Positives from the Port game

[DanA]

Seems like there is a bit too much negativity after this game. Must remember we were leading with 10 seconds to go. Some of the positives:

- Jnr stepped up when the game was in the balance
- So too did Ottens (he looked stuffed but kept trying)
- Hunt played a blinder I thought
- Mackie has reached the stage where he is getting tagged!
- I thought Varcoe's pressure was excellent.
- Harley was pretty good too with his mark on the last line of defence.

I think we need to do a bit more work on our time wasting. That is easily fixed though. seemed like they lack purpose if there efforts to make space and the 50 meter pass backwards was not good.

 

[Duskfire]

Though we weren't playing that good, we never gave up. So many times throughout the game I thought the Cats were finished and then somehow they would get a couple of quick goals and then stumble on back, only for Port to pull away again. Mackie really stood up when we needed him to (as did Ablett but thats expected.) Hunt seems to be hitting some really good form, as is Harley. Nablett had a good first half and Stokes at least tried hard.

 

[Renegade]

- Josh playing well
- Henry's career over
- We played horrendous football and still lost only at the death
- Bartel, Ling, Selwood, Rooke all to return

 

[Partridge]

Seems like there is a bit too much negativity after this game. Must remember we were leading with 10 seconds to go. Some of the positives:

- Jnr stepped up when the game was in the balance
- So too did Ottens (he looked stuffed but kept trying)
- Hunt played a blinder I thought
- Mackie has reached the stage where he is getting tagged!
- I thought Varcoe's pressure was excellent.
- Harley was pretty good too with his mark on the last line of defence.

You're kidding right? Varcoe is as soft as butter. He will not go in for the ball. You think the finals are going to be any easier? He's not ready yet, sorry.

Agree with the rest.

 

[gnoleeg]

- Josh playing well
- Henry's career over
- We played horrendous football and still lost only at the death
- Bartel, Ling, Selwood, Rooke all to return

Credit to Port, who played well. However, at times yesterday we were playing terrible footy reminiscent of 2006, and yet we still came as close as you can get to beating the number 2 side in the comp. Surely we will improve a mile on yesterday, and I'm still really confident we can do better than well in the finals.

 

[Ling Sting]

Field kicking the last two weeks has been as bad as it gets.

Lower our clanger count by a fraction and we would have won.

I think we really missed the Orange Towel and Jimmy though. Port were getting far to many centre breaks in the third term.

 

[G_Money]

A couple of positives I drew from the game:

- Nathan looked dangerous in the forward line. Took a couple of strong marks, kicked a few goals, and should get a bit of confidence up.

- Kelly got some serious game time in the middle, and looked good for it. Over the course of the year, there have been times when there has not been a position for James, but he showed today that he can add to the midfeld mix.

- No injuries out of the game, and three good players to return in the next couple of weeks.

- Learnt a valuable lesson about how teams are going to come at us in the finals. Hopefully the boys can learn to deal with the one-on-one pressure and the 'corridor flood' better than they did today.

- Ottens was great in the ruck. Although his set shot kicking has been poor for the last couple of years.

 

[winty]

- We had no Bartel, Rooke, Selwood or Ling, minimal input from Mooney, made costly disposal errors all day, were carrying passengers like Playfair and Byrnes, and still got within 5 points of a team that were good all day.

- Nathan Ablett probably played his best game since the first few rounds of the season

- Ottens went up another level IMO. Will be close to AA.

- Kelly, Stokes and a few others got time in the middle, to further boost our midfield stocks.

- Corey got tagged, possibly for the first time ever, so he would have learnt something new yesterday: how to deal with taggers

- Gary Ablett showed why he is the Brownlow favourite. Absolute gun.

- The cheersquad finally did something to rally the team, and it nearly got the team over the line. That chant that lasted the duration of the third quarter break was awesome. Should do it every game, and during the first quarter break as well.

 

[DanA]

You're kidding right? Varcoe is as soft as butter. He will not go in for the ball. You think the finals are going to be any easier? He's not ready yet, sorry.

Agree with the rest.

The is no doubt when it is his turn to put his head over the ball that he melts but his forward pressure was excellent. Would have been 5 or 6 times that Port turned the ball over as a direct result of Varcoe's pressure.

 

[Play Fair]

One big positive...this loss has brought out a huge number of bigfooty d1ckheads who have been waiting for 15 weeks to post crap about us choking. It'll be fantastic to bump their threads in about a months time

 

[Solstice Raver]

A definate positive.

A majority of the list would have been reminded how sh1t it is to get beaten at the death ala Sydney Semi 2 years ago. It should be the kick up the arse they needed.

A negative.

We have been the hunted for so long now that teams are starting to find effective ways to negate our run and damage through the corridor. Credit to Port as they were able to do this better than any other team this year which put us under pressure and forced contested turnover.

 

[winty]

One big positive...this loss has brought out a huge number of bigfooty d1ckheads who have been waiting for 15 weeks to post crap about us choking. It'll be fantastic to bump their threads in about a months time

One big negative is we're getting all these nuff-nuffs from Port coming on here and rubbing it in, like their team has some sort of chance this year. Play yesterday's game 10 times, with the team we had in yesterday, and I think we'll win it at least 7 times. I for one welcome the chance to play them in September, with Ling, Bartel and co. back in the side. Let's see how cocky those ferals are then. If we were playing a team like West Coast yesterday, we'd have lost by about 10 goals.

 

[re cat]

- We had no Bartel, Rooke, Selwood or Ling, minimal input from Mooney, made costly disposal errors all day, were carrying passengers like Playfair and Byrnes, and still got within 5 points of a team that were good all day.

- Nathan Ablett probably played his best game since the first few rounds of the season

- Ottens went up another level IMO. Will be close to AA.

- Kelly, Stokes and a few others got time in the middle, to further boost our midfield stocks.

- Corey got tagged, possibly for the first time ever, so he would have learnt something new yesterday: how to deal with taggers

- Gary Ablett showed why he is the Brownlow favourite. Absolute gun.

- The cheersquad finally did something to rally the team, and it nearly got the team over the line. That chant that lasted the duration of the third quarter break was awesome. Should do it every game, and during the first quarter break as well.

You really did get a bit carried away with the chant didn't you.
Where your dvds ok?

 

[winty]

You really did get a bit carried away with the chant didn't you.
Where your dvds ok?

After I finished guzzling my drink, I did get carried away with it.

As for the DVDs, so far, so good.

 

[chapmanmagic35]

You're kidding right? Varcoe is as soft as butter. He will not go in for the ball. You think the finals are going to be any easier? He's not ready yet, sorry.

Agree with the rest.

I didn't think he was that bad yesterday.

 

[Partridge]

I didn't think he was that bad yesterday.

He's generally good with his disposal, and his ability to grab the ball out of nowhere is amazing. I firmly believe he will make it.

But, in my opinion we cannot carry a guy who isn't willing to put his body on the line. We had 3 small guys out there yesterday - Byrnes, Stokes and Varcoe. Byrnes and Stokes were buried every time they grabbed it, and Varcoe offered no physical resistance. A big factor in their dominance around the packs.

Put it this way, take out Byrnes and Varcoe and put in Rooke and Bartel. Who would the opposition rather be tackling them?

 

[re cat]

After I finished guzzling my drink, I did get carried away with it.

As for the DVDs, so far, so good.

Careful Pepsi will do it to you everytime.

 

[Ling Sting]

I didn't think he was that bad yesterday.

agree, I thought he was good. There were two occassions where he was running with the ball towards the 50m and had no one in front of him but opted for a quick kick. He's just got to start backing himself and have a few more running shots.

I have no doubt he adds something to the team that was missing last year.

 

[someday-somehow]

One big negative is we're getting all these nuff-nuffs from Port coming on here and rubbing it in, like their team has some sort of chance this year. Play yesterday's game 10 times, with the team we had in yesterday, and I think we'll win it at least 7 times. I for one welcome the chance to play them in September, with Ling, Bartel and co. back in the side. Let's see how cocky those ferals are then. If we were playing a team like West Coast yesterday, we'd have lost by about 10 goals.

There's always going to be a couple...we have them too. Port did a lot of homework and brought our game plan unstuck - just. I don't think Geelong should worry about who they play in the first final...as long as they win it.

I would be really p!ssed off if we play collingwood at the MCG though, not that I'm afraid of meeting them...I just think it will really show up the inequities of the competition.

 

[Ricardo]

The cheersquad finally did something to rally the team, and it nearly got the team over the line. That chant that lasted the duration of the third quarter break was awesome. Should do it every game, and during the first quarter break as well.

Well done to the cheersquad, they really started chanting when the team needed it.

They will definitely need to do that come finals, they really lifted the spirits of the crowd it seemed.

As we were coming back the crowd FINALLY found its voice, they have been so quiet the whole season, i guess this was the first time (since the North game) that we were behind and needed a lift.

 

[The Cork Soaker]

Seems like there is a bit too much negativity after this game. Must remember we were leading with 10 seconds to go. Some of the positives:

- Jnr stepped up when the game was in the balance
- So too did Ottens (he looked stuffed but kept trying)
- Hunt played a blinder I thought
- Mackie has reached the stage where he is getting tagged!
- I thought Varcoe's pressure was excellent.
- Harley was pretty good too with his mark on the last line of defence.

I think we need to do a bit more work on our time wasting. That is easily fixed though. seemed like they lack purpose if there efforts to make space and the 50 meter pass backwards was not good.

Quite agree, punt Playfair! He was the only one wasting anyone's time out there yesterday. Showed the big gap between handy VFL player to whats required in the big show.

I thought the actual loss was the bonus, should serve as a wake call for a few who might be getting a bit ahead of themselves. Also relieves a bit of pressure and we can stop talking about "the streak" finally, and just concentrate on finals. If we had won that game after playing so poorly then I reckon complacency could have been a real threat to us.
Gotta stop stuffin around with the pill, too many dinky handballs and turnovers were bad.

 

[Sttew]

Seems like there is a bit too much negativity after this game. Must remember we were leading with 10 seconds to go. Some of the positives:

- Jnr stepped up when the game was in the balance
- So too did Ottens (he looked stuffed but kept trying)
- Hunt played a blinder I thought
- Mackie has reached the stage where he is getting tagged!
- I thought Varcoe's pressure was excellent.
- Harley was pretty good too with his mark on the last line of defence.

I think we need to do a bit more work on our time wasting. That is easily fixed though. seemed like they lack purpose if there efforts to make space and the 50 meter pass backwards was not good.

Port clearly came to play football and they did their homework on the Cats. Yet, with most of our "engine room" out, we only lost by 5 points.

IMO it was a gutsy performance by both teams. It showed Cats can bounce back, and also showed Port is a pretty good side.

 

[Shell]

I got Gary Ablett Snrs autograph (and for the first time too!)

And all the usual stuff about the actual team too. Won't repeat what others have already said.

 

[Pal22]

It was dissapointing to lose but there were a couple of things I thought were a positive for us.

Even though we lost we did go down fighting, when they got the first goal of the last quarter and were 25 pts up we could have easily lost by 7-8 goals but to our credit we came back and almost stole the game (which we didn't derserve to win)

*Also heard on the radio today that yesterday's crowd of 24,331 was the biggest crowd at a Skilled Stadium game since Round 9 2001*

 

[re cat]

I got Gary Ablett Snrs autograph (and for the first time too!)

And all the usual stuff about the actual team too. Won't repeat what others have already said.

Was that before or after his heeling work at 1/4 time Shell