Scott hasn’t constructed anything but a B grade finals team on the brink of a demographic cliff. We need a full rebuild circa early 2000s with Bomber Thompson if we’re a chance to win a flag again. My personal choice would be Joel Corey as coach with Bomber as DOC.

Nah. Stewed over it at the time for about 5 mins but was just lazy in writing the piece.

I suggest you read this far more thorough version of the article as it was cut in to fairly severely by the subeditor on here.
Pride and Petulance: Chris Scott’s critique of the 2017 Richmond flag.
It may clarify my point in a much better way than the highly edited article above did.

Rubbish! He was obviously taking a swipe at Richmond’s pressure driven gamestyle comparing the 2017 GF with the 2005/6 GF. It was a petulant ill thought out comment by a clearly envious man about the 2017 Premiers.

Chris Scott talking about the 2017 Grand Final on the post GF episode of AFL 360 – ‘What did you guys think of the spectacle? There has been some criticism about the standard of the game.’
‘But it’s interesting in terms of the game overall. So often we go back and say the West Coast Sydney Grand Finals -the two of them – were terrible games of football really, really dour affairs, but great Grand Final really gripping and I think we all acknowledge that, but if you said every game was going to be like that then I think everybody would acknowledge we’ve got a problem. So it’s a bit of a trap to fall in to looking at the GF and saying no, no we don’t need to make any changes.’

This is what I said in the article ‘then felt compelled to give a lecture on the defensive nature of the win.
Scott inferred the win was dour and boring, citing the 2005-06 Sydney vs West Coast grand finals as examples of great contests but poor spectacles.’

I think that’s a fair summation of what he said – You obviously disagree.

Chris Scott talking about the 2017 Grand Final on the post GF episode of AFL 360 – ‘What did you guys think of the spectacle? There has been some criticism about the standard of the game.’
‘But it’s interesting in terms of the game overall. So often we go back and say the West Coast Sydney Grand Finals -the two of them – were terrible games of football really, really dour affairs, but great Grand Final really gripping and I think we all acknowledge that, but if you said every game was going to be like that then I think everybody would acknowledge we’ve got a problem. So it’s a bit of a trap to fall in to looking at the GF and saying no, no we don’t need to make any changes.’

I basically did quote what he said and gave a fair representation of what Scott said. He clearly states when talking about the 2017 Grand Final ‘it’s an interesting question for the AFL isn’t it? What type of game they want’ then immediately talks about the dour nature of the West Coast Sydney Grand Finals. Why would he say that unless referring to Richmond and making that comparison? You can all watch it for yourselves anyway the whole of the post Grand Final AFL 360 episode is on YouTube.

Thanks for the kind words. I really tried to capture the emotion of the day the best I could. Also thanks for posting the vids of the celebrations. I really feel privileged to have been able to have witnessed such a unique experience while I’m living over here.

Great article. I think most teams/coaches are well behind Richmond with the synchronicity of their lists and game-plan at the moment. Some coaches are stubbornly refusing to acknowledge that teams need smaller midsize players with speed that can win ground ball across the whole ground in order to win flags. So many coaches continue to persist with traditional tall forward lines and tall teams in general. Chris Scott and Leon Cameron are firmly of that mindset. As AFL becomes based on soccer like formations more and more it makes sense for whole teams to need speed in order to transition more quickly between attack and defense. Coaches/teams that don’t understand this simple premise will be left behind in the evolutionary race.

4 of the last 5 Premiers have been MCG tenants so there might be something to that. However Sydney beat Hawthorn there in 2012 and The Bulldogs who hardly play on the ‘G’ won two finals on the way to their Premiership in 2016 so I just think it comes down to a coaching staff that create an adaptable game-plan and pick the appropriate players to execute it on the ‘G.’ I think both Adelaide and Geelong last year were far too set on the two tall lumbering forwards strategy that had worked so well for them on their respective home grounds rather than adapting their forward set up to the wider spaces of the ‘G’ where speed rules – especially in September.

Again name one planned concerted whole list draft based rebuild that occurred before Geelong’s in 2000/01/02? You can’t. Name one player Scott’s developed that’s elite or close to it? You can’t. I’ve littered both my article and replies with stats and evidence – you haven’t once. I never stopped citing Hawthorn either?!? Their 2008 list was from a rebuild exactly the same as the Cats of the early 2000s and the core of players that made up their 2013/14/15 flags were draftees. Regardless I’ll give you Hawthorn, I’ll even give you the 2012 Swans that still doesn’t change the fact that the majority of teams over the last 10 years that won a flag rebuilt the traditional way to achieve it. It also doesn’t change the indisputable fact that Geelong’s own list management strategy over the last 6 years of trading rather than developing also hasn’t worked.

You can’t name one can you Cat? A simple question you refuse to answer because you already know the answer and it doesn’t suit your fragmented weak argument for keeping things the way they are down at the GFC. So now you’re taking your ball and going home…oh well.

So Wells recruited a group of players that won three Premierships for Geelong and you pick 4 first round picks over a 17 year period that have failed (one of them, Lang, far from a proven failure yet and will probably thrive at their new club). The interesting part is that Lang, Mitch Brown, and Smedts all failed like a generation of Geelong draftees have under the incredibly poor development of Chris Scott. As I said before name me one player, just one single player that Scott has developed in 6 years to be elite or anything close to elite? Don’t say Duncan as Bomber Thompson was responsible for developing him to AFL level and he made his AFL debut under Bomber Thompson. So it’s Scott’s development of players that has failed as much if not more than Wells judgement/misjudgement in his selections.

Premierships aren’t the only measure of success; there’s also making Grand Finals by winning Preliminary Finals which has also eluded Geelong over the last 6 years. Eight teams have played in Grand Finals in that time. The fact Geelong has recruited specifically to supposedly compete for a flag and has finished top 4 four times in the last 6 years, three times finishing top 2, but haven’t been one of those 8 teams is frankly pathetic! And reflects our incredibly poor finals performances. We need to start again and go back to the rebuilding strategy that brought us three Premierships – as opposed to the recruit mercenaries strategy of the post 2011 Scott years that has brought us sweet FA.

I’m not hoping for finals failure or failure in general – I don’t have to it’s inevitable. Same as it has been for years now.

I always supported Thompson. I actually came out prior to the 2017 season saying I thought Hardwick was a good coach (I could share the link if you need proof). I agree sacking the coach can often be a knee jerk reaction but we have ex-players like Cameron Mooney, Kent Kingsley, Tim McGrath, and Krock SEN footy journo’s like Ben Casanelia all coming out saying they’ve heard from players that there’s a huge disconnect between a group of players at the club and Chris Scott. So my wanting to get rid of Scott isn’t knee jerk, it’s 6 years of underperforming in finals, varied and reliable sources claiming communication problems between coach and players, and the same things like losing post bye, losing to Collingwood, losing to poor teams, struggling at the MCG, and performing poorly in finals happening every year! This combined with a failed list management policy and game day strategy which hasn’t garnered any success for the club – means time should be up for Scott!

Cook, Scott, and Carter will be gone sooner than you think. If we fail in finals again in 2018 just wait and see what happens.

I do have a practical alternative. Get rid of Cook, Scott, and Carter. Bring in a new board, get Joel Corey in as Head Coach with Bomber Thompson as a Director Of Coaching, keep Scarlett, and Enright in their coaching roles, and do a thorough proper old fashioned rebuild finally giving Stephen Wells highish draft picks for a few years to work his magic with again. Develop the kids over 3/4 years, see where any deficiencies lie in the list and trade in accordingly. Bring excitement, hope, and most importantly a clear plan and direction for the club on field to win a premiership again.

It does need to be that way as Richmond and the Bulldogs have shown. Geelong is not going to win a flag with it’s approach to recruiting which involves trading in mature players and trying to build the core of your team through trades rather than the draft and development. Trades are there to put the icing on the cake. Draft develop kids together then if there are a few holes after 3/4 years of development use trades to fill them. Geelong’s approach over the last 6 years has been all trade focused, we haven’t developed one A grade kid in the 7 years Scott has been at the club – not one! It’s an incredibly lazy and poor strategy and the proof is in the terrible finals performances the club has had in the last 6 years. I love how you just ignore our finals failure like it doesn’t exist, like Geelong has been great?!? What we’re doing isn’t working and hasn’t worked for years now so we need change! It’s obvious to all but the most fanatical one eyed Geelong supporters who cant see reason through the blue and white stripes on their goggle.

Also the club have recruited for the now. To say these guys will be around for 7 years is fanciful in the extreme! We’ll be lucky to get 4 out of them. We’ve recruited for the now and if we don’t have success in 2018 the horse has well and truly bolted (personally I well and truly think it already has). I hope you feel comfort in your delusions but I prefer reality – and the reality is Geelong will not win a flag again till Scott and Cook are gone. When it happens I’ll be the first to celebrate! While you (not being a real supporter) will be mourning the loss of individuals I’ll be supporting the new direction of the club.

Geelong started the idea of a full rebuild in 2000 – it led to 3 premierships. The Hawks rebuilt after Geelong in the same fashion and built the core of their team that won them 4 flags. The Dogs did one proper rebuild which began in 2012 and led to their 2016 flag. The Tiges did two; one failed one under Wallace, the second of which was under Hardwick and led to a flag with more to come probably. Melbourne after their second full rebuild is on the brink of a great era right now. You say there’s no guarantee in premiership success with a rebuild, and I agree, but history shows there’s far more chance doing a rebuid for success than Geelong’s current strategy (building the core of your team through trades) which has never been tried and so far has been completely unsuccessful. Why would I have anything positive to say about the club when I profoundly disagree with its current philosophy of recruiting and onfield strategy? We’ve been unsuccessful and I think we need change to become successful – you don’t. I can’t wait for Scott to go, for Cook to retire, and the club to actually get a serious plan together to build for a time when we compete properly again for a flag in years to come.

I am a supporter because I want the club to be aiming for premierships not revenue. I don’t care if we bottom out as long as we have a clear plan to recruit kids build a team over a period of time properly to genuinely compete for a flag again over a number of seasons.You on the other hand are happy with making top 4 and continued failure in finals as long as the club is making a buck in the process. The metric for Geelong should be flags at the moment given that’s what all our recruiting of mature age players was supposedly for? Do you not agree with this? There have been 7 teams that have won Preliminary Finals in the last 6 years, Geelong, despite its recruit for the now list management strategy, is not one of them and I do consider that a failure. What do you consider it? We’ve won just 3 finals in 6 seasons after 4 top 4 finishes in that time – it’s a simply awful return. So you can keep up your false Geelong patriotism calling out any supporter who’s critical of the club as just a ‘fan,’ or you can grow up and realise supporters can differ in their views of what they think is best for their club.

I support the club by trying to in my own small way get rid of the current regime which is taking us nowhere – and faster than people think I might add. The Cook/Scott hegemony down at Geelong has to go! We will have no success on field till it does. Cook has been great for the club but I emphasise ‘has been.’ No doubt they should have a statue of him down there somewhere in the future but he’s got to go if the club is to stop with this ridiculous trade for the now list management strategy. Which is and always has been his baby in order to keep revenue up. I’ve never said our coaches -plural- were rubbish, nor have I said the recruiting team were, I’ve said our recruiting strategy has been rubbish. I think Chris Scott is rubbish and has a poor game-plan developed to exploit the small size of Kardinia Park while endlessly ignoring the requirements of grounds like the MCG and the pace of finals footy. I think Cook has been party to this wanting to see Geelong remain in the top 4 for revenue rather than develop a list and strategy capable of actually genuinely competing for a flag.

Ha, ha. As I’ve said before we’ve been amongst the worst teams at recruiting in the league in the last half decade. Take Danger and Tuohy out and the rest have been at best good ordinary players but the majority complete failures.

Riewoldt scored over 100 champion data points in two of his three finals. He played a poor Prelim. Hawkins had a good first week of finals scoring over 100 himself then was woeful in the last two finals. Walker didn’t get close to 100 in any of his finals. Riewoldt also had 5 tackles inside forward 50 for the finals series Walker had zero, Hawkins just 2. Considering Geelong go to Hawkins far more than Richmond go to Riewoldt and Hawkins spent significantly more time on the ground in the finals I think Riewoldt well and truly proved more effective. Riewoldt had 21 score involvements in the finals Hawkins just 12. You may have a better case with Tex in that he did have 20 score involvements through the finals but laying no tackles inside forward 50 throughout the whole finals shows what I was talking about in relation to both Hawkins and Wakers ineffectiveness at ground level and inability to pressure – especially against the better teams.
Geelong were never going to beat Richmond on the MCG. Geelong’s whole team and game-plan are constructed for Kardinia Park, where as Richmond’s whole game-plan was constructed for the space at the ‘G’ and to win finals. The win Geelong had against Richmond had more to do with Richmond’s inability to use their speed to advantage in such a small space. Geelong struggle at th MCG for a reason and it’s that we’re slow, very slow, and simply don’t have the ability to implement our Kardinia Park game-plan against fast teams on the wide space of the MCG.