AFL Autopsy RND3: Beaten by the Saints

[outersanctum]

I find it amusing that most picked us to win 6 games and are now blowing up when we lose

I don't see anyone really blowing up.. just discussing the game. It was a 50/50 game for us to win and tonight we fell short.

I think the main points of discussion are the seemingly never-ending preventable self sabotages.. like the selection Heppell or not playing a 2nd ruck or knowing that Stringer isn't fit enough.. which are fair calls imho.

I think we missed a really good chance to go 3-0 tonight but I won't lose any sleep over it.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Credit to the Saints as they had some key players out.

Our forward line was very poor. Weideman was average playing in front of one of the best midfields in the league, not sure why we think he’s going to do any better. Stringer always poor coming back from injury and looked way off. Davey and Jones need a run in the reserves.

Phillips never should’ve been dropped. Massimo looks a little lost in defence. Prefer Hind over him.
Always been a fan of Hepp but it’s clear he’s well past his best

 

[yodellinhank]

It’s sad watching H, completely devoid of any confidence.

That's his Achilles. And it will always resurface.

 

[Seb78]

It came down to two really poor turnovers coming out of defence once we drew level . Killed the momentum .

I could be wrong, but I think all of their final 5 goals came from poor turnovers.

 

[Seb78]

Also Webster going down when we had a run on and the play stopping halted our momentum as well I reckon. Play stopped for a good 2 mins.

 

[Albertross]

I find it amusing that most picked us to win 6 games and are now blowing up when we lose

That's because some of us remember the 70'S, most of us remember the period from the early 80's to the early 00's, all of us remember the period since then.

Give us a glimmer of hope and we are that starved of success and so desperate, we will grab hold with both hands.

 

[doug85]

Im gonna go the unpopular opinion here

Jones may not be good enough.
Getting schache vibes. Flashes but not an afl fwd. Weid + jones is a soft set of KPFs

If Jones is still at this level next year he’s gotta go.

 

[Beerfish]

Also Webster going down when we had a run on and the play stopping halted our momentum as well I reckon. Play stopped for a good 2 mins.

For sure but good teams just get on with it.

 

[Bjchan13]

We won clearances (centre 15-13 and stoppage 28-16), Draper beat Marshall for hitouts and clearances. We didnt lose the game in the ruck. Id be surprised if they rushed Phillips back to take on Flynn

 

[VelvetSledge]

I’ve backed him to the hilt, but Hep needs to do the right thing now and step away. Farcical.

Redman was abysmal

 

[Lord Nicholson]

If you divide 1 by 150, it's 0.0066 recurring which is appropriate

Enthused to see that we can have a crack and not have a psychotic breakdown when things aren't working, and this is also with some of our blokes having all-time shockers. Decent signs against a unit that could do well this year.

 

[citizen-erased]

We won clearances (centre 15-13 and stoppage 28-16), Draper beat Marshall for hitouts and clearances. We didnt lose the game in the ruck. Id be surprised if they rushed Phillips back to take on Flynn

Its a fair point on flynn. I thought marshall was better around the ground, so id give him the chocolates in that match up.

At this stage, the thinking is more flip to get weid and/or jones out.

 

[Albertross]

Credit to the Saints as they had some key players out.

Our forward line was very poor. Weideman was average playing in front of one of the best midfields in the league, not sure why we think he’s going to do any better. Stringer always poor coming back from injury and looked way off. Davey and Jones need a run in the reserves.

Phillips never should’ve been dropped. Massimo looks a little lost in defence. Prefer Hind over him.
Always been a fan of Hepp but it’s clear he’s well past his best

Obviously we are not in contention for anything this year, finals or Harley Reid, so play the youngsters that have potential (Davey etc), give them as much exposure as we can to the big league. Play those that we need to find out if they can go to the next level (Jones, Baldwin, Voss etc), otherwise they will be list cloggers for the next 5 years and hold us back.

Flip should not have been dropped, Stringer needed another VFL week, Mass is our most precision kicker (unless it's a shot on goal), but wasted in defence.

 

[citizen-erased]

Obviously we are not in contention for anything this year, finals or Harley Reid, so play the youngsters that have potential (Davey etc), give them as much exposure as we can to the big league. Play those that we need to find out if they can go to the next level (Jones, Baldwin, Voss etc), otherwise they will be list cloggers for the next 5 years and hold us back.

Flip should not have been dropped, Stringer needed another VFL week, Mass is our most precision kicker (unless it's a shot on goal), but wasted in defence.

Mass is probably a bit small for a winger, and we have good wingers already

He's fine in defence when the system holds up. Tonight, it did not.

 

[Yoda_]

It came down to two really poor turnovers coming out of defence once we drew level . Killed the momentum .

The non kill of the ball on the boundary line by young Davey where Hill (iirc) killed us. Turned it back over after initialing splitting a 50:50 and they goaled.

The other big moment was when we had all the momentum for a few minutes, maybe even more and Martin had a pretty stock standard shot on goal and missed, went coast to coast and turned it into a 12 point swing

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Obviously we are not in contention for anything this year, finals or Harley Reid, so play the youngsters that have potential (Davey etc), give them as much exposure as we can to the big league. Play those that we need to find out if they can go to the next level (Jones, Baldwin, Voss etc), otherwise they will be list cloggers for the next 5 years and hold us back.

Flip should not have been dropped, Stringer needed another VFL week, Mass is our most precision kicker (unless it's a shot on goal), but wasted in defence.

Sometimes playing young players before they’re ready can do more harm than good.

 

[Bjchan13]

Its a fair point on flynn. I thought marshall was better around the ground, so id give him the chocolates in that match up.

At this stage, the thinking is more flip to get weid and/or jones out.

Marshall was good around the ground, 4 contested marks, 19 disposals (4 clangers), 4 score involvements. He didnt have a huge influence on the result.

Id prefer to leave Draper developing as a ruck and if they decide Harry must be dropped then play someone like Voss or Baldwin forward. Langford will be back forward too with Zerk back in defence. Its not about winning, more about playing the kids in their positions and seeing what they can do. Its a development year.

 

[DallasCrane316]

That was a terrible game. Our first quarter was just horrendous. We were switched off from the opening bounce.

Redman probably played his worst game for us.

Heppell was costly. The crowd response to him is getting obvious. Terrible way for a player that is genuinely likeable to go out.

 

[citizen-erased]

That was a terrible game. Our first quarter was just horrendous. We were switched off from the opening bounce.

Redman probably played his worst game for us.

Heppell was costly. The crowd response to him is getting obvious. Terrible way for a player that is genuinely likeable to go out.

It will get concerning when the crowd noise almost becomes a reason not to drop him due to optics.

Needs to be nipped in the bud early and the change made this weekend.

 

[Yoda_]

That was a terrible game. Our first quarter was just horrendous. We were switched off from the opening bounce.

Redman probably played his worst game for us.

Heppell was costly. The crowd response to him is getting obvious. Terrible way for a player that is genuinely likeable to go out.

Think we finished off almost all 4 quarters well. The first half of the quarters is horrible at the moment

 

[Albertross]

That was a terrible game. Our first quarter was just horrendous. We were switched off from the opening bounce.

Redman probably played his worst game for us.

Heppell was costly. The crowd response to him is getting obvious. Terrible way for a player that is genuinely likeable to go out.

We've been poor starters the first 3 games, better teams than us will make you pay for it and play catch up footy. We got away with it the first 2 games, and nearly did tonight.

But, yes, it was overall a terrible game by us.

 

[Yoda_]

We weren't at our best but, it was a bounce of the ball game that didn.t change

Was at the game so watching the replay, almost quarter time and Jones has dropped a simple mark he SHOULD take. Weidemann has done this twice also.

They had kicks that just went over out heads, they had a clean pick up here, or a tackle just stick there.

It really was one of those nights. Credit to the Saints though, they seemed heavily under done with men but the system they have is setting them up for the future.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

So who were Butler and Higgins’ opponents? Hard to tell on the telly with the turnovers

 

[Vander18]

Have said it a few times now - we must prioritise physicality and competitiveness at selection.

Stringer shouldn’t have played, Heppell shouldn’t have played, Weideman shouldn’t have played. Phillips should have been selected and Guelfi/Hobbs/Voss should have all been in the mix.

Weideman showed us who he is - couldn’t bring the ball to ground as a forward and couldn’t provide a contest in the ruck. He is an uncompetitive footballer.

Langford was asleep at the wheel early in the first. Not sure he is a defender and not sure why we are even trying it….

Mass is supurb by foot - he’s the best field kick at the club I reckon. Needs improve his defending however.

 

[Bombermania]

Harry Jones comes across as the sort of player that needs a few games before finding form so he should stay in for another week or two.