Autopsy Lions prevail by 10

[cats_09]

NOTE - Do Not Engage With Trolls

Welcome to this the time of year when Geelong is knocked out of premiership contention - with our refusal to bottom out, when we get knocked out of finals it brings joy to opposition fans

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Let's get back on track, discuss the game and even the season at hand for those who wish - though we'll try to get a season autopsy thread up in time

 

[Footy Smarts]

It must have looked different on tv. Stewart was definitely in my best.

I thought he was really poor. One of the worst games I've seen him play poor.

 

[catters_28]

Just got home.

Bitterly disappointed but I don't know. I didn't think we'd get this far at the start of the year.

Unlike in 2016, 17, 29, 21 I'm confident we will be back amongst it within the next few years.

I think Sydney would've beaten us next week anyway especially without Holmes.

 

[catters05]

One fanbase next week is going to be bloody shattered.

Will the Swans lose 4 consecutive GF’s? Or will the Lions lose back to back GF’s? Huge game.

Will this be the first one that goes into extra time.

 

[MUFASA12]

I was quite impressed with how gracious in defeat your fans were at the G tonight, no carry on, good karma will come your way for that! Better luck next year and thanks for an entertaining game.

 

[dangerwood]

A team whose season has finished steps down its social media posts. Remarkable observation.

You should follow your social media teams lead.

 

[And_ROOS]

Missing a Selwood.. in perspective that is missing an all time great

Doesn't have to be a generational player in Selwood, some of Brisbanes mids who racked up disposal numbers and hurt us are very good players but Zorko, Dunkley and McCluggage are hardly generational talent.

Out of their top possession getters only Neale is at the very peak in the competition. End of the day you can't use the ball when you never get it, and we had too many midfielders barely touch the ball.

As someone else said in the thread, OHenry had the ball more often than Bowes, Atkins and Bruhn. Its harsh on Bruhn who is a kid but then Wilmott and Ashcroft had 20+ possessions each and they weren't full time on ballers.

Next year Smith and find a mid who can accumulate possession. Hard for the other team to have the ball when we have it.
Last year and this year we have struggled to have mids and half backs who consistently have 27+ disposals each week. If Smith comes good, thats one, but we need another couple on top of that.

 

[Cursed Cat]

10 disposals for Tanner Bruhn is genuinely shocking to me - I thought he played ok!

Poor return sadly

 

[Baudolino]

Its a choke in the sense that we had a week off against a non rested interstate team at a ground they really struggle at. We will never get a better chance to make a GF. So in that sense while i think we arent flag worthy its a massive choke.
And brisbane are no chance sydney will smash them.

Yes, exactly this.

Obviously if you compare to pre-season expectations it's not a choke, it's a massive over-performance, but in the context of the position we had got ourselves into, of course it's a choke. Any time you lose a home Preliminary Final against an interstate side it should be considered as much.

 

[Finknottle]

Missing a Selwood.. in perspective that is missing an all time great

Danger is good but he is no Selwood. DF had his moments but made some mistakes at crucial times. Selwood would have dragged Geelong over the line.

 

[dangerwood]

I thought he was really poor. One of the worst games I've seen him play poor.

When I'm up to it, I'll watch it again. He had a couple of mistakes but thought he picked off plenty of entries.

 

[Baudolino]

Also, sorry but 2 wins from our last 8 prelims is pathetic.

 

[gogeelongcats]

I honestly can't see what you mean on Bruhn... it is frustrating. But I'm not writing him of yet..

He was banged up in the second quarter with a sore groin. Hard to comment without knowing the facts.

 

[#cats2021]

Capt highsight but SKD would of been help.

How? Their talls didn't hurt us and our coverage down back was not the problem.

 

[And_ROOS]

You have to be kidding. Mullin was decent and was great on neale. Your obsession with knevitt being a good player (one who would certainly crumble under finals pressure) is bizarre (and imo loses you credibility). Clohesy as sub is the only thing I agree with, just as Duncan was a terrible sub option.

Our Neale? Because their Neale had 31 disposals, was very damaging, match high clearances and was big in getting them back into the game and smashing us in the midfield.

The Mullin love fest is staggering, his man has again for about the 5th time this season been a direct match winner for the opposition, he racks up 10 possessions himself, and people can only point to an OK job he did on a JHF in a team that was very poor.

 

[catters05]

Also, sorry but 2 wins from our last 8 prelims is pathetic.

Rather that then making finals twice in 8 years.

 

[Heckler]

Because his VFL form has never justified playing, and more often than not when he is in matches we are basically playing a man down.

Its staggering games are being pumped into him when he quite frankly hasn't earned his spot and while he shows glimpses people forget it was mistakes against Papley that lead to him getting Sydney over us, and it was trying a kick that wasn't on against GWS that lead to a Greene smother and goal that sunk us at home.

Right now his worst games severely outnumber his good games, and it would be crazy to suggest his output tonight would have been more than someone like a Tuohy or even an SDK. Hell tonight I would have rathered given the game time to Clark if you want to pump finals into someone to speed up development.

re: Mullin
Every young player starts from behind
Comparison to established players is naive
Statistics tell you where a player is now
The art, is seeing where he will be in future.
It is the intangibles that separate the stars.
Look for things like :- confidence, creativity
adaptability, balance, positivity, leadership
quickness, anticipation, involvement... etc.
Things that can't be taught matter most.
Just watch the way Dempsey plays

 

[Baudolino]

Rather that then making finals twice in 8 years.

Well of course lol.

It's possible to have a nuanced point of view. The club has done amazingly in most areas to get to the positions we've been in deep into September, but I don't think it's unreasonable to suggest we should have made at least 1 or 2 more Grand Finals than we have done since 2013

 

[And_ROOS]

Yes, exactly this.

Obviously if you compare to pre-season expectations it's not a choke, it's a massive over-performance, but in the context of the position we had got ourselves into, of course it's a choke. Any time you lose a home Preliminary Final against an interstate side it should be considered as much.

3rd place team with a week off hosting an interstate club who finished 5th and struggles at the MCG is a bottle job no matter what your preseason expectations were.

If the teams were different and this was Sydney in 3rd losing to Port in 5th tonight we would be calling it a massive choke.

At some point logic says we will be back in the footy wilderness, you can't stay up for ever, losing tonight is a bad loss by any metric.

 

[noclashjumpers]

Yeah, I saw him "play". You can't carry players who don't have ability. It always gets shown up. Mullin gets games on his athletic capacity, not his ability to influence the contest. That is unacceptable.

Brisbane didn't have a passenger tonight, we start with 1 everytime we play him.

I get wanting the club to find "another one" from no where, but Mullin isn't it.

The thing that gets me about posts like this is the absolutism.

The total lack of humility or reflection on the fact that Scott, MC, and the list management team all clearly think very differently. People who incidentally a) know more about footy than you, and b) have way more info than you.

I have opinions on certain players too, but I also have perspective on how much confidence I should have in that opinion given the comparative lack of knowledge/experience/info I have to those who are actually in the know.

There's a point where an opinion crosses from confidence to arrogance. Congrats on highlighting that line for the rest of us.

 

[Biggy_Boy]

Yes, exactly this.

Obviously if you compare to pre-season expectations it's not a choke, it's a massive over-performance, but in the context of the position we had got ourselves into, of course it's a choke. Any time you lose a home Preliminary Final against an interstate side it should be considered as much.

You're right, but at least it was a competitive game, and in the grand context of things, I think we did well this year with the players we had.

Contrast to the 2016 PF when it was the same situation (won QF, played an interstate side who had done it the hard way), and we got flogged in that game and had a more talented outfit. That was several times worse.

 

[rocker_oz33]

That feels like a golden opportunity missed.

But realistically you look at the names we had on paper and we shouldn't have been close this year. So few in their prime. We also had an off night and were 2 minutes away from a grand final. There's no reason this group can't be significantly better in 2-3 years given the talent we have coming through.

Very true .

We rolled out a very similar mid field a few years back and won a flag.

But realistically the teams with a more even gun mids are going to get a hold of you.

I think we to lock down opp half backs ...

 

[GoEaglesGoSGIO]

It must have looked different on tv. Stewart was definitely in my best.

Ah Chee got off the chain in the 2nd half and in the first half he definitely overshot the contest leading to a few free men running inside 50. Gave away a free kicks too.

 

[Grimoz]

Yes, exactly this.

Obviously if you compare to pre-season expectations it's not a choke, it's a massive over-performance, but in the context of the position we had got ourselves into, of course it's a choke. Any time you lose a home Preliminary Final against an interstate side it should be considered as much.

Honestly though its not a home Preliminary final, we will never have a true home Prelim Final

 

[joe444]

Not sure what to make of Bruhn now. I hope he isn’t another “next season” player.

I still see tremendous upside to him, and he was hobbling in the rooms at half time according to K Rock.

Lions are now on a 13-2 streak, which may add some perspective for those concerned that tonight was a case of hot favourite choking.

 

[And_ROOS]

re: Mullin
Every young player starts from behind
Comparison to established players is naive
Statistics tell you where a player is now
The art, is seeing where he will be in future.
It is the intangibles that separate the stars.
Look for things like :- confidence, creativity
adaptability, balance, positivity, leadership
quickness, anticipation, involvement... etc.
Things that can't be taught matter most.
Just watch the way Dempsey plays

Dempsey earned his way into the team on VFL form and performed at a level all season to keep him in the team.

Mullin hasn't earned his way into the team on VFL form and has not performed at an adequate level.

Gifting games to players in finals is as bad as playing injured players, it costs you. Close game like tonight with fine margins, no way could you prefer Mullin to Tuohy.
Hell, id have taken SDK before Mullin tonight.