Opinion Tom Lonergan

[arrow_dactyl]

I admire his ability to come back from that life threatening injury and he's been solid for a couple of years for you down back, but yesterday and in recent times i feel that he has been caught out as a backmen. I feel that he plays the man too much instead of trying to spoil the ball. I know he was caught out for size, but the couple of times he was competing against Sandilands he just tried to hold him away from the ball instead of positioning himself for the spoil.

If he's going to continue to play the full back position he needs to learn how to stop the forwards that oversize him, without potentially giving away cheap free kicks inside the forward 50. What do Cats fans think?

 

[supahoops]

See you at Port..(Melbourne)

 

[you pick one]

I hope this is not permitted to continue.

 

[Cursed Cat]

I admire his ability to come back from that life threatening injury and he's been solid for a couple of years for you down back, but yesterday and in recent times i feel that he has been caught out as a backmen. I feel that he plays the man too much instead of trying to spoil the ball. I know he was caught out for size, but the couple of times he was competing against Sandilands he just tried to hold him away from the ball instead of positioning himself for the spoil.

If he's going to continue to play the full back position he needs to learn how to stop the forwards that oversize him, without potentially giving away cheap free kicks inside the forward 50. What do Cats fans think?

It's not an unreasonable question based on yesterday's evidence.

Tom's probably on the decline, a few on this board have questioned him season-long (not me; I think he gets a pass mark on H&A form - would want to put in a better effort against Jay Schulz or whoever his opponent is next week though).

I saw his name brought up on a main board thread questioning Josh Gibson's 'scragging' tactics; I think this is a little unfair - perhaps now that time and his lack of pace are starting to catch up with him he has become more liable to give away frees, but he has done *very very* well to eke out a very respectable career as a full back considering the life-threatening 'setback' he endured.

Regularly takes Buddy to the cleaners without resorting to any untoward tactics - sure he plays tight, but that's what full backs are meant to do.
His effort to quell a rampaging Travis Cloke in the 2011 GF was huge; he's traditionally put in some of his better efforts against some of the tougher opponents.

He probably has one more season in him.

Overall I only have the greatest possible respect for Tom Lonergan; his struggle to overcome adversity has been met with a professional attitude and an amiable demeanor, and he's put in a good 3 seasons as one of the league's more reliable full backs.

 

[cynical]

The problem with good average players like Lonners is once they get older the end comes pretty quick.

Hopefully he can bounce back next year but he is pretty close to cooked

 

[Catsace]

Pavlich kicked just two goals...and he was awarded a free against Sandilands who also kicked one. But it's a hard road to hoe for Tom when the rucks are being smashed and clearance kicks are being peppered towards his direction. Lonergan was far from the reason we lost. And his efforts on the likes of Cloke and Franklin are usually magnificent.

 

[SpryCorpse]

Pavlich kicked just two goals...and he was awarded a free against Sandilands who also kicked one. But it's a hard road to hoe for Tom when the rucks are being smashed and clearance kicks are being peppered towards his direction. Lonergan was far from the reason we lost. And his efforts on the likes of Cloke and Franklin are usually magnificent.

Yes.
Can't believe people are hypothesising that Brown would have fared better. Pavlich would have ripped him a new one...

 

[FredLeDeux]

Pavlich kicked just two goals...and he was awarded a free against Sandilands who also kicked one. But it's a hard road to hoe for Tom when the rucks are being smashed and clearance kicks are being peppered towards his direction. Lonergan was far from the reason we lost. And his efforts on the likes of Cloke and Franklin are usually magnificent.

I don't say his efforts were decisive, but that could easily have been 6 goals if Pavlich got the 2 sitters, and Sandilands got the free in the goal square after Lonergan tried to stop him with 6 different wrestling holds.
But whatever the future may hold for Hamling, Bathie and Brown, I don't believe it involves replacing Lonergan this week.

 

[arrow_dactyl]

can I head over to the Fremantle board and post a thread on Zac Dawson and his tactics in the game or is that off limits

Look i've got nothing against Lonergan and yes as others have pointed out he has managed to shut down power forwards in the past, I just thought it was a potential cause for concern for Geelong especially as you don't seem to have much key defender depth, i'm not saying he's going to get dropped or anything it's just it seemed the Dockers were able to exploit his deficiency and i was wondering if Cats supporters had similar thoughts.

For the record Dockers supporters already know all about Dawson's problems so go for broke if you want

 

[CF]

Some freo idiot sees one game and decides he knows everything about a player on our team. Go away moron.

 

[Partridge]

Yes.
Can't believe people are hypothesising that Brown would have fared better. Pavlich would have ripped him a new one...

Has anyone actually written that? I would have preferred (and do prefer) Brown in the team, under a different setup.

Taylor to full back (he's the best key defender we have), Rivers at CHB, Brown as the third tall. It isn't a major change, except that Brown is about 500 times faster than Lonergan now.

Lonergan's done. He looked worse than 2009 on Saturday. He's going to give away free kicks and goals if he continues to be selected.

 

[vinum coupe]

Lonergan's done. He looked worse than 2009 on Saturday. He's going to give away free kicks and goals if he continues to be selected.

And unfortunately still has another 2 years of his contract to run.

 

[Partridge]

And unfortunately still has another 2 years of his contract to run.

2 years? Ouch. He's a great team man, he at least might not mind playing a bit of VFL in that time.

 

[catstragic]

Just wanted to say that I'm really enjoying watching Lonergan play this season-Gonna miss him when he moves on.
This thread is probably the best testament to Loner's contribution. 12 posts having a whinge after he was sent down back from forward, then four years of silence as he shut down a succession of superstar forwards. Underappreciated master craftsmen.

 

[CatRiot]

Probably our 2nd best FB ever behind M Scarlett. Yes, better than Malarkey.

On Moto G (5) using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Matthew Jelley]

Taking a lot of good marks and spoiling well

 

[kickazz]

Having a better year this year than last year.

 

[Spazz Cat]

Going allright on the big forwards. Rarely (if at all) has been outpointed by his opponent.
Had a horrible mixup with 2E last night, but I can understand why he didn't wanna go down the line. Patton, Lobb & Mumford were all there.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

When in 2013 did Lonergan look done? Strange.
This better get a damn good write up for his 200th from someone, he bloody deserves a great one. Who's his no.1 fan on here??

 

[Cursed Cat]

When in 2013 did Lonergan look done? Strange.
This better get a damn good write up for his 200th from someone, he bloody deserves a great one. Who's his no.1 fan on here??

not sure who his #1 fan would be, but there's a ton to admire about Tom Lonergan.

Poor bloke's been on retirement watch for a few seasons now, and as soon as he stuffs up a kick people want to put him on a raft and float him out to sea.
His aerial judgement is as good as it's ever been.

He'll be missed when he does go, because despite Geelong being blessed with solid key defenders since the Harley/Scarlett pairing, it's not always an easy job to fill - Geelong were often undermanned in defense in the 80's; Tim Darcy and Mick Schulze in '89 didn't quite have the same surety about them as Langford and Mew. The 90's wasn't much better, Tim McGrath was gallant and generally very solid, Andrew Rogers looked good for five minutes, Barry Stoneham was probably the best of the bunch but was needed at CHF. O'Reilly of course jumped ship just when he looked like he might be ok.

It wasn't really until Matthew Scarlett established himself and then pushed himself to greatness that things started to turn; Harley worked hard to make himself into another solid key defensive player and then Matty Egan came along and gave us further tall options in defense.

Meanwhile Tom Lonergan is recruited to the club with a relatively high #23 in '02, potentially to play a key forward role.

Meanders along, shows some reasonable-to-good VFL form, eventually gets a call up in '05 and plays 4 games, kicking 5 goals.

Lonergan doesn't really kick on the following year, but eventually wins a recall in Rd 20 and retains his spot for the Rd 21 game against the Demons at home.

22 year old Lonergan spends August 26, 2006 in the Geelong hospital and is eventually put into an induced coma due to complications involving a badly lacerated kidney - spends 4 days in this state, and from all reports was seriously at a low ebb throughout that period.

Tom decides to play on, the club sticks by a bloke who has only shown bits and pieces on the field, and Lonergan begins 2007 on the rookie list.

Miraculously Lonergan actually does make it back onto the field but can't crack the drought-breaking 2007 premiership unit; he is however bog in the VFL side's premiership win, booting 6 goals.

When Nathan Ablett goes walkabout in '08 a spot opens up for a tall forward in the senior team, and Lonergan gets the tap in round 10 and shows enough form to hold his spot for the rest of Geelong's ill-fated '08 campaign.
36 goals from 16 games was an adequate return, but with a developing Tom Hawkins breathing down his neck and his limitations as a forward showing, Lonergan's days of partnering up with Cam Mooney are numbered.

However Tom Harley hangs up the boots, and Lonergan puts his hand up and best foot forward for a key defender's spot.
His '09 campaign is far from convincing; 9 games and a few really shaky games down back, including one absolute pantsing by Jon Brown up in Brisbane.

But as he has his entire career, Tom Lonergan sticks at it and refuses to give up, and eventually finds his niche; generally taking the tallest deep forward while Matty Scarlett ekes out another couple of AA's and Harry Taylor establishes himself as an elite CHB.

He develops a happy knack for keeping some of the very best big forwards in the game under wraps, often rendering the apparently dangerous Buddy Franklin ineffective.

Eventually gets his richly deserved Premiership medal in 2011 with a typically effective nullifying job on Travis Coke, who had looked threatening opposed to Harry Taylor. One of our best on the day for that job alone.

Worth remembering too that Tom Lonergan was offered a 3-year deal from the Bulldogs which another player may have jumped at in his latter years; Lonergan opted to remain a 1-club player.

There can't have been too many 200 games that were as hard-earned and well deserved as Tom Lonergans.

 

[David the Cat]

A 200 game Premiership player....his courage legendary.....

A pretty fair career when all said and done.

Well done Tom Lonergan.

 

[Spazz Cat]

not sure who his #1 fan would be, but there's a ton to admire about Tom Lonergan.

Poor bloke's been on retirement watch for a few seasons now, and as soon as he stuffs up a kick people want to put him on a raft and float him out to sea.
His aerial judgement is as good as it's ever been.

He'll be missed when he does go, because despite Geelong being blessed with solid key defenders since the Harley/Scarlett pairing, it's not always an easy job to fill - Geelong were often undermanned in defense in the 80's; Tim Darcy and Mick Schulze in '89 didn't quite have the same surety about them as Langford and Mew. The 90's wasn't much better, Tim McGrath was gallant and generally very solid, Andrew Rogers looked good for five minutes, Barry Stoneham was probably the best of the bunch but was needed at CHF. O'Reilly of course jumped ship just when he looked like he might be ok.

It wasn't really until Matthew Scarlett established himself and then pushed himself to greatness that things started to turn; Harley worked hard to make himself into another solid key defensive player and then Matty Egan came along and gave us further tall options in defense.

Meanwhile Tom Lonergan is recruited to the club with a relatively high #23 in '02, potentially to play a key forward role.

Meanders along, shows some reasonable-to-good VFL form, eventually gets a call up in '05 and plays 4 games, kicking 5 goals.

Lonergan doesn't really kick on the following year, but eventually wins a recall in Rd 20 and retains his spot for the Rd 21 game against the Demons at home.

22 year old Lonergan spends August 26, 2006 in the Geelong hospital and is eventually put into an induced coma due to complications involving a badly lacerated kidney - spends 4 days in this state, and from all reports was seriously at a low ebb throughout that period.

Tom decides to play on, the club sticks by a bloke who has only shown bits and pieces on the field, and Lonergan begins 2007 on the rookie list.

Miraculously Lonergan actually does make it back onto the field but can't crack the drought-breaking 2007 premiership unit; he is however bog in the VFL side's premiership win, booting 6 goals.

When Nathan Ablett goes walkabout in '08 a spot opens up for a tall forward in the senior team, and Lonergan gets the tap in round 10 and shows enough form to hold his spot for the rest of Geelong's ill-fated '08 campaign.
36 goals from 16 games was an adequate return, but with a developing Tom Hawkins breathing down his neck and his limitations as a forward showing, Lonergan's days of partnering up with Cam Mooney are numbered.

However Tom Harley hangs up the boots, and Lonergan puts his hand up and best foot forward for a key defender's spot.
His '09 campaign is far from convincing; 9 games and a few really shaky games down back, including one absolute pantsing by Jon Brown up in Brisbane.

But as he has his entire career, Tom Lonergan sticks at it and refuses to give up, and eventually finds his niche; generally taking the tallest deep forward while Matty Scarlett ekes out another couple of AA's and Harry Taylor establishes himself as an elite CHB.

He develops a happy knack for keeping some of the very best big forwards in the game under wraps, often rendering the apparently dangerous Buddy Franklin ineffective.

Eventually gets his richly deserved Premiership medal in 2011 with a typically effective nullifying job on Travis Coke, who had looked threatening opposed to Harry Taylor. One of our best on the day for that job alone.

Worth remembering too that Tom Lonergan was offered a 3-year deal from the Bulldogs which another player may have jumped at in his latter years; Lonergan opted to remain a 1-club player.

There can't have been too many 200 games that were as hard-earned and well deserved as Tom Lonergans.

Great write up. Another fond memory for me was the VFL finals in 2007. Was our best player. Was even killing it in the ruck a year after his kidney injury.

 

[Cattery]

Has anyone actually written that? I would have preferred (and do prefer) Brown in the team, under a different setup.

Taylor to full back (he's the best key defender we have), Rivers at CHB, Brown as the third tall. It isn't a major change, except that Brown is about 500 times faster than Lonergan now.

Lonergan's done. He looked worse than 2009 on Saturday. He's going to give away free kicks and goals if he continues to be selected.

And unfortunately still has another 2 years of his contract to run.

2 years? Ouch. He's a great team man, he at least might not mind playing a bit of VFL in that time.

Ouch. Four years later and still going strong.

 

[Willo_]

Defensively I think he has been pretty bloody good this year, i just cover my eyes when he gets ball in hand. ... but he is absolutely going better than I expected,.

But his entire story is remarkable, to come back from what he did is impressive as anything, but to then go from battling as a fwd to turning himself into an elite fullback is mind blowing
Hawk gets the most praise for the 11 gf
The other Tom had a big an influence completing shutting down an on fire Cloke.

 

[David the Cat]

I saw the reference to Mitch Brown.....what happened to him? Hasn't appeared for the Dons in quite some time....