Geelong v West Coast

Geelong v West Coast. Discuss.

Comments

  1. I’ve never been so excited about a game that I fully expect to lose by 10 goals…

    Am about to wander down to the pub for a couple of nerve-settlers, and then on the ground. Have dusted off the old ‘Premiers 2006’ t-shirt (not frequently worn since about 2007) for the occasion!

    Go Eagles!

  2. Martin Flanagan summed up my thoughts beautifully in The Age this morning,

    “I expect the Eagles to lose today, but at some point they will have a winning chance.”

    That should please PeterB!

  3. Compared to last night, this has had the intensity of a practice match.

    Cats will just be worried about injuries.

  4. Jackson and his mate Sugun aren’t even watching the last quarter. They’re out on the trampoline wrestling and talking about next week. Talk about confident.

  5. We were never going to win, but even so, that was disappointing.

    Our defenders (Schofield, McKenzie, Glass, et al) looked they were trying out for Perth Glory, attempting to defend without using their arms.

    Also, I have never seen so many chest marks by opposition defenders inside our 50.

    The positives … there weren’t many. NicNat provided some highlights and Shuey showed that he has learnt from his last MCG final.

    Finally, thank $%&* Beau Waters was playing. It would have been very ugly without him.

  6. Richard Naco says

    Happy Face!

  7. What do you get when you cross The Nullarbor Plains with Last Year’s Wooden Spooner? The Mother of a Hiding. Boom! Boom! Now we can all get some sleep.

  8. The Avenging Eagle and I flew out of Perth last night to escape the shame and ignominy (and visit my parents in Adelaide). What can I say? Congrats to JTH, Phantom, Dips, PJF, Richard and all the other Catters. You were way, way too skilful. I had 2 reflections on the game – the Cats ability to hit targets under pressure by hand or foot was terrific (terrible?) to watch. Secondly, how come the Pies and Hawks got to play on half the ground on Friday night, and we had to contend with the Cats having all that open space? We could have been competitive playing in a shoe box too. Seriously, I would like a learned Knacker to explain the tactics that denied so much space and time on Friday night. It was like the best Rugby Union game you have ever seen.
    For our boys – Waters and Natanui were amazing. Cox, Lynch, LeCras (we need to find a way to use his skills – he has had a shocker most of this year) and Embley were stuffed. Kerr, Priddis, Shuey, Butler, Kennedy all worked hard. I am convinced that Natanui, Darling, Shuey and Gaff are all going to be A Graders and will improve in leaps and bounds from this year’s experience. The big question is whether the old guys bodies will let them have another largely injury free year. I have my doubts, and the middling group are just triers. IF we can hold it all together we are serious contenders next year.
    Either way it has been the most enjoyable footy year in my memory because expectations were so low.
    Finally the Freo Feral, Les Everett, and I may be able to agree on something – Go Cats.

  9. Mr PB

    Commiserations and bad luck. Wooden spooners to 4th in a season, that’s a great turn around. That’s not a bad return to take into 2012.

    I will speak as an unlearned Almanacer in offering this opinion: The difference between Friday night’s use of the MCG and Saturday afternoon was simple science. It was about time and motion. The more time you give the Cats (or Pies) the more motion you give them as well. Both the Cats and the Pies move the ball more quickly, skilfully and assuredly than any other in the comp. Shut that down (or put intense pressure on that) and you can start to unpick their game. More importantly, take control of time and motion. But (and here’s the real kicker) you have to apply that pressure for the whole game, as the Hawks found out the hard way.

    Oh and about your reference to “escaping the shame and ignominy” by going to Adelaide. Speaking as someone who grew up in Perth, I reckon you’ve chosen unwisely there my friend. :)

  10. PB

    Commiserations. But you should have let the Blues win last week. :)

    As for performing under pressure, Geelong had to demonstrate precious little of that.

  11. Forget the game, what about Johno’s knee?

    Well done Ctas – any prelim final win is a good one. Eagles had a very tough ride on the way through. Plenty of travel, tough game against the Blues.

    Bring on the pies.

  12. Go Pies.

    Only joking…

  13. Alovesupreme says

    PeterB,
    Comiserations on the outcome on Saturday, but congratulations on the Eagles’ performances over the season. Thank you also for your entertaining contributions on the Almanac.

    While I was watching the game on Saturday, I was reflecting on what a remarkable effort the 1990 Eagles produced. That year, they tied the eventual premiers, and played four successive week-ends in Melbourne. They only came away with a single win against Melbourne, as well as the near miss against Collingwood, but that they actually fronted up on the fourth Saturday against Essendon was an achievement. Essendon had only played on one of those four weeks (and didn’t it show in the 1990 GF), and at the time, understanding of the demands on players of the scale of travel involved was much less developed.

  14. I would rather have a small forward than a tall defender out for Saturday.

    Darren Milburn’s last game perhaps.

    What was thet great line from Pink Floyd’s “Sheep”? Get out of the way, if you want to grow old. (Most reliable kick for goal that the Cats have)

  15. Amazing that 2 weeks ago, we had 2 X-faxtors prowling the forward 50, having kicked 80-odd goals between them, and now we may have neither.

    Maybe Dasher can bring a touch of unpredictability to the forward line…

  16. If he plays he is certain to bring a bit of unease to the Pies forward line.

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