Roast The match committee’s decision to drop Stanley

[00VicWard001]

The Stanley decision was diabolical. But why people insist on concocting this “lie” theory is a mystery.

Rain was forecast all week. He was named in the 22 to keep Collingwood guessing. You don’t need to submit team sheets until 90 minutes before game time. They took the punt it was going to be wet. It was stupid either way. The plan never changed from the match committee meeting. There was no lie.

Er, but I was lied to. Because I expect the match committee to tell me exactly what they are planning.

Then I can provide my input to them, based on my incredible knowledge from watching the footy.

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

The Stanley decision was diabolical. But why people insist on concocting this “lie” theory is a mystery.

Rain was forecast all week. He was named in the 22 to keep Collingwood guessing. You don’t need to submit team sheets until 90 minutes before game time. They took the punt it was going to be wet. It was stupid either way. The plan never changed from the match committee meeting. There was no lie.

Dude, Stanley was told he wasn't playing on the Wednesday before the game. He was never going to play rain or not. This has been confirmed by Gerard Whateley on SEN during this week. Stanley himself told Gerard what happened.

 

[catempire]

Dude, Stanley was told he wasn't playing on the Wednesday before the game. He was never going to play rain or not. This has been confirmed by Gerard Whateley on SEN during this week. Stanley himself told Gerard what happened.

This only proves that the plan was always not to play him.

Dude.

 

[nohairandfair]

Dude, Stanley was told he wasn't playing on the Wednesday before the game. He was never going to play rain or not. This has been confirmed by Gerard Whateley on SEN during this week. Stanley himself told Gerard what happened.

 

[Cataholic]

This only proves that the plan was always not to play him.

Dude.

Which proves the plan was fatally flawed from conception.

 

[catempire]

If only there was some way for a person to predict on say a Wednesday what the weather would be like on, for example, the following Friday.

A “forecast” if you will...

 

[BotsMaster]

Should make a movie called Dude Where's My Ruckman?

 

[Cataholic]

If only there was some way for a person to predict on say a Wednesday what the whether would be like on, for example, the following Friday.

A “forecast” if you will...

How long before the start of the game is the final side locked in again?

 

[catempire]

How long before the start of the game is the final side locked in again?

90 minutes. So they ****ed up AGAIN at that point by not looking at the ****ING radar and telling Rhys to get his ****ING kit on.

 

[Cataholic]

90 minutes. So they f’ed up AGAIN at that point by not looking at the ******* radar and telling Rhys to get his ******* kit on.

Yep.

I don't mind the fact that they tried to think outside the square, but it's bewildering to think they couldn't / wouldn't review that decision, and see the folly of it, as the time drew ever nearer.

I can only assume they were blinded by an overriding belief in their own cleverness.

 

[feelinfeline]

I don't think this article has been posted so far (I can't find it). Interesting comments from Corey McKernan in the Herald Sun:


Premiership ruckman Corey McKernan says Geelong created its own ruck problem by failing to back in a finals ruckman eight weeks ago.

The North Melbourne premiership star believes history shows premiership teams have a single ruckman who thrives on big game time and the confidence of his coaching staff.

McKernan likes the analogy of ruckmen as Clydesdales who thrive on the work, but instead Geelong dropped ruckman Rhys Stanley as a last-minute out against Collingwood.

Stanley admitted he was told at the club’s last training session he would be dropped despite the club’s failed attempt at subterfuge.

The Cats now must decide whether to bring Stanley back against West Coast’s in-form pairing of Tom Hickey and Nic Naitanui.

Not only did Stanley not play, he missed a Geelong-Collingwood scratch match on Friday afternoon which would have given him a chance to build his confidence.

McKernan said Scott was within his rights to back in any ruckman given he knew which one was more likely to perform.

But Geelong has five ruckmen on its list and played neither of them, chopping and changing in the final weeks leading into the qualifying final.

The Cats have gone through 11 ruckmen since the start of 2012 when Brad Ottens retired but haven’t been able to settle on any one ruckman or combination for any period of time.

“It baffles me that clubs don’t wake up to the model which is successful,” he said.

“The message from the final is whoever the ruckman was going to be, they needed to say to him ‘you are our No. 1 ruckman’.

“You have got to say six to eight weeks out going into a finals campaign he is our man and we back him in and play him because we need him.

“For mine who they play doesn’t matter. As a player if you have that backing, you love the fact you have been backed in by the coach and don’t want to let him down.

“Even if he plays this week, he will still feel a bit unsure about his spot.”

Since the premiership era the rucks tried by the Cats include Hamish McIntosh, Orren Stephenson, Trent West, Dawson Simpson, Nathan Vardy, Mark Blicavs, Stanley, Zac Smith, Wylie Buzza, Darcy Fort and Ryan Abbott.

McKernan admits ruckmen are a unique beast given their skill set and challenges in rucking in tandem with another big man.

“I think they thrive on the responsibility and love the workload. If you looked at 90 per cent of the ruckmen who have been All Australian, they ruck alone. Nic Naitanui bucks the trend because they play him in such a different burst role.”

 

[Stan The Caddy]

I'm still livid about the Stanley fiasco
Any reasonable analysis would have raised huge red flags :
> Stanley had broken even earlier in the year with Grundy and had just come off a very good effort against Kreuzer - he was in form
> Blitz had been pantsed by Stef friggin Martin FFS , Grundy is the best follower going around so huge risk
> Blitz out of defence takes direction and flexibility from our settled defence
> Blitz in the ruck meant Sav spent more time rucking than he would had Stanley rucked - weakens our forward line

Much too bigger risk IMHO , we need to admit we have a post Bye and Finals issue and if we haven't addressed this internally someone should be sacked for gross incompetence.

Say hello to Chris.

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

This only proves that the plan was always not to play him.

Dude.

Champ, it the plan was always not to play him then why lie and say it was because you thought it would rain. Stanley is out of favor with Scott at the moment, his dropping had nothing to do with the forecast weather. This is the last I will say anything about it. Believe what you want and stop trolling.

 

[frggr]

Stanley should be playing, but what's his mental mind going to be like? When your coach doesn't rate him... So I wonder how is he going to perform.. ( I can't blame him tbh ) I really hope he comes out and kills it, but will he mentally is the biggest thing.
Some people may say his been dropped before and bounce back but this is different as this is a do or die final. Not a home and away game....

I don't think Stanley being dropped was a case of "not being rated" - it was a tactical gamble that went **** up.

 

[TheWoodenSlug]

I don't think this article has been posted so far (I can't find it). Interesting comments from Corey McKernan in the Herald Sun:


Premiership ruckman Corey McKernan says Geelong created its own ruck problem by failing to back in a finals ruckman eight weeks ago.

The North Melbourne premiership star believes history shows premiership teams have a single ruckman who thrives on big game time and the confidence of his coaching staff.

McKernan likes the analogy of ruckmen as Clydesdales who thrive on the work, but instead Geelong dropped ruckman Rhys Stanley as a last-minute out against Collingwood.

Stanley admitted he was told at the club’s last training session he would be dropped despite the club’s failed attempt at subterfuge.

The Cats now must decide whether to bring Stanley back against West Coast’s in-form pairing of Tom Hickey and Nic Naitanui.

Not only did Stanley not play, he missed a Geelong-Collingwood scratch match on Friday afternoon which would have given him a chance to build his confidence.

McKernan said Scott was within his rights to back in any ruckman given he knew which one was more likely to perform.

But Geelong has five ruckmen on its list and played neither of them, chopping and changing in the final weeks leading into the qualifying final.

The Cats have gone through 11 ruckmen since the start of 2012 when Brad Ottens retired but haven’t been able to settle on any one ruckman or combination for any period of time.

“It baffles me that clubs don’t wake up to the model which is successful,” he said.

“The message from the final is whoever the ruckman was going to be, they needed to say to him ‘you are our No. 1 ruckman’.

“You have got to say six to eight weeks out going into a finals campaign he is our man and we back him in and play him because we need him.

“For mine who they play doesn’t matter. As a player if you have that backing, you love the fact you have been backed in by the coach and don’t want to let him down.

“Even if he plays this week, he will still feel a bit unsure about his spot.”

Since the premiership era the rucks tried by the Cats include Hamish McIntosh, Orren Stephenson, Trent West, Dawson Simpson, Nathan Vardy, Mark Blicavs, Stanley, Zac Smith, Wylie Buzza, Darcy Fort and Ryan Abbott.

McKernan admits ruckmen are a unique beast given their skill set and challenges in rucking in tandem with another big man.

“I think they thrive on the responsibility and love the workload. If you looked at 90 per cent of the ruckmen who have been All Australian, they ruck alone. Nic Naitanui bucks the trend because they play him in such a different burst role.”

Exactly! Dropping Stanley before the Sydney game was just as dumb as last week's debacle. Scapegoated for our inconsistent form after the bye.

 

[catempire]

Champ, it the plan was always not to play him then why lie and say it was because you thought it would rain. Stanley is out of favor with Scott at the moment, his dropping had nothing to do with the forecast weather. This is the last I will say anything about it. Believe what you want and stop trolling.

He’s champed me. No coming back from that.

(Except that there’s this thing called a weather forecast, cobber)

 

[feelinfeline]

I think part of it was there weren't match-ups for all of Taylor, Kolo, Henry and Blicavs. They didn't want to drop any of them, so an easy solution was to play Blicavs in the ruck.

I'm sure the weather played a part, but if they know anything about Melbourne's weather they would know that it's hard to predict. They could have even had Stanley on standby to play if it fined up, but they chose not to.

The MC's unwillingness to drop defenders has been a continuing issue in the second half of the season. They did drop Henderson but that may have been more a matter of last in, first out.

 

[ChappyUK]

I think Scott gets bogged down in the numbers. He may be a genius but guessing that most of the players aren't.

Getting the players walk out of a pre-game rev up and say to each other 'Did you understand any of that?'

All players need is an old fashioned rev up not a lecture on calculus.

 

[Reppie]

I think Scott gets bogged down in the numbers. He may be a genius but guessing that most of the players aren't.

Getting the players walk out of a pre-game rev up and say to each other 'Did you understand any of that?'

All players need is an old fashioned rev up not a lecture on calculus.

Interesting.
Can you expand on that Chappy?

 

[ChappyUK]

Interesting.
Can you expand on that Chappy?

I just mean I don't see Scott as a coach that revs up or bakes the players. He's very system based so pre match would be all about the plan and how to implement it. Not a gutteral demand for the players to seize the moment. Last chance. This is what you play for type stuff that gets the adrenaline pumping.

 

[Reppie]

I just mean I don't see Scott as a coach that revs up or bakes the players. He's very system based so pre match would be all about the plan and how to implement it. Not a gutteral demand for the players to seize the moment. Last chance. This is what you play for type stuff that gets the adrenaline pumping.

Yep straight sets imminent unfortunately.
He already admitted he won't change the game plan so more of the same will be expected.
Kick down the line to the best marking team in the comp will be hard to watch.

 

[Seeds]

The Stanley decision was diabolical. But why people insist on concocting this “lie” theory is a mystery.

Rain was forecast all week. He was named in the 22 to keep Collingwood guessing. You don’t need to submit team sheets until 90 minutes before game time. They took the punt it was going to be wet. It was stupid either way. The plan never changed from the match committee meeting. There was no lie.

Perhaps cos scott did the same thing 2 weeks ago and played blicavs in ruck on a dry day whilst a fit Stanley and smith sat on the sidelines. He also dropped Stanley at the last minute a year against the eagles to play blicavs as ruck even though Stanley was named in the original team. This was also a completely dry game.

Oh and Stanley has come out and told everyone that Scott lied.

 

[David the Cat]

When it comes down to basics, what all this does show is that the majority of the MC have absolutely no faith in Rhys Stanley delivering under finals pressure.

Zero faith.....

He might as well look elsewhere...

 

[Cataholic]

When it comes down to basics, what all this does show is that the majority of the MC have absolutely no faith in Rhys Stanley delivering under finals pressure.

Zero faith.....

He might as well look elsewhere...

On that basis a lot of the other guys might have to start looking elsewhere too.

Rhys is no Robinson Crusoe when it comes to delivering under pressure. Hell, our whole side near disappears........

 

[TomsBulgingDisc]

I think Scott gets bogged down in the numbers. He may be a genius but guessing that most of the players aren't.

Getting the players walk out of a pre-game rev up and say to each other 'Did you understand any of that?'

All players need is an old fashioned rev up not a lecture on calculus.

I'm currently reading a book called The Tyranny of Metrics, I'll send it to Scott when I'm finished with it.