Review AFL Round 7 autopsy - Adelaide defeats Geelong by 50 points

[Thundercracker]

A very disappointing game, but I have to say other than the Hawks match, we've been off the boil so far this year. We are really missing players like the Woj and Varcoe and retirees like Ottens and Ling.

I hope we can pull together a better effort for the GF rematch next week.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Had suspicion we might lose, not by this much mind you! Definitely due I think, we've had a soft last three rounds. Not panic stations yet but we've obviously fallen back with the pack. Crows were very good too.

 

[Last Line Hero]

People have been writing Geelong off as a spent force after losses like these for 5 years.

08 v. Collingwood - Lost by 86 points.
08 GF v. Hawthorn - Lost by 26 points.
09 v. Carlton - Lost by 35 points.
09 v. Brisbane - Lost by 43 points.
10 v. Carlton - Lost by 36 points.
10 v. St. Kilda - Lost by 24 points.
10 v. Collingwood - Lost by 41 points (down by as much as 82 points).
12 v. Adelaide - Lost by 50 points (down by 65 in third quarter).
11 v. West Coast - Down by 35 at half time.
12 v. Fremantle - Down by 30 in first quarter.
12 v. North - Down by 46 in third quarter.

The Cats have had a tendency to look bad in losses over the course of past 5 seasons and on all these occassions the media succeeded in drumming up hysteria over the demise of the great Geelong era. All these losses, like Adelaide today, came against young, fit, hungry teams who played like beating Geelong was their Grand Final and caught the Cats napping. So in other words, results like today's game, for anyone who has paid attention, is nothing new.

The fact we are producing outputs like today's with a big influx of youth and inexperience out on the park, is to be expected on occassion, and perhaps more regualrly then we have been accustomed as fans. However, I'd be more worried if we were performing like today with an ageing, experienced outfit out on the park, such as in 2010, when even our best 22 could no longer match it with Collingwood or St. Kilda.

People can read into today what they like, ultimately though, it will more than likely mean little in the context of the whole season, just as the aforementioned losses have had no influence on us establishing the dynasty that we have.

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

Re: I don't mean to be rude but I've been there before.

To North's credit they did win 2 in 3 years in the 90's

And could have won more. That North fan wasn't being a troll.

What frustrated me was the basic errors and stupid decisions...so many. Byrnes..jesus christ he needs a long time in the twos to find confidence and form. Also the lack of pace out there today was alarming to say the least. Scott's press conference was good, he took it all and gave decent answers.

A very dirty day. Bring on the barrage of Henny Pennys.

 

[Linx]

I think we have to play another ruck man, regardless of their form. West is getting burnt out playing the sole ruck and Hawkins is not benefitting from playing in the ruck and it's messing with our forward structure. We have two of the better key forwards in the competition.. Let's keep it that way.

I've said it before but West is too small to play the 1st ruck role. He is a perfect 2nd ruck, but you saw how undersized he is against the monster Adelaide rucks. I'm not sure what his hit out stats are, but I'm banking it's not too high.

 

[marshhhhh]

I've said it before but West is too small to play the 1st ruck role. He is a perfect 2nd ruck, but you saw how undersized he is against the monster Adelaide rucks. I'm not sure what his hit out stats are, but I'm banking it's not too high.

Adelaide have 1 "monster ruck" who got beaten in the hit-outs by West 28-27

 

[Linx]

Re: I don't mean to be rude but I've been there before.

And could have won more. That North fan wasn't being a troll.

What frustrated me was the basic errors and stupid decisions...so many. Byrnes..jesus christ he needs a long time in the twos to find confidence and form. Also the lack of pace out there today was alarming to say the least. Scott's press conference was good, he took it all and gave decent answers.

A very dirty day. Bring on the barrage of Henny Pennys.

Byrnes is done. Finished. I've never been a fan but today proved that in spades.

 

[JUBJUB]

It's the loss we had to have.Holy crap I sound like Paul Keating

Nice to see Scotty give Byrnes a farewell game.Now leave him in SA.
A few senior players [i.e Enright,Mackie] had massive Barry Crockers.Was Mackie wearing gumboots or high heels ? He kept falling over his own feet

 

[Mr_Bojangles]

Re: I don't mean to be rude but I've been there before.

Byrnes is done. Finished. I've never been a fan but today proved that in spades.

He earned respect in 2009 for me but, nope, tradebait for sure now unfortunately.

 

[LifeSpan-Void]

People have been writing Geelong off as a spent force after losses like these for 5 years.

08 v. Collingwood - Lost by 86 points.
08 GF v. Hawthorn - Lost by 26 points.
09 v. Carlton - Lost by 35 points.
09 v. Brisbane - Lost by 43 points.
10 v. Carlton - Lost by 36 points.
10 v. St. Kilda - Lost by 24 points.
10 v. Collingwood - Lost by 41 points (down by as much as 82 points).
12 v. Adelaide - Lost by 50 points (down by 65 in third quarter).
11 v. West Coast - Down by 35 at half time.
12 v. Fremantle - Down by 30 in first quarter.
12 v. North - Down by 46 in third quarter.

The Cats have had a tendency to look bad in losses over the course of past 5 seasons and on all these occassions the media succeeded in drumming up hysteria over the demise of the great Geelong era. All these losses, like Adelaide today, came against young, fit, hungry teams who played like beating Geelong was their Grand Final and caught the Cats napping. So in other words, results like today's game, for anyone who has paid attention, is nothing new.

The fact we are producing outputs like today's with a big influx of youth and inexperience out on the park, is to be expected on occassion, and perhaps more regualrly then we have been accustomed as fans. However, I'd be more worried if we were performing like today with an ageing, experienced outfit out on the park, such as in 2010, when even our best 22 could no longer match it with Collingwood or St. Kilda.

People can read into today what they like, ultimately though, it will more than likely mean little in the context of the whole season, just as the aforementioned losses have had no influence on us establishing the dynasty that we have.

I see the point you are making but we're playing so many inexperienced kids right now in comparison to those years listed. The last time we were 4-3 was 2007 but we were absolutely pounding sides when we were winning, this year the victories have been quite lacklustre. 2015-16 is more feasible for the next push than 2012-13 based on how we're looking right now.

 

[RegHickeyStand]

Can we kill the Danger to Geelong rumors now....

Go Catters....

Maybe we should forget Danger all together and start talking up the Poodle.

 

[Last Line Hero]

I think we have to play another ruck man, regardless of their form. West is getting burnt out playing the sole ruck and Hawkins is not benefitting from playing in the ruck and it's messing with our forward structure. We have two of the better key forwards in the competition.. Let's keep it that way.

I've said it before but West is too small to play the 1st ruck role. He is a perfect 2nd ruck, but you saw how undersized he is against the monster Adelaide rucks. I'm not sure what his hit out stats are, but I'm banking it's not too high.

Played 2 ruckman in the finals last year and structurally it worked out fantastically. Kept Hawkins in the forward line, where he flourished. Not sure why we aren't doing it this year, thought that was the whole reason Stephenson was recruited to fill the void left by Ottens, whilst Vardy was injured, so West could remain a 2nd ruck come pinch hitting deep forward. Think Vardy will be a big plus once he becomes available again. Two genuine athletic ruckman who can rotate forward and not be a liability, should be tough to combat.

Defence without Scarlett remains a worry. I expect more from a group with so much experience.

Byrnes playing because Varcoe is not available is hurting. Think Byrnes will be given his marching orders come season's end. He's getting his chance with injuries and not taking it.

 

[Linx]

Adelaide have 1 "monster ruck" who got beaten in the hit-outs by West 28-27

The stats (on the AFL footy app) showed us losing the hit outs 46-36. Even if West broke even with Jacobs in terms of hitouts, we still lost the hit out count just proving we desperately need another specialist ruck man. And the 1st gamer Jenkins is huge. West is smaller than Hawkins.

 

[RegHickeyStand]

The stats (on the AFL footy app) showed us losing the hit outs 46-36. Even if West broke even with Jacobs in terms of hitouts, we still lost the hit out count just proving we desperately need another specialist ruck man. And the 1st gamer Jenkins is huge. West is smaller than Hawkins.

Now much rucking did Hawkins do? I saw a lot more of him in the backline than I'd like to.

 

[Linx]

yeh...Orren isn't upto to the fitness levels required though. Big predicament the coaching staff are currently in.

Orren may just have to be thrown into the lineup next week because Westy can't continue playing the role all season long by himself.

Bingo. Can you imagine if West gets injured because of fatigue and we are left with Orren to ruck solo for the whole game? No disrespect to the big man, but that pretty much ruins the year considering how much we are struggling in clearances and contested disposal as it is.

 

[bulletproof]

I was happy with Duncan's game.

We need to draft some midfielders, quickly. Might have erred not activating that Ablett pick, if we finish tenth, that would have given us two picks inside first 15.

Overall though, it is hard to be disappointed, these players have been glorious. It is hard to comment because the problem is obviously Chapman, Corey and Kelly (this is the suprising one) in the midfield, but these guys have done enough for our club already so it is almost greedy to expect them to run with younger and fitter players.

I don't think we worked hard enough in the gym over the summer (our bodies don't look like our opponents) but again how can you criticise. What an effort they put in last year.

We have some talented players but we are obviously in some trouble this year.

 

[fpm84]

Not making excuses but think about how much inexperience we have out there each week. Last year Scott made it his mission to have 4 players with less than 50 games experience in the side each week. Menzel, Duncan and Christensen were locks each week, as was West later in the year.

Today we had Guthrie, Smedts, Stringer, Gillies, Motlop, Duncan, Christensen and West. 8 players - more than 1/3rd of the side. Every single one of them has shown promise, but we can't expect Stringer to come in and replace Bartel, Scarlett, Varcoe etc in terms of output.

Every strong team goes through a period of losing their depth. Collingwood has a few injuries too, and they've replaced their guys with the likes of Seedsman, Sinclair and Rounds - equally as inexperienced as our guys and likewise the Pies are yet to impress this season.

 

[i_need_a_pencil]

I think what is happening atm is that when we play younger guys, the older guys aren't stepping up and picking up the slack anymore.

To win with our aging list... we need a team effort and that hasn't happened this year IMO.

If we are any chance to gain some form, it depends on a team effort and all players filling their role - which is going to be tough because there are some young, inexperienced skinny guys playing atm.

For me, thats the difference between the beginning of this year and last. The younger guys bought a spark, and a contest and their were enough best 22 to play their roles.

 

[rooie]

dont forget playing such a young side as we have been, when you have 3 interstate trips in the first 7 rounds it would take its toll on them...a bit rough by the AFL i think, but better at the start of the year than the end, i think we only have 3 more trips for the rest of the year and they are spread out a bit.

Whilst I doubt Byrnes deserves a spot at present, the hate is a bit undeserved. He had 6 touches and 2 clangers, well Taylor had 14/6, Pods 11/4, Motlop 13/3...so share the hate around folks.

The whole team looked like they didn't want the contested ball, with the exception of the usual suspects - selwood, chappy, bundy, corey, johno and pops. Its seems to me the forward line and back line are the ones not going hard at the loose ball at present, and hence if we dont mark it in our defensive 50 the opp. seems to score, and if we don't mark it in our forward 50 the opp. clears it out.

The mids are going ok, i think we did well in centre clearances actually, so it comes down to the willingness of the rest of the side to work hard and not expect silver service all the time.

A few tough nuts are needed forward and back. Chappy forward, Bartel to the middle, Scarlo in the back and then you can get Varcoe in the middle and put kelly across half back, suddenly we will up our CP and hopefully be a better team.

Alot more to talk about when you dont win easily every week isnt there?

 

[Linx]

Played 2 ruckman in the finals last year and structurally it worked out fantastically. Kept Hawkins in the forward line, where he flourished. Not sure why we aren't doing it this year, thought that was the whole reason Stephenson was recruited to fill the void left by Ottens, whilst Vardy was injured, so West could remain a 2nd ruck come pinch hitting deep forward. Think Vardy will be a big plus once he becomes available again. Two genuine athletic ruckman who can rotate forward and not be a liability, should be tough to combat.

Defence without Scarlett remains a worry. I expect more from a group with so much experience.

Byrnes playing because Varcoe is not available is hurting. Think Byrnes will be given his marching orders come season's end. He's getting his chance with injuries and not taking it.

Exactly. I'm fine with experimenting but I'd be pretty disappointed if I don't see two ruck man named next week. Scarlett is the glue that holds our defence together. When he plays, the other players walk taller. He is still our most important player IMO. Our defence is 20% better just with him out there. I think I've already made my thoughts clear on Byrnes.

 

[SuperCats9]

Re: AFL Round 7 autopsy - Adelaide defeats Geelong by 51 points

Disapointed with the loss, but it's better to come at round 7 than later in the season. I have no doubt we can play 50% better then that crap today, also we do have some quality players to return. Not many positives to come from todays defeat, Stringer looked good, Motlop done some good things, Smedts played well imo.

Pods and Hawkins were disapointing, Stevie J had an off day and our midfieled was bullied today by a better unit.

Is our season over? No, not by a long shot, but there are concerns and the main one is contested footy, it's now round 7 and we have not won the contested ball count yet, that is very worrying and the only answer i have to that is hunger, some of the senior guys have dropped off a bit, getting older, been up for so long etc.

We will bounce back, looking forward to next week against the Pies.

 

[Topper]

Adelaide are a damn good side with great knowledge of our players. Couple that with no Scarlett, Bartel, Varcoe, Wojack and Menzel and we're going to find it tough. And every now and then we're going to have bad days.

This playing group have earnt respect and can be afforded a few shockers.

Congrats to Adelaide, we move on

 

[Catman]

The lack of intensity at the contest and the plan to revert to more of a handball, play on game again is worrying me. It was found out in 2010 and considering what worked last year, why change it again? That's if we have of course. If we haven't, then...

 

[Last Line Hero]

I see the point you are making but we're playing so many inexperienced kids right now in comparison to those years listed. The last time we were 4-3 was 2007 but we were absolutely pounding sides when we were winning, this year the victories have been quite lacklustre. 2015-16 is more feasible for the next push than 2012-13 based on how we're looking right now.

No, we haven't looked great thus far but that is to be expected with so many young players playing because of injuries. Structurally, physically and intensity wise it is very difficult to adjust. And like I said, I'd be more worried if we were playing this way and getting beaten like today with an older more experienced team because it would mean our best is no longer good enough to compete. At the moment, we have no choice but to get some run into the youngsters, which will only benefit us in the long run, but in the short term there will be some consequences to form. We can't get our best out on the field, when we do, things will turn.

Red= Less than 50 games

Our team today looked like this:
B: Smedts - Lonergan - Hunt
HB: Enright - Taylor - Mackie
C: Guthrie - Corey - Kelly
HF: Duncan - Hawkins - Chapman
F: Johnson - Podsiadly - Motlop
R: West - Selwood - Christensen
Int:
Gillies
Byrnes
Stringer
T. Hunt

OUT: Scarlett, Menzel, Bartel, Vardy, Varcoe, Wojcinski

We've also had Hogan, Brown, Stephenson, Horlin-Smith & Cowan play due to injuries and/or withdrawals.

Our best team:
B: Scarlett - Lonergan - Hunt
HB: Enright - Taylor - Mackie
C: Corey - Bartel - Kelly
HF: Duncan - Hawkins - Chapman
F: Johnson - Podsiadly - Varcoe
R: West - Selwood - Christensen
Int:
Vardy
T. Hunt
Wojcinski
Motlop

If that 22 is fit and healthy come finals we are a huge threat.

 

[catempire]

Seeing Byrnes come in for Bartel gave me a sick feeling about the game. Obviously, losing Bartel of itself is a blow, but then putting faith in a clearly struggling player to just find something out of thin air showed a bit of desperation to me. It also went against the ethos of putting faith in the kids at every opportunity.

When Scarlett was out this morning I backed Adelaide because I knew Lonergan and Taylor would struggle to contain Tippett and Walker without him.

Then the effort just was not there. I honestly saw this as a huge game for us to shape the season and show everyone that we are still right amongst it. They barely gave a whimper. It felt like a round 22 game where we had already made the top 4 and were playing for no injuries.

Now I can't help but feel we will be making up the numbers. People will say that's an overreaction, but there's no invincibility there any more. Any team thinks they can beat us just with above average intensity.

My remaining hope is that Scott has several cards up his sleeve in terms of gameplan. Because what we have now is incapable of winning the flag. As the oft-used coach catchphrase goes - "we aren't being difficult to play against".

/rant


PS. I recognise that it's understandable to lose games with the side we are fielding. But I don't think the level of effort today was in any way acceptable. And it's just starting to hit me that this could be the beginning of the end for a great team. Up until now, even at the start of 2011, I had faith that we could still do it. Now I'm having serious doubts.