Autopsy Round 11, 2021: St.Kilda v North Melbourne *ROSS 150TH* *CLAVARINO DEBUT*

[BrutThough]

How do you know? I would say there could have been some improvement even if it's competition for spots, good players to train against, etc.

Parker had 1 bad year out of 2 and looked very up to it in his 1st.

Because part of our issue has been below average players having to come in to cover our better players who are out with injury.

Parker and Marsh were below average players so it would just be causing the same issue with different names.

 

[BrutThough]

I'd say that Parker would be getting games in the forward line this year. Lonie, Butler and Snags are not playing well enough that one couldn't be dropped for Parker. His pace and pressure would be handy right now. He had X factor and energy that we seriously lack. Marsh would have been able to do what Mc Kernan is doing. It seems dumb to drop guys from the list then replace them with equally limited players or players with less scope to develop.

I obviously don't rate Parker as highly as you seem to. He had a hot patch for his first 10 games then offered very little after that.

The rational I think behind delisting Marsh and getting McKernan instead was we needed our tall forward back up to also be able to ruck which Marsh could not. So it was just swapping a below average KPP for a below average KPP who could also cover the ruck. The scary part of how McKernan is, is that his season last year still produced better games than what Marsh put out.

We need to find better depth for these positions rather than needing to continually getting these washed up players to cycle through on a yearly basis.

 

[AirWinmar]

Because part of our issue has been below average players having to come in to cover our better players who are out with injury.

Parker and Marsh were below average players so it would just be causing the same issue with different names.

I agree, obviously our list has no depth and the depth is also out of balance. With reduced list sizes and us even having less on our list than that we have 5 rucks!! 5 key defenders. 3 of the rucks are far off afl quality and 2 of the key defenders need a wheel chair to get onto the ground.

Note, I know that Smack is a ruck/fwd, but the ruck part of it is why he was brought in.

Parker just got 26 and 4 goals last weekend for south Freo. Seems to be going pretty good this year judging by stats. Would probably be behind Dunstan only for form in our 2nds

 

[gringo2011]

Because part of our issue has been below average players having to come in to cover our better players who are out with injury.

Parker and Marsh were below average players so it would just be causing the same issue with different names.

I thought Parker showed promise and had a real point of difference. All our smalls are small and can't tackle or slow and don't have X factor f Parker tackled he hurt and could do the flashy stuff. Marsh was experienced average depth and he was replaced with Mc Kernan who seems to actually be a down grade.

 

[AirWinmar]

I thought Parker showed promise and had a real point of difference. All our smalls are small and can't tackle or slow and don't have X factor f Parker tackled he hurt and could do the flashy stuff. Marsh was experienced average depth and he was replaced with Mc Kernan who seems to actually be a down grade.

Still can't understand the decision. Guy had a very good 1st year out of coming from no where. Then after an admittedly crap covid year, which would have been a very hard change for a guy who was playing ammos 3 years earlier we delist him. On top of that, the guys we brought in are a joke and we had 1 or 2 list spots open.

 

[Mowman]

I thought Parker showed promise and had a real point of difference. All our smalls are small and can't tackle or slow and don't have X factor f Parker tackled he hurt and could do the flashy stuff. Marsh was experienced average depth and he was replaced with Mc Kernan who seems to actually be a down grade.

Parker , Hind, Marsh get rid of them
Bring in Hunter , Frawley , Wood, McKernan get rid of them
It really is crap list management

 

[BrutThough]

I agree, obviously our list has no depth and the depth is also out of balance. With reduced list sizes and us even having less on our list than that we have 5 rucks!! 5 key defenders. 3 of the rucks are far off afl quality and 2 of the key defenders need a wheel chair to get onto the ground.

Note, I know that Smack is a ruck/fwd, but the ruck part of it is why he was brought in.

Parker just got 26 and 4 goals last weekend for south Freo. Seems to be going pretty good this year judging by stats. Would probably be behind Dunstan only for form in our 2nds

I constantly forget Alabakis exists because he's one of those free hit Cat B rookies. I dont think the club planned on adding a 5th ruck to the list but with Marshall, Ryder and McKernan all having injury issues during the preseason, it was clearly a move of desperation because we were close to being left with no one for rd1 more so than a plan to have 5 rucks on the list.

I just dont think Parker is a big loss at all. He had a big personality which always made people view you as a better player than he actually was.

Would rather we kept Phillips or Savage on the list over Parker. Both were better options at AFL level.

 

[jwikked]

Parker had 1 good game, 1 okay game and for the rest of the year did nothing.
we must be in real strife if there is a belief he would make any difference this year.

 

[gringo2011]

I constantly forget Alabakis exists because he's one of those free hit Cat B rookies. I dont think the club planned on adding a 5th ruck to the list but with Marshall, Ryder and McKernan all having injury issues during the preseason, it was clearly a move of desperation because we were close to being left with no one for rd1 more so than a plan to have 5 rucks on the list.

I just dont think Parker is a big loss at all. He had a big personality which always made people view you as a better player than he actually was.

Would rather we kept Phillips or Savage on the list over Parker. Both were better options at AFL level.

I reckon you're on the money there, Parker had some showman and X factor. That's exactly why we are such a boring club to watch. We have a very dull playing list with no personality as a group or individuals. Never in my time have we had such a beige group, we seem to covet it over anything else.

 

[BrutThough]

I thought Parker showed promise and had a real point of difference. All our smalls are small and can't tackle or slow and don't have X factor f Parker tackled he hurt and could do the flashy stuff. Marsh was experienced average depth and he was replaced with Mc Kernan who seems to actually be a down grade.

McKernan has been very poor. The quicker he is off the list, the better.

But I still think on paper, he offered more than Marsh who just wasnt right to be a back up fwd/2nd ruck which is what we needed. I think our poor form has led to be bit of romancing about the players we let go and suddenly everyone is better because they aren't on our list.

At the end of the day, multiple clubs were enquiring about McKernan at the end of the season for a reason while Marsh went away with a peep from anyone.

 

[BrutThough]

I reckon you're on the money there, Parker had some showman and X factor. That's exactly why we are such a boring club to watch. We have a very dull playing list with no personality as a group or individuals. Never in my time have we had such a beige group, we seem to covet it over anything else.

Personality does not equal football ability though. He was all show, no substance.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

I thought Parker showed promise and had a real point of difference. All our smalls are small and can't tackle or slow and don't have X factor f Parker tackled he hurt and could do the flashy stuff. Marsh was experienced average depth and he was replaced with Mc Kernan who seems to actually be a down grade.

I'd also call Abbott for Hunter a downgrade.

 

[AirWinmar]

Parker had 1 good game, 1 okay game and for the rest of the year did nothing.
we must be in real strife if there is a belief he would make any difference this year.

I don't think anyone thinks these guys would make a significant difference to our onfield performance, but we're playing terrible and our list management strategy at the end of last year certainly hasn't helped. We made our list older and slower.

Crouch, very good acquisition tho

 

[gringo2011]

I'd also call Abbott for Hunter a downgrade.

At least a side ways move.

 

[Joffaboy]

Petracca pfft he’s no Paddy McCartin , didn’t even go number one pick #hack

Wanted Petracca from the start. However he spluttered for about 4 years before he came good.
Thats why we have to be patient with the likes of Byrnes, Bytel, Clark, Coff, even Butler and Higgins haven't reached their peak, even Gresh, two years ruined by injury.
Look at Dunstan. 7 years in the system, still only a GOP, but a mature footballer body, smashed in and negated another big body in Cunnington. Also benefited from two excellent inside mids in Crouch and Steele.

I know patience, heaven knows mine is at the limit, but Petracca shows some players are still underdone until 24 or 25.

 

[LeonardHayes87]

Terrific comments, I agree with you. He appears to play with minimal energy or urgency. And I believe our forward system needs a better system.
Last year it appeared to be get the ball in long & quick to a pack with King, Membery, Marshal making a contest and our small forwards sweeping around to pick up the crumbs. Worked a treat until teams figured that out and put extra men back to stop that. I believe our forwards all lead into the same space still causing over crowding and harder for them to find any free space. I could be wrong but I think king should be leading one way and Membery the other from the goal square with our small forwards discreetly blocking the backs to give them the 5 metres required.
Just my thoughts

Not having Marshall in the team hurts Max a lot I think. When it’s just Max and Tim deep then the opposition can double team Max in the air and stop his jump at the footy, they can’t do this when Rowans down there as well.

 

[gringo2011]

Wanted Petracca from the start. However he spluttered for about 4 years before he came good.
Thats why we have to be patient with the likes of Byrnes, Bytel, Clark, Coff, even Butler and Higgins haven't reached their peak, even Gresh, two years ruined by injury.
Look at Dunstan. 7 years in the system, still only a GOP, but a mature footballer body, smashed in and negated another big body in Cunnington. Also benefited from two excellent inside mids in Crouch and Steele.

I know patience, heaven knows mine is at the limit, but Petracca shows some players are still underdone until 24 or 25.

I have Demons mates and they always swore he was coming like we see King coming. He never seems to play his best against us for some reason but even in games I watched against other sides you could see the build up. Last year he took that step from showing signs to consistent gun footballer, he seemed to stop doing glimpses and just believe in himself. Steele did it for us last year but off a bit lower ceiling.

Clark, Byrne and Coffield have shown enough to suggest it will only be their drive to succeed that will hold them back. Snags too probably. Butler I think is probably on the precipice, he's older than Ben Long and getting similarly poor stats, he did it at the Tigers too, one mazing year then failed to back it up.

It will be interesting to see what we do with Dunstan and DMac, both showed enough to get one more year but does their depth make them worth hanging on to from pretty small sample sizes?

Gresham is still the one player I think you just hold on to because his upside is so high. He is a match winner who makes stuff happen. He's the closest thing we have to Petracca and Dusty who grab the game by the balls.

 

[gringo2011]

Not having Marshall in the team hurts Max a lot I think. When it’s just Max and Tim deep then the opposition can double team Max in the air and stop his jump at the footy, they can’t do this when Rowans down there as well.

When we were going to live games King does seem to be very stagnant. Even with Roma he doesn't move around a lot. Ben is a much more mobile forward for some reason. We like to keep Max anchored to the top of the square still and he rarely goes on long searching leads and generally moves around a small area. Rowan plays out wide and stretches a defenders out for him so there is one less tall plugging up space in front of him but it's a funny way to play a prime asset. It must be some kind of plan but I can't work out why.

 

[Saintbloke]

Parker had 1 good game, 1 okay game and for the rest of the year did nothing.
we must be in real strife if there is a belief he would make any difference this year.

He didn't do much good because they wouldn't kick the ball to him.

 

[puppy_dog7]

7/10 games he's had 20 or more touches, and hasn't dropped below 16.

Been fairly consistent this year, I reckon he'll explode next year if he joins the first-string mid group.

Needs to actually put his head down and get fit first. Still has a sloppy rig for a bloke in his 4th year of AFL football. Clearly doesn’t train hard enough, neither does Coffield for that matter.

 

[robjude]

Ok I will post it there from now on but it's hard not to get nostalgic about our great past players when some of our current players are so bad.

I'll just stick to bagging our current players here like everyone else.

Not everyone!

 

[pebblesofsand]

Parker had 1 good game, 1 okay game and for the rest of the year did nothing.
we must be in real strife if there is a belief he would make any difference this year.

Rewrite of history. 3rd highest goal scoring in our team that year.

Based on this year ouputs by the small(ish) forwards it would be Higgins, Parker/Butler................................................................................Lonie

 

[Enclosed_Animal]

Because part of our issue has been below average players having to come in to cover our better players who are out with injury.

Parker and Marsh were below average players so it would just be causing the same issue with different names.

Side point, but I just want to stick up for Marsh a little here. Was playing excellent, excellent football as a defender for Sandy. Strong intercept marking and was giving us really good drive out of the back half.

When he played seniors it was as injury cover, and he was forced to play forward or ruck or other non natural positions (that he wasn't playing at VFL) to help the team. He might not have been a superstar in those roles, but I doubt anyone for a moment ever questioned his effort. Put the team first when asked. That for me deserves some credit.

Just my 2 cents, but given the list vacancies we had / have, would have 1000% kept Marsh for another year on minimum wage. We probably rated Highmore a better prospect. Okay I get that. But IMO opinion Marsh was a really good defender who, through playing selfless team roles out of position, got an unfair rap as a mediocre footballer.