Opinion Mark Blake

[Exhale You]

For what it's worth, and I daresay that's not much, but I would say Steven King is a better player NOW than Blake. I think the Cats did the right thing bringing King in for the Grand Final, too. They had to pick their strongest squad and they did.

I ALSO can understand why they let King go in the off-season.

King is probably one nasty injury off drawing the curtain on his career, Blake is 22 and should improve steadily over the next ~3 years. If the Cats had kept King as a 1st choice ruckman (with Ottens), you'd think Blake would have left.

So let the older player go, keep the younger. I'd think it's as simple as that.

Stats say King had the "edge" on Saturday, but it wasn't drammatic, and nor did it help the Saints get within 7 goals of a vastly superior squad.

Every word of that post is spot on.

At the end of the day Geelong made a decision for the future, and i (and the majority of our supporter base) believe it will pay dividends in the long run.

Good luck to King for the rest of the his career, but with his history over the last 5 years i'm more than content with the decision the club made.

 

[Brasil2007]

Every word of that post is spot on.

At the end of the day Geelong made a decision for the future, and i (and the majority of our supporter base) believe it will pay dividends in the long run.

Good luck to King for the rest of the his career, but with his history over the last 5 years i'm more than content with the decision the club made.

Correctamundo.


Anyone who doubts the wisdom of the decision should look at the other decisions the club has made in the past 5 or so years - the players we've gotten rid of (Thurley, Spriggs, Moloney, etc) - and name one we've gotten obviously wrong. I doubt there is another club with a record as good as ours at getting rid of players who are on a downhill slide.

 

[Catman]

So if he's dropping back in defence, who is he picking up?

When ruckman drop back they do it to play loose and fill a hole, they don't go down there and pick up a forward.

Or would you have us belief that King is so good that not only does he drop back, but he also is accountable to a man whilst down there?



Blake's ruckwork has been excellent this year.

I'm tipping Jeff White and David Hille will get a heap of the footy when they play St. Kilda as well.

If you want to use possessions to judge a ruckman (bizarre as it is), this weekend was the first time King has had more touches than his opponent.

At the end of the day, why do you care so much about Mark Blake? Every single post you've ever made here is about him.

90% of our supporter base is happy with the decision we made, we're flying with Mark as first ruck and since he usurped King at the start of 2007 we've not looked back.

It's time to move on and let go of the bitterness.

Great stuff, EY.

 

[Chappy 35]

http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_player_rankings?year=2008&rt=LA&st=HO


Blakes going good in the hitout's, 4th overall.

 

[The Casey Cat]

Could not let him get away with tonight without a bit of a lashing. His effort and competing tonight was LAUGHABLE! Yes I am aware he was up against an absolute monster in another class to him but you still have to ####ing try!! He threw the towel in very early and Sandlands was just grabbing it out the ruck as Blake jumped aimlessly. Sandlands will be credited with a lot of contested possessions that actually weren't.

It's not good enough. To think of how many players in or out of the AFL that would kill to play for Geelong or any team going so well, his performance and attitude was alarming and shameful. We showed faith in you Blake, don't be such a god damn squib and LIFT!

 

[BlueNWhite]

Could not let him get away with tonight without a bit of a lashing. His effort and competing tonight was LAUGHABLE! Yes I am aware he was up against an absolute monster in another class to him but you still have to ####ing try!! He threw the towel in very early and Sandlands was just grabbing it out the ruck as Blake jumped aimlessly. Sandlands will be credited with a lot of contested possessions that actually weren't.

It's not good enough. To think of how many players in or out of the AFL that would kill to play for Geelong or any team going so well his performance and attitude was alarming and shameful. We showed faith in you Blake, don't be such a god damn squib and LIFT!

Wasn't the only geelong player to go missing for stretches of the game this evening.

 

[The Casey Cat]

Wasn't the only geelong player to go missing for stretches of the game this evening.

No but he is in such an important position and I think he was the only one who's attitude and effort was clearly appalling.

 

[krisholio14]

Hopefully he learns something tonight, because he was given an absolute lesson.

 

[Pivo]

As most would know, I'm big on defending Blake but tonight....well, is disappointing an understatement?

Sandilands killed it and was BOG by a mile for mine. Whether he had opposition of not is immaterial.

He smashed us and was a big reason Freo got away twice.

 

[BlueNWhite]

As much as I'm behind Blakey and want him to succeed, I do agree we desperately need Otto back.

 

[Hood007]

He was horrible tonight.
Can't remember one good thing he did...

 

[someday-somehow]

I'm sure the coaching staff will go through the tapes this week with him and he will learn a lot. Needed to at least tackle the big bugger.

On a positive note it was good to see Mumford being able to leap as high as Sandilands

 

[CF]

Blake had his ass handed to him on a plate against Sandilands, like he did against Brogan & Lade in round 1. I was amazed how Sandilands was allowed to put his knees up into blake on every center bounce. Any wonder Blakey couldn't get near the ball. In the ball ups and throw in Sandilands was just too strong and experienced

 

[someday-somehow]

Blake had his ass handed to him on a plate against Sandilands, like he did against Brogan & Lade in round 1. I was amazed how Sandilands was allowed to put his knees up into blake on every center bounce. Any wonder Blakey couldn't get near the ball. In the ball ups and throw in Sandilands was just too strong and experienced

There's no rule against that

 

[Catman]

I'm a Blakey fan but he was slaughtered tonight. Sandilands had him beaten both physically and mentally to the stage where Blakey tried to avoid any body contact in ruck contests.

Thankfully our midfielders were reading his taps more often than not and as a result we won the clearances.

 

[Jef Costello]

Can't remember such a dominant ruck performance. Was Blake even there . Real food for thought for later in the year.

 

[BigBadCam]

Hmm, what can be said after tonight? Those who were blowing Blake's trumpet and saying 'I told you so' after a couple of half decent games from Blake should hang their head in shame. I don't know why Thompson persisted with Blake tonight. He was scared of the body contact, and as has been suggested already, it's like he wasn't there at all. On a positive note though, Mumford was impressive in patches. I remember at one stage in the last quarter, Sandilands was able to catch the ball out of the middle and boot it clear whilst up against Blake, and Mumford actually jumped all over him in the next contest. I would rather persist with Mumford as the second ruck when Ottens returns, as there I think he has a lot more 'potential' than Blake, who was a piss weak disgrace tonight.

 

[krisholio14]

From what I saw Blakey tried everything on the big bastard early but nothing seemed to work. In the end he was completely broken.

Thing is he needs games like this in order for him to become a better ruckman.

I mean, yes it nearly cost us last night, but on the whole I think Blakey has carried the can pretty well in Ottens absence. He'll be better for the experience IMHO.

 

[HulkHawkins]

He looked like a boy playing against a man, got absolutely smashed to a point of embarrassment.

I just hope he learns something from it.

 

[PoidaCat]

Showed why he was dropped for the GF....

 

[Big Nasty]

Blake looked scared to go near Sandilands in the ruck contests & around the ground. Never once saw Blake go up & try to tackle Sandilands when he was free with the ball.

 

[Linx]

Blake seems to really struggle against your "mongrel" ruckman who love to crash and bash (Lade and Brogan being the other examples). He gets intimidated easily and is like the nerd at school who tries to avoid a confrontation with the school bully and always backs off. Physically, Blake has got the tools but he has a weak mentality and although it has gotten better, he still has a lot to improve. Hopefully the more experience he gets and the more bulk he puts on will help him combat these ruckman in the future. This week against another "mongrel" ruckman in Charman will show us where Blake is at. However, we need the Ottoman BADLY.

 

[thejester]

Hmm, what can be said after tonight? Those who were blowing Blake's trumpet and saying 'I told you so' after a couple of half decent games from Blake should hang their head in shame.

Persistent, aren't you?

I don't know why Thompson persisted with Blake tonight. He was scared of the body contact, and as has been suggested already, it's like he wasn't there at all. On a positive note though, Mumford was impressive in patches. I remember at one stage in the last quarter, Sandilands was able to catch the ball out of the middle and boot it clear whilst up against Blake, and Mumford actually jumped all over him in the next contest. I would rather persist with Mumford as the second ruck when Ottens returns, as there I think he has a lot more 'potential' than Blake, who was a piss weak disgrace tonight.

Mumford spent 42% time on the ground for the grand total of 5 hitouts, none to advantage. Blake certainly wasn't putting it down their throats (6% from 18) but was at least creating a contest. Mumford had one could ruck (where he leapt over Sandilands), the rest of the time he got smashed.

Blake was destroyed by a bloke who had a casual 10 centimetres and twenty kilos on him. The fact that Sandilands was allowed to do whatever he wanted to him in the duel exacerbated the situation. Hopefully he'll learn from it and be a better player for it. But to suggest that on this game, and ignoring his previous three good games, that Mumford has more potential shows how irrational your Blake hatred has become. On the tenuous logic that suggests Blake shouldn't be in the side, the following players should also be given the arse:

- Jimmy Bartel. 21 possessions, 3 FAs, 6 critical errors. AWFUL.
- Harry Taylor. 8 possessions and was torn apart by Pavlich. USELESS
- Gary Ablett. 15 possessions and looked a sook. RUBBISH.

 

[cozdawg#09]

Persistent, aren't you?



Mumford spent 42% time on the ground for the grand total of 5 hitouts, none to advantage. Blake certainly wasn't putting it down their throats (6% from 18) but was at least creating a contest. Mumford had one could ruck (where he leapt over Sandilands), the rest of the time he got smashed.

Blake was destroyed by a bloke who had a casual 10 centimetres and twenty kilos on him. The fact that Sandilands was allowed to do whatever he wanted to him in the duel exacerbated the situation. Hopefully he'll learn from it and be a better player for it. But to suggest that on this game, and ignoring his previous three good games, that Mumford has more potential shows how irrational your Blake hatred has become. On the tenuous logic that suggests Blake shouldn't be in the side, the following players should also be given the arse:

- Jimmy Bartel. 21 possessions, 3 FAs, 6 critical errors. AWFUL.
- Harry Taylor. 8 possessions and was torn apart by Pavlich. USELESS
- Gary Ablett. 15 possessions and looked a sook. RUBBISH.

I'm not a Blake hater but after last night I'm fast becoming one. I can't recall seeing such an insipid performance. It seemed like he was more worried about getting hurt than getting the hitout. He got slaughtered in the ruck and more importantly all over the ground. On a about 7 occasions Sandilands grabbed it out of the ruck and had all the time in the world because Blake was too scared/lazy to even lay a tackle. Blake left Bartel and Taylor having to contest with Sandilands in a marking contest because he was too bloody lazy to run with him. It was a disgraceful performance and needs to see him dropped as he obviously feels his spot is cemented in the 22, this should be a huge wake-up call for him.

 

[winty]

Unfortunately for Blake, I think every opposition ruckman from here on in will be instructed to crash into Blake at every opportunity, as last night showed he goes to water when subjected to that approach.

I wasn't expecting him to fare that well in the ruck against the man mountain, but his around-the-ground and defensive work was non-existent last night. As mentioned before, to basically give Sandilands a green light to pluck the ball out of the ruck and kick it forward without laying any kind of defensive pressure whatsoever is a disgrace.

Hopefully he gets strips torn off him when they go over the tape on Monday, as he fully deserves it on last night's effort.