It's time to go...

[Mattster]

David Clarke.

Last night's performance was an absolute shocker. I lost count of how many times he kicked it straight to Essendon players. THe only thing he did right was kick the goal, and even then i couldn't bear to watch.

If there isn't a dramatic improvement in his skills in the remainder of the season, his time at Geelong should be over.

 

[Malarkey05]

Originally posted by Mattster

If there isn't a dramatic improvement in his skills in the remainder of the season, his time at Geelong should be over.

In Bomber Thompson's interview after the game he said pretty much the same thing, and although he didn't mention names one of the players he was referring to must have been Clarke. Amazingly, The Age listed him in the best players.

 

[ScouseCat]

Re: Re: It's time to go...

Originally posted by Malarkey05
In Bomber Thompson's interview after the game he said pretty much the same thing, and although he didn't mention names one of the players he was referring to must have been Clarke.

The next 9 weeks need to be used to work out which players are going to be good enough to go to the next level and which ones aren't. We can't continue to give games to players who can't kick the football and continue to make the same mistakes week after week after week...

 

[Slax]

Some long hard decision need to be at the end of the season regarding both the future of Thompson and the future of a number of players. There seems to be a number of players who now have that 40+ game experience but do not seem to of made any real improvement since the debuted for the club. I reckon a couple of them should be told now that they're in the VFL for the rest of the year and will be traded or delisted at the end of the season.

 

[ScouseCat]

From the GFC website:

Skill errors irk Thompson
Jordan Chong
afl.com.au

http://gfc.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=101588

Geelong coach Mark Thompson was most disappointed with his team’s lack of skills during the first half against Essendon at Telstra Dome on Friday night.

The Cats were outscored eight goals to four in the opening term and trailed by 27 at its conclusion.

Despite stemming the flow of goals somewhat, Geelong still found itself 34 points adrift at the long break, the margin too big to make up in the second half.

As with most of Geelong’s matches this season, the team recovered and fought back, but was unable to get closer than 21 points, eventually losing by six goals.

It was primarily skill errors that cost Geelong, players all too often kicking to the wrong areas or choosing poor options, the resulting turnovers proving extremely costly at the other end.

"I thought the first half kicking into the forward line and our poise lacked a little bit of maturity," Thompson said.

"As soon as they kicked a couple of goals, all of a sudden our mindset was under pressure and we’ve just got to be better than that."

"When we didn’t kick the ball well, most of the time the opposition got a goal from it."

Thompson admitted these errors weren’t being made for the first time this season, and hinted at changes of some significance come season’s end.

"I can see with certain individuals when they get the ball they rush and they kick the ball to certain areas of the ground where they shouldn’t kick it while they’ve got a couple of people around them, for example."

"The same players, same mistakes syndrome. That certainly comes into calculations. We don’t want players who keep making the same mistakes over and over again."

Definitely on the shopping list already is the need for a forward of some quality, Thompson said.

"I think we’re definitely on the lookout for a hard-working forward. We‘ve recruited a few of them but they are still very young."

On a positive, Thompson described Matthew Scarlett’s effort on Essendon spearhead Matthew Lloyd – who was restricted to just one goal – as "fantastic".

 

[JUBJUB]

There is something seriously wrong at the club if David "Bloody" Clarke gets a game this week.

 

[ScouseCat]

Originally posted by JUBJUB
There is something seriously wrong at the club if David "Bloody" Clarke gets a game this week.

And Brenton Sanderson.... that kick out in the last quarter was nothing short of embarassing. Josh Hunt should be brought in right now to take over from Sando, his time is almost up I reckon.

 

[Catman]

Originally posted by ScouseCat
And Brenton Sanderson.... that kick out in the last quarter was nothing short of embarassing. Josh Hunt should be brought in right now to take over from Sando, his time is almost up I reckon.

It was the only poor thing he did all night. Give him a break.

It all has to with the setup. What's the point of kicking in over 50 if you kick straight to the opposition?

 

[JUBJUB]

Originally posted by ScouseCat
And Brenton Sanderson.... that kick out in the last quarter was nothing short of embarassing. Josh Hunt should be brought in right now to take over from Sando, his time is almost up I reckon.

Harsh !!!!!!!!!
He was good last night,except for that one bit of play.
Josh Hunt didn't line up in the VFL today.

 

[Fall Out Boy]

Originally posted by JUBJUB
Harsh !!!!!!!!!
He was good last night,except for that one bit of play.
Josh Hunt didn't line up in the VFL today.

Spot on Jubs.

The mentioning of Hunt as a replacement is ludicrous given he hasn't even played for a month.

 

[you_idiot]

Re: Re: Re: It's time to go...

Originally posted by ScouseCat
The next 9 weeks need to be used to work out which players are going to be good enough to go to the next level and which ones aren't. We can't continue to give games to players who can't kick the football and continue to make the same mistakes week after week after week...

Better yet, let's start now. That way, salvage some morale from the remainder of the season, and it trims the dead wood from the squad ASAP.

Jen and I were talking about the very same thing this morning, on our way to the country footy-- if the likes of Clarke, Rahilly, and yes, Brenton Sanderson get another game at AFL level this year, it's almost like an acceptance of failure to us. If Mark Thompson is going to hold up all of the players up to a certain high standard and not be afraid to drop a couple if they aren't capable of playing up to that level, then he should set that example for everyone... or use certain players as an example.

Earlier in the season, Thompson dropped the likes of Aaron Lord and Kent Kingsley, among others, to the 2's so that they can sharpen their form. That worked. He even threatened to drop Ben Graham to the ressies after the St. Kilda debacle, and even the threat of that made Benny lift his game considerably.

So why not do the same thing to Sanderson? I don't care if his leadership position within the club is precious enough to keep him in the first team, it's ridiculous that one set of standards are established for Set 'A' of players and another set of standards are being applied to Set 'B'.

Originally posted by JUBJUB
He (Sanderson) was good last night,except for that one bit of play.

Let's assume that this is the case-- if Brenton Sanderson is considered one of your team's better defenders on the night, what does that say about the relative effectiveness of the group as a whole (save for the uber-impressive form of Matthew Scarlett)?

I didn't think that Sanderson was overly fantastic, but there were times where he looked more bad than good.

But if Sanderson, or any other player, is supposed to provide leadership by rank or position or otherwise, what good of an example does it set if he's not playing to the best of his abilities and potential?

But in general, with a record of 3-10, I don't think anyone can be considered "untouchable" on this club. Start dropping players now and set an example of what needs to be done.

 

[ScouseCat]

Originally posted by phatandphreaky
The mentioning of Hunt as a replacement is ludicrous given he hasn't even played for a month.

Obviously Josh Hunt would need to get some sort of match fitness behind him first, so I was thinking more long term with this suggestion. Regardless of that, I know (as everyone would on here) that Brenton Sanderson wont be dropped in the short term, not while he's vice captain anyway.

 

[you_idiot]

Originally posted by ScouseCat
Regardless of that, I know (as everyone would on here) that Brenton Sanderson wont be dropped in the short term, not while he's vice captain anyway.

True, but that won't stop the wishful thinking of others who have their hearts in the right places.

Mark Thompson doesn't drop his leaders, whether they're playing like leaders or not.

I've said it before, but here's a different spin on it...

Q.: What do Brenton Sanderson and the Pope have in common?

A.: It seems one wold need to see something along the lines of an untimely demise before you can even think of having a replacement for either one of them.

 

[jim boy]

How about swapping Clarke for Shannon Byrnes? I saw Byrnes on the abc yesterday and he has the pace of Clarke without the shocking disposal. He may still be a bit fresh, but couldn't be any worse.

 

[holdencaulfield]

David Clarke's kicking certainly needs some drastic action , but at least he gets the ball and his 2nd eforts are as good as anyone in the teams.
There are definatly other players who need to improve their kicking ,David Spriggs is almost as bad as Clarke .Will Slade had a couple of shocking turnovers and his kicks nearly always drop short.
James Rahilly has improved but still isn't great and it seems to me if Enright tries to kick the cover off it every time he gets it.
I think we can have one or two of those players inthe team but not all 5.

 

[JUBJUB]

Originally posted by Jim Boy
How about swapping Clarke for Shannon Byrnes? I saw Byrnes on the abc yesterday and he has the pace of Clarke without the shocking disposal. He may still be a bit fresh, but couldn't be any worse.

I'd love to see Byrnes in ahead of David "Bloody" Clarke,but Byrnes is a rookie list player.Unless someones out for 8 weeks,he won't get a game.

 

[Malarkey05]

Originally posted by JUBJUB
I'd love to see Byrnes in ahead of David "Bloody" Clarke,but Byrnes is a rookie list player.Unless someones out for 8 weeks,he won't get a game.

The one thing Clarke has going for him is his effort at the ball, he goes in hard and without Chapman on Friday we look a bit soft in this area.
But when he makes so many errors it just undoes all his good work.
Are there any players in the VFL who go in hard?

 

[JUBJUB]

Originally posted by Malarkey05

Are there any players in the VFL who go in hard?

Brent Moloney [Mini-Buddha].

 

[Fall Out Boy]

Yep, Tweak Moloney is the hardest player we've had since Hocking retired.

The kid even has Buddha's razor sharp elbows and dodgy hairstyle.

 

[ScouseCat]

Originally posted by phatandphreaky
Yep, Tweak Moloney is the hardest player we've had since Hocking retired.

The kid even has Buddha's razor sharp elbows and dodgy hairstyle.

He was an emergency on Friday night, so he wouldn't be far away from being selected in the senior side.

How does he go pace wise??

 

[Malarkey05]

Originally posted by JUBJUB
Brent Moloney [Mini-Buddha].

I did actually see a bit of him on the ABC telecast of the VFL game. He did seem pretty impressive and he also has Buddhas old number! We picked him up in the pre-season draft at number 4, must be a late developer.

 

[Fall Out Boy]

Originally posted by ScouseCat

How does he go pace wise??

He's certainly not quick, but neither was Hocking.

 

[Fall Out Boy]

Originally posted by Malarkey05
We picked him up in the pre-season draft at number 4, must be a late developer.

Nah, he was injured late last season. They obviously wanted to see how he came up before committing to him.

Was a standout with the Falcons, but their were doubts over his athleticism.

 

[ScouseCat]

Originally posted by phatandphreaky
Was a standout with the Falcons, but their were doubts over his athleticism.

What's his kicking skills and decision making like from what you've seen in the VFL?? Is he a real chance of breaking into the side and playing a midfield role before the end of the season or his he more long term??

 

[JUBJUB]

Originally posted by Malarkey05
I did actually see a bit of him on the ABC telecast of the VFL game. He did seem pretty impressive and he also has Buddhas old number! We picked him up in the pre-season draft at number 4, must be a late developer.

He was doing pre-season at West Coast when we drafted him.