Can Dogs learn from Cats?
Geelong failed pressure test, punished for not dropping strugglers
THE Sydney blueprint has been laid bare. There are no secrets now. The Cats could not handle the Swans’ ballistic tackling heat last week and now the Western Bulldogs, who have absorbed three sudden-death finals, know what is ahead of them in tomorrow’s big dance. To paraphrase Patrick Dangerfield: you cannot win a game in the first quarter, but you can certainly lose one.
Teammate Cam Guthrie this week admitted Geelong was ready for the onslaught, but that Sydney “probably” produced a level not even the Cats thought possible. “And that showed,” Guthrie said. “They absolutely dominated that first quarter, and even the whole first half we struggled to go forward to score with any venom or clarity. They were too good.
“Our preparation was pretty flawless. We had what we wanted, we had some key players coming back in . . . and two weeks gave us a few weeks to get over any niggles we had.
“But Sydney just came out too hot for us and got it done.”
The Western Bulldogs have won more finals in the past month than Geelong has in the past five seasons.
For Geelong to make the most of its potential, it needs to find a solution to its finals flops next year.
In eight finals between 2012-16, the Cats have been favourites in six but won only two.
The two wins were come-frombehind efforts after poor starts and some of the losses were the result of being exposed by a clinical opponent that left the club’s pride in ruins on the MCG.
Twice in this period they have finished second on the ladder after the home-and-away season but have failed to even make a grand final.
Geelong persisted too long with under-performing players who may only have needed a refresh in the VFL to find their form.
Luke Beveridge had the conviction to drop Jake Stringer to the VFL.
Stringer has not necessarily been electric since but he kicked three important goals against Hawthorn and it proved that Beveridge would not stand for players who were not meeting the standard. The Dogs are in a grand final.
John Longmire had the conviction to drop young prodigy Isaac Heeney. Heeney’s finals series has been extraordinary. The Swans are in a grand final.
Geelong did not have the conviction to drop anyone, except those on the fringe whose development stalled as a result.
Perhaps Chris Scott’s fault here is he showed too much loyalty to these players.
It effectively allowed the pattern of inconsistency to continue — the highs and lows in the team’s performance all season were too far apart — and that is not healthy. The tipping point was the preliminary final disaster.
The main commentary thread to emerge out of the weekend is Geelong’s next tier of players behind the Dangerfield-Selwood slipstream needs to stand up. Lots of talent in that bracket of Guthrie, Mitch Duncan, Josh Caddy and Steven Motlop, but who is the next genuine A-grader? That is the difference between prelims and premierships.
Sam Menegola, previously rejected by two AFL clubs, probably showed more than all of them in the back end of the season — and that is because he was made to fight for his spot more than any others. He played on the edge.
One wonders that without Dangerfield, would the Cats have finished top-four? Did his arrival alone mask a few problems?
Perhaps it is why Geelong is seemingly interested in Brett Deledio to add a third A-grader to the mix. The Cats have been linked to Hayden Ballantyne, too. He might be public enemy No.1 at Geelong but how much more potent would the forward line look if there was another whippet of his quality at the fall of the ball?
Both are 29. It’s a boom-or-bust approach.
Geelong’s post-season review has started a week earlier than the club had hoped. There is a lot to work with but there is no denying the club is about to enter a defining 12 months where expectations will be even bigger than this year.