Thanks for the memories but it's time

[cynical]

Corey - done
J Hunt - probably good for 2 years at a weak team but needs to be replaced
Scarlett - not interested anymore
Wojo - body not up for it
Stokes - doesnt do enough, too small, not fast enough, not enough defensive pressure
Chappie - tough call but our forward line has no defensive pressure, i can see another year at best but he should retire on top or get a 2 year deal somewhere else.

Great careers but should end at Geelong by the end of the year.

Simpson should play every game.

I'd like to see Brown play most games also, wing, forward, defense whatever, give him games.

If Gillies is going to be kept he should be getting games in different positions also.

It's been a great run but lets not waste our time trying to win the 2012 premiership, we are done.

Lets get games into the kids and send off our champs in round 24.

 

[AWOL]

A bit cynical there.

 

[Cursed Cat]

Corey - done
J Hunt - probably good for 2 years at a weak team but needs to be replaced
Scarlett - not interested anymore
Wojo - body not up for it
Stokes - doesnt do enough, too small, not fast enough, not enough defensive pressure
Chappie - tough call but our forward line has no defensive pressure, i can see another year at best but he should retire on top or get a 2 year deal somewhere else.

Great careers but should end at Geelong by the end of the year.

Simpson should play every game.

I'd like to see Brown play most games also, wing, forward, defense whatever, give him games.

If Gillies is going to be kept he should be getting games in different positions also.

It's been a great run but lets not waste our time trying to win the 2012 premiership, we are done.

Lets get games into the kids and send off our champs in round 24.

All pretty reasonable calls on the face of it, but of course we must treat many of the players you mentioned with the utmost dignity as they wind down their careers.

Also agree with the Brown/Simpson call.

Podsiadly ?

 

[Cursed Cat]

Josh Hunt is a tough one, he really should be at his absolute peak right now, but isn't having enough influence on games - he is very much a confidence player, but his patches of good form are appearing less and less frequently.

He was very good in last years GF btw.

But I reckon Cam Guthrie has pretty much got his spot sewn up in 2013.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

I agree on Corey, he is a real concern and the way he is going we will be paying outhis contract at the end of the year which is an indictment on the decision to give him a 2 year extension to begin with, which never should have happened.

Don't really agree with the rest though.

 

[Bartosrules]

10 debutants this season would indicate that the club is looking ahead to 2015/6/7 and I think you will see Corey, Scarlett & Wojo retire anyway. This season is sure done and dusted.

 

[Linx]

Josh Hunt is a tough one, he really should be at his absolute peak right now, but isn't having enough influence on games - he is very much a confidence player, but his patches of good form are appearing less and less frequently.

He was very good in last years GF btw.

But I reckon Cam Guthrie has pretty much got his spot sewn up in 2013.

He is 30, turning 31 next year. He reached his peak a long time ago.

 

[vealesy]

Lets not turn this into a public lynching.

The champs will know when its time to wind up.

We still need bigger bodies that can last a whole game.

In saying that, Coreys way off the pace and is less deserving of his spot than dasher was last year. He needs a wake up call.

 

[manboob]

I agree on Corey, he is a real concern and the way he is going we will be paying outhis contract at the end of the year which is an indictment on the decision to give him a 2 year extension to begin with, which never should have happened.

Don't really agree with the rest though.

Surely he would have some coaching clause in there? Hence the "long term" nature?
Or I would say that he has been one of those blokes on sweet **** all for the last decade, after the Scarlos and Bartels so as an act of kindness the club gave him a fat contract, while they had/have the chance with half the list being rookies and the other half being senior citizens.

 

[Biggy_Boy]

I agree on some of those, especially Hunt, who has always had some very consistent patches of very bad form. However, if we want to remain competitive and retain a winning culture akin to Sydney over the past few years whilst transitioning and rebuilding, we can't get rid of that many senior players at once. We will need to stagger retirements and delistings and I really hope the coaches can get it right.

It's fine to have kids come in, but I feel it will be highly valuable to them to have those senior players around to help guide them. I would say Corey, Hunt and Wojak are just about certainties for retirement or should be.

I don't think Scarlett has been that bad. As you say, maybe a little disinterested compared to previous years, but still pretty good and we have to wonder about the replacements coming through. Isn't Gillies all we have? Even in current form, Scarlett > Gillies. I think Scarlett mentioned earlier in the year that this would be his last though.

Chapman has had some good and bad games this year. I really like Chapman and everything he brings and believe he could still be valuable. I would like to see him playing predominately forward, as we seem to be lacking decent goal kickers. Shove some of the younger kids into the middle to get some experience and hardness into them.

Stokes is a hard one really. He's at the age where I'd like to see him stick around for awhile, but if we could get something for him maybe trade him away. I think that with Varcoe coming back as well as the likes of Motlop and Christensen, maybe he is the type of player we already have enough of and Christensen and Motlop may hopefully be able to improve the aspects of their games where Stokes has stagnated.

In hindsight, it was probably better for the likes of Ling and Ottens to retire when they did. I see Corey copping criticism from all angles and the same would've probably applied to Ling if he had carried on. Instead, he left the game on a positive note and we remember him as the premiership captain and a champion of the club, not someone who carried on longer than he should have. I would like to feel the same way about all of our champions - as the guys who built the most successful period this club has ever seen, not guys who played on well past they should have.

In saying that, due to their service, I can tolerate a few poor games from the champions for all that they've done before retirement. The scenes of Chapman snapping for goal to put us in front in the 2009 GF far outweigh a few poor H&A performances now.

 

[manboob]

However, if we want to remain competitive and retain a winning culture akin to Sydney over the past few years whilst transitioning and rebuilding, we can't get rid of that many senior players at once. We will need to stagger retirements and delistings and I really hope the coaches can get it right.

Great post but... I have to stop you right there. Sydney would be the one model I hope my club doesn't follow. They seem to play finals for the sake of playing finals. Sure they have been there almost every year but since 2006 they've just been making up the numbers. Sure this year is different so far but they wont even make a prelim.

 

[footscore]

since 2006 they've just been making up the numbers.

the average age of their list is now over 26, in reality...they are due for a rebuild once again. If you read through the age of players they have 25 and under, they have about 8-9 genuinely talented players and the rest are veterans like our own.

Reality of it all is that they should have actually achieved a little more during the past 18 months but they seem to have been given an enormous boost by Kennedy, Jetta, Reid and Richards who have taken their games to a new level.

 

[bulletproof]

Strongly disagree about Scarlett ad Chapman.

 

[SkittleCats]

OP's name says it all really. We are all frustrated and maybe some of us wrote things last night in various threads while under the influence. The reality is we cant go throwing the baby out with the bath water. IF this year is going to be the start of the transition then that's great. Time to start playing the kids, Which is what they are already doing. 10 first gamers so far this year says it all. However we cant go encouraging all of our established talent to leave just for the sake of this delusional idea that we will some how be stronger if we do. Id rather not spend years in the bottom four to be honest, and i bet most people here think the same way. Sure some of the names you listed are probably ready to go, J.Corey in particular. But Chapman and Scarlo...come on. Chappy could park himself in FF and boot 50 a year if we wanted him to. And Scarlo is the general that needs to be there to mentor the young kids. We have all seen how disfunctional our backline can be sans Scarlett. No way we should be letting either of these guys go.

I expect the club will go hard in trade week this year to try and bolster the team for the next generation, and names like Gilles, Stokes, Byrnes (if he's still under contract) will come up, maybe even others. And we will see retirements of a couple of club greats at the end of this year and that's all part of where we are at now. But lets all take a deep breath for now shall we?

 

[DavidInellaFanClub]

Lets not do a Melbourne and cut all our older blokes because they may not be around by the next flag.

All those guys have the right to decide when their time is up, given their careers. Joel Corey has slowed down a lot this year, but he still has a role to play. The rest will all play on next year...

Last night was bad but factor in that, Varcoe, Bartel, Menzel, Pods, Vardy all didn't play and will probably all play next time we met them....things can change pretty quickly...

 

[Topper]

Damn good memories

 

[you pick one]

Great post but... I have to stop you right there. Sydney would be the one model I hope my club doesn't follow. They seem to play finals for the sake of playing finals. Sure they have been there almost every year but since 2006 they've just been making up the numbers. Sure this year is different so far but they wont even make a prelim.

You should nail that up on the board room wall at Cat land.

 

[caitsith01]

Chapman is being misused. Still has the intensity and the skill, but he cannot play midfield at the required pace any more. He needs to play deep in our forward line at all times, where his strength and skill are still dangerous.

Scarlett's problems are mental.

Corey should play VFL for a few weeks to see if he can demonstrate the necessary improvement.

Disagree with J. Hunt, he is generally doing his job and has another year or two in him. Don't underestimate how critical he is to our ability to get the ball out of the opposition 50 at all.

Stokes and Woj look done to me, sadly, and both play in spots where there are replacements available.

 

[cynical]

The Sydney model is rubbish, they have to stay up their because of their fickle supporter base.

Can't compare to Melbourne they are a failure of a club with soft weak players and no leadership, of course if you take the few genuine leaders out of that sort of club you are in for a lot of pain. Our team is chock full of leadership and experience, it's not like our team will suddenly be full of 18-24yos. Our young guys have played in multiple finals and premierships already we do not have a Melbourne problem by cutting 6 guys.

If Scarlett plays on how are we going to develop another KPD? We already have Lonners, Taylor and Mackie who can all play those roles but they are all 26+. Those guys will have to be replaced soon enough as it is.

Do we just let Walker, Brown , Gilles just play VFL for the next year and play another handful of games when there is an injury. Those 3 should have 2 spots available next year not 0 like what a few supporters think. (I'd give Pods 1 more year but he'd be in and out of the team)

Sure we can leave Chapman in the forward 50 but we will get killed on the rebound again. It's not like Stevie J is great defensively but out of him and Chapman I'd rather SJ in the team. If Chapman goes around another year I don't see a big problem but the guy is slow and will end up being Joel Corey next year. We already have him replaced with Menzel anyway.

Stokes is up and down but I mostly don't like his role. He isn't a Motlop type of forward pocket, he doesn't have pace and tackling pressure. Mostly he just gets outmarked and run off. The guy should have pencilled in a midfield spot by now but hasn't. Just a list clogger at the moment.

Josh Hunt is servicable but for a different team, our grandpa backline already has 4 slow bigs in Lonners, Taylor, Mackie and Scarlett. Enright isn't getting any faster but is a lot better than J Hunt. Better to replace J Hunt now and Enright later.

 

[caitsith01]

A better model is Adelaide. Maintain standards of excellence, accept a year or two down while kids mature, and then come roaring back.

They have a very similar draft history to the Cats too, never tanked, never got priority picks, but still construct an excellent list.

 

[CatTricks]

Chapman should be played as a forward only. Don't mind seeing him play as a high HF once the game has slowed down.

Scarlett is still way too important to lose. Whilst we have Lonergan, Taylor and Scarlo we will be okay but it won't last forever. Gillies is NOT going to give us anything spectacular as a KPD. He is a HBF at best.

J.Hunt probably does have 1 or 2 seasons left in him, but he is in the team because of his kicking. I hate seeing him chip the ball around in the backline. JUST ROOST THE F*****G THING.

Stokes has been really, really bad this year. If we were to trade him I can't really think of anyone who would want/need him.

Rekon we will see Corey and Wojcinski retire at years end. As sad as it will be to see these guys go. The game has caught up with Corey and Wojcinski doesnt appear to be able to get his body right.

Hogan and Byrnes are good as gone too IMO.

 

[Duskfire]

A better model then any other team is following our model! Dont mind everyone else, this Geelong team has perfected the art of never bottoming out and being consistently competitive.

 

[Vdubs]

Watching Chappy near the end of 3rd/4, or early last/4 put up a chase, clearly outsprinted by his swift opponent, he was so far off the pace, I was worried about his hammy, he REALLY TRIED, but that's how it is.
Would love to see him at FF, yes FF.
Whoever else can play around him.
Corey , if he must play, should be sub, he is less potent this year than was Milburn last year.
These guys have been brilliant, and it is now time to reflect and enjoy the past 8 years or so.
I actually like it when we are on the rebuild phase, and have to get THERE again. Being on top for so long, there's only onedirection after that, andwe're about to find out.
Watching Brisbane is a tonic of sorts, after being so great, they fell quickly, and only this year look like they have a semblance of becoming very good again.
We appear to have a little more capacity to not plummet to their extent, with the likes of Hawkins, Selwood, Varcoe, Duncan, Menzel, Motlop, Taylor, Simpson, West, Guthrie, Vardy forming a really good nucleus. Apart from injuries.
As has been said, these immortals we have should be respected, and CS is not the type to put them down mercilessly, but it will be interesting to see if their pride and passion will keep them competitive for the next 2 months.

 

[AlterRob]

If Chappy is no longer up to it in the midfield he'd definitely have a spot in this team in a forward pocket. Far too valuable to throw away. Guys like Motlop and Smedts are able to apply more forward pressure then Chappy but his strengths lie elsewhere. Great mark for his size, great kick for goal, reads the game well, etc. He showed last week how dangerous he can be up forward kicking 3 goals in a quarter, albeit against Gold Coast, but still managed to kick them when we needed them most.
Also, it's Chappy ffs, how can you not love the guy.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Lets not turn this into a public lynching.

The champs will know when its time to wind up.

We still need bigger bodies that can last a whole game.

In saying that, Coreys way off the pace and is less deserving of his spot than dasher was last year. He needs a wake up call.

I think it's naive to assume it's simply going to work out that way.

These guys have been playing a sport they love since they were 18, getting paid darn well for it, and in a work environment where they develop extremely close realtionships with their teammates and enjoy success. We've seen plenty of examples of guys, both at our club and other clubs, who go on too long, not because they don't necessarily know logically that they are at the end, but because they can't bring themselves to go. From an emotional point of view I can kinda understand it, but the club needs to make the call rather than simply wait for every player to decide on his own terms, particularly if we are to have a staggered transition from this group to the next. Corey is one guy who needs to have a call made on him, and hopefully it is done, in the most amicable manner possible, but it needs to be done.