Players who you have seen crumple under pressure

[MC Extra Dollop]

I was going to say Josh Hunt..........sometimes. He's had a couple of highly nominated less than brilliant moments. But other times he's been terrific when the pressure's on, (first quarter of the 2007 GF when the game was very much alive). A bit Jekyll and Hyde. Mackie can be like that too.

The thing about modern Geelong players and this will probably sound arrogant, but they've played so many finals that pretty much all of them have had their good and bad ones by now. The 2011 QF was another game where Hunt was sensational. And these days, there's not that many Geelong players I'd rather have the ball in their hands late in a tight game than Mackie.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Fair enough to not cherry pick Hunt off the back of one bad game.

Or anybody.

 

[beechy12345]

Harry Taylor - crumbled on Cloke in the grand final and has been the permanent number two defender since.

 

[Damien20]

Harry Taylor - crumbled on Cloke in the grand final and has been the permanent number two defender since.

Not only that, but also gets played in the forward line to regain confidence.....

 

[mellowyellow]

Heppell

 

[Damien20]

Harsh call, but Lenny Hayes crumbled BIG TIME in the second Granny of 2010. Couldn't stand up when his team needed him...
There's a reason he's never won anything: hates the heat of the game

 

[beechy12345]

Harsh call, but Lenny Hayes crumbled BIG TIME in the second Granny of 2010. Couldn't stand up when his team needed him...
There's a reason he's never won anything: hates the heat of the game

Completely agree. I know people love him but you have to say when the team really needs him he's nowhere to be seen - strictly a home and away player in my opinion

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

Harry Taylor - crumbled on Cloke in the grand final and has been the permanent number two defender since.

And which defender in the league could have stopped those long Cloke leads to the boundary 55-60m out and the subsequent 60-65m bombs that went right through the middle? Ordinarily, you'd want the key forward leading there if you're a defender.

Sometimes there's nothing you can do. He went ok on Riewoldt in 2009 though.

 

[beechy12345]

And which defender in the league could have stopped those long Cloke leads to the boundary 55-60m out and the subsequent 60-65m bombs that went right through the middle? Ordinarily, you'd want the key forward leading there if you're a defender.

Sometimes there's nothing you can do. He went ok on Riewoldt in 2009 though.

Well Tom Lonergan stopped him..
He also bitched it to Gardiner in 2009 home and away season when he crumbled in that marking contest that cost them the game

 

[Topper Harley]

Harry Taylor - crumbled on Cloke in the grand final and has been the permanent number two defender since.

Not only that, but also gets played in the forward line to regain confidence.....

Harsh call, but Lenny Hayes crumbled BIG TIME in the second Granny of 2010. Couldn't stand up when his team needed him...
There's a reason he's never won anything: hates the heat of the game

Completely agree. I know people love him but you have to say when the team really needs him he's nowhere to be seen - strictly a home and away player in my opinion

This is adorable

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

Well Tom Lonergan stopped him..
He also bitched it to Gardiner in 2009 home and away season when he crumbled in that marking contest that cost them the game

Obvious troll is obvious.

You mean the contest when he got knocked out, because Mark Blake gave Gardiner a clean run straight at the ball (in the opposite direction to Taylor)? Taylor put his body on the line and paid the consequences. I guess he can take his 2009 premiership medal (and third place in the NSM voting) as some sort of consolation for the devastation of losing that Round 14 game in the same year.

 

[beechy12345]

Obvious troll is obvious.

You mean the contest when he got knocked out, because Mark Blake gave Gardiner a clean run straight at the ball (in the opposite direction to Taylor)? Taylor put his body on the line and paid the consequences. I guess he can take his 2009 premiership medal (and third place in the NSM voting) as some sort of consolation for the devastation of losing that Round 14 game in the same year.

Then explain why Podsiadly and Brown have been groomed for defensive roles? Clearly harry isnt up to it

 

[cayze]

Reliving a game that your team won is not "sticking to the thread topic" .

Its all to easy to pick out a random incident or a bad game and then draw ridiculous conclusions based off it.

By referring to two players that are bad under pressure and backing it up with a game where pressure is at its highest isn't on topic? The fact Geelong won the game comfortably is a byproduct. So please go back and watch the game and see how bad they are before blindly defending them because you think I'm gloating.
Did I mention Geelong had won prior to this post? Because they did easily. Now that is reliving.
Can you please contribute to the topic at hand by naming players that are terrible under pressure such as josh hunt, maxwell and o'brien.
Bartel wasn't bad under pressure was he?

 

[Collins-Langford-Ayres]

Puopolo has lacked composure at times in big games.

I don't think Schoey crumbles in big games, he just gets beaten by quality power forwards and most of the top sides you play in big games seem to have one of these.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

Then explain why Podsiadly and Brown have been groomed for defensive roles? Clearly harry isnt up to it

So 'not up to it' that he made the 40 man AA squad (for the third straight year) in 2012. Wish we had 10-12 other players in the lineup who were similarly 'not up to it'.

Yawn...next.

 

[VanBerlo=God]

His clutch goal in the grannie last year redeems him of any other chokes ever.

Almost dragged us over the line in the 4th quarter of 2006 with Nick Davis as well.
Had a great 2012 until his injury, had some shockers when he came back.

 

[VanBerlo=God]

Exactly. He also put the Swans on his back that game, it was one of the more incredible individual performances I've ever seen. You can't say a bloke crumbles under pressure cause he missed a 50m set shot, once. Goodes proved in the GF he's a big game player.

And I don't think Reid crumbles under the pressure either, he's just a bad set shot for goal.

Nailed a beauty in the GF and hopefully he drives on with that confidence.

 

[PP34]

Roughead played like the pressure got to him in last year's grand final.

 

[Gavin Excell]

Swan did jack shyte in the 2011 GF

 

[cayze]

Swan did jack shyte in the 2011 GF

To be fair he was on the best tagger of all time.

 

[forwardflanker]

Harsh call, but Lenny Hayes crumbled BIG TIME in the second Granny of 2010. Couldn't stand up when his team needed him...
There's a reason he's never won anything: hates the heat of the game

+1 everyone will remember him for the norm smith in GF 1 that he didn't deserve. He was completely anonymous in GF 2, the one that really mattered.

 

[Bardo State]

Swan did jack shyte in the 2011 GF

Tore us apart in the prelim though

 

[OhhhhhCyril]

Clinton Young .. We all saw that..

 

[Rusty Brookes]

Not trolling. Last quarter, Grand Final, close game, 2 incidents.

1. Running into an open goal, no pressure, 30 yards out - out on the full.
2. Later in same quarter. Set shot, 10 yards out, a bit of angle - kick into man on mark.

Either one of those would qualify as a major choke -to do both is pretty staggering.

It was pretty clear he was thinking about the record more than the game - witness his frantic celebrations when he thought he had broken the record (disallowed as Keddie had to take the free).

It's not a serious shot on Hudson - he was concussed, and he is in the top 2 Full-forwards I have ever seen (along with Lockett). But that day, in the last quarter, was the very definition of what this thread is about.

Fair enough reply. Having watched the 71 GF doco is was also clear that Hudson's concussion was seriously affecting his game. He had double vision, has no memory of large parts of the game. I thought his effort was huge given the state he was in.

Interesting about the focus on breaking the record - when he misses one of his shots, Ray Wilson comes in and pulls him to his feet, quite clearing indicating there was still a game to be won.

 

[Rusty Brookes]

Genuine football errors.
Well the 2nd one is debatable as he went for the hard spoil and selwood happened to take a really good solid grab.
Puopolo was selfish. Theres a massive difference.

What's the difference between a genuine football error and not coping with pressure? I reckon it's decision making that's most affected by pressure. I'd agree that Puopolo didn't handle the situation well but neither did Brad Sewell. He could have iced the game by taking his time with his free kick.

In last year's GF, Hawthorn's decision making was far more detrimental than any missed shots on goal. Mitchell not throwing the ball back, Rioli pushing Jetta in the back when he didn't need to, Roughead taking the advantage from a Gunston free kick 30 metres out directly in front.

So for mine, skill errors are skill errors. They happen particularly in gruelling games. But the best players in pressure situations are those that make the right decision at the right time.