What do we know?

[Cruiseon]

It was a very good game on Friday night. I enjoyed some solid & largely repesctful banter at the game between the fan bases & a few beers went down quite nicely. The result? I think Pendles kick should have been allowed but Geelong deserved to win probably by 2-3 goals.

BUT did we really learn anything about the Pies? For me it confirmed a few things which I will list briefly:

1) We need Jolly plain & simple - probably our most crucial player.
2) Didak is still a long long way off his best - I wonder what his real level of fitness is?
3) The gap was never as big as people were making out, so this loss helps settle that down. People forget that this time last year the Pies were not even being considered as flag contenders, let alone competition benchmarks.
4) Buckley played a very good game, he is a handy addition to add some overall depth.

Your thoughts?

[MTK]

It was a very good game on Friday night. I enjoyed some solid & largely repesctful banter at the game between the fan bases & a few beers went down quite nicely. The result? I think Pendles kick should have been allowed but Geelong deserved to win probably by 2-3 goals.

BUT did we really learn anything about the Pies? For me it confirmed a few things which I will list briefly:

1) We need Jolly plain & simple - probably our most crucial player.
2) Didak is still a long long way off his best - I wonder what his real level of fitness is?
3) The gap was never as big as people were making out, so this loss helps settle that down. People forget that this time last year the Pies were not even being considered as flag contenders, let alone competition benchmarks.
4) Buckley played a very good game, he is a handy addition to add some overall depth.

Your thoughts?

1) Jolly is BY FAR our most important player, partly because the gap between him and Cameron Wood is so large
2) Not sure what is going on with Dids, perhaps a run on the ball to get his hands on the pill a bit more is what he needs
3) Agreed, it's nice to know we can play that poorly, and without key players, and still lose by less than a goal. It was probably Dawes' worst game of the year too....not much has been made of that
4) Buckley has always been a good kick, the way he could penetrate the zone was worth at least 2 goals.....yet to see what his defensive skills are like though on a Milne or a Betts....

[ossie85]

Compare this match to Collingwood's limp efforts first up against Geelong and St. Kilda last year....

Game showed exactly where Collingwood need to improve. It is only May.

The Cats are so damn professional though. The Pies need to model that, unlike the Hawks and now the Saints that faded.

[RiOtChEsS]

the gap is there, ppl r talking us up as top 4 contenders but having seen all our games we r marginally better than last year...

like most teams there is a small window where the pies hava snooze and it was larger on friday night than usual (rotation experiment?)

alternatively in 5 minutes they can blow ur doors off and completely take u out of the game which no other sides do to that extent...

[bunyip]

I know it's only May, but we had a full strength team in on Friday night whereas Collingwood had a few important players out. (Opologies to Dasha and StevieJ) who would have been included if fit. What it has told me is Geelong still have a way to go if we are to be competative in September.

[MissPiesFF]

To say Jolly is our best player is like saying Abblet was Geelongs best, but they seem to be putting along just nicely without him. Our DEF structure is somewhat down on par. With the injuries how can you expect replacements to be one with the team in just a couple of weeks? All teams go through the same senario week in and week out.

1 player does not a team make.