Review Saints vs Cats review

[theprospect]

I would've made my thoughts very clear on the matter to anyone who was potting Geary... I hope you did too..

I did, there were these two dickheads in particular sitting behind and right from the first bounce they didn't stop, I turned around and told them what I thought but that didn't stop them so I moved. Disgusting by our own supporters, who could forget the bronx cheer Paddy got the other week, I couldn't believe it.

 

[The Punter]

Disagree on our spine even. Brisbane look like a better spine. We have Bruce- B grade hard working tall, Paddy- I'm hearing we have threatened to trade him and told him he's unfit, Memebery- one A grade season as an undersized tall forward, reinvented as a running player who is only average, Carlisle- okay stopper ATM, Brown- geriatric steam ship stopper, Hugh G. -injury prone tall with no form line to tell either way, Marshall- a VFL ruck forward/ back who has no form line to rate yet, Battle, promising kid who lacks height and agility but looks like he could be okay but no games to read him on yet. Rooey is playing wing and not going to be around for ever. That's actually a pretty poor set up if you think of even teams like Carlton and Brisbane who have guys in place who are looking like stars.

I think our game plan is very good and it's keeping us competitive but we are seriously limited with our playing list.

That's one pretty empty glass.

 

[cooperrules]

The sooks are in the house

I prefer constructive melts. Play on

 

[FlyingSledghamer]

very fair comment, which i think is being lost in the discussion on player development. my worry is he might be a bit of an old school coach when it comes to player development, not necessarily as modern as the game needs right now.

which begs the question, why did we extend his contract out until 2020?

I thought he signed a 2 year extension in 2016.

 

[Joffaboy]

We have been beaten by Geelong for a decade now and we should be furious. I can't believe people are taking this so well. Oh we played well for three quarters. How brave!
What are we the little leaguers? The sheltered workshop side?
There is no reason we should be losing to Geelong at this point in time given they won a flag in 2011.
We should be beating them.

So having a hissy fit on an internet forum will help us beat Geelong....

ok

 

[gringo2011]

That's one pretty empty glass.

Yeah I know, I'm like the bi polar poster on here. One win and I'm talking us up, half a bad quarter and I lose my s**t...it helps me cope though.

 

[Joffaboy]

Yeah I know, I'm like the bi polar poster on here. One win and I'm talking us up, half a bad quarter and I lose my s**t...it helps me cope though.

gringo, I like your posts but to call Freeman and Stevens busts is one ridiculous call.
Freeman is getting there. Saw some things on the weekend that tells me he can play. Is over the hammy and is now running out games.
Stevens was in the premiers team until an injury finished his 2016.
Started well for us then lost 7 kilos with food poisoning. Was playing extremely well for Sandy until ko'ed.

You post some good stuff, however that was a grade s**t.

 

[Quixote]

That's one pretty empty glass.

It really is! Yesterday gave me the vibe we're actually quite close. With a ruthless trade/draft period come years end -- and perhaps another couple of strong decisions on our list -- 2018 onwards is looking up.

Finals this year unlikely...

 

[SaintsSeptember]

so ross is it, from 6 drafts?

2011. We drafted Ross, along with Newnes and Webster. I give that a tick.
2012. We traded for Hickey and only got Wright as well. Please use your 20:20 hindsite to tell me who we should have grabbed for our midfield.
Hrovat? Ben Kennedy?,
2013. Yes the Billings /Bontempelli thing. Cripps and Sheed might have been good too, but we avoided Aish, Scharenberg, and Lennon. Would also have been good to get Matt Crouch instead of Dunstan in hindsight. We also picked up Longer and Bruce. Say what you like about the Hickey/Longer situation, but no-one wants a list with just one Ruckman on it.
2014. We got Paddy of course . We then got McKenzie. I liked Neal Bullen at the time and he's showing the goods now but there are not tonnes of capable midfielders we should have got.

I completely agree with the clubs obvious policy of trying to put the forwards, backs and rucks in place before focusing on the midfield.

Yes we could have done better in 2013.

 

[StCicatriz]

I thought he signed a 2 year extension in 2016.

for some reason i had him out until 2020... not sure why. my bad.

 

[PrinceofSeaford]

bruces marking is very underwhelming for mine. with our tactic of kicking long to lock the ball in our forward line he hardly ever gets an uncontested run at the footy anymore which i fear is when he does his best work. he tries hard but he can never take a grab when its a 50/50 contest with his man. only ever takes a big grab when he's taking a screamer over the back.

late in the game on the weekend when the ball was kicked in his direction you could tell he was no chance and it came out as quickly as it went in.
unfortunately when we tire late in games and our pressure drops away it becomes more obvious because suddenly just bringing the ball to ground isn't as much of a win as it was earlier and as a result the opposition runs it back out of our forward line freely.

we had no one who could take a grab up forward late in the game and thats why we sent Carlisle up there. BRING BACK PADDY! he may be a bit frustrating at times but we will be much better for it in the long run.

 

[StCicatriz]

It really is! Yesterday gave me the vibe we're actually quite close. With a ruthless trade/draft period come years end -- and perhaps another couple of strong decisions on our list -- 2018 onwards is looking up.

Finals this year unlikely...

thats my take, that we wont make finals this year but we will next. do we have the list to win a flag? i'm still not wavering from my view that this is a sydney list circa 2005 or 2012 GF rather than a hawthorn 08, 13, 14, 15 list. its bats above its average, if we win one i feel we'd be pinching it.

thats not say that could change

 

[Books]

Hard to beat 25 men

#freekickGeelong

 

[gringo2011]

gringo, I like your posts but to call Freeman and Stevens busts is one ridiculous call.
Freeman is getting there. Saw some things on the weekend that tells me he can play. Is over the hammy and is now running out games.
Stevens was in the premiers team until an injury finished his 2016.
Started well for us then lost 7 kilos with food poisoning. Was playing extremely well for Sandy until ko'ed.

You post some good stuff, however that was a grade s**t.

I rate Stevens very highly and wanted him before he came to us, but if he can't get a game at the moment when we don't have Armo playing and guys like Dunstan not performing he's considered a fair way back. We knew he was a proven mid and he did come straight in.

Freeman is only a bonus if he plays now. He's played a couple of half games in the VFL in his whole career, I would think if he doesn't play seniors this year it's pretty much a fail.

I'm impatient and so pissed off looking at the way the Cats can just perpetually stay up while we wallow.

 

[gringo2011]

It really is! Yesterday gave me the vibe we're actually quite close. With a ruthless trade/draft period come years end -- and perhaps another couple of strong decisions on our list -- 2018 onwards is looking up.

Finals this year unlikely...

I was sitting up the top Etihad watching the frenetic effort we were putting in and thinking if we weren't getting on top of them we would eventually run out of legs. We are extremely disciplined and work harder than just about any team but we have very little class coming through and we are in a horrible spot of being to good to pull in high draft picks but not really close to being a serious threat unless teams underestimate us or are s**t themselves. Geelong could just coast around and wait for us to run out of petrol then step on the gas.

 

[gringo2011]

bruces marking is very underwhelming for mine. with our tactic of kicking long to lock the ball in our forward line he hardly ever gets an uncontested run at the footy anymore which i fear is when he does his best work. he tries hard but he can never take a grab when its a 50/50 contest with his man. only ever takes a big grab when he's taking a screamer over the back.

late in the game on the weekend when the ball was kicked in his direction you could tell he was no chance and it came out as quickly as it went in.
unfortunately when we tire late in games and our pressure drops away it becomes more obvious because suddenly just bringing the ball to ground isn't as much of a win as it was earlier and as a result the opposition runs it back out of our forward line freely.

we had no one who could take a grab up forward late in the game and thats why we sent Carlisle up there. BRING BACK PADDY! he may be a bit frustrating at times but we will be much better for it in the long run.

He runs himself ragged and can't get settled because he's just doubled back from defence after creating options in between.

 

[StCicatriz]

Yeah I know, I'm like the bi polar poster on here. One win and I'm talking us up, half a bad quarter and I lose my s**t...it helps me cope though.

nothing wrong with that mate. we cant all be drinking the kool aide. i think its worth while that we have a number of different perspectives on the sides progress

 

[Persevering Saint]

IF that were true (and I'm taking your word on it) then I'm glad we're not stagnating too. We're on par with last year with a tougher draw, another solid pre-season behind us and minimal injuries (touch wood).

Admittedly you were due for your early season meltdown.

That's what it is? I thought it was the runny nose and aching joints that made me like this!

 

[StCicatriz]

2011. We drafted Ross, along with Newnes and Webster. I give that a tick.
2012. We traded for Hickey and only got Wright as well. Please use your 20:20 hindsite to tell me who we should have grabbed for our midfield.
Hrovat? Ben Kennedy?,
2013. Yes the Billings /Bontempelli thing. Cripps and Sheed might have been good too, but we avoided Aish, Scharenberg, and Lennon. Would also have been good to get Matt Crouch instead of Dunstan in hindsight. We also picked up Longer and Bruce. Say what you like about the Hickey/Longer situation, but no-one wants a list with just one Ruckman on it.
2014. We got Paddy of course . We then got McKenzie. I liked Neal Bullen at the time and he's showing the goods now but there are not tonnes of capable midfielders we should have got.

I completely agree with the clubs obvious policy of trying to put the forwards, backs and rucks in place before focusing on the midfield.

Yes we could have done better in 2013.

menengola is one i rate that would have cost practically nothing

 

[StCicatriz]

Its quite remarkable actually that Dunstan played better in his 1st year then in the next 4.
With the exception of Seb Ross in the middle from the Richo era no one has really improved.
Billings, Dunstan, Acres were all rated very high juniors and high picks in good drafts.
Paddy MC. Pick 1. Talked about over and over about how he's going to be the man. All he's done is get concussed and go backwards in form. So much preseason talk about how much he's improved and know what he's too fat to play seniors? Wtf?
Serious questions gotta start being asked of our coaching and their gameplan. And the development of the players.

i think you are spot on about billings, dunstan and acres. thats what is seriously hurting us right now. if we nail 2 of the 3 we are in a much much better position. billings and dunstan are the two IMO. acres was always going to be a slow burn similar to beej when we drafted him, due to his size and attributes

 

[George]

I rate Stevens very highly and wanted him before he came to us, but if he can't get a game at the moment when we don't have Armo playing and guys like Dunstan not performing he's considered a fair way back. We knew he was a proven mid and he did come straight in.

Freeman is only a bonus if he plays now. He's played a couple of half games in the VFL in his whole career, I would think if he doesn't play seniors this year it's pretty much a fail.

I'm impatient and so pissed off looking at the way the Cats can just perpetually stay up while we wallow.

Koby did have salmonella and lost a considerable amount of weight. He only just returned.

 

[PrinceofSeaford]

He runs himself ragged and can't get settled because he's just doubled back from defence after creating options in between.

maybe hes too unfit then?

i saw red when geelong kicked a long ball and darcy lang ran and crumbed it kicking the footy off the ground straight over the goal line with no one on him. only for the replay to show that bruce was within a metre of him before the long kick and didn't bother to get back on the line or man him up at least.

hasn't been doing enough this year for me to think he would play a pivotal role in our next premiership side imo.

 

[Joffaboy]

Koby did have salmonella and lost a considerable amount of weight. He only just returned.

Was show a lot before beibg ko'ed.

I would say is on the cusp pf selection

 

[Rors]

Just win next week. My lippy Hawthorn supporter mates are already giving me the shits...

They beat West Coast at the G... Yiud think they'd just won the 2015 GF all over again

 

[gringo2011]

maybe hes too unfit then?

i saw red when geelong kicked a long ball and darcy lang ran and crumbed it kicking the footy off the ground straight over the goal line with no one on him. only for the replay to show that bruce was within a metre of him before the long kick and didn't bother to get back on the line or man him up at least.

hasn't been doing enough this year for me to think he would play a pivotal role in our next premiership side imo.

I haven't got a regular seat so we have been siting up the top in GA and you get a pretty good idea of how much running our players do during games from up there. Bruce would run midfield type distances and members was too this week. I reckon Membery is probably having to run so much he can't get his legs to kick straight. we literally run ever one of our players back to sure up defence and once we win the ball we start peeling off at top speed back to give options.

Guys like Bruce have sprinted to defence then turned around sprinted to outside defensive 50, stop to give options, once not needed there peel another kick back or sprint forward to give a marking target up front. We don't have enough quality in our midfield to help out defence on their own so need guys from the front half to get back too.

Bruce had a great season when he could just stay up front and run leads.