Thoughts On The Geelong game

[Alex99]

Nothing wrong with a bit of honesty, Stiffy.

Anybody that says differently is in denial.

I never jumped on the Luke Jericho bandwagon in the last couple of weeks because like you I was waiting to see what happened in a crunch game.

The answer was loud and clear. While the rest of the boys with the possible exception of Welsh and to a lesser degree Porps busted their pooper valves, Jericho once again made butter look like cast iron.

NOTHING has changed!!

Any player can play badly - any player.

Excusable.

But there is no excuse for players who won't go in hard for the ball, who don't chase, and only apply soft half hearted tackles or none at all.

Luke Jericho makes Nathan Lonie look like Mad Dog Muir or David Grainger.

I agree with this assessment of Luke Jericho.

However IMO he needed to get another opportunity this year to demonstration if he could implement the training principals the club have been trying to develop into his game. Today’s performance simply suggests that he has not done this or is not willing to put his body on the line and will always be timid.

His effort during the first quarter was disgraceful and you could see him flinch. It was just after his shot on goal and the ball was bombed in (wasn’t a good kick but that isn’t the point) and he was backing back into the pack (any other player would have been sandwiched) but he ended on the out side of the pack.

I gave him the benefit of the doubt that he understood what was required but after today’s performance he has to go. He has twelve weeks to show he had added that to his game or game over Luke.

 

[Drummond]

He has twelve weeks to show he had added that to his game or game over Luke.

No he doesn't, his chance has come and gone. Today was a fantastic opportunity to prove the doubters wrong, and he proved once and for all he’s not up to it.

I can’t believe we persisted with this bloke for another year. He had done nothing to deserve another shot, and yet we gave it to him. But regardless he had his shot, a chance to extend his AFL career, but he’s officially done and dusted. Those who are still holding out hope for him, I don’t see why.

How is he going to develop the required intensity and hardness at the contest and opposition from now to the end of the year? As soft as they come and it’s not going to change.

 

[n4sir]

What really cost us today was our turnovers. Porplizias was obvious but there was about 4-5 today that resulted in goals to Geelong. And who was on G Ablett in that first half?

That's what I was wondering at the game... and watching the replay afterwards. Was it Thompson, because if it's the case it drops what I thought was a BOG effort for us somewhat lower?

I thought VB had a fantastic first half, and when his role changed when moved on to Gary Ablett Jr from halfway through the third quarter his stats may have dropped, but was just as effective in a different way.

Similarly for K-Mac, an impressive and flexible return - blanketed Nathan Ablett in the first half, and a great effort up forward afterwards; two goals via free kicks, but you have to be there to earn them, which he was. Good solid stuff, and I hope it continues.

Turnovers hurt today, for both teams. Umpiring was frustrating and trigger-happy (especially early) but relatively consistent - a memo must have secretly gone out about enforcing the in the back rule this week.

Bock was good first half, disappointing the second. Welsh didn't quite know whether to go for the ball or lead Scarlett out of the contest after the first quarter, and the whole forward line was patchy. I'm guessing Griffin isn't really near 100% and Huddo got beaten in the ruck by Ottens which gave them first use too many times.

Jericho - dropping him after a couple of decent games for Roo I was wondering if it was quite the right move, and sure enough its looked like he's dropped his bundle. Where to from here, upwards or out the door?

McLeod was a rock in defence, which was really solid overall. All up we were beaten by a better team in a gallant effort with almost no bench - we're 6-5 halfway through, but with a little overdue luck with injuries the finals are well within reach. It hurts, but don't give up yet guys.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

In the last three seasons I can't remember us losing more than one game by greater than about 5 goals. I was a bit worried that we would get blown away today by the Cats but again we managed to find a way to be competitive. It doesn't seem to matter how we are traveling, who is available, who we are playing... we work our way into every contest and are usually a genuine chance to win, at least at some stage. Not many teams chalk up 'easy' wins against us which is a feather in the cap for NC and the club. Still bummed we lost though.

I thought that NC re-jigged the team reasonably well today after the injuries to Goodwin, Ricciuto and Johncock (first half). McGregor presented well up forward and Johncock didn't look too bad in the small forward role. I hope Stiffy is ok next week but imagine he will have a shithouse night tonight icing his leg up! Porplyzia down back didn't look quite as accomplished but he seemed to be having a dirty day all round.

One thing I have a problem with is Hudson's massive shin pad on his left leg. It looks much bulkier than the types worn by soccer players and it simply has to effect his kicking. Even if he gets the ball slightly high on his foot it would be like kicking a ball with batting pads on. It will be interesting to see if they leave Griffin to battle through what seems like a tough period for him or if they will give him a spell. Lead ok and got his hands to a couple up forward but couldn't hang on. Seemed down on confidence.

Was rapt with Thompson, van Berlo and Knights today. Great effort by the next gen. Shirley and Doughty lifted and got a fair bit of the ball in the absence of Reilly and Goodwin but lack the creativity and that will greatly influence the result of games.

It is simply amazing that we kicked as many goals as Geelong when they have Johnson, Mooney, Ablett x 2, Chapman, Ottens and Varcoe running around up forward. They looked a lot more threatening than us all day but credit to our defence yet again. Bassett was excellent and Mattner did some very good things (and a couple of poor things - his kick out to Mooney when Stevens had been KO'd was absolutely critical).

The other plus looking to next week is that there is no way Bock, Welsh and Porplyzia will allow themselves to play that poorly again and I expect good games from them against the Roos. Bay 114 were awesome again too.

 

[Scott Van Persett]

McLeod was a rock in defence,


I don't agree with this. More and more McLeod is becoming an outside receiver calling for the ball on somebody else's effort. I prefer to see him actually going in for the ball but today he called for the ball when not in best position and kicked under pressure and fumbled. On 2 occasions, he didn't go hard for the ball, or put his body into the contest, and waited for the ball resulting in a goal to Geelong in the second quarter.

2 goals to Geelong resulted from atrocious left footed kicks from Kenny and Porps and the reason we took ages to get the ball into the forward line at times was due to Geelong being very quick to flood, which they did for most of the match, and thus we kicked the ball around rather than kick long and hope. Most teams are playing us like this now as they know we are not going to take chances. However, Kenny an take a good contested mark and, when Burton and Ricciuto are fit, I think you will see us play a different game in the second half of the season-unless, of course, we continue to get injuries.

The match today told me that if we happen to meet Geelong in the finals, and we have anywhere near some luck with injuries, we will beat them.

Scott

 

[n4sir]

McLeod was a rock in defence,


I don't agree with this. More and more McLeod is becoming an outside receiver calling for the ball on somebody else's effort. I prefer to see him actually going in for the ball but today he called for the ball when not in best position and kicked under pressure and fumbled. On 2 occasions, he didn't go hard for the ball, or put his body into the contest, and waited for the ball resulting in a goal to Geelong in the second quarter.

2 goals to Geelong resulted from atrocious left footed kicks from Kenny and Porps and the reason we took ages to get the ball into the forward line at times was due to Geelong being very quick to flood, which they did for most of the match, and thus we kicked the ball around rather than kick long and hope. Most teams are playing us like this now as they know we are not going to take chances. However, Kenny an take a good contested mark and, when Burton and Ricciuto are fit, I think you will see us play a different game in the second half of the season-unless, of course, we continue to get injuries.

The match today told me that if we happen to meet Geelong in the finals, and we have anywhere near some luck with injuries, we will beat them.

Scott

The commentators made a pretty firm point that was was Geelong's lowest score for the year - it also just happened to be a winning one. Yeah there were a couple of terrible turnovers by Kenny & Porps that hurt us, but no more than any other game this year - this time it was a tight game and it really counted.

McLeod's always been a bit a receiver, but he cleaned up after a hell of a lot of mistakes and it didn't cost us - I thought that counted a fair bit to the end result. If Geelong kicked straight in the second quarter it wouldn't have been so close, but if we made the most of our dominance in the first, who knows?

 

[Kickin_Goals]

5 rushed behinds for Geelong. There shots were from ineffective marking positions
no ifs.

 

[King Elvis]

We lost to the best team in the League because Goodwin was injured.

Losing a player for most of the game is bad enough, losing our best player against the best team; well, I think the boys did quite well to get as close as we did.

 

[King Elvis]

Seems to me the passanger list at the AFC is getting longer, but some continually get a free ticket and zero critisim. Oh and Porps was shocking! I am sure Perrie had some role in our loss too.

Hehe, anywhere else hear the funny bastard who rang 5AA and said basically that? That Perrie was rubbish today?

Sarcasm and irony can be amusing - I was laughing my arse off.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Hehe, anywhere else hear the funny bastard who rang 5AA and said basically that? That Perrie was rubbish today?

Sarcasm and irony can be amusing - I was laughing my arse off.

Haha

Yeah I was in the car, trying to get out of the car park when that dude rang and saying how crap Perrie was today. I reckon he might have had a few too many

 

[King Elvis]

Haha

Yeah I was in the car, trying to get out of the car park when that dude rang and saying how crap Perrie was today. I reckon he might have had a few too many

To be fair, I'd been drinking since 9:30 this morning

 

[bobshoby]

Our forward line really is a worry, we desperately need a few quality crumbers. Half a dozen times at least Mcgregor created a contest and as soon as it hit the deck the ball was swooped on by the Geelong backmen and went straight out again. This has been a problem all year but with bodey still out god knows what we can do. A Sydney/Adelaide style is all well and good, but unless we can develop a forward line as efficient as theirs, we will continue to struggle against the good defensive sides like Geelong and West Coast.

 

[Allefgib]

I agree with this assessment of Luke Jericho.

However IMO he needed to get another opportunity this year to demonstration if he could implement the training principals the club have been trying to develop into his game. Today’s performance simply suggests that he has not done this or is not willing to put his body on the line and will always be timid.

His effort during the first quarter was disgraceful and you could see him flinch. It was just after his shot on goal and the ball was bombed in (wasn’t a good kick but that isn’t the point) and he was backing back into the pack (any other player would have been sandwiched) but he ended on the out side of the pack.

I gave him the benefit of the doubt that he understood what was required but after today’s performance he has to go. He has twelve weeks to show he had added that to his game or game over Luke.

Total agreement from me on this one.

 

[jenny61_99]

I agree with this assessment of Luke Jericho.

However IMO he needed to get another opportunity this year to demonstration if he could implement the training principals the club have been trying to develop into his game. Today’s performance simply suggests that he has not done this or is not willing to put his body on the line and will always be timid.

His effort during the first quarter was disgraceful and you could see him flinch. It was just after his shot on goal and the ball was bombed in (wasn’t a good kick but that isn’t the point) and he was backing back into the pack (any other player would have been sandwiched) but he ended on the out side of the pack.

I gave him the benefit of the doubt that he understood what was required but after today’s performance he has to go. He has twelve weeks to show he had added that to his game or game over Luke.

This is the fairest and most commonsense response I have seen about Jericho and is pretty much spot on!

 

[- PC -]

Let's get this clear. I cannot fault anyone else’s effort today; they all tried their guts out today and I was proud of their efforts. The one exception is Jericho. You need to realise the different between having a bad game (Porps) and not putting in an effort (Jericho).

I can

Way too many passengers for mine... Welsh was soft and Jericho was soft

Dont blame it all on one player

 

[- PC -]

Too many passengers

Too many skill errors

Too many poor disposals

Heart and committment cant be questioned. The coaching was ok, the McGregor/(Bock)/Stevens switch was the obvious

Cats seemed to have a better structure of moving the ball on. The Crows seem to go for the defensive option 9/10 times. Mattners first instinctive move is the Skipworth pirrhoutte when sometimes the straight to the forward line move is better.

The umpiring was frustrating, but it was frustrating for both sides. There is nothing scarier or worse when you have to look at the umpires arm to see who wins the free. I thought I could pick the frees 90% of the time...now its 20%

McGregor has one pace and one pace only. He was beaten to the lead too many times. Whether that was rust or not I'm not sure. But he provided a target. Welsh.... well he wouldnt have bought fish and chips on that paypacket

 

[crows4always]

I have refrained from passing comment on Luke before now, hoping he would really show us what he could do. And in his first 3 games back was very pleased for him, but against Geelong I can say I was very disappointed in him.
But he wasn't the only one where has Welshy been the last couple of games, I thought he was being paid for kicking goals.

 

[Ms Marty]

Just have to congratulate the Bay 114 people for the awesome support for our boys yesterday. I sit in Bay 136, and a lot of the time could easily hear their chants and cheering from the other side of the ground. Well done you guys, you put so many of us to shame - my area is usually dead quiet, or full of whingers.

 

[ThePeckers]

Forward line is just to weak. Id also like to point out that we passed it off way to much when a shot could have been taken, welsh did it a few times same with Johncock. They have to back themselves and have the shot.

Besides that Crows looked really strong. I was impressed with everything cept the forward line.

 

[Boundryump]

Too many passengers

Too many skill errors

Too many poor disposals

Heart and committment cant be questioned. The coaching was ok, the McGregor/(Bock)/Stevens switch was the obvious

Lets face it the crows are on the way out,even if we do make the final we have no chance,better off playing some young guys from now on.

 

[Truck Rutten]

Too many skill errors

Too many poor disposals

PC I reckon this was just due to the pressure of the game, as many of Geelong's disposals were shocking as well. In fact for a side that's been talked up so much over the last few weeks, I couldn't believe how ordinary they were. It just goes to show what immense pressure on the ball carrier can do.

The footy gods decided the outcome of this game, and for some reason they are plenty pissed off with the AFC.

 

[King Elvis]

Just have to congratulate the Bay 114 people for the awesome support for our boys yesterday. I sit in Bay 136, and a lot of the time could easily hear their chants and cheering from the other side of the ground. Well done you guys, you put so many of us to shame - my area is usually dead quiet, or full of whingers.

Come join us next time - plenty of room.

 

[Markthirtytwo]

I’m sorry but that is just a terrible argument.

He was brought back into the side, and therefore he was expected to perform. Do you think when he picked him Neil Craig would’ve thought to himself 'Jericho might have a bad game but that's to be expected because I dropped him a few weeks back.' Honestly think about it for a second. If you are selected to play, you’re expected to perform.

And this game that you’re talking about, it was against Carlton, a free running team with very little accountability and minimal pressure. In the tough, physical game today he crumbled, it had nothing to do with the fact he was dropped a few weeks back, only to do with the fact he cannot handle it when the heat is applied.

Ah, I was waiting for this type of comment about our opposition next wek.

I feel he will get another game to get his confidence back.

For my two cents worth, his display was poor, but there were quite a few in the same basket and they wont be dropped.

 

[Markthirtytwo]

PC I reckon this was just due to the pressure of the game, as many of Geelong's disposals were shocking as well. In fact for a side that's been talked up so much over the last few weeks, I couldn't believe how ordinary they were. It just goes to show what immense pressure on the ball carrier can do.

The footy gods decided the outcome of this game, and for some reason they are plenty pissed off with the AFC.

I'm afraid there were also plenty of clangers when a player was on his own on both sides.

The funniest was when Scarlett (I think) tried to kick out after a point and slipped and dropped the ball. Unfortunately we zoned off too quick and couldn't apply pressure to him.

 

[Truck Rutten]

Nah they'll reward us at the end of the year.

The end of the year will be too late I'm afraid. We probably need to win 8 from 11 now to be any real chance this year, and with our formline from not just this year but also the latter part of last season, with the injuries we've got, it's going to be a real struggle. We haven't been in consistent winning form for a long time now. We've managed to cobble together consistently competitive outfits but we are seriously lacking potency and are just too predictable. We simply couldn't afford to lose yet another home game yesterday and those home losses are going to cost us big time. I'm still hopeful but our season is teetering on the brink.