Geelong‘s tackle stats in loss to Essendon worst ever recorded by Champion Data
GEELONG has lost three games in a row and on Saturday night sunk to new lows after recording the worst tackle stats ever recorded by Champion Data against Essendon.
Geelong
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GEELONG is officially playing bruise-free football, after its players recorded the worst tackle discrepancy in Champion Data history on Saturday.
And its problems start at the top, after Patrick Dangerfield, Joel Selwood and Mitch Duncan combined for three total tackles in the loss to Essendon.
Cats coach Chris Scott described his club’s 14-tackle first-half as “disgraceful” ahead of a Friday clash against the Western Bulldogs.
Since Champion Data started keeping in statistics in 1999, no club has been out-tackled so comprehensively than the Cats.
The tackle differential across the entire game was 42 (81-39) while the pressure differential (also 42) was also the largest in 18 recorded seasons.
At half time 19 players had one or fewer tackles, with Scott admitting the three-match losing streak was reaching alarming proportions.
It saw Melbourne great David Schwarz say on Sunday the 5-3 Cats would miss the eight if their current form continued.
Scott said the club’s continued poor form showed it only deserved to be back in the pack after two months of footy.
“It was for the third week in a row a really, really poor performance. We’ve got to stop talking about it being uncharacteristic, because it is what we are right at the moment,” Scott said.
“(13) tackles in a half is just a disgraceful performance. We were fumbly around the ground and that might have allowed them to close on us to tackle but it’s a very, very shallow excuse for such a poor numbers.
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“We look at our method collectively and then we look at the individuals as well because if you drill down to that on numbers there were a lot of individuals that didn’t contribute over a half of footy or for some over the whole game.”
Brisbane’s Tom Rockliff registered 13 tackles by himself against Hawthorn despite failing to play out the game with a shoulder dislocation.
Dangerfield might be the only Cat given a pass on the tackle front given he has been nursing sore or potentially broken ribs.
Scott is adamant a shift in mindset is needed given the Dogs lead the competition in tackles this year.
He will strip back the club’s coaching to fundamentals despite a lengthy list of issues.
“Sometimes I talk about the complexities of the game. We don’t even get anywhere near the complexities before we run out of problems we have to fix,’’ he said.
“They are fundamentals, but three or four weeks ago we showed we could do those things well.
“It should be a quick fix but three weeks in we need to turn it around and turn it around quickly.
“5-3 is not a horrible position to be in but the first five rounds of the year flattered us a bit.”
Lachie Henderson is likely to return from a rib problem, with Scott optimistic Rhys Stanley (knee) was not badly injured.
“He seems to be OK. It potentially looks worse than it is when a player goes straight off, but it was just a case of not being much time to go and we needed to get a player on,” Scott said.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Essendon recorded a pressure factor differential of +42 — their biggest ever differential
- The Cats pressure factor differential of -42 — their worst ever recorded
- Essendon laid 41 more tackles than Geelong — their best ever differential
- The Cats differential of -41 tackles was their worst ever differential
- The Cats 14 tackles at halftime was their fewest in an opening half under Chris Scott
FIRST HALF TACKLES
Nakia Cockatoo - 3
James Parsons - 2
Mark O’Connor - 2
Rhys Stanley - 1
Zac Smith - 1
Daniel Menzel - 1
Sam Menegola - 1
George Horlin-Smith - 1
Tom Hawkins - 1
Jed Bews - 1
Zach Tuohy - 0
Harry Taylor - 0
Tom Stewart - 0
Joel Selwood - 0
Steven Motlop - 0
Andrew Mackie - 0
Tom Lonergan - 0
Jake Kolodjashnij - 0
Cameron Guthrie - 0
Mitch Duncan - 0
Patrick Dangerfield - 0
Mark Blicavs - 0
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