Why Are Geelong Still So Good? (except for last week)

[comrade]

This might be weird timing after we belted them, but the reason we all felt such exhilaration on the weekend was because, to be quite frank, we've been Geelong's bitches for the last 10 years.

In fact, one of the most annoying things about following the Dogs over the last 20 years has been the yearly bitch slapping we've received from Geelong. The fixturing obviously hasn't helped - apparently 9 times out of the last 10 years we've been forced to play at their shit hole which is more than any other side. I swear they must put in a special request every season.

But beyond the home ground advantage, they have been able to beat us more often than not even when we're going ok. And they continue to stay up year after year while we yo-yo.

The win we just had was such a surprise and such a rarity that it raised a question that I don't have the footy IQ to answer so I'm opening it up to the minds of WOOF.

Why have Geelong been so good for so long? What's the difference between us and them? Even this year, they shouldn't be top 8 given their lack of midfield but they are. How do they do it?

I was trawling the other forum last night and came across this post on the Geelong board which I thought gave some interesting insight:


Football is a game of phases and spacing. You can be deficient in all but one but if you trap the game there then you win.
Every year we have something we're better then every other club. Every year Scott is laser focused on getting us there and keeping us there for as long as possible. Clubs that are more generalist or more follow the leader-esque, fall into the trap. We won our first 7 games on teams trying to be 2023 Collingwood. We got our mojo back later in the year, when we had a synergy between what we were trying to do and what players we had in the 22. Our challenge is getting the ball in a closed situation, we don't win the contest we don't intercept, that's fine we don't need to win these areas as long as we're not beaten too bad we'll win it with efficiency.

Is that the answer? If so, what can we be better at than any other club? It feels like a long time since we could claim that (Handball Club & third man up rings a bell). Are we getting somewhere with our ultra tall spine?

Interested to get some other thoughts...

[mighty_west]

Geelong are my number 1 team i want us to beat every year, mainly because they have had our measure for far too long and our record at Kardinia is abysmal to say the least.

Just think their structure and system, they recruit well and never bottom out always filling gaps by trading in players of need. Also as much as i'd hate to admit it, think he's a smug prick but Chris Scott can coach, has been one of the best over the past decade.

[comrade]

Geelong are my number 1 team i want us to beat every year, mainly because they have had our measure for far too long and our record at Kardinia is abysmal to say the least.

Just think their structure and system, they recruit well and never bottom out always filling gaps by trading in players of need. Also as much as i'd hate to admit it, think he's a smug prick but Chris Scott can coach, has been one of the best over the past decade.

I think you're right but what is it about their system that has made it so hard for us to overcome it? And why haven't we (and most other clubs to be fair) been able to build out our own system that has us contending year after year?

[bornadog]

I think you're right but what is it about their system that has made it so hard for us to overcome it? And why haven't we (and most other clubs to be fair) been able to build out our own system that has us contending year after year?

I think Sydney are similar, they seem to be up there every year.

I think there are a number of reasons for these clubs to continually contend. The biggest is drafting and recruiting. Geelong has not only been good at trading for top line players, but they also seem to draft very good players. A lot of this comes from being a stable club, with stable administration and stable footy department that are all singing from the same hymn book and believing they can be top 4 every year.

[mighty_west]

I think you're right but what is it about their system that has made it so hard for us to overcome it? And why haven't we (and most other clubs to be fair) been able to build out our own system that has us contending year after year?

I'd like to see the win/loss ratio for our games against them away from Kardinia, but that ground, it's just so unique given the shape of the surface and they play and train on it constantly, that is a massive advantage for a start, they're never too young a side and quite often criticized for being too old, so you know you play against a hardened experienced outfit everytime you play them.

They also seem to have a traditional structure, good spine with talls either end and big bodies especially in the midfield with maybe a few lighter frames running around the outskirts, draft players with good foot skills first and real footballers rather than athletes, well apart from Blicavs, i guess a bit like Sydney too having a good culture, well seems as though they do which helps.

[Sedat]

It's actually 15 years - until the weekend they were 22 from 26 against us since 2009 QF, which is insane considering we've been a good to very good team for a large portion of the last 15 years. And they have done us in so many different and heart-breaking ways (Gary Rohan after the siren the worst of a truly horrendous list).

That 2009 QF remains one of the most profoundly disappointing performances I've ever seen from our club relative to actual talent and form at the time. It cost us a genuine shot at a premiership as it forced us into the St Kilda side of the PF draw.

Geelong are very well-coached, well-funded (mostly by the taxpayer) and well-resourced. They also have a significant home ground advantage with their weird-ass shaped shithole of a home ground that they get to train on every week. Then you have an elite talent-spotter (Stephen Wells) and excellent player development, coupled with #CoAsTaLLiFeStYlE and you get nearly 2 decades of contention and 4 flags.

[angelopetraglia]

They played in a prelim in 2004. They won the GF in 2007. They have bee up for over two decades now. It is crazy.

[Grantysghost]

They played in a prelim in 2004. They won the GF in 2007. They have bee up for over two decades now. It is crazy.

Selwood.

[Go_Dogs]

Waiting for mjp to post.

[jeemak]

I think you're right but what is it about their system that has made it so hard for us to overcome it? And why haven't we (and most other clubs to be fair) been able to build out our own system that has us contending year after year?

They've had elite bookends for over a decade, and for much of that time elite midfielders with a sprinkling of elite flankers/ wings and small forwards.

We've never had elite bookends, whilst we've had an elite midfield. We've based our game on getting the ball forward and keeping it there to give us enough opportunities to score, but also keep it out of the hands of the opposition to reduce exposure to our lack of quality key defenders/ interceptors.

Not sure if it's recruiting or development, but to me that's how it's played out.

[GVGjr]

I think there are a few layers to their sustained success.

Coaching Stability - Thompson and then Scott were excellent coaches and have provided stability to the administration and playing group. They've also done well developing assistant coaches along the way.
Location - With 9 teams squeezed into and scattered around Melbourne, the location of Geelong works in very well for many players returning to Melbourne from interstate clubs. For players they get a good balance of services and and a mixture coastal/city and country lifestyle plus the added advantage of getting more bang for their buck in terms of buying a house. This also has a lot to do with players being prepared to get paid a little less than they might be able to earn elsewhere and it gives the Cats some leverage with managing their salary cap.
Draft Dodging - When you continually use early draft picks on attracting experienced players clubs don't have to go through the pain of developing and your ability to stay competitive.
Recruiting - We probably shouldn't dismiss how good head recruiter and until recently the list manager Stephen Wells was at both identifying talent with later picks and his ability to get deals done with other clubs.

There is a bit to admire with what they've achieved over a long period. I keep thinking that their short term approach with recruiting will come due somewhere down the track but there is no denying that they've been able to make it work and they haven't bottomed out for years.

[The Doctor]

Why are Geelong so good?

Brian Cook is the answer.

One of football's finest ever administrators. A great leader and savvy businessman.

[bornadog]

Why are Geelong so good?

Brian Cook is the answer.

One of football's finest ever administrators. A great leader and savvy businessman.

Now at Carlton

[GVGjr]

Why are Geelong so good?

Brian Cook is the answer.

One of football's finest ever administrators. A great leader and savvy businessman.
Fully agree, he did an excellent job for them but I'd also add the wisdom and leadership from Neil Balme

[The Doctor]

Fully agree, he did an excellent job for them but I'd also add the wisdom and leadership from Neil Balme

And Balme was brought in by Cook at the end of 2006 in what turned out to be a masterstroke. Geelong had a difficult year in 06. Thompson was under pressure to hold his job and there was an internal review. Cook saw the opportunity to bring in Balme when Collingwood moved him sideways in their footy dept. Balme had been at Collingwood since 1998 but had not experienced premiership success as a footy boss at that stage. Cook offered Balme the role as he felt Thompson was the right man but needed support. The rest is history.

Cook's ability to identify talented people to fill key positions within the club is one of his great strengths. He empowers them and is extremely loyal to them.

Previous to Geelong he steered West Coast to 2 premierships and 10 years of playing finals. Now he is doing his thing at Carlton and it is no surprise to me the Blues have risen under his leadership.

Cook is the architect of Geelong's success.