Preview Round 1, 2021: GWS v St.Kilda - GIANTS Stadium, Sunday 21st March, 3:20PM AEDT *HIGHMORE DEBUT*

Who Wins?

  • Giants

    Votes: 25 32.1%
  • Saints

    Votes: 53 67.9%

  • Total voters
    78
Status
Not open for further replies.
Jan 14, 2012
36,885
90,449
The River Murray
AFL Club
St Kilda
Time to get a preview thread going I think.

Huge round one game with how tough our draw is this year. These are the 50-50 games we have to win.

Giants are a little hard to read. They've lost some very good players but still have plenty of quality in that side.

GWS without Preuss means they'll have a debutant ruckman which should mean a dominant day for Ryder and they will also be without Lachie Whitfield for the start of the year.

Surprisingly for me though, they are $1.65 favourites for the game.

Most of our 22 looks pretty set depending on fitness but there are one or two spots up for grabs.

Unavailable - Geary, Paton, Marshall, Crouch, Frawley

Touch and go - Jones, Hannebery

This is the way I would go

Wilkie - Howard - Webster
Sinclair - Carlisle - Coffield
Billings - Steele - Hill
Higgins - Battle - Membrey
Lonie - King - Butler

Ryder - Clark - Gresham

Ross, Long, McKernan, Jones*

Emg: Hunter, Bytel, Wood, Highmore
 
Its going to be a tough game , they looked ok on the weekend and Briggs did ok in the ruck so Ryder wont have it all his way if he plays .
Like you said its a 50-50 game and i think this year is going to be even more even than last year so its a must win
 
Jan 14, 2012
36,885
90,449
The River Murray
AFL Club
St Kilda
Its going to be a tough game , they looked ok on the weekend and Briggs did ok in the ruck so Ryder wont have it all his way if he plays .
Like you said its a 50-50 game and i think this year is going to be even more even than last year so its a must win
Briggs did do ok and I think he has a future but he was still beaten in the ruck by Hickey and Sinclair which isn't saying a lot.

He'll struggle against Ryders tap work who is as good as anyone in the comp with his tap work.

The Giants also don't have a great option for 2nd ruck.
 
Aug 30, 2017
16,054
66,383
AFL Club
St Kilda
Can’t see Jones or Hanneberry coming in on limited preparation. Bytel will get an opportunity. Probably also means we go with an extra small forward. Highmore for Frawley. Battle wing/defence to assist.

B: Highmore - Howard - Webster
HB: Sinclair - Wilkie - Coffield
C: Battle - Steele - Hill
HF: Higgins - Membrey - Billings
F - McKernan - King - Butler
R: Ryder - Clark - Gresham
I: Ross - Bytel - Long - Lonie
 
Jan 14, 2012
36,885
90,449
The River Murray
AFL Club
St Kilda
Can’t see Jones or Hanneberry coming in on limited preparation. Bytel will get an opportunity. Probably also means we go with an extra small forward. Highmore for Frawley. Battle wing/defence to assist.

B: Highmore - Howard - Webster
HB: Sinclair - Wilkie - Coffield
C: Battle - Steele - Hill
HF: Higgins - Membrey - Billings
F - McKernan - King - Butler
R: Ryder - Clark - Gresham
I: Ross - Bytel - Long - Lonie
I'm hoping there'll be another VFL practice match next week and Jones plays.

If he does it be picking him. He's already extremely important to us and the new rules should suit his speed and versatility.

If not I'd be more than happy to see Bytel get a run. I had him in the side last week but Lonie has made it impossible not to pick him, even though they play different roles.
 

Premium

Brownlow Medallist
Oct 8, 2016
11,515
27,518
AFL Club
St Kilda
Can’t see Jones or Hanneberry coming in on limited preparation. Bytel will get an opportunity. Probably also means we go with an extra small forward. Highmore for Frawley. Battle wing/defence to assist.

B: Highmore - Howard - Webster
HB: Sinclair - Wilkie - Coffield
C: Battle - Steele - Hill
HF: Higgins - Membrey - Billings
F - McKernan - King - Butler
R: Ryder - Clark - Gresham
I: Ross - Bytel - Long - Lonie
You have picked the team that will be selected most probably - the only other players who could get in would be Jones , Carlisle and Mason Wood.
 

lewdogs

Cancelled
Saints Pledge Contributor
Jun 4, 2008
9,566
31,068
Vic
AFL Club
St Kilda
Other Teams
Arsenal, Portland Trailblazers
Their top end is obviously amazing but they lack depth. Great test early on for our midfield. Ryder will be very important. Jones is a certainty to play apparently been in full training already.

It's a huge game first up.
 

FQFjt

Club Legend
Sep 11, 2015
2,013
7,314
AFL Club
St Kilda
GWS away is never easy, so it will give a good early indication of whether we can produce top quality footy when it matters. That said, round 1 results are often famously weird and wacky in hindsight.
 

Premium

Brownlow Medallist
Oct 8, 2016
11,515
27,518
AFL Club
St Kilda
Don't like the idea of going into this game with one defender.

They have Riccardi, Himmleberg and Finlayson as key forwards.

It was a mistake not playing a 2nd key defender last year against the Eagles and we looked much better the following fortnight with the 2nd defender.
Carlisle the guy we need but for some reason he is on the outer , hope I'm wrong because no matter what people say about Carlisle he is a very good player.
 
Can’t see Jones or Hanneberry coming in on limited preparation. Bytel will get an opportunity. Probably also means we go with an extra small forward. Highmore for Frawley. Battle wing/defence to assist.

B: Highmore - Howard - Webster
HB: Sinclair - Wilkie - Coffield
C: Battle - Steele - Hill
HF: Higgins - Membrey - Billings
F - McKernan - King - Butler
R: Ryder - Clark - Gresham
I: Ross - Bytel - Long - Lonie
I like that side but I would have Jake in
 
Jan 14, 2012
36,885
90,449
The River Murray
AFL Club
St Kilda
Carlisle the guy we need but for some reason he is on the outer , hope I'm wrong because no matter what people say about Carlisle he is a very good player.
That was with a fit Frawley.

You'd hope he's right into contention now.

It would be strange to re sign a play that has his papers stamped.
 

scotteydog

Cancelled
Oct 31, 2017
711
755
AFL Club
St Kilda
Time to get a preview thread going I think.

Huge round one game with how tough our draw is this year. These are the 50-50 games we have to win.

Giants are a little hard to read. They've lost some very good players but still have plenty of quality in that side.

GWS without Preuss means they'll have a debutant ruckman which should mean a dominant day for Ryder and they will also be without Lachie Whitfield for the start of the year.

Surprisingly for me though, they are $1.65 favourites for the game.

Most of our 22 looks pretty set depending on fitness but there are one or two spots up for grabs.

Unavailable - Geary, Paton, Marshall, Crouch, Frawley

Touch and go - Jones, Hannebery

This is the way I would go

Wilkie - Howard - Webster
Sinclair - Carlisle - Coffield
Billings - Steele - Hill
Higgins - Battle - Membrey
Lonie - King - Butler

Ryder - Clark - Gresham

Ross, Long, McKernan, Jones*

Emg: Hunter, Bytel, Wood, Highmore
Good List: Hope Hunter will play for Long though.
 

Premium

Brownlow Medallist
Oct 8, 2016
11,515
27,518
AFL Club
St Kilda
Good List: Hope Hunter will play for Long though.
GWS will always get hyped because of Greene , Kelly , Taranto however not having there prime movers from the halfback line in Williams and Whitfield is going to hurt them.
We know having Steele and Gresham with Ryder in the middle will nullify there midfielders - I feel we have the upper hand with our speed through the middle to forward line.
Having a more dangerous Sinclair and Hill is going to create problems for GWS , it's going to be up to our forwards just to kick goals and with Butler , Higgins , Membery , King , Lonie and Battle we have the fire power to do it.
 

scotteydog

Cancelled
Oct 31, 2017
711
755
AFL Club
St Kilda
If Hunter were to play it would be in place of McKernan. No need for both as it makes us too top heavy. McKernan being able play forward puts him well ahead of Hunter IMO.
I would play Ryder in the forward pocket resting. This is where Hunter can help. McKernan plays C.H.F & Battle as a utility. GWS play 3 big boys in their backline, which means they play top heavy.
 
Last edited:
Cheers for getting this up, had a busy weekend. Had to change thread title, admin wants them done a certain way. Added a poll too.

Should be a pretty good contest, if we have any serious aspirations for the season these are games we should be winning. GWS come in with a few injuries of their own, and beating them by 10 goals last year can only do good for the confidence.

Plus it will be interesting to see how we go with the interstate travel given what we managed to do last year.
 
Jan 14, 2012
36,885
90,449
The River Murray
AFL Club
St Kilda
I would play Ryder in the forward pocket resting. This is where Hunter can help. McKernan plays C.H.F & Battle as a utility. GWS play 3 big boys in their backline, which means they play top heavy.
They play 3 key forwards and one ruck and one of the forwards pinch hits in the ruck.

Ryder, McKernan, Battle, Membrey and King as well as a ruck is too tall. It won't happen.
 

Premium

Brownlow Medallist
Oct 8, 2016
11,515
27,518
AFL Club
St Kilda
They play 3 key forwards and one ruck and one of the forwards pinch hits in the ruck.

Ryder, McKernan, Battle, Membrey and King as well as a ruck is too tall. It won't happen.
What happened to Mason Wood , plays like he is Wayne Carey and then not talked about again - surely on that game alone he would be in with a shot.
 
Jan 14, 2012
36,885
90,449
The River Murray
AFL Club
St Kilda
What happened to Mason Wood , plays like he is Wayne Carey and then not talked about again - surely on that game alone he would be in with a shot.
He was pretty bloody good against the Roos but didn't get a go in the next game which says they more than likely prefer McKernan who can play in the ruck.

I think McKernan was pretty good against Carlton so it makes sense to play him round one.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back