Autopsy 2025 AFL Round 6: A Dog day afternoon

[Saintbloke]

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.

Like a lot of players, there comes a stage where you start dropping away, and although Steele has given us great service, it has been a long while since I've seen that old fire in his belly in contests

 

[StCicatriz]

GWS had a terrible showing today as well. Playing in 35 degree heat is never good. Reckon it really shows

Dogs played in 34 degree heat. That 1% really makes a difference hey.

 

[Southeastsainter]

I think we need to give Steele a rest, called it management or whatever but he is not right.

Boxshall won’t save our midfield but if there’s any selection integrity he will play AFL next week.

Heath looked a very capable forward in the VFL game. Can’t play against Andrews, Payne and co with Sharman as our tallest forward. Marshall looks cooked and could absolutely use some help with a proper backup ruck and also. Bring him in, and I’d probably bring Trav in too.

Steele, Henry, Jones & Collard out

Boxshall, Trav, Heath & Hastie in.

Play Stocker in the guts instead of Jones, we need some grunt and pressure in the mids.

 

[Joffaboy]

Dogs played in 34 degree heat. That 1% really makes a difference hey.

Conveniently forget they had an extra day's rest and did not have two interstate games in a row.
But facts hey?

 

[StCicatriz]

Like last year,two interstate games in a row, then less rest than the opposition.
How did GWS go? They managed 34 points. Playing in 33 deg heat takes it completely out of your legs.

They're professional athletes with a week off for crying out loud. They're training in that shit multiple times a week over summer.

How do WCE and Freo even manage to train then?

 

[StCicatriz]

Conveniently forget they had an extra day's rest and did not have two interstate games in a row.
But facts hey?

Two interstate games in a row. Wow.

How do wce even win flags.

 

[StCicatriz]

Really hope Darcy is ok. The kid can really play. Dogs just were better and have been more consistent than us when we have faced then. Midfield is really their one wood there. Libba is an absolute machine and the bont continues to dominate.

The elephant in the room for us continues to be the midfield. Steele is the face of that. I feel bad for Ross he's gone from having captains like roo, pavlich, mundy and fyfe to Steele. It's a serious drop off. Unfortunately for us Steele isn't consistent and with age comes injury and a drop off in form. He's 29 now clearly carrying something and Unfortunately his body of work for years now hasn't been where it needs to be for our premium mid. The younger guys haven't come on. They all show signs but ultimately they have issues with consistentency. Jones is getting games because we don't have any senior bodies in there. Macrae is it now. He has no help. Garcia is young. Windy needs to really come on this season or next. Owens is a half forward.

People have been saying this for years but I don't think Steele can be captain. It should have been removed last season at the absolute latest.

 

[StCicatriz]

Sorry to intrude, but what’s happened with Steele? He looked completely out of the game today and I’m surprised. I love your team and potential but was really shocked how non influential Steele was.

Did his knee at training and now looks like he shouldn't even be out there. But he's had form issues for years now.

 

[Pakenhamsaint]

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

A lot of Bulldogs fans with a huge sigh of relief

 

[StCicatriz]

Some mixed reports on Arie tonight. I thought he was okay (relatively speaking) and that you can see the vision for him to fit in with NAS, Sinclair and (perhaps) Hill as surgical users off half back. Obviously not a great day for anybody but he did gain over 500m and kick at an efficiency rating of 79%, so not all bad.

Work in progress though.

Arie should not be getting games. He can't defend. His foot skills are not good in short range. We are better off with hastie in the side or the irish guy. Problem is we don't have height down there thanks to the duck up with battle.

Howard's been covered by caminiti so that ain't it.

 

[StCicatriz]

Sadly we actually covered more ground that the Dogs with more sprints and repeat sprints and still got spanked

That can't be right. Apparently we played in 180 degree heat and the dogs have an extra month off.

 

[Holy Hunter Clark]

A lot of Bulldogs fans with a huge sigh of relief

Fans across the AFL.

 

[StCicatriz]

Hill was bad but he was often the only player running to space ahead of the player with the ball. He's getting run down because there are no options ahead of him. I think he suffered from being the only player able to hold the ball for us.

What was incredible was that everyone apart from Owens and maybe Garcia, Windhager and Snags played their worst footy for ages. Guys like Wood looked like their worst games in our colours. Sinclair hasn't been that bad for 5 years.

Unfortunately it wasn't effort missing, it was skills, structure, game plan, set plays, contested work and clearance structures. There was pretty much nothing to get out of that match. You'd burn the video after reviewing it.

Agree with this.

Also worry about some of the guys clearly carrying something.

Henry is a worry. Blokes lost all his pace and zip.

 

[StCicatriz]

Henry's wasn't interested last night I wouldnt be surprised if his knee is still not a 100%.

Agree with this. Was shocked to see how he was moving. It's a massive worry.

 

[StCicatriz]

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.

Common sense post.

 

[Southeastsainter]

People aren’t seriously using the heat or travel as an excuse are they? The level of effort was inexcusable. AFL is a tough sport, be surprised if there was a player in the AFL that didn’t have a niggle or pain etc.

Fact is we were dreadful, and the effort from senior players was embarrassing. If every player had the heart of Garcia & NAS then we’d be world beaters.

Best thing about footy is you get to go again very soon, definitely not expecting a win against Brisbane. However, I am expecting a turn around in performance / effort.

 

[Doggy]

Conveniently forget they had an extra day's rest and did not have two interstate games in a row.
But facts hey?

Sorry to intrude, but we played in Perth in 30 odd degrees, then to Adelaide in 34 degrees then to the game last night

I'm confident that was nowhere near the Saints' best. Was worried early and before the game and certainly after Darcy went down.

Next game will be much much tighter

 

[StCicatriz]

Steele looked like he was moving in quick sand and tbh its not the first game I've thought that. Think he's just getting to that point in his career.

Going to make it difficult for us moving forward. Can see why they were throwing coin at LDU.

We really need to find another macrae type situation this off season.

 

[StCicatriz]

Sorry to intrude, but we played in Perth in 30 odd degrees, then to Adelaide in 34 degrees then to the game last night

Exactly.

It's embarrassing.

Thank fully its not a reflection of the majority of saints fans who all think we just got beaten by a better side.

ive gotta say Libba was fantastic and his run down on hill really summed up the night. There's alot to be jealous of as a saint supporter. That grit and hunger to win the ball and chase and tackle was awesome.

 

[Suburbanhack]

I think we need to give Steele a rest, called it management or whatever but he is not right.

Boxshall won’t save our midfield but if there’s any selection integrity he will play AFL next week.

Heath looked a very capable forward in the VFL game. Can’t play against Andrews, Payne and co with Sharman as our tallest forward. Marshall looks cooked and could absolutely use some help with a proper backup ruck and also. Bring him in, and I’d probably bring Trav in too.

Steele, Henry, Jones & Collard out

Boxshall, Trav, Heath & Hastie in.

Play Stocker in the guts instead of Jones, we need some grunt and pressure in the mids.

Positive signs yesterday from Heath but his 4th year on the list and I still need some convincing. Would like to see a block of good games before he gets elevated. Happy to bring in Box, Trav and Hastie but why drop Collard? Tough being a small forward when the ball barely crosses the centre. Need to get games into him and the other 1st -3rd year players.

Completely unacceptable performance but we have been solid for a month. Consecutive weeks with that sort of effort and by all means swing the axe but not after one game. Unless they are clearly injured or underdone (Steele, Henry) then put them on notice and give them a shot at redemption.

And I’m not buying the travel, extra days break excuse. We had a 7-day break and only travelled once as we stayed in Adelaide after the Port game. In any event Adelade is barely an hour away so hardly a taxing journey. Dogs just way to good.

 

[Jade Buddha]

Loses are acceptable when effort and a plan is visible. Yesterdays rubbish had neither.

 

[Doggy]

Exactly.

It's embarrassing.

We just got beaten by a better side. Libba was fantastic and his run down on hill really summed up the night. There's alot to be jealous of as a saint supporter. That grit and hunger to win the ball and chase and tackle was awesome.

I laughed at that.

Not because of the result, but just Libba in general. It was worrying he might get injured. Commentary was funny too

 

[burntsnag]

Really hope Darcy is ok. The kid can really play. Dogs just were better and have been more consistent than us when we have faced then. Midfield is really their one wood there. Libba is an absolute machine and the bont continues to dominate.

The elephant in the room for us continues to be the midfield. Steele is the face of that. I feel bad for Ross he's gone from having captains like roo, pavlich, mundy and fyfe to Steele. It's a serious drop off. Unfortunately for us Steele isn't consistent and with age comes injury and a drop off in form. He's 29 now clearly carrying something and Unfortunately his body of work for years now hasn't been where it needs to be for our premium mid. The younger guys haven't come on. They all show signs but ultimately they have issues with consistentency. Jones is getting games because we don't have any senior bodies in there. Macrae is it now. He has no help. Garcia is young. Windy needs to really come on this season or next. Owens is a half forward.

People have been saying this for years but I don't think Steele can be captain. It should have been removed last season at the absolute latest.

Unsure how it works at the club with the captain? Do the players vote still or the coaches decide?

Either way i think we can all agree Wilkie should be the captain.

But to be honest I'd prefer if we rotated again like with Thommo.

2026- Owens and Nas
2027- Pou and Garcia

Develop the leaders now!

 

[jwikked]

Dogs played in 34 degree heat. That 1% really makes a difference hey.

The heat and the one day difference in recovery time had nothing to do with what happened last night lmao. It’s such a bizarre coping mechanism to blame the heat and the break

 

[Saintbloke]

The heat and the one day difference in recovery time had nothing to do with what happened last night lmao. It’s such a bizarre coping mechanism to blame the heat and the break

Next thing we'll be blaming the cold weather during winter. it was just a disinterested effort by a team who can do much better- and probably poor team selection by playing players who are not fully recovered from injury. We could have played three young guys in place of Marshall, Steele and Henry, and done no worse.. maybe even better.