Preview Round 2, 2019: Essendon v St.Kilda - Marvel Stadium, Saturday 30th March, 4:35PM AEDT

[triggering bro]

Despite that damn gate getting in the way

Thankfully that damn gate is constructed from potato skin & will breakdown & be thrown into the scrap before too long.

 

[The Enemy Within]

Will they though and if they do how long will they keep it up?

I'm hoping there's bigger issues with the injectors, the sort of issues that you don't see teams recover from until after mid-season, by which stage of course the year is shot (and we've safely bagged 4 points).

We showed signs of a bad year in last years JLT, similar to ESS JLT this year & they carried it into the season i think there is issues with individual personnel & the loss of Watson who was a strong leader & now BJ leaves them thin in leadership.

 

[BrutThough]

Have Gresh follow Dunstan around, Dunstan flicks to Gresh, Gresh stabs a pass to a running Kent or Parker, who then boots a 60m goal, or bullets a pass to Bruce or Membrey. Good thing with that is that Dunstan goes to the bench, Gresh rests forward...Kent goes into the middle for a spell, round and round we go...get minutes into these guys legs, by round 10 we've got a team of multitasking goal kickers.

Gresh's disposal recently isnt been much better than Dunstan's.

 

[BrutThough]

We all want Hunter to play because we can see the potential he has to be a great player. But I find it hard to justify dropping someone for a midfielder who averaged 15 disposals in the JLT. He doesn't have the tank yet to play a full game in the midfield or a toughened body for him to cope with being at the bottom of the pack all game. Acres is ahead of him in terms of midfielders to add back in, so it's hard to find a spot for him this week.

I don't see the harm with playing him in the VFL for a few weeks until Stuv is back to being a full time mid or he gets his disposals n the VFL up from around 20 to 25+. I dont want to see him in the VFL for too long, but another few weeks while he gets use to playing against bigger midfielders won't hurt him in the long run.

 

[mightymalaka]

Selection tonight will both be difficult and enlightening!
Should tell us a bit about how we plan to set up on Sat. For mine Acres must come in and i would include Clark too
But concede he's got his work cut out if he couldn't get in last week! Marshall or Billy if he's good to go to replace Pierce
And the other conundrum is does Brown come straight back in...Reckon he would have been odds on to do so a week ago
But due to a couple of youngsters performing really well last week in Joyce and Wilkie and the possibility of no real match up for him
Makes that a 50/50 right now! Wouldn't mind seeing Hind in also but doubtful!

As to who are the unlucky one's to miss, it's a difficult one i'd be looking at Sinclair/Kent or possibly Savage/Mckenzie to go with Pierce
Long may also be seen to be under pressure, but in my view must play...Want to see him and Paaarker really serve it up to
The Bumber defence! Like the option of Battle as a swingman...Good to see some genuine competition for spots now, even with our injury list!

Whatever team we play....We'll Win!....Realise there is no obvious reason to be so confident, but can just feel it in either my bones or my
Loins! I'll let you know which one come Sat night! Hope the team is just as desperate as all of us are to sit these
Overinflated Egomaniac Twinky Puffs on their Soft Frontrunning Arse! Go Sainters!

 

[Tommy Wigs]

Will they though and if they do how long will they keep it up?

I'm hoping there's bigger issues with the injectors, the sort of issues that you don't see teams recover from until after mid-season, by which stage of course the year is shot (and we've safely bagged 4 points).

If they are 4 goals up at QT, then they’ll keep it up longer! The start is incredibly important, particularly when they are at home and large supporter advantage.

 

[The_Steadier]

The bombers will be breathing fire after being torched in the media. They will try and intimidate us from the first bounce. We need to put a few players on their arses so they go back into their shells.

I think we should try kicking the ball through the big sticks

 

[The_Steadier]

Gresh's disposal recently isnt been much better than Dunstan's.

Good observation.
To me, he looks like he's OVERcompensating for the faster pace of midfield play (getting closed down quicker).

He needs to learn he's actually got fractionally more time than he realises to compose and target by hand and foot.

He'll get there, but I'm not expecting midfield brilliance from him this year.

He should actually be watching hunter clark tapes as exemplars.

That kids is totally unfazed in heavy midfield traffic.
He looks calm and focused on finding a target, whereas gresh is bouncing around like a puppy on redbull

 

[BrutThough]

Another clip from the media, this time from Battle and King's "mentor".
Hopefully we can prove these guys wrong.

 

[VDS66]

Selection tonight will both be difficult and enlightening!
Should tell us a bit about how we plan to set up on Sat. For mine Acres must come in and i would include Clark too
But concede he's got his work cut out if he couldn't get in last week! Marshall or Billy if he's good to go to replace Pierce
And the other conundrum is does Brown come straight back in...Reckon he would have been odds on to do so a week ago
But due to a couple of youngsters performing really well last week in Joyce and Wilkie and the possibility of no real match up for him
Makes that a 50/50 right now! Wouldn't mind seeing Hind in also but doubtful!

As to who are the unlucky one's to miss, it's a difficult one i'd be looking at Sinclair/Kent or possibly Savage/Mckenzie to go with Pierce
Long may also be seen to be under pressure, but in my view must play...Want to see him and Paaarker really serve it up to
The Bumber defence! Like the option of Battle as a swingman...Good to see some genuine competition for spots now, even with our injury list!

Whatever team we play....We'll Win!....Realise there is no obvious reason to be so confident, but can just feel it in either my bones or my
Loins! I'll let you know which one come Sat night! Hope the team is just as desperate as all of us are to sit these
Overinflated Egomaniac Twinky Puffs on their Soft Frontrunning Arse! Go Sainters!

Good post mate.

Easy to say who comes but harder to say who goes out.

I'd say Marshall, Brown and Acres in.

The only question is who goes out for acres.

 

[St Kilda Death]

We showed signs of a bad year in last years JLT, similar to ESS JLT this year & they carried it into the season i think there is issues with individual personnel & the loss of Watson who was a strong leader & now BJ leaves them thin in leadership.

Heppel softest captain in the league.

 

[St Kilda Death]

Another clip from the media, this time from Battle and King's "mentor".
Hopefully we can prove these guys wrong.

Talent? I would agree.
They also have a soft underbelly.
Never gonna win finals with a team full of flashy wingmen.
Biggest frontrunners.
If we can hit em hard early, they're done.

 

[tim_saints]

Should be a decent crowd Saturday arvo I reckon!

Our fans seemed pretty pumped this week and with good reason, constant bashing of the club and us pretty much being thought of as 4 points locked away for essendon....

Then their first home game!

God I hope we get it done and beat these pricks.

 

[tomjoad]

Gresh's disposal recently isnt been much better than Dunstan's.

True, but Gresh won't stay down for long...actually, chuck Long in the guts for a run too. St.Kilda seems to promise every second player on ball time, we may as well make good on the words. Who knows, after the experiment is over we may end up with another 5 half-back flankers

 

[Barrels]

Nice gesture.

 

[Ekomaira]

Nice gesture.

number 12 is back!

 

[MOLTEN GANGLANDS]

Nice gesture.

very exciting indeed!

 

[gringo2011]

Another clip from the media, this time from Battle and King's "mentor".
Hopefully we can prove these guys wrong.

Not untrue though, Essendon should be a top 4 side with their list. Don't know if it's coaching or just self hatred for their cheating, but they are underachievers. Say what you like about Richo but he's never had a decent list to use and he puts up competitive performances regularly. I wouldn't think beating Essendon would be a massive shock though.

We have a bottom 4 list and have had since he took over with very little improvement in that time. Somehow he defies gravity and has had us above much better lists on the ladder. He's no legacy coach that has left the place better than he found it, and doubt he ever gets us into finals unless several players come on in a big way, but he does get the most out of what he has.

My analogy is he's running the work ute in a Grand Prix, nothing about the Saints is flashy or brilliant but we are blue collar and hardworking. Pretty much Richo has moulded a team in his image as a player.

 

[gringo2011]

very exciting indeed!

Jesus I hope he ends up being a gun. We need a marquee player, they are treating him like one before he's picked a ball in anger. Please footy gods don't smite us again.

 

[TheJackal]

King is just magic, a bloody thoroughbred in every sense. Hanners is also doing a bit of running and kicking work.

Looking at teams at training it looks like Long, Dunstan, Battle, Sinclair, Joyce and Pierce are battling it out in the seconds team along with those hoping to play like Clark and Blake.

Looks like Marshall is in for Lewi, it's also good to see Billy in full training as well.

 

[AirWinmar]

Last week in my opinion most players played well, but the areas we can improve are mainly structurally: Too short in forward line and need another kpf.
Ruck was terrible.
Tackle pressure in our defensive half seemed poor at times by the eye. GC got thru very easily

Players id like to get in on preseason form and last weeks vfl game:
Acres, Clarke, Marshall deserve it and i think are better than our bottom 3 last week.

Players i think that would be nervous:
Savage - low disposals, pressure and tackles
Kent - only first game but 63 tog is surely not enough, he may need to increase his fitness if he wants to run thru the midfield
Pierce - had a mare, but i think even if they play Marshall they will play Pierce too.

Players that may be unlucky:
Joyce had a good game and is improved out of sight, but Brown and Battle may be the best option for CHB and FB. We really needed a general back there and it will be great for Joyce or Battles development to play with Brown

Ross needs to be given a rev up at trainkng, played a great game, but 0 tackles is unacceptable for any mid inside or out.

Hope we give the bombouts a belting. Go Saints!!

 

[Persevering Saint]

For the Zebs on the weekend, Acres had 27 disposals, Clark had 23. The question is, is that enough in a VFL practice match to warrant selection over against players like Luke Dunstan's 18 disposals against the Suns? Or Savage's 15? Or Kent's 8 (albeit as a forward who kicked an important goal himself, and gave a lovely lowered-eye bullet into the forward fifty that ultimately led to a goal)?

 

[From 45]

For the Zebs on the weekend, Acres had 27 disposals, Clark had 23. The question is, is that enough in a VFL practice match to warrant selection over against players like Luke Dunstan's 18 disposals against the Suns? Or Savage's 15? Or Kent's 8 (albeit as a forward who kicked an important goal himself, and gave a lovely lowered-eye bullet into the forward fifty that ultimately led to a goal)?

I highly doubt the match committee sel3ct players by how many disposals they accumulate

 

[MOLTEN GANGLANDS]

Jesus I hope he ends up being a gun. We need a marquee player, they are treating him like one before he's picked a ball in anger. Please footy gods don't smite us again.

the emotional investment that I put into paddy... but, if there's one thing I don't do it's learn from mistakes!

 

[John2010362340]

In Acres, Brown and Marshall

Out Dunstan , Joyce and Pierce.

I think that works.. Also went to training Max King looks amazing.. We have a lot of good kicks on our list, most of them don’t seem to be playing in our Senior team..