Read Twice and Call Me in the Morning

So it happened. No big deal. It happens to everyone. I mean, sure, it was Essendon but it’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s a perfectly normal occurrence that all teams go through. Don’t worry about it. We’ll just hug tonight.

Wait, it happened again? Against West Coast.?!? Uh-oh. Time for the Viagra…

Ok, so maybe the analogy doesn’t quite work, but with the shocking similarities in the two losses, it might be time to see whether Geelong has a legitimate dysfunction or if it’s just a case of, “I don’t know what happened… it’s never happened before.”

Let’s take a look at the Cats symptoms and some possible treatments:

Symptom: Slow starts
It was clear in the Essendon game that the Bombers were fired up and treating the game as their Grand Final – and this might be half the problem. Every week Geelong’s opponents are looking to put themselves on the map by taking a big scalp and thus come out super switched on early against the Cats. As the last two weeks has shown us, it often take until the halftime break for the players to mentally switch back on.

Treatment: Besides the mental aspects, Geelong should line-up with their “early-starters” centre square package for the first quarter; guys that hit the field breathing fire, i.e. Paul Chapman. Which should also help the following:

Symptom: No clearances/First possession
This was painfully clear against Essendon as the Cats compiled their lowest possession count since 2006 and also early versus West Coast as Geelong were smashed in the middle.

Treatment: More aggression at the contest and the best clearances players in at the middle. Paging Joel Selwood…

Symptom: Missing targets/Poor disposal
The last few weeks have been so reminiscent of Geelong’s kicking skills circa-2004 that I’m pretty sure I saw Ben Graham at Subi last week fielding half-trackers.

Treatment: Is this a sign of fatigue? Has the dreaded “training load” picked up as we’ve crossed the mid-season point? If so, then a week on the Gold Coast should help.

Symptom: Poor forward line function
Against both Essendon and West Coast Geelong had more inside 50s than their opposition but were unable to convert those chances on the scoreboard. The Cats seemed to lack system and, with P.O.D. not firing, another viable forward target.

Treatment: Geelong need two tall forwards, it’s as simple as that. Vardy has shown promise but has had a quiet two weeks, Mooney is being stashed away for a late run and Hawkins gets his second chance this week. Either way, this needs to be settled before finals.

Symptom: Forward press not working/leaking goals over the back
This is probably a criticism of the forward press in general, as once the zone is broken there is space behind and easy goals to be had.

Treatment: Is there room for a 17-man press? Could you leave a player in the goal square, as goalkeeper defensively and as an easy forward out the other way? How about playing man-on-man for a quarter then zone/press for a quarter? Or changing after a goal is kicked? Wouldn’t this confuse the opposition and possibly give your players a rest?

Symptom: Perhaps the Cats simply aren’t good enough this year
This is what we’ve been hearing from the media for over six months, maybe they’re right?

Treatment: Geelong’s best quarter of football all year was the first quarter of round eight, against Collingwood. If that’s not enough to give you hope, well, I can’t prescribe anything else.