Opinion Which is it? Underperforming or results true to ability?

[TheWoodenSlug]

I don't know if that's the exact record (I suspect it's not). If it is I think it's anomoly more than anything else.

We were 4-2 there last year. Losses to Swans and Pies.

We were 2-3 there in 2015 with two of the losses against the eventual premiers and the other against the Pies.

We were 4-3 there in 2014 with two losses against the eventual premiers and the other against North.

We were 4-2 there in 2013 with one loss against the eventual premiers and one against Collingwood.

2-3 in 2012 with two of those to the Pies and the other Freo.

Really, what stands out is that Collingwood has an outstanding record against us since 2012, having beaten us five times (out of the 13 losses there in that time). For all of Buckley's flaws he certainly knows how to beat Geelong.

Five of the other losses were against eventual premiers in Hawthorn so it's hard to argue we underperformed against expectations there.

The remaining three are the types of games that counfound us where we expect something much better:

1. Last year's Prelim
2. The 2014 SF v North
3. The 2012 EF v Freo

When I reflect on those games there's nothing about them being at the MCG that I think was significant about the result. In the Prelim we were just thoroughly outplayed and given a football lesson. The other two we didn't show up to play and would have got beaten anywhere.

If you add our 1-2 record this year, 10 losses out of the last 17 stacks up. Another one this year against Collingwood as well.

I hadn't looked into the opposition, so you may be right that it's more Collingwood that is our Achilles heel rather than the MCG. As frustrating as it is that Collingwood consistently have our measure, we can at least find some solace in the fact that it won't have any bearing on our finals performance!

It still seems to me that we 'don't show up' more often at the MCG than anywhere else, but that may be partially confirmation bias.

I just checked the fixture and we have 2 more games at the MCG before finals, against Hawthorn and, you guessed it, Collingwood. Two wins there, which should be the case, would go some way to alleviating my doubts.

 

[catempire]

It still seems to me that we 'don't show up' more often at the MCG than anywhere else, but that may be partially confirmation bias.

Saints and Blues at Etihad. Melbourne at KP in Boris's 300th. Gold Coast at Metricon a couple of times. North at Etihad a couple of times.

I think Etihad has been just as much an issue for us in terms of "not showing up".

 

[cynical]

come back to me when we win finals at the mcg

 

[SJ]

If you add our 1-2 record this year, 10 losses out of the last 17 stacks up. Another one this year against Collingwood as well.

I hadn't looked into the opposition, so you may be right that it's more Collingwood that is our Achilles heel rather than the MCG. As frustrating as it is that Collingwood consistently have our measure, we can at least find some solace in the fact that it won't have any bearing on our finals performance!

It still seems to me that we 'don't show up' more often at the MCG than anywhere else, but that may be partially confirmation bias.

I just checked the fixture and we have 2 more games at the MCG before finals, against Hawthorn and, you guessed it, Collingwood. Two wins there, which should be the case, would go some way to alleviating my doubts.

As in 'don't bring effort'?

Doesn't it make much more sense that a structural/systematic issue is constantly shown up on the MCG rather than players consistently not trying as hard there?

 

[TheWoodenSlug]

As in 'don't bring effort'?

Doesn't it make much more sense that a structural/systematic issue is constantly shown up on the MCG rather than players consistently not trying as hard there?

Sure does. That was my initial argument i.e. I'm still worried that while our gameplan is effective at KP, it's not at the MCG.

 

[Catsace]

It's an interesting question - if there was an H&A game against another top-four side and the end result was 15.3.93 to 12.20.92, which side ends up happier - the dominant gameplay side, or the winner?

Gaahhhhhh!!!! Do you recall that game in Rd 17 2002 when after a run of seven stirring wins in a row by the young Catters, we played Crowelaide at K.P, with former Cat coach Cary Ayres sitting in the opposing box. That match above almost all others was probably a game where Geelong did just about everything well, had more of the play, tackled strongly, pressured the Crows and almost looked to have control of the match. But the Crows did indeed kick 15.3.93 (Ricciuto 5 goals) and Geelong had a heartbreaking 12.18.90. 30 scoring shots to 18, and a win there would have ensconced the Cats into the top 4.

Just to add insult to injury, Ayres also rather infamously gave the bird to some irate Cat fans from his coaches box in the old Brownlow Stand.

Ultimately though that loss was a bigger deflation for Geelong than the Hindenburg, and the season kind of crashed just about as disastrously after that. From a potential 11-6 and pressing for top-4, Geelong won just one more match (against the spoon-bound Saints), and with the coup-de-grace applied by old nemesis Hawthorn with a final round loss to evict the Cats from the top 8 with an 11-11 record.

Almost never had a Cats side done so much to win a game, yet were left empty-handed. Oh, well apart from 'Nick Davis will save us'. That is surely about the top of the tree of domination being cruelly topped by some arse.

 

[iameviljez]

Gaahhhhhh!!!! Do you recall that game in Rd 17 2002 when after a run of seven stirring wins in a row by the young Catters, we played Crowelaide at K.P, with former Cat coach Cary Ayres sitting in the opposing box. That match above almost all others was probably a game where Geelong did just about everything well, had more of the play, tackled strongly, pressured the Crows and almost looked to have control of the match. But the Crows did indeed kick 15.3.93 (Ricciuto 5 goals) and Geelong had a heartbreaking 12.18.90. 30 scoring shots to 18, and a win there would have ensconced the Cats into the top 4.

Just to add insult to injury, Ayres also rather infamously gave the bird to some irate Cat fans from his coaches box in the old Brownlow Stand.

Ultimately though that loss was a bigger deflation for Geelong than the Hindenburg, and the season kind of crashed just about as disastrously after that. From a potential 11-6 and pressing for top-4, Geelong won just one more match (against the spoon-bound Saints), and with the coup-de-grace applied by old nemesis Hawthorn with a final round loss to evict the Cats from the top 8 with an 11-11 record.

Almost never had a Cats side done so much to win a game, yet were left empty-handed. Oh, well apart from 'Nick Davis will save us'. That is surely about the top of the tree of domination being cruelly topped by some arse.

Do I what: