Finals Week 3 – Geelong v Sydney: Deja 2
By Gary Caulfield
What an incredibly disappointing way for the Cats to end
I felt like I had seen it all before though somehow
Hang on, I had
And no, not the Collingwood v Geelong game at the MCG n Round 9, when the Pies blew the Cats away early with 7 goals to 0 in the 1st quarter as well
But Geelong v Swans in Round 16 this season
Here’s a list of what I saw that night
- Swans bounce out of the blocks early to hit the Cats hard
- Cats never recover from initial onslaught
- Cats looked flat after a week of rest & no game to play
- Final scoreline for the Cats = 60 points
- Cats totally dominate forward 50 Entries strangely though
- Game played in Cats forward half by far greater percentage of game time strangely too
- Cats forward line completely ineffective & lack any semblance of an efficient game plan of bringing it in there
- Not surprisingly, Tom Hawkins has very little impact at all as a result
- Swans players take numerous uncontested marks in Cats forward 50 with frustrating monotony from it being bombed in there haphazardly with seemingly no structured system in place
- Cats can’t handle the Swans re-knowned pressure & endure a horror night
- Swans kick 15 goals 8 behinds ( 15 goals 7 behinds in Prelim )
- Final margin 38 points ( 37 points in Prelim )
Chris Scott says;
“There are some serious areas to work on”
So what did the Cats players, Chris Scott & his coaching team learn from that?
Clearly nothing at all sadly
As it was the same result & same story all over again, but when it mattered most this time
And who else was bewildered to see Chris Scott casually leaning up against the wall & cleaning something from his teeth moments before his team prepares to run out for a cut throat Prelim Final
Then Joel Selwood inexplicably finding something to laugh & smile about as he leads his team up the race before stepping out onto the ground in a cauldron of pressure
Plus, the obvious fact for all to see, that Lachie Henderson is a far better player in defense than he ever has been in attack
And what kind of team huddle was that poor attempt in the rooms before the game started where some players didn’t quite get to join in before it suddenly broke up as the stragglers tried too late
Hopefully these are 4 things I actually won’t see ever again
And here are a couple that were strange to hear, that I wish I hadn’t as well
Chris Scott replies to the comment about what happens if the Swans get off to a flying start just like they did the week before against the Crows, that he saw first hand at the game himself
“We have some things put in place to prepare for that”
So I wonder what they were & when they were meant to be activated with a 7.2 to 0.5 scoreline at quarter time?
And Brian Cook saying prior to the Prelim even starting that they will be extending Chris Scott’s contract beyond 2017
I’m not so sure about the timing of that now either unfortunately
As we have been waiting for Chris Scott to repeat not only another Grand Final appearance, but the Premiership success of his very first year, as he now prepares to enter into a 6th year since that
Let’s hope he handles this kind of pressure the next time around better than he does the one from the Swans
A few players with a few Q? marks @ the cattery. Prior to the match the big conversation piece was Jimmy Bartel; he played well. A few others though, hmmmm.
Time for Andrew Mackie to move on ? Shannon Motlop, not a chap who fires under pressure. Trade ? Lachie Henderson looked out of his depth on the big stage. He might settle in 2017, but this match was not a very auspicious event for him. Was Tom Hawkins there ? I won’t mention Rhyss Stanley.
Don’t be too despondent Cat fans. The talk was of a flag in 2017, and that’s a strong possibility. 2016 is a stepping stone.
Glen!
It was a shocker Gary. No physical presence from the big blokes (something Harmsy has mentioned a few times this year), no physical presence from some of our supposed hard nuts (Caddy, Menegola, Mc Carthy), no presence at all from Sharon Motlop, no desire from the likes of Duncan and Guthrie, nought from our old mate Mackie (time to go), and a poor response after the game. Where was the anger? The hurt? Seemed like they couldn’t give a stuff. Only a few looked disappointed. The rest looked sheepish.
But they were shown up by a brilliant footy team. Swans will be hard to knock off.
Too right, Gary:
Sydney played how I thought they would (but hoped they wouldn’t).
Chris Scott kept assuring everyone we would be ready (probably too much so). In his post-match press conference he even claimed we were ready. Clearly we weren’t. He rightly praised Sydney, but there was also an element of ‘excuse’ about it – that it was ‘them causing our lacklustre showing, not us, so I don’t need to try and explain it’.
I’ve written previously about our flat patches and our poor performances at the pointy end of seasons since 2011. I don’t get any real sense of lessons being learned or an understanding of anything that needs to be addressed. Some awareness would be reassuring.
The future belongs to Giants and Bulldogs, if Swans don’t get on an extended roll.
Footy standards would appear to be in good hands, though.
Given the Swans kick the first three, and a recurring theme is staring us in the face, would you not try to close the game down? Stack the backline and make the game a wrestle until quarter time? Until the sparkle goes out of their eyes? Reset when only three or four goals down?
If one player goes backwards it’s on him. If four (Motlop, Caddy, Duncan, Blicavs) go backwards it’s on the coach.
And I don’t see one young star on the list (Nakia notwithstanding.)