Autopsy Round 10 - West Coast v St Kilda

[austinnn]

gee theres been some absolute cracker posts in here hasnt there
lol

tdk would make us better, he is not just a ruckman

owens needs to go in the middle, i dont give a **** if robert harvey thinks he is a forward, he has a completely un natural goal kicking action that is shite as soon as he isnt on carpet with a dry ball, he is born to be in the middle, he crashes, bashes and makes repeat efforts...get him around the pill

box comes in
just play him ffs, if he is the future just get him in

collard needs a spell, butlers been injuried and was ordinary on the weekend, not sure if he needs to find some form after the injury and also not sure who else can come in to replace lance?



i know its hard people but lets not eat each other
we have had a complete shit draw form the afl
15th hardest in the league
we have been hit with injury, doogs and king going down has made it very hard, add to that losing battle and membrey, well that just adds to the probs

peeps giving hammer shit
was waiting tables not long ago, got **** all preseason, played as a forward and then at very short notice been told to go down back, yes he will make mistakes but that ball is coming in thick and fast and errors are going to happen, he has been there ten mins, ive seen multiple times when he has saved our ass, and sure, times when shit has not gone right, but thats going to happen, how old is he?, how many games has he played?
should we play him forward and have wilks as the number one defender?
how do we think that would go?

we have blooded some youth, theyre going to tire, make bad mistakes etc maybe we blooded too many but with the injuries we have had we no choice

im as pissed as everyone
ive been following since 85 and ive seen it all
theres people here that have financially supported this club for 50 years, i reckon they've seen a bit, reckon they've been upset a few times as well...and rightly so
if loyal members get frustrated and need time out and decide theyre not going to financially support the club then so be it, we are not entitled to tell them how they should feel, they've not said they dont or wont support us, they're just tired of forking out money...fair enough too

yesterday i was more than glass half empty but today the sun came up and its only footy.
hug ya partner, ya kids, ya mum, ya mates, ask them how they are doing, and offer help if they need it....thats what matters

ps
how ****ing shite was the umpiring
FMD!

Post of the season so far. Good one PC.

 

[austinnn]

I noticed his hitouts as well!

I think it stood out more because of a lack of opposition, but Rowan doesn't appear to have any idea where he is directing the ball. Too often he hit it straight to the opposition with zero rucking pressure.

He was BOG but his tap work is second rate and TDK would be an improvement. If TDK arrives Marshall might even find himself playing a key defensive role.

He plays ruck like I play chess; just doing the best he can moment to moment, with no plan at all.

 

[austinnn]

My decision to call the club was actually far more considered than you might imagine. I've been frustrated for a long time. Yesterday I'd decided I'd had enough.

Should I have mentioned it here?... I don't know... But I did... just to voice that that is where my frustration has lead me.

I do absolutely think people make far too many excuses for our failure to execute the basic skills of the game. It's been the same story for over a decade.

Fair enough, I have had enough of the poor skills and dump kicks from our seniors and the lack of real leadership. Other clubs manage to turn this around and I'm sure we will but this is a real lull in Ross's second Saints tenure and he needs to look at it honestly and respect the fact that it IS a lull or he'll coach himself into irrelevance and prove all the naysayers right. He needs to remember why he came back and up his game.

 

[austinnn]

So many hospital balls yesterday. Sincs got a ton of it but has cost his teammate pain and time out of the game.

The truth I didn't dare speak until you did. Just another senior player who should be driving this club forward, but is mostly a downhill skier.

 

[Kennedy84]

One thing that surprised me yesterday, has Phillipou always been dual sided? For some reason I thought often looked for his left.

I saw him hemmed in yesterday, but he did a nice little jig and fed it into the forward 50 with his right.

 

[Leap of Faith]

And a fortnight ago we tripled the score of the team who's 9th. A team who's beaten the Dogs, Adelaide and GWS.

And St Kilda made them look like under 18s.

Point is, form comes and goes. Effort comes and goes. Performances are never consistent. For most pro sport teams. Especially young ones.

Whingy hot takes about 1 game are for losers and children, honestly.

Mate if it was one game I’d take your point as fair enough. But it’s not just one game. It happens over and over. I travelled to Melb last year Rd 6 to witness an abysmal showing against the Dogs. This year, same round, same travel, same opponent, same abysmal garbage. We’ve been unacceptably poor three times this year. Awful level of effort. Basic skills appalling. Tackling weak. It happens over and over again. For years. And years. Enough.

 

[Ads734]

One thing that surprised me yesterday, has Phillipou always been dual sided? For some reason I thought often looked for his left.

I saw him hemmed in yesterday, but he did a nice little jig and fed it into the forward 50 with his right.

He’s always been willing to but I think he’s really worked on it.

In addition I’ve noticed his tackling has really improved. Need to keep him on the ball imo. His inside 50 to Higgins was elite

 

[SinCitySainter]

We are a bottom to middle team. That means we will on occasion beat a side up the top of the ladder and lose to one's down the bottom. We will likely finish this year between 10th and 15th and do the same again next year.

The thing that frustrates me the most is we are still at least 3 years away from even being relevant in the league. Ross has tried to be Sydney or Geelong and rebuild on the run while still winning games. Unfortunately, for that to work you can't afford to be a poor Victorian club with a history of failure. We can't get the top end draft picks and the only draw we have for top end trade talent is offering stupid money and even that will only get us the second tier of stars not the pinnacle.

We have a few young players that could come good but the only one that looks like a potential A grader, apart from NAS, is Pou and that is only based on 4 games last year. Windhager and Owen are good honest footballers, Wilson is more endurance athlete than footballer, and it is too early to tell with Trav or Tauru. This not surprising though as they are not pointy end draft picks which we have not had access to. The other kids all look like they will be good squad fillers but can you honestly see any of them as A graders?

Ross is desperate to bring in a big name like TDK to prove that he can land a big fish. So we are going to offer AFL top 5 player money for a guy that will give us only a minimal uplift in performance. TDK is the sort of player that will be a good solid player for the rsst of his career. He can star on his day but that will probably be 3 or 4 ganes a year. Last week Marshall beat him in the ruck or at least broke even and Marshall was not rucking to the best contested midfielder in the game at the moment.

Well, I just hope we have an extra 2m for NAS because that is what he will be demanding as we are offering 1.7m for a ruckman. You can bet that is what NAS's management are saying to not just us but to Adelaide and Port as well.

The other big issue is that we look physically undersized, and I am not just talking height, compared to other teams. Now, that is partially because we are playing a bunch of kids but even our experienced guys lack size most weeks compared to their opponents. Ross has stated that he is developing a running team, well I think what he means is an endurance team as we seem small but not particularly fast.

We are stuck in no man's land because we don't appear to have a coherent strategy for where we are headed.

 

[PJays]

We’ve been unacceptably poor three times this year. Awful level of effort. Basic skills appalling. Tackling weak. It happens over and over again. For years. And years. Enough.

Agree we've been unacceptably poor at times this year.

We've also been unbelievably good a few times. Surprisingly good.

With many professional sports teams but young teams especially, that's how it happens.

Anyone who's followed (or played) sport for any length of time should understand this.

 

[AirWinmar]

HIS goal kicking.
Comes from listening to Corn and Moyle on the radio, they both say it.

And here i was making fun of an article the other day thinking wow, I would have got roasted for releasing something like that when I was in a marcom's role

 

[AirWinmar]

Other than Macrae, our other mids would be pretty hard to get it to, especially if they're focused on stopping another, better mid.

But it's a known limitation with Roh, isn't it? He's no Gawn or Ryder, physically. And if we had Neale or Butters or Bont in there getting it out, he might have to do a few less dump kicks.

Kind of justifies throwing some cash at a big Blue though, and I don't mind Roh forward for the structure aspect.

It's hard to know really. Our mids looked a lot better when they had Ryder feeding it to them

 

[AirWinmar]

I totally agree, I'd be happy to move Marshall and Steele on. I'm not even sure Marshall was that good around the ground. He got the ball, but his decision making was pretty poor.

There are no leaders at our club, not one. No senior player was able to do anything to inspire the rest of the team to play above themselves and win a game - against a club who are so hopeless that the last time they won a game, Zac Jones had dreadlocks.

Zac Jones and Liam Stocker may not be the best players in the team, but at least they'd go down fighting. Ryan Byrnes another willing sort. Garcia will get there but still a bit young. Phillipou will get there but needs to be a bit more courageous, although maybe he was just following coaching instructions: I hope he gets to the stage where he demands the heat and has the guts to ignore his coaches, put the team on his back and toughs it out; he looks capable and willing. The rest are nice but no leaders there outside Wilkie, Stocker, Jones and Byrnes.

Steele had something, but it's gone and he's just a gop now sadly. Maybe he needs a fresh start somewhere else, no shame in that. We can't count on him in the engine room anymore though.

Don't tell me that the Eagles were spurred on by the Selwood stuff; they were spurred on by the fact that for any of the rare times we got anywhere near the ball, we gave it right back to them. I'd have to watch the replay but it seemed in the first half like we only had about 8 players, I didn't spot anyone else.

Not entirely surprising, our form has been so poor lately. I think we are a lot better than the last two weeks have shown, but whatever everyone says, I don't think the team is putting in a proper effort. They are panicky and hesitant or scared to attack. Is it a coaching issue? I have faith in Ross and co, but they don't seem to be doing about any of these issues, so maybe they don't see them. That is a problem IMO.

It's clear to everybody else that the team needs a jolt and a reset.

I wouldn't bebmoving Marshall on, I think he's a heart and soul player that we need. I think Steele has been playing under injury and his confidence is down, but can be a great player again.
I've never been one to talk about the leadership as I don't know what's said on field, but the way we are playing with no composure, while it's a coaching issue it'd definitely a leadership on field issue too.

We go into headless chook mode as soon as a bit of heat comes on and the leaders on field should be calming things down

 

[Dogflogger]

Of course we play a winless team a day after one of their former premiership players passed away, and of course they play out of their skin. who would have thunk it???

 

[Browny2Carlisle]

So macrae had a punctured lung? I don’t know what’s worse, that it wasn’t a free kick or that he was still our best mid

 

[St Cruise]

Mitch Owens goal kicking

2025 14 goals 5 behinds - 73% accuracy

Career 63 goals 37 behinds - 63% accuracy

Tony Lockett career 1360 goals 590 behinds - 69% accuracy

Do out on the fulls count

 

[Diehard Saint]

Basically most mids will be renegotiating contracts over the next few years and TDK deal will make it harder to bid for them. But right now, any of Harley Reid, Butters, Rowell make us far better.
Yes TDK offers incremental improvements but doesn't solve our main issues, like fumbling, missing targets, missing tackles, run and all the other things gun mids offer. Genuine Mids are our biggest issue at the moment.
My point is that on yesterdays showing, TDK is not much of an upgrade on Marshall

Y

On yesterday’s showing, or just in general actually, Reid, Butters and Rowell will have absolutely no interest in joining us.

 

[Dr Spaceman]

So macrae had a punctured lung? I don’t know what’s worse, that it wasn’t a free kick or that he was still our best mid

And that they shot it straight back for a goal

 

[Sarcoidevo]

I find it completely bewildering and disgraceful that an AFL player
1. Holds it like an AusKicker,
and
2. Has been allowed to continue to do so.

Pathetic from all involved.

Oi .... I identified this unco ball drop issue 2 years back ..... stop pretending you identified it first

 

[Diehard Saint]

My decision to call the club was actually far more considered than you might imagine. I've been frustrated for a long time. Yesterday I'd decided I'd had enough.

Should I have mentioned it here?... I don't know... But I did... just to voice that that is where my frustration has lead me.

I do absolutely think people make far too many excuses for our failure to execute the basic skills of the game. It's been the same story for over a decade.

Considering we’ve had a few different coaches and coaching groups over the past decade and a half, not just the same people all this time, why do you think it is that we have the same, ongoing issue re lack of skills, lack of men’s bodies etc - certainly in the older players? The skills have been average for years.

Genuine question.

 

[Diehard Saint]

I saw a team that lacked height and physical mass. While it's an extremely large contract, someone with TDK's size and attributes would make us better. We can't be turning away players who would make us better because some still put everything wrong down to midfielders.

This.
We need good players that will improve the team.
At the moment he’s available and we can afford it, you just get him.
Can’t just wait for some available gun mid who more than likely won’t choose us.

 

[BigMonty]

Was always a danger game.
We are a young side that can beat almost anyone at home the rest is a raffle.
It seemed like one of those nearly games, nearly took thst mark nearly got the handball etc.
Clearly Pou is getting games under his belt and looks underdone....again nearly...good.
Think Hill is getting close to the end....getting caught more kicking under pressure more making things happen less.
We are a tall short, simple as that.
Collard needs a spell,
McLennan oh dear...but could say that about a few.
We lack a few quality mids....so do a lot of teams.
Oh West Coast are not that bad....at home. We again are crap away..we just need to be patient.....Trav looks a player I am sure Tauru will be as well, we just need them on the ground getting games.

Also if Higgins kick 5 again we are not winning many by relying on him alone..love him but other forwards have got to contribute in addition to him to win gamed which did not happen.

Wood looked good early and faded. Sharman had a nearly day as did Owens. Butler and Henry would help but they are not setting the world on fire at Sandy. No one in the forward line is...

Next week GCS and Melb in the Alice... both sides finding form and winning away from home....more pain on the way methinks

 

[Diehard Saint]

Literally any player that isn't a ruck.

Again, names?
Players who would actually consider coming to us.

 

[Diehard Saint]

Mitch Owens goal kicking

2025 14 goals 5 behinds - 73% accuracy

Career 63 goals 37 behinds - 63% accuracy

Tony Lockett career 1360 goals 590 behinds - 69% accuracy

Interesting.

Still, we needed 100% from him yesterday. Completely takes the wind out of the sails of team and supporters and stops momentum when he gets himself in a position to get the goals and then misses completely gettable shots.

Love Mitch, and he’s shown plenty but he needs to continue to improve this part of his game. A promising percentage is cold comfort after a loss like we just had.

 

[Diehard Saint]

Smashed when Reid kicked that goal. Nothing to see, play on.

Just one of many “nothing to see here” decisions we were on the wrong side of.

 

[Saintos The ITK]

I keep watching every week to watch Collard almost take a screamer.
It’s invigorating seeing how close he almost gets.