Autopsy 2025 AFL Round 6: A Dog day afternoon

[littlecreatures]

What absolute junk.

Steele 17 CBAs for zero centre clearances. Move the guy out if he’s not going to impact.

Owens, Wilkie, and Higgins probably the only stand outs.

I can’t remember so many critical errors in the one game. The Hill loopy kick in the corridor probably summed it up.

Bring in Boxshall and Trav, put Steele on notice, and make the spiritual leader, Wilkie our captain.

 

[Joffaboy]

Ok slept on it so not too emotional.

Even accounting for the vindictive AFL and their FIXture, last night was one of the most spineless, inept, non competitive performances I have seen from the Saints since the cho days.
Ok even if you are cooked, there is no reason to go at 45 % kicking efficiency at one point, completely missing targets by hand from 5 metres etc.
Some things are out of your control, but those things are controllable and we just wouldn't execute.
How many poor disposals, blocked kicks and handballs, indecision, rundowns, etc did we see last night.
Can cop getting beaten, even the team being gassed, but the above are non negotiatables.
Rancid effort in those areas.

 

[Cairnsman]

I think footy heads know we get some inconsistent performances in really young and inexperienced sides like ours so I'm OK with the odd poor show like yesterday.

The reality is we are just at the bottom of a bounce from a really hard rebuild phase so we have at least 2 to 3 years to go of more stockpiling of talent through the draft and getting games into the youth. Our three wins might of allowed some fans to get ahead of themselves.

We are far from a settled core who might be capable of contending, in that regard we are still in exploration mode. What will be helpful though is if we dont have too many games like yesterday to further diminish our reputation as not being an attractive destination.

 

[Rogue Warrior]

Many problems on display last night with the midfield the most glaring. But I was very surprised at how easily the dogs transitioned the ball. It seemed like our zone was off and when one person is out of place it’s shifts the next and opens holes up.

 

[Hayes4PM]

If you’d watched Herny stink it up in the VFL for 2 weeks you shouldn’t be surprised with his non performance last night. I’m not a coach’s arseh*le, but thought it was pretty obvious he was no where near ready yet.

Must give Boxshall an opportunity this week and get Trav back in.

If Marshall and Steele aren’t injured then we have a big problem. Unleash the Moose.

The 2 Henry performances were pretty different for mine, but neither was impressive.

First game back was plodding around at about 70% pace and effort from the first quarter, was like playing a man down as the Tiges VFL team just waltzed passed him out of defence regularly.

Second game was such a disappointing team performance against GWS, but Henry ran harder and tried harder, but I would have thought it was hard to bring anyone back in off the back of that.

Either Henry is one of Ross' favourites or he showed a fair bit of improvement on the training track (you'd hope...).

Agree about Boxshall, not just because he's playing well, but because of his style. Works well in tight at stoppages, is clever with his handballs and is running out games hard. Jones, Garcia, Steele, Windy I'm not fussed who comes out for him off the back of that performance. Watched Windhager give up on a few contests with Richards and Jones fell back into his routine of negativity the minute an umpiring decision didn't go his way. Steele just looks off it physically. Garcia defensively a good game, not much outside of that.

 

[akaifu]

Someone needs to help Wilson understand that he's got elite speed and doesn't have to rush his disposal every time he gets the ball

I don't think I've ever seen him lower his eyes when kicking inside 50. Its a shame because he's a decent kick

I don't think Ross will ever drop him the same reason Hill doesn't get dropped, but surely its time we start giving him some inside minutes to teach him what true competitiveness is? Give him a couple of CBAs against the likes of Dunkley and Neale and he'll immediately realise the hunger they have for the contest

He's too talented to be a permanent winger

 

[EddieMurphy]

Just over 12 months ago same round.
Dogs won by 60.

This year
Dogs win by 71.

Next year's going to be a real hoot then.

 

[Teflon]

What I could not understand is why Ari, who has a genuine good kick especially under no pressure, was not taking all kick ins when he was on the ground. There is no physical pressure when taking a kick in, which is where he seems to excel and if there are no options at least he can bomb it 75m down the wing. Why would we not utilise that?

Yep the use of him looks confused
Booking leg weapon so we ask him to short pass all night
Dumb

 

[akaifu]

What I could not understand is why Ari, who has a genuine good kick especially under no pressure, was not taking all kick ins when he was on the ground. There is no physical pressure when taking a kick in, which is where he seems to excel and if there are no options at least he can bomb it 75m down the wing. Why would we not utilise that?

I assume its so we can use his boot higher up the ground to kick into our forward half

Because you'll never see him run 50 metres for the handball receive like Nas did in that one passage when he had like 3 HB receives in one chain up the guts

 

[Teflon]

Agree on all points.

Not sure why Hill is getting so much hate. Only 4 players had more tackles and he had the best disposal efficiency of anyone with more than 15 touches. 3rd on meters gained as well. He wasn't perfect but he was one of the few senior players trying to make things happen.

The game was lost because Steele, Mckray, Windhager, Garcia and Jones were utterly destroyed by the dogs midfield.

Our injury management is diabolical. Marshall hasn't been right all season, Steele is listless, Henry looked nowhere near it. King's 3 week injury has become at least half a season. It was not this bad before Misson returned.

Hill gets hate because several times in the clear last night u see limited pressure he turns it over - multiple times cost goals
You can dress it up as “yeah but he’s trying” that doesn’t cut it
For a guy who is supposedly an elite kick he ain’t under any sort of pressure
He runs round the back for the cheap handball then time and again runs himself into trouble
His handballs are limp wristed affairs often missing their targets
But he’s the smiliest after a game so that’s ok then….
Not good enough

 

[bwardi]

I can accept the fluctuating performances of the young crop coming through, but the level of uncompetitiveness from the senior crew was astounding.

Steele represented everything wrong with the leadership last night and was the complete antithesis of Bont.

Going forward I hope this lights a fire in Steele's belly. He's been a lead from the front type and has showed an incredible combative spirit in the past (think 2023 against the doggies), I only hope he can bring that back.

 

[Teflon]

Two weeks in a row we've started well then our ball use and decision making has gone to shit.

Obviously last night our mids were smashed.

I still think beating Carlton late last year was incredibly stupid.

Regardless, I would have taken 3 and 3 at the start of the year. We've played some good footy and have some really good young talent. Finals was always going to be a big ask with our ridiculously shitty draw, and with the injuries we've had it's that much harder.

Umpiring atrocious.

Of course it was
But look at our culture fly!!
FFS we had a chance at a top 5 mid and blew it - Langford would be a huge addition to that midfield right now but no we got our 5 mins of glory beating a sliding Carlton
Dumb

 

[akaifu]

Of course it was
But look at our culture fly!!
FFS we had a chance at a top 5 mid and blew it - Langford would be a huge addition to that midfield right now but no we got our 5 mins of glory beating a sliding Carlton
Dumb

If Tauru flops (I don't think he will but you never know) and Langford becomes the next Bont then we'll rue that Carlton loss for the rest of our days

 

[Teflon]

We’re lacking the big bodies.
That’s probably fine if we’re full of run.
Which we are but we just don’t use it. We should have multiple options presenting every time we get the ball, especially at stoppages allowing us to quickly play on. But we don’t.

Yep good post
We look like little kids most weeks don’t we?
Cats Port Dogs all look like men our auskickers run out ….spaghetti arms …
You are right though if youre go game is run …then present options …we do neither

 

[Mav3rick]

Steele, Henry, Marshall all look so low on confidence it’s actually depressing to watch. The niggling injuries have set them back a mile and they just can’t find their way, not sure we have a choice but to back them in though.

Wilson simply has to go to the VFL, he’ll be a very good player but the holes in his game are too glaring to ignore. Garcia will get there but he is already being massively found out for only being able to turn left.

I’ve been critical of Stocker but he’s earned some praise imo. We need two or three of Mitch Owens.

Glad there are some guys to come back and kids knocking on the door at VFL because boy do we need it.

 

[ScrappyDo]

Ok slept on it so not too emotional.

Even accounting for the vindictive AFL and their FIXture, last night was one of the most spineless, inept, non competitive performances I have seen from the Saints since the cho days.
Ok even if you are cooked, there is no reason to go at 45 % kicking efficiency at one point, completely missing targets by hand from 5 metres etc.
Some things are out of your control, but those things are controllable and we just wouldn't execute.
How many poor disposals, blocked kicks and handballs, indecision, rundowns, etc did we see last night.
Can cop getting beaten, even the team being gassed, but the above are non negotiatables.
Rancid effort in those areas.

That's the thing about being cooked though. Even if you give 100% effort it's still only 90% and it also effects mental application.
Based off previous losses we struggle when oppo make it a 1 on 1 game but are often able to counter that with outside run and shear tenacity. Since they physically couldn't bring those things on the night it became lambs to the slaughter.
Giants also suffered a similar uncharacteristic performance with a hardened senior team.

For me it's a roll it up and toss it in the bin type game. I'd like to see the difficulty rating of our first 7 games, I'm willing to bet it's one of the hardest trots league wide. Tack on playing in 34deg last week and it's all just caught up with us.

 

[Plugger35]

It's really hard to believe that we had basically the same team last night that beat Geelong at the same ground a few weeks ago.

You would think they were completely different teams looking at how we performed back then and how we performed last night.

As poor as we were that also has something to do with the opposition, the Dogs midfield with Bontempelli is a lot stronger than Geelong's midfield without Bailey Smith

3

Bailey Smith

Age

25

Ht

185cm

Wt

86kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

18.3

5star

K

8.5

3star

HB

9.8

5star

M

2.3

2star

T

3.8

5star

CL

2.7

4star

D

19.8

5star

K

9.6

4star

HB

10.2

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

3.2

4star

CL

3.2

4star

D

14.8

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

7.2

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

3.4

5star

CL

1.6

4star

and that is where we got obliterated.

Even with Macrae our midfield is still a major weakness, not helped that Steele seems to be a shadow of the midfielder that he used to be.

If there is any positive from last night hopefully it's that we see some of our younger midfielders like Boxshall and Travaglia given more opportunities in there as we can't keep on persisting with the same old guys like Steele that just aren't up to it anymore.

 

[The Jack]

Next year's going to be a real hoot then.

Wont have to wait that long. We play them again in a few weeks. It’s comical.

 

[AirWinmar]

We’re lacking the big bodies.
That’s probably fine if we’re full of run.
Which we are but we just don’t use it. We should have multiple options presenting every time we get the ball, especially at stoppages allowing us to quickly play on. But we don’t.

The problem is we expect to lose the contested ball, so then you won't want to work into space as when we lose the contest you will need to work harder defensively

 

[Holy Hunter Clark]

Well at least Darcy hasn't done the dreaded ACL. Hope the kid recovers quickly.

 

[dudeintheswamp]

Wont have to wait that long. We play them again in a few weeks. It’s comical.

At least next time it's at our home ground.

 

[Teflon]

That's the thing about being cooked though. Even if you give 100% effort it's still only 90% and it also effects mental application.
Based off previous losses we struggle when oppo make it a 1 on 1 game but are often able to counter that with outside run and shear tenacity. Since they physically couldn't bring those things on the night it became lambs to the slaughter.
Giants also suffered a similar uncharacteristic performance with a hardened senior team.

For me it's a roll it up and toss it in the bin type game. I'd like to see the difficulty rating of our first 7 games, I'm willing to bet it's one of the hardest trots league wide. Tack on playing in 34deg last week and it's all just caught up with us.

Was thinking same ….do you just go “oh bad night “ and right this one off ???
Problem with that is ….multiple years now against Dogs “it’s a bad night”
Either they’ve worked us out big time or their strength (midfield) is just too much for our B graders
Whatever …..don’t think you can toss this in the bin - need to understand quickly where this is breaking down. How were they able to so easily shut down our transition and pick holes at will in our zone ????
Might be an ugly review but some players need some home truths
June 12 re match we’ll see what we’ve learnt
Another 10 goal bashing and you’d have to say Beverage has our measure in the box

 

[AirWinmar]

Ok slept on it so not too emotional.

Even accounting for the vindictive AFL and their FIXture, last night was one of the most spineless, inept, non competitive performances I have seen from the Saints since the cho days.
Ok even if you are cooked, there is no reason to go at 45 % kicking efficiency at one point, completely missing targets by hand from 5 metres etc.
Some things are out of your control, but those things are controllable and we just wouldn't execute.
How many poor disposals, blocked kicks and handballs, indecision, rundowns, etc did we see last night.
Can cop getting beaten, even the team being gassed, but the above are non negotiatables.
Rancid effort in those areas.

Some of our handballing last night was diabolical. Struggling to hit a target by hand

 

[burntsnag]

Jack Steven

9

Jack Steven

Age

35

Ht

180cm

Wt

83kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

23.7

5star

K

12.7

5star

HB

11.0

5star

M

3.4

3star

T

4.5

5star

CL

4.4

5star

D

14.0

3star

K

8.0

3star

HB

6.0

3star

M

3.0

3star

T

2.8

4star

CL

2.5

4star

D

13.4

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

5.8

4star

M

3.8

4star

T

4.8

5star

CL

0.8

3star

, armo now Steele.

Have had to carry the weight untill the break down. Rinse and repeat.

What I would give to have a prime Jack Steven

9

Jack Steven

Age

35

Ht

180cm

Wt

83kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

23.7

5star

K

12.7

5star

HB

11.0

5star

M

3.4

3star

T

4.5

5star

CL

4.4

5star

D

14.0

3star

K

8.0

3star

HB

6.0

3star

M

3.0

3star

T

2.8

4star

CL

2.5

4star

D

13.4

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

5.8

4star

M

3.8

4star

T

4.8

5star

CL

0.8

3star

right now!

 

[Xxxx66]

With games like last night ( that should have been a 100+ blow out) there are usually multiple factors, such as just plain being "off" after last week's game.
Also playing injured or underdone players.
But I think a bigger issue that needs attention is our strength and conditioning area. Feels like we have way too many injuries, players either playing hurt or injured. I think this area has flown under the radar and needs a serious review.
Most teams with the level of injuries we have, will struggle