Zahki
Norm Smith Medallist
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2009
- Posts
- 5,548
- Reaction score
- 529
- AFL Club
- Collingwood
Lets face it, the Saints have had our measure since 2008, they're a good side, not necessarily filled with superstars like Geelong but they have a very good defensive structure and every player in their side knows how to play to it. Last year they took it to a new level and won 20 of 23 games, losing only to Essendon, North and Geelong. This year they've looked far less dangerous, losing 3 games to Port, Carlton and Essendon so far.
What can we take away from these losses? What did those 3 teams do that we can learn from?
First of all, I'll say the Port game was an abberation. It was wet, rainy, and the Saints played probably their worst game of the year. Port didn't do anything spectacular, but they did capitalise on the Saints poor performance and got themselves a 10 point win.
The Carlton game however is definitely something worth looking at. Under the roof of the dome the blues smashed the Saints by 61 points? How? First of all Carlton were not intimidated by the Saints reputation of being a team that applies a lot of pressure. They took their usual risks and played fast attacking, direct football and it paid dividends. Didn't hurt that Carlton were winning the clearences early on and pumping the ball into the forward 50 before St Kilda could put their highly effective defensive zone into place. Carltons leg speed really hurt as well, as on numerous occasions you'd see Yarran or Betts run onto the ball and burst away from any pursuers and kick easy goals from a vacant forward half.
The Essendon loss is a similar story, although not nearly as a dominant performance by the Bombers, they ground out another win, becoming the only team to have won 2 in a row against the Saints since last year. Essendon was helped by some errant kicking by the Saints, a wasteful 11.15 being the result.
Without Cloke it's going to be tough, but after our loss in Round 3 I think we can match it with them provided we don't have les than 25% accuracy again. The keys seem to be:
1. Leg speed, have players that can run into space and burst away before the Saints can react and put their zone behind the ball.
2. Confidence. So many teams get caught in the trap of being far too cautious against the Saints, kicking backwards and sideways, becoming timid and frightened of turnovers. If we play slowly it suits the Saints to a tee, fast ball movement comes from players having that confidence, kamakaze football works surprisingly well against a side that relies almost entirely on the strength of their defensive structure.
3. Maintain possession. The Saints love to starve opposition of the ball, if your team has it the other team doesn't. They're patient and won't be rushed into kicking it into unfavorable situations. Any team that wants to win against them has to turn that trend around.
What can we take away from these losses? What did those 3 teams do that we can learn from?
First of all, I'll say the Port game was an abberation. It was wet, rainy, and the Saints played probably their worst game of the year. Port didn't do anything spectacular, but they did capitalise on the Saints poor performance and got themselves a 10 point win.
The Carlton game however is definitely something worth looking at. Under the roof of the dome the blues smashed the Saints by 61 points? How? First of all Carlton were not intimidated by the Saints reputation of being a team that applies a lot of pressure. They took their usual risks and played fast attacking, direct football and it paid dividends. Didn't hurt that Carlton were winning the clearences early on and pumping the ball into the forward 50 before St Kilda could put their highly effective defensive zone into place. Carltons leg speed really hurt as well, as on numerous occasions you'd see Yarran or Betts run onto the ball and burst away from any pursuers and kick easy goals from a vacant forward half.
The Essendon loss is a similar story, although not nearly as a dominant performance by the Bombers, they ground out another win, becoming the only team to have won 2 in a row against the Saints since last year. Essendon was helped by some errant kicking by the Saints, a wasteful 11.15 being the result.
Without Cloke it's going to be tough, but after our loss in Round 3 I think we can match it with them provided we don't have les than 25% accuracy again. The keys seem to be:
1. Leg speed, have players that can run into space and burst away before the Saints can react and put their zone behind the ball.
2. Confidence. So many teams get caught in the trap of being far too cautious against the Saints, kicking backwards and sideways, becoming timid and frightened of turnovers. If we play slowly it suits the Saints to a tee, fast ball movement comes from players having that confidence, kamakaze football works surprisingly well against a side that relies almost entirely on the strength of their defensive structure.
3. Maintain possession. The Saints love to starve opposition of the ball, if your team has it the other team doesn't. They're patient and won't be rushed into kicking it into unfavorable situations. Any team that wants to win against them has to turn that trend around.
