Much Ado About Nothing

[SriLankanCat]

A lot of discussion has been going on about Geelongs apaprent slow start to games?

I been thinking about it and you know something...i dont think we are playing bad its just taht peopkle have unreasonable expectations. We are not gonna be up by 20-30 at qtr time every game! And oppositon teams are gonna be playuing out of their skin early on and sooner or later they will tire out and the cats will run over the top.

The only poor game we had was i think against Freo. otherwise we have played really well. I think we are a victim of our high standards?

What does everyone thinK

 

[Tonycam*]

Think Bomber & the boys have it all worked out beautifully , they are doing what they have to do each week to win & as I heard Leigh Matthews say last week ,"watch what this side does when they play Hawthorn or a side they really have to lift against. Thats the sign of a great team".

 

[catempire]

I think we've had slow starts to games this season and it's a slight concern.

Quick check...

It's statistically our worst quarter for the season:

[B]Quarter	W	D	L	For 		Against 	%[/B]
1st	4	0	4	31.17 (203)	24.29 (173)	117.34
2nd	7	0	1	34.39 (243)	23.17 (155)	156.77
3rd	6	0	2	32.31 (223)	22.22 (154)	144.81
4th	6	0	2	35.31 (241)	20.28 (148)	162.84

A good start can be all important. It can break the other team's spirit early. It can force changes to gameplan and match-ups. Most importantly, scoreboard ascendancy early means it is on the other team to change something so that they can win the game.

While I'm not that worried now, it's one of several things we need to address leading into the finals and when we play top teams.

 

[Brasil2007]

Personally I think winning form is good form. To win by 5 goals on a wet day against a team playing reasonably well is a pretty good performance.

The other thing is I don't think anyone is playing especially badly, it's just that they aren't playing at their absolute best all the time. Is that a problem? Not now, but it would be in a final.

Every team - but especially those under pressure (Melbourne, Freo, etc) - sets their sights on beating (or at least being competitive with) the best team in the competition, so it shouldn't be any surprise to anyone that we're being challenged every week.

I think they all know too that if they aren't competitive for at least much of the match, the Cats are every chance to beat them by ten or more goals...

 

[SriLankanCat]

I am not concerned about our slow starts...id be more worries if we were falling away towrads the end of games. That would be a much bigger concern.

I just think the boys are feeling the opposition out.

People cnat expect us to win by 50-60 every week

 

[CF]

A lot of discussion has been going on about Geelongs apaprent slow start to games?

I been thinking about it and you know something...i dont think we are playing bad its just taht peopkle have unreasonable expectations. We are not gonna be up by 20-30 at qtr time every game! And oppositon teams are gonna be playuing out of their skin early on and sooner or later they will tire out and the cats will run over the top.

The only poor game we had was i think against Freo. otherwise we have played really well. I think we are a victim of our high standards?

What does everyone thinK

I think the media is comparing our 1st quarters from last year to this year. Last year we often buried teams in the 1st quarter and then cruised home. This year our fitness is different and also sides are coming out harder against us because they want to challenge the Premier team. Frankly it is far better to be in front at the end of the last quarter than the 1st quarter.

 

[rocker_oz33]

it is a little different to last year when the cats played well early in there games normally there second quarter was there strongest,playing very well early in games the boys looked they were on a mission,it is a little concerning the boys haven't come firing we should be with the mid field they have,l hope they come up and have a good crack from the word go next week.

 

[Brasil2007]

I'm a lot happier getting a scare in the first quarter rather than the last quarter hehehehe

 

[catempire]

I think the media is comparing our 1st quarters from last year to this year. Last year we often buried teams in the 1st quarter and then cruised home. This year our fitness is different and also sides are coming out harder against us because they want to challenge the Premier team. Frankly it is far better to be in front at the end of the last quarter than the 1st quarter.

Out of interest, 2007 stats:

[B]Quarter	W	D	L	For		Against		%[/B]
1st	22	0	3	117.85 (787)	61.61 (427)	184.31
2nd	15	0	10	97.101 (683)	64.67 (451)	151.44
3rd	19	1	5	102.105 (717)	64.64 (448)	160.04
4th	17	2	6	114.82 (766)	78.51 (519)	147.59

I think the bolded bit in your post is the crux of it.

You can't deny it's something we will need to improve on as the season goes on though. Can't be giving sides a head start come finals time.

 

[thejester]

I disagree totally. I don't think it's a question of unrealistic expectations, because I don't believe it's unrealistic for the team to be executing basic skills, make good decisions or display AFL-levels of intensity. In the first half Richmond invariably had more numbers at the contest, whilst when we did get it we often tried to be too clever for the conditions.

I don't expect us to flog teams by 10 goals every week. I do expect us to play four quarters of good footy every week, and it's something we have utterly failed to do.

 

[Oscarlett]

Yet are 8 - 0!

They have a feel for what's going on, obviously

 

[Tay29]

I think the media is comparing our 1st quarters from last year to this year. Last year we often buried teams in the 1st quarter and then cruised home. This year our fitness is different and also sides are coming out harder against us because they want to challenge the Premier team. Frankly it is far better to be in front at the end of the last quarter than the 1st quarter.

Obviously being in front at the end is everything but what concerns me is how many times can we rely on getting into that extra gear and come from behind? Getting off to a good start is a great thing as it puts pressure on the opposition and not on us. Don't get me wrong. I admire our ability to rally and work our way back into the match but if we got off to slow starts against good teams then that may be it.

 

[passthebottle]

We are 8 zip!!!!

I couldn't care if we won every game by less than ten points.

The fact of the matter is we still keep winning so i think something is going right.

Have some faith boys and girls.

 

[And_ROOS]

Our goals from stoppages stat has dropped tremendously and its no surprise since we have lost Ottens. People forget how many goals from stoppages we kicked.

On the couch had a stat saying we, on average, are scoring as much as we did last year but are conceding 5 points more on average then we did.