Review The decade that was.

[TEDDY24INC]

Unfortunately falling out of favour is an ongoing issue with C Scott as the Coach. No matter what his form was in the last few games of the 2013 season, West was fit, uninjured, experienced, deserved respect as a premiership player-remember the premiership that only Scott could have won- yet wasn't played when Hawkins was a late withdrawal. Whether he was a genius ruckman or not he would have been a valuable addition on that fateful day.
Just as in this years finals round, a player is dropped for some reason or other non of which is discernable to us and others, forcing another player to fill in that spot. It didn't work in 2013 nor in 2019.
Another player who'fgell out of favour' was Dawson Simpson who dropped amark in a game at KP early in the season and wasn't seen again. Another one Zac Smith who failed to stip Gawn marking in the first game of the ??2017 season and wasn't seen again. Neither ever had a chance to gain experience for a reasonable decison to be made of their worth.

West was rubbish after 2011 and Simpson was playing in 13 until he got injured..

 

[Geelong Cats Blog]

Bit late to the party on this one, but I've ranked what I think were our best 10 wins of last decade. In hindsight, probably would've put the Melbourne mauling in over the Kangaroos game. What were yours?

Geelong's 10 best wins of last decade ranked

Geelong Cats have been involved in some incredible victories over the past decade. Grady Hudd ranks his best 10, and shares how he reacted to each at the time.

geelongcatsblog.com

 

[BUSTER29]

Good write-up mate.
Lots of great wins in that time frame for sure,hard to nail it down to 10 ad you did.
I would personally have the 2011 QF win v Hawks in there somewhere.

On SM-G973F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Max Milburn]

Bit late to the party on this one, but I've ranked what I think were our best 10 wins of last decade. In hindsight, probably would've put the Melbourne mauling in over the Kangaroos game. What were yours?

Geelong's 10 best wins of last decade ranked

Geelong Cats have been involved in some incredible victories over the past decade. Grady Hudd ranks his best 10, and shares how he reacted to each at the time.

geelongcatsblog.com

Thanks for the memories!

 

[Geelong Cats Blog]

Cheers guys. Yeah it was bloody hard, not going to lie haha it makes you realise just how many close games the Cats have been involved in over the years. Could easily have filled a top 20!

 

[Partridge]

Good write-up mate.
Lots of great wins in that time frame for sure,hard to nail it down to 10 ad you did.
I would personally have the 2011 QF win v Hawks in there somewhere.

I’d have it number 2 behind the 2011 Grand final. Pretty easily in fact.

 

[Vdubs]

Blake got plenty of game time both when Ottens was injured for most of 2009, plus when he rucked in tandem with him.

Plus often when Blake was in the ruck, he and Ottens could wear the opposition down together. When West was first ruck, he didn’t have this luxury.

Then use the stats only for those seasons where Blake played the whole games?

 

[PhatBoy]

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 s**t than it was.

The 2017 Qualifying Final loss to Richmond. Ah yes. Our bunnies. Our bitches. Premiershipmond. 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 s**t 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.

Can accept a lot of that. Tuohy isn’t close to being a failure though.

And you can’t say topping up rather than bottoming out or trading for draft picks has been a failure because we are still getting to positions to compete for premierships.

There is no guarantee that drafting will do that. It fails for just as many teams as it succeeds for

 

[David the Cat]

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 s**t than it was.

The 2017 Qualifying Final loss to Richmond. Ah yes. Our bunnies. Our bitches. Premiershipmond. 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 s**t 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.

A good read Partridge...thanks. A couple of points though....

!) Not so sure about "doubtful whether Ablett would have left if not for Thompson" suggestion. GAJ was after the money...and it appeared it was Ablett that made the first approach...It was enormous money at that time, and Ablett (if you look at that dispassionately) could hardly refuse that level of opportunity. Even if St. Peter was coach, I doubt Ablett would have remained. Agree though, the Pies were too good that year.

2) Chappy...its often overlooked that Chapman wanted a two year contract...Geelong ( correctly ) thought he had only one year left in him and refused to offer more than a one year contract. Chappy wanted two...Essendon offered and he took it. Had he not, and Geelong had given two, its likely he would have been in the "fails" list and Geelong criticised forkeeping him one year too long.

3) Stevie J...should have been kept IMO...had one left and deserved to finish as a one club Geelong champion. I dont accept the "bad influence, selfish" accusations as justification for his departure...you keep once in a generation players if you can, and SJ wanted to stay. A mistake IMO....

4) Aaron Black...appears to me that this has ended up a pretty good result..making a good contribution now and from all reports a top quality individual...furthermore, terribly unlucky to appear to have found his niche down back before doing an ACL...

5) IMO, Menzel's retention was absolutely justified....his story should be read more as a tragedy than a failure...

6) Absolutely agree about the "resurrection" of Mathew Stokes...truly remarkable. Perhaps a success the coach could take some credit for, but unlikely to be given by the anti-coach bloc.....

7) The Chapman as a sub decision left me gobsmacked at the time..a monumental blunder, only outdone by the absurd decision to drop Stanley based on a Melbourne weather forecast. I recall watching the interview with Scott pre-game and couldn't believe what I was witnessing...my son turned to me after I expressed my opinion and hit me with "it might work Dad".... he paid for the pizzas that night.

8) While we may all opine over missed opportunities, I believe the only possible flags we missed were 2013 and 2019....we beat the Pies in the QF and things may well have been very different...

I think thats enough on your very good post...I could argue the top up's v draft debate...... might leave that up to others....

Bring on the 2020 season... one of the more interesting seasons coming up.

 

[thecatattack]

Is Scooter a failure when he was considering one of the best guys going around the club? Played when we needed him and he was healthy, played 2s when we didn't need him. Went straight into a coaching job with the Pies the moment we got rid of him which shows his off-field ability.

 

[Ricky Vaughn]

8-13 from 21 Finals.
Fremantle, Hawthorn x 2, West Coast x 2, Collingwood, Port Adelaide, Sydney

St. Kilda, Collingwood x 2, Fremantle x 2, Hawthorn x 2, North Melbourne, Sydney, Richmond x 2, Adelaide, Melbourne