Autopsy Round 18 = Collingwood 71-91 Geelong

[Cousin of Daicos]

With respect, were they genuine concerns or just expressions of normal pre-season anxiety?

A lot of posters use this forum to dump their concerns and worries on the rest of us, and when the season turns to shit they can say - I told you so.

But really, they are perpetually miserable and dont seem to be happy unless we’re losing and then can claim that they knew we’d lose all along.

I’m not putting you in this category, but it’s tiresome.

Fact is we still have excellent coaches and a strong club. We’ve just wilted under the onslaught of injuries and their ongoing impacts.

Reckon it’s more than that.

I had been hearing murmurs and rumours of unrest prior to the season starting around all the coaching changes and kinda dismissed it somewhat as I hadn’t seen anything yet to suggest there was any substance to it

But after seeing Take the Steps and voicing my concern about how…final it all felt, then seeing our performances in those practice matches, I started to wonder if there was some truth to the rumours I had heard

Seeing how the season has played out it’s safe to say everything I had heard was probably spot on

 

[domus]

If Reef walks at the end of the year I would not blame him. I am still at a loss to understand why he didn't start in our forward line which is already seriously undersized. If the plan was to use speed and ground balls to dazzle and confuse the Geelong defenders then surely at three quarter time with the Cats 2 goals up and controlling the game you might throw a lad whose been known to kick a couple of goals in a short period of time a go.

When I looked to our goalsquare and saw little Schultz looking battered and sore with an opponent 15 cm taller and still no Reef in sight I did begin to gnash my teeth and wonder what was going on. It was only when Shooter got concussed that Reef got his chance. Why do they refuse to give him a fair dinkum crack and see what he can do?

 

[Pera]

I agree the soccer kicks were a disaster. I think you’ve explained the ‘hunger’ issue.

I just feel soccering it off the ground, whether it be due to panic or pressure is somewhat 'weak'. Take a tackle, get your hands low and don't be worried to get a little dirty in congestion.

The minute you do that deep in the trenches, I feel it's advantage opposition. And that's where the lack of hunger comes into it.

 

[domus]

Reckon it’s more than that.

I had been hearing murmurs and rumours of unrest prior to the season starting around all the coaching changes and kinda dismissed it somewhat as I hadn’t seen anything yet to suggest there was any substance to it

But after seeing Take the Steps and voicing my concern about how…final it all felt, then seeing our performances in those practice matches, I started to wonder if there was some truth to the rumours I had heard

Seeing how the season has played out it’s safe to say everything I had heard was probably spot on

And what was this unrest all about, pray tell? What were the players saying that caused concern?

 

[JuniorB]

No point over analysing a very disappointing evening.
Too many skill errors and poor decisions.
Bobby Hill MIA.
Joe Richards did a couple of good things - sign him up!
Good to see Jamie back.
Time to start planning September holidays.

 

[domus]

We’ve missed a running half back with an elite kick since Daicos has gone into the midfield. We’ve played Ryan and DeMattia at half back in the vfl, but neither have the burst run

Demattia is supposedly very quick but just can't find the ball in the VFL.

 

[HFF]

Darcy Cameron needs to get comfortable running back after a mark and then kicking the ball.

Always looking to give off sideways isn’t helping move the ball quickly.

Giving off is what he should be doing more of.
His dump kicking is symptomatic of a team that doesn’t stick to their strengths

 

[Pendles!]

I obviously don’t have a full understanding of the concussion rule. How was Schultz taken out of the game, but Stewart allowed to play on? Obviously they didn’t check Stewart but my understanding was that if there’s hard head knock that they had to sit out for 20(?) mins and then be ticked off?

 

[jmac70]

To allow another 140 uncontested marks shows that we can’t stop what opposition sides are doing.
The club talked up the high pressure response tonight and failed abysmally.
Truly embarrassing game tonight.
Where to from here?

 

[Vicky Park]

Some are losing faith in Fly? Dear God. The man got us up for a flag less than 12 months ago when we were not the best team in the competition. He performed brilliantly in the finals.

How fickle. How pathetic. How quickly people forget when in the midst of a dummy spit.

 

[Bianconeri]

Schultz has been fine.

He’s fine. The issue is the trade cost and the position he plays.

We didn’t need to add another small forward to the roster, we needed to invest at half back or the midfield.

 

[Pendles!]

If Reef walks at the end of the year I would not blame him. I am still at a loss to understand why he didn't start in our forward line which is already seriously undersized. If the plan was to use speed and ground balls to dazzle and confuse the Geelong defenders then surely at three quarter time with the Cats 2 goals up and controlling the game you might throw a lad whose ben known to kick a couple of goals in a short period of time a go.

When I looked to our goalsquare and saw little Schultz looking battered and sore with an opponent 15 cm taller and still no Reef in sight I did begin to gnash my teeth and wonder what was going on. It was only when Shooter got concussed that Reef got his chance. Why do they refuse to give him a fair dinkum crack and see what he can do?

We have bigger issues than Reef walking. He doesn’t look up to it.

 

[peter9789]

Tonight was just the culmination of what has been a poor season from the outset. We just have not had continuity in personnel, and form.

We are getting smashed in the air - Geelong keeping’s off game plan works a treat against us, as we have no one who can compete aerially to take those critical down the line marks, except for Darcy Cameron

14

Darcy Cameron

Age

29

Ht

204cm

Wt

103kg

Pos.

Ruck

Career

Season

Last 5

D

6.0

1star

K

3.3

1star

HB

2.7

2star

CL

0.3

2star

HO

5.3

5star

D

7.5

2star

K

4.5

2star

HB

3.0

2star

CL

0.5

3star

HO

3.5

5star

D

6.0

2star

K

3.3

2star

HB

2.7

3star

CL

0.3

2star

HO

5.3

5star

.

Well beaten around the midfield, and those opening 3 goals a direct consequence of that centre clearance dominance.

I’ve watched our defensive back 6 disintegrating this year. Roughead is the backline coach and on the body of evidence he’s done a poor job. Moore looks like he is completely bereft-of confidence, and IQ doesn’t seem to be as damaging as the past 2 years. Who in our back 6 has improved??

I fear we are about to drop off the footy cliff. Our ageing stars are in decline; our midfield needs more support for Nick; we need a qualify back, and most importantly a marking target up forward.

Thank god we won the flag last year


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[barrackers]

I obviously don’t have a full understanding of the concussion rule. How was Schultz taken out of the game, but Stewart allowed to play on? Obviously they didn’t check Stewart but my understanding was that if there’s hard head knock that they had to sit out for 20(?) mins and then be ticked off?

As soon it happened I thought this is what would eventuate especially with the cats having already made their sub. Geelong are as dodgy as Port when it comes to concussion tests.

 

[IlovethePies]

We have bigger issues than Reef walking. He doesn’t look up to it.

How do you know if he doesn;t ever play?

 

[HFF]

-21 on inside 50's and we lose by 20 points.

I don't care who you have down back, if the ball is down there that much how are you expecting a defence to hold up.

Alternatively, how do you expect a forward line devoid of our bigs and stars to kick a winning score with only 41 inside 50's.

It all comes down to the work rate of the mids and wingers.

You’re right to a degree
But we roll every forward up the ground because we know we have the running power to burn team defences on the way back.

This season however, opposition defenders aren’t all coming up with us
Teams leave 3 or so players back behind the ball and have worked us out
Meaning we are already behind the eight ball on field position to set the game up how we want and thus teams win it back off us because we end up kicking to loose players all the time.
That explains why we don’t go inside 50 more than 40 times because there’s nobody there and if there is, teams have outnumbered based on the above.

It’s mind boggling how none of our brilliant coaching staff can see this.

 

[Bianconeri]

Some are losing faith in Fly?

I think it’s clear see what he’s doing atm isn’t working.

I have faith he’ll correct us in the years to come but being the oldest team in the comp relying on forward half pressure that gets rendered ineffective by the opposition chipping it around its t gonna cut it this year.

 

[Pendles!]

How do you know if he doesn;t ever play?

He doesn’t play because he’s not good enough when he does get an opportunity. I hope he kicks on but I just don’t see it. Drops sitters, no intensity, not sure about his skills either.

 

[Pendles!]

He’s fine. The issue is the trade cost and the position he plays.

We didn’t need to add another small forward to the roster, we needed to invest at half back or the midfield.

I really rate Schultz. I love his pressure and he can do some great things. But **** me, we’ve really limited outselves in 2 drafts because of that trade.

 

[Lunchtime]

Reckon it’s more than that.

I had been hearing murmurs and rumours of unrest prior to the season starting around all the coaching changes and kinda dismissed it somewhat as I hadn’t seen anything yet to suggest there was any substance to it

But after seeing Take the Steps and voicing my concern about how…final it all felt, then seeing our performances in those practice matches, I started to wonder if there was some truth to the rumours I had heard

Seeing how the season has played out it’s safe to say everything I had heard was probably spot on

What did you hear? Are you able to tell us.

 

[Chrispiesssss]

5 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter.

WHE takes a mark 30 meters out on a tight angle instead of kicking at goal. He kicks to the goal square - turnover.

Ball pings back the other way. Geelong goal.

Geelong goal again from center clearance.

1 point lead to 11 point deficit in 2 minutes. Game. Set. Match.

 

[J Albert]

Keep your head up fellas and ladies. 2022/23 were probably the best years of footy I've ever seen. Time to reset and reform the list and go again. Footy (like all sport) is mostly disappointment. We have enough good players to not drop too far.

 

[jmac70]

5 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter.

WHE takes a mark 30 meters out on a tight angle instead of kicking at goal. He kicks to the goal square - turnover.

Ball pings back the other way. Geelong goal.

Geelong goal again from center clearance.

1 point lead to 11 point deficit in 2 minutes. Game. Set. Match.

So we should blame WHE?

 

[Vicky Park]

I think it’s clear see what he’s doing atm isn’t working.

I have faith he’ll correct us in the years to come but being the oldest team in the comp relying on forward half pressure that gets rendered ineffective by the opposition chipping it around its t gonna cut it this year.

To be clear - I’m not saying Fly isn’t above criticism. Far from it. It’s the posters referring to losing confidence in him which is nonsense.

He’s only into his third year as a senior coach and has, for most of that time, performed brilliantly.

He has a significant challenge ahead of him now, and I look forward to how he will deal with this. Not expecting much for the rest of this season, but next year will be at least interesting to see what he will do. The start of a rebuild?

Malthouse and Bucks both went through rebuilds. I look forward to Fly’s version with great anticipation.

 

[domus]

Some are losing faith in Fly? Dear God. The man got us up for a flag less than 12 months ago when we were not the best team in the competition. He performed brilliantly in the finals.

How fickle. How pathetic. How quickly people forget when in the midst of a dummy spit.

I don't know what others have been saying. I love Fly but when the team loses and is out of finals contention (as we are) fans are entitled to be frustrated and angry if the team performs in a listless manner. We have struggled to play 4 quarters all year even when we had a strong line up. This has to be addressed.

Injuries have absolutely wrecked our season but that has nothing to do with Degoey's inability to play consistently high quality footy. You watch Dangerfield at 34 years of age exploding out of the middle repeatedly and gathering his 30 possessions while Jordie jogs along, does some nice things, kicks a snag and jogs along. We talk about Reef lacking a tank, but Degoey is either lazy or simply doesn't have the physical capacity to play at the level Dangerfield does for four quarters.

Moore is a shadow of himself, Maynard has been poor in recent weeks. It's the flat, listless footy we are witnessing as the opposition chip the pill with embarrassing ease and make us look like witches' hats. It's rather humiliating. We just couldn't get our hands on the ball. I read last week someone expressing their disappointment over the crowd's support at games this year eg. the Collingwood chant, but there is a reason for this. In most games the players simply haven't played the style of footy which a big, passionate fan base feeds off. You can't manufacture excitement, passion and pride. I think the lack of crowd involvement is a reflection of our footy this year. Mostly pedestrian and dare I say it-boring.