Thanks for the memories but it's time

[looker_25]

Personally i would liken the end of this year to how Bill Simmons came to a realisation about his aging Boston Celtics. During the year plenty of trade rumours all that crap he came to the realisation that he has had a GREAT ride with these veterans and just wanted to see the old dogs go out swinging one more time.

I see this in our side this year. We have blooded SO MANY kids, the kids ARE getting games. There are some really tough games coming up, we are not going to win them all but I would much rather ride this year out with our old champions. They still have the fight, lets enjoy these guys having one more crack, we all know they are going to leave it all on the field. We can probably still squeeze into the finals, who wants to play us in the first round? We have been there before we know what it takes, sure we are not as good, but these guys are going to give it their all and could scare a couple of teams. With the team that is playing right now some kids get valuable finals experience alongside some true greats.

I was as dissapointed as anyone with saturday nights performance against collingwood(the best side in the comp) once we gave up that start we were pretty cooked, but no one really thought we were done until 3rd or 4th because they know we can work our way back into it(see sydney game)..

The calls for joel coreys head, id much rather see joel corey play 7 more games fighting his guts out for the side than a kid getting a couple more games, there is going to be plenty of time to play these kids over the next couple years. Lets be honest the amount of kids that have had a go this year, if you deserved a game you have already got a taste of the big leagues and can see in the following year there will be chances for you in the firsts.

Lets just enjoy it for what it is, we have had a great run back these guys in to perform in big games, enjoy watching Joel Corey and the others they dont come along all that often.

sorry, its a rant, i never post on here but reading all these threads and calling for the heads its all too serious.

Enjoy this great side and lets see what they can muster.

Carn' the Cats.

 

[Gavin Excell]

There's got to be a limit. You think you'd be doing Joel any favours by letting him get slaughtered out there? You think that's dignified?

I would say being gifted games when you are shot would be more embarrassing than getting dropped like everyone else.

I'm not saying that is definitely the case by the way, was hoping he would pull out a balltearer on the weekend, but it doesn't seem like he has it in him anymore. Always loved his work, has been a massive servant of the GFC who will always have boundless respect, but when you gotta go you gotta go.

Fair point.

its very difficult position for the club.

For what its worth I have confidence the club will get it right

 

[DTRAIN87]

There are some excellent posts here. I am happy to see us start again and hopefully we come up for a period like 1994 and the last 5. Some of the players will go at the end of the year. Chapman, Wojak and Corey are likely and so is probably Scarlett. The new boys will then be blooded. Even sign some on the VFL for a season like we did with Mensch. The structure of the VFL group is very good witgh mass progress and god sgns from recruiting. I think we may have another go soon.

 

[Partridge]

Look, I am not trying to be disrespectful to Josh. All I am saying is he is not a key member of our team. Ok form and doing a job don't cut it for mine. You're probably right, he deserves to go on, BUT what I'm saying is that deprives his replacement of 20 to 30 games, which could be vital if we are to rebuild quickly (Think about how bad Harry Taylor was in the '08 g/f to how awesome he was in the '09). Now imagine getting that extra season into Hunt's replacement. That's my point.

Ok I get where you're coming from. I don't disagree necessarily, but I think Corey and Wojo will definitely be going first. I don't see Scott cutting too many at once. Agree entirely that the younger guys need as many games as possible, I'm just not sure how they're going to accommodate it.

 

[Rellik666]

Those of you questioning chappy, have you read the Robbo Int in the HS?

http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/im...tar-paul-chapman/story-fnelctok-1226425683900

Last week on the Gold Coast, where the Cats spent almost a week in preparation for the Suns match, Chapman had a meeting with chief executive Brian Cook and football manager Neil Balme.
Over a coffee at a local cafe, the three of them put all ideas on the table.
"We're talking now, yeah, we're talking . . ," Chapman says before pausing. Not seeing eye to eye?
"No. It's about the terms, whether I've got that long left in me. It's very undecided. They want to go yearly."

"There has been a lot of sacrifices made along the way and loyalty is a two-way street. There is a lot of respect in the way they've been handling things and that's what I love. If they had said, 'Bang, this is it, like it or lump it', I don't think I would've liked that too much. I like to be respected, I think I've earned that, but it's a process.
"As I said, I can just play footy, they can offer what they think and I can only say 'nay' or 'yea'."
Being confronted with the inevitable, that his career was winding down, Chapman admitted he had considered shifting clubs.
"Who would want to pick up a 30-year-old?" he asks.

i don't think and hope #35 is going anywhere anytime soon.

CS, the MC and the GFC are doing a great job so far and these guys are once in a lifetime players let them go out as such.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

No need to worry about it, if you listen to that interview 2 years is more a hope and a wish that Chappy knows he won't get, as he says himself, no other club would give him that.

We have seen from Corey's struggles this year that giving 2 year contracts to over 30's is a bad idea and shouldn't happen, regardless of how much of a gun you are.

I back the club, and Chappy will end up accepting year on year and all will be well. He wants to stay.

 

[Partridge]

I see this in our side this year. We have blooded SO MANY kids, the kids ARE getting games. There are some really tough games coming up, we are not going to win them all but I would much rather ride this year out with our old champions. They still have the fight, lets enjoy these guys having one more crack, we all know they are going to leave it all on the field. We can probably still squeeze into the finals, who wants to play us in the first round? We have been there before we know what it takes, sure we are not as good, but these guys are going to give it their all and could scare a couple of teams. With the team that is playing right now some kids get valuable finals experience alongside some true greats.

You serious? Right now everyone. They know we start poorly, they know we're playing players on reputation not form, and they know that our forward pressure is terrible. There's no aura anymore.

 

[Belisarius]

We need to get as competitive as possible - and that means we have a fair way to go to catch some other clubs in the competition.

However given our good loder players are unlikely to get better - logic dictates that we need to add new players - who will player better over time.

I would like to think that even as we do this transition we could make the 8 this year.

We need to play these guys over the last part of the season - some in for a weeks then bring another in, etc. Rotate them but all get a few games and those that perform stay in for another week.

Try and give them 2-3 games in a row.

I reckon these huys need game time to show us who we need to concentrate on to have ready as a best 22 player next season -

Guthrie, Brown, Walker, Horlin-Smith, Murdoch, Gillies, Smedts and Schroder. These seem likely types to me - and if 4 of the 7 make it - it still would be a good result for the team and club.

Add 4 new players into a team with Duncan, Bundy, West, Simpson, Motlop, THunt, Menzel and even Varcoe and over half the team is quite young.

It does however depend on actually who makes it from the above group - as if Brown and Walker do not make it we maybe a KP player down soon. However I reckon both will make it.

For Geelong to be a force next season we need a more effective ruck combination, at least one more strong bodied mid or ball magnet and a KP forwad to replace Pods.

If these happened we would be a force - but it is a lot to ask when you look at players we are going to rely on to get this done.

Simspon - has less than 10 games experience and West is a good second ruckman but not a first ruckman. Again he has less than 50 games senior experience. So unless we recruit a ruckman at the end of this season - we will take time to develop these two ruckman into a force on the field.

Then we need a KP forward for Pods replacement. Brown or Walker look likely candidates. Perhaps at a stretch Kersten may provide an effective forward marking target. These 3 players would be more than a season away from being experienced enough to be damaging players consistently. Perhaps Vardy ? The good thing is we have a few so surely 1, maybe 2 of these tall, will make it

Then we need that mid and I do not think from what I read Boak is coming our way. Would have been a good quick fix - but what now ? I like the look of Schroder but he is again a fair way from AFL level yet. Perhaps the likes of Bundy, THunt and Duncan - with another pre-season behind the them and getting close to 50 games - will be more dominant next season. Perhaps Horlin-Smith, Murdoch or Smedts might provide some run and play an outside mid game for us.

So in short my best scenario case for the Cats is to get into the 8 this season and win one final. In 2013 improve and make the finals and win 2 finals and in 2015 we win the Premiership or 3 finals.

 

[kicksome]

You serious? Right now everyone. They know we start poorly, they know we're playing players on reputation not form, and they know that our forward pressure is terrible. There's no aura anymore.

sad but true

 

[witsend]

There is a delicate balance here with "new for old" decisions which have been mitigated dramatically by some long and short term injuries this season.
Last year we got the balance exactly right imo. I said all along that adding 3-4 of the best of our new kids would make us a threat and that proved true with Duncan, Bundy, West and Menzel making significant impacts.
The problem this year is the loss of Milburn, Ottens, Ling, Varcoe, Mooney, Wojinski and the LTI to Menzel and Vardy, coupled with Corey's and Pod's diminished output have left gaping holes in our line ups and structure. Plus throw in a few suspensions to superstar players.
Kids need experience around them to flourish. That's why you are seeing the likes of Corey, Stokes, and J. Hunt continue to get games with limited output from what we are used to seeing from them.
You only need to look to Melbourne to see what happens when trade or retire too much experience.
I think it's a miracle we are still in the 8. I still believe/hope we have one last punch in us for this season but we are also one last hit to the jaw away from hitting the deck.
Personally i think CS and the MC are doing a great job. There's not much wrong with our game plan. We just aren't as brave or effective with it as we used to be or will be in the future.

 

[mcwilrob]

I just wish Scotty would desist from continuing with the following kind of fanciful thinking. Just what exactly is he smoking???

"I am confident that we can win every game we play. It doesn't necessarily mean it is going to happen," he said.
"At the end of the season we will tally up our games and if we make the finals, I dare say we will be pretty confident we can win every game we play from there. It is a simple equation."

 

[witsend]

I just wish Scotty would desist from continuing with the following kind of fanciful thinking. Just what exactly is he smoking???

"I am confident that we can win every game we play. It doesn't necessarily mean it is going to happen," he said.
"At the end of the season we will tally up our games and if we make the finals, I dare say we will be pretty confident we can win every game we play from there. It is a simple equation."

I'm not exactly sure what you think is wrong with that statement?
So the coach of the reigning Premiers effectively says we approach every game with the belief that we CAN win it? I think you're confusing that with thinking he's saying we will win EVERY and ALL games we play from here on in. And if we are good enough to make finals why would you not hope and expect you could win it all? Who's to say we don't hit a rich vein of form starting Friday?
It's unlikely but not impossible.

 

[MC Extra Dollop]

I'm not exactly sure what you think is wrong with that statement?
So the coach of the reigning Premiers effectively says we approach every game with the belief that we CAN win it? I think you're confusing that with thinking he's saying we will win EVERY and ALL games we play from here on in. And if we are good enough to make finals why would you not hope and expect you could win it all? Who's to say we don't hit a rich vein of form starting Friday?
It's unlikely but not impossible.

I agree. There's yet to be a game this year where I've looked at the 22 we've put on the park against the opposition's 22 and thought "We haven't got a chance." Odds are, I'll probably go into the West Coast game thinking we've got a chance. I think any team that is seventh on the ladder in an eighteen team competition should think it's good enough to win every week.

 

[bartel magic]

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.

some good calls in there, particularly on Scarlo. He isnt interested anymore, and Joel Corey couldnt hit a target by hand or foot if he wanted to. Stokes just looks like a bloke who is far too content, and refuses to do any hard work off the ball. Play the kids, run 20-30 games into them in the next few years, and we will be fine.

 

[rocker_oz33]

Geelong have fallen victim of the Afl system not fault of there own.My all means they have done bloody well of keeping there stars (mostly) over the honeymoon period.Again but no fault of the geelong footy club losing players like rooke to injury and egan(fault or not).Also losing old battle axes like moons and ling 4 preety handly players right there.The system is set for only few teams to be up for a short amount of time look at saints,dogs,port.I for one happy with this not so short period of happy times and look forward on seeing the new guns take place in history.