Review Round 21, 2024 - St. Kilda vs. Brisbane Lions

[pod17]

Convinced we are playing better away than home this year.

I think, in general, we are playing better overall (post round 7). We have some players down on form, or injured, yet seem to be playing selfless team-first football.

For example, without looking at the stats, it seems like we have better structure behind the ball when it turns over and that we aren’t getting scored as easily against showing everyone in the structure is working hard back. Charlie and Lohmann chasing hard to keep the ball locked into forward 50 has also been a hallmark of our game.

We’ve also tightened up stoppages (again without looking at numbers) where Oscar and the mids seem more connected. Though he isn’t playing to his best right now, the injection of Ashcroft back into the midfield rotations has aided that IMO as we look more dangerous with him in there than a Lyons.

 

[M Malice]

Our touted lack of fitness on this board by some including me does not seem to be an issue, we look to be running out games strongly.

 

[The Zork]

Rayner is not just fending off tackles he’s walking through them with a disrespectful confidence.
Breaking that first ring of the contest almost at will is like gold and drops the heads of opposition let alone the opportunities it opens up forward of the ball as a result.

 

[M Malice]

 

[Nathan Barley]

Our touted lack of fitness on this board by some including me does not seem to be an issue, we look to be running out games strongly.

Seems like our red time/4th quarter issues seemed to be mostly form related

 

[mpal6]

Rayner is not just fending off tackles he’s walking through them with a disrespectful confidence.
Breaking that first ring of the contest almost at will is like gold and drops the heads of opposition let alone the opportunities it opens up forward of the ball as a result.

He seems to be shrugging away key position defenders like Battle so it's no surprise when he explodes through the midfield bodies.

 

[mpal6]

A note of appreciation for Henry Smith as well.

There were many contests yesterday where I felt he was a bit too far but somehow he'll stretch beyond 1 or sometimes 2 defenders to bring the ball to ground. Daniher got a goal straight out of that and was very appreciative of the work Henry did there to create the opportunity.

Looks like we got a good ruck depth and third tall if we ever need it. Great work by Henry Smith yesterday.

 

[Sproj]

The real benefit of Cam finally arriving as elite is that now it makes it really hard for teams to defend against our midfield. Who do you tag? Lachie probably but then Cam comes in and blows you apart with bursts. Tag Rayner? Can't really afford to but if you do, Lachie is off the leash. Then you've got Dunkley and Berry mopping everything up and then you are forgetting about Cluggs. Even if somehow you can nullify all of that, WAshcroft is looking ready to explode back in to form as well. Ok let's say you an contain them, sub in Bruuuuuce and you've got a laser look foot to deal with and another big body.

Then on top of all of that, you've got Lohmann literally popping up all over the ground to provide another option and Fletcher who while not as good, is also proving capable of finding something in big moments. Exciting times.

 

[Elixuh]

Post day clarity form Saints fans in their review thread has pinpointed the real reason they lost: Academies and F/Ss! Without them they would have thrashed us last night.

Yessss yessssss

 

[Perrip]

The real benefit of Cam finally arriving as elite is that now it makes it really hard for teams to defend against our midfield. Who do you tag? Lachie probably but then Cam comes in and blows you apart with bursts. Tag Rayner? Can't really afford to but if you do, Lachie is off the leash. Then you've got Dunkley and Berry mopping everything up and then you are forgetting about Cluggs. Even if somehow you can nullify all of that, WAshcroft is looking ready to explode back in to form as well. Ok let's say you an contain them, sub in Bruuuuuce and you've got a laser look foot to deal with and another big body.

I can't remember which coach said it in their presser, it may have been Ross last time we played St. Kilda? But, they said something along these lines - that tagging Neale didn't work because Clug just took his place as the influential midfielder + you can't have 2 midfield players tagging oppo players without interrupting you're own gameplan.

 

[luthor]

Post day clarity form Saints fans in their review thread has pinpointed the real reason they lost: Academies and F/Ss! Without them they would have thrashed us last night.

Damn.

They're onto us

 

[p4p1]

Our touted lack of fitness on this board by some including me does not seem to be an issue, we look to be running out games strongly.

There is obviously a balance that comes into play with keeping the fitness to be able to play 4 quarters hard every week without risking injuries due to fatigue vs enough time for rest and recovery etc. and trying to make sure fatigue isn't an issue late in the season.
I would imagine getting the balance right is one of the more difficult things for teams and clubs to do.

 

[p4p1]

He seems to be shrugging away key position defenders like Battle so it's no surprise when he explodes through the midfield bodies.

I also like that he doesn't carry on like a campaigner ala Reid when he actually gets caught.

 

[martinson]

There is obviously a balance that comes into play with keeping the fitness to be able to play 4 quarters hard every week without risking injuries due to fatigue vs enough time for rest and recovery etc. and trying to make sure fatigue isn't an issue late in the season.
I would imagine getting the balance right is one of the more difficult things for teams and clubs to do.

An underrated factor is match fitness. Provided your body's right young athletes harden up with match fitness as they get into the grind of the season and their bodies adjust to the tempo and physicality. At the start of the year we were probably under prepared compared to some others mainly due to the late finish in '23 and a preparation rightfully targeted at the end of the season. We still imagined we'd get away with it in more games than we did .

 

[haystark]

Post day clarity form Saints fans in their review thread has pinpointed the real reason they lost: Academies and F/Ss! Without them they would have thrashed us last night.

My favourite is that we’re getting Levi for “free”. Nevermind we’re paying through the nose for him, as we should.

 

[M Malice]

An underrated factor is match fitness. Provided your body's right young athletes harden up with match fitness as they get into the grind of the season and their bodies adjust to the tempo and physicality. At the start of the year we were probably under prepared compared to some others mainly due to the late finish in '23 and a preparation rightfully targeted at the end of the season. We still imagined we'd get away with it in more games than we did .

Could only be my perception but it seems like there are less ACL/Ankle/Shoulder injuries later in the season when the bolded starts to have an effect?

Not sure if there are statistics on what stage of a season injuries occur, it would be an interesting stat.

 

[Darren Downunder]

Darren Upandabout is back in town!
Great game! I heartily endorse most of what’s been said.

I want to give special shout out to Charlie.
His pressure in the forward line was amazing.

 

[The Flying Belgian]

I actually think Ross Lyon cops it a bit too much, he has got 2 clubs to Grand Finals and was a toe poke and a bounce of the ball from winning a couple of flags.

Game probably passed him by now though.

ZoBlitz, card this man!

 

[Nathan Barley]

St Kilda v Brisbane
8 Lachie Neale

9

Lachie Neale

Age

32

Ht

177cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

27.0

5star

K

11.5

4star

HB

15.5

5star

M

4.0

4star

T

3.7

5star

CL

5.9

5star

D

28.3

5star

K

13.9

5star

HB

14.4

5star

M

4.6

4star

T

4.0

5star

CL

5.9

5star

D

12.0

3star

K

4.6

2star

HB

7.4

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

1.0

3star

CL

0.4

3star

(BL)
6 Cameron Rayner

16

Cameron Rayner

Age

26

Ht

187cm

Wt

93kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.4

3star

K

6.2

2star

HB

5.2

4star

M

3.0

3star

T

2.4

4star

G

0.9

4star

D

11.3

3star

K

5.8

2star

HB

5.5

3star

M

3.1

3star

T

3.0

4star

G

1.0

4star

D

10.8

3star

K

6.4

3star

HB

4.4

4star

M

2.4

3star

T

2.2

4star

G

0.8

4star

(BL)
5 Oscar McInerney

46

Oscar Mcinerney

Age

31

Ht

205cm

Wt

110kg

Pos.

Ruck

Career

Season

Last 5

D

8.1

2star

K

4.1

2star

HB

3.9

3star

CL

1.4

4star

HO

14.3

5star

D

6.9

1star

K

4.1

2star

HB

2.7

2star

CL

1.9

4star

HO

16.4

5star

D

7.6

2star

K

4.0

2star

HB

3.6

3star

CL

0.4

3star

HO

11.2

5star

(BL)
5 Hugh McCluggage

6

Hugh Mccluggage

Age

28

Ht

187cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

19.3

5star

K

11.4

4star

HB

7.9

5star

M

4.0

4star

T

3.0

5star

CL

2.2

4star

D

19.0

4star

K

12.0

5star

HB

7.0

4star

M

3.6

4star

T

2.9

4star

CL

2.0

4star

D

13.2

4star

K

7.8

3star

HB

5.4

4star

M

4.2

4star

T

1.8

4star

CL

0.6

3star

(BL)
3 Brandon Starcevich

4

Brandon Starcevich

Age

26

Ht

188cm

Wt

90kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

9.2

2star

K

6.5

3star

HB

2.6

2star

M

2.8

3star

T

2.0

4star

MG

185.3

3star

D

9.5

2star

K

7.3

3star

HB

2.3

2star

M

3.6

4star

T

2.1

3star

MG

187.9

3star

D

8.6

3star

K

5.4

2star

HB

3.2

3star

M

1.4

2star

T

1.8

4star

MG

181.2

3star

(BL)
2 Joe Daniher (BL)
1 Harris Andrews

31

Harris Andrews

Age

29

Ht

200cm

Wt

98kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.8

3star

K

7.4

3star

HB

5.4

4star

M

5.6

5star

T

1.6

4star

MG

151.7

2star

D

17.0

4star

K

9.0

4star

HB

8.0

4star

M

4.0

4star

T

2.0

3star

D

9.8

3star

K

5.0

2star

HB

4.8

4star

M

3.4

4star

T

1.6

4star

MG

94.0

2star

(BL)

 

[Tom14]

St Kilda v Brisbane
8 Lachie Neale (BL)
6 Cameron Rayner (BL)
5 Oscar McInerney (BL)
5 Hugh McCluggage (BL)
3 Brandon Starcevich (BL)
2 Joe Daniher (BL)
1 Harris Andrews (BL)

Neale - (4,4)

Rayner (3,3)

Big O 5,0?

Clug 5,0?

Stace1,2

Joe 2,0

Harris 0,1?

Absolute raffle as to who got what.

 

[Clarkythelion]

Could only be my perception but it seems like there are less ACL/Ankle/Shoulder injuries later in the season when the bolded starts to have an effect?

Not sure if there are statistics on what stage of a season injuries occur, it would be an interesting stat.

I was interested in your question so had a quick look.

Hipwood - July
Rayner - March
Ashcroft - July
Coleman - March
Gardner - May
McArthy - May
Lane - July
Skinner - August
McFadden - July

So on that maybe some indication its slightly earlier in the season.

The question might be - Are more ACL done on Queensland grounds (yes all of them) are more ACL's done at the Gabba or Gold Coast or in training ? (the Gabba and the lions have had meetings with the Gabba to review it with they say 8 ACL's done in more recent times including Sam Docherty against us in March.

 

[mpal6]

Neale - (4,4)

Rayner (3,3)

Big O 5,0?

Clug 5,0?

Stace1,2

Joe 2,0

Harris 0,1?

Absolute raffle as to who got what.

Could be this too

Lyon would've given 3 for Starce for beating Higgins and 5 for Oscar as he beat Rowan Marshall comprehensively, giving us a big leg up at source. Once you slot those two for Lyon and put Neale as 4/4, rest sort of fall in place.

Fagan loves players stepping up at crucial stages so Rayner kicking those goals and standing up at Q2 to wrestle momentum our way would've got a 5.

 

[BuntonRules]

Super sub Brucey

It was not then, but after his next possession I could hear the Bruce chant on the telly.

 

[Big Sauce 21]

St Kilda v Brisbane
8 Lachie Neale (BL)
6 Cameron Rayner (BL)
5 Oscar McInerney (BL)
5 Hugh McCluggage (BL)
3 Brandon Starcevich (BL)
2 Joe Daniher (BL)
1 Harris Andrews (BL)

Dunno If I can take this seriously any more. MaCrae keeps giving Daicos charity votes.

 

[M Malice]

Dunno If I can take this seriously any more. MaCrae keeps giving Daicos charity votes.

I want to see Cam Rayner steamroll over the top of Nick Daicos in the middle of the MCG in round 23.