The AFL world owes Geelong & St Kilda alot

[Violent Stool]

Thank god for Geelong.

Only 3 years ago the AFL was doomed. Teams copying the Sydney style of footy was crippling the comp.

Thankfully, Geelong stepped up to the plate and nailed a game plan that the purists can enjoy once again! And any prospective footy follower can sit down and watch without dozing off.

Thank god for Geelong getting this right. It saved the game. Defence is key still, but it's clear thanks to Geelong that kicking big scores is equally as vital.

But we have more to thank Geelong for. We saw Geelong and the Saints play the H&A game of the century in R14 - and they actually brought what we all hoped for to the table.

Tough as nails, free flowing, good scoring, intense physicality - all performed with a very healthy dose of respect for each other.

It lived up to the hype.


Then we were blessed with seeing them both go at it again in the GF.

The leadup was incredibly anticipated by all, but for the right reasons. There wasn't any squabbling or bickering. No w***ers headline grabbing in the leadup.
The excitement was being generated by the prospect of 2 very good teams who play great footy squaring off against each other.

Seeing Thompson and Riewoldt shake hands with legitmate respect for each other at the GF parade, and listening to the Geelong and St Kilda player's interviews before the game, made me proud to be an AFL supporter.

Sensible, humble, and respectful of their opponents.

Lyon and Thompson capped it off with their press conferences on that day too.


Then the actual game was a magnificent spectacle. You could be excused for thinking it was a dry day the way the game was played. No one took a backward step, it was played in terrific spirit and was quite simply a showcase for the sport.

Once again, Geelong and the Saints delivered the goods.

But it was what took place after the game that really impressed me.

From the moment Paul Chapman accepted his Norm Smith medal, all AFL supporters should be proud of each of these clubs and their sport.

His speech was incredibly humble, and very respectful of his own club and supporters, and the opposition's club and their supporters.

Nothing hurts more than losing a GF, but the way Geelong handled their win and the credit they showed to the Saints must have made it slightly easier to accept.

Beaten by a champion team on the field, and based on the way they've conducted themselves since their win - a champion club off the field too.

The way the Saints handled their loss, and the way they handled the leadup - and frankly the way the club has represented themselves all year, has been a real credit to them and their fans.

Ross Lyon is a very respectful dude, as is Nick Riewoldt and this shows in every appearance they make. It filters down through the club and the fans should proud of that.


Well done Cats and Saints, the AFL public owe you one.

 

[Crow-mo]

yes with record crowds the game was going downhill fast.

 

[jswan]

If you were a true follower of football, you would realize that StKilda's game plan of 2009 is almost identical to the swans game plan of 2003-2007. The only difference is that StKilda has better skilled and a better class of players executing THE SAME game plan which in the end makes it look different, maybe even more attractive, but for people like myself, and I'm sure other swans supporters, there were quite a few saints games I watched throughout the year were after around the second quarter, I was saying to myself..."hmmmm, this game style looks awfully familiar, where have I seen this before?" The most perfect example of this was the 3rd quarter of the Saints vs Collingwood Qualifying final in the first week of the finals. Watch that and you will see how identical they are.

 

[Clay Davis]

I don't think St Kilda had that much a better class of players than Sydney, just that they did Sydney's game plan with Hawthorn's - full field zone, with tough tackling around the clearances and contest.

 

[Violent Stool]

If you were a true follower of football, you would realize that StKilda's game plan of 2009 is almost identical to the swans game plan of 2003-2007. The only difference is that StKilda has better skilled and a better class of players executing THE SAME game plan which in the end makes it look different, maybe even more attractive, but for people like myself, and I'm sure other swans supporters, there were quite a few saints games I watched throughout the year were after around the second quarter, I was saying to myself..."hmmmm, this game style looks awfully familiar, where have I seen this before?" The most perfect example of this was the 3rd quarter of the Saints vs Collingwood Qualifying final in the first week of the finals. Watch that and you will see how identical they are.

There was certainly no disrespect intended to Sydney and their style of play in my post.

It was more the cheap imitations that followed that was creating the hideous mess that we called 'the AFL' for a period there.

 

[Violent Stool]

I don't think St Kilda had that much a better class of players than Sydney, just that they did Sydney's game plan with Hawthorn's - full field zone, with tough tackling around the clearances and contest.

People, for some reason, seem to want to believe that Sydney lacked talent in 05/06.

Goodes, Hall, O'Keefe, Barry, O'Loughlin, Ball, Jolly, Williams, Kirk, Bolton to name just a few, were all in the top 4 or 5 at their position in the comp during that time.

 

[SM]

Erm, you do realise which club Lyon served as an assistant at, right? You do realise which style of play his team emulates, right?

Just because they don't have the players Sydney has - low draft picks, no highly skilled, flashy midfielders - doesn't mean they aren't playing a form of Sydney's game-style. It just means they're adapting that style to their current crop of players.

It's like this year Sydney's game-style has evolved slightly to become more free-flowing - evidenced by I think three or four games where the team had over 400 disposals, when before this season we had never had that - largely due I suspect to the inclusion of guys like Shaw in the team, and the development of McVeigh and ROK into gun midfielders, who naturally play a much faster game style with higher disposals.

Gravy; Goddard, Riewoldt, Hayes, Montagna, Dal Santo, and Gram, are all players who individually I would say compare favourably against any Swans player who plays their role. I would suggest the Swans players make up for the gap in skill with their heart - Kirk is a great example of this - but at the same time, those players are still ahead of the Swans on pure skill, meaning they can successfully execute game plans easier than the Swans, allowing them to focus on attack more than the Swans could and can.

 

[SM]

People, for some reason, seem to want to believe that Sydney lacked talent in 05/06.

Goodes, Hall, O'Keefe, Barry, O'Loughlin, Ball, Jolly, Williams, Kirk, Bolton to name just a few, were all in the top 4 or 5 at their position in the comp during that time.

Like I just said in my post though, those players were largely helped by their team mates. You cannot sit there and tell me that Kirk, as a player, is one of the greats of the competition. He has a shocking kick, has no leg speed, and isn't the greatest with the ball. He makes up for it by diving into packs with a crushing tackle, and smashing the ball forward. He makes up for his lack of natural skill with his great leadership qualities.

I'm not saying our entire team lacks skill, you're quite right in pointing to Goodes, Hall, O'Keefe etc. But guys like Barry, Kirk, Jude Bolton to some extent, all throw huge amounts of courage into every game, and their one-eyed commitment to the game plan and what needs to be done more often than not got us over the line in those years. I agree, I think the 2005 Swans vs 2009 Saints would still undoubetdly be an extremely close and exciting - for the supporters of the teams involved only I'm sure! - match, but on an individual level, I still don't think they would be very comparable in terms of individual skill and flair.

 

[Clay Davis]

Gravy; Goddard, Riewoldt, Hayes, Montagna, Dal Santo, and Gram, are all players who individually I would say compare favourably against any Swans player who plays their role. I would suggest the Swans players make up for the gap in skill with their heart - Kirk is a great example of this - but at the same time, those players are still ahead of the Swans on pure skill, meaning they can successfully execute game plans easier than the Swans, allowing them to focus on attack more than the Swans could and can.

I don't know, there are a lot of crap players for the Saints. As many as there were for the Swans. I don't think they have considerably much more class than the Swans did at their peak. Certainly not so much that they would go 20-2 in the home and away season using the same game plan.

I think Lyon merged two recently successful defensive game plans quite effectively.

 

[Astrix]

I don't know why people hate so much on the swans style of play? Sydney play finals type footy every weekend.

The type we wait all flipping season for...and yet people bitch about it..yet they claim that St Kilda differs? Are these the same nuffies who still insist that Sydney floods where's a victorian team is smart enough to get numbers back?

are the majority of victorians opinions formed by people like Mike "whatdoyouthink" Sheehan and his clowns at the Herald Sun?

I would rather a tight contest anyday than free flowing shot out. Seriously how many people were glued to the tv watching the scrap that was the GF and then said it was great!

 

[Astrix]

It was more the cheap imitations that followed that was creating the hideous mess that we called 'the AFL' for a period there.

It's always going to happen Einstein. The premier team sets the standard for the rest to follow!

How many bad attempts at the geelong "style" have we seen in the past 2-3 years? How about this bullshit tactic of just handballing it all over the place..how many times have we seen teams try to emulate the same thing only to stuff it up in a embarrassing way?

The mess you point out is the way footy has been played for a long time! You might as well say, according to your logic, that the past 2-3 years have been the only period that the sport was any good..cause if you look at how it was played 10 years ago you would hate it!

It's all relative sunshine.

 

[Papa G]

Apart from it's closeness, I thought it was a rather uninspiring game. The 2008 GF was much more entertaining.

I agree with the Sydney supporter. When the Swans tackled hard and pressured the ball carriers, it was boring and ruining the game. When St Kilda did it, it was considered tough, hard, fantastic. Massive double standards.

 

[Leedawsom]

will they indeed raise real estate values? Some people would like that.

 

[jswan]

I don't know why people hate so much on the swans style of play? Sydney play finals type footy every weekend.

The type we wait all flipping season for...and yet people bitch about it..yet they claim that St Kilda differs? Are these the same nuffies who still insist that Sydney floods where's a victorian team is smart enough to get numbers back?

are the majority of victorians opinions formed by people like Mike "whatdoyouthink" Sheehan and his clowns at the Herald Sun?

I would rather a tight contest anyday than free flowing shot out. Seriously how many people were glued to the tv watching the scrap that was the GF and then said it was great!

God this has been a pet hate of mine for years now. Memo to anyone out there....EVERY TEAM IN THE AFL COMPETITION FLOODS!!!!!.

The other thing I cant stand is whenever you watch one of these football shows previewing the upcoming weekends round of football, doesn't matter who the personality is, could be Brownless, Crawford, Frawley, Dunstall, Buckley, Quartermain...whoever, when they are previewing the swans vs whoever, they will always come out with something like..." the swans will play there usual lockdown style of football, creating lots of contests and stopages, and try to win the clearences etc etc. Ummmm Hello, every team is trying to win the clearences, after every game during the coaches press conference, the losing coach will say, "we got smashed in the clearences". Every game has stopages, every game has CONTESTED football. It annoys the crap out of me, I look forward to reading newspaper articles previewing or reviewing games, but god, when it come to the swans, half the time, you'd think the journos have run out of material.

 

[Generalissimo]

Let's not disrespect the Saints game style. Sure they like to lock it in and strangle their opponents more than the Cats do, but they can and do pile on goals when the moment is right.

 

[Astrix]

God this has been a pet hate of mine for years now. Memo to anyone out there....EVERY TEAM IN THE AFL COMPETITION FLOODS!!!!!.

The other thing I cant stand is whenever you watch one of these football shows previewing the upcoming weekends round of football, doesn't matter who the personality is, could be Brownless, Crawford, Frawley, Dunstall, Buckley, Quartermain...whoever, when they are previewing the swans vs whoever, they will always come out with something like..." the swans will play there usual lockdown style of football, creating lots of contests and stopages, and try to win the clearences etc etc. Ummmm Hello, every team is trying to win the clearences, after every game during the coaches press conference, the losing coach will say, "we got smashed in the clearences". Every game has stopages, every game has CONTESTED football. It annoys the crap out of me, I look forward to reading newspaper articles previewing or reviewing games, but god, when it come to the swans, half the time, you'd think the journos have run out of material.

Yeah its your typical stupid melbourne bias. The sad thing is that the same stupid thought process is then repeated by hordes of nuffies at games.

I had one stupid St Kilda fan telling me in no uncertain terms how much Sydneys flood was destroying football and that the afl should get rid of sydney.

I then pointed out that

a) the real matsermind behind the defensive gameplan was in fact one St Kilda coach

b) that footy has always been played man on man except that these days the skills of the players are so superior to those in the past that it makes the man on man style look boring compared to 5 handballs going to sideways to only go forward once stye that Geelong play.

he didn't know what to say.

A lot of it stems from the melbourne media blowing its own trumpet and encouraging this vast hatred towards interstate sides. Speak to a normal victorian based nuffy about interstate sides and watch as they glow in red and spew out profanities about interstate sides. Ask them why there is so much hate and the response usually is "Cause they suck awight" which to me, shows that 80% of the victorian football public takes what the Herald Sun has to say as gospel.

 

[Falchoon]

The best thing about the game was that it was hard, hard at the ball and hard at the man, at the same time there where no cheap shots, no off the ball wrestling, no real niggling, no reports etc

A fantastic example of AFL football at its best, the 2 teams tried to beat each other playing football.

 

[Pessimistic]

Ah, the good old days when 50% of games were a scrum going up and down the boundary line.

How we miss that.

 

[Astrix]

The best thing about the game was that it was hard, hard at the ball and hard at the man, at the same time there where no cheap shots, no off the ball wrestling, no real niggling, no reports etc

A fantastic example of AFL football at its best, the 2 teams tried to beat each other playing football.

And thats how Sydney has played or tried to play every game under Roos..yet we get lambasted by the melbourne media and its disciples, the bogans.

Sometimes i ignore and sometimes i just get angry at how stupid Melbourne people can be! Sometimes they don't understand their own friggen game!!!!!

 

[nohairandfair]

And thats how Sydney has played or tried to play every game under Roos..yet we get lambasted by the melbourne media and its disciples, the bogans.

Sometimes i ignore and sometimes i just get angry at how stupid Melbourne people can be! Sometimes they don't understand their own friggen game!!!!!

Let's take a stab at this... Oxford St area of Sydney?

Is that username pronounced "arse tricks" or "ass tricks"?

 

[Astrix]

So now you need to make homophobic jokes to justify..i don't know..why is it you had to make gay reference jokes? And heard of Commercial Road prahran or how about the gay areas of collingwood?

****en hell it was once said that Melbourne is indeed arty and more ****ier than Sydney!

 

[bighit006]

I would bet several cash bills if it had been two interstate teams the GF would have been a "scrappy slog", but because we have two vic teams playing we had ourselves "an enthralling, memorable contest!!!". Probably from the same numpties who think 07 was better to watch than 06 or 05, yes people really do say that.

 

[Falchoon]

And thats how Sydney has played or tried to play every game under Roos..yet we get lambasted by the melbourne media and its disciples, the bogans.

Sometimes i ignore and sometimes i just get angry at how stupid Melbourne people can be! Sometimes they don't understand their own friggen game!!!!!

Hall should have never played in the GF

 

[SM]

It's the same reasoning that seems to have gone into the Jarrad Haynes decision in the NRL on Sunday. Sure there was an offence there, but rubbing a bloke out for possibly one of the greatest days of his life is fairly cruel.

 

[Astrix]

Oh well we won a flag and your still waiting after 43 years now.

Suck on a lemon.