Post Match. Pies thumped by Cats. All comments, please.

[5 from the wing on debut]

[Piesnchess]

^ Get real, we left all we had in WA nothing left, why the hell would we play so well in Perth, yet next week like that ?? Of course we were rooted, have you ever ever played the game ?? Look at our fixture, 3 games in 12 days, three different States, twice, only the Hawks had some a draining fixture, Cats had near 3 more rest days than us, and did not travel from Perth. The Cats did cop shit for the whole week, media laughed at them, they were on a mission as Sellwood said, they would have beaten near any side. No doubt last week u were singing our praises, now you heap shit on our team, sure it was bad, but there are reasons, we were stuffed, buggered, rooted, why the hell else would we play like that u peanut ?? Dont bother answering, im done with this thread so i wont see the garbage you post, fed up wth these pea heart fans who just love to bag the Club at any chance they can get. Im done.

[5 from the wing on debut]

[Pies2016]

The problem I have with the posters who think Buckleys time is up, is that everytime we lose, it’s always Buckley’s fault because of his coaching.
At some point, players are responsible for their own actions on the field.

When Buckley says our focus is to get our hands on the ball first and then we don’t touch the ball in first 10 mins, how is that Buckley’s fault ?
Get your hands on the ball first is a basic, simple “ don’t over complicate it “ message that worked pretty well seven days earlier. There really isn’t much more to tell a team before the start of every game and that message hasn’t changed for a 100 years .

In 15 pages dedicated to this thread, I can only remember one post that acknowledged just how good Geelong were. The Cats turned up manic and we had no answers. Sometimes you get belted simply because you cop an opposition that is totally in sync on the footy field. No coach has an answer to that, just like Cats didn’t have an answer a month ago when the Tigers smashed them ( or when the Cats obliterated Port )
Hidings happen but generally you only have to wait a week to make amends.
Sadly, we have to sit with this for 6 months.
I dont have a problem with people calling for a change on the back of a large sample and in Buckley’s case, we have one. But I do have a problem when every micro moment that doesn’t end well on the field, is always Buckley’s fault.

[5 from the wing on debut]

I am not a Buckley fan but I did not say that the loss is Buckley's fault. I said that I thought the players choked, for the 3rd year in a row. I don't know why that occurred. That happens in all sorts of sports all around the world. No-one has answers for why an entire team can do that.

I did comment on how Buckley appeared to be reacting, or not reacting to that, whilst the cameras were on him in the coaches' box.

I assume that the one post in 15 pages referring to Geelong being better than us, was my comment in my post immediately above.I posted the same thing before the game too.

[Mr Miyagi]

^^ cameras aren’t on Bucks the whole game. He was on the bench most of the game too.

I posted how good Geelong was. They pulled our pants down when we were vulnerable, and we didn’t have the ticker to pull them back up in time.

Scott hinted that the Gabba is Geelong’s Skilled Stadium away from home, it’s the right size for them to play their Skilled Stadium game. So our match committee can maybe possibly be accused of not adjusting to a Gabba game plan. But the fact is we were knackered from WC, Cats had a longer break and were fired up to rebound from their previous loss and weekly criticism. It is what it is.

[5 from the wing on debut]

Didn't Buckley go to the bench after the game was over?

I don't buy for a second the "Geelong were fired up" line of thinking. What that says is that they wanted to win more than we did. That is an inane proposition. What was quite clear is that they were switched on, and we weren't. The question is why.

The knackered argument is another excuse that I do not buy. I assume the players take their resting heart rates immediately upon waking each morning and again shortly after that, then graph those numbers. That, and a number of physical tests that I won't go into, can give a very accurate description of the physical condition of an athlete on a day to day basis and is a good guide to a proper taper for match day. it can even show whether they are about to come down with a cold's symptoms in a day or so. The players were fresh going into the Weagles game after a two week tapering period and after that game they had another 7 days to recover. To expect anyone to believe that they trained well during the week then ran out expecting to do well, then found out that they were exhausted, is just silly.

[RudeBoy]

Clearly, whether it was physical or mental, we were cooked before the first bounce. We may never really know why. I must say I've been watching my beloved Pies play since the early 60s and I have NEVER witnessed such an insipid performance. To do so in a final is deplorable.

One thing is certain, we can't simply front up again next year with the same set-up, personnel or game-plan. Change is gonna come.

I'm a great Bucks fan, so I hope he is still at the helm, but other changes are inevitable. The changes i'd make for next year are:

1. Let Harvey go and get a new midfield coach

2. Make Adams captain

3. Appoint a ruck coach

4. Let De Goey (my favourite player) go to the scum if he just wants more money.

5. Spend the summer, giving boxing lessons to Stephenson to toughen him up.

[5 from the wing on debut]

Buckley is contracted. I doubt very much that he will resign or be sacked so he will most likely be there next season.

I was a bit surprised that Buckley said what he did about deGoey just wanting more money. It doesn't help when a coach comments about a player's contractual negotiations. I understand how he has to face media questions but he has been there long enough to know how to handle that. He should have thought about how his comments influenced the potential Lynch deal. I really hope that Buckley wasn't trying to divert attention away from the loss.

[Lazza]

[Pies2016]

[5 from the wing on debut]

[PyreneesPie]

Going through some of these last few pages of comments, I find that the only one I can subscribe to is that of Piesnchess. Fair dinkum, all most want to do is pick through every thing that Bucks said or did or didn't do in order to place blame, so they can assuage their disappointment. Sometimes, you just gotta suck it up, because sh%t happens for nebulous reasons.
Also, 5 from the wing, the Cats had virtually 3 days' prep on us, because one of those days was not spent sitting on a bloody plane!!!!
Lastly, some here need to either admit they have little knowledge of psychology and how it interacts with the body, especially in regard to motivation and peak performance.

[PyreneesPie]

^ I would like to add the post from Pies2016 as one which I also subscribe to. Also RudeBoy thanks for "moving on" and making constructive suggestions.

[doriswilgus]

If you look at the stats for the game it shows just how far off our best we were that night,We only had 200 possessions for the whole game.When did that ever happen before?I can’t remember such a low possession count before.16 players,yes 16 players,had ten possessions or less.That’s unheard of as well.Pendelbury had 14 possessions and no clearances as well.That has never happened before either.

Clearly,the players were stuffed,physically and mentally from the game in Perth the week before .It’s the only possible explanation.There’s no way known that Geelong are a 68 point better side than us.We’ve beaten them the last two times we’ve played them,so it’s not as if they have the wood on us.The way we’re played the other day was almost identical to how we played against Melbourne earlier in the year when we were physically stuffed after playing our fourth game in 14 days.Clearly exhaustion was a factor in both performances.