Review Geelong defeats Saints by 8 points

[Turbocat]

I agree. The good news is we handled the heat and won the pressure battle in midfield well. The bad news is our sloppy disposal was comical at times.

One who really stood out was Demp. He was a difference maker. Has probably locked his spot in for a while now. He add legs speed , and now adding goals and marking.

 

[calder_daddy]

Apparently we "played our Grand Final in March"

How ******* delusional can one fan base be? We tend to play in the real Grand Finals....and we tend to win them too.

Just extraordinary hubris, and on the night that we unveiled the stand named after a champion of our club who achieved more by himself than the St Kilda Football club has in 150 years.

My favorite comments I should’ve mentioned before were the abused to our ground
Cheat ground
s**t ground
Not afl standard ground

If we played them on a real size ground we would’ve won
If we played them on an afl standard ground they would’ve won.

Soooo they want to just play us all the time at marvel because that’s where they beat us.
Hate to break it to the poor souls but there’s just about the same chance of us getting a home final is there is one being at marvel.

Marvels a ******* cheat ground “no weather and a ******* roof”
Losers

 

[BigCat1]

The Saints are much better than people think. They finished 6th and are improving not declining. The Max Kings etc are going to be guns. Their preseason was great. This was a good win and for the large parts we played very well and had the game in control. Lots of positives as ppl have pointed out

We do have a real structural problem with Rohan out of the team. When we bring the ball down the line Tommy and Cameron aren’t playing those roles anymore. Last night was bad. Any kicks down the line or long (which are inevitable with every team when there is pressure) were horrendous. We can’t even halve those which is a killer with our quality smalls.

Unless Danger or Blitz compete down the line we get out marked.

We need to bring Neale in and let Jezza play a flank role. Only trouble is for as good as Ollie is his fwd pressure is by far the weakest part of his game. Can you have 3 talls and Ollie on the ground at the same time? Not sure. Rohans strenght is both his pressure but he is fantastic at halving arial contests.

 

[calder_daddy]

Apparently we "played our Grand Final in March"

How ******* delusional can one fan base be? We tend to play in the real Grand Finals....and we tend to win them too.

Just extraordinary hubris, and on the night that we unveiled the stand named after a champion of our club who achieved more by himself than the St Kilda Football club has in 150 years.

The really sad thing is this is actually a fact

 

[Vivy]

O. Henry keeps ducking behind his direct opponent and hoping that competent AFL intercept markers will either

A) Not make it to the drop
B) Drop it if they do

I guess he is then hoping that his direct opponent will also fumble or be able to be pushed under the ball so he can get a clean look on goal.

Between the 10-14 min mark of the 2nd quarter last night he doesn't compete aerially 3 entries in a row because his chances of marking the ball outright are slim. StK marked all 3 and walked the ball out. Killed our momentum when we were well on top.

He can improve by simply making more contests 50/50 as they should be. He doesn't even need to create something out of nothing. Just do the simple things.

 

[dazbroncos]

Yeah the beers turn me into a negative nancy especially when stupid mistakes happen on field!!!

Yeah you were running hot last night lol… was good reading!!!!

Go Catters

 

[hoopla]

Now that I have had a sleep and my rational brain has kicked in a bit more, I feel I can give a less one-eyed view.

It felt like the cats dominated the game for 70 to 80% of the time and perhaps that was as a result of the saints defensive flood. The saints looked very dangerous in their spurts of dominance. By playing the flood, the saints really missed a big opportunity to open up the cats up a lot more. I am hoping Lyon realises this and gives up on the flood because it’s awful for football…wishful thinking I know.

I was a little disappointed at the missed shots, but I suppose 4 posters are as close as you can get. I think the cats counteracted the flood very well but really didn’t capitalise. It really should have been a comfortable win.

The umpiring was one-sided for much of the night. It’s probably just about luck, and the saints had it for the first 3 quarters which helped keep them in it. I think the cats had the umpiring luck for the last quarter though.

I am hoping Rohan gets back to full fitness because he really makes a difference with the forward 50 pressure like no other. I hope he’s still physically able to play this role.

I was pleasantly surprised at the cats midfield. Hopefully they can keep it up for a full season.

It was a great start overall.

 

[Lana]

We were dominant in most phases of play however we are really deficient in running power. If we are to use what we have I think we’re forced to use it offensively and accept that we’re going be burned on the rebound. Holmes down back is a huge statement of intent. A lot of times St Kilda moved faster than our defence could set up make’s those individuals down back look but when it is really the forward pressure needs to step up.

Danger has slowed half a step again. Still faster and more powerful than most but he needs help. A few of our other golden oldies feel a bit vulnerable.

St Kilda know what they have and are well drilled. It would have been easy to drop this.

 

[FreakShow20]

Went for a walk over to the saints board
Apparently we’re a bottom 6 side.
If that’s the case then they must be a bottom 5 side

These fools need to relax, it’s round 1

The way they are also carrying on about the umpiring someone should remind them they won the free kick count 18-14!

 

[Hamingja]

All players can't play well every game.

Stengle was disappointing for me last year even factoring in the injury but you can hardly pot him for last night. A stay at home crumbing small forward has absolute none against Ross Lyon tactics.

Clark's execution has been on my radar since day one. It was A for endeavour in his game last year but was very sloppy with the ball so I wasn't as excited by the debut as others. I thought the same after the first pre season game. The second pre season game and last night I didn't think was that bad. I recall one terrible F50 entry but that is about it.

To me it will be interesting to see how Bruhn and Clark develop.

Bruhn is the guy that does good things when he has the ball but doesn't get enough of it. Clark hunts the footy much better but coughs it up a bit. With scoring from turnovers being the main attacking avenue these days you probably prefer the Bruhn profile overall but boy do we need someone to hunt the footy in our current midfield. We need Clark from 3 years time, today. Just what it is. Will be a long year if you get triggered by the turnovers.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

One who really stood out was Demp. He was a difference maker. Has probably locked his spot in for a while now. He add legs speed , and now adding goals and marking.

I agree if he plays like that he isnt going out which means rohan probably wont come back in (unless they drop close or stengle which i probably would but i doubt MC will).

 

[Vivy]

My positives from the game:

1. Dempsey
Wow. Last year thought he wouldn't make it. Preseason he looked good, and then saw him in person last week and thought to myself he's a good size. Last night he was composed and creative and finished off his work (mostly).

2. Bruhn & Clark
They're building and there's improvement. They're hard at it, good tacklers and tough to beat. Give Clark 50 games and his disposal and decision making will improve.

3. Stewart
He's just so good. The difference between winning and losing.

 

[joe444]

Against a Ross Lyon flood/slingshot strategy, it's pointless to draw many conclusions.

 

[dazbroncos]

Can see him coming in for Stengle. Tyson was still limping after the game, and can't see us risking him next week travelling to Adelaide off a six day break.

Was disappointed in Stengle.. had a few moments but overall not near it..
Want him to find his groove and maybe confidence - but hope the injury ain’t bad and gets his groove back..

Could open door for Mannagh to start

Go Catters

 

[kittypurry]

Ross Lyon's brand of footy is excruciating and we should all file a class action lawsuit against him.

Thrilled to see Dempsey have his break out game. He's another special find.

Mannagh has the x factor. He's going to have some clutch moments for us.

Well done to the Cats for grinding out the win. It looked like they were going to run over the top of us but we were determined.

 

[00VicWard001]

What I liked most of all in this game was the constant midfield pressure on their ball carriers. Created numerous turnovers.

Last year, the lack of pressure or fitness, meant our backline was bombarded and we were scored against. This year, the forwards and the mids appear to be working much hard to help create turnovers.

Dangerfield was saying that they identified that St Kilda (and GWS) this pre-season have been in very good form and slicing through opponents with speed. So our team defence really stood up to the occasion and the opponent.

 

[Lana]

Bruhn’s footwork has improved out of sight, one he hits open space he starts to glide

O.Henry did a bunch of work off the ball, blocks and the like. Dropped a few marks that could have made his night look better on paper. 3rd talls zone off him too much.

Clark physicality was great but he is a long way off. It is good for him to get an early taste.

Dempsey loves the improve. I think by the end of the year he’ll tighten the worst of it. And keep most of the best.

De Koning had a dirty night on 1 on 1s

Holmes as well

 

[Generalissimo]

Not the biggest O’Connor fan but your rught
He was good, I liked him as more around the high half forward

This is a result of St Kilda's floodyfloodflood gameplan. It draws their forwards right up the ground and our defenders along with them. In fact, I saw Kolo, SDK, and O'Connor often push up even a bit further than that because the way to counter the Ross Lyon Flood is to make the St Kilda defender rush his kick and have nothing but a wall of blue and white to kick to. This is how Danger got his goal in the dying seconds.

You just have to be careful not to let the footy get out over the back. This is where someone like O'Connor becomes extra valuable with his speed, versatility, and ability to do a lot of unrewarded controlling of zones. And when you have someone with 94% disposal efficiency suddenly getting inside 50s, it's a worry for even the most disciplined and tightly-packed flood. Six score involvements is a good return.

The way they are also carrying on about the umpiring someone should remind them they won the free kick count 18-14!

It was 11-4 our way at half time. Then the umps went into evener upperer mode and just never stopped.

 

[Vivy]

The Saints are much better than people think. They finished 6th and are improving not declining. The Max Kings etc are going to be guns. Their preseason was great. This was a good win and for the large parts we played very well and had the game in control. Lots of positives as ppl have pointed out

We do have a real structural problem with Rohan out of the team. When we bring the ball down the line Tommy and Cameron aren’t playing those roles anymore. Last night was bad. Any kicks down the line or long (which are inevitable with every team when there is pressure) were horrendous. We can’t even halve those which is a killer with our quality smalls.

Unless Danger or Blitz compete down the line we get out marked.

We need to bring Neale in and let Jezza play a flank role. Only trouble is for as good as Ollie is his fwd pressure is by far the weakest part of his game. Can you have 3 talls and Ollie on the ground at the same time? Not sure. Rohans strenght is both his pressure but he is fantastic at halving arial contests.

I think StK will win a good amount of games with that game plan. 12+ IMO.

Agree 100% re Neale & Rohan.

 

[00VicWard001]

That was a cauldron. Loudest I've ever heard Kardinia Park.

SDK looked rusty as all hell.
Holmes is the leader of the next gen.
Jhye goes in bloody hard but needs to tidy up disposal.

Lastly, * Ross Lyon and his s**t football.
They employed the dinosaur.... TWICE

SDK was confident enough to go for some intercept marks - but was just a bit off with his marking . That will improve. Happy to see him going at the ball again like 2022.

 

[cats_09]

Forgot to add ... I think id have had Mannagh on earlier. Probably would have taken Stengle or OHenry off in the 3rd. OHenry could have had 3 goals if he was dialed in, looks like his kicking at goal needs a tidy up again. Stengle is a bit of a concern. Is it coincidental that he has never been the same player since Eddie has departed? He needs to find something quickly or he will be playing 2's

Stengel seems to lack intent at times - when switched on he is a dangerous player, not just in terms of kicking goals but also setting up teammates

There's games though where he looks almost to be going through the motions - that was something he could get away with a bit last year when we didn't really have other small forwards pushing for selection

But with Mannagh on the list now & watching his last quarter after coming on as sub, suddenly we've got a bit of competition for spots, and not sure we'll continue to see all of Close, Mannagh, Miers & Stengle in the same 23 - we could easily see a few premiership players in the VFL at times this year, and not sure that's necessarily a bad thing

 

[catempire]

The forwards cant find space as there is none but what they can do is repeat lead higher up the field to create short kick chains and try and draw the defenders out. Cameron did this and also miers but the others largely didnt. And with the high balls they can compete in the air outnumbered to try and bring it to ground. Henry in particular needs to be doing this. It was largelt on the mids as the high balls in were too slow and loopy but the fwds need to do more to work through it. Otherwise teams (that are fit enough as you can only play the flood style if you are very fit as it requires high endurance) will play the flood against us more and more this year.

I don’t think that’s the job of Hawkins and Henry. You do have to maintain structure closer to goal. You want guys like Cameron, Close, Dempsey and Miers providing options around and outside the arc. But part of the problem last night is we were just kicking it over their heads to an outnumber closer to goal.

But I repeat, there was no room for Hawkins and Henry to lead into.

 

[catempire]

Ross Lyon style teams have always been bogeys for us

Yet…

Geelong Premierships since Ross started coaching: 4

Ross Lyon coached Premierships: 0

It’s a thing of beauty. Playing the game As It Should Be Played prevails ultimately.

 

[Willo_]

I think it is pretty obvious that Bruhn is set to make a leap, looked clean and powerful, Clark isn't afraid of cracking in and he looks a neat kick style wise so I actually expect that to pick up sharply as he gets the speed of the game. Mannagh clearly knows where to go to find the footy, he felt inches away from getting 2-3 goals in a hotly contested pressure game.
Warm night, the entire crowd in shorts and a tee shirt basically and round 1 goes a fair way to hopefully explaining some skill execution and players bulk cramping/looking gassed at the end.


It's OK to win ugly, and Ross Lyon footy is about as ugly as you can encounter so I'm just happy we got the win.

 

[catempire]

Forgot to add ... I think id have had Mannagh on earlier. Probably would have taken Stengle or OHenry off in the 3rd. OHenry could have had 3 goals if he was dialed in, looks like his kicking at goal needs a tidy up again. Stengle is a bit of a concern. Is it coincidental that he has never been the same player since Eddie has departed? He needs to find something quickly or he will be playing 2's

They were worried about Bruhn’s ankle. Otherwise they would have.