Gia

[LostDoggy]

The only concern I had from last week's game was Gia.

Anyone else notice that he wasn't quite himself? He was terribly slow, both in run and in thought, and he missed quite a few of his targets (and one kick across the ground just floated to no one in particular and the resultant turnover ended up a behind to the Saints that should have been a goal). I'm a huge Gia fan, but he was glaringly unique in that he had a terrible game while the rest of the team had a blinder... even deep into the fourth quarter, while everyone else was running around having a ball, he was still hesitant in his decision making and looked glad when the night was over.

A one-week aberration or something deeper?

[Mantis]

I noticed it Lantern. Watching the game live I thought Gia was pretty good in that won a fair bit of the ball. After watching a replay I noticed that his skill execution was below par and that his acceleration just wasn't there (has it ever?)

Not sure if it's worrying signs yet or not.

[GVGjr]

His stats flattered his game I thought. He was good in parts but never much better than that. Our midfield of Cross, Griffen, Cooney did not give him much of a look in and he was even on Milne for a while in the 3rd quarter I think.

[LostDoggy]

i've watched the replay and noticed that he bobbed up here and there, rather than being consistant. His efficiancy was at 68% percent and He'll agree it wasn't his best performance.

I agree with Mantis, he isn't the quickest player and wonder whether he's best suited as a flanker or permanent wide forward?

His fitness is questionable and don't know whether he can keep up with the midfield pace??

[GVGjr]

His fitness is questionable and don't know whether he can keep up with the midfield pace??

He cannot be 100% given the knee injury but generally fitness isn't an issue for him.

[ledge]

The way this thread is going sounds like Gia might be out to allow Eagleton in, does that sound a closer swap than Harbrow for Eagleton?

[LostDoggy]

He cannot be 100% given the knee injury but generally fitness isn't an issue for him.

I'd disagree with that. His ability to run out games, chase and tackle in the forward line has always been in question. Fantastic skill, not quite sure why his engine has never caught up??

[GVGjr]

I'd disagree with that. His ability to run out games, chase and tackle in the forward line has always been in question. Fantastic skill, not quite sure why his engine has never caught up??

I think that is more about the defensive ethic side of his game and I think his fitness is currently down a bit because of the knee injury.

[BulldogBelle]

Agree with you Lantern, I also thought Gia was a little off his game - he will bounce back very quickly I would imagine.

[alwaysadog]

If they were all injury free and perfect executors of every aspect of the game we'd win every week by 30+ goals.

IMHO he has been a very good contributor given his preparation and my only concern was he missed shots he should have made.

[LostDoggy]

I thought he played ok apart from having no depth in his kicks. I assume this is symptom of the recent knee injury.

[1eyedog]

I thought he played ok apart from having no depth in his kicks. I assume this is symptom of the recent knee injury.

Agreed I thought he looked ok, took a few bounces and tried to run through the middle. His kicking for goal is definately down and he appears to have lost some confidence in front of the sticks.

[alwaysadog]

Agreed I thought he looked ok, took a few bounces and tried to run through the middle. His kicking for goal is definately down and he appears to have lost some confidence in front of the sticks.

Round one he was making them look easy.

[Dancin' Douggy]

He got votes in the Herald sun

[wb_age]

I don't know what game you guys were watching, I went to the game and watched the replay. The only two things i could pick out was that one set shot where he failed to make the distance and secondly when he was streaming down the corridor he hand passed it to Johnno who was flat footed but was good enough to fend off his opponent.
Other than that he had a good game, landed and stuck his tackles.. some supporters are too hard to please!

[bornadog]

I think Gia played well without dominating. His 25 disposals shows he got to the ball. There was one passage of play in the third quarter where he passed the ball in the backline, ran the length of the ground to receive the ball again, passed it to Aker who kicked the goal. His work rate was fantastic. Yes he made a few clangers, but overall, I thought he played well and wouldn't be concerned.

[Mantis]

He got votes in the Herald sun

Yeah, but Dal Santo got votes in one of the paper's too..... Half the journo's just look at the stats at the end of the game.

[Sedat]

His complete lack of a pre-season will see him struggle to run out games until his match fitness catches up with the rest of the side. I think he has been outstanding in his 3 games considering the lack of pre-season.

[Twodogs]

His complete lack of a pre-season will see him struggle to run out games until his match fitness catches up with the rest of the side. I think he has been outstanding in his 3 games considering the lack of pre-season.



Barely did any preseason. He's been pretty good in spite of that and I've always marked him harder than other players.

[LostDoggy]

If they were all injury free and perfect executors of every aspect of the game we'd win every week by 30+ goals.


So near enough is good enough, then?

The best teams don't think that way. Thus the Cats of 2007 pretty much staying injury free all year and always looking to be "perfect executors of every aspect of the game", to use your phrase.. (I know they weren't all that good last week, having said that) ... the Cats last year made you pay with a goal whenever you made a mistake, and only teams with a commitment to flawless execution can do that.

If we are going to be happy that 'there will be injuries' and 'there will be up and down weeks', then look no further than the Saints in the last five years to see where we'll end up.

The very best teams DON'T get injured (or at least manage their injuries very, very well), and they DO execute their respective game-plans incredibly on a weekly basis. Until we get to that level we'd be kidding ourselves if we think we can win finals consistently.

[Topdog]

Gia was down last week. His kicking was off and although he got a lot of the ball he rarely did much with it.

His first 2 weeks were much better so I don't think it was a no pre season thing.

[LostDoggy]

ps. having said that, I was quite clear in my initial post that I am a HUGE Gia fan, and that if he was terrible, it was in contrast to the rest of the team, which I actually believed DID play to their absolute best in many ways (apart from Johnno, who was heavily tagged and did his job of taking the focus away from our other forwards).

I was at the game, and I have watched the replay, and while winning some ball, Gia's disposal was markedly down from his usual level, which is the one part of his game that was never in question. He was never the fastest player, nor the strongest, nor the most evasive, but his disposal by foot and hand is usually among the best in the team every week. Last week was noticeable for me because he was CONSISTENTLY missing targets, not only with shots on goal, but with kicks across the ground etc.. much like Cooney in week 1. Yet, as most have pointed out, he's coming off no pre-season, and had a knee injury to cope with.. surely these are pertinent issues that may explain a quicker onset of fatigue and therefore lower decision making capacity? Also, whether this would have consequences as we go deeper into the season with regards to his rotation off the bench, whether he would be used more sparingly, or if there may be some weeks where he is 'rested' and sent back to the reserves to protect him? (Are there ways of making up for a player missing pre-season, especially if the team is performing well, in order to get him cherry ripe for finals?)

These are the kinds of things I am looking to discuss, not whether or not 'Gia is a good player and undeserving of criticism for one bad performance'.

[hujsh]

So near enough is good enough, then?

The best teams don't think that way. Thus the Cats of 2007 pretty much staying injury free all year and always looking to be "perfect executors of every aspect of the game", to use your phrase.. (I know they weren't all that good last week, having said that) ... the Cats last year made you pay with a goal whenever you made a mistake, and only teams with a commitment to flawless execution can do that.


I wouldn't say the cat's were perfect executers. Against Collingwood at least 8 blokes were completely off thier game

[LostDoggy]

I wouldn't say the cat's were perfect executers. Against Collingwood at least 8 blokes were completely off thier game

Of course, but they would have identified the causes, and tried to make up for it, instead of just writing it off as 'one of those things'. It's not ABOUT being perfect, it's about ASPIRING to perfection, that sets the best teams apart.

Gia WASN'T up to his best on the weekend. A responsible team would identify this and seek reasons for it and see if there are aspects to be rectified (as I'm sure Rocket and Gia himself are). Believe me, at this level, either you do it or your opponents do it for you.

[Go_Dogs]

Of course, but they would have identified the causes, and tried to make up for it, instead of just writing it off as 'one of those things'. It's not ABOUT being perfect, it's about ASPIRING to perfection, that sets the best teams apart.

Gia WASN'T up to his best on the weekend. A responsible team would identify this and seek reasons for it and see if there are aspects to be rectified (as I'm sure Rocket and Gia himself are). Believe me, at this level, either you do it or your opponents do it for you.

Gia is very professional, I'm 100% certain he'd be beating himself up about and making sure he's ready to put in a big game on Friday night.

[LostDoggy]

Gia is very professional, I'm 100% certain he'd be beating himself up about and making sure he's ready to put in a big game on Friday night.

No question there.

The only questions are if there are deeper reasons to not playing his best than just having 'a bad night out'. If he isn't 100% fit then just beating himself up and pushing himself harder may be detrimental to him personally and to the team in a longer-term sense. As Aker said about himself last year, he was training too hard, and would probably have been better off managing his body better. I wonder if that may be the case for Gia this year, with his limited pre-season and knee issue.

Having said all this, it's purely a forum discussion issue, as I'm sure in this day and age of nth-degree detail, the club, Rocket and the medical staff are fully aware of the issues involved and would have a personalised recovery plan for Gia in regards to running himself into form/fitness throughout the year to peak at the right time.

[alwaysadog]

So near enough is good enough, then?

The best teams don't think that way. Thus the Cats of 2007 pretty much staying injury free all year and always looking to be "perfect executors of every aspect of the game", to use your phrase.. (I know they weren't all that good last week, having said that) ... the Cats last year made you pay with a goal whenever you made a mistake, and only teams with a commitment to flawless execution can do that.

If we are going to be happy that 'there will be injuries' and 'there will be up and down weeks', then look no further than the Saints in the last five years to see where we'll end up.

The very best teams DON'T get injured (or at least manage their injuries very, very well), and they DO execute their respective game-plans incredibly on a weekly basis. Until we get to that level we'd be kidding ourselves if we think we can win finals consistently.

You throw around a lot of surelatives Lantern, that I'm not sure apply to anyone short of the godhead and you completely rule out lady luck as having anything to do with injuries etc. It's an interesting theory.

[LostDoggy]

You throw around a lot of surelatives Lantern, that I'm not sure apply to anyone short of the godhead and you completely rule out lady luck as having anything to do with injuries etc. It's an interesting theory.

Haha alwaysadog.. I guess I do come off sounding a bit over-the-top sometimes.. maybe my nickname should be alwaysaGOD or something.

In any case, of course luck has a major, major part to play in injuries (I've had a knee reconstruction, a tripod fracture of the cheekbone, and a dislocated toe in the last three years, and every single one of them were purely a luck thing), and I wasn't really suggesting that we can dodge the bullet.

My point was a lot more to do with the best teams having really, really good pre-season and conditioning programs, as well as the best medicos around to manage injuries when they do happen. The Saints have acknowledged as much by reviewing their backroom staff the past few years when they seemed to be copping a few too many soft tissue injuries (which can be a lot more a conditioning issue than luck). The Dogs too, had a bit of a review when we had quite a few guys go down with knee injuries a couple of years back, to see if our conditioning programs were adequate. There are measures that can reduce the risk of injury -- like bulking up in the quad area to support the knee, for example -- without ever eliminating the risk completely of course. That's what most physio/rehab programs are about in any case, right?

No doubt luck has a lot to do with why Geelong have stayed healthy, but surely the fact that mature and hardened bodies conditioned by an extended pre-season, and picking big-bodied players in the first place, would have helped their cause. The same would apply to West Coast and the Roos.

[alwaysadog]

Haha alwaysadog.. I guess I do come off sounding a bit over-the-top sometimes.. maybe my nickname should be alwaysaGOD or something.

In any case, of course luck has a major, major part to play in injuries (I've had a knee reconstruction, a tripod fracture of the cheekbone, and a dislocated toe in the last three years, and every single one of them were purely a luck thing), and I wasn't really suggesting that we can dodge the bullet.

My point was a lot more to do with the best teams having really, really good pre-season and conditioning programs, as well as the best medicos around to manage injuries when they do happen. The Saints have acknowledged as much by reviewing their backroom staff the past few years when they seemed to be copping a few too many soft tissue injuries (which can be a lot more a conditioning issue than luck). The Dogs too, had a bit of a review when we had quite a few guys go down with knee injuries a couple of years back, to see if our conditioning programs were adequate. There are measures that can reduce the risk of injury -- like bulking up in the quad area to support the knee, for example -- without ever eliminating the risk completely of course. That's what most physio/rehab programs are about in any case, right?

No doubt luck has a lot to do with why Geelong have stayed healthy, but surely the fact that mature and hardened bodies conditioned by an extended pre-season, and picking big-bodied players in the first place, would have helped their cause. The same would apply to West Coast and the Roos.

There is no disagreement from me in what you say. I suspected you were going a bit hard in your earlier post for emphasis which is OK too, but like you I don't think near enough is good enough and neither do our players.

We know the soul searching that went on in the break, we know they've busted a gut on the track, we saw them dig deep and maul the Saints, now we want to see them apply that same ferocity every week. Not too many sides could compete.

Having said that I don't think every player can play at his best every week. Too many variables influence performance. I'd prefer it if we had a wide spread of best players over the season. It shows we have an even spread of quality and for those slighty off one week as long as they keep up the pressure and take the opportunities that come their way we'll do alright. I quoted Bernard Toohey somewhere recently " It might not be your day but it can always be your minute". That never give in and be ready when things fall for you, is what I suscribe to.

[LostDoggy]

I'd prefer it if we had a wide spread of best players over the season. It shows we have an even spread of quality and for those slighty off one week as long as they keep up the pressure and take the opportunities that come their way we'll do alright. I quoted Bernard Toohey somewhere recently " It might not be your day but it can always be your minute". That never give in and be ready when things fall for you, is what I suscribe to.

Very well said! :)