Autopsy 2025 AFL Round 6: A Dog day afternoon

[AirWinmar]

Looked like we we're overly reactive and played to try to stop them instead of winning the ball.

Yep, we were trying to stop their mids rather than win the footy and it was all chasing from there

 

[Diehard Saint]

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For the 10-plus posters whose only contribution to the solution was pick Hugh Boxshall. You are all peanuts.

Box very well might get a game this week but he is a yet to debut AFL player. If we are very, very lucky, he will occasionally have a strong impact on a result this season. But most likely he will hopefully start his development into becoming a gun player.
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For me, the Saints were smashed by a much- better team. A well-connected team that were programmed to shut down our strengths and prey on our weaknesses. It was a hugely impressive performance.

Basically, the Bulldogs completely shut down our ball movement by clogging the corridor and edges of the centre square. Our modus operandi coming out of defence is to hit up a player at half-back and then bring the ball toward the centre circle with a short, chip pass to usually the edge of the centre square. But this area and the corridor was stacked with Bulldogs players throughout the night. They forced us to kick wide, tightened the zone on these areas and then we needed to kick long to a contest where we were undersized and it was an easy situation to deal with. This forced our transition game to completely break down. We need to develop a better plan B. With this current undersized team, we need to be getting long kick closer to the boundary line and out of play.

With our strength taken away, the defeat was made even worse by our poor performance in the clearances, particularly centre, but also in stopping or hindering the Bulldogs transition.

This is why it felt like we had no answers to absolutely anything.

For me, we need to get more height in the team to help create a contest. Definitely in attack and it would be pretty handy in defence too.
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Finally, absolutely rubbish effort by the journalists in Ross Lyon's press conference. A question about Liam Henry was squeezed in, but nothing about Jack Steele or Rowan Marshall. They have absolutely no idea what is relevant.

As one of those peanuts -

Boxshall has yet to debut? No kidding.
But based on his pre-season and recent games it’s time to blood a new midfielder. Of course he’s not the finished product but sometimes it’s good to throw them in, like Garcia. He can’t start to truly develop until he’s actually being played at the level. It’s not like there aren’t others he can replace.

And no, Boxshalls inclusion was far from the only solution offered.

 

[burntsnag]

Out-
Steele, go to the VFL and work on your craft and gain some confidence.

Wilson straight to the VFL and straight into the middle, needs to learn to put his head over the footy. Has spent to much time on the outside and is looking more hill like.

Ins-
Box and trav

Sub- Henry

 

[Diehard Saint]

One week I think we’re on our way to a genuine top 8 team.

The next I wonder if I have rose coloured glasses on because half our team is mud.

Which one honestly is it?

In the cold light of day - as a developing team we are both.

No excuses for our senior players.
Bar Wilkie they were all putrid.

 

[gringo2011]

A good day for the VFL side. A terrible night for the AFL side

Hopefully Ross swings the axe. There were already a couple players out there on their last chance and they did not take advantage

We saw Oscar Allen get managed as the captain of West Coast. We have a legitimate reason to do so with Steele - he looks cooked with that knee - but might not be the right time against the Lions so he probably gets one more

Far out Hill looked terrible today. I'm usually a massive advocate for him because of how hard he works but when you make such costly unforced errors and are run down that many times, it makes it real hard. Ross won't drop him though

Really need Doug back not only so he can play his role, but so we have the flexibility to put Caminiti forward because the lack of height in that second half was terrifying. Wouldn't be surprised if we see a defence of Doug + Wilkie + LOC + Tauru/Barrat with Caminiti + Sharman + Owens up forward at some point before King returns (if ever)

Obviously the biggest issue was the midfield but there's not much we can do about it. Boxshall in would be nice but not sure how we fit him in without compromising our rotations or dropping Steele. I feel like we missed Clark as someone who can win clearance and contested ball. Can't wait until Travaglia is AFL-ready for inside mid

Hill was bad but he was often the only player running to space ahead of the player with the ball. He's getting run down because there are no options ahead of him. I think he suffered from being the only player able to hold the ball for us.

What was incredible was that everyone apart from Owens and maybe Garcia, Windhager and Snags played their worst footy for ages. Guys like Wood looked like their worst games in our colours. Sinclair hasn't been that bad for 5 years.

Unfortunately it wasn't effort missing, it was skills, structure, game plan, set plays, contested work and clearance structures. There was pretty much nothing to get out of that match. You'd burn the video after reviewing it.

 

[Saintbloke]

Out-
Steele, go to the VFL and work on your craft and gain some confidence.

Wilson straight to the VFL and straight into the middle, needs to learn to put his head over the footy. Has spent to much time on the outside and is looking more hill like.

Ins-
Box and trav

Sub- Henry

Wilson is classy outside runner which top teams have, and who needs a winning grunt midfield- his development is being strangled as a result

 

[dudeintheswamp]

How many Mulligan's are we allowed?

 

[gringo2011]

One thing is bleedin' obvious..We can't have Steele, McRae and Jones playing on-ball roles together in the same team, as they are too slow, and too limited as a unit. McRae has been our best, and Lyon will need to change that midfield structure- maybe move Steele to half forward, and play Hastie on a wing for a block of games in place of Jones- he needs more game time. Also time to for the selectors to have faith, and give Heath a run, and rest Marshall who isn't right and looked totally lost last night.
The opposition have worked Lyon out now, so he needs to be one one step ahead, as in his third season we're trading water- Basset did say one of the reasons he brought in Lyon, was to stop blowout losses..hasn't worked.

Jones is so painful to watch because he isn't slow, he's dynamic and energetic but just so unreliable. His best and worst are stark. Get the good Jones and he changes us up, get the bad one and he's an erratic meth-head looking for a hit who'll turnover everything he touches and makes critical errors that look hard to fathom.

Might need to run Hastie or Travaglia on a wing instead. Otherwise put Trav into Nas's spot and move him to a wing.

 

[gringo2011]

As one of those peanuts -

Boxshall has yet to debut? No kidding.
But based on his pre-season and recent games it’s time to blood a new midfielder. Of course he’s not the finished product but sometimes it’s good to throw them in, like Garcia. He can’t start to truly develop until he’s actually being played at the level. It’s not like there aren’t others he can replace.

And no, Boxshalls inclusion was far from the only solution offered.

And more talls would have done nothing. The Dogs talls were hardly the difference. Owens and Sharman were making the most of everything and Naughton got on top of us but most of the damage was done by their smalls and mids. Naughton is a mobile tall forward and not someone you play Dougal Howard on.

 

[gringo2011]

Wilson is classy outside runner which top teams have, and who needs a winning grunt midfield- his development is being strangled as a result

Not sure he's super classy but he's nearly another Brad Hill. He's not going to win a heap of contested ball but he'll get on his bike and run like a horse and knows how to score better than most equivalent players.

He had a messy game and his kicking looks a bit messier this year, but I'd be extremely surprised if he doesn't end up a top 10 player on our list or better. Still has absolute elite potential too.

He's way ahead of most players his age. He's played one full season and 6 games.

 

[beside the seaside]

Seems controversial but I didn't mind Hill. He was at least trying to make things happen.

A question I have is why do our players always come back from injury underdone. Bont comes back and absolutely dominates. Our guys take weeks to get back to form or get subbed at half time.

Steele's demise has been pretty untimely. Need to move past him ASAP, he has no ability to run clear from a stoppage and just spends his time on his knees. Dogs just handpassed their way out of every stoppage into space. Probably the most one-sided midfield battle I've ever seen.

We are still in a better position than last year, but how do we respond from that performance and actually challenge the Lions? Feels like we probably just need to get more kids in, Hastie, Box and Trav all look too good for VFL footy and we need to look at Tauru and Barratt in time, but what's the right balance? Can't see any of them helping against the A grade midfields unfortunately.

 

[gringo2011]

Seems controversial but I didn't mind Hill. He was at least trying to make things happen.

A question I have is why do our players always come back from injury underdone. Bont comes back and absolutely dominates. Our guys take weeks to get back to form or get subbed at half time.

Steele's demise has been pretty untimely. Need to move past him ASAP, he has no ability to run clear from a stoppage and just spends his time on his knees. Dogs just handpassed their way out of every stoppage into space. Probably the most one-sided midfield battle I've ever seen.

We are still in a better position than last year, but how do we respond from that performance and actually challenge the Lions? Feels like we probably just need to get more kids in, Hastie, Box and Trav all look too good for VFL footy and we need to look at Tauru and Barratt in time, but what's the right balance? Can't see any of them helping against the A grade midfields unfortunately.

Incredible that again, all our depth mids are injured. Clark, Dow and Carroll are all mature depth and all out. Steele playing hindered.

Almost need to put Stocker into the middle for Steele and play Boxshall back.

 

[seasonedsainter]

We could really use some Hunter Clark

11

Hunter Clark

Age

26

Ht

186cm

Wt

83kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

17.5

4star

K

9.5

4star

HB

8.0

5star

M

3.6

4star

T

2.9

4star

CL

1.3

3star

D

16.0

4star

K

9.6

4star

HB

6.4

4star

M

3.1

3star

T

2.9

4star

CL

1.9

4star

D

13.2

4star

K

6.6

3star

HB

6.6

4star

M

2.2

3star

T

2.0

4star

CL

0.0

1star

in that midfield mix.

 

[Saintbloke]

Caminiti held his cool- good game I thought under much pressure. When the midfield is getting flogged, the backline wears the heat.

 

[Saintbloke]

Jones is so painful to watch because he isn't slow, he's dynamic and energetic but just so unreliable. His best and worst are stark. Get the good Jones and he changes us up, get the bad one and he's an erratic meth-head looking for a hit who'll turnover everything he touches and makes critical errors that look hard to fathom.

Might need to run Hastie or Travaglia on a wing instead. Otherwise put Trav into Nas's spot and move him to a wing.

Jones is quick when he has the ball and has room, but his work off the ball is pretty average and is a slow chaser, and like you say there is a big gap between his good and bad- then again similar scenario to Hill

 

[D2D3]

They exposed us in our weakest position: the midfield.

Good thing we actively look to fix that area /s

 

[AirWinmar]

Jones is so painful to watch because he isn't slow, he's dynamic and energetic but just so unreliable. His best and worst are stark. Get the good Jones and he changes us up, get the bad one and he's an erratic meth-head looking for a hit who'll turnover everything he touches and makes critical errors that look hard to fathom.

Might need to run Hastie or Travaglia on a wing instead. Otherwise put Trav into Nas's spot and move him to a wing.

I know we need experienced players in, but Jones has proven over his history he is too inconsistent. Can play a game where he looks like GAJ, but then follows it up with 2 or 3 weeks where he looks like angry pants that can't get a touch then gives away free kicks as well

 

[borderbarry]

Did Sandy have a game over Easter? If so whom played well?

 

[AirWinmar]

Hill was bad but he was often the only player running to space ahead of the player with the ball. He's getting run down because there are no options ahead of him. I think he suffered from being the only player able to hold the ball for us.

What was incredible was that everyone apart from Owens and maybe Garcia, Windhager and Snags played their worst footy for ages. Guys like Wood looked like their worst games in our colours. Sinclair hasn't been that bad for 5 years.

Unfortunately it wasn't effort missing, it was skills, structure, game plan, set plays, contested work and clearance structures. There was pretty much nothing to get out of that match. You'd burn the video after reviewing it.

I don't get the Hill criticism after last night. Yeah he wasn't great, but he was running so hard to try and give options, break lines and create drive, which is his role. We got torched on the inside so our outside players had hardly any supply and when he did get it we had no space and rarely any options

 

[D2D3]

Seems controversial but I didn't mind Hill. He was at least trying to make things happen.

A question I have is why do our players always come back from injury underdone. Bont comes back and absolutely dominates. Our guys take weeks to get back to form or get subbed at half time.

Steele's demise has been pretty untimely. Need to move past him ASAP, he has no ability to run clear from a stoppage and just spends his time on his knees. Dogs just handpassed their way out of every stoppage into space. Probably the most one-sided midfield battle I've ever seen.

We are still in a better position than last year, but how do we respond from that performance and actually challenge the Lions? Feels like we probably just need to get more kids in, Hastie, Box and Trav all look too good for VFL footy and we need to look at Tauru and Barratt in time, but what's the right balance? Can't see any of them helping against the A grade midfields unfortunately.

The difference between the level of fitness Bont came back in compared to Steele and Henry is stark.

I wonder if we fall into the trap of thinking “we need these blokes back” when we’d be better off giving the young boys an extra couple of weeks to let these guys build fitness.

 

[AirWinmar]

Seems controversial but I didn't mind Hill. He was at least trying to make things happen.

A question I have is why do our players always come back from injury underdone. Bont comes back and absolutely dominates. Our guys take weeks to get back to form or get subbed at half time.

Steele's demise has been pretty untimely. Need to move past him ASAP, he has no ability to run clear from a stoppage and just spends his time on his knees. Dogs just handpassed their way out of every stoppage into space. Probably the most one-sided midfield battle I've ever seen.

We are still in a better position than last year, but how do we respond from that performance and actually challenge the Lions? Feels like we probably just need to get more kids in, Hastie, Box and Trav all look too good for VFL footy and we need to look at Tauru and Barratt in time, but what's the right balance? Can't see any of them helping against the A grade midfields unfortunately.

Honestly at stoppage or cba it was like a training drill where there are defending mids just to apply token pressure so the proper mids can practice getting it out and into the forwards

 

[Ilovewindy]

What I could not understand is why Ari, who has a genuine good kick especially under no pressure, was not taking all kick ins when he was on the ground. There is no physical pressure when taking a kick in, which is where he seems to excel and if there are no options at least he can bomb it 75m down the wing. Why would we not utilise that?

 

[SaintsofSteel]

Not sure he's super classy but he's nearly another Brad Hill. He's not going to win a heap of contested ball but he'll get on his bike and run like a horse and knows how to score better than most equivalent players.

He had a messy game and his kicking looks a bit messier this year, but I'd be extremely surprised if he doesn't end up a top 10 player on our list or better. Still has absolute elite potential too.

He's way ahead of most players his age. He's played one full season and 6 games.

Our need or insistence on getting bulk number of games into these kids in their infancy is costing them. Wilson had down games last year when he should have been rested, but because of our list Lyon kept playing him. Now that is really costing him as Darcy has lost what was making him a quality player early last year. Attacking the footy harder than his opponents, winning contested footy and working from inside to out. This season he is second guessing himself and looks nervous or even timid, like Phillipou in his second year he needs a reset, but that wont happen with our list until he has hit rock bottom.

A kid I was keen on in his draft year Joel Freijah is the classic example of the complete opposite. Joel was an outside wingman when drafted and look at him now. He came from the same year as Wilson, yet spent his entire first year developing as a midfielder at VFL level last year. Freijah would have been our best mid last night, his hands and work inside were incredible.

People rubbish the VFL competition but it serves a purpose. Some kids simply arent physically or mentally ready for the step up and need time to mature at a lower level.

 

[beside the seaside]

Incredible that again, all our depth mids are injured. Clark, Dow and Carroll are all mature depth and all out. Steele playing hindered.

Almost need to put Stocker into the middle for Steele and play Boxshall back.

Clark seems to be a bit of a barometer for the midfield hey. He's really handy as a stoppage player.

 

[Saintos The ITK]

Did Sandy have a game over Easter? If so whom played well?

Has their first win.
Heath Box Trav