Season Suddenly Looking a Bit Ordinary

[snowycats]

My earlier anticipation that we would have a very good year has been tempered a lot the last couple of weeks - suspensions to Stokes and Kelly means we will not see them until Round 4 and they were looking good. J Hunt - not sure. Tenace will take a couple of games
The performance against Brisbane left me wondering - maybe they were flat after Darwin and the rain but I was still very disappointed. Brisbane will be a bottom four side this year and had lot out but played smarter and with more intensity (better coached). Ling looked absolutely shocking and his decision making does not seem to be any better - no-one doubts his stamina and courage but as an onballer the game has moved too quickly for him. King I still have grave reservations about and Blake will never be able to kick or handball to AFL standard.
Selwood and Djerkurra give me hope but of course have to prove themselves at the top level.
The plusses are Cam Mooney Egan Bartel Ottens Milburn (as always) and surprisingly Charlie. G Ablett will be good and so will Nathan. Hawk - well he is going to take a while. Byrnes will be in and out.

Can someone make me regain that February optimism.

 

[BlueNWhite]

Um, it's February and we all need to get over ourselves?
There's a lot of footy to be played between now and September.
The sky isn't falling people....

 

[JUBJUB]

Um, it's February and we all need to get over ourselves?

Someone needs a new calendar

 

[tragicforces]

I got the impression we were just very flat after the hitout in Darwin... nothing to worry about.

 

[Rustybugles]

The march flies are biting!

I wouldn't be despondent - NAB rules distort our game - it was much more even than the final score indicates - glad I went to it. Just take out the crazy circus trick 9 point goal and you'll see how close it was.
Ling and Byrnes were major worries but as long as we stick to direct play and hard tackles (Kelly's was an unfortunate blip) we'll be right there in 2007. Our young kids were as good as anyone's - we just didn't have a matchwinner like Simon Black.

By the way - look at Professor Walls' article in today's Age - replace Daniher's name (and Junkyard dog's) with Bomber's and you have vitually the same article. God he is a pain to listen to!

 

[catswhiskers]

Early days. We have a 22 game season ahead then hopefully finals.

Their is stuff to worry about and stuff to look forward to.

Obviously the "old" (experienced) midfield are not going to get us to the finals but we have hope that Prismall, Selwood, Djerkurra, and Varcoe supply the hope. Tenace should also be better than last year- he just needs run rather than go sideways. With the gutsy Bartel and Rooke, Kelly who looks to have got the message, Corey and Enright if the younger players provide some class then we will look much more dangerous going forward.

The forward end also has as much promise as stuff to worry about. Gamble looked like pushing thru last year. Chappy and Ablett and Stokes form a formidable small forward group. Mooney has done plenty to suggest he will play well at CHF and Ottens does look fit. NAblett and Hawkins offer the hope. The key is how the ball gets to them.

The defence has always been good and there is no reason that won't continue. The experiments with Scarlett need to stop. He takes the best big forward each week. Egan , Johnson, Harley, J Hunt and Milburn do a job each week. We just lack the class as we move the ball from defence. Woja's running is too erratic and too sideways. More gut running from the mids is needed to give the defence more short targets across the middle. San Hunt offers a little hope too, his NAB form was better than I expected.

Its a long season too and we do have some depth.

Be positive because, thats what Bomber and the team need to be.

I don't think I can stand another year full of negative sideways cr*p.

 

[martyk]

I agree that yes it is early in the season and a hell of a lot can happen between now and September. Our inability to handle the flood is a major problem. I find that our list lacks accurate kicking, especially in the midfield. The forwards have copped lots of flack, but this is not the only reason why we consistantly get more inside 50s / posessions and loose games. In todays game where speed / fitness is important, the basics are being overlooked.

Think about who you would consider to be a good kick in our midfield?? IMO Tenace and Burns are worst than many club players disposal wise, terrible actually. Our others are all average at best. We have seen J.Hunt get pushed up the ground more and more(Friday night), but we need more kicking talent other than Hunt.

What am I saying... well, I think the reality is that we are an average AFL team. It ain't 2004 anymore... Carlton / Hawthorn etc are on the move upwards and we are sliding...

How do you improve? simple, get rid of the deadwood... Harley, King, Ling, Gardiner, Playfair, THOMPSON. The best start..

 

[Go Hoops]

Okay, I admit I'm a pessimist. The Brisbane game is the first time I've seen the Cats this year. I couldn't detect any "new" game plan. I saw the same problems as last year. Turn overs when not under pressure; missing targets; overuse of the ball, lack of foot speed; kicking sideways etc.

I'd really appreciate someone explaining our "new" game plan.

Gee, I hope I'm wrong. I'm only 22 and I'm beginning to doubt I'll see a premiership in my lifetime.

BTW Nathan Ablett is way over rated. We can't afford Ottens, Mooney, Hawkins and Ablett in the forward line. Send Nathan back to the twos until he improves his pace, agility and concentration.

 

[Rosella]

Bris flooded in the first quarter and we didn't handle it. After that they kicked long to a contest, which is about as good an option as trying to weave through it and pinpoint targets. After quarter time we kicked 9 goals to 8. We had chances in the last quarter, Mooney did well to get but there were a couple of tired efforts to convert. Had there been another tall option to help out, such as Ottens, there may have been a different result.

I don't care that much about the NAB cup - it's looking like an also-rans consolation prize.

I don't like how our midfield fails to clear the ball often enough, it is a concern. I was willing to give Cameron Ling another chance after a poor season, but he's even worse than last year. Other than that, I don't think it's gloom and doom.

 

[Tristagi]

Chapman, Rooke, Ottens, Harley all still to come back..
Ablett was on and off due to his hip and Josh Hunt missed the last bit due to ankle.

Jimmy Bartel, Joel Corey, James Kelly all looked flat but who can blame them, they played in a monsoon last week, I'm amazed they even played them all.

Its NAB cup and coming off that ****ty game up in Darwin im suprised they even came as close as they did

 

[martyk]

Bris flooded in the first quarter and we didn't handle it. After that they kicked long to a contest, which is about as good an option as trying to weave through it and pinpoint targets.

Brisbane flooded all game. We got our pants pulled down in the first because it wasn't expected. It took us until the 2nd quarter to compensate by also having numbers back to restrict the effect of turnovers. Flooding teams tend to run out of legs towards the 2nd half of the 3rd, which Brisbane did. The game then became more stagnant. Losing J.Hunt and G.Ablett hurt us in a major, major way.

 

[gregWAllan]

I got the impression we were just very flat after the hitout in Darwin... nothing to worry about.

Having now watched the Brisbane game for a second time I'm now willing to accept this judgement. I wasn't initially.

The Cats have gone from playing in a swimming pool one week to a skating rink six days later. Brisbane added an extra fourteen points from supergoals and one very dodgy three point "rushed behind". The losses of Ablett and Hunt were destabilising. I'm now inclined to think Friday's effort wasn't too bad under the circumstances.

 

[Conan Troutman]

Can someone make me regain that February optimism.

this might help a little bit....

Cats' pre-season purring along
8 December, 2006

...However while the Cats are progressing well under their new fitness coach, Haines has warned Geelong fans not to expect a repeat of last year's early success in the NAB Cup pre-season competition.

"We will be training really hard through January and February to build our fitness base for the season," Haines said.

"But at the start of the NAB Cup will be in a taper period and it's important you taper before round one because it's all about making sure the players are 100 per cent ready to go for the start of the season."

http://gfc.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=309349

 

[Shell]

Having now watched the Brisbane game for a second time I'm now willing to accept this judgement. I wasn't initially.

The Cats have gone from playing in a swimming pool one week to a skating rink six days later. Brisbane added an extra fourteen points from supergoals and one very dodgy three point "rushed behind". The losses of Ablett and Hunt were destabilising. I'm now inclined to think Friday's effort wasn't too bad under the circumstances.

Didn't they get three supergoals?? So that would mean they got 9 extra points, which gives them a 3 point lead still. And that 3-pointer.. totally dodgy, i agree. But then even with that they still would have won by a point!

Anyway, I agree also, about coming off the Darwin game. You have to take that into consideration! The game was up for grabs deep into the last... so yeah, no panic stations just yet. I do reserve the right tho, later in the year..

 

[Go Hoops]

Jimmy Bartel, Joel Corey, James Kelly all looked flat but who can blame them, they played in a monsoon last week, I'm amazed they even played them all.

Given they may have been flat. However,the three you mentioned are all one-paced - and that's not quick. Don't get me wrong I have a lot of time for Corey and Bartel, but if you listen to many of the coaches they are saying the trend is for of quick 'burst' players in the midfield. Just this week Williams and Sheedy said that will be their priority this year. Daniher too. I'm hoping Tenace, Varcoe and Byrnes step-up.

 

[WE Are Geelong]

I agree that yes it is early in the season and a hell of a lot can happen between now and September. Our inability to handle the flood is a major problem. I find that our list lacks accurate kicking, especially in the midfield. The forwards have copped lots of flack, but this is not the only reason why we consistantly get more inside 50s / posessions and loose games. In todays game where speed / fitness is important, the basics are being overlooked.

Think about who you would consider to be a good kick in our midfield?? IMO Tenace and Burns are worst than many club players disposal wise, terrible actually. Our others are all average at best. We have seen J.Hunt get pushed up the ground more and more(Friday night), but we need more kicking talent other than Hunt.

What am I saying... well, I think the reality is that we are an average AFL team. It ain't 2004 anymore... Carlton / Hawthorn etc are on the move upwards and we are sliding...

How do you improve? simple, get rid of the deadwood... Harley, King, Ling, Gardiner, Playfair, THOMPSON. The best start..

I think pointing out individual players is not really necessary...when you have just summed it up far better from a team perspective...We can be as fit as we like but if we dont play this style of footy better this year we wont improve as much as we should or would all like to...

 

[Larry Donahue]

Probably the best result imho. We saw the sort of attention winning this thing gets you last year - NAB premiers = regular season premiership favourites! No thanks...

This way we get to play at home next week with little or no attention from the media snipes. And after watching the Richmond game I was satisfied that the fitness staff have their s**t together. Last week was a solid win (take out the ump shockers and we were home comfortably) and we obviously looked tired after that trip this week.

 

[CF]

For gods sake, I hate to be a little inflammatory, but how can you write off the season after 3 preseason games??????

They were flat in the first half but did have a dip in the second and if the Cat's had of kicked straighter they should have won by 4 goals. I thought looking at the boys body language walking off after the final siren was telling. They didn't look upset at all. They looked like a team thinking ahead and now not having to worry about the burden of the NAB Cup anymore.

Get a FRIGGIN Grip! There is such a long way to go yet!

 

[grantyc77]

How do you improve? simple, get rid of the deadwood... Harley, King, Ling, Gardiner, Playfair, THOMPSON. The best start.. [/quote]

They say we had no leadership before and you want to get rid of our captain and vice captain, mate get a life... seriously, who would lead the team that didnt do it last yr? I think Harley will be good as captain, definatly got the respect from the players.

 

[WE Are Geelong]

For gods sake, I hate to be a little inflammatory, but how can you write off the season after 3 preseason games??????

They were flat in the first half but did have a dip in the second and if the Cat's had of kicked straighter they should have won by 4 goals. I thought looking at the boys body language walking off after the final siren was telling. They didn't look upset at all. They looked like a team thinking ahead and now not having to worry about the burden of the NAB Cup anymore.

Get a FRIGGIN Grip! There is such a long way to go yet!

Just looking at the punctuation marks perhaps you are the one carrying on a bit....in the first half of last season flooding and defensive tactics meant we didnt beat one decent side in that time. The night we beat the Saints they were ordinary and not their usual standard. We only won games last year when our season was over and it didnt matter. I think winning 7.5 of the last 12 matches is an ok record but it means little to whats going to happen when this season is actually still alive for all teams in the first half of the coming season.....early indicators this year against average opposition who didnt make the 8 last year is that we are still struggling with it...why not make a comment about it? Whats the big deal...just face up to it...they have had issues playing this style of footy for a long time now.

We beat Richmond by 51 points in the first half when they didnt flood....when they flooded we lost the next half by 8 points.

Lets hope they improve as the season goes on...but calling a spade for what it is...particularly after last season is hardly irrational. They have a long long time to make amends this season and I hope they start to turn it around soon when faced with this ongoing challenge of flooding but please name one time they have dealt with it when it mattered? When you answer that question just put your question marks and exclamation points away for a rainy day.

 

[krisholio14]

yep that loss on friday night has totally torn it all for us. we might as well just put the cues back in the rack right now. we are finished.

 

[Lunchlady Doris]

Didn't they get three supergoals?? So that would mean they got 9 extra points, which gives them a 3 point lead still. And that 3-pointer.. totally dodgy, i agree. But then even with that they still would have won by a point!

Anyway, I agree also, about coming off the Darwin game. You have to take that into consideration! The game was up for grabs deep into the last... so yeah, no panic stations just yet. I do reserve the right tho, later in the year..

I thought they kicked 4 or 5 supergoals? And flooded like nobody's business. I think they'd studied our smashing of Richmond, and formulated a game plan to counter the way we played in that match. And it worked, with us being a bit flat as well.

 

[SJ]

Just looking at the punctuation marks perhaps you are the one carrying on a bit....in the first half of last season flooding and defensive tactics meant we didnt beat one decent side in that time. The night we beat the Saints they were ordinary and not their usual standard. We only won games last year when our season was over and it didnt matter. I think winning 7.5 of the last 12 matches is an ok record but it means little to whats going to happen when this season is actually still alive for all teams in the first half of the coming season.....early indicators this year against average opposition who didnt make the 8 last year is that we are still struggling with it...why not make a comment about it? Whats the big deal...just face up to it...they have had issues playing this style of footy for a long time now.

We beat Richmond by 51 points in the first half when they didnt flood....when they flooded we lost the next half by 8 points.

Lets hope they improve as the season goes on...but calling a spade for what it is...particularly after last season is hardly irrational. They have a long long time to make amends this season and I hope they start to turn it around soon when faced with this ongoing challenge of flooding but please name one time they have dealt with it when it mattered? When you answer that question just put your question marks and exclamation points away for a rainy day.

I fully agree with everything you've been saying WE Are Geelong since Friday night. Very thoughtful and logical - keep it up.

 

[Shell]

I thought they kicked 4 or 5 supergoals? And flooded like nobody's business. I think they'd studied our smashing of Richmond, and formulated a game plan to counter the way we played in that match. And it worked, with us being a bit flat as well.

Scores: Brisbane 3.8.10 85 to Geelong 0.10.13 73.

 

[CF]

sorry for my overuse of punctuation marks as I know how it upsets you. But honestly I think what you are saying based on 3 preseason games is complete and utter crap. But you are entitled to your opinion.