Autopsy 2025 Round 18: Swans swindle slow Saints

[AirWinmar]

Didn't we extend him?

Yeah pretty sure until 2027. I like Clark but asides from his tog, he is very slow from a standing start. Id say his slowness rather than his fitness is probably what limits his tog.

 

[phantom13]

Plenty of bodily fluids in your argument
That’s for sure.
The only thing we should be doing is giving him professional courtesy of contract and an understanding of where he sits in our structure. The bleeding for the club stuff is just emotional claptrap. He is a well paid professional doing a job he loves.
At the start of the year we had an injured ruckman with very limited to no backup so the club has moved to get someone in for the future that covers and moves on from Ro- that’s life. This has been argued about on here for ages. We have no back up for Ro of any substance.
So we use our bank blowout to get someone that will improve that all good as far as I’m concerned.
Every player in our team has competition for their spot so why is that not acceptable for a ruckman. If he doesn’t want to compete for his spot then that’s fine but I’m sure as f&/k not paying for another club to get a discount on his services because there is some misplaced sentiment around the bleeding player.

Really missing the primary point of the argument that we demand a first for a bloke getting paid 800k to play in the twos is bad business all round to focus on a line about acting in good faith to a player who has given everything for this club.

It’s good business AND it’s good karma they’re not mutually exclusive

 

[gringo2011]

One player I think has huge potential is Hastie.

he has elite physical attributes e.g. pace/agility/vertical and has a very good kick on him too (barring last week v Hawks). But he is someone who i think can become a very high level rebounding defender for us.

190cm as well so he's a good size

He plays a really attractive game and like he wants to do party tricks. If he can make the grade he'll be a fun player to watch.

 

[Parkysp]

Yeah, that back 6 looked really suspect and disorganised. The forwards are still not firing also. Snags was leading the Coleman and now doesn't look like scoring a goal most weeks. Sharman and Owens doing a lot of work but not a lot of results for their output.

I'll take ownership of Snags. I said to my dearest after the West Coast game when he kicked 5 that at least he'd become a consistent small forward and kick 2 no matter how we played...he's kicked 5 goals in total since. I apologise for my sin of undue optimism.

 

[aussierulesrules]

Steele got free a lot more than he has lately out of the middle.

Yeah, and he spent a fair bit of time out in the wing, too, which seemed to work pretty well.

I guess that's a sign of respect that Hugo probably got manned by a better mid and struggled to impact clearance as much. He looked good during the actual game so maybe he won the ball back.

Well the last 3 weeks he’s gone head-to-head with Serong, Newcomb, and yesterday, Warner, so they’re all top-drawer, but perhaps because Hugo got so many clearances the last two weeks they told Chad to keep a close eye on him, although it’s probably more likely that Hugo was told to play him more closely than he did Serong or Newcomb, due to his breakaway ability.

Or maybe he had the role of “receiver” this week, and in-and-under the last two weeks?

Hard to say. Did another excellent job overall though, so he’s progressing super-well.

 

[gringo2011]

Didn’t think Windhager had a game like that in him. What a great wingers game. Did it on the inside and outside. Chopped out in defence and used it well going forward. He won’t get 35 every week, but he looks like he could be more than a role player, which I thought was probably his trajectory.

Hall also is improving at a really quick rate. Is showing top draw capabilities.

Sydney really sat on Hall early and he managed to break free and cause mayhem again by the end. He's probably an A grade talent already. He's responsible for a fair percentage of our scoring most games. Hard to believe he's only in his first season and a 17 game veteran. Looks like a 150 gamer already.

Windhager is still tracking to be a very good player. If he can keep a consistent level of quality like that up he's on his way to being one of our first picked players.

 

[gringo2011]

Yeah, and he spent a fair bit of time out in the wing, too, which seemed to work pretty well.


Well the last 3 weeks he’s gone head-to-head with Serong, Newcomb, and yesterday, Warner, so they’re all top-drawer, but perhaps because Hugo got so many clearances the last two weeks they told Chad to keep a close eye on him, although it’s probably more likely that Hugo was told to play him more closely than he did Serong or Newcomb, due to his breakaway ability.

Or maybe he had the role of “receiver” this week, and in-and-under the last two weeks?

Hard to say. Did another excellent job overall though, so he’s progressing super-well.

Warner was actually quite shit compared to normal so maybe the other way around.

 

[The Punter]

Yeah, that back 6 looked really suspect and disorganised. The forwards are still not firing also. Snags was leading the Coleman and now doesn't look like scoring a goal most weeks. Sharman and Owens doing a lot of work but not a lot of results for their output.

They've changed the type of player they have playing on him generally - taller types. Wicks yesterday IIRC who is not a taller type but Higgins' form has dropped off. He did work hard without the ball yesterday however.

 

[Jade Buddha]

Really missing the primary point of the argument that we demand a first for a bloke getting paid 800k to play in the twos is bad business all round to focus on a line about acting in good faith to a player who has given everything for this club.

It’s good business AND it’s good karma they’re not mutually exclusive

I completely get that it’s good business to get his wages off the books. I get the whole deal. I just don’t think we are somehow beholding to Ro and that we look to get the best for the club. All clubs do this with players they have contracted.
Anyways we agree to disagree.

 

[Saintbloke]

If I was a 30yo main ruck player in a club who are not going anywhere near the finals for a while, I would be open to looking at a trade to a club closer to a premiership, and I reckon Marshall should do himself a favor in his last few years of AFL footy and look around.

 

[aussierulesrules]

The interesting thing about Clark is that he only played 29% game time, despite playing about the whole second half. Didn’t get much of a run.

Unfortunately, neither him nor Boxshall can play out a whole game at an acceptable level.

In his last two full games (including yesterday), Box hasn’t touched the pill in the last quarter, and the time before that it was just the two in the last.

As I said the other day, I think we should just have him as the sub for any further games he plays this year.

In the game where he was subbed on, he had 9 disposals, from about 35% game time, whereas in his last 3 full games, he’s had just 10, 9, and 8 touches.

He seems an ideal sub option for now, as we can get the best of both worlds- he gets a run, and can have an impact, hopefully without becoming a liability, from playing too much.

Dow would have to be a big chance this week, for one of those two.

 

[aussierulesrules]

Windhager is still tracking to be a very good player. If he can keep a consistent level of quality like that up he's on his way to being one of our first picked players.

The thing with him is that his repeated hammy issues surely would have significantly hampered his progress in recent years, so this is the best run at it he’s had in his time at the club, and he’s getting better and better by the month accordingly.

His kicking will presumably always hold him back, but damn he’s got some other things really going for him.

He could still be bloody good, and he probably made himself an extra half mil (across his next contract) yesterday.

 

[gringo2011]

The thing with him is that his repeated hammy issues surely would have significantly hampered his progress in recent years, so this is the best run at it he’s had in his time at the club, and he’s getting better and better by the month accordingly.

His kicking will presumably always hold him back, but damn he’s got some other things really going for him.

He could still be bloody good, and he probably made himself an extra half mil (across his next contract) yesterday.

His kicking is temperamental so possibly something that can be cleaned up as he feels more comfortable absorbing pressure.

 

[Saint Watto]

Personally I think you'd be better served with a Balvenie, Double-Wooded.........lovely drop.

Thanks for the tip TB.

I have made a note of it.

I'll have it on stand by for any further tough days/nights at the office.

 

[Pakenhamsaint]

No just typical. An anonymous nobody online. Assuming it was racial?

It was.

All over a ****ing bet.

 

[akaifu]

The interesting thing about Clark is that he only played 29% game time, despite playing about the whole second half. Didn’t get much of a run.

Unfortunately, neither him nor Boxshall can play out a whole game at an acceptable level.

In his last two full games (including yesterday), Box hasn’t touched the pill in the last quarter, and the time before that it was just the two in the last.

As I said the other day, I think we should just have him as the sub for any further games he plays this year.

In the game where he was subbed on, he had 9 disposals, from about 35% game time, whereas in his last 3 full games, he’s had just 10, 9, and 8 touches.

He seems an ideal sub option for now, as we can get the best of both worlds- he gets a run, and can have an impact, hopefully without becoming a liability, from playing too much.

Dow would have to be a big chance this week, for one of those two.

Boxshall was moved permanently forward to cover Butler in the second half - a position hes hardly played since being drafted

I think Clark's 29% TOG despite only playing the second half highlights that his bad TOG is more by design than fitness. He's an impact player who comes on and should light a spark in the game with his class to give the team momentum. He's the guy that gets two rotations per quarter to have bursts of 100%, rather than more TOG at 80% like other mids

Not saying its optimal but just by observing him over the years, I feel like thats the logical deduction from a coaching perspective

 

[Ads734]

One player I think has huge potential is Hastie.

he has elite physical attributes e.g. pace/agility/vertical and has a very good kick on him too (barring last week v Hawks). But he is someone who i think can become a very high level rebounding defender for us.

190cm as well so he's a good size

Yea , some uneducated fans are very harsh on him. He’s a young guy who has been the sub a lot. Has great movement and balence. Has already shown glimpses here and there. Wouldn’t hate him on ball. Wouldn’t be opposed to him taking some kick ins. Really backs himself through congestion.

 

[Ads734]

Looks a Liam Jones clone to me.

Minus the idiot factor.

Cama was doing an engineering degree.

 

[SainterinSydney]

I wonder which gun Geelong player will be back just in time for our game this week...

 

[Dard Ball Get]

Minus the idiot factor.

Cama was doing an engineering degree.

Nor is Jones an idiot, a good saints man

 

[jwikked]

I wonder which gun Geelong player will be back just in time for our game this week...

Finger injury should have healed by now?

 

[Teflon]

Don't think it is all on coaching at all. We are clearly a long way off being a finals team in terms of talent.

Doesn't mean I don't think the coaches have been poor this year.

We play a dour boring game style that relies on flashes of individual brilliance for something to happen. I think the way we move the ball from the centre into F50 is probably up there with the worst in the league.

We refuse to use angles, we won't touch the corridor unless it is NAS and we are predictable and easy to play against, regularly just booting it down the line once our 1 wood (the switch) is blocked off.

I think this is absolutely on the coaches to improve. Cats, Pies, Hawks all have bold ball movement. They have better lists than us, but the gap is not as big as results would suggest. They play with flair and confidence because it has been drilled into them.

Next year I am expecting more than just a few extra wins, I want to see this young group produce a far more attractive brand of footy. I want to see run and carry, piercing kicks through the middle, repeat leads inside F50.

Let's see if we can evolve the game plan, I doubt it personally.

I didn’t think yesterday was boring game style at all that’s just more BS to fabricate a go at coaching
Has coaching always been brilliant?
No
Do they need to answer why our entry into forward 50 is poor ?
Yes
In the scheme of things talent acquisition is no 1 priority development 2
Co ah and game plan will get a huge boost if we get that right

 

[Saint_Dos]

The interesting thing about Clark is that he only played 29% game time, despite playing about the whole second half. Didn’t get much of a run.

Unfortunately, neither him nor Boxshall can play out a whole game at an acceptable level.

In his last two full games (including yesterday), Box hasn’t touched the pill in the last quarter, and the time before that it was just the two in the last.

As I said the other day, I think we should just have him as the sub for any further games he plays this year.

In the game where he was subbed on, he had 9 disposals, from about 35% game time, whereas in his last 3 full games, he’s had just 10, 9, and 8 touches.

He seems an ideal sub option for now, as we can get the best of both worlds- he gets a run, and can have an impact, hopefully without becoming a liability, from playing too much.

Dow would have to be a big chance this week, for one of those two.

Reckon you could be right re. Dow. Has been building since getting back into VFL games. Both Clark & Box struggled to impact. Feel like Clark has a little more versatility purely through experience.

Will be interesting if Garcia's wrist means he misses as looked in a fair bit of discomfort in 3rd qtr. Guessing they taped it up and jabbed him to get through so may miss if there was something more sinister to it.

 

[gringo2011]

Yea , some uneducated fans are very harsh on him. He’s a young guy who has been the sub a lot. Has great movement and balence. Has already shown glimpses here and there. Wouldn’t hate him on ball. Wouldn’t be opposed to him taking some kick ins. Really backs himself through congestion.

The only time I've seen people being tough on him was when he'd had the half from hell. He looked like the worst player on the ground by a massive margin. People were equally as positive once he turned it around.

 

[aussierulesrules]

Just watched the pre-game and now watching the game and it was interesting how they gave Nas the license to play wherever he wanted to, and that he chose to start forward.

And what a joke that free kick against Hammer was for Sydney’s first goal. As noted in commentary, they both had a huge fistful of each other’s jumper.