Steven King in 2008 GF

[witsend]

Can't help thinking Kingy would have been a much more valuable player to us than Blakey. Could have freed up Ottens more forward especially after Croad went off. For all Blake's cult hero status and sympathy votes, I'm not sure he has the talent to be a 1st string ruckman. Good below his knees though.

 

[madcat001]

King wouldn't have won us the GF, but kicking straight would've, oh wait, Otto has to shoulder part of that blame doesn't he.

 

[CF]

Can't help thinking Kingy would have been a much more valuable player to us than Blakey. Could have freed up Ottens more forward especially after Croad went off. For all Blake's cult hero status and sympathy votes, I'm not sure he has the talent to be a 1st string ruckman. Good below his knees though.

King is gone, get over it.....all of you!

 

[hamG]

He would have twanged his calf in round 17.

 

[witsend]

My point is...
Do you think the bet we placed on Blake has or will pay off?
I have my doubts....
Yes I know Kingy's gone...he's not really the point!! And I am over it...I just wonder whether we are backing the wrong horse and does Bomber take ruckmen seriously? We don't even have a ruck coach afaik...

 

[CF]

Blake has improved outta site over the last 2 years and even though I agree he still has areas he need to improve, I think he is capable of becoming a decent hard working ruckman. I don't think he will ever be our true number 1 ruckman even when Otto retires. I am hopefull Dawson Simpson has talent to match his enormous height.

He didn't have a great game in the GF, but he wasn't alone in that department and he did not cost us the game. I hope he just comes up even better next year after another preseason under his belt. I would like to see him get some specialised ruck coaching though. His tap outs are beautiful now but I agree he needs to be a more physical presence on the field and be able to assist the midfielders better. I do think he does get pushed off the ball too easily and he should go start working out with Hunt and train with Rooke to get a mean streak in him.

 

[Catman]

I'm at my wits end with people constantly making these hypothetical comparisons.

King's gone. We made the right choice in letting him go and he wouldn't have made any difference to the GF result. Just like last year where if Blake had played we'd still have pumped Port by 100+.

Yes, he struggled in the GF, as did many of our so-called stars. But if we kicked straight Mark Blake would be a premiership player, we'd have gone back-to-back and it would now be a case of Steven who?

 

[AM]

I'm at my wits end with people constantly making these hypothetical comparisons.

King's gone. We made the right choice in letting him go and he wouldn't have made any difference to the GF result. Just like last year where if Blake had played we'd still have pumped Port by 100+.

Yes, he struggled in the GF, as did many of our so-called stars. But if we kicked straight Mark Blake would be a premiership player, we'd have gone back-to-back and it would now be a case of Steven who?

Um! Reckon the bad kicking thing is a misnomer. The Hawks walked through the majority of the points during the key parts of the game. And whilst we missed a couple of gimees we also got a couple of soft frees. We were out coached; had no plan 'b' when things started to go pear shaped; had too many top players down and had a forward line that was found out. Keep in mind many of the Hawks stars didn't fire and they still won.

 

[LifeSpan-Void]

Um! Reckon the bad kicking thing is a misnomer. The Hawks walked through the majority of the points during the key parts of the game. And whilst we missed a couple of gimees we also got a couple of soft frees. We were out coached; had no plan 'b' when things started to go pear shaped; had too many top players down and had a forward line that was found out. Keep in mind many of the Hawks stars didn't fire and they still won.

There were a heap of rushed behinds, but it was the telling misses to Chapman, Mooney, Ottens etc. that broke us. Whenever we'd miss one, the hawks would reset their structure, and just slice it straight through and nail their shots. It was contagious really, you could see by the end of the third that we were on borrowed time, and when the hawks got the first goal in the last we were done. King would have made bugger-all difference to anything in that game, what we would have benefitted from is having Gamble and maybe Hawkins in the forward line instead of Stokes and maybe Lonergan - although he did give it everything, it just wasn't enough. This still may not have won us the game, and even swapping out Varcoe for Wojcinski may not have done much either, but they would have been more influential than swapping out one loping low-possession ruckman for another loping low-possession ruckman.

 

[JUBJUB]

Can't help thinking Kingy would have been a much more valuable player to us than Blakey. Could have freed up Ottens more forward especially after Croad went off. For all Blake's cult hero status and sympathy votes, I'm not sure he has the talent to be a 1st string ruckman. Good below his knees though.

della ??? Achilles ??? Woofdog???

F off to the StKilda board and tug yourself over King

Gee,why not start a thread 'Gary Ablett Sr in 2008 GF' or 'Buddha in 2008 GF' or if you're really desperate 'Kant Kicksley in 2008 GF'

GET THE F**K OVER IT.HE'S GOOOOOOOOOOOONE !!!!

 

[Meow]

I'm at my wits end with people constantly making these hypothetical comparisons.

King's gone. We made the right choice in letting him go and he wouldn't have made any difference to the GF result. Just like last year where if Blake had played we'd still have pumped Port by 100+.

Yes, he struggled in the GF, as did many of our so-called stars. But if we kicked straight Mark Blake would be a premiership player, we'd have gone back-to-back and it would now be a case of Steven who?

Agreed!
The Granny's done and dusted; we are moving on to next year.

 

[Fastback]

Wouldn't have made a difference.

Geelong went into damage control early and lost their way - the Hawks absorbed all Geelong had and counter punched with effect.

It's the coach that needs to work out another way to win.

Have no doubts the war will continue next season - bring it on.

 

[witsend]

Sheesh
Chill out guys!!
I'm entitled to an opinion...I dont think for a second having Kingy would have won us the Granny. I'm just postulating that maybe Blake isn't up to it...time will tell. But I would remind you that this IS a place for hypotheticals and discussion..you may choose to disagree by all means but how about showing a little respect to a fellow Cats fan with an opinion...or doesn't mine count?

 

[moond0g]

Sheesh
Chill out guys!!
I'm entitled to an opinion...I dont think for a second having Kingy would have won us the Granny. I'm just postulating that maybe Blake isn't up to it...time will tell. But I would remind you that this IS a place for hypotheticals and discussion..you may choose to disagree by all means but how about showing a little respect to a fellow Cats fan with an opinion...or doesn't mine count?

i sort of agree with ya mate... i dont think having king would have won us the game, but i just dont see blake becoming a number one ruckmen, although he has improved a lot and his tap work is alright, he just does nothing around the ground (although i do love seeing him get a kick for novelty value) and once ottens goes we really havent got anywherre to turn. and for that reason i think ottens has to be up there as our most important player, not best or most talented, but most important and i would have a look at a decent ruck if available in the draft to take over in a few years

 

[JUBJUB]

Sheesh
Chill out guys!!
I'm entitled to an opinion

and we're entitled to give our opinions in response .... and we did

 

[witsend]

and we're entitled to give our opinions in response .... and we did

Actually very few gave an opinion...most just threw cheap insults...but thats ok...nothing like the pain of losing a GF to the Dawks ;-)

Let's not eat our own huh?

 

[LotsofCuddles9]

Blake doesnt show enough desperation after the bounce - watch for the emergence of Shane Mumford i hope he gets more senior game time - He is willing to throw this weigt around - To me he is a better long term prospecy than Blake and west - Plays a bit like Ckark Keating did for Brisbane.

 

[candiehappy]

Rubbish thread. Did you watch the second half of King's season?
The game wasn't lost in the middle.

 

[witsend]

Rubbish thread. Did you watch the second half of King's season?
The game wasn't lost in the middle.

Didn't say it was...Nowhere did I say that King would have made the difference. I just believe Grand Finals highlight flaws. I believe Blake is a good ordinary ruckman. We let go a servant of the club and former captain to favor a guy who I don't believe will be a 1st string ruckman in the long term. Personally I would have preferred Kingy out there on that day rather than Blake. I think if the club believes Blake is the ruck future at Geelong post Ottens...we have a structural problem. In the meantime until Mummy, West or a draftee comes good...I'd have rather had Kingy. We'd have got more out of him last year than Blake. THAT is the point of the "rubbish" thread.
BTW if you're gonna troll as a "Geelong" supporter, try not putting a Hawks sign as your avatar...

 

[The rabbi]

I am not a big fan of Blake. Personally, I think that he is a tap ruckman and nothing more.

But Blake was not the problem on Grand Final day. He was just one of the many problems.

 

[candiehappy]

Didn't say it was...Nowhere did I say that King would have made the difference. I just believe Grand Finals highlight flaws. I believe Blake is a good ordinary ruckman. We let go a servant of the club and former captain to favor a guy who I don't believe will be a 1st string ruckman in the long term. Personally I would have preferred Kingy out there on that day rather than Blake. I think if the club believes Blake is the ruck future at Geelong post Ottens...we have a structural problem. In the meantime until Mummy, West or a draftee comes good...I'd have rather had Kingy. We'd have got more out of him last year than Blake. THAT is the point of the "rubbish" thread.
BTW if you're gonna troll as a "Geelong" supporter, try not putting a Hawks sign as your avatar...[/quote]

I'll remember not to make a bet on bay13 next season......
King was injury suspect and couldn't be relied on to play a full year, or beyond. He's just not a long term option. I still thing Blake is much maligned. He is a good ordinary ruckman, and improving. King is going the other direction.
There aren't that many quality ruckman around, especialyy for a club that faces salary cap issues for quite a few years.

 

[geelong_boy]

There were a heap of rushed behinds, but it was the telling misses to Chapman, Mooney, Ottens etc. that broke us. Whenever we'd miss one, the hawks would reset their structure, and just slice it straight through and nail their shots. It was contagious really, you could see by the end of the third that we were on borrowed time, and when the hawks got the first goal in the last we were done. King would have made bugger-all difference to anything in that game, what we would have benefitted from is having Gamble and maybe Hawkins in the forward line instead of Stokes and maybe Lonergan - although he did give it everything, it just wasn't enough. This still may not have won us the game, and even swapping out Varcoe for Wojcinski may not have done much either, but they would have been more influential than swapping out one loping low-possession ruckman for another loping low-possession ruckman.

Well said LSV.

Of course the Hawks rushed a heap of points, but let me put it from my perspective. I was sitting behind the goals at the Ponsford Street end, ie. the side to which Hawthorn were kicking in the second quarter. I swear the ball was down the other end for the majority of the quarter, but the Cats simply weren't taking their chances, and on the few occasions the ball came down to my end it seemed the Hawks would kick a goal (they kicked 3.1 for the term). I could see it happening right before my eyes, I didn't need an expert to explain it to me. For all that dominance in that term we only kicked one goal, missed so many goal-scoring opportunities - we all know which ones - and many were rushed too.

 

[witsend]

There aren't that many quality ruckman around, especialyy for a club that faces salary cap issues for quite a few years.

True...with the midfield we are blessed with, I could probably ruck and we'd still win the clearances ;-)
Makes me wonder just how many ruckmen there are in the comp who can actually consistenty influence a contest?
Ottens would be one IMO...Cox, Sandilands, Hille every now and then. Fraser is good but never seems particularly damaging to me, but that may be just that he doesn't do much against us...

 

[Vdubs]

We should look no further than the 2 times Blakey has opposed King in 2008, and Blakey gets the nod. How did King go against Hawks in prelim. and against us in 1st final?? Very average--on those occasions, we didn't hear any longing for King. Still believe Blake is and will continue to improve, and will be supported in the ruck by West/ Mummy etc. while Ottens becomes a more focused KF.

 

[candiehappy]

True...with the midfield we are blessed with, I could probably ruck and we'd still win the clearances ;-)
Makes me wonder just how many ruckmen there are in the comp who can actually consistenty influence a contest?
Ottens would be one IMO...Cox, Sandilands, Hille every now and then. Fraser is good but never seems particularly damaging to me, but that may be just that he doesn't do much against us...

funny one with Sandilands. Feels like the opposition take his hitouts more than his own team. Just lack of a midfield I suppose.