Preview Melbourne Vs St Kilda @ MCG, Round 13, 2013

[tasmanlvr]

People can say what they want about this mob but despite St Kilda playing very well against the Eagles, and probably warranted the four points which they didn't get, I reckon we're a chance on Saturday.

Melbourne
Round 1: Port Adelaide 19.19 (133) defeated Melbourne 8.6 (54)
Round 2: Essendon 28.16 (184) defeated Melbourne 5.6 (36)
Round 3: West Coast 27.15 (177) defeated Melbourne 13.5 (83)
Round 4: Melbourne 22.12 (144) defeated Greater Western Sydney 15.13 (103)
Round 5: Brisbane 17.20 (122) defeated Melbourne 14.10 (94)
Round 6: Carlton 18.13 (121) defeated Melbourne 8.12 (60)
Round 7: Gold Coast 16.18 (114) defeated Melbourne 7.12 (54)
Round 8: Richmond 15.16 (106) defeated Melbourne 11.6 (72)
Round 9: Fremantle 19.16 (130) defeated Melbourne 6.4 (40)
Round 10: Hawthorn 21.17 (143) defeated Melbourne 6.12 (48)
Round 11: Collingwood 17.20 (122) defeated Melbourne 5.9 (39)
Round 12: Bye (although we're lead to believe we lost that, as well)

It's been yet another long week for the Dees with continuous rumblings revolving around that meeting with the AFL Commission regarding money and draft picks which we apparently need yet don't really deserve, as well as the resignation of President Don McLardy. However, the Bye brings about a chance to freshen up and perhaps be more competitive in the second half of the season.

Players To Watch:
Colin Garland: Of all the players who trudged off the ground against the Magpies, Garland could perhaps hold his head high the highest as his job on Travis Cloke, much like his season thus far, was superb. Although Cloke had a number of opportunities he only managed three goals. To put that in perspective, Cloke had four by half time against the Dogs. If Chippa does not come back I think Garland is more than capable of going to Nick Riewoldt.

Nathan Jones: Jones is another rare Melbourne player that can hold his head high after every game. As we all know, Jones is by far and away our best midfielder and again delivered with 30 touches on Queen's Birthday. Jones has continued his stellar form from last year, averaging just over 23 disposals per game and that haul of 30 was his best for the season.

Jack Trengove: Liked what I saw from Trengove on the weekend. It's been often frustrating watching Trengove this season. Obvious ability but lacks speed, but coming off foot surgery it was always going to be difficult to play at breakneck speed. However, 17 disposals and a couple of goals for Trenners was a step in the right direction against the Pies.

St Kilda
Round 1: Gold Coast 13.12 (90) defeated St Kilda 10.17 (77)
Round 2: Richmond 14.15 (99) defeated St Kilda 12.10 (82)
Round 3: St Kilda 21.14 (140) defeated Greater Western Sydney 10.8 (68)
Round 4: Essendon 19.14 (128) defeated St Kilda 13.13 (91)
Round 5: Sydney 11.13 (79) defeated St Kilda 9.9 (63)
Round 6: Collingwood 15.13 (103) defeated St Kilda 11.11 (77)
Round 7: St Kilda 11.11 (77) defeated Carlton 9.14 (68)
Round 8: Adelaide 12.15 (87) defeated St Kilda 6.11 (47)
Round 9: Footscray 17.8 (110) defeated St Kilda 15.11 (101)
Round 10: North Melbourne 19.19 (133) defeated St Kilda 10.5 (65)
Round 11: West Coast 12.12 (84) defeated St Kilda 11.14 (80)
Round 12: Bye

The Saints are loath to say it, but they are in a rebuilding phase this season. However, we'd kill to have their record - one more win than we have, but also very competitive efforts against the likes of Richmond, Sydney (look at them against Adelaide two weeks ago. JUST LOOK AT THEM), Collingwood and West Coast. Beau Maister, whom we also loath simply because of his superb record against the Dees, is out with a hamstring injury but being the good people we are on the Dees board, we don't want to troll injury and we'll say that it is a huge loss for them.

Players To Watch
Farren Ray: Included because we were looking quite interested for a while during trade week last year, but his game against the Eagles was pretty damn good too. Ray had 23 disposals and despite looking on the outer under Scott Watters last season, Ray has averaged 19 in 2013.

Jack Steven: Seemingly loved by the Dees' board because of his work with the Saints. Steven has continued to impress us all this season, averaging 25 disposals a game and despite being below that output against the Eagles (19 disposals) also laid nine tackles and had seven clearances for the game which is an impressive output. In Round 20 last season, Steven was superb, collecting 24 disposals and kicking a goal, and must be stopped if we're to be any chance.

Prediction
I'm in the minority for this one and I think we're a bit more of a chance than people across the land think we are. Granted, St Kilda played some great footy against the Eagles but in their last run against North were super disappointing in the opening quarter, allowing 16 scoring shots and trailing by 55 points at the opening break. While we've been disappointing ourselves we can take heart from two pretty competitive performances against the Saints in 2012, losing by 18 and 25 points respectively.


EDITEDITEDITEDITEDITEDIT: Melbourne y u do dis 15 minutes after I write the preview? It appears Mark Neeld has been sacked. Let's just say that if someone with the coaching 'credentials' of a Jade Rawlings or - god forbid - Brian Royal, takes over, take no notice of whatever I wrote regarding 'winnable' and 'game' and let's just say that we're ****ed on Saturday.

 

[ramastar]

IIRC, we had a really close game against the Saints in the wet at the G last year.

I say ‘if I recall correctly’, because that night I did drink two 1.2lt bottle of Sol beer, eat 2kgs of chicken wings, get into a fight with the neighbours about me shouting at the umpires on the TV , then passed out on the couch.

But it was a competitive showing in what has a horrible year. Saint’s are in a worse spot than last year (but so are we) and with hopefully more players coming back online after injury we can make another competitive showing at this.
I think we’re 40/60 of win/lose chance, with any lose being under 30 points. I feel good about this game.

 

[rhaz]

Wonder if Craigy will still play the kids like Neeld threatened to do?

 

[Dory_77]

Wonder if Craigy will still play the kids like Neeld threatened to do?

Might as well I think. I doubt there'd be much expectation on Craig at all so trying to give some guys experience (or at least pissing off spuds like Dunn) would be one of the few worthwhile things he could achieve in the rest of the season.

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

I think we might see a few changes this week - Craig should play the kids he rates for the rest of the year.

 

[Captain Jack]

I think we might see a few changes this week - Craig should play the kids he rates for the rest of the year.

Only if it helps us try to win the game. Not keen to have even more kids playing just for the sake of it, we need to turn around the losing attitude which pervades the club fully.

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

Only if it helps us try to win the game. Not keen to have even more kids playing just for the sake of it, we need to turn around the losing attitude which pervades the club fully.

Sure, Craig isn't the man to do that though - I don't mean play the kids at all costs, I mean play the kids with a future instead of the spuds.

 

[Captain Jack]

Sure, Craig isn't the man to do that though - I don't mean play the kids at all costs, I mean play the kids with a future instead of the spuds.

Bullshit, why would we wait until we have a decent coach to try and turn around the pathetic losing culture which has dogged us for years? It starts now, not in 6 months. Play the kids, sure, but let's try to get some wins on the board FFS.

 

[Gysberts2Bate]

Only if it helps us try to win the game. Not keen to have even more kids playing just for the sake of it, we need to turn around the losing attitude which pervades the club fully.

Not that I don't agree, but as we've seen from the year so far even our best 22 doesn't give us much chance of winning games.


Tom McDonald will go to Riewoldt, surely? Did the job on him almost without flaw last year, albeit when Riewoldt was in considerably lesser form.

 

[Captain Jack]

Not that I don't agree, but as we've seen from the year so far even our best 22 doesn't give us much chance of winning games.

I agree, we may not win many games, but we sure as hell won't win any by just gifting games to youngsters. I don't think it will help in the long run if they continue to get flogged every week while the senior bodies bide their time at Casey until they get thrown out at year's end, all the while projecting a negative attitude onto those who will be around for the longer term. No excuses - tell them to go out there and give 100%, because there's no time like the present.

Tom McDonald will go to Riewoldt, surely? Did the job on him almost without flaw last year, albeit when Riewoldt was in considerably lesser form.

You'd think so, although they may be worried about McDonald's match fitness given he's missed a few weeks lately.

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

Bullshit, why would we wait until we have a decent coach to try and turn around the pathetic losing culture which has dogged us for years? It starts now, not in 6 months. Play the kids, sure, but let's try to get some wins on the board FFS.

I agree - I just don't think it will happen any differently to how it has been.

I think Craig supports Neeld, he'll keep doing things that way I'd guess.

Maybe I'm not explaining it very well, I just don't want to rock up at the footy for the rest of the year watching a bunch of talentless triers.

Pick a team that will take the game on, give them some responsibility and belief.

Pick our most talented team (Kent, Blease, Strauss (IMO, obviously), Tappy, Gawn, Viney when fit, Toumpas) and stop picking the blokes that will take us nowhere (Spencer, Dunn, DUNN, D.U.N.N, Sellar, boarderline Pedersen, Bail and Rodan - and very, very boarderline McKenzie based on his last couple of years).

Give Magner his chance (certainly a trier, but I think there's room for him - his skills are improving), if you want to play triers at least play one who takes the game on like Joel Macdonald.

I'm certainly not saying play blokes who aren't up to it yet like Barry, Tynan, Taggert, Davis, Fitzy, etc.

 

[Captain Jack]

I agree - I just don't think it will happen any differently to how it has been.

I think Craig supports Neeld, he'll keep doing things that way I'd guess.

Maybe I'm not explaining it very well, I just don't want to rock up at the footy for the rest of the year watching a bunch of talentless triers.

Pick a team that will take the game on, give them some responsibility and belief.

Pick our most talented team (Kent, Blease, Strauss (IMO, obviously), Tappy, Gawn, Viney when fit, Toumpas) and stop picking the blokes that will take us nowhere (Spencer, Dunn, DUNN, D.U.N.N, Sellar, boarderline Pedersen, Bail and Rodan - and very, very boarderline McKenzie based on his last couple of years).

Give Magner his chance (certainly a trier, but I think there's room for him - his skills are improving), if you want to play triers at least play one who takes the game on like Joel Macdonald.

I'm certainly not saying play blokes who aren't up to it yet like Barry, Tynan, Taggert, Davis, Fitzy, etc.

Yeah I agree with that, Dunn can GAGF but as I say, no point gifting games to that last batch of kids you mentioned. I'm sure a few of them will play some games, but let's not go over the top with it.

 

[CTHORANGE]

I agree - I just don't think it will happen any differently to how it has been.

I think Craig supports Neeld, he'll keep doing things that way I'd guess.

Maybe I'm not explaining it very well, I just don't want to rock up at the footy for the rest of the year watching a bunch of talentless triers.

Pick a team that will take the game on, give them some responsibility and belief.

Pick our most talented team (Kent, Blease, Strauss (IMO, obviously), Tappy, Gawn, Viney when fit, Toumpas) and stop picking the blokes that will take us nowhere (Spencer, Dunn, DUNN, D.U.N.N, Sellar, boarderline Pedersen, Bail and Rodan - and very, very boarderline McKenzie based on his last couple of years).

Give Magner his chance (certainly a trier, but I think there's room for him - his skills are improving), if you want to play triers at least play one who takes the game on like Joel Macdonald.

I'm certainly not saying play blokes who aren't up to it yet like Barry, Tynan, Taggert, Davis, Fitzy, etc.

Pretty much agree with everything you've said here. I really hope Craig doesn't just pick up exactly where Neeld left off though, I hope he strips back game plan to something very simple and focuses on rousing the boys up to tackle and chase hard for four quarters. That will give the players the best chance to hit the ground running with the next coach.

 

[rhaz]

Playing Taggert over someone like Rodan is a no brainer imo.

One has a future, the other doesn't, even if Taggert stinks it up, he'll still be doing not much worse than Rodan.

If McDonald or Pedersen go down, i'd also prefer Davis given a game over Sellar or Gillies.

 

[proka123]

Wow we are paying $8.50 for this one. If I was a betting man I'd be very silly not to have a nibble on that considering the Saints are only one spot higher than us on the ladder!

 

[Tulip]

I agree - I just don't think it will happen any differently to how it has been.

I think Craig supports Neeld, he'll keep doing things that way I'd guess.

Maybe I'm not explaining it very well, I just don't want to rock up at the footy for the rest of the year watching a bunch of talentless triers.

Pick a team that will take the game on, give them some responsibility and belief.

Pick our most talented team (Kent, Blease, Strauss (IMO, obviously), Tappy, Gawn, Viney when fit, Toumpas) and stop picking the blokes that will take us nowhere (Spencer, Dunn, DUNN, D.U.N.N, Sellar, boarderline Pedersen, Bail and Rodan - and very, very boarderline McKenzie based on his last couple of years).

Give Magner his chance (certainly a trier, but I think there's room for him - his skills are improving), if you want to play triers at least play one who takes the game on like Joel Macdonald.

I'm certainly not saying play blokes who aren't up to it yet like Barry, Tynan, Taggert, Davis, Fitzy, etc.

Didn't McKenzie finish 5th in the Bluey last year?

 

[ThePuppetMaster]

Didn't McKenzie finish 5th in the Bluey last year?

Did he?

That's like Scully finishing 4th in GWS'

 

[CM Sean]

Well, this week is simple.

OUT: Neeld.
IN: VICTORY!

 

[Bluelegs]

Pretty much agree with everything you've said here. I really hope Craig doesn't just pick up exactly where Neeld left off though, I hope he strips back game plan to something very simple and focuses on rousing the boys up to tackle and chase hard for four quarters. That will give the players the best chance to hit the ground running with the next coach.

Craig has nothing to lose so I don't see why he wouldn't just try to send the players out and let them enjoy their footy, sticking to refining structures that won't be in place next year is pointless.

 

[jhong]

Craig has nothing to lose so I don't see why he wouldn't just try to send the players out and let them enjoy their footy, sticking to refining structures that won't be in place next year is pointless.

Listening to Neeld last nite he seemed to think that Craig won't change much at all , although i do think Neeld is still in shock , a lot of the time still saying "we" when mentioning Melb.

 

[Bluelegs]

Listening to Neeld last nite he seemed to think that Craig won't change much at all , although i do think Neeld is still in shock , a lot of the time still saying "we" when mentioning Melb.

It was amazing some of the answers he gave. Saying he wouldn't change anything was bizzare.

 

[fushy]

I have no idea what is going to happen this Saturday

 

[Samsara]

Sacked coach often results in a win, but this is the MFC afterall. Probably get thumped again!

 

[Captain Jack]

Sacked coach often results in a win, but this is the MFC afterall. Probably get thumped again!

On this basis we will definitely win! Based on exposed form we should have a 110-odd point turnaround given that's what happened last time we had a new coach in-season.

Bailey's last game - 186 point loss. Viney's first game - 75 points or so against Carlton.

Neeld's last game - 80 point loss. Craig's first game - ??? 30 point win, surely.

 

[fushy]

Totaly random comment, anyone see on the couch last night when Traitor Healy put up a team of people that are for going forward. Listed in the middle was T. Viney

lol