the effing cats

[stefoid]

In a couple of weeks we play geelong at geelong

I am convinced its the combination of the ground's dimensions and the style their coach has them playing that beats us every time. a style which suits their ground and also suits very well the way successful footy is played recently

Its easier for the opposition to shuffle a zone from side to side at kardinia park (narrower) and the longer ground makes it slightly easier for the opposition to get back if you do try to switch the ball before going forward. by choice and necessity, the cats are very good at transitioning the ball more directly and in denser traffic.

This is a style we are haphazardly adopting this year. The cats have been playing it for years. Its a real litmus test. we may have beaten the geelong reserves last year (barely), but that doesnt count. Bev has to beat Scott at kardinia park.

 

[LondonBulldog]

In a couple of weeks we play geelong at geelong

I am convinced its the combination of the ground's dimensions and the style their coach has them playing that beats us every time. a style which suits their ground and also suits very well the way successful footy is played recently

Its easier for the opposition to shuffle a zone from side to side at kardinia park (narrower) and the longer ground makes it slightly easier for the opposition to get back if you do try to switch the ball before going forward. by choice and necessity, the cats are very good at transitioning the ball more directly and in denser traffic.

This is a style we are haphazardly adopting this year. The cats have been playing it for years. Its a real litmus test. we may have beaten the geelong reserves last year (barely), but that doesnt count. Bev has to beat Scott at kardinia park.

And this is why the draw sh@ts me. We start 1 game behind the Melbourne powerhouses every year (same as Dees, Roos, Saints). And in most years recently pre 2016 you could argue four games behind Collingwood (no Kardinia Park, plus tigers, blues and bombers twice when they were all rubbish for years).

Couldn't even crack Geelong at Marvel this year, was in Adelaide for gather round!

Look at Essendon, top 4 and haven't even beaten a top 8th side all seasons. The draw is a joke and the biggest blight on the game at the moment.

 

[W W Biscuit]

For interests sake (and apologies if it has been posted elsewhere), does anyone have the statistic for how many times we've drawn Geelong twice in recent times, and how this stacks up against other teams? It does seem that we double up against them every year!

 

[Dogs 13]

For interests sake (and apologies if it has been posted elsewhere), does anyone have the statistic for how many times we've drawn Geelong twice in recent times, and how this stacks up against other teams? It does seem that we double up against them every year!

Those years we play them three times don’t end well either !!

 

[LondonBulldog]

For interests sake (and apologies if it has been posted elsewhere), does anyone have the statistic for how many times we've drawn Geelong twice in recent times, and how this stacks up against other teams? It does seem that we double up against them every year!

Technically we should only play Geelong twice once every 3 years. Id say at a minimum we play them twice 2 out of 3 years (even higher). I remember seeing a stat Melbourne had played Geelong in Geelong 18 out of 20 years and we were at 15 from memory out of 20 years. Essentially they are playing 2 homes games to our 1 home game close to every 2 years.

 

[Timewillcome]

The fixture inequality is what the small clubs should really be pushing to rectify. How this system can be accepted in a professional comp is laughable.

With Tasmania being introduced soon, there should be a push to even things up. Seeing Essendon get Geelong at the MCG just highlights how unfair this is. Didn't help them anyway because they are a total fraud, but I digress.

 

[Dazb86]

We have to PLAN for Geelong like other teams do. We can't just back our game to win. It does not work at all as shown by results over the last decade.

Geelong routinely beat us while losing all the stats. I50's, clearances, disposals you name it. They just feast on our poor entries and kill us on the counter.

Something needs to be done about Stewart and something needs to be done abour Miers.

We simply must have a plan against them.

 

[stefoid]

We have to PLAN for Geelong like other teams do. We can't just back our game to win. It does not work at all as shown by results over the last decade.

Geelong routinely beat us while losing all the stats. I50's, clearances, disposals you name it. They just feast on our poor entries and kill us on the counter.

Something needs to be done about Stewart and something needs to be done abour Miers.

We simply must have a plan against them.

Correct - the fixture is outside of our control - whether we play them once or twice it dosent matter - constantly and consistency losing is the issue.

Our 'plan' should be to run at the opposition zone and play daring, fast, direct footy and execute it well. Which (this year at least) should be our plan for every game.

yes, and curtailing the oppositions best players wouldnt hurt either. I have no doubt Scott will try to tag Dale out of the game, leaving us relying on the likes of Truck and Brambi to run the ball out of defence. lets hope Brambi doesnt have one of his deer in the headlights games.

 

[Johnny_Dogg4]

this year they've been struggling a bit there. they will be favorites for sure, but we've got close to them a lot in recent times

 

[dogwatch]

For interests sake (and apologies if it has been posted elsewhere), does anyone have the statistic for how many times we've drawn Geelong twice in recent times, and how this stacks up against other teams? It does seem that we double up against them every year!

I have posted on this a few times. Last time was in 2022 or maybe 2023 but I CBF trying to find it.

What I did find was the table I created back then. I've brought it up to date below. It includes the original schedule for 2020 but that was the Covid year of only 17 rounds (shaded) and all games ended up being played elsewhere, mostly Qld I think:

To speed up digestion of what it tells us:

• Collingwood have a home game against Geelong at the MCG every single f***ing year.
• Collingwood have not played a game at KP since last century. Most of its current list weren't even born the last time it happened.
• Collingwood has only had four "away" games v Geelong in 13 years. All those away games have been played at Collingwood's home ground, the MCG.
• In that period we have had 11 away games. All at KP.
• Since 2012 we have played more than double the number of games at KP than Carl, Coll and Ess combined.
• We have doubled up against Geelong in each of the last three years. And in four of the last five years (excl Covid year 2020).
• Over the same period the combined number of double-ups against Geelong for Carl, Coll, Ess is 3 (us 4).
• The AFL only schedules Carl and Essendon (also Richmond) at KP when they are crap, ie expected to be bottom 6 on the ladder. As soon as they are a force again their games are scheduled at the MCG. This is the exact opposite of what you'd expect under "equalisation".
• None of Carlton, Collingwood or Essendon have had to play Geelong at docklands since 2017.
• For simplicity I've called our Geelong game at AO this year as a home game but it wasn't actually that. It was a neutral venue game. We had no home game against them this year.
• From memory, North and St Kilda get a similar crap deal with Geelong fixturing but I haven't got the stats on that at my fingertips.

There are some other conclusions you can draw but I'll leave you to scrutinise the table at your leisure. Suffice to say it's all about revenue and TV audiences, not about equal opportunity.

How much start is this giving the bigger clubs against the smaller clubs every year? That's debatable but you'd have to think it was around one game advantage for the bigger clubs. And one game disadvantage for the smaller Vic clubs.

 

[W W Biscuit]

I have posted on this a few times. Last time was in 2022 or maybe 2023 but I CBF trying to find it.

What I did find was the table I created back then. I've brought it up to date below. It includes the original schedule for 2020 but that was the Covid year of only 17 rounds (shaded) and all games ended up being played elsewhere, mostly Qld I think:
View attachment 2036057
To speed up digestion of what it tells us:

• Collingwood have a home game against Geelong at the MCG every single flipping year.
• Collingwood have not played a game at KP since last century. Most of its current list weren't even born the last time it happened.
• Collingwood has only had four "away" games v Geelong in 13 years. All those away games have been played at Collingwood's home ground, the MCG.
• In that period we have had 11 away games. All at KP.
• Since 2012 we have played more than double the number of games at KP than Carl, Coll and Ess combined.
• We have doubled up against Geelong in each of the last three years. And in four of the last five years (excl Covid year 2020).
• Over the same period the combined number of double-ups against Geelong for Carl, Coll, Ess is 3 (us 4).
• The AFL only schedules Carl and Essendon (also Richmond) at KP when they are crap, ie expected to be bottom 6 on the ladder. As soon as they are a force again their games are scheduled at the MCG. This is the exact opposite of what you'd expect under "equalisation".
• None of Carlton, Collingwood or Essendon have had to play Geelong at docklands since 2017.
• For simplicity I've called our Geelong game at AO this year as a home game but it wasn't actually that. It was a neutral venue game. We had no home game against them this year.
• From memory, North and St Kilda get a similar crap deal with Geelong fixturing but I haven't got the stats on that at my fingertips.

There are some other conclusions you can draw but I'll leave you to scrutinise the table at your leisure. Suffice to say it's all about revenue and TV audiences, not about equal opportunity.

How much start is this giving the bigger clubs against the smaller clubs every year? That's debatable but you'd have to think it was around one game advantage for the bigger clubs. And one game disadvantage for the smaller Vic clubs.

Much appreciated, DW. It’s as infuriating as I expected!