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Autopsy Saints in biggest last quarter comeback in history.

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KUnderwood's other reference was to the Red, Black and White.
If you watch the first minute of the last quarter “PICKETT WITH THE FLICK TO GAWN, BACK TO PICKETT” with her voice rising in anticipation until she realises Melbourne is kicking the other way and they’re in the backline.
 

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The commentary was pretty good from Dwayne and Kelly I thought.

The 2 drop punts nas kicked were the most perfect things of beauty, you could not have a ball spin better through the air. He was so methodical about everything too, takes a hanger somehow hits the ground and stands up in the same motion and then barely raises a sweat knowing the game is on his boot…. Twice! He’s actually a superior human being and I think I love him.
 

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apologies if this has been mentioned... it would be unfair to say we were tanking yesterday, but there was certainly a lot of experimenting going on

leaving Nas one out at full forward with a couple of minutes left, ball buried deep in the back pocket and a goal down, was either brilliance or madness

having sat through Stocker on Petty, alongside Wilkie and a bunch of teenagers down back, Caminiti up forward, Owens rucking against Gawn, Hastie copping a lesson from Langdon, Hall wasting away on a flank, Macrae spending the last 15 mins on the bench and Steele playing HF, Heath being dropped against a side devoid of height... where else would you put the number one metres gained player in the comp?

cue Nas waving frantically at the bench trying to push up, but being told to stay down there. The rest is history
 
So, the first three quarters...

  • Caminiti forward and one less tall was a mistake for three quarters. Heath was just showing glimpses of being a viable down the line get out target and then we go small. Didn't work, but looked better with Tauru than Caminiti forward. I'd think about bringing Keeler (or Dougal if fit) back next week to play in defence and keep Tauru forward for a couple of weeks. We need to free Wilkie up to intercept.
  • A different midfield challenge against Gawn (who won but didn't dominate), Oliver, Trac and Viney as opposed to the Cats mids who aren't clearance beasts. So we struggled, particularly Steele who had been good recently.
  • Disappointing to see Collard get hurt - he had done a couple of nice things in a quarter.

Then they swap Hall and Steele, Melbourne get tired and a little comfortable with the score, and the following players just do a lot better after a poor first three quarters: Jones, Sharman, Hill, Clark, Wood. Hall changes the midfield and everyone forward of defence starts playing better. Unfortunately a broken arm kept me from attending but after Hill kicks his goal, I say "if we can get another one in a minute or two we are a sneaky chance here".

And, of course, Nas. Until the last minute I had Hall as clearly our best player then Nas, but that last minute will go down in the folklore of the club. It's been so long since I saw one of our blokes want the moment then own every last bit of it. I was laughing the rest of the evening.

Also, just in case we needed confirmation, that's the end of that Melbourne group. They're totally done.
FWIW, Caminiti didn’t play forward for 3 quarters, he and Tauru switched either late in the first, or in the 2nd quarter.

What we tried from the start down back failed badly though. We had Wilkie on Melksham and mostly Stocker on Fritsch, and Stocker just wasn’t or isn’t suited to playing on a marking type like Fritsch, and he gave him a bath.

Once we switched Wilkie onto him, he was far less influential.

And Jones didn’t lift in the last, he was one of very few who were good all day for us, with disposals per quarter of 6, 8, 7, 5.

Only Wang and Sincs had more touches for either team, and Zak ran super hard into space all day on the wing, before being moved forward late. Presumably so they could move Macrae to a wing and have Hall and co inside. Was a huge improvement on his recent outings, and deserves a shout out. 👍
 

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FWIW, Caminiti didn’t play forward for 3 quarters, he and Tauru switched either late in the first, or in the 2nd quarter.

What we tried from the start down back failed badly though. We had Wilkie on Melksham and mostly Stocker on Fritsch, and Stocker just wasn’t or isn’t suited to playing on a marking type like Fritsch, and he gave him a bath.

Once we switched Wilkie onto him, he was far less influential.

And Jones didn’t lift in the last, he was one of very few who were good all day for us, with disposals per quarter of 6, 8, 7, 5.

Only Wang and Sincs had more touches for either team, and Zak ran super hard into space all day on the wing, before being moved forward late. Presumably so they could move Macrae to a wing and have Hall and co inside. Was a huge improvement on his recent outings, and deserves a shout out. 👍
Jones looked worse because of that comical brainfart effort in 3Q where he goat caught with the ball in the goal square and Chandler scored from 5m out, and my memory of the first 3 quarters is a bit rusty, but I think it wasn't his only blemish for the evening.

Then again even the maestro himself Nas had a few suspect moments and he got the bumps from daddy at the Saints house party so perhaps we can also forgive the old baldie too.
 
We saw yet again that Sharman is 10 times better/more effective when we’re taking the game on and moving the ball forward with reckless abandon.

It’s no coincidence that he explodes to life when we’ve taken the handbrake off.

Skunk was the same last year. He’d pile on the goals when we were thrashing teams, but when the games were close or we were losing, he was just OK.

What I don’t get though is why we only play with that reckless abandon when we’re multiple goals down, in last quarters in particular.

Have they run out of gas when they try to do it all game, like when we beat Geelong earlier in the year?
 
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Jones looked worse because of that comical brainfart effort in 3Q where he goat caught with the ball in the goal square and Chandler scored from 5m out, and my memory of the first 3 quarters is a bit rusty, but I think it wasn't his only blemish for the evening.

Then again even the maestro himself Nas had a few suspect moments and he got the bumps from daddy at the Saints house party so perhaps we can also forgive the old baldie too.
Yeah that was obviously bad, but to be fair to him, he clearly didn’t realise that bloke was behind him, and we were right behind those goals only 20m away, and I didn’t see the guy there either, even though he must have been between us and Zak. He and his opponent must have been super-close to the goalpost or something, as it was like he just appeared from nowhere.

Outside of that, he was a big upgrade on what we’d been getting from Wilson of late.
 
Nas just never looks puffed or sweaty.
The coolest cucumber there is.
Even the way he just pops up after taking the last two marks.

The second one in particular most blokes would KO themselves having ro go full stretch backwards to pluck the mark.
 
So much to analyse from those final 2 minutes.

Windy: sad thing about when someone like Nas does GOAT things is that often other efforts arent noticed. Lays a tackle, wins the ball and forces it out of bounds instead of a loose handball in the back pocket. Wins ball from throw in and scrubs it forward. Now is the real kicker, just watch his work from the next throw in when he is lining up on Viney. Leaves Viney (and Petracca who didn't have an opponent) for dead wirh another clearance to get it to Wood. Huge, absolutely huge from the kid!

Wood: Also laid the tackle (with Windy) in that back pocket. Then the link with Windy to hit Nas, classy after was beaten at the start of the game.

Hastie: the pressure on the wing and composure not to give away a free was excellent. Nearly got it to Hall running past but still forced the throw in leading to the following play. He is starting to have an aerial presence about him too which will come more and more in time.

Hammer: involved in a couple of marking/ruck contests can't be ignored. Not perfect disposal but deserves a mention.

I just wanted to point those guys out. Nas is the hero, but he wouldn't have gotten it without those guys. Windhager especially was enormous and deserves more love after tagging and having a super physical match up on Pickett for three quarters.
In case it hasn’t been mentioned, the mastermind of that final play was also apparently Windy. He apparently said post match that he suggested the idea to Nas, who then went to Ro, to work out the details.

If we aren’t doing everything we can to keep this bloke we have rocks in our head.

He’s a “standard setter” who’s best is surely still ahead of him, has leadership qualities up the wazoo, and he’s Nas’s best mate!

We should have locked away him and Hall (and possibly Nas, by extension) weeks ago.

It might cost us a mil a year more now to re-sign the 3 of them, compared to what it might have cost 3 months ago.
 

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Autopsy Saints in biggest last quarter comeback in history.

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