I was wrong

[Reg Hickey]

In October last year there were a lot of threads going around here about our prospects for 2011. I was of the strong opinion that we couldn't win it, and posted several contributions along these lines:

"... in the second half of the year we were clearly a good 10 goals or more off premiership pace, which we somehow have to make up bearing in mind that we're clearly past our peak and on the downhill slope. We were at our best from mid-2007 to mid-2009, and have been on the way down since.

So where's the improvement going to come from? Sure, we will hopefully get another step forward from Varcoe, maybe Hawkins, and ... um ... who else? The rest are kids who aren't going to carry us to another flag. Now who's going to do well to get to the same level, but more likely will have reduced output? Scarlett, Ling, Mooney, Milburn (if he plays), Ottens, Corey, Wojo ... I could go on. Moreso than pretty much every other side in the competition, we have more immediate downside than upside.

That's why we have no chance in 2011. We were already miles behind this year and clearly slowing further, and on top of that we've now lost our coach and our best player. You can be as optimistic as you bloody well like - it doesn't change the fact that we're done."​

Not being one to shy away from my responsibilities, let me just say now very clearly that I WAS WRONG. I copped a fair bit of flak over posts like the above, which now seems fair enough given what has happened. Clearly I underestimated the competitiveness and desire to win of the playing group, and the ability of the coaches and fitness staff, particularly Chris Scott. What an inspired appointment he turned out to be! (at least I can say that I fully supported that one at the time!)

Having said that, I couldn't be happier that I was wrong. To see this side that I have supported for more than 30 years win its 3rd richly deserved premiership in 5 seasons has been an absolute highlight for me. And the performances of Christensen, Hawkins, Varcoe, Duncan, Menzel, West, Vardy and others have given me an enormous amount of hope for the future.

Could there still be more to come, even now ... ??

 

[Poetic Justice]

Nicely done.

Now please step up VEEDUBS

 

[Duskfire]

Before the start of the season though, how many of us truly thought that we would win the Flag? It wasnt a bad opinion Reg

 

[muttweed]

I always knew we'd win this year, as soon as we played round 1. The will of this group was just too strong, not only in that game but in every game. Every game we lost, most thought that they could lose it with pride or a bit of confidence that they downplayed the margin so well. The boys set their expectations higher than they ever have before and felt like failures, over games virtually decided by a kick.

Scott brought a fresh presence into the team, and not only is he likeable as a coach, he is likeable as a person. Well done. Loving our young guns too

 

[Turkey Tom]

I thought we were still a good chance to finish top four...from there anything can happen.

Was not confidant of winning the flag though. Thought Collingwood was too far ahead of the rest.

I think there was a thread on the main board about how far Geelong was going to slide....someone should hunt that one up.

 

[LongBomb]

Good post RH.

Now where is that fool who bagged Chapman and claimed he was finished?

 

[Hood007]

Now where is that fool who bagged Chapman and claimed he was finished?

And did it halfway through a game too...

It's all good to own up when you're wrong and kudos to those who do.
But what happens if next year we lose by 40+ in a prelim?
Are we gonna hear the same outlandish things from the same people?
Time will tell I suppose...

 

[kriso182]

I thought we were still a good chance to finish top four...from there anything can happen.

Was not confidant of winning the flag though. Thought Collingwood was too far ahead of the rest.

I think there was a thread on the main board about how far Geelong was going to slide....someone should hunt that one up.

I got in trouble for bumping the thread last week.

The thread is a good read;

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=757539

And on the Bumping Rules;

Bumping
Do not bump old threads unless you have new information directly relevant to the topic.

Wasn't Geelong winning the premiership in 2011 was the new information that was directly relevant.

That does not mean bumping to show someone was wrong with the benefit of hindsight.

ooops!

 

[Catsace]

So people can say anything to rub a club's nose in something, and when that club (the Mighty Catters!) shoves it up their proverbial these people get off scott free? Pretty sad, i love reading bumped threads anyway.

So to that one Kriso182, well bumped and it was worth it!

 

[CF]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and given how things sat at the beginning of the 2011 season you weren't the only one who thought that Geelong winning a flag this year was a fantasy only held by a the diehard supporters.

You can only judge the team or a player for that matter on what their form is like on the field so it happens quite often that people can make decisions that get proved wrong over time. I had written off Tom Hawkins this season but look at how he turned it around during the last 6 weeks of the season to emerge as the player we all thought he could be.

But my decision on Tom early in the season was based purely on his form on the park, not what his potential was. Like you I am more than happy to be proven wrong and see Tom have a break through. But that doesn't mean I wont have an opinion about him or other players in the future that may question their output or performances at games.

Even Chris Scott has said that criticism's should be taken on board and it is up to the players and the club to prove themselves. This attitude is one I like from our head coach.

 

[AM]

Reckon you could count on the fingers of one hand - and have a few left over - those who genuinely thought we could take it out. I thought 6th was about our mark. Still coming to terms with what was a remarkable effort.

CF,
We all have our moments of frustration with the team and individual players. So long as there is an attempt to explain those frustrations it's all grist for the forum mill. Stuff like "Trade him" (notice Poida hasn't had your graciousness) "Spud" "Hopeless" .........add nothing to the conversation IMO.

 

[GFC123]

Your not the only one that was wrong. After the 2010 prelim belting at the hands of Collingwood, i thought we were done, i thought, "Well, we are too slow and just look out of gas". Then when Ablett and Bomber left i didn't even consider winning the premiership in 2011, it didn't even occur to me, i just thought we would be doing really well to make the top 4, i was wrong too. At the end of the day, everyone thought that we were to slow after the 2010 prelim, but all it was, was our game plan, and this season, we changed, and look what happened.

I'm going to be a bit more obtimisstic going into the 2012 season, i think we have a lot of upside. Our kids are extremly good, Christensen, Duncan, Menzel, Hogan (let' not forget him, going to be a very good player for us), West (Not that young, but a future star), Hawkins, Vardy etc. It's funny how after last year, i though we were done, but now after this season, i think we are more than capable of winning the 2012 premiership flag.

 

[Vdubs]

Nicely done.

Now please step up VEEDUBS

Guilty as charged. Recurrent offender. Getting sick of humble pie.

Can't guarantee I will not be a recalcitrant. But this amazing year has left me feeling at peace, proud, humbled, in awe and very happy .

In one season of footy we have dominated our nearest rivals 6-0. And in finals. And got the WCE finals win. And you bet there is no way on earth I would have thought there was any chance of that 12 months ago.

Amazing to me is that some of our supporters here did predict something like what happened. I missed out on that gene of optimism. Just as well I never gamble and don't have a job fortune telling. Takes all sorts to form a supporter base.

P.S. I'm not feral, and I never slag out on individual players. Leniency requested.

 

[bobbycatsfanme]

Reckon you could count on the fingers of one hand - and have a few left over - those who genuinely thought we could take it out. I thought 6th was about our mark. Still coming to terms with what was a remarkable effort.

CF,
We all have our moments of frustration with the team and individual players. So long as there is an attempt to explain those frustrations it's all grist for the forum mill. Stuff like "Trade him" (notice Poida hasn't had your graciousness) "Spud" "Hopeless" .........add nothing to the conversation IMO.

I always believed
have the proof to back it up also.

Never understood why Cat fans could not see us seriously contending.

 

[God Mode]

We all go a little mad sometimes...

 

[David the Cat]

Guilty as charged. Recurrent offender. Getting sick of humble pie.

Can't guarantee I will not be a recalcitrant. But this amazing year has left me feeling at peace, proud, humbled, in awe and very happy .

In one season of footy we have dominated our nearest rivals 6-0. And in finals. And got the WCE finals win. And you bet there is no way on earth I would have thought there was any chance of that 12 months ago.

Amazing to me is that some of our supporters here did predict something like what happened. I missed out on that gene of optimism. Just as well I never gamble and don't have a job fortune telling. Takes all sorts to form a supporter base.

P.S. I'm not feral, and I never slag out on individual players. Leniency requested.

Granted...but no St Kilda / Gamble predictions in 2012..ok? )

 

[ZosoCat]

I didn't think we could win the flag i thought we would make it to the top 4.. thought the pies were certainties to win the whole thing... didn't think we would rise in the last couple months like we did.. also hakwins became the x factor that we needed to make the extra push towards glory.. mooney wouldn't have been able to do anything in the finals.

 

[witsend]

I have to say I was almost certain we would be Top 4 (barring a bad injury run).
I also believed that if we ended up in a GF we would win it comfortably. This group simply won't allow another team to win a GF while they have air in their lungs until a team comes along that is tougher and stronger.
I did believe we were vulnerable, as all teams are, in a Prelim, so the Hawthorn win and matching up with W/C in the PF was a dream run for us imo.
But the way we played through the last 4-5 weeks exceeded my optimistic expectations.
I also will go on the record as saying we will improve next year.
That may or may not be enough to win a a flag, but we are in a much better position than last year.
We have an established, yet simple game plan that is very difficult to counter.
There is a lot of talent pushing through from the bottom, and our list of ageing stars has been culled somewhat.
The only real uncertainty is replacing Ling.
I am of the opinion that Bartel could be the one asked to go head to head with the oppositions most dangerous mid.
It has been a luxury for the past 7-8 years to put a line through the best opposition mid each week and we need someone who can do that who is selfless and talented enough. Bartel has shown he can do it with his job on Hayes in the 09 GF.

 

[RegHickeyStand]

Guilty as charged.

My immediate thought in Oct last year was that the team would rebuild a bit. Round 8 was when I started to believe again.

 

[pinion]

personally, i had us down anywhere from 1st to 14th in 2011. with a departing coach and star player, as well as some ageing stars i thought we were capable of doing a west coast. but, i thought if the new guy could coach we'd still be towards the top

turns out he can

 

[Tuggacat]

In October last year there were a lot of threads going around here about our prospects for 2011. I was of the strong opinion that we couldn't win it, and posted several contributions along these lines:

"... in the second half of the year we were clearly a good 10 goals or more off premiership pace, which we somehow have to make up bearing in mind that we're clearly past our peak and on the downhill slope. We were at our best from mid-2007 to mid-2009, and have been on the way down since.

So where's the improvement going to come from? Sure, we will hopefully get another step forward from Varcoe, maybe Hawkins, and ... um ... who else? The rest are kids who aren't going to carry us to another flag. Now who's going to do well to get to the same level, but more likely will have reduced output? Scarlett, Ling, Mooney, Milburn (if he plays), Ottens, Corey, Wojo ... I could go on. Moreso than pretty much every other side in the competition, we have more immediate downside than upside.

That's why we have no chance in 2011. We were already miles behind this year and clearly slowing further, and on top of that we've now lost our coach and our best player. You can be as optimistic as you bloody well like - it doesn't change the fact that we're done."​

Not being one to shy away from my responsibilities, let me just say now very clearly that I WAS WRONG. I copped a fair bit of flak over posts like the above, which now seems fair enough given what has happened. Clearly I underestimated the competitiveness and desire to win of the playing group, and the ability of the coaches and fitness staff, particularly Chris Scott. What an inspired appointment he turned out to be! (at least I can say that I fully supported that one at the time!)

Having said that, I couldn't be happier that I was wrong. To see this side that I have supported for more than 30 years win its 3rd richly deserved premiership in 5 seasons has been an absolute highlight for me. And the performances of Christensen, Hawkins, Varcoe, Duncan, Menzel, West, Vardy and others have given me an enormous amount of hope for the future.

Could there still be more to come, even now ... ??

Just change some of the names to protect the innocent and post it again at the start of next season and all bar optimistic Geelong supporters will agree with you.

We are supposed to be on the way down with the age of our list, despite retirements, again making more news copy than the European Debt Crisis. Couple that with the usual "we are the hunted" and coaches will have already worked out how to counter our game plan and few will disagree with you. Happily, I am one of them.

 

[Catman]

Never thought we'd fall as far as many had thought/hoped, but couldn't see us contending for a GF, maybe knocked out in a SF. Anything beyond that was a bonus.

Well, we got the best bonus possible!

 

[STC]

Don't know what my posts would have said but I certainly said all offseason "if we can get good game time into guys like Taylor Hunt, Menzel, Duncan and a few others (and in the end there was more than a few!), keep our veterans fit, healthy & in form and get solid improvement out of the younger guys like Varcoe, Hawkins, Selwood etc we can stay in contention to contend". I thought it more in the sense that we'd be able to pip Collingwood at the finish, rather than beating them 3 times in a year though, all comfortably outplaying them!

 

[maxy87]

Guilty as charged.

My immediate thought in Oct last year was that the team would rebuild a bit. Round 8 was when I started to believe again.

This was definitely the moment when I knew it was on like donkey kong for 2011. Until then I was happy to sit back and watch how the first few rounds panned out to make an assessment. After the 2010 prelim everything got a bit hazy for a lot of people, myself included and I think we just needed to once again watch how some of these blokes play the game for the faith to be fully restored!

 

[thegerman]

I got in trouble for bumping the thread last week.

The thread is a good read;

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=757539

Ohhh I haven't laughed that hard in a long, long time. Here's some doosey's:

Hawthorn BF member:
Originally Posted by SkittleCats
Isnt it funny how far a team can fall after winning a grand final 2 years previous.
Tonight is bad but its softened somewhat by the knowledge the dawks wont be a threat to anyone for a long time.
We will win another premiership before you do. Bookmark it.

Seeya in another 40 odd years.

More Hawforn:
Was happy for them to win in 07 but after the pathetic sooking of their fans after losing in 08 i lost all respect.

Can't be rated as one of the greatest without 3 flags and i am happy we are the ones that stopped them.


And again: (Hilarious considering they haven't won against us since 08)

Just above Port Adelaide's 01 - 04 team (by a whisker )

Not even close to matching the brilliance of the Brisbane Lions.

A great regular season team, not so good when it counts in finals.

Oh wait, more Dawks (How great is it proving these Dawks wrong?)
Arrogance and complacency finally finished them. Look at how they played against Fro last week and how they sing the song after a win. They thought they were good enough to win from any position but tonight they found out they couldnt.

They have been a great side, but in 5 or 10 years will not be remembered as such because success is only measured in flags, not H&A records.
2 from 3 is good, but not special, and not better than 3 from 4 like the Lions and Hawks teams over the previous 20 years.

And this from a RICHMOND supporter:
Loving this Collingwood mockery of Geelong. Just exposing so many of Geelong's players as passengers, ala West Coast after premiership.

RIP Cats. You were a great team but its over now.

Melbourne:
Die cats, dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

West Coast:
fantastic to watch, these media pets are being put to death. its a fantastic sight.

time to rot and implode.

thank you collingwood for putting out those arrogant geelong forumers here

Carlton:
Your delusional if you think the cats will make the top 4 next year, ablett will be gone and the rest of them will be getting well and truly past it.

They will be at best a bottom half of the 8 side.

Sydney:
They won't come back from this guaranteed, Bomber knew they had no chance tonight thats why he was vocal throughout the week.



But this from a Pie supporter:
I want to tip my hat to the Cats.

Since 2007 they have been, by far, the best team in the league, the measuring stick and the model for every other team. Three grand finals in a row for two flags (the third lost unluckily to a flukey Hawthorn side that have since revealed themselves to be lucky pretenders).

They've done it without spending years on the bottom hoarding priority picks (are you listening St Kilda and Carlton?) or rorting draft and salary cap concessions (Brisbane, are you there?). Instead they did it with a clever eye for talent,some fortunate father/sons and some brilliant coaching and administration.

Maybe it's over, maybe it's not, but don't despair Cat's fans, instead revel in the glorious success you've enjoyed over the last four years.

Well deserved in my opinion.