Post Match. Cats outclass Pies - all comments

[London Dave]

Haven't seen the game, and as I never watch a replay of game we lose, I won't.

As I've freely admitted, I know absolutely zero about AFL football, so I'll leave my comments as this. We can look at it as we failed again, but we're still in the top 4, and have a few months for our brains trust, whatever you think of them, to sort it out. H & A season aim still the same, make the top 4, then the new season commences. We can finish 4th in the H & A, but we want to win the, and I apologise for the Americanism, the post season!

[swoop42]

The one positive out of tonight's result is that all this talk of premiership favourtism will now cease in the media and the expectations of supporters will be more reasoned at round 9.

Dawes had a stinker tonight!

There I said it.

If he was to be judged solely on this performance alone then he would deserve to be dropped but in reality he's put in a solid month of football and one would hope he was given a chance to redeem himself next week.

He wasn't the first footballer taught a lesson tonight by the awesome Geelong defence and he wont be the last but if he can learn from it and come out the other side a better footballer for the experience then he will have least derived some benefit.

Cloke whilst better still went goalless for the third straight time against Geelong and like Dawes failed to have a possession within the f50.

Not good enough Travis.

[perthmagpie]

We found it much harder to play to our structures and game plan as Geelong always kept three players back. When we forced a turnover and went to sweep the ball forward to two forwards in space like we have been doing we looked up to see us being outnumbered. As the game went on we gradually moved less and less away from our structures. With that, everything else fell away including the aggressive playing on, the running bounces, the 'sneaky' handpass chains, the huge tackle counts. We played like last year. Credit to Geelong for doing their homework and making it hard for us to continue the game plan we've had almost all year. They made it uncomfortable for us to stick to our structures and in the end we didn't. The crap kicking for goal was once again a huge problem. Don't forget they have 2.7 years on average experience on us and that's around 60 games. Our fwd line is still a work in progress while their's is not. We have improved but it's a matter of when a team with 60 games less experience can catch a much older experienced team that will eventually decline due to age. In 4 months (2010) or 16 months? (2011)

[Bob Sugar]

The one positive out of tonight's result is that all this talk of premiership favourtism will now cease in the media and the expectations of supporters will be more reasoned at round 9.

Dawes had a stinker tonight!

There I said it.

If he was to be judged solely on this performance alone then he would deserve to be dropped but in reality he's put in a solid month of football and one would hope he was given a chance to redeem himself next week.

He wasn't the first footballer taught a lesson tonight by the awesome Geelong defence and he wont be the last but if he can learn from it and come out the other side a better footballer for the experience then he will have least derived some benefit.

Cloke whilst better still went goalless for the third straight time against Geelong and like Dawes failed to have a possession within the f50.

Not good enough Travis.

i noticed a lot of semi illegal sheparding by the geelong backs in their fwd 50, they have that down to an art form, the game plan tonight was bogus really, we just bombed long on most occasions knowing that our main targets were outside 50, IMO, tonight was a play night, a bit like in the under 9s when the coach says everyones on the ball, mick learnt what he wanted to tonight, i honestly reckon he didnt want to win (as crazy as it sounds) if we did win the pressure would be extreme, he knows that, lets face it, he didnt exacly "pull the moves" now did he? even pre game, add presty to that team and mooney wouldnt touch the bloody thing.

[Big T]

Can some one please explain why LEON needs to be singled out - Did he cost us the game - am I missing something

Equally bad performances were evident for more than half the team.

I know he is an easy target but he was one of many tonight.

Have you been living under a rock for his entire career?

Explain to me why he was worse than the others.

Give me some objective facts - not HISTORY.

Your are just using him as the "whipping boy" otherwise.

You a f$%#ing clown!!! He can't play finals now he can't play home and away what can he do??? VFL, to find form or F&*K OFF!!!
PS not singled out but one of the main offenders. He was singled out before the game and did not answer!

Calm down Nancy.

Find me a player that can lead inside 50 tackles, with speed and freakish goals scoring ability and then we can talk.
Mick is not stupid, turnovers inside 50 are gold - and that's why LEON is so valuable.

Get it!

Love the Nancy tag.

[Big T]

The one positive out of tonight's result is that all this talk of premiership favourtism will now cease in the media and the expectations of supporters will be more reasoned at round 9.

Dawes had a stinker tonight!

There I said it.

If he was to be judged solely on this performance alone then he would deserve to be dropped but in reality he's put in a solid month of football and one would hope he was given a chance to redeem himself next week.

He wasn't the first footballer taught a lesson tonight by the awesome Geelong defence and he wont be the last but if he can learn from it and come out the other side a better footballer for the experience then he will have least derived some benefit.

Cloke whilst better still went goalless for the third straight time against Geelong and like Dawes failed to have a possession within the f50.

Not good enough Travis.

i noticed a lot of semi illegal sheparding by the geelong backs in their fwd 50, they have that down to an art form, the game plan tonight was bogus really, we just bombed long on most occasions knowing that our main targets were outside 50, IMO, tonight was a play night, a bit like in the under 9s when the coach says everyones on the ball, mick learnt what he wanted to tonight, i honestly reckon he didnt want to win (as crazy as it sounds) if we did win the pressure would be extreme, he knows that, lets face it, he didnt exacly "pull the moves" now did he? even pre game, add presty to that team and mooney wouldnt touch the bloody thing.

Gee its a big call considering we would most likely have been 2 games clear, any coach who wouldnt want to be in that position would be a bigger moron that most of the people on this site.

[Bob Sugar]

The one positive out of tonight's result is that all this talk of premiership favourtism will now cease in the media and the expectations of supporters will be more reasoned at round 9.

Dawes had a stinker tonight!

There I said it.

If he was to be judged solely on this performance alone then he would deserve to be dropped but in reality he's put in a solid month of football and one would hope he was given a chance to redeem himself next week.

He wasn't the first footballer taught a lesson tonight by the awesome Geelong defence and he wont be the last but if he can learn from it and come out the other side a better footballer for the experience then he will have least derived some benefit.

Cloke whilst better still went goalless for the third straight time against Geelong and like Dawes failed to have a possession within the f50.

Not good enough Travis.

i noticed a lot of semi illegal sheparding by the geelong backs in their fwd 50, they have that down to an art form, the game plan tonight was bogus really, we just bombed long on most occasions knowing that our main targets were outside 50, IMO, tonight was a play night, a bit like in the under 9s when the coach says everyones on the ball, mick learnt what he wanted to tonight, i honestly reckon he didnt want to win (as crazy as it sounds) if we did win the pressure would be extreme, he knows that, lets face it, he didnt exacly "pull the moves" now did he? even pre game, add presty to that team and mooney wouldnt touch the bloody thing.

Gee its a big call considering we would most likely have been 2 games clear, any coach who wouldnt want to be in that position would be a bigger moron that most of the people on this site.

im sure you know what i meant, im sure he did really want to win, as the players did, but mick knows this is only the first round, was i seeing things in the first quarter when we went man on man? considering our zones the best in the bussiness surely it made you wonder?, theres plenty of other things too, but ill keep them to myself for now, ill need thread material during the week lol.

[High Beams]

We werent as bad as everyone thinks we had 2 moments of 10 minutes where were we really good should have made them pay and put score board pressure on but 2.9 tells are story.

[thebaldfacts]

We werent as bad as everyone thinks we had 2 moments of 10 minutes where were we really good should have made them pay and put score board pressure on but 2.9 tells are story.

That is the thing which gives me heart. Should have been 4 goals up in the 3rd and should have made it a contest in the last as we should have kicked 2 or 3 goals early.

Also, I want to give Cloke some credit. Thought his first half was very good and he was the dominant big man on the ground. He faded out in the second.

[Tanks1966]

My 10 cents worth

1. Luke Ball - PLayed well I thought, great roving in the second from the centre bounce - 6/10
2. Beams - Gun 8/10
3. Brown - Too much latitude given to Mooney - presti for me for now- 3/10
4. Cloke - Mauled all night, no favour given by umpires to him. PLayed alot from behind. 4/10
5. Leon - Biting his time until Dick has match fitness. 1/10
6. Dawes - If you cant win the ball in the air, use your big frame and crash the packs. 2/10
7. Didak - In and out of the game, panicked on a few occasions 6/10
8. Johnson - I though he was v.good - 7/10.
9. Jolly - If you cant destroy Blake, something is wrong 2/10
10. Macaffer - To miss a shot 30 out on slight angle is heartbreaking, but to do it twice = VFL Player. Clearly a time when we needed a goal to get into the match!
11 . Maxwell - Did his usuall stuff - 6/10
12. Obree - Exposed again, lack of pace but wasnt our worst - Maybe time to go - 4/10
13. Obrien - Like someone mentioned - Stop saving the world and get the ball! 3/10
14. Pendlebury - Poor effort tonight, soundly beaten by his fellow peers- 4/10
15. Ben Reid - For a youngster, I though he was great. Very impressed - 8/10
16. - Shaw - Cost us 3 goals with his bullshit disposal - very poor game, he thinks he is playing against Richmond. For his experience he was poor! 2/10.
17. Sidebottom - I thought he was in La La Land - 4/10
18. Swan - Tried but lowered his colours I thought - 5/10
19. - Thomas - Tried but in and out a bit - 6/10
20 - Toovey - shirked a few issues, a little out of his depth - 3/10
21. Wellingham - Disposal was poor, may have been rushed back in - 3/10
22. Wood - Did he play??? - 1/10.

Mistakes at selection (Hindsight is great)
Not bringing in Prersti - for brown on a big occasion.
Wellingham had lack of fitness, should of gone in through the ressies.
Obree - too slow for a big occasion, I would of kept Anthony since we always bombed the ball into the F50.
Dick in for Leon - I know he needs match fitness, but he couldnt do worse than Leon. Leon appears injured? Also - NEVER play Leon against Geelong or St Kilda a game!
Fraser for Wood, Wood will be ok but needs more bulk on him.
Medhurst is a massive out.
Once fit Goldsack must be included for Macaffer in big games.

Clearly we played a very very great team. We cannot kick 2.6 against a team like Geelong, very similar to St Kilda. Our conversion rate infront of goal was poor and we paid the price.
I believe we can beat this mob and cant wait to do them. Revenge is a Bitch.

Go Pies

[Kwah-LeBaire]

There is such a thing as "a good loss" early in the season.

The fans and the media were becoming hysterical, making the Pies favourites for the flag and generally attracting more heat and attention than most of the players could handle. There were too many big heads on the team already. A win over Geelong now would have taken it all past boiling point.

Dunno if Mick played 'dead' last night or not, but a big pin in the bubble has to be good for the entire club. Let's all take a deep breath, remember how far away the end of September is, and reload. Lots of thinking, lots more hard work, and keep the faith.

[ConBigWig]

Could Leon be playing injured ?

I thought he looked a bit hampered in his running , particularly in the first half when there was more speed in the game.

he's looked that way all year. There's doesn't seem to be any zip in his legs. I'm worried he may be playing with op or a bad back

[jack_spain]

I don't believe a zone will stop the cats. Man on man with fierce tackling will beat them. If we allow them to play kick to kick like tonight it basically negates our chance to tackle & force a turnover. I don't think we got things right tonight but it's still early days.

Spot on. Dare I say it, but that's exactly how we destroyed the Cats by 86 points a few years ago. Our last win against them too.

Mick was outcoached. But he did do something right. He had a long 'talk' to the boys in the rooms after the game and made them eat cold pizza. Good.

[jack_spain]

The loss we had to have.

Yes I'll buy that. The key now is to learn the lessons and bounce back. And we have to get selections right.

[jack_spain]

Has he got any brothers? A forward line of Beams, Beams, and Beams would have got us close.

Yeah and a bottle of this to wash away our sorrows after the game too.