Review R5: The Good, Bad and the Nicks vs. Geelong Cats

[geelong_crazy26]

Did you see what Atkins was doing to Rankine? Now compare the pair.

Got to say it’s quite annoying having opposition supporters telling us we did well and defending our coach when we’ve had history of poor results under this coach making the same basic mistakes.

You should be 4-1 and top 4. So you have done well. The only thing exaggerating that is the loss to GC which was an umpire error.

Again I get it. The history with nicks is more it

 

[finn]

This absolutely shits me. The amount of clean clearances we concede from the defensive side - out the back, almost directly pointing towards our goal - is criminal. The opposition usually stacks two on that side and has half backs come up to provide outside support because they know they can get us at clearance with that play

Part of the reason for this is that O’Brien continually hits the ball there meaning opposition midfielders are running forward rather than backward. Geelong often just muscled the ball forward into space.

 

[Iridescence]

You should be 4-1 and top 4. So you have done well. The only thing exaggerating that is the loss to GC which was an umpire error.

Again I get it. The history with nicks is more it

It is a pretty simple reality. Most of us have little to no faith in Nicks and know that we are where we are based on pure talent of the list and not due to coaching prowess.

Your coach out coached our coach. An indictment when, on paper, most of us believe we have a more talented list than Geelong. We really should have won.

The most frustrating thing is the belief that our list will be wasted by a coach who can't get the best out of the players, but the talent will pad his coaching record which will make it hard to replace him.

Telling us on our board that we're overreacting and should be happier with where we're at neglects the bigger picture; this failure validates the concerns many of us have expressed for some time.

As a Geelong supporter, you always know your side is in the game. It must be nice. We know that once our structure falls apart, our coach has no answers and won't be able to arrest the momentum through shrewd strategic amendments.

 

[CrowBloke]

What do we think the consequences will be for Laird?

Consequences?

For Laird?? .... ... ...
If one of our kids, say Draper, Nankervis or Curtin, had made the rookie error of kicking too close to the mark (into Dangerfield no less, who was a wake-up and saw how close Laird had come in) and gifting them an easy, unearned goal, there'd be hell to pay.

But for Laird? Nada. No consequence. Betcha.

 

[Cromulant]

Crouch wasn't fit, clearly shouldn't have played.

But with Rash out, and Rankine not 100%, why the hell didn't we park him in the forward line?

Thing is, that's as good as Crouch moves

 

[Louis Litt]

I agree, Geelong have been incredibly well drilled structurally since he's been there.

He's definitely not a dud coach, he's not in the same tier as Dimma or Clarkson but he's definitely in that next tier with guys like Longmire etc

I think he is ahead of Dimma and up there with Clarkson. He is probs up there with Alan Jeans. His longevity is proof and when he took over from Thompson Geelong had peaked. They weren’t expected to win in his first year.
The fact Geelong had finished outside the top 8 maybe twice shows how good he is. Hawthorn under Clarkson we’re in the bottom half of the ladder recruiting broken down players while the young players were played out of position.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

It is a pretty simple reality. Most of us have little to no faith in Nicks and know that we are where we are based on pure talent of the list and not due to coaching prowess.

Your coach out coached our coach. An indictment when, on paper, most of us believe we have a more talented list than Geelong. We really should have won.

The most frustrating thing is the belief that our list will be wasted by a coach who can't get the best out of the players, but the talent will pad his coaching record which will make it hard to replace him.

Telling us on our board that we're overreacting and should be happier with where we're at neglects the bigger picture; this failure validates the concerns many of us have expressed for some time.

As a Geelong supporter, you always know your side is in the game. It must be nice. We know that once our structure falls apart, our coach has no answers and won't be able to arrest the momentum through shrewd strategic amendments.

My pov is Scotty is the best coach in the league. He probably out coaches most coaches to be frank.

Who would you want to replace nicks??

 

[Cromulant]

My pov is Scotty is the best coach in the league. He probably out coaches most coaches to be frank.

Who would you want to replace nicks??

Andrew Jarman would do the same job for less money

 

[George CantStandYa]

You should be 4-1 and top 4. So you have done well. The only thing exaggerating that is the loss to GC which was an umpire error.

Again I get it. The history with nicks is more it

Would’ve should’ve could’ve. We aren’t 4-1 and top 4, we are 3-2, lost our last 2 games and blew a 30 point lead. So nah.

 

[cleanhands]

What's the record for the most "disagrees" received for one post? Surely my anti-Dangerfield post is close to breaking records. Quite the achievement.

Was it you Bailey Smith gave the double bird to

 

[Cromulant]

Would’ve should’ve could’ve. We aren’t 4-1 and top 4, we are 3-2, lost our last 2 games and blew a 30 point lead. So nah.

TBH he's right we should be 4-1

Lord help the league if we find a decent coach

 

[cleanhands]

My pov is Scotty is the best coach in the league. He probably out coaches most coaches to be frank.

Who would you want to replace nicks??

Simpson

 

[geelong_crazy26]

Would’ve should’ve could’ve. We aren’t 4-1 and top 4, we are 3-2, lost our last 2 games and blew a 30 point lead. So nah.

We both know you should have won but the umpire stuffed up. The AFL has even said as much. Last night was your first actual loss on field and in the coaches box.. I know it says 3-2, but you get what I mean by this

 

[Cromulant]

Simpson

Media Street now.

Easy money

 

[cleanhands]

Media Street now.

Easy money

Unfortunately

 

[CrowBloke]

That's fine, we're not going to be playing finals with this playing group Coach so it isn't a problem.

The best 23 is capable of playing Finals (and will be better 2026-27), but they're wasted on Nicks.

 

[CrowBloke]

Really good post; constructive suggestions:

Sit someone on B Smith to curb his influence, throw another midfielder into the middle for a period...[ pick 4]
Put Dawson on a flank, Curtin into the middle. Tell Crouch to move the ball on and stop going backwards or stagnating our run.
Punch the ball forward at center bounce ruck contests to add another look.

Yes! All of those .

Anything but the norm.

I agree; show some flair/imagination, something different, new or exciting, anything to shake up the players, get them involved in something new and different, Yes, anything but what he's been doing.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

Simpson

Good luck with that. Longmire would be a better get… or just go untried best assistant

 

[cleanhands]

Good luck with that. Longmire would be a better get… or just go untried best assistant

I think Simpson is the most gettable, don’t want to waste the list on an untried

 

[CrowBloke]

Crows are 3 wins and 2 losses after 5 games. Hardly a justifying reason to sack him at this point.

This is not his first year.

How about a W-L-D record of 40-70-1, or 37-68-1 after five years, end 2024??

Take your Nostradamus predictions back to your own Board, mate. Freo needs you.
We don't.

 

[Iridescence]

My pov is Scotty is the best coach in the league. He probably out coaches most coaches to be frank.

Who would you want to replace nicks??

Ken Hinkley. Roll the dice, why not!? Could you imagine how our feral little brethren down the road would cope if we won with Kenny at the helm?

 

[cleanhands]

Ken Hinkley. Roll the dice, why not!? Could you imagine how our feral little brethren down the road would cope if we won with Kenny at the helm?

 

[Iridescence]

Obvs I'm being facetious, but I still think Ken is a better coach than Nicks.

 

[CrowBloke]

Good post, thought-provoking:

Bad: When you get beaten by Rhys Stanley, it's time to make a change; that's two consecutive weeks ROB has been smashed. We won't beat the best sides when we're playing with 17 as soon as the tap's done. How you can be over 2 metres tall and have zero presence in the air is one of the great mysteries of football.

I look at Rob, a very fit man-mountain and cannot understand why he does not dominate.
(well, actually, it's because he's UNCO and cannot kick or mark or tap to advantage )
At throw-ins he does a lot of one-handed pushing and jostling/wrestling for position but I rarely see him ragdoll an oppo ruckman or get into a position where he has a clean jump at the ball to get a clean tap to a mid (preferably one of ours!). Compare that to Gawn, Xerri and Moore who jump with a knee out and so much more mobile/useful around the ground.
Also, when-O-when is he ever going to punch the ball forward 20-30metres in some kind of set play at CBs??

Steadfastly refusing to play our key defender who's the best at defending. Tonight we played 2 intercepting 3rd talls, no real key defender and gave up 18 goals at home.

All on Nicks.

Nicks getting an absolute bath from Chris Scott - he's not the first and wont be the last but jeez we had no answers in the box tonight. Their defensive structure and plan was outstanding and (as soon as they stopped turning the ball over) our answer was to give up on hitting up targets and just kick to contests. Painful to watch.

On Nicks, again.
He's clueless when it comes to Game Day nuances or changes or even just trying anything different.
No imagination, no flair, no surprises (although to be fair putting Pedlar on Stewart last year was a surprise but a horror-failure)

Ugly: There's two things inherently wrong with this group that haven't seemed to have changed and until they do, we won't be a serious contender:
a) we keep teams in the game by leaking goals when we're dominating.

We're the highest-scoring team, but third-worst defence; West Coast 468 against, Richmond 462, Crows 460.
That won't work in the Minor Round let alone Finals.
Nicks is such a poor Coach that he's totally abandoned his defence-first 'plan' from last year to all-out, defensively-unaccountable attack. Looks good when we're on top, but it's shithouse against better sides and seasoned, winning Coaches.

We should've been up by 10 goals at half time and it's game over, instead it's only 12 points and they have all the momentum.

I said in a previous post that a better-Coached side would have kicked the last 3 goals of that second quarter and gone in 8 goals up, not 2
OR,
got ahead by 2 (not 5), and had enough left to kick the last 3 and go in the 5 goals up.

Nicks had NO plan
--- for a 6-day break to GCS in heat/humidity, then
--- for the 5-day break before the Cats, nor
--- for red time in any of the quarters, yesterday.
I'd have been happy if he told them to play within themselves, conserve some energy/slow down a bit and go flat-out at the end of a quarter, but NO.
It's all flat-out for 20 or so minutes and nothing left in the last 5-10 minutes, which Scott and Geelong exploited. No pacing, no surge-then-slow-down, no timing, no Coaching nous.
Hell, I'd have been happy if he looked at the fixture, treated GCS-Away as a loss, held back some players to be fresh after an 11-day break to flog Geelong at home. That would at least have been a good chance for 1-1 from those 2 games. Instead our blokes got drained by the heat/humidity and demoralised by the Umpiring and 1-point loss, and ran out of gas vs the Cats.

Was papered over in the first couple of rounds when we won by 10 goals but should've been 20. This is the main reason we haven't played finals when we've had a squad good enough to over the past two seasons. I feel like it's more structural than personnel, we give up the outside of stoppage too much and while we have good players in the midfield, I don't feel like we have a lot of midfield nouse (and no former midfielders among our coaches).

Van Berlo played midfield for us; was a fitness fanatic.
He was also midfield and stoppage Assistant Coach for WCE in their 2018 Flag year.
I'm not saying he's anything but a mediocre-to-useless Assistant for us, however.

b) we fall apart in tight last quarters. This has been well documented and we all know the stats. Our skills in the last quarter tonight were deplorable, our better players missing kicks, fumbling, dropping marks. For some reason a cloud comes over us when we're under pressure and the whole team struggles. Standing up and being composed under pressure should've been a key focus of our pre-season but it looks like nothing has changed.

The Crows do not know how to hold on and win from winning positions against tough, well-Coached, Finals-experienced sides.
That's also on Nicks.

 

[CrowBloke]

Good:
Fog with 4 in the first half, looked really dangerous
Milera was our best small defender, really clean, got the footy out of hot contests and used it well.
Zac Taylor got dangerous and got the ball.
Crouch was OK
Cummings ball use was pretty good
Thilthorpe was great in ruck.

No love for Keays ...?

Bad:
Sholl, ROB and Curtin were well off the pace. ROB's ruck work has nosedived to the point he is taking part in comedy prat falls during games.

I saw him dive a couple of times onto a ground ball, like Draper (Essendon) a bit, but with no impact.
RoB should never do that. Never.
In fact, RoB's an animal --- on the ground he flounders like a beached whale.

Our midfield got annihilated but we just never looked right all night around the contest. Heat and the 5 day break probably hurt us in the end.

Plus the fact our Coaches seemed to have NO plan ahead for the 6-day break trip to the day heat and humidity vs GCS, nor for the 5-day break vs Cats.

Ugly:
Laird is done, his last quarter "efforts" were nothing short of pathetic. I live 6.1KM away from AO, on a 65 inch TV and I could see Dangerfield standing in front of him, but he couldn't.

Hell-funny, gold.
Fwiw, when it happened I thought "Gee, he's running straight towards Danger", literally and figuratively.
It was comical, schoolboy-level stuff.