Dear Oroton

by MICHAEL STEVEN

LET'S get this clear. Garry Hocking is not an enigma. He is clearly a major reason why Geelong is one of those teams that never quite made it.

Throughout his career he has played badly in crucial games or at crucial times during big games.

In 1989 he was over excited and unable to focus on the game plan. He kept playing the man. In 1992 he was gutless. And it wasn't only in the grand final of 1994 that Hocking was physically intimidated by Worsfold.

For years before that Hocking would be looking over his shoulder to see where Worsfold was. It was no contest. Worsfold would attack the ball with ferocity with or without Hocking in the frame. Hocking would be concentrating on the possibility of another clash with his nemesis. He may have played OK in the second half of the 1994 grand final (and how ungrand it was) but the game was all over. The pressure was off.

Hocking may not have been a scared player. But whenever there was a major physical challenge he could not focus on the ball. He was ready and prepared for the aggression but was not able to play good football. He was a skilled player who just wasn't up to it when the real pressure was on.

Accept the positives. Hocking is going. Geelong now have a chance to win the big one. With him in your team your participation was pointless.

australianrules.com.au

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