Season Officially Over

[year of the cat]

Writing this just prior to 3/4 time. Although we have the excuses of Ablett and Ling being off it is the lack of fight and spiritless display that is most disappointing. To be honest we would still be down even if they were available. Big changes need to be made. S.Johnson and Kelly had opportunities to step up today and both failed miserably. One or both should go. McCarthy is clearly not up to it. We have no run at all and NO LEADERSHIP. King has been ordinary and has been almost invisible.

You could tell very early that this was going to be one of those games where the players were undisciplined and when needed to stand up against a team they should beat would get done. I am bloody angry writing this but enough is enough.

 

[-Charlie-]

.. I wish Geelong were good.

 

[brett_go_cats]

no target up forward

 

[ablettjnr]

no target up forward

If we had one we wouldn't hit it.

 

[TheTimeCometh]

just not consistent enough.

 

[Mooney_d'King]

SJ and Kelly should play for the rest of the year to get a bit of something to add to a show reel so we get a better price for the xxxxers.

 

[TheTimeCometh]

*You could tell very early that this was going to be one of those games where the players were undisciplined and when needed to stand up against a team they should beat would get done. I am bloody angry writing this but enough is enough.*

yep 4 goals to nothin' ..writing all but on the wall.



listless.

 

[bashar]

i couldnt tell who was playing to get in the top 8 and who was a bottom of the ladder team...sooo disapointed...and remeber the post before about tanking and everyones going no no no we should go for the win...congrats we just got the number 8 draft pick...too late for seller...well just have to settle for a midfielder now since all the talls will be gone...
it would have been arlight if we got a top 5 pick and we traded kelly and sj and mackie..
then we would have hawkins and maybe thorp or seller as kpp, and would have picked up alot of classy midfielders but noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo we had to go and live a pipe dream yey
season over

 

[Kegs44]

I wouldnt say we dont have a target up forward, Ottens is a great target and i actually think he's done well in the last few rounds, Geelong just dont kick it to his advantage nearly enough, or we just bomb the ball up and he competes against 2-3, for example today it was petrie by himself floating across Ottens.
But I agree our season is over now, if we cant beat the roos, we dont deserve to be anywhere near the finals

 

[chapmanmagic35]

I wouldnt say we dont have a target up forward, Ottens is a great target and i actually think he's done well in the last few rounds, Geelong just dont kick it to his advantage nearly enough, or we just bomb the ball up and he competes against 2-3, for example today it was petrie by himself floating across Ottens.
But I agree our season is over now, if we cant beat the roos, we dont deserve to be anywhere near the finals

Great point that...and sometimes it gets ignored.

How poorly did we use the ball today? Ottens looked dangerous and time and time again we bomed it long to him 2-1.

 

[Ricardo]

I guess that is the main point here....if we lose to North we don't really deserve to be in the finals, especially the way it was lost, if it was a close hard fought encounter with North playing their best footy of the year then you'd say oh well, nothing we could do about that....but to lose like that is just disgraceful.

I'd love us to make the finals, but what is the use if they play like that.....although it may not matter from here as we are two games out of the eight with games v Brisbane (away), St.kilda at the TD, Sydney, Melbourne at K.P......it could be all but over if we lose next week.

 

[jacross]

It had absolutely nothing to do with having no forward target. The midfield simply couldn't get it into the forward 50 and when they did it was **** poor and useless.

 

[Renegade]

I can't remember having a midfielder as useless as James Kelly. We've had some trash there but nothing like him. Pathetic disposal, below average ability in actually getting the ball. 35-40 metres is the max distance he can kick a football....remind me why this hack gets a game please?

 

[thegerman]

i couldnt tell who was playing to get in the top 8 and who was a bottom of the ladder team...sooo disapointed...and remeber the post before about tanking and everyones going no no no we should go for the win...congrats we just got the number 8 draft pick...too late for seller...well just have to settle for a midfielder now since all the talls will be gone...
it would have been arlight if we got a top 5 pick and we traded kelly and sj and mackie..
then we would have hawkins and maybe thorp or seller as kpp, and would have picked up alot of classy midfielders but noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo we had to go and live a pipe dream yey
season over

Talls, why do we need them. Hawkins comes in at third round. TALL 1. We could easily pick up a tall with 8th pick. TALL 2. King, Ottens, Blake and West. All talls. What we need is guys willing to put their heart on their sleeve. Trade Kelly, SJ, Mackie (if we get anything for a scrawny guy who can't dispose of the ball properly).

We don't need talls. We need fast guys who can break lines and run through opponenets. We were killed by that today, Grant and especially Harvey yet again killed us, why, because we don't have anyone with pace to go with them.

Ling, Bartel, Corey, Enright (though a bit quicker than rest), Mackie (can't run, can't kick/handball effectively) and Kelly are SLOW !!! They can't follow players and do not have the ability to run after their own players once in receipt of the ball.

 

[catattack]

(ignore, double post)....

 

[GeeCat]

Mackie (if we get anything for a scrawny guy who can't dispose of the ball properly)...Mackie (can't run, can't kick/handball effectively)

If Mackie is fodder on that proviso, then we may as well cull about 30 other guys and start over.

 

[catattack]

no target up forward

Ottens? He got ****ing murdered today - two on one nearly all the time and scragged in every contest. He battled hard, took several good marks and, IMO, was one of our better players.

 

[chapmanmagic35]

Ottens? He got ****ing murdered today - two on one nearly all the time and scragged in every contest. He battled hard, took several good marks and, IMO, was one of our better players.

Agreed...he looked really good.

 

[Catastrophe]

Basically we need to be sensible. The aim of the last 6 years was survival and we have done that. We tried and failed when it came to building a premiership team, HOWEVER THERE IS HOPE! We have a core of very good players who are young enough. We just need to take steps by getting rid of the current coaching regime (and not just Bomber) who have gotten us this far but can go no further. In addition, we need to turn over about half a dozen players and give opportunities to some of the younger players in our squad. There is no room for Steve J, Kingsley, Gardiner and McCarthy. Riccardi will move on after years of great service. There is five for a start. We need to look beyond King as injuries have taken there toll. If he was fit today, he is a shadow of his former self. We could do worse than take a risk on Gardiner from WCE and give him a second chance...he would be a cheap pick up, so financially no real risk.

Hawkins may be a given but we can still do well in the draft and look to our draft picks of recent years. Egan has been the success story for us this year.

We should target 2008 as the year as a number of the top clubs will be on the wane. 2007 should be a rebuilding year.

Finally, we have to have a decent skills coach who can teach our players to dispose of the ball with precision.

 

[martyk]

We don't need talls. We need fast guys who can break lines and run through opponenets. We were killed by that today, Grant and especially Harvey yet again killed us, why, because we don't have anyone with pace to go with them.

It is true that pace is very important, but the biggest issue Geelongs midfield has is disposal I believe. Players like Playfair, N.Ablett, Kingsley, McCarthy all rely on accurate delivery as they are weak contested marking players... our midfield don't give them much chance.. not that I'm making excuses for the above, its just that our forwards who kick goals do so from either creative on the ball play, or contested grabs... The way things are, the above forwards won't perform.

Riccardi is very important in this regard...and if you've ever wondered why Corey Enright & Joel Corey never get tagged, now you know... they simply don't damage the opposition with their disposal. Thompson said on K-Rock post-game that he tried working Hunt loose up the ground but the roos simply marked him straight away, which left Harley loose(disposal not strength at all).

 

[Herbs]

I just want to chaff to be cleaned out, then I can live with it. Too many freeloaders.

 

[thejester]

While the first quarter was atrocious, what killed us was the loss of Ling and Ablett (and Rooke, for that matter). We got murdered by their dominance in midfield and the failure to have a serious crummer up forward. You cannot seriously expect to win a game with two of your best players out of it for 7/8ths of the contest.

EDIT: Martyk, I'm pretty sure Corey was tagged by Wells for most of the game.

 

[chapmanmagic35]

It is true that pace is very important, but the biggest issue Geelongs midfield has is disposal I believe. Players like Playfair, N.Ablett, Kingsley, McCarthy all rely on accurate delivery as they are weak contested marking players... our midfield don't give them much chance.. not that I'm making excuses for the above, its just that our forwards who kick goals do so from either creative on the ball play, or contested grabs... The way things are, the above forwards won't perform.

Riccardi is very important in this regard...and if you've ever wondered why Corey Enright & Joel Corey never get tagged, now you know... they simply don't damage the opposition with their disposal. Thompson said on K-Rock post-game that he tried working Hunt loose up the ground but the roos simply marked him straight away, which left Harley loose(disposal not strength at all).

Great post...disposal is a massive problem. Always has been.

It cost us a spot in the 2004 GF.

 

[Irony]

So disappointed in Geelong, they have been fu king useless this year, very upset. Time to get rid of Thompson.

 

[Catastrophe]

MartyK, could not agree more. Disposal has killed us this year by hand and foot. If we could hit players on the chest instead of putting the ball at their feet or in front of them we would be a lot quicker. Greg Williams proved that you don't have to have pace to be quick. WE NEED A DECENT SKILLS COACH!