Post Match v Cats..all comments here thanks

[Cannibal]

I thought the difference between the two sides was that we:

1. played far too slowly moving the ball down the ground, thus allowing the Geelong defence ample time to double-team of key forwards,
2. played the ball far too indirectly down the wings, criss-crossing the ground too often as well, which contributed to (1),
3. didn't seem to want the ball as much as they did, and
4. showed absolutely abysmal kicking and handball skills in disposing of the ball to a team mate.

Geelong, on the other hand, played very quickly, moved the ball cleanly and created masses of space for their loose men to run into.

I think too many people are down-playing the effort of our defence today. Geelong's defence was suberb, well drilled and marshalled extremely efficiently by Scarlett and Harley. However, our much more inexperienced defence held a full-strength Geelong forward line which had been averaging 16.15 per game to 11.14 ie we kept them to 5 goals less than they have been averaging all season. That was a marvellous effort and the lads deserve more plaudits than they have been receiving. To put their effort into even clearer perspective, the comparitives for our scoring were 13.15, held to 9.10 today. Not much difference between the efforts of both defences, eh?

I don't know what the final tally was but, I noticed at one point (1/2 time or 3/4 time, I can't now recall) that the hard ball gets tally was running 47-23 in Geelong's favour and, to my mind, this is where the match was won and lost: Geelong simply showed more hardness at the ball and wanted it more than we did. And, in the end, their class showed with their cleaner disposal of the ball that they won the hard way whereas we pussy-footed around.

Final comment: the crowd was 85,500. I was pretty disappointed with that number, frankly. Looking around early on, I though we would have 90,000+ in attendance. Clearly, there were more empty seats than I thought there were. I would like to know, though, who was supposed to occupy the green-coloured seats on level 2 above the Geelong cheersquad. 2-3 whole sections stayed empty all game. And to the right of those goals, in the GSS, the whole lower level of maybe 3-4 sections looked half empty as well. Were those AFL members seats?

[RudeBoy]

Trav and Locks were outstanding yet again, other than that not much positives to come out of it

I'm surprized Eddiesmith, you of all people. Surely the main positive to come out of it was the game of Travis CLOKE.

Overall, I just thought Geelong were a bit harder at the ball all day, in virtually every position. We've been pretty ferocious at the ball in recent weeks, but today we were a little off the boil. At one stage I remember seeing the 1/2 or 3/4 time stats for 'hardball gets' and it was something like Pies 25, Cats 47. This statistic said it all for me.

[eddiesmith]

Final comment: the crowd was 85,500. I was pretty disappointed with that number, frankly. Looking around early on, I though we would have 90,000+ in attendance. Clearly, there were more empty seats than I thought there were. I would like to know, though, who was supposed to occupy the green-coloured seats on level 2 above the Geelong cheersquad. 2-3 whole sections stayed empty all game. And to the right of those goals, in the GSS, the whole lower level of maybe 3-4 sections looked half empty as well. Were those AFL members seats?

I wasnt actually expecting 85k there, but looking at it early it definately seemed we would get that, but that is huge for Pies v Cats and people wonder why we dont travel down to Geelong Geelong got the biggest gate takings of any team this season by far with us sharing ANZAC day

The empty seats on level 1 were not AFL, not sure what they were, I always thought they were walkup but surely they wouldnt be left empty with the top deck full Potentially Home team members, but other than that dont know, must have been some season ticket holders or otherwise Geelong supporters who booked and didnt come because of the train strike

But level 2 behind the goals belongs to some corporates or dining usually I would think, very unusual for such prime seats to be left vacant and the top deck full

[Piethagoras' Theorem]

We were gallant yet humbled by a better side. We threw everything at Geelong yet they had all the answers. Their midfield smashed ours, our 2nd ruck was non existent and our forwardline was overcrowded all day.
Make no mistake Geelong at the moment are the best side in the comp. I believe they will go on to win the flag.
Our turn will come, perhaps next year, we're close but not quite there yet but of course with a bit of luck anything can happen.
We've yet to beat a team above us on the ladder and we've also failed to flog sides we really should of, be it poor kicking or whatever.
Yes we have experienced stars to return but that can also be offset by the loss of some youth and exuberance.
I'm not too disappointed, something special is brewing there down at Lexus Centre, we're already getting a taste and I'm sure most people would agree there's plenty more to come.
GO PIES!

[Dark Lord]

I felt that the Pies just weren't switched on for most of the game. If I recall the stats correctly between the breaks, Collingwood had the upper hand in all aspects other than Hard-Ball Gets, but it wasn't reflected on the scoreboard. They were playing very loose, allowing the Cats to get easy possessions and we weren't able to capitalise on and punish them when they made mistakes.

However, Cloke had a great game and there's plenty of room for team improvement. They should account for the Bombers next week.

[Zakal]

We were gallant yet humbled by a better side. We threw everything at Geelong yet they had all the answers. Their midfield smashed ours, our 2nd ruck was non existent and our forwardline was overcrowded all day.
Make no mistake Geelong at the moment are the best side in the comp. I believe they will go on to win the flag.
Our turn will come, perhaps next year, we're close but not quite there yet but of course with a bit of luck anything can happen.
We've yet to beat a team above us on the ladder and we've also failed to flog sides we really should of, be it poor kicking or whatever.
Yes we have experienced stars to return but that can also be offset by the loss of some youth and exuberance.
I'm not too disappointed, something special is brewing there down at Lexus Centre, we're already getting a taste and I'm sure most people would agree there's plenty more to come.
GO PIES!

How are people forgetting Hawthorn in all this.

Both sides beat us.
Both sides beat WCE out of perth.
Unlike geelong, Hawks have beaten 5 of the other 7 top 8 teams.
They have also beat every other top 4 side...including geelong
Hawks have beaten Geelong (1st), they are 2nd, WCE (3rd), Port (4th), Collingwood (5th), and Kangaroos (7th)
Unlike Geelong, the Hawks have done this without their FF for most of the year....who is set to resume in a month.

Geelong has had a much easier draw than the Hawks have had, but it should even out in coming rounds when the Hawks play 5 of their next 8 games against teams outside the 8.

Geelong only play 3 teams outside the 8, and their opponents include WBD (who beat them in round 1), Freo at Subi, Kangaroos (who beat them in Skilled) , Port Adelaide and the Lions at the Gabba. This includes only 2 games at Skilled Stadium, compared to the 5 they have had so far.

[Piethagoras' Theorem]

How are people forgetting Hawthorn in all this.

Both sides beat us.
Both sides beat WCE out of perth.
Unlike geelong, Hawks have beaten 5 of the other 7 top 8 teams.
They have also beat every other top 4 side...including geelong
Hawks have beaten Geelong (1st), they are 2nd, WCE (3rd), Port (4th), Collingwood (5th), and Kangaroos (7th)
Unlike Geelong, the Hawks have done this without their FF for most of the year....who is set to resume in a month.

Geelong has had a much easier draw than the Hawks have had, but it should even out in coming rounds when the Hawks play 5 of their next 8 games against teams outside the 8.

Geelong only play 3 teams outside the 8, and their opponents include WBD (who beat them in round 1), Freo at Subi, Kangaroos (who beat them in Skilled) , Port Adelaide and the Lions at the Gabba. This includes only 2 games at Skilled Stadium, compared to the 5 they have had so far.[/quote]

Not dismissing Hawthorn and yes you raise some valid points, taking all things into consideration though with full lists I believe we are slightly ahead of the Hawks and very close to Geelong.
Probably should've beaten Hawthorn and we were without Rocca and O'Brien and kicked terribly, against Geelong we fielded a fairly strong side, kicking for goal was better and we came up short, perhaps with our best 22 we could've beaten them, it's hard to say.
Geelong look a bit bigger, quicker and stronger atm, that's the impression I got yesterday, they have more players between the age of 24 to 28 (could be wrong, feel free to correct me) who should be at their peak, we have more young players with lighter bodies and less experience.
I underrated Geelong, I walked away thinking geez, they're pretty good, we'd have to have our best 22 to take them on

[Zakal]

yeah i definitely underrated Geelong too, though i still maintain it was a reactionary response to the media's complete overrating of them. hehhe .


They are a very quick and clean side when it comes to moving the ball on. Play on at every opportunity etc. Shame the bulldogs arnt really in any great run of form, because they are another side like this, and it would be good to see a great battle between the two when they play in a few weeks.

[GoWoodsmen]

Their movement of the ball through the middle killed us. Before the game someone commented that they are the best team to play through the guts and we're the best team to play round the boundary line and so it was again yesterday.

Just beaten by a better team "on the day". I actually thought we had an off day.

Did anyone else notice how much Cameron Ling was holding Dane Swan? Only got penalised once - perhaps the softest of the holds - and got away with it about five other crucial times. Anyway....

After we beat Sydney I said to a mate of mine we just have to keep winning every second game. While it doesn't fill you with confidence if we do that it's what we have to do and is starts with the Dons. If we fall this week we could be in for a very very ugly last six weeks and all this talk of top four may just disappear in a puff of smoke.

Remember last year .... coasting along and then the Dons beat us when we least expect it. Like the Demons game a month or so ago we can't let it happen this week... we must beat them.

Hmmm something tells me I'm gonna be nervous this week

[kambarker]

The seats on the 2nd level behind the goals are corporate seats and belong to the dining room behind.......they must have not used their dinig room facility yesterday.

The empty seats on the Ground level of the Southern stand..........????

maybe Geelong members who got stuck in the train dispute???? they must be reserved seats. It was strange to see them empty and the rafters in the nose bleed sections full!!

Just heard on the radio that people in Geelong left the station queues and went home.

[Harrysz]

Good comments Nomadjack.
Zakal, I often agree with your comments but you've lost me with your comment that we missed Tarrant.

[Cannibal]

OK, that last bit makes some sense, kambarker. A really brilliant piece of timing by the Geelong train drivers, holding a strike when Geelong are playing their biggest game of the season. No wonder unions get on the nose with a lot of people [and, yes, I do understand their concerns with the number of freight services on that line; their timing is still deplorable].

Getting back on the point: for the second time this season, I travelled down by train from Ballarat. I don't think V/Line has the foggiest notion of how many country people take the train to the footy. The train down had four carriages and was packed; the return train had six carriages and was packed to the gills because V/Line again stayed with their normal Saturday timetable, with just one train running one per hour.

Memo to V/Line: put on extra footy services on weekends. You'll make more money and it would show some consideration towards, and understanding of, your customers!

ps there's a helluva lot of Collingwood supporters in Ballarat!

[EBB]

Congrats to the Cats for 10 consecutive wins "a non easy feat" and well done to the mighty pies for an above average game, yep, there's room for improvement.

Run'it home piez.

[Zakal]

Good comments Nomadjack.
Zakal, I often agree with your comments but you've lost me with your comment that we missed Tarrant.

hmmm, well its not so much Chris Tarrant per se that we missed.
It was the type of player that he is that we were lacking yesterday.



What i actually meant was that we were lacking a fast, leading forward who could break through defensive lines and take a mark. I think Cloke took an uncontested mark on a nice lead into space late in the game, and i remember thinking then "shit, is that the first mark from a lead for the game?"....and that made me think of Tarrants annual Scarlett-smashing game against Geelong. Almost every year Tarrant made Scarlett his bitch, and usually involved a mark of the year contender.


Our forward line yesterday contained not one typical "lead-up" forward. Rocca works on contested marks, Trav is a bit of a mix, but is usually outside 50 at CHF anyway....and Didak, Leon and Medders were only playing crumbing roles (and poorly).

Because noone was able to carve the geelong defenders up on a lead, they were free to swamp our only contested marking option in Rocca, at will....and thats what they did.

If a Tarrant-type player was there, if they all swamped to Rocca....Tarrant would have been basically on his own on a lead. This would never have happened...but it would have given Rocca at least a 1v2 contest...maybe even a one-on-one on Scarlett, instead of a 1v3 or 1v4.
I dont remember a single contest where Rocca was on out against Scarlett....and its my belief that if there had been a few, Rocca would have killed him, as Scarlett isnt that kind of defender. But given how our forward line was setup, we were swamped and Rocca was too slow to escape

Reid on the other hand is (atm) very much a leading forward. Fast and agile.
Rusling is much less agile, but also very very fast on the lead.


This was the kind of player we, in hindsight, i believe we were missing. And thats what i meant by my comment re missing Tarrant. Not that we needed Chris Tarrant....but that we needed fast leading forward.

[melissa]

I'm sick of people saying Collingwood were gallant in a loss, it might have applied in the game against the Dawks but yesterday we didn't come to play at all, and quite frankly i, like Mick, wasn't impressed. I've seen the Pies harder at the ball, tackle harder and kick straighter than they did against Geelong. Medhurst, Bryan, Davis and Rocca were terrible, and Harry couldn't do a thing right, which is rare for him. I still won't write Bryan off because we need a back up ruckman and he is better than Richards and also kicks goals. BOG? Probably Tarks and definitely Cloke. Very happy with his efforts and two weeks of straight kicking for goal! We just didn't come to play, there were too many players doing far too little and to get a positive out of it, the fact that we were so flat and weren't thrashed like the Weagles means we are still a top four side, INMO.