Preview Round 2 - GWS v St Kilda [Saturday 21 March 2026 • 4:15 PM (AEDT) • Engie Stadium]

[AirWinmar]

Glad Pou was only a corkie, thought he had done a quad potentially.

We've actually been pretty banged up the last two games

NAS was hobbled a bit with a corkie,
Marshall got his head whacked in,
Pou missed half a game with that cork,
Macrae hurt his knee early
TDK went into the game with flu.

I know we had a few areas fall down over the two games but It kind of explains quite a lot of the individual performances seeming lackluster.

True, Dees game TDK flu, Macrae knee in the 1st quarter, Nas playing with a corky, Pou 2nd half corkie missed, Ryan Shoulder. No wonder we kept Macrae and Ryan on - we wouldnt have had many left on the bench

 

[Nutsngum]

True, Dees game TDK flu, Macrae knee in the 1st quarter, Nas playing with a corky, Pou 2nd half corkie missed, Ryan Shoulder. No wonder we kept Macrae and Ryan on - we wouldnt have had many left on the bench

Completely forgot about Ryan buggering his shoulder.

 

[tomjoad]

What does our training look like after a Sunday game?

Tuesday, Thursday + captains run on Friday?

How would we compare to others?

All the talk last year was that we are leading the way in regard to least hours spent at the club, has that changed?

So many variables at the moment that will be picked apart on our current form.

If it’s another loss this week, Wilkie and Windhager will be in question for not being fully committed and having their heads turned during trade period.

I haven’t even bothered looking at the St Kilda threads on the main board yet!

Don't think Windhager can be questioned. He's been one of our very few playing well.

 

[AirWinmar]

Don't think Windhager can be questioned. He's been one of our very few playing well.

Yeah been great both games imo and looks to have gone up a level

 

[tomjoad]

Why is Butler not getting a game? His ball use alone puts him ahead of a few already getting games.

I thought he was injured during early preseason.
Maybe he's still a bit behind fitness wise(?)

 

[TheJackal]

Banfield's wing, Macrae is strictly inside.

Maybe more a chance we Travaglia in the midfield role he's been training. Or we bring in another half back and both Flanders and Windy play full-time midfield

Banfield to wing, Boxshall to Macrae role.

 

[TheJackal]

I think Box will be lucky to keep his spot this week. Been poor the first few weeks unfortunately.

A bit will probably depend on whether Pou and Ryan get up.

Mason Wood would want to improve his performance. I think Sharman probably gets another go as he was good against the Pies (apart from the dropped marks) but he'd really want to improve.

Quite a few players would have to be on notice.

Box has been doing a lot of 1% stuff on the wings and getting smashed for his efforts.

His disposal isn't brilliant, but he is your inside mid in the Macrae mould, feeding it to the Nas/Flanders/Hill outside types.

Wood used to be so solid overhead, he needs that back to give him a spark and point if difference.

Sharman needs to be allowed to lead with some smarter forwards blocking around him. Too often he is caught behind two opponents trying to jump over them from three deep. Its such a low percentage play and he is fantastic on the lead.

With the bye, I doubt Ryan gets up - same for Pou. Why risk Pou after his injuries last year and coming back too soon?

 

[mad-saint-guy]

It's actually somewhat of a relief that Macrae's injury came early in the game as he was absolutely terrible - which can be forgiven if he was pushing through a 2-3 week injury.

Knowing Lyon, he'll likely play Pou and Ryan even if they're nowhere near 100%. I also don't think he'll drop Carroll. I'm guessing it will be Marshall in for Keeler and either Banfield or Stocker for Macrae.

 

[BrutThough]

Looking at the CBA's from the last week, no midfielder started at more than 60% of them. Windhager had the most with 58% (but started at 0 the week before) and Garcia next with 56%. Nas was down to 39% from 63% the week before and Flanders was down to 47% from 75% the week before.

All this to say, we can fill Macrae's inside time with the midfielders ready in the side and bring in basically anyone. I'd like to see Travagalia brought in, who can split his time between half back and some small stints in the middle. Get some more speed on the ground and some run. We looked slow and stagnant for a team with many runners last week. Trav will make mistakes but he does have those qualities that we lack.

 

[beside the seaside]

Looking at the CBA's from the last week, no midfielder started at more than 60% of them. Windhager had the most with 58% (but started at 0 the week before) and Garcia next with 56%. Nas was down to 39% from 63% the week before and Flanders was down to 47% from 75% the week before.

All this to say, we can fill Macrae's inside time with the midfielders ready in the side and bring in basically anyone. I'd like to see Travagalia brought in, who can split his time between half back and some small stints in the middle. Get some more speed on the ground and some run. We looked slow and stagnant for a team with many runners last week. Trav will make mistakes but he does have those qualities that we lack.

They still seem to be working out the midfield moves. There was one point when Garcia had two awesome centre clearances in a row, then the third one he wasn't there. It was dumb. But we are obviously rotating so many guys through there and it might take time to get the balance right.

I love Travs tackling pressure, I'd be tempted to bring him in for that alone.

 

[Sully111]

Really hopeful we can get our season on track this week.

I haven't lost faith, but it's been shaken a bit.

Just want to see us play smarter footy. Still think we have the players to challenge most sides.

 

[CaptainRisky]

I keep seeing people banging on that Collard should come in , has he been tearing it up in the VFL mickey mouse games or are you just throwing darts ?

 

[CaptainRisky]

Phillipou’s player sponsor(?) trashing Bolton on X

 

[BrutThough]

I keep seeing people banging on that Collard should come in , has he been tearing it up in the VFL mickey mouse games or are you just throwing darts ?

With Butler injured, he seems like the best positional fit to replace Ryan if he doesnt pass his fitness test.

 

[CaptainRisky]

With Butler injured, he seems like the best positional fit to replace Ryan if he doesnt pass his fitness test.

So he has been playing well , or just no other option ?

 

[BrutThough]

So he has been playing well , or just no other option ?

No idea about his form. Lack of VFL reports has us all guessing.

 

[CaptainRisky]

No idea about his form. Lack of VFL reports has us all guessing.

So people are just throwing darts , Lets just say he would want to have improved over the summer

 

[Windtagger]

As a team that has lost its last two games off turnover I do not want to bring Trav in.

The obvious one would be Clark but he’s injured. Keen on Fincher or Banfield at HF and Hall playing full time mid.

 

[stavro#4]

As a team that has lost its last two games off turnover I do not want to bring Trav in.

The obvious one would be Clark but he’s injured. Keen on Fincher or Banfield at HF and Hall playing full time mid.

So we clamour for Banfield who is a Boxshall like kick but we Slam Travaglia?

I’ll tell you what, For a team that has continually lost important one on one contests that have led to goals in 2 close losses. I’ll have Travaglia in.

Because that’s his one wood.

 

[Ads734]

The shock Saint leaping into Champion Data's top three players

The youngster has risen to No. 3 over a 20-game sample size.

www.sen.com.au

 

[stavro#4]

The shock Saint leaping into Champion Data's top three players

The youngster has risen to No. 3 over a 20-game sample size.

www.sen.com.au

So we have 3,5 and Sinclair in the top 10.

But we are 0-2.

Garbage data.

 

[Saintbloke]

So we have 3,5 and Sinclair in the top 10.

But we are 0-2.

Garbage data.

We have three top rated players, but our middle six are just doing ok, and the bottom six are generally young and inexperienced players. It's a team game and we need team efforts, so Lyon needs to close that performance gap a bit and get more out of the middle rung players.

 

[beside the seaside]

So we clamour for Banfield who is a Boxshall like kick but we Slam Travaglia?

I’ll tell you what, For a team that has continually lost important one on one contests that have led to goals in 2 close losses. I’ll have Travaglia in.

Because that’s his one wood.

That effective tackle stat that Ross talked after Melbourne about was damning. Can't remember the number but the difference between the sides was terrible. If we sort that we probably win the game - I mean it literally cost us goals, for example the one where Wood caught Pickett but let him go and he just handballed to Van Rooyen in the goal square.

Our tackling was frankly shit in the game. We need to put the players on notice for it and I'd be really tempted to bring in Travaglia and just say go out there and hurt people with your tackling.

Looking at who the Giants have out and that they are just come off a smashing, this game looks as winnable to me as our last two. I'm actually becoming weirdly confident that we win here but need to come with a clear plan to execute and improve on the areas where we've been poor and tackling is a massive one.

 

[Tyrian Lonestar]

Please put Hall in the middle with Windy & Nas.
We can all see how quick Hall thinks & acts with good disposal.

 

[stavro#4]

We have three top rated players, but our middle six are just doing ok, and the bottom six are generally young and inexperienced players. It's a team game and we need team efforts, so Lyon needs to close that performance gap a bit and get more out of the middle rung players.

I don’t disagree with that.

But we have a champ data telling us we have 2 of the top 5 rated players in the ENTIRE COMP and 3 in the TOP10.

If that was remotely true. We would be 2-0.