Review AFL Round 13 - Sydney defeat Geelong by 6 points.

[Biggy_Boy]

Christensen starts on field instead of starts as sub.. we win

That's true. The two ruckmen slowed us down considerably, whereas Christensen was brilliant in the time he was on.

 

[AlterRob]

Christensen starts on field instead of starts as sub.. we win

Maybe, he was amazing for the time he spent on the ground but could he have kept that up for a solid 4 qtrs? Guess we'll never know.

 

[Rosso]

Should win our next 2 to take us to 9-5 but in all honesty as gutsy as we've been this year we need to start playing better than what's being dished up. Play a solid 4 qtr game tonight and we win by 5 goals. That's where the difference lies.

If we don't want to be making up the numbers we really need to start playing some consistent footy. I'm sure that we can beat any side on any given day but gee we're making it hard.

 

[Copernicus]

I gather Scott's reasoning for starting Christensen as the sub was a lack of match fitness? Otherwise he should be on the ground, no question. If he starts as sub again for the season I will be pissed off.

Hawkins needs to get a good solid root before every game to take his mind off the goal-kicking demons, and maybe it will relax him so he doesn't look like he has a pole up his arse when he kicks for goal. What good is it if he keeps marking the ball and kicking points! Bloody frustrating.

 

[proboy]

I was sad we lost yes. But I would like to thank all of the supporters who have created funny threads to make me laugh before I go to sleep. My hat goes off to the dear Chris Scott letter I read that has our whole core group cut or traded, excellent way to cheer up a sad Geelong supporter. Thanks

 

[footscore]

Bundy's clearly ahead of Duncan at the moment

 

[footscore]

Hawkins needs to get a good solid root before every game to take his mind off the goal-kicking demons, and maybe it will relax him so he doesn't look like he has a pole up his arse when he kicks for goal. What good is it if he keeps marking the ball and kicking points! Bloody frustrating.

same issues as Cloke huh?

wonder if these bloke will ever fix up their kicking

 

[juzcat]

just come back from meetings in Thailand. Watching first quarter . They kicked everything. Hawkins. just needs to kick that first goal from 25m out! Know its not that simple but bloody frustrating

 

[roger citizen]

Although I don't want to have to admit this I think Geelong has now well and truly entered a rebuilding phase. Given the eveness of the competition this year, the improvement in younger sides (i.e. Essendon,West Coast and Richmond to a lesser degree) and the consistancy of more experienced teams such as Hawthorn, Collingwood and tonight's victor Sydney I now believe Geelong is no longer a threat to winning a premiership this year or for that matter the next couple of years. Geelong has a promising crop of players developing in the seconds so I am now beginning to seriously consider who should hang up the boots at the end of this year to make way for the next generation.

My list at the moment (I am sure some of the players mentioned below will go on to make this list seem ridiculous in the coming weeks)

Paul Chapman
Joel Corey
Wojo
Josh Hunt
Pods
Matthew Scarlett
Matthew Stokes

 

[Cursed Cat]

It's turning out to be an 'interesting' year, we haven't been on the end of five losses at this stage of the season since 2006, so all the fans are obviously hurting.

I find some of the calls mystifying, others more clear-eyed.

I've been ambivalent on Stokes' role in the side for a while, he's always been low-key and had quiet patches but I think I am finally sold on the argument that he's no longer in our best 22.

Someone might dig up Joel Corey's disposal efficiency for the season and the raw stats might not look too bad, I don't know. But my own eyes tell me he has hit an all-time low in this area of the game. His kicking was never super-crisp, nowadays it is a liability.
He still has the experience and fitness to get to the contest, but his reactions take a while to calibrate these days.
I was calling for him to be installed as our new tagger at the start of the season and my call still stands; he is mature-bodied and fit enough to run with the leagues better mids, I think he should start looking to sacrifice his game for the good of the team. I am doubtful that this will actually happen but I have a firm belief that he would be more than adequate in this role.

Mackie cops a lot of stick around here at times; for the umpteenth week in a row I have seen criticism of his game (and worse, his character) on this board, yet I reckon he is in close to career-best form.
He was good early tonight when we were under the pump, might have made a couple of fumbles but he was generally constructive and composed imo.

I also thought Pods looked in good nick, he and Hawkins were clearly the two best key forwards on the ground, Hawkins deplorable goal-kicking aside.

Chris Scott & co. will continue to tinker with the line-up as the year progresses, but it all looks like not amounting to a whole lot at this juncture.

We have been absolutely spoiled over the past five years, to the point where we now see anything less than a top four finish and full-on tilt at the flag as an anti-climax - and that's not a bad thing.

But for this club at this time, the focus will be squarely on striking a balance;
a balance between honoring the veterans and promoting those who are ready to step up, and a balance between attempting to defend last year's flag and preparing for a future without some of the clubs best ever players.

I'm pretty happy with the way Chris Scott has continued to steer the ship.

Surely he recognises that Christensen is vital to our midfield set-up and was just easing him back from injury by making him sub ?
Because I reckon Bundy is a great foil for Selwood, who needs more consistent help; Kelly can probably be relied upon in that regard but Corey is an iffy prospect on current form, and Chappy/Johnson are just as useful up forward as in the middle - Christensen is more of a pure midfield type who really needs to be part of the rotation a lot more often.

Looking ahead, we are no certainties to make the finals; but I for one back us to at least make the eight.
Who knows after that.

 

[you pick one]

Pods is doing fine Bobby, you drop older players when they are struggling (e.g. Corey or Stokes) not simply because they are old.

Anyway, personnel is less of an issue than these slow starts, have to address them.

Personnel is the reason for our slow starts IMO,way to slow in our forward half to exert any pressure on defenders and has been all year.
If we are going to persist with Pods and Hawkins pushing up to the wings we have to do better than leaving Stokes one out forward.
I think we are missing Sando.

 

[footscore]

I just get tired of hearing the media talk about the age thingy!

Would be unreal not to have that brought up Every single time Geelong is talked about. 9 player over 29 yeh, yeh, yeh

 

[bulletproof]

Mackie was great tonight. Fabulous player.

 

[bulletproof]

Get Boak and complete the sequence, 7, 9, 11...13.

 

[footscore]

Surely he recognises that Christensen is vital to our midfield set-up and was just easing him back from injury by making him sub ?

he nearly got decapitated in the two's a couple weeks back. One of the hardest hits I have seen in a long time. He's been concussed 2 or 3? times already this year so you can understand how cautious they were with him now we are finding head high contacts leading to depression, memory loss and suicide.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Personnel is the reason for our slow starts IMO,way to slow in our forward half to exert any pressure on defenders and has been all year.
If we are going to persist with Pods and Hawkins pushing up to the wings we have to do better than leaving Stokes one out forward.
I think we are missing Sando.

It's not Sando, it's more Varcoe. You can't inject legspeed that you don't have. Take him out of the f50 and the forward pressure and the structure suffers a lot.

That said, this is the lineup we have for the year (tonight was close to our best lineup) so the coaches and players need to devise a plan to work around it. It is clear that our superior fitness helps us to have good last quarters and once the pace of the game slows we are right in it, but when it's open teams open us up with run and spread.

The secondary issue where you are right is we must address delivery going forward, some of it was shocking. I thought Stokes was poor but equally poor were the decisions of guys upfield to kick it on his head in the first place.

 

[something]

If there was ever a team that had the ability to come in from the outer side of the 8 and contest for a premiership it's Geelong.

Great game tonight.

 

[Baudolino]

Forget to mention this, but from this point on I want Jimmy Bartel almost exclusively as a loose man in defence or as a floating forward. Great player, and he was fantastic tonight, but he has regressed horribly as a midfielder - these past two year of being the reliable utility have been to his favour in some ways and his detriment in others - and I trust him much more now to take either goal saving or scoring contested mark than I do when he's trying to pinpoint a pass to a leading forward. Weird how he's evolved...still an elite player of the competition, but absolutely nothing like he was three or four years ago. He used to have 600 possession seasons, now he's the ultimate handyman who averages 20 a game playing across half forward, half back, through the middle or wherever else we need him.

 

[thegerman]

Tom Hawkins probably cost us the game. Three set shots at crucial stages of the game, which were not paricularly difficult, all resulting in points that killed momentum and invalidated the work done to get the ball to him. Great final series last year, however, he has reverted to being a player who promises a lot but fails deliver.

Tom Hawkins probably cost us the game. Three set shots at crucial stages of the game, which were not paricularly difficult, all resulting in points that killed momentum and invalidated the work done to get the ball to him. Great final series last year, however, he has reverted to being a player who promises a lot but fails deliver.

Tom Hawkins probably cost us the game. Three set shots at crucial stages of the game, which were not paricularly difficult, all resulting in points that killed momentum and invalidated the work done to get the ball to him. Great final series last year, however, he has reverted to being a player who promises a lot but fails deliver.

Hope you're kidding. At least he got in there and took a mark. how many defensive marks on kick outs did he take.

There was a few more passengers than tom. Thought he did ok all game unlike some of his teammates

 

[you pick one]

he nearly got decapitated in the two's a couple weeks back. One of the hardest hits I have seen in a long time. He's been concussed 2 or 3? times already this year so you can understand how cautious they were with him now we are finding head high contacts leading to depression, memory loss and suicide.

On that bright note I'm off to bed

 

[footscore]

On that bright note I'm off to bed

was a pretty bleak post in hindsight

 

[Duskfire]

Tom Hawkins probably cost us the game. Three set shots at crucial stages of the game, which were not paricularly difficult, all resulting in points that killed momentum and invalidated the work done to get the ball to him. Great final series last year, however, he has reverted to being a player who promises a lot but fails deliver.

Hawks was frustrating tonight, but what cost us the game was a horrible insipid first quarter and a bunch of ******ed turnovers for the rest of the night. Half the team played bad. Pinpointing Hawkins is untrue and doesnt solve anything.

 

[footscore]

can't believe how good Richards has become. He's 29 years old now but is playing his best footy when most guys are winding down. He saved a certain goal for them in the final minutes and was again one of the best down back

 

[Xcat]

Hawkins doesn't seem to miss when he instinctively snaps, even from 30 metres out for example. I find myself saying "kick it like Pods or Stevie, on the angle". Is that crazy?

 

[Cursed Cat]

he nearly got decapitated in the two's a couple weeks back. One of the hardest hits I have seen in a long time. He's been concussed 2 or 3? times already this year so you can understand how cautious they were with him now we are finding head high contacts leading to depression, memory loss and suicide.

that's a good point footscore.