WHY CATS NEED MENZEL
‘I’ve just got to train well and put my best foot forward’ — Menzel
AFL coaches constantly talk about focusing on the things they can control.
They talk about how there is no point wasting energy on “the uncontrollables” because those things will take care of themselves.
One key area where a coach can have a strong influence is at the selection table.
Of course, there are a few people who sit in on team selection meetings, including assistant coaches and the football manager.
On occasions, members of the leadership group may have some input into certain decisions.
But rarely, if ever, does a coach not get to have the 22 players he wants to represent his team run out onto the ground — particularly in a final.
So the choice to omit Daniel Menzel for Geelong’s qualifying final against Richmond has the potential to haunt Chris Scott for years to come if the Cats fail to progress any further this season.
Those arguing Menzel would not have kicked the nine goals required to overcome the eventual 51-point margin are missing the point.
Nobody is suggesting the South Australian would have gone anywhere near achieving those sorts of numbers.
But structurally the Cats looked completely out of whack when going forward.
Quite apart from his goalkicking tally of 38 — the second highest of any Cat this year — it is his aerial capacity and strength in the contest that were missing on Friday night.
As a marking player, Menzel would have provided another option for Geelong’s midfielders to look to other than Harry Taylor, who was beaten convincingly in his return bout with Alex Rance.
Of the 72 marks Menzel took from 17 home-and-away games, 27 were inside-50, and his ability to bring the footy to ground when unable to take possession in the air has been invaluable.
Just what was Scott thinking?
Menzel is extremely popular within the playing group and while tough decisions are part and parcel of life as an AFL coach, his omission had a ripple effect on the squad that even Scott may not have foreseen.
That was evident with how flat Geelong was for the first half — even by its standards, it was a start that reeked of a team that had been emotionally sapped in the lead-up to the game.
The 25-year-old’s so-called lack of forward pressure (22 tackles for the year) is not a new issue — he had laid eight tackles from his first 10 matches of the season so the signs were there long before now.
It is understood the nature of his ongoing contract situation has led to a breakdown in his relationship with the club.
That is not to suggest that would have had any bearing on team selection, because having come this far and with so much at stake it was hardly time to start making political decisions.
The issue may remain unresolved but despite that you have to take the coach at his word that omitting Menzel was about team balance, and that looking to this week he is “a very real option and someone that more than likely we would bring back.”
The biggest question now is whether Geelong can move on from the disaster of Friday night to focus on the task at hand.
The Sydney Swans await — a team that has had the better of the Cats on the past three occasions they have met.
Menzel did not play in either of the last two GeelongSydney contests.
As it stands, Swans coach John Longmire’s record in finals post-2011 sits at 9-7 from 16 games, including one premiership from three grand finals.
Scott’s record is 2-7 and despite finishing in the top four in 2013, 2014 and 2016, the Cats have not reached a grand final in that time.
Having finished second on the ladder this year, Geelong is again staring at an inglorious exit after promising so much throughout the home-andaway season.
It doesn’t have to be that way, though, and the advantage of finishing in the top four is that clubs, players and coaches get a chance to redeem themselves.
Just like Sydney last year, and Hawthorn the year before, there is no reason Geelong can’t reach a grand final the long way.
There is no reason Scott can’t get one up on Longmire in the coach’s box.
It will be tough, but that’s what finals is about and where reputations are enhanced, so there is hope yet that the Cats can turn things around.
Daniel Menzel would go a long way to helping achieve that aim, and when it comes to things Geelong can control, his inclusion for Friday night should be top of the list.