Geelong must fix its post-bye record if it is to have any impact in September

Geelong slumped to its eighth loss from as many starts the week after having a bye. And club legend Jimmy Bartel sees some red flags ahead of his old club’s likely finals campaign.

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA — JUNE 22: (L-R) Harry Taylor of the Cats, Cats head coach Chris Scott and Cameron Guthrie of the Cats look on during the round 14 AFL match between the Port Adelaide Power and the Geelong Cats at Adelaide Oval on June 22, 2019 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)

Geelong has a big issue, and only a relatively small time to fix it.

The Cats, more than a game clear on top of the AFL ladder, again slumped to a post-bye loss when they were beaten both out of the blocks and at the contest by a hungry Port Adelaide on Saturday night.

A slow start again proved costly as Geelong, whose fast starts have been a strength in 2019, trailed by 14 points at the first break and was belted by 36 (167-131) in the contested possession count on the night.

The loss was the Cats’ eighth in as many years when coming off a mid-season break, and three-time premiership great Jimmy Bartel says it’s an issue his old club must fix if it wants to add more silverware to its cabinet.

Harry Taylor’s 250th match had a sorry ending with Chris Scott’s team a shadow of their 2019 selves. Pic: Getty Images

Since 2016 all clubs now have a week’s rest after the home and away season and before their first final.

That pre-finals bye has also been a problem for Geelong, who again looks almost certain to finish in the top four.

After scraping across the line against Hawthorn (courtesy of an Isaac Smith miss after the siren) in 2016, the Cats have been thoroughly outplayed in week 1 of the finals in both 2017 and 2018. Horror opening quarters have been a key reason in the end result.

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Bartel, who retired in 2016 after being part of a losing Cats preliminary final team, said the record was an issue ahead of another finals series.

“I think that’s more the concern,” Bartel told Channel 7’s GameDay.

“They’ve finished top four a couple of years (recently) and with now the bye leading into the finals, they’ve won the first final so (you go) bye, win the final and then (have a) break again before you play.

Patrick Dangerfield and Gary Ablett did their bit for the Cats. Pic: Getty Images

“I don’t think they’ve managed that really well — whether that’s over-trained, under-trained or being off the boil a little bit because if you look at the finals after the bye it’s been the first quarter where they’ve been blown out.

“So they just haven’t got that, call it 10 days or seven to eight-day period leading into the final (right), which is a concern.

“They’ll need to work that out because they’re going to finish in the top four again.”

Coach Chris Scott has promised a forensic examination of his team’s post-bye curse.

He wants answers — not just to the post-bye flops, but also why his ladder-leaders were a shell of themselves against the Power.

“The performance wasn’t reflective of the way we have played during the season so that is what we need to ... have a really good look at,” Scott said after the Port loss.

“Why didn’t it look like us?

Geelong lost its eight consecutive match after the mid-season bye. Pic: Getty Images

“The margin flattered us in the extreme. We were just beaten by a better team tonight.

“I’m not prepared to concede that they’re a better team in general. But we didn’t play well and they completely outplayed us for the majority of the game.”

Scott said the impact of the post-bye losing syndrome was hard to gauge.

“What we have got is a problem in the moment, post-bye,” he said.

“Hopefully we’re good enough to get the chance to have a bye going into a finals series.

“There are things we have looked at, it’s not as if we’re ignoring it — it’s a fact.

“How relevant it is to the rest of our season is another question (but) it won’t stop us being forensic in our analysis of it.”

The Cats host fifth-placed Adelaide on Friday night.

Since 2012 GEEL are ...
0-8 the week after the bye - the worst record of the 18 teams
7-0 the week after the week after the bye - the best record of the 18 teams
@GeelongCats #AFLPowerCats @AFL

— Swamp (@sirswampthing) June 22, 2019

“I expect our guys to respond,” Scott said.

“We’re a different team but if you look at the individuals who have been around a while, they have a pretty strong history of when they put in a performance that they’re not proud of, that they bounce back and play well (the next game).”

— with AAP

GEELONG’S RECORD AFTER ROUND 23 BYES

2016:

QF - Geelong (2nd) defeated Hawthorn (3rd) by 2 points

(Hawk Isaac Smith missed set shot after the siren)

PF - Geelong lost to Sydney by 37 points

(trailed 7.2 to 0.5 at QT)

2017:

QF - Geelong (2nd) lost to Richmond (3rd) by 51 points

(trailed 2.4 to 0.4 at QT)

SF - Geelong def Sydney by 59 points

PF - Geelong lost to Adelaide 61 points

(trailed 6.3 to 1.2 at QT)

2018:

EF - Geelong (8th) lost to Melbourne (5th) by 29 points

(trailed 5.3 to 0.2 at QT)