Preparation for the Hawks match

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Melee not so bad: Mitchell
by: Jordan Chong
Sportal

Re: Hawthorn's preparation

The players landed in Melbourne at about 1am Monday morning and have a six-day break to prepare for the Saints at the MCG on Saturday night.

Mitchell said the club, which sits eight with a 4-3 win-loss record, was heading into a crucial stretch of games, with its opponents between rounds eight to 11 being St Kilda, West Coast (Launceston), Port Adelaide (away) and Sydney at the MCG.

"I don't think we'll be doing too much training, it'll just be a week of freshening up and getting the bodies cherry ripe for the Saints on Saturday night," Mitchell said.

"It's that real tough time of year, we've got a pretty tough month coming up with really important games."

Mitchell said the club was keen to ensure exciting 20-year-old forward Lance Franklin, who has kicked 24 goals this season, including bags of six and nine against Geelong and Essendon, respectively, stays grounded in the face some serious hype.

"He comes into a media like this, where there's five or six people standing around him and he would be completely uncomfortable in this sort of environment," Mitchell said.

"He picks up the paper and sees himself in it every day, it's pretty daunting for a young guy."

"The most important thing for us as a footy club and for him as a player is for him to play good footy and we think the best way to do that is to just keep a lid on 'Buddymania'."


How are the Saints planning to prepare for the near future?

After the Hawthorn Match (MCG) we are off to Subiaco against Freo then back to Melbourne for 2 matches before heading back to Subiaco again.

Saturday 19 May 2007 7:10PM - Melbourne Cricket Ground
Hawthorn Vs St Kilda

Friday 25 May 2007 6:40PM - Subiaco
Fremantle Vs St Kilda

Sunday 3 June 2007 5:10PM - Telstra Dome
St Kilda Vs Geelong

Sunday 10 June 2007 2:10PM - Telstra Dome
St Kilda Vs Kangaroos

Sunday 24 June 2007 2:40PM - Subiaco
West Coast Eagles Vs St Kilda

That's a tough little patch of the draw. We need to take our chances as they arise, and the Hawthorn match is a chance that we cannot afford to let slip through our fingers.

I hate Freo, and I have little respect for them, but they are tough to beat on their own turf. Then Geelong in white hot form with the Subi curse, followed by a tough match against the Kangaroos (another one we can't take for granted - or we'll lose). Then a break before heading off to Subi to belt the Eagles. After that we have a nice run of matches at home, punctuated only by a trip to Sydney.
 

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sauce_head

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#3
After the Hawks it is really a recent "hate double header" for me. The Cats will be out to smash as many of our bodies as possible so we will need to be in form for that. Will be good to get Baker back for it.

The week before sees Freo who I do not hate individually per se, but the umpires officiating and the AFL's desire to overlook the injustices and reinterpret rules, but we all know about that. Plus, it would be great to really destroy their season after the undeserved hype last year...

Win these two matches and we will be well on the way to a high finish with players to come back. Come on Saints!
 

Big Ted

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#4
At least though that is almost it for the interstate travelling after that patch of games there .. We have a pretty good run home.
 

Punter!

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#5
we will do the hawks by 30 odd points this week.
For Hawthorn to win, i feel that buddy would have to kick a bag.
Llyon will shut him down with fisher or gwilt and have other players filling his forward space and acting as the 3rd man up in his marking contests.
Our other defenders should be able to cater for their less damaging forwards. Can't see hawthorn's defence stopping our forwards, the midfield will be a tight battle - looking forward to sewell on dal santo.

Saints by 30-50 points.
 

The Punter

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#6
I would advise caution on the dropping back option for Franklin, as he is much more agile than Fevola or Hall, and the MCG is bigger and therefore less perceptable to the dropping back tactic.

Having said that, there is only one measure we need to look at.

Tackle like we did against Melbourne & Sydney - win
Tackle like we did against Brisbane & Essendon - lose
 

sammm

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#7
For Hawthorn to win, i feel that buddy would have to kick a bag.
Llyon will shut him down with fisher or gwilt and have other players filling his forward space and acting as the 3rd man up in his marking contests.
Our other defenders should be able to cater for their less damaging forwards. Can't see hawthorn's defence stopping our forwards, the midfield will be a tight battle - looking forward to sewell on dal santo.

Saints by 30-50 points.
how about the buddy box????????????
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,21749576%5E19742,00.html
 
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