I agree with Synbad!!

I was in that North FP and the slaughter evolved in front of my eyes. Waite was either weak or clueless in the second term against North. Saddington was clearly too short for Hale and needed some form of chop out from the resident loose man in defence. Each and every time Jarrad had ample opportunity to back in to the marking contest and spoil and instead he just planted his dumb ass 5 metres in front, what Parko likes to call "halfway to no-mans land" and was rendered useless. He was the first defender to drop his head and it affected his game as he overan balls and misskicked with his left. The other thing that was awful was that there was no talk between the defenders, no effort to try and resolve the issue. We really turned to shit.

I really rate Waite, just not as defender.

Talking about Defence 101 assumes our boys are in University.

As I said before we are still playing at a Year 10 level.

Forget about Defence 101 - when our guys get there the top AFL sides will be into Defence 301 and then studying for their Masters.

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"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

Not sure about that.
A team with arguably the best midfield in the comp, one of the best forwards, a solid defence with run should be doing better then what we have been doing against the quality sides that are coached brilliantly

In order for "the best midfield" to be effcient, you need a good ruck division and we dont have that. And if you are weak at half forward and half back, well that does not help either. Compare this year to the last 2 and I think you should be happy. Rome was not built in a day. And "solid defence" nope not yet.

I'm wondering if Rhys meant best midfielder? I'd be surprised if he meant best midfield???

I don't think we have the best midfield in the comp.

We might have POTENTIALLY the best midfield. But it's far from consistant.

Stevens will be awesome one week, then crap the next.
Gibbs, since being sent into the centre, has been consistant, but is just into his 2nd season.
Murphy has tried hard,but had a few shockers.
Judd is really the only consistant player but is battling injury and taggers.

Murphy and Gibbs will be better next year and hitting their prime the year after that........... and that's exciting!

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"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit"
- Aristotle

Young players (all players for that matter) are ultimately a product of their coaches Molly.

I look at all the players on our list and think maybe some, if given more opportunity by the MC, could be producing more than others who've been given LOTS of opportunity and some who may develop in leaps and bounds if given more of an opportunity.

Fair enough too Budzy,

and for what it is worth, your boy in the Avatar (Anderson) is one who I reckon will thrive when he gets more opportunities!

Let me elaborate a little.

1. We have one 9 games this year, we managed 7 1/2 in the last two years.

2. Most experts had us finishing 15th - 16th. We will finish anywhere from 12th - 8th.

3. The kids have developed. Murphy and Gibbs have been outstanding this year. Jamsison, Grigg and Bower ( prior to injury ) have cemented spots in the team. Don't forget how harshly Pagan treated the kids last year, one bad error in a game and they were benched, then dropped with their confidence shot.

4. The players love Ratts and are playing for him. Happy players = wins. Refer to Pagan's record if you disagree.

5. The bleeding has stopped. We are not copping the beatings ( 100+ losses ) that we had last year. Our two worst defeats have been 55pts to the Cats after Collingwood smashed them and 51pts last week against a red hot Kangaroo's. Also note the comeback's. Against PA I thought we may have been in for a 10 goal thumping, under Pagan I have no doubt this would have occurred, we won the game. Ditto against the Bulldogs.

6. I love Ratts passion. Ratts displays a passion that I have not seen in our club for a long time. Make no mistake Ratts is coaching for the club not himself. He wants the club back where it belongs.

7. Respect. Teams now respect and fear us ( barring Geelong offcourse ). When we started the season 0 - 3 they were laughing at us. Now we are respected. No matter how far behind we are, teams know they are not safe until the final siren.


They are just some of the reason's I think Ratts has been great this year. I'm also very impressed with how he handle's himself in the media.

Has Ratts been outcoached and made mistakes this year? Offcourse he has, every coach has. If they weren't then every game would be a flowering draw.

Don't forget where we are coming from. Some may have expected finals this year but I think that was always a long shot, for some straight kicking against the Swans and Crows we may be in the 8 now but that's irrelevant. Progress has been made and next year will be our time. Judd will have a full pre-season next year, Kruezer will stronger and fitter as will Browne, Grigg, Bower, Armfield and others.

I'll expect finals next year, if we fail maybe then I'll question Ratts.

Excellent post!

You can also add a few points in that have been addressed

1. At the start of the year we couldn't win a last quarter. It was identified and addressed.

2. We complained that we bleed 100+ point in defense so easliy, it have for the most part been address even considering that our best back 6 haven't played more than 4 games together.

3. We had poor conversion against Port, was address against North.

4. Our players were looking for trades to get out of Carlton, now they all play for each other and visibly enjoy playing together and signed on for the most part.

Thanks for going to the trouble of writing my exact thoughts on the topic. I'll have to pay you back some time.

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Don't blame it on the sunshine, don't blame it on the moonlight, don't blame it on the good times, blame it on the WIGGINS!

I hope it's 'when' and not 'if'. Guys like Ando Jacko Pfeiff AB Blackers Jake SammyJ .. I just worry they might be flicked..

http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/f ... tml?page=2

Interesting view from the article by Jake Naill.........

There's a compelling argument that Geelong's actual "edge" was its patience; that the Cats actually walked the talk and truly embraced a long-term view, recognising when Mark Thompson arrived in 1999 that a premiership would probably take seven or eight years.

All clubs mouth the platitudes about "long-term" and "youth," but few of them are willing to stick with a coach for seven or eight years without much success, and few hold their nerve on an uncompromising youth policy when the natives get restless and ex-players begin calling for heads.

Not that Geelong was ideologically pure in its desire to build a team from scratch. The Cats were lucky that no one wanted to play for them, that they couldn't acquire the key forward they so desperately sought, and were forced to stick with kids.

Sadly it is the current society. Nobody wants to wait a minute for success by doing the hard yards, they (supporters) all want it yesterday.

Regards Cazzesman

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Ricky Gervais - “Everyone has the right to hold whatever beliefs they want. And everyone else has the right to find those beliefs f***ing ridiculous.”

You're really a glutton for punishment Cazz

I don't think Cazz saw GWS' post in the Kerr thread.

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“It is a state of mind, a system of belief, a way of seeing the world, a deep faith that, because you are Carlton, you belong to something great.” - Mike Fitzpatrick articulating what Out of the Blue means.

Oops. I hadn't seen the GWS post but I have now. Sorry about the double up GWS. Looks like I was reading Jake while GWS was posting about it.

After reading what GWS posted I think it is fair to say that Stephen Wells has changed his recruiting style over the past 3 years and has now stuck with the youth policy to complement the core he had built up.

Remembering that in late 2005 and early 2006 plenty of Geelong supporters were still calling for Wells head and the sacking of Thompson.

Regards Cazzesman

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Ricky Gervais - “Everyone has the right to hold whatever beliefs they want. And everyone else has the right to find those beliefs f***ing ridiculous.”

It was more this bit that GWS posted.......

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“It is a state of mind, a system of belief, a way of seeing the world, a deep faith that, because you are Carlton, you belong to something great.” - Mike Fitzpatrick articulating what Out of the Blue means.

Just found this

http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/spor ... shed_10th/

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|♥♥♥♥♥♥| http://www.blueseum.org |♥♥♥♥♥♥|

I rest my case Your Honor.

Regards Cazzesman

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Ricky Gervais - “Everyone has the right to hold whatever beliefs they want. And everyone else has the right to find those beliefs f***ing ridiculous.”

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“It is a state of mind, a system of belief, a way of seeing the world, a deep faith that, because you are Carlton, you belong to something great.” - Mike Fitzpatrick articulating what Out of the Blue means.