Why is the media down on Geelong?

[Jimmy Yamazaki]

I'd argue that point about getting a good run at Skilled. We play 7 home games at Skilled this season- 2 of those games are against current top 8 teams (North and Freo). The other 5 games are against Adelaide, West Coast, St Kilda, Bulldogs and Brisbane- all of which we SHOULD be able to beat at any venue.

While I was looking at our opponents this season, I noticed something interesting:
We play all 7 of the other top 8 teams away from our home ground, including Hawthorn twice, so effectively 8 away games to top 8 teams.

Compare that with some other top 4 teams:
Sydney- play 8 games at the SCG and 3 at ANZ. They play at the SCG against 5 current top 8 teams (North, Freo, Geelong, Port, Essendon), plus Collingwood at ANZ.
Sydney- play THREE away games to teams in the top 8. Essendon, Hawthorn and Port (I had to check that count three times because I couldn't believe it! Equalisation my ar$e!!!)

Hawthorn- play 11 games at the MCG and 3 at Aurora - 6 games at the MCG are against top 8 teams, including Geelong and Collingwood twice, i.e they play 4 of the top 8 teams at home.
Hawthorn- play 5 top 8 teams away: Essendon, Sydney, Port, North and Freo

Freo- play 12 games at Patersons, 5 of which are against top 8 teams
Freo- play 5 games away against top 8 teams- Collingwood, Hawthorn, Sydney, Port, Geelong

Port- play 12 games at Adelaide Oval, including 6 top 8 teams, and 4 away games to North, Sydney, Collingwood and Fremantle.
North- play 11 games at Etihad, including 4 against top 8 teams, and 4 away games to Sydney, Fremantle, Collingwood and Geelong.

What I mean is, Skilled is a fortress and we're at least a 5 goal better side there. We're always going to play crap teams and rack up wins, there's nothing wrong with that. But you have to take it into consideration when looking at our ladder and we won't generally play finals there. And even if we finish 2nd or first, we won't get 2 games there at the venue we play best on. So we have to go to another venue( hopefully the MCG) or one we have been less then stellar at.

Interstate teams have to travel basically every 2nd week, so that is why they get so many at home.

 

[Jimmy Yamazaki]

And I'm not sure that there's many teams that have had 21 of a best possible 22 available each week.

Of course not, that's why I said "pretty much"

 

[Teriyakicat]

how'd we go against those teams last year?

Hmmm... why do you think I wrote "SHOULD", Whit3y? No doubt you'd agree that we SHOULD have been able to beat ALL of the teams we played at Skilled at ANY ground? At home in 2013, we beat Gold Coast (52 pts), Freo (41), Melb (68), St Kilda (101), Port (25), Sydney (44) and Brisbane (1).
Of those teams, you could say that perhaps Brisbane MAY have been the only team we'd have had trouble with away.

 

[Partridge]

Case in point: midway through the third quarter on Saturday. Cats had just piled on the last six goals and taken the score from 18-29 to 59-32. An innocuous kick to the wing from the Giants finds Shiel with a metre or two on Motlop. Motlop is never going to stop the mark, but can't resist giving Shiel a little whack/shove while he's in the air, which sends Shiel tumbling to the ground. 50m penalty. Goal. They hadn't kicked a goal in over a quarter of football and we just had to gift them one. So, instead of us kicking away in the remaining 15 minutes and putting the game to bed by three quarter time (as we looked certain to do), including the Shiel goal, GWS outscored us for the remainder of the quarter, stayed in striking distance and went into the last term with renewed confidence that it had taken our best shot and was still right in the game.

That did piss me off. They are the bits of play I just can't stand now. Because there is just no excuse for it. Predictably followed by "you just have to take him the way he is...." and other assorted nonsense. Good thing the club never told Ablett to work harder in early 2007, they should have just left him the way he was. Or for Johnson to get suspended by the club at the same time.

They are the parts of their game they have to cut out. Goals are hard enough to score without handing them to the opposition.

 

[Teriyakicat]

That did piss me off. They are the bits of play I just can't stand now. Because there is just no excuse for it. Predictably followed by "you just have to take him the way he is...." and other assorted nonsense. Good thing the club never told Ablett to work harder in early 2007, they should have just left him the way he was. Or for Johnson to get suspended by the club at the same time.

They are the parts of their game they have to cut out. Goals are hard enough to score without handing them to the opposition.

I think the boys are doing less of this during 2014 than perhaps 2011-3. Often it's a result of frustration (no excuse but saying I think that is when it happens) so maybe the boys are avoiding these situations this year.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

I think the boys are doing less of this during 2014 than perhaps 2011-3. Often it's a result of frustration (no excuse but saying I think that is when it happens) so maybe the boys are avoiding these situations this year.

They do seem to give away plenty of what I'd consider to be one of the most frustrating free kicks in football: when an opposition player has gone to ground with the ball, like a turtle on its back, and instead of dropping down a gear and wrapping them up, to secure - at worst - a ball up, they crash into the opponent at full speed, either getting him in the back or too high turning a pretty close to unwinnable position for the opposition team (all they could really hope for is a ball up, or just making a blind handball and hoping for the best), into a free kick. Drives me insane.

 

[Jimmy Yamazaki]

Hyphen is best 22 though, he may not be at the same level of Johnson but he's part of our midfield brigade as too Caddy. Without these types of players, you saw firsthand what happens when the season drags on, the wear and tear on other players to perform a little more consistently that what they should (at this stage of their careers) begins to wane.
Not having a full complimentary of our best mids available per game has been a slight dilemma this season.

I'm not saying his not best 22, I said they weren't really outs because we rested them. If it was finals, they probably would have played.

 

[FredLeDeux]

They do seem to give away plenty of what I'd consider to be one of the most frustrating free kicks in football: when an opposition player has gone to ground with the ball, like a turtle on its back, and instead of dropping down a gear and wrapping them up, to secure - at worst - a ball up, they crash into the opponent at full speed, either getting him in the back or too high turning a pretty close to unwinnable position for the opposition team (all they could really hope for is a ball up, or just making a blind handball and hoping for the best), into a free kick. Drives me insane.

You're right, we do seem to over-tackle in these situations more than other sides.
However, these are judgement calls by the umpires, and they are generally blatantly incorrect in basing their decisions on the hardness of the tackle, rather than the point of contact full stop, as well as being wildly inconsistent.
This is really almost the worst aspect of the crazy holding the ball so-called "rule" and its interpretation.
The umpires circle round waiting to pounce, seeing if the pinned player manages to wriggle a small finger or wave his arm like a ******* seagull, and pinging him if he doesn't, even if he can't possibly move or get rid of the ball, over which he usually has no genuine control anyway. And at the same time, in almost every single one of theses decisions they are totally ignoring the far more serious and blatant in the back and high contact free kicks to which the pinned player is entitled (often more than one in each case), and which always occur before any possible holding the ball infringement.
It's another blot on the game, and it's one that not only spoils it as a spectacle, it's potentially physically very dangerous.

 

[allrighty]

The umpires circle round waiting to pounce, seeing if the pinned player manages to wriggle a small finger or wave his arm like a ******* seagull, and pinging him if he doesn't, even if he can't possibly move or get rid of the ball, over which he usually has no genuine control anyway. And at the same time, in almost every single one of theses decisions they are totally ignoring the far more serious and blatant in the back and high contact free kicks to which the pinned player is entitled (often more than one in each case), and which always occur before any possible holding the ball infringement.

Spoton - it is mystifying, and dangerous.

 

[allrighty]

as for malthouse

 

[FredLeDeux]

as for malthouse

Definitely mystifying and dangerous.

 

[allrighty]

and as for SquishyKitty. Where is she?

 

[Zouz Kitty]

and as for SquishyKitty. Where is she?

I'm here allrighty Just about to hit the Opposition thread for the Poos+Wees -v- Swans

 

[allrighty]

I'm here allrighty Just about to hit the Opposition thread for the Poos+Wees -v- Swans

Nothing like a good shit stir eh? Who are you supporting? Or neither?

 

[RegHickeyStand]

Won't happen though, BNF.

I'm already looking forward to the copy reporting on our premiership win this year with the banner headline..."END OF AN ERA".

Spud Commentator 1: Well, they won it. But that last quarter looked shaky.
Spud Commentator 2: Looked shaky. Can't see them in the 8 next year after that quarter.
Spud Commentator 3: Had Sydney played like they did early in the season, Geelong would have lost.
Spud Commentator 1&2: Hear, Hear!!

 

[GAsnr]

Because fallen greats sell news.

And they've been waiting for us to fall for a very long time.

Let the wait continue....

 

[Teriyakicat]

Nothing like a good shit stir eh? Who are you supporting? Or neither?

Oh, allrighty, are you OK? You look as white as a sheet!!

EDIT- well, as white as a sheet, with a little blue square on it, containing a white question mark....

EDIT- it's all good- your avatar has reappeared on my screen.. Thought it had gone AWOL for a while...

 

[allrighty]

Oh, allrighty, are you OK? You look as white as a sheet!!

EDIT- well, as white as a sheet, with a little blue square on it, containing a white question mark....

EDIT- it's all good- your avatar has reappeared on my screen.. Thought it had gone AWOL for a while...

Time to move on folks.

Nothing to see here. C'mon move it along.

 

[allrighty]

Would have been riots had we pinched it last year but as it's turning out this season, a shit load of jealous and bitter people who are really despising where we currently sit on the ladder.

F.E.

AKA **** 'em

 

[Teriyakicat]

Time to move on folks.

Nothing to see here. C'mon move it along.

lol

 

[Son_Of_God29]

Would be hoping that the Media as a whole do not under value James Kelly's 250th this week the man has been a star and seems to be forgotten in discussions about this current Era of dominance

 

[allrighty]

Would be hoping that the Media as a whole do not under value James Kelly's 250th this week the man has been a star and seems to be forgotten in discussions about this current Era of dominance

Should be called "the Rock" he has been that solid and immovable. True quiet achiever, though should never have been. Just gets it done.

 

[Shai]

Would be hoping that the Media as a whole do not under value James Kelly's 250th this week the man has been a star and seems to be forgotten in discussions about this current Era of dominance

He is not forgotten, just as remarked earlier he is a quiet achiever.. never gonna get the recognition but does not go unnoticed by those who count..

 

[manboob]

He'd get much more attention if he was playing in a shit shit like Richmond.

 

[FredLeDeux]

He'd get much more attention if he was playing in a shit shit like Richmond.

He'd also have 5 or 6 Jack Dyer Medals.