Autopsy Round 4, 2019: St.Kilda v Hawthorn *BLUE RIBBON CUP*

[Human Person]

Today's Blake Acres Medal goes to Blake Acres for the most Blake Acres thing ever: that lazy little contested mark and pinpoint pass to a leading forward. 0% intensity, 100% execution.

Had the same intensity when he broke through multiple tackles to open the field up. I think his opponents just see the look in his eyes and think “oh hey, this’ll be an easy tackle, he doesn’t even look like he’s concentrating.” Then Bam, one second later they’re on the ground wondering where he went.

 

[StCicatriz]

Acres started to clunk some marks. If he can build on that he will be a very dangerous asset

 

[VDS66]

Acres started to clunk some marks. If he can build on that he will be a very dangerous asset

I'm.no judge or expert. There was a passage in the final on our had back flank where he had the opportunity to chase two players but didn't.

Still looks abut lazy, but as with Lonie, will be gladly proven wrong.

 

[Present Not Past]

This week on Sliding Doors.
If: You think the Saints are going well by winning 3 of their first 4 games.
Then: I need to remind you that the Hannebury deal was stupid and that Jack Steven wants to leave and all their fans are close to tearing up their memberships based on my totally legit sources.

Happy to trade Steven if he wants to leave, but lets burn the club that we trade him to.
Is Armo still on our list? Let's move him on.
Richo - happy to see him gone at the end of the year There's a new kid in town and he is a winner and the belief is building.

 

[StCicatriz]

I'm.no judge or expert. There was a passage in the final on our had back flank where he had the opportunity to chase two players but didn't.

Still looks abut lazy, but as with Lonie, will be gladly proven wrong.

Think your observation is spot on. Although as great and elite as billings is now he has the same issue defensively

 

[StCicatriz]

Happy to trade Steven if he wants to leave, but lets burn the club that we trade him to.
Is Armo still on our list? Let's move him on.
Richo - happy to see him gone at the end of the year There's a new kid in town and he is a winner and the belief is building.

Could very well be on the cards tbh to Geelong.

 

[Present Not Past]

Could very well be on the cards tbh to Geelong.

1st round draft pick (won't be very high) and a good player at a minimum. Maybe make them go in search for a high draft pick before trading with us first.

 

[stfan]

Geeze, I do not know now which was more enjoyable today. The win over the Hawks or reading all the melts by Hawks fans post-game.

Normally what you get from them is we will we win because we are the Hawks, but bleet, bleet, bleet today it was we had more good players players out than the Saints in the selected team, that limping players were a bigger loss than a concussed player and the funniest one being that they actually believe that they were hard done by umps.

 

[Strahany]

There is no way we’d get enough compensation from a high-finishing Geelong for Steven. Would be devastating when we’re trying to make a tilt at finals.

 

[NarklesHelmet]

Was excruciating last week the s**t about Acres..played in the forward pocket and everyone was calling him a bust cos he didn't get 30. Was one of the dumbest narratives I've ever seen.

Well put, excruciating is a good word for it. It was also plain stupid.

Anti-Acres Mob after Freo last week: Acres is crap. He’s lazy, has no footy brain, confuses his teammates. Why do you lot all go on about him calling him GOAT etc. Built like Tarzan, plays like Jane. What’s he ever produced?

Everyone else: that’s a bit harsh. He’s never played well when he is played primarily as a forward. He’s a midfielder. Look back to his performances early last year and in big games in 2017 and 16 against Melbourne and GWS when he racked up possessions and kicked important goals. The kid can play if he’s put in the midfield, it’s clear to see. If you don’t believe us, go back and watch the games or just check his stats if you can’t be bothered doing that. He’s one of our few younger blokes who racks up possessions at will and can change a game: believe in him.

Anti-Acres mob: Nah. Drop him. GOAT LOL.

Most of us weren’t surprised with Blake’s performance yesterday because he’s done it before. He had nothing to prove as a midfielder, he was just played there more yesterday and, surprise, surpise, he delivered.

The kid can play. He’s got a great tank, is important late in matches, has developed an overhead game and is a great link-up handballer in attacking chains: he makes those around him better. His kicking has been a fair knock on him but there were some beautifully weighted kicks he pulled off yesterday.

I have no idea why he divides opinion, he’s one of the few young blokes we have who has actually delivered at big moments pretty consistently and who racks up possessions without even trying. He’s a point of difference player we should all be celebrating. Just sit back and enjoy watching him play and stop obsessing over what he can’t do. Injuries aside last year and in his rookie year, he is tracking very nicely to become a very important player for us.

He just needs to be played in the midfield and then drifting forward occasionally - NEVER the other way around.

 

[St Muir]

Great game overall.
Nice work by the crowd, embarrassed the umps as they started to get a hawks run on going.
Paton looked very composed, I think we’ve got one there. Battle looks more confident each week as a KPD.
Parker has played better but those tackles are gold. He really hurts people and gets them thinking twice. One of these days those marks are going to stick and he’ll get a BOG or mark of the season.
Marshall kept us in the game and Acres got us over the line.
Great team effort!

 

[Brains Trust66]

is my curse finally broken ? i went through all last year without seeing a win , i was ill for our home wins last year . All i managed was the draw with GWS. i missed first round this year due to poor health so its been a long time since i have seen a win live. Today changed that . Beating the Hawks was awesome , but it was made even better by the fact that me and the couple Saints fans sitting next to me were surrounded by Hawk fans who gave us crap all game but they went very silent at the end while the three of us were jumping up and down and singing the club song. What a great day in the end.

 

[Brains Trust66]

It was a good size crowd too , 35000 not bad at all . Lots of kids having a kick after the game was a good look . Should be done every week like it used to be .
Like the idea of Sandy playing as a curtain raiser . But the time between games was just too long. Happy they closed the roof all game , so much easier with no sun in your eyes.

 

[Jezzarayman]

OK... so what a day!
• Got to the game and some random stunner walks up to me and my mate and gives us free medallion club tickets
• sit down for a beer prior to the game outside the ground and watch Spurs finish off my multi for a massive collect
• multi Saints Carlton line into Woods tonight for heaps
And for the best yet watch the young Saintas stand up for a gutsy win.
Rowan Marshall have my baby's.

Tiger!!! Nice punting

 

[Verdun66]

Where's this talk about Jack Steven leaving coming from? I am aware of his troubles (to an extent) and he comes from down Geelong way. But has it come up again?

 

[The Enemy Within]

The pleasing part about the win was seeing all the kids wearing their jumper with pride & a big smile on the dial that’s what keeps our future members ticking over.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[bergholt]

I've never been an Acres fan, much prefer consistent players with obvious intensity - Lenny the best example. After last week I would have been happy for him to be dropped, being played as a forward isn't an excuse for having no impact imo. But credit where it's due, he was fantastic this week. I just really want to see him do that more often, more consistently. I guess maybe it is about the position he was played in, I just find it very hard to tell that when sitting at the ground. I was pretty confident he wasn't going to ever be quite good enough so let's hope I'm wrong.

 

[Mowman]

Well put, excruciating is a good word for it. It was also plain stupid.

Anti-Acres Mob after Freo last week: Acres is crap. He’s lazy, has no footy brain, confuses his opponents. Why do you lot all go on about him calling him GOAT etc. Built like Tarzan, plays like Jane. What’s he ever produced?

Everyone else: that’s a bit harsh. He’s never played well when he is played primarily as a forward. He’s a midfielder. Look back to his performances early last year and in big games in 2017 and 16 against Melbourne and GWS when he racked up possessions and kicked important goals. The kid can play if he’s put in the midfield, it’s clear to see. If you don’t believe us, go back and watch the games or just check his stats if you can’t be bothered doing that. He’s one of our few younger blokes who racks up possessions at will and can change a game: believe in him.

Anti-Acres mob: Nah. Drop him. GOAT LOL.

Most of us weren’t surprised with Blake’s performance yesterday because he’s done it before. He had nothing to prove as a midfielder, he was just played there more yesterday and, surprise, surpise, he delivered.

The kid can play. He’s got a great tank, is important late in matches, has developed an overhead game and is a great link-up handballer in attacking chains: he makes those around him better. His kicking has been a fair knock on him but there were some beautifully weighted kicks he pulled off yesterday.

I have no idea why he divides opinion, he’s one of the few young blokes we have who has actually delivered at big moments pretty consistently and who racks up possessions without even trying. He’s a point of difference player we should all be celebrating. Just sit back and enjoy watching him play and stop obsessing over what he can’t do. Injuries aside last year and in his rookie year, he is tracking very nicely to become a very important player for us.

He just needs to be played in the midfield and then drifting forward occasionally - NEVER the other way around.

Confuses his team mates too remember LOL That has been said a few times

 

[mad-saint-guy]

Best win since we thrashed Richmond in 2017. Most complete team performance I have seen in a long, long time.

Excellent:

Wilkie
Ross
Lonie
Marshall
Billings
Gresham
Steele
Acres
Brown
Long
Sinclair
Newnes
Savage

That list of players includes several who I did not think should be getting games this year, but credit to Lonie, Newnes, Brown and Savage for putting in very decent seasons to date.

Holy hell Wilkie was great. In the first three games he was serviceable but I think he was our best player against Hawthorn. Never lost a contest, made a bad decision or had a skill error. He played with Sam Fisher's intercepting and kicking skills with Max Hudghton's spoiling.

Marshall was fairly comfortably beaten in the hitouts but he is absolutely brilliant around the ground. Has the cleanest hands at ground level for a ruckman since Tom Hickey. Acres was great but he should absolutely not be rucking. Ideally Max King turns out to be an absolute freakshow and can come in for the second half of the year and provide ruck support, but for now I think we need to play either Pierce or Longer in the ruck for 65% of the game with Marshall rucking for 35% and forward for 50%. He would provide a valuable third marking option up forward and cause headaches for the opposition. As the sole ruckman with midfielders provide ruck support, we get smashed in the hitouts and Marshall tires significantly in the second half.

Our midfield looks so much better with dynamic players like Gresham and Clark in there instead of Dunstan. I don't know how anyone could possibly rate Gresham's game as anything other than brilliant. 26 disposals with 12 contested and 5 clearances was a great return. So often he was the one who found the footy in heavy traffic and set up a scoring opportunity. For a guy who has barely played in the middle at this level, I thought he was great.

 

[NarklesHelmet]

Confuses his team mates too remember LOL That has been said a few times

Yep, accidentally wrote opponents in original post.... that one was one of the best from last week

 

[plugger66]

Richo loves the older more mature bodied players whether they perform or not eg Dunstan, Armitage (2018). Kent was our least affective player today surely his place is in jeopardy?

And fair enough when we don’t have many mature bodies. You have to have balance. Not saying he should play but I understand the reasons

 

[The Boar]

We simply over ran the Hawks, from the halfway point of the 3QTR onwards it was all St Kilda.

Maybe Lether's fitness claim wasn't all BS!

On Pixel 2 XL using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[plugger66]

Best win since we thrashed Richmond in 2017. Most complete team performance I have seen in a long, long time.

Excellent:

Wilkie
Ross
Lonie
Marshall
Billings
Gresham
Steele
Acres
Brown
Long
Sinclair
Newnes
Savage

That list of players includes several who I did not think should be getting games this year, but credit to Lonie, Newnes, Brown and Savage for putting in very decent seasons to date.

Holy hell Wilkie was great. In the first three games he was serviceable but I think he was our best player against Hawthorn. Never lost a contest, made a bad decision or had a skill error. He played with Sam Fisher's intercepting and kicking skills with Max Hudghton's spoiling.

Marshall was fairly comfortably beaten in the hitouts but he is absolutely brilliant around the ground. Has the cleanest hands at ground level for a ruckman since Tom Hickey. Acres was great but he should absolutely not be rucking. Ideally Max King turns out to be an absolute freakshow and can come in for the second half of the year and provide ruck support, but for now I think we need to play either Pierce or Longer in the ruck for 65% of the game with Marshall rucking for 35% and forward for 50%. He would provide a valuable third marking option up forward and cause headaches for the opposition. As the sole ruckman with midfielders provide ruck support, we get smashed in the hitouts and Marshall tires significantly in the second half.

Our midfield looks so much better with dynamic players like Gresham and Clark in there instead of Dunstan. I don't know how anyone could possibly rate Gresham's game as anything other than brilliant. 26 disposals with 12 contested and 5 clearances was a great return. So often he was the one who found the footy in heavy traffic and set up a scoring opportunity. For a guy who has barely played in the middle at this level, I thought he was great.

The absolute last thing we need to do is limit Marshall ruck time. You don’t take away a strength to make a weakness. And if a ruck did come in it would be for 80% because they can’t play anywhere else and 65% game time doesn’t suit rotations

 

[Joffaboy]

Well put, excruciating is a good word for it. It was also plain stupid.

Anti-Acres Mob after Freo last week: Acres is crap. He’s lazy, has no footy brain, confuses his teammates. Why do you lot all go on about him calling him GOAT etc. Built like Tarzan, plays like Jane. What’s he ever produced?

Everyone else: that’s a bit harsh. He’s never played well when he is played primarily as a forward. He’s a midfielder. Look back to his performances early last year and in big games in 2017 and 16 against Melbourne and GWS when he racked up possessions and kicked important goals. The kid can play if he’s put in the midfield, it’s clear to see. If you don’t believe us, go back and watch the games or just check his stats if you can’t be bothered doing that. He’s one of our few younger blokes who racks up possessions at will and can change a game: believe in him.

Anti-Acres mob: Nah. Drop him. GOAT LOL.

Most of us weren’t surprised with Blake’s performance yesterday because he’s done it before. He had nothing to prove as a midfielder, he was just played there more yesterday and, surprise, surpise, he delivered.

The kid can play. He’s got a great tank, is important late in matches, has developed an overhead game and is a great link-up handballer in attacking chains: he makes those around him better. His kicking has been a fair knock on him but there were some beautifully weighted kicks he pulled off yesterday.

I have no idea why he divides opinion, he’s one of the few young blokes we have who has actually delivered at big moments pretty consistently and who racks up possessions without even trying. He’s a point of difference player we should all be celebrating. Just sit back and enjoy watching him play and stop obsessing over what he can’t do. Injuries aside last year and in his rookie year, he is tracking very nicely to become a very important player for us.

He just needs to be played in the midfield and then drifting forward occasionally - NEVER the other way around.

He divides opinion because he has such great potential but only produces very occasionally.

Yesterday he stood up and was instrumental in the win. But he polarises because he has been on the list 5 years and is still in and out of the team.

If you read any of my posts about him during the week, you would see, like all Saints players, I want him to succeed. I had seen glimpses, but hardly anything to fap about like the groupies on the forum do about him.

Richo playing him.in the ruck was a great move, got him involved in the action and he clicked into the player he can be. I was excited to see him take the game on and play to expectations.
However, before the GOATEES do a victory lap and get a touch of the vapours, I want to see that from him every week That should be his minimum level.

If he can build on this one game and get better which in my mind is very achievable, we have a weapon that can be instrumental in getting us into the finals

So that is the challenge. Lets hope he doesn't frustrate like he has for the past 5 seasons. Time to have a breakout year like Jack Billings.

 

[#gosaintas]

He divides opinion because he has such great potential but only produces very occasionally.

Yesterday he stood up and was instrumental in the win. But he polarises because he has been on the list 5 years and is still in and out of the team.

If you read any of my posts about him during the week, you would see, like all Saints players, I want him to succeed. I had seen glimpses, but hardly anything to fap about like the groupies on the forum do about him.

Richo playing him.in the ruck was a great move, got him involved in the action and he clicked into the player he can be. I was excited to see him take the game on and play to expectations.
However, before the GOATEES do a victory lap and get a touch of the vapours, I want to see that from him every week That should be his minimum level.

If he can build on this one game and get better which in my mind is very achievable, we have a weapon that can be instrumental in getting us into the finals

So that is the challenge. Lets hope he doesn't frustrate like he has for the past 5 seasons. Time to have a breakout year like Jack Billings.

The Cho just needs to play him as a mid. No more fwd pocket crap. Then we'll have a player.