Autopsy Geelong loses to Demons by 4 points - Rd 23

[Micksy]

Can someone please direct me to 1 move that was made to stem the tide when it was going pear shaped? Or 1 change of tactics that was made?

If no moves at all were made (and I suspect there werent), then ask yourself - why not?

When it was going pear-shaped in the centre they put veterans Parfitt, Holmes and someone else in to stem the bleed.

 

[PzBlinky]

A few of us here have lived through consecutive decades of the Cats achieving nothing, and letting us down in the big dance if / when we finally got there.

I suspect most of us would cope if the club complied with gravity and began re-generating rather than continually topping up.

The topping up strategy we've doggedly pursued this last decade has won us a lot of H & A games, but done little for us come finals. It's a hollow feeling, and if it's not capped with a Cup the amazing winning % will rapidly fade into oblivion within the history books.

We want to see the silverware again.

We're 10 years in on this current quest. We did 44 last time.

Without getting too off-topic, neither topping up or going the rebuild is guaranteed.

So far, topping up has gotten us close . You could argue that in 2019 and 2020, the approach was sound and we were beaten in a 30 minute patch. That's life, and perhaps a little bad luck we peaked when a red hot Tigers did too.

I don't know - I love seeing us win premierships, but I enjoy the journey too. Having a team that's consistently pushing for top 4 and playing finals is fantastic. As the Hawks and now Tiges fade, we're still there.

I guess if it's all about winning, then sure, we could go the full tank and roll the draft dice. But personally, I prefer this way... at least, for now.

 

[kickazz]

The big mistake the brains trust made was allowing Menegola to play deep in defence. He doesn't have the wherewithal to stop, prop and assess good options. He generally invites pressure and therefore his decision making and execution become sub standard.

Yeah and he is also a good contested mark and good kick for goal, I'd prefer him forward-ish.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

I'm honestly pretty surprised by how good they've become, even though I've begrudgingly rated Oliver and Petracca for a while.

They can play better than tonight, too; Fritsch, McDonald, young Luke Jackson; they have some weapons; Pickett is a major pain in the arse too.

They'll take some beating.

I said it after tuohy and stewart out, that i dont thibk we will win the flag, and my reasons were simple; that there is such little between 1st-7th this season, and the top four is splitting hairs.

We needed good luck in terms of injuries and we didnt get it, we have 3 extremely important top end players out, Brisbane Melbourne port Adelaide are peaking at the right time and have a lot of injury luck. Melbourne incredibly have an entire best 22 to pick from.

would the outcome have been the same last night if lever petracca and say picket were out last night?? Probably Melbourne equivalent of Duncan tuohy Stewart.

I’d say absolutely.

if those players were missing for Melbourne and geelong had a fit team we would be hearing every other second from the commentators also about it.

we don’t have luck on our side going into finals this season and we needed it

 

[Gee Class Loco]

Good night sleep.
Good game.
30 seconds earlier we had them beat without Stewart, Tuohy and Duncan.
Am i worried?
Nah.
Regular Season done and dusted.
Finals are here and it's a NEW season.
Lost my multi yeah whoopee doo.
Too many salty souls, suck it up boys. Our players just didn't get the job done in round 23.
Adelaide Oval vs Port Friday Night.
Hopefully we came away unscathed from last nights encounter.
Kudos to young Max Holmes last night, did really well for a under 10 gamer.
Tommy Atkins will be better for the run. may have cost us 1 or 2 goals.
Good to see Miers back.
Stewart leaves us with a massive hole. But we can only go into battle with what we have on the park.
Cheers Boys. Chin Up as Port awaits.

 

[Frappe]

I'd say we're a bit like 2014 this year. We're in the 4 because other sides haven't been good enough to take us out, but we're not that good, with injuries coming at the wrong end of the year, and could very well straight set. Like that year, we've been scraping out wins throughout the year without looking too convincing for a while. Last three weeks have been poor. Two losses to finals sides and just scraped over a side outside of the 8.

2014 we played Hawthorn just before finals. Went into the half time break leading by 35, a lead which was promptly eroded in a quarter... You can see the parallels.

I was thinking the same re giving up the lead last night. Have to hope it’s not a repeat.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

Petracca and Oliver are superstars.
Guthrie and Dangerfield have been just as dominant. You also have to take into account Smith and Menegola's form line since the bye.

We lost this game because we have an old side who are feeling it.
This is why we did so well last year with a shortened year and quarters. We would have played in another grand final had the season repeated.
But the season does not go for 21 weeks, it goes 26 weeks and that is why Scott has a 40% finals record.

id day the general consensus in the general AFL population is Oliver petracca are above guthrie dangerfield. Then throw in max gawn and it’s not even close.

probably two of the hot brownlow favorites both petracca and Oliver and instant AA starters, while our two won’t make it and maybe just the selection squad for Guthrie.

since it’s a board of one eyed geelong fans a lot probably don’t agree on that but I feel the general AFL consensus would be just that.

dangerfield was also blowing up like a pig on the bench in the last qtr when he came off, he can’t run out a game in the midfield and it’s costing us alot as well his lack of fitness and only playing on spurs here and there.

like I said a few weeks ago, I don’t see us winning the flag for a simple reason, we are having poor injury luck this time around, Melbourne port Adelaide Brisbane aren’t having that.

we needed luck our way and it hasn’t happened.

we will be and should be big underdogs for this week and will be a huge effort to get up if they do

 

[Sttew]

I felt very numb after the game, and it wasn’t alcohol related. But having slept and reflected, I am not devastated. That the Dees kept us goalless for more than a quarter was a worry. That so many of our players disappeared is also a worry(makes me wonder if it was a case of taking the feet off the pedal). But the way we sliced the Demons open in the 2Q was fantastic. Pity it was the 2Q and not 3Q.

We still have the double chance. If we’re good enough....

 

[standupand]

When it was going pear-shaped in the centre they put veterans Parfitt, Holmes and someone else in to stem the bleed.

Tbf someone else could have been our bog.

 

[00VicWard001]

Back to the game. Hopefully the lessons are now clear.

* Dahlhaus and at times Close on Lever didn’t really work. He will drag you to a contest and if you can’t compete in the air it’s ineffective. Miers could get flogged like that but at least he’d punish him on the scoreboard.
* Letting Salem run up close to 30 possies was a disaster. He does that Melb win. It’s Melb 101. He must get close attention. Dahl should be on him. Like Whitfield at the Giants which we also did SFA to stop.
* letting the ball live in our backline with the skills we have down there will not work against decent teams. We cannot transition it from D50 to F50 esp without Stewart, Duncan and Touhy involved in the chains. There is only won chance to win this flag and it’s by kicking 13-16 goals in each of the finals. Our Fwd line in our one wood.
* Nothing about the Demons fwd line screams scary to me. So many scrappy goals. They will struggle to kick 80 points even on a good day. Ben Brown, Jackson, Pickett, Fritsch, Sparrow and Spargo would be one of the weakest of a minor premier ever. They do compete hard but it’s hardly scary. They want to hit you on the counter as realistically that’s the only way they score. Turning the ball over around 40-50 out is lethal. The ball must go deeper which we refused to do. They also scored from the centre but that is harder to stop.

So good to actually see insightful critique. This is exactly what you want to see - when we lose - an actual analysis of why. I’d expect that our team and coaches would adjust.

 

[Tuggacat]

The oldest team in the comp ran out of puff last night. The pre-finals bye would have been perfect preparation

 

[00VicWard001]

When it was going pear-shaped in the centre they put veterans Parfitt, Holmes and someone else in to stem the bleed.

Tells you a lot doesn’t it? They used Holmes a lot in the centre. I doubt that happens in a final. The commentators mentioned that Holmes was on Oliver for the game. I’d say O’Conner gets him next time.

 

[strauchnyy]

Im still devastated.

Teams that crumble and lose from 44 don’t win flags.

We gave a huge mental boost to our biggest rival, other teams know we can crumble and we have shots ourselves mentally at the same time.

Don’t buy the “there was nothing to play for” arguments. That’s clutching at straws for me. The difference between winning and losing was BIG. Not only is it much harder to play port with a hone crowd than brissy at a neutral crowd, but the ego hit our 22 players just took measuring up against a rival is what kills us.

In 2011 we got a huge ride out of beating pies in the final round. That gave us confidence going in to sept. The belief. Losing from 44 points up is just like losing by 10 goals to a rival. The defensive panic to give that up is shades of what I’ve done to expect from this club over the last decade of finals failure.

It’s happening all again. Uncharacteristic panic when it matters, that we don’t see in the middle of the H&A season. Stewart ain’t coming back so it’s not going to improve.

Sorry lads, I’ve seen enough to think we are cooked and how that will galvanise Melbourne. Would feel a 180 degree change if we had come back from 44 down.

Sorry to burst any wavering optimism but this is how I see it. Mental fragile again at the pointy end.

Prediction: lose to port, win the semi then lose the prelim. Broken record

 

[feelinfeline]

Was listed as one of our best.

Most journos simply look at disposal counts to pick their best, so don't use them as your guide.

 

[Drunkcat]

On another note, Holmes really is developing nicely.

Apart from whatever the hell that was approaching goal, finished with 18 disposals, 7 tackles (2nd highest), and 5 clearances - off 65% game time.

(By comparison, Simpson only had 12 disposals in 71% game time, but perhaps that's the old "second game back blues".)

I'm guessing Max makes way if Duncan gets back, but he's going to be a regular next year.

Max is a very different player when he is too close to goal, lol around the ground he is good but nerves get him having shot on goal

 

[tielgaz]

The loss to Port was in round 21 & the second last match; we played Brisbane at the GABBA in the last round of 2007

Boy Selwood and Danger sitting on the bench in the last quarter for 10 mins what the frog and toad, we played to save the game and it was horrendous. I think we need to be behind so we play on quickly, and look dangerous. M

 

[Drunkcat]

We are 1and2 from last 3 games so good going into finals in form, no switch to hit form

 

[D BRIDGE]

Chris Scott

Chris Scott

Age

48

Ht

182cm

Wt

89kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.6

4star

K

11.2

4star

HB

5.4

4star

M

5.1

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

0.4

3star

No current season stats available

D

13.2

4star

K

10.2

4star

HB

3.0

3star

M

2.2

3star

T

2.8

5star

G

0.4

3star

is one the luckiest long term failed coaches in the history of the AFL.
He inherits a champion side and wins a flag year 1.
After that he becomes the master of keeping us going good enough to continually get contract extensions without actually doing what his primary goal is to do.... and that is win a flag.
He is gifted so many quality players wanting to come to the club via free agency or just because so many are Geelong locals.
So we continually top up with talent and because of this, we will always be a decent side..... decent enough for Chris Scott

Chris Scott

Age

48

Ht

182cm

Wt

89kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.6

4star

K

11.2

4star

HB

5.4

4star

M

5.1

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

0.4

3star

No current season stats available

D

13.2

4star

K

10.2

4star

HB

3.0

3star

M

2.2

3star

T

2.8

5star

G

0.4

3star

to always have his contract extended and he knows this is what is best for his wallet.
We are the ultimate tease and Chris Scott

Chris Scott

Age

48

Ht

182cm

Wt

89kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.6

4star

K

11.2

4star

HB

5.4

4star

M

5.1

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

0.4

3star

No current season stats available

D

13.2

4star

K

10.2

4star

HB

3.0

3star

M

2.2

3star

T

2.8

5star

G

0.4

3star

has made huge bank for 10 years with everything at his disposal.... but still fails to deliver what we actually want.
I do not want to hear about his winning %.
The things I have stated above have helped him immensely in getting that %.
I want flags and Chris Scott

Chris Scott

Age

48

Ht

182cm

Wt

89kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.6

4star

K

11.2

4star

HB

5.4

4star

M

5.1

5star

T

1.6

4star

G

0.4

3star

No current season stats available

D

13.2

4star

K

10.2

4star

HB

3.0

3star

M

2.2

3star

T

2.8

5star

G

0.4

3star

just doesn’t get it done when it actually counts.
I have been saying this for probably 4 or 5 years straight now.
Scott has had enough howlers in crunch games for me to have zero confidence in his leadership.
Good luck to him on fleecing every year he can get from the club.
He has continually played our board like a fiddle.
Any half ok coach could do what he has done and probably more.

Rant nearly over.....
Get into the finals, win a flag that’s not Bomber Thompson’s side and shut me the hell up.

 

[tielgaz]

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.

He was on the goal line thinking he was going to shoot for goal!

 

[Drunkcat]

Without getting too off-topic, neither topping up or going the rebuild is guaranteed.

So far, topping up has gotten us close . You could argue that in 2019 and 2020, the approach was sound and we were beaten in a 30 minute patch. That's life, and perhaps a little bad luck we peaked when a red hot Tigers did too.

I don't know - I love seeing us win premierships, but I enjoy the journey too. Having a team that's consistently pushing for top 4 and playing finals is fantastic. As the Hawks and now Tiges fade, we're still there.

I guess if it's all about winning, then sure, we could go the full tank and roll the draft dice. But personally, I prefer this way... at least, for now.

I think this is crap 10 years of making top 4 then folding under pressure of sides wanting to do anything to win, leaves a hole every year, We never look like a hungry team

 

[Burtyl78]

I thought we were taking the piss a bit in the last qtr, few players first up for a while, Danger and selwoood off the ground for way too long in the last, not a big deal, Port haven’t really beaten anyone this year so let’s see how it holds up

 

[Drunkcat]

Without getting too off-topic, neither topping up or going the rebuild is guaranteed.

So far, topping up has gotten us close . You could argue that in 2019 and 2020, the approach was sound and we were beaten in a 30 minute patch. That's life, and perhaps a little bad luck we peaked when a red hot Tigers did too.

I don't know - I love seeing us win premierships, but I enjoy the journey too. Having a team that's consistently pushing for top 4 and playing finals is fantastic. As the Hawks and now Tiges fade, we're still there.

I guess if it's all about winning, then sure, we could go the full tank and roll the draft dice. But personally, I prefer this way... at least, for now.

Not having a crack at you i would like to miss out and get that hunger

 

[MacStradbroke]

So we’re the third best side in it, anything more than a prelim now is a bonus…but watch all the spoilt brats start piling on if we don’t win the flag. Football supporters (all) are a special breed.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

If that's the difference between us and a flag then we were never winning it to begin with

Maybe but i honestly think finishing top and a brisbane final is a much easier route to a gf than port. Brisbane are pretenders although to be fair all the top teams are this year.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

When it was going pear-shaped in the centre they put veterans Parfitt, Holmes and someone else in to stem the bleed.

Which basically indicated to me we werent trying super hard to win the game which is disappointing.