Geelong’s decision to leave goalkicker Daniel Menzel out of side to play Tigers was peculiar

HINDSIGHT is a wonderful thing, but we didn’t need it to know that omitting one of your chief goalkickers was a big call. SAM EDMUND writes Geelong made that call on Friday. HAVE YOUR SAY

Daniel Menzel was a controversial omission. Picture: AAP

UNLIKE the song, it was raining but there was no Menz.

We make light of things that confuse us and Geelong’s decision to dump Daniel Menzel for Friday night’s qualifying final against Richmond was definitely that.

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Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but we didn’t really need it to know that omitting one of your chief goalkickers was a big call.

By the final siren it was a massive one. Cats coach Chris Scott had just watched his side kick only five goals in greasy and occasionally drizzly conditions and lose by 51 points.

Scott, to state the obvious, knows his players better than anyone. And he was the one who drove the omission.

It is said the coach-player relationship has been strained for much of the season.

The facts are that Menzel has kicked 38 goals from 17 games at an average of 2.2 per game — the second best ratio at the club.

Daniel Menzel trains with teammate Tom Ruggles on Saturday morning. Picture: Alison Wynd

Only Tom Hawkins (49 from 20) goals more often, while Patrick Dangerfield has now kicked 39 from 22 games. Menzel, however, has also been the most accurate finisher, with only 14 behinds to go with his 38 majors.

Does Menzel overturn a 51-point loss? Could he have done anything about only 38 inside 50s? No to both, but that doesn’t detract from what was a peculiar decision.

A better question is, would a horrible Geelong have been down by 13 points at three-quarter with Menzel providing another forward threat?

Finals are won by opportunists and Menzel is one. Richmond’s bolt from the blue Jacob Townsend had only two kicks — the fewest of any player — but jagged two vital goals.

Josh Caddy was picked after missing two matches with a hamstring injury to finish with 2.2. He could easily have kicked four.

As Patrick Dangerfield said after the match: “We weren’t able to get on the scoreboard and obviously you need to kick a winning score. It’s nothing that can’t be fixed.”

Asked to explain his decision to drop Menzel, Scott pointed to the conditions.

“We looked a bit cumbersome as it was and Menzel plays as a marking player. We thought the conditions would be slippery; it wasn’t as slippery as the game went on as we expected,” Scott said.

“We wanted to be a bit more mobile through the midfield. I mean, there was a whole host of reasons I don’t really want to go into at the moment.”

Menzel’s lack of defensive pressure has been well-documented, but to blame the weather for dropping a guy who has played 17 games is a tad odd.

The fact he is the subject of trade speculation and, according to his manager Adam Ramanauskas, caught up in the Gary Ablett’s potential homecoming only muddies the waters further.

But Cam Guthrie’s seemingly season-ending calf strain against the Tigers clears something of a path for his return.

“Looking to next week he’s a very real option and someone we would more than likely bring back,” Scott said.