Why we lost today.

[Snag Breac]

Well done you guys. Classic game.

In the end, the team with more experience knew how to handle pressure and endurance better.

Good luck under Bucks.

Gracias Churrros. Enjoy your win. Expect to hear from us next year - this time with the coach with a very hard egde.

 

[Bartosrules]

Don't know how to reply to this without sounding like an a-hole - but Collingwood will be better for this loss. You came up against a side that just will not tolerate losing under any circumstances, thats not something that comes naturally, its learned and ingrained.
Collingwood will be Premiers 2012 bookmark it.

 

[TheFreshBanana]

Tooves was awful. Fumbled all day and turned it over all day.
I am a big Toovey fan but that would have to be one of his worst ever games in the black and white.

Blair was unusually quiet for a game style that suits him.

Dawes found it hard today and didn't do enough.

Maxwell - poor game from the captain.

Krakour + Wellingham were two of many to missing in the last quarter.

OUR FORWARD STRUCTURE:

In the 2nd half we bombed far to often to a out-numbered contest in our forward 50. A lot fo this can be blamed on poor kicking into the F50, no-one could win a contest down there, and far too many marks were taken by Geelong backs. This allowed them to build from half-back and they had the greater run and scored from these poor entries into our F50.

I agree with your comments on Toovey, Blair and Wellingham. Both were terrible and Toovey went back to his past self and kicked a couple of horrible disposals. Apart from a few glimpses I never see Wellingham stand out too much this season, not sure if it's just bad memory but I think his 2010 was better than his 2011 performance.

Not sure what the problem is with Blair, I still remember his amazing performance at the start of the year against Carlton. I actually never saw him in ANY contests and is generally the case when he performs poorly.

I thought Maxwell had a decent enough game, not one that deserved criticism. Although I'm surprised he didn't go over to help out Reid however it was obvious that once the Geelong boys knew that Hawkins was on fire they were ready to isolate them which is what we lack at our forward line.

And Krakeour kicked 3 goals, he did his job to provide that X-factor to provide momentum and remember next year he'll get an actual preseason. He will move us forward.

And I thought Dawes was okay, don't think we can expect too much from him but I shudder if we didn't have Leigh Brown to stop Scarlett. Next year will be better once he heals up, he really needs to support Cloke better.

In the end their back 6 were slightly better, we nulified Scarlett imo but Taylor and Mackie hurt us when it mattered. Lonergan was on par with Dawes or Cloke.

We lack the support up at our forward line, too many times they 1 or 2 extra players down there, or had outnumbered Cloke.

Jolly injured really hurt us at our centre clearances and I thought our tackling went unrewarded.

 

[TheFreshBanana]

Don't know how to reply to this without sounding like an a-hole - but Collingwood will be better for this loss. You came up against a side that just will not tolerate losing under any circumstances, thats not something that comes naturally, its learned and ingrained.
Collingwood will be Premiers 2012 bookmark it.

Not being critical but do you think the Collingwood side tolerates losing as well?

There is no such thing as being better off losing a grand final.

At least I hope this makes some of the boys a bit hungrier.

 

[kevind]

IMO, we were never going to win today. I thought we put up a great effort. We went into the game with ordinary form and a few vital injuries. That rarely makes for a good result, unless you're playing the dud side that was us in 2003.

The writing was on the wall in round 8, when Geelong came out and kicked 2.9 to our 1.1 in the first quarter. The game should have been over at quarter time. We fought our way back into the game because we are a team with great heart. But the Cats had worked out a way to beat the press. I remember Darren Jolly saying after that game that Geelong had intimidated us. That was an amazing admission.

Round 24, we should not have ignored the warnings. Certainly we didn't try after half time, but we tried up to half time and Geelong smashed us in the second quarter. Again showing that our famous press was in trouble.

And you are not going to win a premiership when your major rival thumps you by 96 points so close to the finals.

Today we were found out by a better side and we now have alot of catching up to do.

Telling moment for me was when Luke Ball coped that knock, our contested ball wins slid backwards from that moment. Too many slight franed bodies in our line up, particularly for today's conditions.

Only selection dissappointment IMO was Didak. Should have played Goldsack.

 

[bLUE_bALLs]

Leon Davis is the jinx for Collingwood.

The one he didn't play in, is the one you won.

 

[Old Spice]

Leon Davis is the jinx for Collingwood.

The won he didn't play is the one you won.

Stix is your curse.

 

[bLUE_bALLs]

Stix is your curse.

yeah probably right

 

[magpietray]

Leon Davis was not the reason we lost this game

 

[Winthorpe]

You started to lose when you coach joked about the round 24 game as something he would not think about.

Just as we did in 2008.

Was astonishing to see your club do it. Knew we had you when Mick laughed it off.

I was telling a Geelong supporter friend of mine the same thing last night; that that attitude was a huge concern of mine. Malthouse said after that game that it wasn't something they were going to dwell upon; that they'd won 20 games during the year and were a much better team than they seemed on the night. I just thought that was a terrible attitude; that he could dismiss it out of hand, rather than say, "Holy hell ... we've got to dissect this game and work out everything that went so horribly wrong. If we don't, it's almost certain to happen again."

 

[MarkT2]

We were sucked into playing names.

 

[TheFreshBanana]

Apart from the two goals he let Varcoe kick at the start of the game, I didn't think Davis put a foot wrong.

His disposal was good all day.

 

[LeverPuller]

Great game today by the Pies, while I'll admit to actively supporting Geelong today it was a real beauty and the final scoreline definitely wasn't reflective of the game. You guys should be proud, and expect another crack next year.

Just a thought on this though (and not meaning to troll) - what about the loss of Mark Neeld? For the last two games, it seems as if your midfield has been nowhere near as cohesive and efficient as it had been throughout the year, with many players fading in and out of the two games since Neeld left.

 

[Shuffler]

For the 1st time in a long time swan had zero impact. Enjoyed the game though. Two best teams for the season.

 

[TheFreshBanana]

Wouldn't say he had zero impact but he was quiet. I think Ling had a part in that, which is uncommon because Swan generally beats Ling.

 

[Bosk]

The main reason Collingwood lost is because it's incredibly difficult to win back-to-back flags.


Going into the last quarter of a grand final with scores virtually level and both teams completely worn out it comes down to which teams wants it more. Today that team was Geelong - emphatically.

Put simply Collingwood lacked that extra bit of desperation which comes from losing a grand final the year before and being willing to do whatever it takes to make amends the year after.

I thought it was pretty clear in the final quarter that Geelong was going in harder at the contests and was more willing to take risks. Collingwood on the other hand were trying to hard not to lose the game, playing too conservatively, and simply not as desperate as their opponent.
Well, that's what happens when you are the "defending champions" and why winning two in a row (something even Geelong haven't done) is so difficult.

It's also the reason why I thought the gross overconfidence on display from the majority of Collingwood supporters pre-game was really flirting with disaster.
Hawthorn had one of the best teams of all time in 1989 (take a look at our list and you'll recognize about a dozen household names) and we only just fell over the line to go back-to-back.
I learned back then that you can never, ever, ever take back-to-back flags for granted. Doesn't matter how good your side is or how many H&A games you clock up, there's a ton of reasons why it very rarely happens in footy.


I've no doubt Collingwood will be a mentally stronger side after today's loss, and that may be the difference next year IF they are good enough to make it to the big dance.

Moral of the story? Take nothing for granted in football because there ain't no such thing as a certainty!

 

[MushroomRocket]

Why did we start bombing blindly into the forward line the last three games? I just don't get it. All season we have not given the ball up. Now we kick horrible punt kicks not even to a contest, just toward our end of the ground. WTF?

bombing forward and having defenders mark all the time is like slitting wrists, it drains all the confidence.

still i think collingwood played better this year than last year. The skill level was quite high but geelong's was actually higher.

also it was very interesting to see the hunger missing but that will return with a vengeance next year.

 

[MISFITS]

But that's the problem, no side has enough depth to cover more then 2-3 of your best 22 being out.

Once we lost MaCaffer, Beams and Nathan Brown, you can't exactly go and bring in players like Wood, Goldsack, Sinclair, Buckley etc, we would have beaten by more.

We went in with what we had, it wasn't good enough due to the circumstances, but what were we supposed to do? Drop Heath Shaw, Drop Nick Maxwell, Drop Heath, Dawes, Tooves, Jolly, Reid etc etc?

Nope, we did what we had to do, and what happened was because of a run of bad luck, that's about it.

In part I agree.
MaCaffer, though not a star hurt us structurally. (we played too many small flimsy forwards) Atleast the Caff chased and tackled and hit guys.
Ried the same(If not for such an important player)
Fasolo a mistake(should have been Goldsack)
Too many Injured players...
Poor game plan. No excuses.
Congrats to Geelong. Better coached and managed on the day.

 

[Prince_Rhodesia]

We lost because we played an injured key position defender.
Hawkins played a blinder once Reid couldn't chase him any more. In Hindsight, Goldsack should have been brought in for Reid.
If Reid was fit, it may have been a different outcome.
Geelong were awesome though, and full credit to them for exploiting our weaknesses.

I wasn't confident all week and thought we would get smashed as they did to us in round 24. The boys played a lot better than I thought they would. This loss doesn't hurt anywhere near as much as 2002/2003 and I'm proud to be a member of this great club. Fast forward the next 6 months and bring on 2012.

 

[MISFITS]

We lost because we played an injured key position defender.
Hawkins played a blinder once Reid couldn't chase him any more. In Hindsight, Goldsack should have been brought in for Reid.
If Reid was fit, it may have been a different outcome.
Geelong were awesome though, and full credit to them for exploiting our weaknesses.

I wasn't confident all week and thought we would get smashed as they did to us in round 24. The boys played a lot better than I thought they would. This loss doesn't hurt anywhere near as much as 2002/2003 and I'm proud to be a member of this great club. Fast forward the next 6 months and bring on 2012.

you are joking me right?
2002/2003 Collingwood were hoping!
That was a very average team..(a great accomplishment..if they had pulled it off)
Ron Barassi...quote..2010
"this is the best Collingwood team since the 1930's"
"All of the other Collingwood teams were pretenders"
"This team deserves to be one of the greats and go on and win multiple grand finals"
In years to come, you will eat his words.!
No taking away from Geelong...
well done..and yes, they are the greatest(and oldest) team of all..
..until next year

 

[MightyHawks]

A lack of depth is probably what cost the Pies today.

Should Reid have played?

Should Jolly have played?

Should Maxwell have played?

Should Didak have played the whole game? He was a terrific sub last week.

If those guys didn't play, who comes in though?

Cats didn't miss a beat with Pods and Menzel.

 

[seanoff]

you need a bit of luck to win a GF.

you didn't have it this year.

injuries to key players late in the season and in game. (Jolly, Reid, Maxwell, Ball, Dawes)

brain snaps by Shaw (betting) and Daisy (stupidity)

guys not quite in form at the right time.

and a bit of luck in running.


last year, none of these problems really. result, starkly different


if you talk to Sheedy he'll tell you GF wins are 95% good luck and 5% hard work. He might be as crazy as a cut cat, but he reckons you need a lot to go right to win it all. he is in this case, absolutely correct.


you guys will be back. too young and too many good players not to be.

 

[laminex]

We lost simply because we took in too many injured or under done players, against a champion, fit and in form football side.

Anyone says anything else, they are talking bullshit.

Very true a brave effort and tuff game from both side, I think we all know the Pies will be up in the top teams again next year but i also think Geelong will be also.

Anyways it was a good game for both side now we can all look forward to 2012 with hopefully Pies, Blues, Dons and Tiger's in the top 8 and have one hell of a season with many blockbusters.

 

[hoopla]

Can't agree with many on this board. I thought it was a toss of the coin at three quarter time and it just fell our way. So much in this game relies on luck.

You guys have a super team that will be at the top for a few more years.

 

[bali-dog]

At half time, I thought we were travelling better, but also that was balanced by knowing Geelong are strong finishers and had an easier game last week.

Pods going down hurt us as well, Duncan > Pods for their team balance today...the game pretty much turned at that very point.

your right, strangely enough,and contrary to the lame commentators call that " Pods going out was a HUGE blow to the cats"..also a defence bookend was gone about the same time(taylor?) for the cats -- the game shifted to the cats favour, against expectations..whether it was an imbalance in structure..however the cats shut a lot of your guys down with pressure..they were just too good..and theyd played less gruelling games leading into the GF...no matter how much arizona training you do,players arent superhuman,they can only do so much.
(ultimately,the pies suffered the same fate for similar reasons as the wce..you had better troops to get you further,but injuries and tuff games took its toll i reckon)
ive no doubt under buckleys rule,the pies will be a mean bunch of mothers to beat..good luck with that.
..and agree, luck on the day plays the wildcard part.