Review The decade that was.

[Art Vandelay_]

Now that the 2010-19 decade for the Geelong Football Club has come and gone, what were the key moments. The memorable events, the highs and the lows?

 

[Spazz Cat]

High: obviously 2011 GF brilliant.
Low: 2013 prelim final against Hawthorn. Devastating.
Key moment\event: Getting Danger.

 

[GoGeta]

A bunch of meh finals efforts....Oh, and the 2011 Granny.

 

[Vdubs]

Now that the 2010-19 decade for the Geelong Football Club has come and gone, what were the key moments. The memorable events, the highs and the lows?

From my pov,

Key Departures-
GAJ, Bomber, Ling, Ottens, Corey, Wojo, Chappy, SJ, Boris, Scarlo, Bartel, Kelly, Mackie, Milburn, Mooney, JHunt, Stokes, Varcoe, Lonergan, Blake, Pods, West --that's at least 51 Cats Premiership medals...let alone a bunch of irreplaceable immortals in that list.

Key Arrivals-
Chris Scott, Blicavs, Dangerfield, Henderson, Tuohy, GAJ, Dahlhaus, Tom Stewart, Tim Kelly

Key Failures-
Mitch Clark, Hamish McIntosh

Key Highs-
2011 season in total, culminating in perhaps our best premiership in my time.
Danger's first season, and he has not really dropped his standards.
GAJ return. A little late, but not too late for my liking.
Watching what might have been a long term dominant mobile ruck set up with Stanley and Blicavs prior to removing second man up.
The enticing but patchy form of the Big Sav.
Blicavs being able to win 2 Best and Fairest awards, given where he came from.
The promising form of Miers, Clark, Henry, and Parfitt.
Memorable wins v Hawks, Swans and Eagles in finals.

Key Lows-
INJURIES- in order of importance, Menzel, (SS/HMc/Clark- all were ?? before we got them iirc), Linc McCarthy, Mitch Brown, Thurlow, Cockatoo

Memorable losses in finals- Freo 2012, Freo at home!!, Tigers 17, Crows 17,Demons 18, Pies 19, Tigers 19

The Boris 300th loss. Horrible result for a champion.
The Menzel return game- stunning display by him, totally negated by an inept team display v Pies.

Watching Caddy chalk up 2 flags since he left us- still don't rate...
Watching Hawks 3-peat
Watching Tigers become the new dominant force

All in all, I am still impressed that in this decade, with the loss of immortal players, and some key injuries, we continue to be relevant in September when we should have been well and truly out of contention.

 

[Seeds]

The decade that started off so brilliantly and ended up being the worst decade for the club since the 70s. If it wasnt for the flag in 2011 this would be the worst decade for the club in its history. And no its not all about results.

Key moments:
Losing the soul of the club by becoming an ultra defensive team that expunged talented forwards and replaced them with dour defenders and devalued the importance of good tap ruckman at massive cost.

Becoming a club that head hunted like hawthorn and carlton rather then building a team through young talent.

Becoming horrendous finals chokers with quite possibly one of the worst finals record over a decade of all time even with a flag. What was our biggest finals choke? The one against north, the two against freo in victoria, the demon debacle, the nightmare at adelaide oval, the qf against richmond where we didnt score to nearly half time, the game where we rested a ruckman to play our full back as ruck, the massacre by the swans in victoria. There is just so many? We were favourites in 6 of these 8 finals too. Havent even mentioned the prelim where we were 17 points up at 3qr time and lost. It doesnt even make the top 8.

Making comedic match selections for finals year after year. 2013 qf is what changed everything.

 

[Vdubs]

The decade that started off so brilliantly and ended up being the worst decade for the club since the 70s. If it wasnt for the flag in 2011 this would be the worst decade for the club in its history. And no its not all about results.

The intro to your post makes me question your heightened sense of entitlement.
Do you really believe nearly our worst decade in history?
Bizarre.
Any non Cats supporter would have zero empathy for you.

 

[CatRiot]

How many Prelims were we skittled during 2010-2019 decade?
Wonder if its a record... Admittedly, in many of them we were just a fraction not good enough

 

[Sparkle]

I posted this extended wrap up (minus a couple of extra additions) of our best moments from the decade on the main AFL board but it works here as well:

2010
Round 2: Comeback win over the Hawks in the first of the now annual Geelong vs Hawthorn Easter Monday match
Round 4: James Podsiadly kicks 5 goals in his first match at Skilled Stadium, as the Cats kick 11.7 in the third quarter alone
Round 6: The JPod kicks 5 goals at home again, as the Cats kick 24.17 and defeat Richmond by 108 points at Skilled Stadium
Round 9: In front of the Cats (still) largest ever Home and Away crowd (88,115) came a stirring win in a 1-2 matchup over Collingwood by 36 points
Round 15: In a classic Saturday afternoon match at the MCG, a seesawing battle with the Hawks sees the Cats win by 2 points, Franklin misses on the siren
Round 20: After a lacklustre opening to the match the Cats are written off, but then kick 14 goals in a row to set up a 101 point win over the Western Bulldogs

2011
Round 1: Jimmy Bartel and Darren Milburn kick last quarter goals to drag the Cats over the line by 1 point in Chris Scott's first match as coach
Round 8: In a 1-2 matchup against Collingwood for the second year running, Daniel Menzel's huge moment helps the Cats win by 3 points
Round 9: The Cats beat the Blues by 2 points in the first match played following the death of club legend Bob Davis
Round 12: James Podsiadly kicks 6 goals in the first half as the Cats defeat Hawthorn by 5 points, keeping the Hawks scoreless in the last quarter
Round 17: James Podsiadly's 8 goals (the most in a single game by a Geelong player in the 2010's) propels the Cats to a 29 point win over Brisbane
Round 19: Geelong kicks 37. 11. (233) to defeat Melbourne by 186 points as Skilled Stadium falls dark following a cold day and the training lights failing
Round 24: The Cats concede the first four goals to Collingwood, but then kick 10 goals in the second quarter en route to a 96 point win on the eve of the finals
QF: The Cats kick four goals in five minutes late in the 3rd quarter to set up a dominant victory over Hawthorn
PF: Geelong put in a strong team performance against the Eagles at the MCG to win by 48 points and reach a fourth Grand Final in five seasons
GF: In one of the great Grand Final's, Steve Johnson (making a remarkable comeback after severely damaging his knee in the PF), Tom Hawkins (who dominated following James Podsiadly's injury), Allen Christensen (a towering 2-on-1 mark in the third quarter) Jimmy Bartel (the Norm Smith Medalist) displays of brilliance complement the Cats fantastic, all-round team victory (highlighted by the fourth quarter) to win the flag by 38 points and farewell a cavalcade of Premiership heroes

2012
Round 2: In the third classic Easter match in a row, the Cats comeback from three goals down to defeat Hawthorn by 2 points
Round 17: Coming off a bad loss to Collingwood, the Cats play four strong quarters and smash Essendon by 67 points under the roof at Etihad Stadium
Round 18: The Cats withstand Adelaide's 3rd quarter onslaught to win a fantastic match at Simonds Stadium
Round 19: The Cats relinquish a 51 point lead, only for Tom Hawkins to kick a booming goal after the siren to sink Hawthorn by 2 points
Round 21: St Kilda draw to within 1 point early in the last quarter, only for the Cats to kick 7 goals in a row to win by 42 points
Round 23: Needing to win to secure a home Elimination Final, the Cats defeat eventual premiers Sydney at Simonds Stadium

2013
Round 1: The fourth Easter Monday classic in a row saw the Cats come back from 5 goals down to extend the Kennett Curse to 10 matches
Round 2: Jimmy Bartel kicks a late goal from a 50-metre penalty to cap off a 41 point comeback against North Melbourne at a wet Etihad Stadium
Round 6: Corey Enright (250th) and Steve Johnson (200th) mark their significant milestones with a 44 point win over Richmond, Enright's Q4 goal the highlight
Round 10: Gary Ablett returns to Kardinia Park for the first time as the Cats unveil the Simonds Stadium lights, eventually running away to win by 52 points
Round 15: The Hawks hit the lead in the last quarter after trailing the Cats all night. Josh Caddy and Jordan Murdoch kick big goals late to seal the win
Round 23: The Lions come to Simonds Stadium needing a win to be a chance to play finals. A late snap almost pinches a win, but the Cats hold on by a point
SF: Trailing by 23 points at half time to the Power, the Cats storm back in the second half to win by 16 points

2014
Round 3: Tom Hawkins kicks 3 last quarter goals to help the Cats to their first win over Collingwood since the 2011 Grand Final
Round 5: Tom Hawkins tears through two of his own jumpers and reverts to Josh Walker's No. 34, an individual display of brilliance in the Cats Easter Monday win
Round 12: Trailing by 7 points late in the match, George Horlin-Smith and Joel Selwood kick late goals to put the Cats 5 points in front, the final winning margin
Round 15: A Steven Motlop banana puts the Cats in front late in the match, and a Tom Hawkins running goal seals a 9 point victory at Etihad Stadium
Round 20: David Mundy misses a tough shot after the siren, and the Cats hold on to win by 2 points, despite leading by 24 points at three quarter time
Round 21: Allen Christensen kicks a clutch late goal as the Cats defeat the Blues by 6 points at Etihad Stadium

2015
Round 3: Mark Blicavs kicks a goal from right on 50 to put the Cats 9 points in front, holding on for their first win of the season against the Suns
Round 10: The Bombers are kept goalless in the first half as the Cats put on a dominant display, winning by 69 points
Round 11: The Cats put in a strong team effort on a Friday night at the Adelaide Oval, defeating Port Adelaide by 23 points
Round 19: The Cats host a strong Swans side, and slug out an important victory in Joel Selwood's 250th match
Round 23: Club legends Steve Johnson, Matthew Stokes and James Kelly are farewelled in a big win over the Crows at Simonds Stadium

2016
Round 1: Patrick Dangerfield has 41 disposals and takes a huge mark in his Cats debut, as Geelong defeat Hawthorn by 30 points on Easter Monday
Round 8: Patrick Dangerfield returns to the Adelaide Oval for the first time, and is instrumental in the Cats defeating the Crows by 26 points
Round 11: Steve Johnson, now a Giant, returns to Simonds Stadium for the first time, but the Cats are too strong and eventually win by 10 points
Round 12: Patrick Dangerfield equals a club record 48 disposals in an incredible display as the Cats defeat ladder-leading North Melbourne by 31 points
Round 19: Jimmy Bartel (300th match) and Corey Enright (club record 326th match) clock up their big milestones in a victory at home over the Bulldogs
Round 21: Trailing the Tigers by 35 points at three quarter time, a very inaccurate Geelong stage a remarkable comeback and win by 4 points
QF: In a classic Geelong vs Hawthorn finals match, the Cats survive an Isaac Smith shot after the siren and win by 2 points

2017
Round 2: After trailing North Melbourne all day by as much as 32 points, the Cats come back in the last quarter and hold on to win by 1 point
Round 4: In stark contrast to previous Easter Monday matches, a dominant Geelong defeats a weakened Hawthorn by 86 points
Round 9: The Cats celebrate the opening of the Brownlow Stand at Simonds Stadium with a 23 point victory over the Western Bulldogs
Round 10: Patrick Dangerfield jams through a late goal to put the Cats two points in front of Port Adelaide, the final winning margin
Round 14: In a slow match, the Cats finally take the lead in the last quarter, and survive a late miss by Michael Walters to win by 2 points
Round 17: Patrick Dangerfield kicks 5.6 on one leg playing out of full-forward, defeating Hawthorn by 3 points at the MCG
Round 21: Following a controversial buildup and missing a host of star players, the Cats defeat eventual premier Richmond by 14 points at Simonds Stadium
SF: After a big loss to Richmond the week prior, the Cats shock the football world with a dominant display against Sydney, winning by 59 points

2018
Round 1: Gary Ablett plays his first game for the Cats after returning from the Suns, as Geelong survive a late miss from Max Gawn to win by 3 points
Round 7: The Cats hold the Giants to just 4 goals in a dominant display on a Friday night at GMHBA Stadium
Round 11: Gary Ablett returns to Metricon Stadium for the first time as a Cat and kicks three goals in a big win over the Suns
Round 18: Tom Hawkins' 7 goals and Zach Tuohy's goal after the siren cap off a remarkable 2 point comeback win over Melbourne at GMHBA Stadium
Round 22: The Cats kick 23 goals in a row in the hail, wind and rain at GMHBA Stadium, defeating Fremantle (who led at quarter time) by 133 points

2019
Round 1: A new-look Geelong side featuring six new faces (including four debutants) defeat 2018 runner-up Collingwood by 7 points at the MCG
Round 5: Two minutes of individual brilliance from Gary Ablett is the standout moment of the Cats Easter Monday victory over Hawthorn
Round 6: The Cats host reigning premiers West Coast, and led by a terrific Gary Ablett performance defeat the Eagles by 58 points
Round 8: Gary Ablett kicks four goals as the Cats survive a third quarter onslaught and defeat North Melbourne on Mother's Day at Marvel Stadium
Round 12: The Cats best performance for the year came against Richmond, kicking 16 goals to 3 after quarter time in a 67 point victory
Round 21: On a cold, wet and slippery night at GMHBA Stadium, the Cats hold North Melbourne to 1. 8. (14) for the entire match, their lowest score ever
SF: Despite a dominant first half, the Cats trailed the Eagles by four points at three quarter time. Four big last quarter goals see the Cats to a 20 point victory

 

[Art Vandelay_]

My high would be the entire 2011 season. That whole season was handled so well.
No wonder we won the flag that year. Everything went right.

2012 onwards has been a tale of doing so much right but every year doing a couple of things wrong and paying the price for it.

Highs:
- 2011 season.
- The rebuild of that list since then. Haven't dipped or fallen away. Kudos Mr Wells.
- The state of the stadium. Not far away now from being genuinely awesome. This will be Cook's legacy. From run down and dilapidated and in debt to debt free with a state of the art stadium and training facilities.
- The removal of pokies from our revenue. Socially responsible move.

Lows:
- A select few of our finals defeats. Not all annoy me. 2018 EF against an utter shit club like Melbourne. To be spanked is disgusting. 2016 PF against Sydney. Deer in the headlights. 2013 QF. This set in stone our fate and made the PF that much harder.
- The 110 point spanking against Sydney. Never seen us point in such an effortless performance.
- Losing Enright's 300th in such fashion, and again to utter shit like Melbourne. Disgraceful.
- Being unable to identify a good young ruckman in the draft.
- The mismanagement of our VFL system. We should be able to replicate our preferred game plan at the level below to drill it into players. But we use it to experiment and move guys around, and stunt their development.
- Gaz wasting his best years at a club that should be defunct.

Key moment:
- The first match of football with women representing the GFC. A holistic moment and giant step forward for the club. Now we will have young girls aspiring to one day wear the hoops.

Boy I hope this thread doesn't descend down the path of Seeds' first comment. Would rather it closed that see that claptrap repeated.
Not what was intended when created. Balance requires positives and negatives. Not just bullshit.

 

[thecatattack]

Honestly, don't care what happened post-2011. Any decade with a flag is positive.

 

[Nankervis brothers]

The decade that started off so brilliantly and ended up being the worst decade for the club since the 70s. If it wasnt for the flag in 2011 this would be the worst decade for the club in its history. And no its not all about results.

Congratulations—the above reaches a heightened level of farce.

While it doesn't need stating, I'll state it anyway: the 70s and this decade are light years apart. The former was an abject failure, while the latter is one of the strongest decades in the clubs history. We can't even debate this; it's just a fact. Geelong won more games of football this decade than any other club, featured in every finals campaign bar one, and won a premiership. In the 70s we scrapped into a couple of elimination finals, and were woefully uncompetitive on and off the field. In the 70s we were a loveable loser going nowhere. This decade we are among the most powerful on-field clubs. There is no comparison.

Now, I realise that your raison d'être is to shock, and to express what you perceive as your rugged individuality. But you might like to try and keep your opinions within the bounds of reason.

Finally, 'it's not all about results'? Really? If that's the case then you've no reason to bang-on about Scott's finals record.

 

[Partridge]

How many Prelims were we skittled during 2010-2019 decade?
Wonder if its a record... Admittedly, in many of them we were just a fraction not good enough

Five.

2010, 2013, 2016, 2017, and 2019.

 

[Max Milburn]

Key highlight: Obviously 2011 in its entirety.
Other highlights: every win
Lowlights: every loss
Other than that, I strongly agree with Vdubs, Art Vanderlay and Nankervis Brothers.

PS: 70s: no flag and lot of pain and frustration. 80s: No flag and a lot of pain and frustration 90s: A lot of fun and hope, but no flag.

 

[dazbroncos]

The decade that started off so brilliantly and ended up being the worst decade for the club since the 70s. If it wasnt for the flag in 2011 this would be the worst decade for the club in its history. And no its not all about results.

Key moments:
Losing the soul of the club by becoming an ultra defensive team that expunged talented forwards and replaced them with dour defenders and devalued the importance of good tap ruckman at massive cost.

Becoming a club that head hunted like hawthorn and carlton rather then building a team through young talent.

Becoming horrendous finals chokers with quite possibly one of the worst finals record over a decade of all time even with a flag. What was our biggest finals choke? The one against north, the two against freo in victoria, the demon debacle, the nightmare at adelaide oval, the qf against richmond where we didnt score to nearly half time, the game where we rested a ruckman to play our full back as ruck, the massacre by the swans in victoria. There is just so many? We were favourites in 6 of these 8 finals too. Havent even mentioned the prelim where we were 17 points up at 3qr time and lost. It doesnt even make the top 8.

Making comedic match selections for finals year after year. 2013 qf is what changed everything.

ok ill bite.
Excluding results per your point - fair enough - the club getting almost completely out of debt, removing and almost replacing the gambling revenue stream, remodelling all but 1/5 of the stadium, being one of the most stable and respected Front Offices in the game and developing the Womens segment of the game make it the worst decade for the club in its history since the 70's.

oooookay then.
What exactly, excluding results, lead to your such poor view of the performance of the club?

GO Catters

 

[Partridge]

Key Departures:
Mark Thompson - it was clear his head was elsewhere from mid-season. Doubtful whether Ablett would have left if not for Thompson. I don't think it cost us a premiership - Collingwood looked to be just too good that year - but it sure didn't help.

Gary Ablett junior - the best player in the competition leaving at the height of his powers. The team covered it brilliantly in 2011, but can't help wondering what assistance he might have provided in 2013 especially.

Paul Chapman - no he should not have been kept indefinitely, but he had one good year of footy left in him, which is exactly what he provided in 2014.

Steve Johnson - same as Chapman. Didn't have lots left, but did have enough for one more year. His 2016 showed it.

Josh Caddy - fervently hyped up while here, instantly dismissed the second he left. Another alarm bell that communication at the club wasn't consistent. Joel Selwood publicly stated he was a required player on a Monday and he was gone by the Thursday. And he was under contract. Has since adapted his game to become a valuable contributor in two premierships.

I don't count retired premiership players as key departures - they retired. Did people really expect Scarlett to still be playing at age 40?

Key Arrivals:
Chris Scott - right person at the right time. Took a great list, made subtle tweaks and delivered a thoroughly deserved premiership. Brilliant 2011 season.

Patrick Dangerfield - you start to wonder what might have happened if he hadn't wanted to return home. With Selwood, Duncan, and then Kelly, assisted the midfield in getting the team back up the ladder.

Tom Stewart - seamless slot into half back flank. Has been fantastic.

Key Failures-
Hamish McIntosh - in what was about to be a regular pattern. Clearly broken player, that the club gave up a second round draft pick for.

Mitch Clark - even worse than McIntosh if possible. Swapped for Varcoe, not that he was critical, but at least he got out there more than this spud did.

Scott Selwood - garbage. Hyped up endlessly. Clearly busted while at West Coast - they dropped him during a finals series - but didn't stop the gerbil-faced optimists from insisting he was elite and a great tagger. He was nowhere near either. Wasn't his fault - he tried his guts out - but the club should be far more realistic about recruits and not pine for fantasy.

Zac Smith - maybe not as galling, as the coach doesn't rate the position and changes his mind pretty frequently on who should play there. Showed glimpses, but again, nowhere near enough.

That doesn't begin to cover the extra failures such as Stewart Crameri, Aaron Black, or Sam Blease. And now you will hear "free hit" or "didn't cost us anything". Actually it did - money and a list spot. Unless they were paid with beads and conch shells.

And a final broader one - the naive, idiotic, woefully misguided notion that every injured player is going to come good. Especially when the players are unproven. That covers Menzel (possibly justified), McCarthy (not justified), Cowan (the definition of unjustified), and then of course new recruits - the aforementioned McIntosh, Clark, and Scott Selwood.

Key Highs-
Gary Ablett's 2010 season. Followed up his astonishing 2009 season with one almost as good. Averaged 31 disposals a game and still somehow kicked 44 goals. Mindblowing.

The Round 24 win over Colingwood in 2011. We'd already beaten them earlier in the season but this showed they really couldn't match us when we were on. The second quarter burst was amazing.

The 2011 finals series. Killed two bogies at once - a first finals win over Hawthorn in 48 years, and a first finals win over West Coast ever. Great coaching by Scott to make the hard calls and leave Mooney and Milburn out of the team.

Tom Hawkins' grand final in 2011 - if only he'd kicked straighter he would have strolled away with the Norm Smith medal. Awesome performance.

The reinvention of Mathew Stokes in 2013 - he went from a fading small forward to a linkup midfielder. And amazingly, his average disposals per game went from 15 to 26. An incredible mid-career improvement. I wasn't always a fan, and I would have sacked him on the spot after his 2010 cocaine bust, but this was very, very impressive.

Dangerfield's 2016 season - consistently top drawer and helped the midfield drive the team towards a top four finish.

Finishing the 2019 home and away season on top of the ladder - no one predicted it, it was still an impressive achievement. We hadn't done it since 2008.

Key Lows-
Where to begin?

The 2012 Elimination Final loss to Fremantle - the first in a long line of inept finals performances. At one point that score was 51 to 3. Pitiful.

The 2013 Qualifying Final - this was it. Ground zero. Everything that's wrong started here. So bad it needs separate points to address:

- The mismanagement of Tom Hawkins' back came home to roost - his back wasn't going to get worse by playing during the season, except mysteriously it did for the most important game of the year. But no one could have predicted it, except anyone with a functioning brain who saw Geelong that season.
- Dropping Trent West with Sandilands as the opposing ruckman. Our only premiership ruckman, with Simpson injured clearly our best, and coming off a good game against Brisbane the week before. No matter. Scott's schoolboy crush on Blicavs claimed its first victim (our finals chances) as he got absolutely slaughtered by Sandilands, and we were hammered in the clearances.
- Playing Paul Chapman as the sub in his 250th game. Never mind Chapman was one of our best big game performers. Never mind he was critical in the win over Brisbane the week before.

This was the equivalent of a coach turning three guns around and firing them on his own team. And some still refuse to accept it or blame the idiot for doing so.

The 2014 First Semi Final loss to North. We'd beaten them twice during the home and away season. But we were now on a finals roll. Insipid and pitiful again. A late surge led by Hawkins made the loss look less shit than it was.

The 2017 Qualifying Final loss to Richmond. Ah yes. Our bunnies. Our bitches. Ninthmond. That's what they were. The good posters of our board told us that. Relentlessly. Endllessly. Even as it was clear they were a very different team in 2017 and getting stronger as the season wore on. They kicked the shit out of us from one end of the MCG to the other. Not for the first time a few of our players were exposed as the front running pretenders they are.

The 2018 Elimination Final loss to Melbourne. A massive surprise this (well not really). We beat Melbourne twice during the season too, although you could claim they were a tad unlucky in each. Yet another goalless opening quarter in a final. More alleged stars shown up during finals pressure.

The 2019 Qualifying Final loss to Collingwood. Remember how Scott stupidly dropped West before a final in 2013 with a gun opposition ruckman looming? Well at least he wouldn't repeat that blunder. Right? Wrong sir, wrong! If anything he set a new gold standard in stupidity. Stanley was recalled for the final round against Carlton, and performed well in an easy win. No matter, begone logic and common sense. With Grundy as the opponent - who Stanley had negated in Round 1 as we won the game - Scott decided Stanley wouldn't be required. So, of course, he moves Blicavs from key defence to play on Grundy. And get smashed. Which he did.

Abandoning the Draft for Top-ups. Despite the fact that hitting the draft hard and consistently built a magnificent core that won three premierships in five years, the club certainly for a time seemed to completely give up on it. Now it's about finding so-so players near or over 30 and persuading everyone that it's actually a better strategy. In case you haven't been told, free agency has changed the landscape. Sometimes it's justified - Dangerfield the obvious call much like Ottens a decade earlier - but a lot of the time it isn't. McIntosh, Clark, Scott Selwood, and Smith are four clear failures. Tuohy and Henderson are very close to being two more. Forgive me for not being over optimistic on Rohan or Jenkins.

What may be the real reason is financial. The club can't afford to miss finals so top-ups plus the home ground advantage make sure they at least do that. But the finals record since 2011 is consistently woeful. Repeatedly losing to teams they finish higher than. Repeatedly losing to teams they beat during the season. Plenty will say it's the right way to go.

Been an interesting ten years.

 

[Seeds]

ok ill bite.
Excluding results per your point - fair enough - the club getting almost completely out of debt, removing and almost replacing the gambling revenue stream, remodelling all but 1/5 of the stadium, being one of the most stable and respected Front Offices in the game and developing the Womens segment of the game make it the worst decade for the club in its history since the 70's.

oooookay then.
What exactly, excluding results, lead to your such poor view of the performance of the club?

GO Catters

Its right in my post. Did you not read it?

The loss of the soul of the club which was to be an attacking football team with talented forwards. This has been one of the true distinquished features of the club. We not only lost this but we became one of the most dour defensive teams in the league. Geelongs attacking nature was one of the things that many supporters took great pride in. Even if we were losing we still played the right way. We cant say that anymore. We hit rock bottom with the brisbane vs geelong game this year.

The fact we turned to head hunting players rather then primarily build players through the draft. Free agency changed things but the only free agents we got were selwood and rivers. In the end danger was traded in and so was mcintosh, caddy, stanley, clark, touhy, smith, henderson. Not to mention the Boak debacle which made the club look really dodgy. We basically became carlton and hawthorn in this regard and it makes my skin crawl.

Finals and byes Choking. This isnt just about results. Its about losing games when we were clear favourites. This has made us the joke of the competition. Its one thing to lose when you just arent talented enough. Its another thing entirely when its due to mental issues and simply not being ready in the opening qtr. Our record against the teams who ended up top four in the home and away is astounding. And yet not one grand final since 2011. We should of played in atleast grand finals this decade with the list we had.

The rejection of tap ruckman. Another part of the soul of the club. Farmer, newman, bourke, king and ottens. Even barnes whilst short was a pretty decent tap ruck. You can say we didnt have a great one but we havnt drafted a young one in a decade and we kept dropping the ones we did have for key finals to replace them with mobile talls who all ended up being lambs to the slaughter.

 

[Seeds]

I will say one positive. The 2011 flag team is quite possibly the best flag team of the past 30 years. Right up there with essendon 2000.

 

[Cattery]

2011 obviously the highlight, after losing our coach and best player, to regroup and snatch a third flag was excellent.

Since then, despite a win/loss ratio in H&A games that would be the envy of most clubs, it would have to go down as a period of lost opportunities, so many top four (and top two) finishes without a single GF appearance is simply nowhere near good enough, the culmination of which came last year with (IMO) the most bizarre and absurd selections I can recall, made any chance we had virtually impossible.

If Scott and the MC were heads of a public company you would have to think they'd be sacked after that performance, that's if they didn't do the decent thing first and fall on their swords.

 

[Sttew]

The intro to your post makes me question your heightened sense of entitlement.
Do you really believe nearly our worst decade in history?
Bizarre.
Any non Cats supporter would have zero empathy for you.

He mustn't have experienced the 70's. It was the worst decade for the Cats in my time and by a whopping margin. Finals appearances in 1976 and 1978, and barely made a dent. A succession of forgettable, failed coaches.

 

[Sttew]

Highlights:

2011 Premiership
Getting Dangerfield
Recruiting matures like Podsiadly, Stewart & Kelly
The return of GAJ in 2018
Club stability off field

Lows:

Losing GAJ
Dud recruits like McIntosh, Mitch Clark and to a lesser extent, Scott Selwood
Misalignment of home & away success v finals, particularly 2019 finals

Jury is out...

Whether the club should have bottomed out "naturally" post 2011

 

[Seeds]

How many Prelims were we skittled during 2010-2019 decade?
Wonder if its a record... Admittedly, in many of them we were just a fraction not good enough

We were favourites in one of them and would of been favourites in at least 2 of the other 3 if we hadnt choked in the qf and were playing at disadvantage due to playing the week before whilst the other side rested. Most of the chokes came in the qfs and semis.

 

[Seeds]

He mustn't have experienced the 70's. It was the worst decade for the Cats in my time and by a whopping margin. Finals appearances in 1976 and 1978, and barely made a dent. A succession of forgettable, failed coaches.

Did we lose the attacking soul of the club and become head hunters and massive chokers in the 70s? Nope we were just an ordinary football side as a result of having an awful zone.

 

[cats_09]

I'm confused - we aren't an attacking team but on only 3 occasions since 2010 did we not finish in the top 4 for points during the h&a season - 7th in 2012, 6th in 2014 & 12th in 2015 when we missed the finals

We also finished the decade as the 2nd highest scoring team

That all seems pretty impressive for a team that apparently has no attacking soul and is a defensively minded team - or is the change in style of play more reflective of the direction of the AFL versus anything specific that the club has done?

 

[thejester]

My highlight of the decade has been learning that the club of Polly Framer, Brian Peake and Brad Ottens had a cultural aversion to 'head hunting' prior to 2010!

 

[cats_09]

My highlight of the decade has been learning that the club of Polly Framer, Brian Peake and Brad Ottens had a cultural aversion to 'head hunting' prior to 2010!

Technically, we could add Gary Ablett Snr to that list also couldn't we?