The 2011 GF

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Originally Posted by Ozza

Wasn't it great to see Didak falter so badly in the big game. He shouldn't have been playing.
You can't take petrified players into a Grand Final unless they are in spectacular form.

Jimmy Bartel - what a player. Just goes to show that you don't necessarily need a stack of pace or athleticism to be a champion - what a footballer.

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My biggest rant in Football is why in the last 10 to 15 have football clubs looked at athletes and gone on some sort of athletic abillity and not football nous.
The draft combine is some sort of little athletics comp to me and records jumps and speed etc and recruiters go on this???
Bit like trying to get into the swimming olympics and the requirements are to kick a footy 70 metres.
I think it was only last year Buckley bought in some sort of football use test.

I personally would be looking at the natural footballer, you can improve speed etc but football brain is born into you.
Williams, Wilson Liberatore and many more wouldnt have got a look in nowadays and they are Brownlow medallists.

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Originally Posted by ledge

My biggest rant in Football is why in the last 10 to 15 have football clubs looked at athletes and gone on some sort of athletic abillity and not football nous.The draft combine is some sort of little athletics comp to me and records jumps and speed etc and recruiters go on this???
Bit like trying to get into the swimming olympics and the requirements are to kick a footy 70 metres.
I think it was only last year Buckley bought in some sort of football use test.

I personally would be looking at the natural footballer, you can improve speed etc but football brain is born into you.
Williams, Wilson Liberatore and many more wouldnt have got a look in nowadays and they are Brownlow medallists.

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I'm sick of hearing about how Mitch Wallis won't make it because he is too slow etc. Fair enough if people don't think he is a good footballer - thats their opinion - but plenty of blokes with similar physical traits have become outstanding footballers and continue to be great in the modern game - as shown in this finals series by Bartel, Cameron Ling, Selwood, Luke Ball, Jordan Lewis, Luke Hodge, Sam Mitchell and Matthew Priddis - to name a few.

We have become pretty obsessed with pace, and what 'role' a player can be classed as. "Is he outside, or inside, is he quick enough to be 'outside'?, etc"....how do we define Jimmy Bartel in this criteria.

I just hope we can draft some smart footballers, because guys like Bartel, Corey, Ling and Selwood are just hard and smart footballers. Geelong have never been overloaded with leg speed - but they make good decisions with and without the footy.

As Mantis said earlier - I just hope our team can play like that one day.

Glad I am not on my own in this thinking, the first side to look at genuine footballers will be the side that dominates in the years after

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Originally Posted by ledge

Glad I am not on my own in this thinking, the first side to look at genuine footballers will be the side that dominates in the years after

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Geelong already is, aren't they?

The one thing they ARE going with is big hard bodies though, even if they aren't going with pure speed. Collingwood just couldn't get it to the outside of the stoppage even when they got first hands on it because the big gun Cat mids (especially Corey, what an underrated superstar) kept blocking the space and scragging for the ball. It was like having five Ben Hudsons in there, but all with supreme football intelligence so they were covering for each other as much as trying to snag the ball.

They do have pace though to complement their grunt -- Varcoe, Stokes and Wocjinski (spelling?) are all very quick off the mark, and clean enough to finish off the good work of their engine room.

It's all about balance, clear roles, and most importantly, that not-often-spoken-of quality that makes otherwise 'good' teams (and marriages!) great: chemistry.

And Bartel's goal from outside 50 in the second half was just pure class. I didn't even know he had the distance in him, but didn't look like missing.

THAT'S clutch.

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Originally Posted by Lantern

And Bartel's goal from outside 50 in the second half was just pure class. I didn't even know he had the distance in him, but didn't look like missing.

THAT'S clutch.

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Just as hard and just as much pressure was his goal in the second quarter from near the boundary. For the cats to get back within three points at half time was amazing.

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Originally Posted by Lantern

And Bartel's goal from outside 50 in the second half was just pure class. I didn't even know he had the distance in him, but didn't look like missing.

THAT'S clutch.

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He doesn't! I think he was amazed himself.

Reading through all the posts and the media reports, I am surprised at how little Ottens has been mentioned.

i thought his influence was huge as he really contributed to the centre clearance work and that 1st goal was really due to Ottens. He was responsible for the first 3 centre clearances and just had the better of Jolly all game.

When I checked the stats I was amazed to see Jolly credited with more hit outs and better advantage. Ottens simply set up goals and goal scoring chances. He also got mauled consistently by Jolly with little help from the umps.

For mine Bartel turned the game around when needed but Ottens was the best Geelong player in the first half. I would have had him a close second in the Norm Smith.