We Have No Depth.

[mattys123]

It hurts, losing a game like that, in front of a large audience both their and at the ground by so much, but is happened and will happen again if we dont fix our depth problem.

WE HAVE NO DEPTH.

In specific ares, namely the midfield and small forwards, we have absolutely no depth.

Every single one of the 8-9 players who played tonight are either not up to AFL standard yet, or never will be (Yes Danny Stanley, I mean you).

Once again;

WE HAVE NO DEPTH.

Out of tonight's side was (by guernsey number);

1. Leon Davis
2. Sean Rusling
3. John McCarthy
4. Alan Didak
6. Tyson Goldsack (doesnt really count)
7. Paul Medhurst
9. Jack Anthony
12. Shannon Cox (Should never had been dropped)
17. Dayne Beams
19. Cameron Wood (piss of Leigh Brown)
26. Ben Johnson
29. Ryan Cook (100 times the player Danny Stanley is or ever will be)

When fit or in form, those players are all in our best 22-25 players.

So to break it down, tonight we had;

* 8 of our best 22 out injured/suspended
* 4 of our best 22-25 not selected

There you go, wonder why we got thumped by a premiership contender, once again;

WE HAVE NO DEPTH.

 

[mdc]

No team has the depth to cover injuries to 5 key players when they're playing a top team.

Might as well title it "No team has depth".

 

[Ant85]

Based on your figures, I would say we have depth.

Hawthorn are missing roughly the same of their best 22 players, and look where they're sitting. Below us!

"Depth" covers 4 - 5 key injuries, not 8 - 12.

It's just pot luck that ALL of our best small forwards are out. When was the last time Didak, Davis and Medhurst all missed a game at the same time? Not to mention other injuries.

 

[mattys123]

Original thread title was "Why we Lost".

Shouldve kept it, damn adrenaline running through me after such a bad loss.

 

[Pie eyed]

You're a damned hard task master.

Didak, Davis and Medhurst injured. JA suspended. Rocca still trying to get back to the pace of the game. Heater first game back from a hammy.

Sidebottom, Stanley, Macaffer all babies.
Josh one 1/2 a leg and Swan injured, possibly a knee.

I knew what was coming the instant Davis and Medhurst were pulled.
Geelong would jave r*ped us in a similar fashion.
The Saints are a damned good side.

 

[Invigoration]

Yeah weird thread. You just named 12 blokes who could all have legit claims at a spot in our 22.

I'd say that is decent depth. Reid, Dawes, Blight and Rounds are all coming along well too. We had some massive holes to cover tonight, coming up against a side that will push Geelong this year.

 

[twaters]

Original thread title was "Why we Lost".

Shouldve kept it, damn adrenaline running through me after such a bad loss.

feel your pain.

I think the list depth is there (except ruck and maybe KPB), but that our 'depth' is still very inexperienced. Remember Montagna and Milne at Saints - once thought of as just good-time-guys, now in mid 20s and in top strength.

Our depth is arriving. This year we have just blooded Beams, Barham, Macaffer, Sidebottom. Still with less than 20 games from previous years are McCarthy (who is a beauty), Reid (?), Anthony is only up to 18 games and who knows where is best position will be longer term, Dawes still hot and cold at VFL, Cook 12 games, Dick 8 games, Macaffer 3 games of promise, Stanley 5 games of not sure at AFL, Wellingham 14 games of growing at AFL level (check the goal assists). Even speculatives such as Coxey (19 games) and Rusling (17 games) may get up to add to that depth further.

Agree the 'depth' train has not quite arrived at the station yet, but a few years ago, we didn't even have a depth timetable worth waiting on the platform for. It's more exciting now, but agree that the ready-made depth of class is still emerging.

 

[Pie eyed]

The Cheese monster had a beauty, a point which will no doubt go unmentioned by many.


Go Cheesy!!!!!!!!

 

[mattys123]

Original thread title was "Why we Lost".

Shouldve kept it, damn adrenaline running through me after such a bad loss.

Sorry for the title of the thread, but I will back the comment that we have very little depth.

Players like Stanley, McCaffer, L.Brown, Corrie, Rocca and Lockyer will provide us very little in the future, that's what I was getting at.

More of a "for the future" we have no depth comment.

We do have a lot of "promising" young players, but we lack experience in our middle range of players, the area usually associated with "real" reliabled depth.

One of the reasons we lost so badly was because of our lack of depth in certain areas, and yes I am being harsh, but I believe now is the time to be harsh. I am a believer in the "you learn more from a loss then a win" mentality, just look at Chris Bryan (round 1), Shannon Cox (ANZAC day).

There will be long term ramifications out of the Stkilda loss, you can bet on that.

 

[Soul_Pie]

I don't think it's so much a case of depth as just terrible luck with the players that we've lost. When you perhaps lose 4 or 5 of your best players and spread it across the entire ground you might be able to press on and give a decent account of yourself, but when you lose them from a specific area then you really start to feel the effects and you throw your structures into disarray as you try to compensate by bringing in players from other positions in order to plug the hole. (Hawthorn have been in a similar situation this year)

We were missing our three highest goal scorers this year for this match against the Saints and were left with two targets up forward in Rocca and Cloke who are entirely out of touch and simply not kicking goals. That's not to mention we are clearly missing Didak, who I think adds another dimension to our goalscoring capacity. Unfortunately we don't have Rusling to choose either, and as such we were left with a complete lack of firepower. We may have been alright against a team like Melbourne, but when you come up against one of the best defences in the league with such a weak forward line you are always going to struggle.

I don't think tonight was a reflection of our depth. In a lot of areas, surprisingly, I think we did alright against the Saints but really they were overshadowed by the fact that we just couldn't penetrate their defence and apply any kind of scoreboard pressure.

 

[copper_front_bottom]

Sorry for the title of the thread, but I will back the comment that we have very little depth.

Players like Stanley, McCaffer, L.Brown, Corrie, Rocca and Lockyer will provide us very little in the future, that's what I was getting at.

More of a "for the future" we have no depth comment.

We do have a lot of "promising" young players, but we lack experience in our middle range of players, the area usually associated with "real" reliabled depth.

One of the reasons we lost so badly was because of our lack of depth in certain areas, and yes I am being harsh, but I believe now is the time to be harsh. I am a believer in the "you learn more from a loss then a win" mentality, just look at Chris Bryan (round 1), Shannon Cox (ANZAC day).

There will be long term ramifications out of the Stkilda loss, you can bet on that.

Lockyer is a great player and will be for a few more years yet...and imho should have been made captain instead of hackwell who is inspirational yes...but is an average footballer...

I beleive we should try the Chris Tarrant experiment and move Travis Cloke to Centre Half Back or on the fullback line to help presti with teams that have two big forwards like reiwoldt/kosi; brown/bradshaw; hawkins/mooney; buddy/roughy....cloke is quick of the mark...he aint that good at marking currently but can get his hands somehwere near the ball for a punch..and IF he runs into a bit of form we can use him as a swing man to kick the odd goal here and there.....Its time to start grooming a new big forward...Chris Dawes or whoever else can fit the brief...cause Cloke cannot cut it...he is a faster version of J.cloke with a bigger tank...nice bloke all the same but they need to be put into positions where they can be effective...

 

[magpies42]

It hurts, losing a game like that, in front of a large audience both their and at the ground by so much, but is happened and will happen again if we dont fix our depth problem.

WE HAVE NO DEPTH.

In specific ares, namely the midfield and small forwards, we have absolutely no depth.

Every single one of the 8-9 players who played tonight are either not up to AFL standard yet, or never will be (Yes Danny Stanley, I mean you).

Once again;

WE HAVE NO DEPTH.

Out of tonight's side was (by guernsey number);

1. Leon Davis
2. Sean Rusling
3. John McCarthy
4. Alan Didak
6. Tyson Goldsack (doesnt really count)
7. Paul Medhurst
9. Jack Anthony
12. Shannon Cox (Should never had been dropped)
17. Dayne Beams
19. Cameron Wood (piss of Leigh Brown)
26. Ben Johnson
29. Ryan Cook (100 times the player Danny Stanley is or ever will be)

When fit or in form, those players are all in our best 22-25 players.

So to break it down, tonight we had;

* 8 of our best 22 out injured/suspended
* 4 of our best 22-25 not selected

There you go, wonder why we got thumped by a premiership contender, once again;

WE HAVE NO DEPTH.

are you argueing for or against?! haha

We are no geelong but we have the depth to match any other team in the comp.

 

[Quicky]

Some of the statements you've made in this thread are way off the mark Matty.

To say we have no depth in the small forward position is ridiculous. We have on our list Davis, Didak, Medhurst, Thomas, Dick, Bennell and you can add Lockyer and Corrie as well. The fact that Davis, Didak and Medhurst who are are not only our best small forwards but in our best 5 players at our club was a big reason we weren't more competitive last night. You just can't patch over the loss of players like that.

When you consider our endeavour was top notch for the majority of the match i'd say our biggest issue last night was:

1 - We didn't have our three leading goalkickers Anthony, Medhurst and Davis.

2 - Cloke is horribly out of form and Rocca is nowhere near match fit.

3 - Our delivery was terrible into the F50, an issue not helped by the fact that Davis, Didak and Medhurst among others were out last night.

4 - We came up against a team - in the state we were in - that is arguably in premiership winning form.

They are the reasons we lost the game.

Just as an aside how you can criticise Lockyer is beyond me. To say he will provide us little in the future is just wrong. He may be getting to the wrong end of his career but he is still playing as well as ever and still has plenty of games left in him.

Also I find your love for Cook disturbing and really misplaced. The guy is just never going to cut it at AFL level.

 

[understudy]

You are right matt, I've been laughing for months at all these calls that we have such a great list and such great depth.

No we dont. Disappointing that everyone is disagreeing with your thoughts when you are spot on, seems to me they chronically over rate our list and where we are at.

A strong list and depth is when you have a heaps of blokes that are AFL ready and consistently perform at AFL level.

I only have 14 from our list as DEFINITE long term locks in our future side as I highlighted in the where is our list at thread I started.

 

[esc0bar]

You are right matt, I've been laughing for months at all these calls that we have such a great list and such great depth.

No we dont. Disappointing that everyone is disagreeing with your thoughts when you are spot on, seems to me they chronically over rate our list and where we are at.

A strong list and depth is when you have a heaps of blokes that are AFL ready and consistently perform at AFL level.

I only have 14 from our list as DEFINITE long term locks in our future side as I highlighted in the where is our list at thread I started.

No we dont have a great depth at AFL level but give it time. We are a young side and still paying the price for poor recruiting 7 years ago. Only over the past 4 years has some nice players emerge and hey will take time to develop. We will have a nice list in few years. That is as long as they get rid of corrie and leigh brown. god damn me and the team if they are in our best 22 haha

 

[Invigoration]

You are right matt, I've been laughing for months at all these calls that we have such a great list and such great depth.

No we dont. Disappointing that everyone is disagreeing with your thoughts when you are spot on, seems to me they chronically over rate our list and where we are at.

A strong list and depth is when you have a heaps of blokes that are AFL ready and consistently perform at AFL level.

I only have 14 from our list as DEFINITE long term locks in our future side as I highlighted in the where is our list at thread I started.

God what a load of shit. You do realise that even Geelongs fringe players are people like Shannon Brynes, Tom Lonergon and Kane Tenace.

If any other team copped the same amount of injuries, all at once, they wouldn't be able to cope either. Hawthorn are a perfect example this year. They are a good team, well their first XVIII is a good team, but you can't just patch up up holes left by experienced senior players. They don't have premiership material players just sitting on the sidelines as depth.

Geelong have played virtually the same 22-25 players for the last 2 years,they haven't got amazing depth outside that core group and if a bunch of them got cut down they would be in all sorts as well. You don't have blokes on the sidelines who consistently perform at AFL level, if you had those blokes, they would be in the 22.

Last night we lost two blokes with an accumulated 300 games between them, for a replacement of a total of 4 games. It isn't that there isn't depth, because both those blokes who came in were beating down the door, but they aren't instantly going to be as good as the guys they replaced at senior level.

Depth can only cover so much. Ultimately we are trying to build the best 22 possible, the 22 who work and play the best together. You can't expect to bring in players just to groom them to be depth, so they are ready in case of injuries or what not, it disrupts stability and ultimately means you aren't putting your best team on the park.

We have a lot of young talent coming through, the majority of people agree our drafting is much improved, our list will only get better as it develops. You can hardly blame a team for not have instantaneous replacements for the likes of Didak, Medhurst, Davis and Anthony.