I wouldn't be potting essendon just yet, as much as I freaking hate them!! They looked very dangerous early, and should learn from this.

But as for Geelong, just wow, freaking wow.

Geelong 10 players with under 50 games!! How do they do it.? Greg Wells is the master recruiter and I have heard his 10 rules for drafting, 1. Must put head over ball

My mother and two sisters are Cats supporters.

Dad and I are Dee's

Nice one Dad.

Thank God mum and my sister go for the dogs.

Just wait until round 16, my god, they're gonna make 186 look like childs play...

I shudder to think what they will do to us down at KP this year, yet foolishly I'll go as per usual.

That was an unbelievably good, intense game of footy to watch. Stevie J put on a masterclass, it looked

like he was really enjoying the creativity of all of those over the shoulder handballs he pulled off. Dons had

a real dip and beat them stats wise in just about every department, but still Geelong pulled right away in that

third quarter. The quick trio of Stokes, Motlop and Christiansen have really given them an impetus to hit the corridor

with aggression then run, run, run this year.

As I said last week they make football worth watching. You know there was a time a few years back when we played this type of football and it was so exciting to watch but then some thought (GLyon, CS and the media contingent) it was an old game plan and we needed to be a defensive side. Well we turned back the balance way too far.

The Collingwood/Malthouse plan v the Geelong plan????

Work it out for yourselves, it is beyond me.

Geelong 10 players with under 50 games!! How do they do it.? Greg Wells is the master recruiter and I have heard his 10 rules for drafting, 1. Must put head over ball

With the odd exception (see blicavs) he just picks the best footballers. Yes he picks guys with some speed and size but mainly it's the best footballer. Thurlow who debuted tonight had 45 touches against Vic Metro last year! Then he gets through to pick 16! Time and time again pick the best footballer, put them in the reserves then up to the seniors when they are ready and keep improving them.

Lets just hope our new recruiters take notice. Look at height, speed and hardness to make sure they are up to AFL standard then after that purely pick the best footballer!

I shudder to think what they will do to us down at KP this year, yet foolishly I'll go as per usual.

That was an unbelievably good, intense game of footy to watch. Stevie J put on a masterclass, it looked

like he was really enjoying the creativity of all of those over the shoulder handballs he pulled off. Dons had

a real dip and beat them stats wise in just about every department, but still Geelong pulled right away in that

third quarter. The quick trio of Stokes, Motlop and Christiansen have really given them an impetus to hit the corridor

with aggression then run, run, run this year.

They have the Suns down there in a few weeks time. After our showing against the Suns on Sunday it will give a fair indication.

Not gonna be pretty.

As I said last week they make football worth watching. You know there was a time a few years back when we played this type of football and it was so exciting to watch but then some thought (GLyon, CS and the media contingent) it was an old game plan and we needed to be a defensive side. Well we turned back the balance way too far.

The Collingwood/Malthouse plan v the Geelong plan????

Work it out for yourselves, it is beyond me.

What we were doing under Bailey wasn't the Geelong plan or under Neeld the Collingwood plan. I hate those rubbish terms. On what planet would Geelong be smashed by over 100 points? When has Collingwood been accused of not troubling the scorers enough (oh, you won by 15 points? for shame. It should have been 45) ?

We have plans that pick one thing in isolation and run with it, without pausing to think that there is a holistic reason that clubs are successful or not. We need to work at getting a MFC plan rather than thinking 'Collingwood have good pie nights and are a good team. What we need to be a good team is to have more pie nights'.

Geelong 10 players with under 50 games!! How do they do it.?

Put them in alongside 10 players with more than 150 games, including the odd premiership.

Don't want to downplay the potency of Geelong, but before anyone get's too scared of them long-term (by which I mean, worried that they will still be top when it should be our turn... haaaa ha ha) I think it is important to note that

Of Geelong's ten highest ball-winners, 7 were aged 28 or over. Only Selwood, Motlop and Horlin-Smith were under 28.

Five of those; Johnson, Enright, Kelly, Bartel and Mackie, between them have more games experience than the entire list Melbourne puts on the field each week.

Geelong are an awesome team right now because they have covered enough of their retirements and current injuries to experienced players.

But they are not, by any stretch, a young team. Without the most potent 'old guard' seen in any team for at least a decade, they would probably be middle of the road.

That said, right now they are misssing Chapman, Corey, Varcoe, Josh Hunt, and recruits Rivers and McIntosh.

All of whom I am sure will be carefully managed through their injuries (where possible) with a view to peaking for finals.

Scary. Geelong going four from seven seems like the most likely result of this year.

But don't worry, come 2017 (or whenever) we will only have to contend with GWS and Gold Coast.

As I said last week they make football worth watching. You know there was a time a few years back when we played this type of football and it was so exciting to watch but then some thought (GLyon, CS and the media contingent) it was an old game plan and we needed to be a defensive side. Well we turned back the balance way too far.

The Collingwood/Malthouse plan v the Geelong plan????

Work it out for yourselves, it is beyond me.

Yes we play the Malthouse plan when we should be playing the Geelong plan.

But it starts from the top, look at Geelong and Sydney - both run well on and off field.

We are run poorly both on and off field, it's a massive difference.

Hopefully Jackson can help fix this.

Pretty sure the AFL want to see us operating more like Port, than the current rabble we are.

don't worry, come 2017 (or whenever) we will only have to contend with GWS and Gold Coast.

Bit optimistic...

Geelong are a phenomenal football team. The fact they are producing like this after 7 years is a credit to the environment they have at the club. They're able to bring young kids and recruits in and make them a part of a successful development system. They breed success and instill confidence from day dot.

To think back in 2006 they missed finals and we made the semi finals. Completely reversed from there!

Geelong are definitely the greatest club of the modern era. Hopefully we learn from them and can build to some sort of success.

Recruit footballers who can win their own ball over athletes, play them in the reserves until they're ready and earn a game, don't expect 18 year old kids to come in and be the teams best players, have a reserves side that is controlled by the club and plays to the same game plan, have a strong leadership group who sets and demands standards on the track and on the field, have a strong and stable off-field with no cliques trying to destabilise the club for their own vindictive ends.

125/150 (3 flags) is a mighty impressive stat but I think just as impressive is the fact they had 10 players with less than 50 games experience tonight and still made the Dons look second rate. If they're not flag favourites yet, they should be.

Greg Wells was a terrific footballer, but a recruiter he ain't. Stephen Wells, on the other hand...

Maybe Geelong have a secret forumla that helps them develop their youngsters so well. Maybe someone (plankton) should try and steal us that formula?

On another note, I dont really think Hurley has been that much better than Watts, I think they are in the same boat in their development, however poor Jack's is under a microscope 24/7.

Edited May 10, 201312 yr by demonchris

Don't want to downplay the potency of Geelong, but before anyone get's too scared of them long-term (by which I mean, worried that they will still be top when it should be our turn... haaaa ha ha) I think it is important to note that

Of Geelong's ten highest ball-winners, 7 were aged 28 or over. Only Selwood, Motlop and Horlin-Smith were under 28.

Five of those; Johnson, Enright, Kelly, Bartel and Mackie, between them have more games experience than the entire list Melbourne puts on the field each week.

Geelong are an awesome team right now because they have covered enough of their retirements and current injuries to experienced players.

But they are not, by any stretch, a young team. Without the most potent 'old guard' seen in any team for at least a decade, they would probably be middle of the road.

That said, right now they are misssing Chapman, Corey, Varcoe, Josh Hunt, and recruits Rivers and McIntosh.

All of whom I am sure will be carefully managed through their injuries (where possible) with a view to peaking for finals.

Scary. Geelong going four from seven seems like the most likely result of this year.

But don't worry, come 2017 (or whenever) we will only have to contend with GWS and Gold Coast.

Channel 7 reported that last night Geelong had 10 players in their team last night that have under 60 games experience. They are blessed to be playing alongside some current day champions like Stevie J, Enright and Bartels. Amongst them are Christensen and Motlop. Aside Garlett, is there a more exciting creative footballer around than Motlop?

They are further blessed with 3 capable talks in West, Vardy and Blicavs such that Hamish McIntosh is now in No 4 ruck spot.

In the past few years Geelong have lost arguably one of the great players in the past decade in Ablett, retired off their greatest full back ever in Scarlett and retired off Dual premiership players in Harley ( ex Captain), Ling (ex captain) and Ottens.

Last night they had Chapman, Corey, Hunt and Varcoe out of the side and they did not miss a beat. They also had to cover Rivers up back with IPod.

After giving Essendon a 4 goal lead in the 2nd qtr, they then ruthlessly peeled Essendon like an onion. They were awesome last night like they have been for seven years now. In that time they have won over 80% of their games. Wow!

Geelong were always going to have generational transition greats through to eventual retirement. But I can't think of a club that is progressing through this so professionally and effectively. In They have the blend, the mix and the culture so right.

It's the complete and total opposite of Melbourne.

Maybe Geelong have a secret forumla that helps them develop their youngsters so well. Maybe someone (plankton) should try and steal us that formula?

On another note, I dont really think Hurley has been that much better than Watts, I think they are in the same boat in their development, however poor Jack's is under a microscope 24/7.

They do and i have discovered it.

It's called having consistently good and/or elite experienced older players to protect, teach, nurture and guide the upcoming players into the side and AFL footy.

But shhhhhhhhhhhh keep it a secret as i dont want some of the other clubs to find out.

Confidence breeds more confidence. They know where to run and do because they back their man to get the ball and to dispose it properly. They have more options to dispose to as their players run to space with confidence because of point 1. They have some great kids but their development is built by being nurtured by a quality core group of mature players. Its not the number of kids they play its that the kids have Bartel, Johnson, Selwood, Kelly, Enright et al to support them week in week out and they come in and play the supporting role. We dont have that luxury due to poor recruiting and culture that spans back more than 5 years. This is our major issue not the recent drafting. I can see we are trying to right this but as we can see it takes time and will have its ups and more so downs in the now.

NB: Stevie J in full flight is probably my favourite player to watch.

Edited May 10, 201312 yr by big_red_fire_engine

What we were doing under Bailey wasn't the Geelong plan or under Neeld the Collingwood plan. I hate those rubbish terms. On what planet would Geelong be smashed by over 100 points? When has Collingwood been accused of not troubling the scorers enough (oh, you won by 15 points? for shame. It should have been 45) ?

We have plans that pick one thing in isolation and run with it, without pausing to think that there is a holistic reason that clubs are successful or not. We need to work at getting a MFC plan rather than thinking 'Collingwood have good pie nights and are a good team. What we need to be a good team is to have more pie nights'.

The terms are not great but they do indicate 2 different basic philosophies of play. Take 'em on through the middle of the ground or move around the boundary, attacking style v defensive. It's all a bit simplistic really but I believe this is what G Lyon and his cronies looked at when changing a coach and hiring a new one. It's what put Rod Eade on the outer, he was seen as not being defensive enough when really he was just using his cattle to their best advantage.

Too much emphasis was put on the so called Collingwood model, it was the flavour at the time. The other more attacking model, but of course based on a great defence was ignored. No interview for Sanderson or Hinkley.

For all the great defensive structures of Lyon (Ross) and Malthouse they have only pulled off one flag in the last 6 years between them where the other mob have 3 and may make it 4.

Geelong are a phenomenal football team. The fact they are producing like this after 7 years is a credit to the environment they have at the club.

We do have something in common with them after all. Melbourne have been producing the same standard of football for the last 7 years too

Geelong, undefeated in the seniors, Vfl and the thirds....says something doesnt it.

I don't watch many games, just the dees. See about 95% of them live. But couldn't help having an occasional look at cats bomb, hawks v swans, freeo pies this weekend. What a gap between our team and the top teams. Game plans are basic but they are not magic. I think it's about what game plan brings out the best of the team of players one has. Scott commented after the game that his approach was not to do anything to blunt the strengths of his players.