Review Rd 17 2013 St Kilda v Port Adelaide

[saintsrfreak]

• God... I mean Tom Curren had quite a good debut for only half a game
• Gee whiz Lee's an excellent kick for goal, has gone from average in the VFL to looking like a very promising player
• Rhys Stanley's confidence looks absolutely shot, needs a spell at Sandy
• Saunders another promising game, this kid's a keeper
• BIG BOY had his best game in a while
• Scott Watters must have given them a hell of a spray at half time

 

[Manimal_Dunstan]

First half s**t house, second half was awesome.. Loving the look of Josh Saunders!

 

[SaintLex]

So many positives to take out the second half, after being comprehensively beaten in the first.

Positives:
- Tom Lee's set shot from the boundary. Threaded the needle beautifully
- Jack Steven stepped up after a lack lustre first half. I don't like throwing the word around but * it: he's elite
- Tom Curren not afraid to throw his body on the line. Already earned more respect than Milera, imo
- Great individual effort by Dal. Just goes to show what he's capable of when not being tagged (thanks Cornes and the MRP)
- The fight back. Takes a lot of guts and determination to come back when you almost down and out. Led by the senior leaders, but every player took a step up in that second half. Admirable

Negatives:
- Kicking Missed a couple of crucial kicks to set up play, but more importantly guys like TDL and Roo missing from 30m out. Frustrating
- The first half looked like we were just going through the motions. No one looked remotely interested, except Lenny and maybe one or two other guys

 

[Defacto]

• lee showing st kilda fans what he did week in week out in the WAFL. deadly kick
• curren played very well for a debut and didnt look over awed
• websters best game of the year
• saunders best game of the year
• i really hope we dont see hickey playing fwd long term. he just isnt a fwd. doesnt look like troubling the goal ump

i dont want to mention the rest

 

[CHBench]

TC out ranked half our team. TC appreciation week should extend.

 

[Sainttony]

The third quarter really showed what this group are capable of and will produce week in and week out when the young ens are fitter and stronger. It is a pity that we lost but in reality you can't expect to win by playing a first half like we did.

Really promising signs from Lee, Saunders ,Curren and I think jack has turned elite. Under rated but elite.

Some great high lights including Hickeys pack mark that was not paid, Lees shot on goal, Stevens running goal, Currens lead and mark (first possession).big macs forward work,


Looking forward to next week and testing ourselves against the best

 

[FlyingSledghamer]

There was a lot to like about our performance but then again the first half was dreadful.
Our back line was non functional again early. I mean letting them lick what was it 7 goals in the first was disgraceful.
We still havn't really put 4 solid quaters together and some of our veterans are keeping us in games.
A proper full back is going to make such a huge difference. Its a non negotiable at seasons end.
Good effort to get back into that game though.

 

[saintsrfreak]

Also hope Roberton gets up for next week, was surreal seeing him interviewed while concussed.

 

[Rors]

Wasted simple shots at goal.... I mean, eg: Armitage 1st quarter 20m out slight angle & he goes for some tiny chip kick straight through the behinds? C'mon FFS!
Stupid thinking... What was Dal going to achieve by trying to hit the ball out of Pittards hands? Brain-fart much?
Loved the second half of every one of our players. Looked like they cared about the result, which was certainly missing in the first half
Loved the games of Newnes, Webster, Saunders & Curren when he came on
The older usual suspects carried the comeback & were fantastic, apart from a few missed shots & silly errors

 

[FlyingSledghamer]

We beat them in every single stat except for conversion.
5 points 1 goal 10 minutes into the last.

 

[SaintLex]

At one point, when we were pressing hard late in the 3rd quarter and we needed a goal to stay in touch, we mucked around with it, hand balling, seemed like no one wanted to take the responsibility of kicking it through the big sticks, until Milne finally grabbed it and kicked one 40 m out

 

[Falchoon]

our percentage with Tom Curren on the ground is 217%

 

[Radius]

+ Not a lot of love for Dal Santo here. Thought he had a huge influence (not being checked too close though).

+ Montagna was one of the few who was running hard in the first half, thought his work on the wings was great.

+ The goal from the boundary was nice, but I just really liked Lee's repeat efforts. The first few contests his marking was off but from then he just kept building up to the last quarter, few smart handballs which didn't quite come off.

+ Lenny's moving well again, can only hope he stays on.

+ First time since last year Dempster has gotten his attacking game working again, was influential.

+ Saunders still has the fumbles and lacks fitness, but in terms of potential he looks like he has a really high ceiling.

+ 2nd half especially though belonged to Steven, massive will. Has to be top 3 BnF.

- We lost the game in the first half (not the umpires)

- Roberton getting smashed, copped a shoulder to the head but it was pretty incidental; doubt they'll review it. Don't know if he'll get up.

- Looked like Armitage copped a heavy one as well

- Set shots: bar a few freak goals, set shots were s**t. TDL's supposed to be a sniper, and Hickey's was really not good. Roo missed some crucial ones (he's been pretty accurate this year though, 63% eff. I think). We lost the game here as well.

 

[Rors]

+ Not a lot of love for Dal Santo here. Thought he had a huge influence (not being checked too close though).

+ Montagna was one of the few who was running hard in the first half, thought his work on the wings was great.

+ The goal from the boundary was nice, but I just really liked Lee's repeat efforts. The first few contests his marking was off but from then he just kept building up to the last quarter, few smart handballs which didn't quite come off.

+ Lenny's moving well again, can only hope he stays on.

+ First time since last year Dempster has gotten his attacking game working again, was influential.

+ Saunders still has the fumbles and lacks fitness, but in terms of potential he looks like he has a really high ceiling.

+ 2nd half especially though belonged to Steven, massive will. Has to be top 3 BnF.

- We lost the game in the first half (not the umpires)

- Roberton getting smashed, copped a shoulder to the head but it was pretty incidental; doubt they'll review it. Don't know if he'll get up.

- Looked like Armitage copped a heavy one as well

- Set shots: bar a few freak goals, set shots were s**t. TDL's supposed to be a sniper, and Hickey's was really not good. Roo missed some crucial ones (he's been pretty accurate this year though, 63% eff. I think). We lost the game here as well.

Not a lot of love for Dal? May be due to his brain-fart costing us the game.... What the hell was he thinking? I know Pittards dropped the ball, but why the f*^* did Dal even try to hit it out of his hands? Stupidity at its very worst!

 

[Radius]

Not a lot of love for Dal? May be due to his brain-fart costing us the game.... What the hell was he thinking? I know Pittards dropped the ball, but why the f*^* did Dal even try to hit it out of his hands? Stupidity at its very worst!

True, forgot about that. Still don't think it undoes everything he did to even get us within reach.

I also forgot McEvoy's game, he was terrific.

 

[SaintLex]

Not a lot of love for Dal? May be due to his brain-fart costing us the game.... What the hell was he thinking? I know Pittards dropped the ball, but why the f*^* did Dal even try to hit it out of his hands? Stupidity at its very worst!

It was definitely stupid, no doubt but he was just about BOG for us today.

 

[saintsrfreak]

 

[Rors]

I agree with the Dal being BOG for us, but what he did... I just... Uuuggghhh FFS... Dumb

Sorry guys, I'm just still livid about the whole game

 

[thomas_m18]

Jack Steven's efforts in that last quarter were really something. Gun.

Nicky Dal has to rack up touches like he did more often. Softens the load. I am sure he is capable of doing it regularly still. Montagna, Dal Santo, Hayes, Steven and Armitage in full flight will be a true sight to behold but they're still off atm.

McEvoy did not really impress me. Stats are OK but his first half was average from where I sat. If he hadn't have kicked those goals it would have been an average outing, but he made himself very useful up forward. Rucking NEEDS to get better. MUST.

Tom Ledger has to play next week. Give Curren a full game and drop one of the kids and bring him in as a sub. Curren and Ledger alongside the older boys will help.

Hickey is a very confusing pick-up. We NEED to make a choice on Stanley. I'm still not sure if he's a forward or a back (if we don't get enough KPD's we might not have a choice) but pushing him around has killed him. If he does play forward, there is little space for Hickey in the team with Lee, Roo and Stanley up forward. Either way Hickey provides little up forward.

TDL's pressure is good but he can't play if he blows those chances. Would give Ledger a chance over him if it doesn't improve.

CURREN

 

[Strahany]

our percentage with Tom Curren on the ground is 217%

Coincidence? I think not, because Curren's biceps are 217% the size of the average man's quads.

 

[mysainters]

Dal was silly, but he had a point, Pittard (?) had run about 20 metres without bouncing it.

Shocking decision, shouldn't matter if he clipped his heels, pay the first free.

Simpkin improved significantly in the last, Curren can easily play at this tempo, Webster has third efforts, Gwilt must of had a jab in the ankle because he and his bum were back to their best tonight.

I was disappointed with the composure in the last

Hickey out on the full, Joey poster, Roo out of bounds on the full and two misses, and the one that annoyed me was the second grab by the Hoff late....where were Hickey and Ben?

Ben seriously may be a forward trapped in a ruckmans body, while those three goals were immense, the lack of competitiveness and out of sync rucking cost about 7 goals early IMO.

 

[Ian Dunross]

Positives
- Saunders looking more & more at home;
- Lee the same - displays composure as well;
- Great leadership by our senior players & by the up & comers - leadership being offered in equal measure by youth and experience;
- Hickey's mark (not paid in the last qtr) showed courage and leap and hands
- Great fight to come back and look the better team all through the last quarter against a very fit Port Adelaide with something to play for

Concerns
- heads start falling with another close loss. On this point, I think we've got the right man in charge in Watters. He would focus on the positives and keep talking up the group. I think this point is so crucial. The players deserve more rewards for their efforts than they've received. West Coast, Fremantle, Bulldogs, Gold Coast are all games where with an umpires decision or a tad more composure in the dying stages that we could have won (maybe not so much the Fremantle game). However, the signs seem to indicate that the players are being talked up rather than down, Newnes and other youngsters keep putting themselves out there & I interpret that as players that are being told they are good enough and are heading in the right direction.

Disappointing again, but important to focus on the positives.

I hope Pelchen (or whoever it should be) makes a formal complaint to the AFL re the umpiring.

 

[SaintLex]

How many times over the season have we seen an opposition kicking into their 50 with a man running on and poor Big Ben trying valiantly to give chase? Stating the damn obvious here, but McEvoy is just about the only one with an elite tank in the side.

 

[Highlander35]

This is going to start out really negative, but bear with me. Was out from 2-9, then watched the reds crusaders game first. Did a quarter by quarter review.

1st Quarter:

Terrible start, evened up. Disgusting free kick and subsequent 50 against Armo, then Saunders. Did not recover. Problems from clearances, and big forwards.


32 points down at qtr time. Completely unacceptable.

2nd Quarter:

Lots of trouble from kick outs and marking contests. Major problem is clean work. No clean marks, kicks clearances etc. Big Mac has looked OK pushing forward.

We're not clearing the ball from defence. We're not getting clean clearances. We're not getting clean delivery into the forward line.

3rd quarter:

No clean grabs. First hickey then Lee. Bit of a mess more than anything else.

Couple of classy moves from the young boys. Mark from Lee. kick from Webster. Armo in general. Big Mac with 3. Not too shabby. Back to 1st quarter deficit.

Curren! Lookin goodish! Managing to keep possession! Clean disposal! 20 points.

Excellent quarter. But ffs it was the simple stuff. Hard work at the stoppages, keep possession when you have it, pressurise the carrier when you don't.

4th Quarter:

So good. Unfortunate umpiring decisions. But we missed goals when it mattered. 13.14 to 14.13.

Really ******* proud of that second half. Macca, Armo and Steven, all played well.



When it comes down to it, we did well. Lots of classy things. Armo , Lenny and Macca kept us in it (relatively) early, then the youngsters just did the classy stuff.

TBH the 2nd half was indicative of how simple the game is at the basic level.

Compete hard at the breakdown. Keep possession when you have it. Kick straight at goal. Move the ball quickly but accurately. Put the opposition under pressure when you don't have the ball.

Do all that for the whole game and you'll win 99% of the time.

 

[Squizz]

Great to see us maintain run after losing Bob Roberton and then reduced effectiveness from Saunders (heavy knock) and Armitage (concussion).