Autopsy Geelong loses to Demons by 4 points - Rd 23

[Cursed Cat]

Sel: "We played a lot of it on our terms for long periods, but then yeah.. we just had to put a stop to it."

I watched his post-match interview and I think I took his meaning a lot different to what you have - I took it to mean that we had to put a stop to Melbourne's momentum, not to playing the game on our terms.

 

[jezza1435]

Of course the coaches didn’t think that. They aren’t idiots. But the team did play more conservative footy in the second half and it proved costly, as it has done before. I don’t care if they have a superior midfield, and if we had injured players out there-when you are up by 44, you just trust the team to win enough of the ball, play on quickly and get it down to our terrific forwards.

But why’s the captain only playing 64% game time?


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[Catsnlakers]

You just know we will throw it away in finals at some point. We’ve been doing it for 10 farking years now.

That’s all I can think about atm, throwing away another good chance at silverware...**** it I’m off to drink again.

 

[caitsith01]

Anyone needing a pick-me-up, watch Sel's post game interview on the geelong cats website. The bloke is the most competitive beast in the history of the game, yet he was definitely not fazed one bit about tonight's loss. Just has a confident smile on his face and a twinkle in the eye in anticipation of what's still to come.

Danger was happily chatting with an opponent before Gawn even kicked it.

Frankly these guys being so relaxed pisses me off. If they don't care why do I care? If this is just a job then why do I find their salaries? Etc.

 

[Heckler]

This is a game we never should have lost.
Go hard...Go fast... Get a big lead... Go to sleep... Go slow... Go Short
We still haven't learned our lesson from the 2020 GF
Yes! the short passing keeping's off game works...
ONLY WHEN IT'S QUICK AND SHARP
Under pressure the Scaredy Cats defenders instincts are to play safe
When we had to go long and fast... we went short and slow.
When there was a kick in it... we kept defending.
The team missed the attacking tempo setters Stewart and Tuohy.
By rebounding quickly and long... Stewie and 2E keep release the pressure.
A quick long kick from CHB transfers the pressure from us to them.
Smith and Cameron understand this and rarely go short or backward.
The rest of the team goes instinctively into attack mode.
Every safe kick backward builds the pressure.
Every short pass in the back line, keeps the ball in dangerous territory.
Every time a defender stops and waits pressure builds.
Every one becomes flat footed, increasing the likelihood of a turnover.
Slowly moving backwards eventually leads to a long kick down the line from the back pocket.
We see this slow play frequently.. suggesting it is part of the coaching instructions.
Put this loss down to complacency, poor leadership and bad coaching.
Hopefully this is addressed with urgency.

Stanley will take a lot of heat... but he worked hard
but was not alone to blame in the mid-field group fade out.

Every player can make bad decisions under intense pressure.... understandably
Tom Atkins

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Tom Atkins

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123.5

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6.5

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3.0

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3.5

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5.0

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6.6

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4.8

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130.0

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is proving to be a liability... and is caught in possession way too often.
Unlike the elite players that know what to do with the ball before taking possession.
He in the group that:- Step 1: grab the ball, then Step 2: try to decide how to dispose of it.
This thought process is way too slow for finals pressure footy...
I now prefer Zuth and Holmes ahead of him.

 

[Catman]

And Stanley not manning up Gawn with 20 seconds left was like Alan Donald not running on the final ball of the innings…

Hawk was standing only metres from him guarding grass. Not sure what Rhys was thinking, but that kick was only going to one person and not one player was switched on to realise that. For an experienced side it was embarrassing.

 

[My Tilly]

Oliver is the kind of player you can build a great team around. He's a monster, absolutely relentless. He shows what we really lack in the younger players on our list.

Yeh, I love the way he plays. He reminds of Buddha Hocking his style of game. Kind of looks a bit like him as well (if he had the long curly hair).
Just relentless and courageous. One of the best clearance winners of all time. A difficult skill within itself.

 

[Goggin Our Best]

Main thing is Geel didnt lose a top 4 spot as a result

Ive thought and posted all year that i thought Melb ( and for that matter Rich - till they dropped off past 6-8 weeks ) were the best 2 teams and the teams to beat

Playing Bris or Pt Ade - i dont know if their was much reward for winning tonight - like whats happens if they capitulated ( for whatever reason ) but still just hung on - i think id rather take the stinging loss reaction ( hopefully next week )

Posters saying and raving about oh Port in SA - they will be up and about blah blah - well the Dogs went over their 6-7 weeks ago and cleaned them up . You can argue the case ( which i agree with ) that Brisbane are a dangerous opponent

If Geel lost how they did tonight - and importantly there was a top 4 spot riding on it - then you would be really worried

Lets wait till next week - to see how the 2 qualifying finals pan out

 

[Romeoh1]

Danger was happily chatting with an opponent before Gawn even kicked it.

Frankly these guys being so relaxed pisses me off. If they don't care why do I care? If this is just a job then why do I find their salaries? Etc.

Which part of Dangerfield’s play strikes you as someone who doesn’t care?

 

[caitsith01]

Which part of Dangerfield’s play strikes you as someone who doesn’t care?

The bit where the opposition is kicking for goal to win the game and he's happily shooting the breeze with one of them. Don't like it. Should be hurting and willing Gawn to miss.

 

[Live in hope]

Good

- that 20 mins in 2nd quarter was sublime, against top team. Yes, overshadowed but showed the potential and can repeat it.
- Cameron’s skills
- before they were gassed, Danger, Selwood, MOC. Reasonably good return from injury by Atkins.
- Top 4 finish in another Covid year, notwithstanding heaps of injuries - a very good achievement that shouldn’t be overlooked.

Bad
- missing Stewart. Skill and assuredness would have made difference in last quarter. Absence unbalances the defensive marking and loses a dimension to our rebound
- lots of players drained by long season or lacking match fitness following injury returns. 2nd half looked gassed. Not good position going into finals.
- Lack of match winning/impact medium and small forwards. Close and Dahl had good moments tonight but really miss Chapman , Stevie J, Stokes quality forward-doubt they would have missed the shot that Dahl missed Q4.

Ugly
- Last quarter. We’ve played worse than that but the inability to stop the momentum was stark. Echoes of 2nd half, 2020GF.
- last 30 seconds. Lucky to get the insufficient attempt free but disgraceful Cuthrie OBF, Close punch and then not covering the chip to Gawn. Deserved to lose on that 30 secs alone.
- that Cameron and Henderson collision- aside from possiblymissing the match saver, the potential for injury to both. (Henderson looked pretty banged up before that)
- allowing Lever easy intercept marks. Rohan (Lever’s match up), Hawk and Cameron absolutely needed to ensure that the ball came to ground. Echoes of Grimes in 2020 and Hodge (ouch) in 2008.
- Holmes kicking at goal. Awful. Hate to say it but Tenace was better. Going to be a very good player but absolutely must address that.

In a sense, finishing 3rd lowers expectations on us. If we play with ‘nothing to lose’ approach it might emboldened us. Roll on finals !

 

[Romeoh1]

But why’s the captain only playing 64% game time?


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I assume him and Dangerfield got injured? Dangerfield was playing great footy, then just went completely out of the game. Selwood dropped off too. It was weird.

 

[Baudolino]

MOC as a tagger has made him a better all round footy player

Has it though? I honestly think he's regressed this year. The last few years he was developing in to a brick wall in defence and he looked assured in possession. I remember posters in here talking about him as being only a season or two away from AA honours. He looks nowhere near that standard at the moment. The positional swift seems to have unsettled him a bit imo and suddenly he seems only a so-so as both a midfielder and defender.

 

[Chinacats]

Cue in the rack from a team that hasn’t netted a cup from 6 top 4 finishes in 8 years.
Nice game plan…

 

[strauchnyy]

The massive mental free kick we've given the competition is the biggest thing to come out of tonight. Had it been tight all night and we just lose, you don't necessarily lose face, but to blow a 7 goal lead and give up 6 unanswered goals while showing no intent to take risks just shows how fragile mentally this group is.

The opposing sides will look at this and know if it's a tight final or if we get out to a lead, that we are very susceptible to completely going into our shells once the pressure is put on. Tonight was not a performance of a side with the mental strength to win a flag.

This.

pin it to this thread. This is the 2021 situation in a nutshell.

extra layer of frustration because at our best we are the best, and IMO it’s our last chance to win it.

 

[standupand]

I watched his post-match interview and I think I took his meaning a lot different to what you have - I took it to mean that we had to put a stop to Melbourne's momentum, not to playing the game on our terms.

Yeah most likely. It's just that the question was something like how do we bring the "scintillating" footy into next week - and he was coy about it and said he can't give away all the secrets but that we had some good ball movement. Definitely not fazed for a man who hates losing!

 

[Baudolino]

extra layer of frustration because at our best we are the best, and IMO it’s our last chance to win it.

Those are the two main reasons I'm so bitter about the loss of Stewart:

1. This is the first time since 2013 that I've felt confident in saying our best 22 is the best in the comp when fully-fit . There have been times since then where it's maybe been arguable, but it's always been pretty tight between us and other lists.
2. I agree this is probably our last chance of a premiership with this group. So Stewart going down has not only (probably) tanked our chances of winning it this year, it's almost certainly ensured that we're going to miss out on our last chance of silverware for 5-7 years (depending on how quick we can turn things around again).

 

[Tony Barber]

Incredible effort by Melbourne. We didn't lose that game, they won it.

In the first quarter they had us. We did well to stand toe to toe.
The 10 minutes of scoring in the 2nd was nice.

People spoke about how professional Geelong were in coming back against st Kilda.
Well we weren't playing a top two team like Melbourne were.

Thier effort around each contest was frenetic for the whole game. The exact sort of stuff we struggle with.
Port do the same thing but not to that intensity.

It's going to be an interesting finals.

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

I was just looking at Twitter. Opposition fans out in force potting the Cats, Chris Scott

Chris Scott

Age

48

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182cm

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89kg

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16.6

4star

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11.2

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5.4

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5.1

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1.6

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0.4

3star

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D

13.2

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10.2

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3.0

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2.2

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2.8

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0.4

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's presser, and Joel Selwood for throwing. This is what happens when you lose a game like this. Everyone likes to pile on. It's the worst of human nature right there. Our guys weren't good enough tonight but they showed they do have the ability to take it to the Dees. So it isn't over yet. We need to stand behind our team and support them.

Go Cats, now and forever.

 

[Goggin Our Best]

The massive mental free kick we've given the competition is the biggest thing to come out of tonight. Had it been tight all night and we just lose, you don't necessarily lose face, but to blow a 7 goal lead and give up 6 unanswered goals while showing no intent to take risks just shows how fragile mentally this group is.

The opposing sides will look at this and know if it's a tight final or if we get out to a lead, that we are very susceptible to completely going into our shells once the pressure is put on. Tonight was not a performance of a side with the mental strength to win a flag.

Nope - you are one week too early their mate - if after getting the big lead - they had won comfortably - and then would have been talked up by all and sundry as flag favourite - and then if they lost to Bris - then your statement would be correct

As the late and great Robert Holmes a Court used to say - the market always overreacts .

 

[Herne Hill Hammer]

Were those last few minutes purely in game practice for icing the clock in a final?

Danger and Joel on the bench for extended periods, Stanley nowhere to be seen and no intent to score for the last few minutes.

We managed to control the ball for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 minutes and it only ended with Guthrie's unforced error in kicking the ball OOTF.

 

[AM]

Missed the game but if I was a Dee I'd take a lot from the game. Coming into the finals knowing we gave a major competitor 6+ goals start and overran them on their home ground would give them a real boost in confidence.

Had a gander at the stats, seems Cameron didn't do a lot.

 

[Herne Hill Hammer]

Yep - we hang on to win and no lesson learned.

Then again, will the penny have finally dropped?

Or maybe they learn they can ice the clock under all sorts of pressure.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

That 50m penalty probably costs us a flag but i dont know why we spent the last 6 minutes trying to run the clock down instead of trying to score-that was stupid..one more goal would have won it.

 

[Cursed Cat]

Missed the game but if I was a Dee I'd take a lot from the game. Coming into the finals knowing we gave a major competitor 6+ goals start and overran them on their home ground would give them a real boost in confidence.

Had a gander at the stats, seems Cameron didn't do a lot.

Cameron was ok, had one easy set shot, converted, missed (with one poster) two other pretty tough shots. Also made a goal out of nothing and created another with a very nice kick on the run to Rohan.
Probably needed to do a little bit more though, yes.