Match Day SEMI FINAL Geelong v Sydney MCG 7.50pm Friday 15 September

[barry]

Some say that a few of our players are "cream on top". In footy jargon that translates to front-runners.

Compare to the Kirk and Barry Hall era's we have too many front runners and need to get a bit of grit "Cortina's" back in there....

[stevoswan]

Match Day SEMI FINAL Geelong v Sydney MCG 7.50pm Friday 15 September

There's been lots of theorizing on this thread about last night's game, some of it good, some of it bad and some of it completely whack. Here's my take on the sad end to our season.

I think we were complacent going into this match, much like we were leading into the 2014 GF. When things didn't go our way early on, we were on the back foot and therefore mentally under pressure. The umpires then helped continue to build Geelong's confidence with some obvious assistance and the ghosts of last years GF come back to haunt our players, when they realised they're efforts were not going to be duly rewarded. Panic sets in and our structures and coolness under pressure desert us and the mental and physical pressure of 19 weeks of 'elimination finals' finally catches up with our team, leaving them lethargic, confused and feeling hopeless....not the basis to mount a stirring comeback from.

While very disappointing, it's not really surprising.......So what do the club do? Well, certainly not panic and sack coaches and players! Longmire will stay....get over it! The list needs to be looked at and maybe players who are proven chokers moved on (Rohan, as much as I love what he sometimes does, I have to agree with Barry, he is a finals liability).

Our main problem lies with lack of salary cap space, so we may have to make do largely with what we've got. Our depth is good. We have some good talent coming through and the younger senior players will improve further. Our older senior players are fine but we will need to get a gun KPD in the next season or two and some more speed.

I have no idea what to do with Kurt.....he is very talented but can't stay on the park long enough. Do we trade him while he's still got some value or keep him in the knowledge that we may have to pay half his salary for someone to take him? The off season will be intriguing and may shape the club fortunes for many season's to come.....but I have faith in our club to move forward sensibly and successfully.

Not the time to panic....the club should take a few deep breaths, make measured decisions and look within themselves and their 'Bloods culture' to find the answers to our finals brain fades.....before the younger players become tainted by that failure. We have a winning culture at our club but we risk developing a 'nearly there' culture which will not bode well for our future.....I will go so far as to say if we make the finals next year but don't go all the way, a slide down the ladder is on the cards.....massive effort for little reward is draining on all involved and any clubs 'culture' can only stand up for so long under those circumstances.....

while I feel our club is at a fairly perilous crossroad after last night, I still have confidence our club will prevail.

[Hotpotato]

Please construct paragraphs.
Makes yr 'slab' much easier to read .

[O'Reilly Boy]

There's been lots of theorizing on this thread about last night's game, some of it good, some of it bad and some of it completely whack. Here's my take on the sad end to our season. I think we were complacent going into this match, much like we were leading into the 2014 GF. When things didn't go our way early on, we were on the back foot and therefore mentally under pressure. The umpires then helped continue to build Geelong's confidence with some obvious assistance and the ghosts of last years GF come back to haunt our players, when they realised they're efforts were not going to be duly rewarded. Panic sets in and our structures and coolness under pressure desert us and the mental and physical pressure of 19 weeks of 'elimination finals' finally catches up with our team, leaving them lethargic, confused and feeling hopeless....not the basis to mount a stirring comeback from. While very disappointing, it's not really surprising.......So what do the club do? Well, certainly not panic and sack coaches and players! Longmire will stay....get over it! The list needs to be looked at and maybe players who are proven chokers moved on (Rohan, as much as I love what he sometimes does, I have to agree with Barry, he is a finals liability). Our main problem lies with lack of salary cap space, so we may have to make do largely with what we've got. Our depth is good. We have some good talent coming through and the younger senior players will improve further. Our older senior players are fine but we will need to get a gun KPD in the next season or two and some more speed. I have no idea what to do with Kurt.....he is very talented but can't stay on the park long enough. Do we trade him while he's still got some value or keep him in the knowledge that we may have to pay half his salary for someone to take him? The off season will be intriguing and may shape the club fortunes for many season's to come.....but I have faith in our club to move forward sensibly and successfully. Not the time to panic....the club should take a few deep breaths, make measured decisions and look within themselves and their 'Bloods culture' to find the answers to our finals brain fades.....before the younger players become tainted by that failure. We have a winning culture at our club but we risk developing a 'nearly there' culture which will not bode well for our future.....I will go so far as to say if we make the finals next year but don't go all the way, a slide down the ladder is on the cards.....massive effort for little reward is draining on all involved and any clubs 'culture' can only stand up for so long under those circumstances.....while I feel our club is at a fairly perilous crossroad after last night, I still have confidence our club will prevail.

I just can't see that Rohan choked: the game was lost in the guts, and its just not fair to pick on the outside players. The narrative about his showing in the 2016 GF seems to overlook how badly injured he was in the Adelaide semi last year, and that it was almost a miracle that he got back on the field?and arguably shouldn't have been selected.

Last night we never got the ball outside, let alone under control into 50. We were playing one behind the ball, and Franklin was crocked, so we had no hope of maintaining defensive pressure inside forward 50: Rohan, Papley, Towers, Hewitt spent most of the game chasing the lateral kicks to the free man across half back. There was no way that he?or any of the outside players?could have any influence on the game. I'd be pointing the finger at the engine room: Parker, Heeney (who was clearly a shadow of himself), Kennedy. Perhaps Jones should have gone to the centre bounces to get some mongrel going.

I'd also be thinking about how the selection system works: too often players are put on the field who end up being liabilities?that was the story of the 2016 GF for mine: carrying well over half a dozen players who were nowhere near match fit. I suspect last night something similar was happening. We celebrate the Bloods culture of strapping up and running on, at freaks like Adam Goodes playing on without functional ligaments, and we scoff at Kurt Tippett's fragility, but teams carrying underdone players get found out more often than not.

[chammond]

Had to chuckle at this:

Complete 'stab in the dark' theorizing.....unless your in the inner sanctum of the club, this is complete speculation and probably so far from the truth, it would be staggering.

You could copy and paste this response to 99% of the posts on RWO, and it would be accurate in every instance.

[stevoswan]

Please construct paragraphs.
Makes yr 'slab' much easier to read .

Please tell me how....I've never learnt. True story.....

Had to chuckle at this:



You could copy and paste this response to 99% of the posts on RWO, and it would be accurate in every instance.

True........

[Sandrevan]

What a crap way to end the season - our worst defeat for the entire year. Like a lot of others on here I hold the view that we could not keep playing that way we have for the second half of the year. It's a major achievement just to make finals after the 0-6 start. I was hopeful of a comeback until about half way through the 3rd quarter then I realised it was all over red rover. The boys looked tired both mentally and physically. I don't think the umpiring made a difference - sure Dangerfield got a couple of freebies but we got some as well. Some on here have said it reminded them of the 2014 gf - i tend to agree with this as well. We go in as hot favourites, then get smashed.

I suspect that Chris Scott and Co had a good look at the Swans vs Hawthorn games this year. After the game was finished I thought the Swans have just been "Hawthorned" - by Geelong. I also wondered for a fleeting moment if Chris Scott had called up Alistair Clarkson.

The boys looked very upset after the game which is no surprise. i'm not going to take aim at any of them - they just looked off for the whole game. Too many fumbles and too many cheap turnovers. Looking on the bright side they get 2 extra weeks of holiday before they start back for the pre-season.