Let it Burn and Learn from the Humiliation

[swoodley]

Realistically, it was a terrible performance today and a lot of players did not enhance their reputations with their efforts.

BUT

We now have 22 players with extra finals experience (although several will probably not be playing in our next final) and especially for the young players, they will (hopefully) have learned a bitter lesson in how much harder finals are and now know that they need to train harder, get fitter and stronger so that they can come back next year and improve.

A disappointing end to the season but there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel.

[Ossie]

True. As rubbish as today was, no-one gave us much chance of making the eight and we claimed some good scalps this season (Geel, WCE, Syd, StK and Bulldogs). We've improved and if we keep doing that we can't complain (f*** me James Hird's brainwashed me! )

[MH_Bomber]

The prospect of going to Perth and playing a pretty good West Coast wasnt something to look forward to but I really think we are a lot better side than we showed today. There didnt seem to be much passion out there. I hope the players are gutted and let this burn in their collective memory about how hard they will need to work and when you get a chance you must take it.

[Royza]

Experience in getting thrashed doesn't help. Getting their arses kicked in another pre-season will.
Injuries really f***** us over, didn't really have a stable line-up after Demps & Winders went down.

[MH_Bomber]

So next year we should have a Dempsey and Winderlich back but their games are entirely based on running.They need to make complete recoveries. We definitely looked slow. Even Davey and Jetta looked slow today. I think more slow in the mind signalling the feet to run freaking fast.

We will also have Crameri and a fit Pears. We will also get Prismall back who in the last few games he played was actually looking he had finally come of age.

[stryper]

Let what burn? Exactly the same dished up today as the final against Adelaide.
Give me a break.
Have a crack damn it.
Is that too much to ask???

[swoodley]

Let what burn? Exactly the same dished up today as the final against Adelaide.
Give me a break.
Have a crack damn it.
Is that too much to ask???

No...it wasn't the same....although the score was bad, we played the game out which we didn't do in Adelaide.

A lot of the young guys who are our future will be feeling sick to their stomachs after today and their hatred of Carlton will grow as will their desire to improve.

We now have the coaching panel to help them improve.

Heppell, Hardingham, Colyer, Carlisle, Howlett & Melksham are all part of our future and it was their first final.

Hurley & Zaharakis played in their second final.

All will be better prepared next time and have a greater understanding of what is required.

[bombercol]

It went Pear shaped with...Pears injury. (sorry)

Meant we lost Carlisle up forward who was contesting and kicked a goal, to man up on Setanta O'Halpin.

Carlisle did a great job taking OHalpin out of the game, but we missed him up forward and his contests. It also meant we'd bomb it forward with no one home. It upset our balance.

We may have still lost, but we have an injury curse against Carlton this year.

This will be a positive for next year - losing in Melbourne in front of our people in a final. Great experience. Let it grind them over summer and make them want more next year. Bit of tinkering with the list.....lets look forward.

[ealesy]

You should never take a player into a final if they have serious injury concerns over them.

Pears cops a hairline fracture in the leg, misses two week, comes back, gets subbed off early, misses another week, comes back, gets subbed off early, has another week of with the bye, comes back today and gets subbed off after a quarter.

Clearly wasn't right to play and Hird should've known about the dangers of playing unfit players in Finals after the woeful performances both he and Mercuri produced in the 2001 Grand Final going in carrying injuries.

[Gyoza]

Even Davies

Who?

[billyduckworth]

Just got home from the game. Haven't really had time yet to calm down/let it sink in.

All I can say at this stage is that HUMILIATION is definitely the correct word.
They made us look like underfed schoolboys. We made just about every basic error I can possibly think of.

In some ways, I reckon it was actually WORSE than 2009. At least that time we had some excuses - playing in Adelaide, Lloyd & Ryder suspended, playing Natrat in the ruck, etc. But what was our excuse today? We looked totally inept.

[tonysoprano]

Just got home from the game. Haven't really had time yet to calm down/let it sink in.

All I can say at this stage is that HUMILIATION is definitely the correct word.
They made us look like underfed schoolboys. We made just about every basic error I can possibly think of.

In some ways, I reckon it was actually WORSE than 2009. At least that time we had some excuses - playing in Adelaide, Lloyd & Ryder suspended, playing Natrat in the ruck, etc. But what was our excuse today? We looked totally inept.

could not agree more if I tried.

[bomberdonnie]

Just got home from the game. Haven't really had time yet to calm down/let it sink in.

All I can say at this stage is that HUMILIATION is definitely the correct word.
They made us look like underfed schoolboys. We made just about every basic error I can possibly think of.

In some ways, I reckon it was actually WORSE than 2009. At least that time we had some excuses - playing in Adelaide, Lloyd & Ryder suspended, playing Natrat in the ruck, etc. But what was our excuse today? We looked totally inept.

could not agree more if I tried.

Nor I

[j-mac31]

You should never take a player into a final if they have serious injury concerns over them.

Pears cops a hairline fracture in the leg, misses two week, comes back, gets subbed off early, misses another week, comes back, gets subbed off early, has another week of with the bye, comes back today and gets subbed off after a quarter.

Clearly wasn't right to play and Hird should've known about the dangers of playing unfit players in Finals after the woeful performances both he and Mercuri produced in the 2001 Grand Final going in carrying injuries.

Amen. =D> =D> =D>

[pevfan]

just so totally over it...A case of same old same old this season on the injury front, only worse.

I can never get over how Geelong seem to get by year after year with SFA injuries...Even given the bad one they copped on Fri...a promising youngster certainly, but hardly one of their keys.

IMO given the same amazing run the Cats have had now for the past 4 seasons FFS we would have performed a lot better than we have over that time...probably wouldn't have won any flags mind you but the attrition rate on our key players has been simply appalling. I wont mention all the outs from our best 22 that were missing today...the Dempseys, Winders, Crameri's (Huge loss there) Constant and debilitating injuries take their toll on any sports person esp. at the elite level. Look at the likes of Hille, Hurley, Pears, even Jobe, they were all out there on the park today but how much have past (as well as current) injury taken away from their overall performance level....It's incalculable. I'm going to throw in Davey into this mix as well. I reckon injury has just about ruined him...he had huge upside early on in his career, but now....

[uptick]

just so totally over it...A case of same old same old this season on the injury front, only worse.

I can never get over how Geelong seem to get by year after year with SFA injuries...Even given the bad one they copped on Fri...a promising youngster certainly, but hardly one of their keys.

IMO given the same amazing run the Cats have had now for the past 4 seasons FFS we would have performed a lot better than we have over that time...probably wouldn't have won any flags mind you but the attrition rate on our key players has been simply appalling. I wont mention all the outs from our best 22 that were missing today...the Dempseys, Winders, Crameri's (Huge loss there) Constant and debilitating injuries take their toll on any sports person esp. at the elite level. Look at the likes of Hille, Hurley, Pears, even Jobe, they were all out there on the park today but how much have past (as well as current) injury taken away from their overall performance level....It's incalculable. I'm going to throw in Davey into this mix as well. I reckon injury has just about ruined him...he had huge upside early on in his career, but now....

But please remember, yesterday wasn't about being crueled by injury, it was, about, not being calm in a crisis. Panicky kicks was the order of the day. Even Hurley, played on after marks instead of going back and taking a considered short. Monfries, & "heater" were our two standouts for following , and executing the game plan, under duress.

[Windy_Hill]

Fisrtly, I heard that Pears did a hammy - nothing to do with his hairline fracture issues


I am interested that no one has mentioned the bye

We simply looked out of form....it reminded me of how we played against Collingwood during the 1990 finals series - we missed an additional week due to the replay of Col vs WCE and just looked flat from that point onwards


Maybe it had no effect at all?

[billyduckworth]

Good point, no-one has mentioned the bye yet. We certainly did look very flat, bordering on disinterested at times. It was like "it's been a long season, I'm tired". I thought the bye would freshen them up and get rid of any niggles. But obviously it didn't.

[Sismis]

Fisrtly, I heard that Pears did a hammy - nothing to do with his hairline fracture issues


I am interested that no one has mentioned the bye

We simply looked out of form....it reminded me of how we played against Collingwood during the 1990 finals series - we missed an additional week due to the replay of Col vs WCE and just looked flat from that point onwards


Maybe it had no effect at all?

It may have had an effect at the start, but we then kicked the next three goals and had a handy lead. I don't think it was a factor at all.

It was a failure of execution pure and simple. Our skills were terrible. We won 2 contests out of 18. Our small forwards did nothing, theirs tore us apart. Their talls, universally slammed for being "shit trucks" gave ours a bath.

If you're name wasn't Hocking or Monfries then you had a shocker.

[rockhole]

Fisrtly, I heard that Pears did a hammy - nothing to do with his hairline fracture issues


I am interested that no one has mentioned the bye

We simply looked out of form....it reminded me of how we played against Collingwood during the 1990 finals series - we missed an additional week due to the replay of Col vs WCE and just looked flat from that point onwards


Maybe it had no effect at all?

It may have had an effect at the start, but we then kicked the next three goals and had a handy lead. I don't think it was a factor at all.

It was a failure of execution pure and simple. Our skills were terrible. We won 2 contests out of 18. Our small forwards did nothing, theirs tore us apart. Their talls, universally slammed for being "shit trucks" gave ours a bath.

If you're name wasn't Hocking or Monfries then you had a shocker.

There is a massive gulf between our best and worst. Add finals pressure to the mix and our worst was magnified twofold. Heppell, for example, who has been ice cool all year, made some fundamental errors which simply would not have happened during the season and I am not picking him out as the only one.

Players of lesser ability wilted under the pressure and made shocking decisions. Several were shown up as simply not up to the mark and the only interest I now have in the year is to see who is retained and who goes. The improvement has to come from players like Melksham, Howlett, Carlisle, Heppell and Pears, Colyer etc as guys like Gus and Stants probably do not have much improvement left in them.

Hirdy is suggesting that we should look at the season as a whole, and I guess he is right, but it still does not overcome the hurt and disappointment of trudging out of the ground listening to that shit song sung by shit supporters for a shit team.