partridge]

shades of 1993, except we were 7-8 with 5 rounds to go from memory.

For modern fans that's the perfect season. Ignore home and away form (remember it doesn't matter), and peak in August just before the finals. Except they missed out.

 

[Claude Balls]

The theories and explanations keep coming, week after week. As many have already said, we are 9-6 with a shit percentage and a tough run home.

 

[Poetic Justice]

Despite losing by more of a margin, would Saturday nights game had a different feeling of confidence had Hawkins kicked straighter?

I know we can't blame one thing alone, but as I was sitting in the crowd with my old man, when Hawkins missed his first one early we agreed that he simply had to kick that one to set the mood for the evening. 1.4 or whatever it was for him was simply not good enough (as we know) and if he'd kicked 4.1 or 3.2 there may just have been a little more belief in the rest of the side so much so that not only our first quarter wouldn't have been as terrible, but the rest of the game might have been played in the belief that we really had a shot.

 

[Banj]

I dont post often, but do a lot of reading on this site.

One thing I have really noticed this week... CHRIS SCOTT seems SMUG!! Not necessarily in a bad way... but... he was 'supremely confident' about the pies and 'confident' about the bombers.

His press conferences of late he seems to be in really good spirits and cocky. Is he like this because this year is done? Or that he knows we'll win everyone from here on in?

Anyone else noticed this? Does he know something we don't? As I have a huge amount of faith in the playing group I really thought the real turning point was supposed to be agains the Pies last week and that we would get very close to them... however this was not the case. I know many of you are optimistic as am I but this optimism is fading fast. We can play better, however, there is something definitely not exactly 'right' in the way we play. If there is a magic switch, I'm sure it would have been pressed last week. Its now danger time at the club in regards to this year...

 

[Farmer2Goggin]

But there's more to it than that. There's no one solution, it's a combination of poor conversion (highlighted above), not enough pace, midfield getting beaten, older players declining and younger players not ready yet. Too many things have to be corrected in time.

Be an amazing, incredible achievement if they can click in September. First they've got to get there.

Great summary - there's too many deficiencies to be corrected in a hurry , time is running out and there is no magic switch or extra gear.
We are clearly in rebuild mode and our challenge is how far we will slip before we are in a position to genuinely challenge again. We can take some solace that we are sticking to our plan and appear to be in better shape than some others who have been in rebuild mode a lot longer.
One thing that stood out to me on Saturday night was the indecision and lack of understanding in our general play ( haven't seen us live since the 11 GF ) The natural cohesion built on many years of playing together just isn't there in a general sense across the field , the new guys will take time to achieve this and we must be patient.
Sure , we can fumble less and kick straighter but that's easier said than done and it may be that what we see at the moment is as good as it is going to get this season.

 

[footscore]

For modern fans that's the perfect season. Ignore home and away form (remember it doesn't matter), and peak in August just before the finals. Except they missed out.

big difference and I know you will disagree with me as always but Geelong were never inside the top 8 heading into RD17 back in 1993 so it's actually not a perfect example at all as the current team are already a game clear inside the eight and about to find their best football heading into RD17 and beyond

 

[Willo_]

People keep saying we haven't played our best footy yet this year..... Potentially the best we have done IS our best footy this year.. We are playing a sh*tload of kids, our stars are that year older. Its not unreasonable to suggest that we are performing as well as we can be expected.

Potentially we can get on a run, what worries me is I can't remember a patch this year where we have just flicked the switch and dominated for a quarter even, pretty much every game has been a slog, its hard to get on a roll when you are just slugging it out and getting in front

 

[STC]

The more I "consider" the more my head hurts. I think all the main things are adding up at the moment, but maybe at the heart of it we're just full of too many kids and veterans and not enough players who are in peak age.

 

[candiehappy]

But there's more to it than that. There's no one solution, it's a combination of poor conversion (highlighted above), not enough pace, midfield getting beaten, older players declining and younger players not ready yet. Too many things have to be corrected in time.

Be an amazing, incredible achievement if they can click in September. First they've got to get there.

and the turnovers, that killed us against the pies.

 

[Partridge]

The more I "consider" the more my head hurts. I think all the main things are adding up at the moment, but maybe at the heart of it we're just full of too many kids and veterans and not enough players who are in peak age.

That sums it up pretty well. It's that 23-27 age group. One of the disappointments is two guys in that age bracket - Stokes and Byrnes - are both small forwards, and neither have remotely had the impact they have had previously. It's yet another factor among many.

 

[footscore]

Yes, of course, we haven't dropped off this year at all.

Call an electrician down to Kardinia Park. The switch is stuck.

I think they installed new switches down at the Cattery on Sunday morning.
I actually preferred the look of the older switches but the good news is they are now on

 

[vinum coupe]

Nice bump.

I've got to say, 3 weeks is a long time in footy. JJ is looking like a genius.
Could have saved the bump for next week bobby !

 

[OldStyle2007]

Not sure about genius

Turnaround seems to have come at same time JC has returned to form - and not by playing in the backine

 

[Biggy_Boy]

Too bad that even if we won every game (highly unlikely with our malicious run home), it would still be highly unlikely that we'd crack the top four, and as it stands, we hold a tenuous grasp on a top 8 spot.

 

[you pick one]

I think they installed new switches down at the Cattery on Sunday morning.
I actually preferred the look of the older switches but the good news is they are now on

What we need is a Hawks game at Kardinia park then we could just install one of these every where there was a hole in the wall.

 

[Jumping Jack]

Nice bump.

I've got to say, 3 weeks is a long time in footy. JJ is looking like a genius.
Could have saved the bump for next week bobby !

Not sure about genius mate, more like a bit of inside information that might have blown my direction on the trade winds. Either way, you only need to go back over the previous few years and there's evidence that when sides go through a heavy training load they perform below par. Collingwood learned a lesson last year and I reckon they'll peak closer to finals this year. As for Hawthorn, I'm convinced that we're seeing their best right now ......... question is, will they be the same side in 6 weeks ................... highly unikely.

Before you jump down my throat and say we must have been on heavy training load all year ............. yeah I know, but we've not had our best team to pick from all year either. No Menzel, Varcoe, Vardy and Wojo (most of the year) and we know that Ling and Ottens have been big losses.

As for Geelong, still some question marks but I reckon our best footy is ahead of us ...................... will our best be good enough in 2012? Unlikely, but it's gonna be fun to watch.