Autopsy Round 21, 2021: St.Kilda v Sydney *PRIDE GAME* *COFFIELD 50TH*

[gringo2011]

Spoke to someone at the club regarding Allison, asked about the drafting strategy behind it. Was told he was incredibly raw, but showed some serious traits of being an excellent CHB as a junior and its starting to show now. Apparently his ability to out position an opponent one on one is elite.

I thought he was a little guy who grew a lot quickly?

 

[Ads734]

Also great to see Coffield prove some doubters wrong. Really backed himself yesterday. Patience is required and yes he’ll have done dumb moments but he needs to string games together.

 

[PostmanBish]

what happened to the stand rule? Roma doesn’t play on (ump calls play on AFTER the fact) but Roma doesn’t leave his line. In round 1 that was a 50. I know they’ve “relaxed” the rule recently but that was a textbook case of why they brought the rule in at all.

Only a 50 if a Saints player does it

Can only say I'm impressed by Cooper Sharman so far ... he takes the game on, has a nose for a goal, and good hands, not to mention being unselfish enough to pick out Snags for a GA - he just needs games into him ... Once our mids figure out how to use our forwards a little better, we're dangerous.

 

[KingsRansom]

I thought he was a little guy who grew a lot quickly?

No idea, just going off what I was told

 

[kernelT]

So the question is, why can’t we play with that intensity regularly?

We can obviously take it up to the best sides but don’t look like we’re trying 2 out of every 3 weeks.

 

[gringo2011]

Only a 50 if a Saints player does it

Can only say I'm impressed by Cooper Sharman so far ... he takes the game on, has a nose for a goal, and good hands, not to mention being unselfish enough to pick out Snags for a GA - he just needs games into him ... Once our mids figure out how to use our forwards a little better, we're dangerous.

It really helps when you have spread of scoring options all firing at once. Higgins 4, Kent 3, King, Membrey and Sharman 2 each, Steele dropping in for a single. Butler didn't trouble the scorers but worked hard. It really makes defence difficult when everyone looks like they need minding.

 

[KingsRansom]

So the question is, why can’t we play with that intensity regularly?

We can obviously take it up to the best sides but don’t look like we’re trying 2 out of every 3 weeks.

Above the shoulders. Still a very young core, will be prone to games like that atm

 

[plugger66]

Roo has had zero influence on my opinion of Seb

Felt the same way his whole career.

Just makes you wrong for all of his career. It’s a sad way to watch footy.

 

[plugger66]

It really helps when you have spread of scoring options all firing at once. Higgins 4, Kent 3, King, Membrey and Sharman 2 each, Steele dropping in for a single. Butler didn't trouble the scorers but worked hard. It really makes defence difficult when everyone looks like they need minding.

And the exact reason why we don’t want to look for king to often

 

[gringo2011]

And the exact reason why we don’t want to look for king to often

Helps having Higgins and Membrey forward. Both can play taller and Sharman looks a very reliable lead up forward. So much like Bailey Fritsch with that skinny build and good conversion. Kent was great too, if he plays like that he's a gun.

 

[ScrappyDo]

Very impressive. We can clearly see he has good forward 50 footy IQ but it looks like he is quick off the mark, has a really nice leap, a strong pair of hands and can kick the footy.

His only knock would be that he is light.

Coopers selection is a real feather in the cap of the recruitment department. And when you stand him next to Highmore and Heath it looks like we are finally bringing in players who actually know how to play the role that they will be asked to fill.

It seems like such a simple but effective approach.

Allison is the outlier. We seem to be trying to turn him into something the team needs (a tall back).

Despite Coops' youthful scrawny appearance you can also see he has the frame to put the muscles on.

 

[Sully111]

Also great to see Coffield prove some doubters wrong. Really backed himself yesterday. Patience is required and yes he’ll have done dumb moments but he needs to string games together.

One of the most enjoyable things about last night's game for me was seeing Coff getting his mojo back.

 

[CursingFijian]

For a guy who looked as if he'd been picked up so that Jack Billings would feel at home having a mate there, he's ended up the superior player of the two. He could almost play that inside outside mid role for us IMO. His ground ball gets are elite but he's got the sidestep and read of the flight worked out as well. He'd be worth a go but we would miss him down back.

Sinclair has taken a massive step this year though. Somehow the penny has dropped. It’s not just his self belief either. It’s like he truly understands now that he is the best man to move the ball forward in the team right now.

When Sincs is up and about it makes Hill look better too.

Last night wasn’t Leo’s best but you can still see that he has a really nice turn of acceleration and can jink and jive his way out of congestion really well.

Byrnes had the slowest start to a game he’s had for a while. But to his credit he kept working and made a solid contribution in the end.

I thought Webster was really solid for us down back. He has had a great year.

And DMac on the wing is showing much more intent than Billings, although I’m always a little bit surprised when his kicks come off. Not brilliant but a really high level of consistency and effort and very strong in the contest.

My cue and my rack need some maintenance I have put it in and taken it out some many time in the last several weeks. I do hope we limp in to finals though. The experience is just too valuable to miss.

 

[lewdogs]

WHOOOOAH.
Ok the biggest one for me was Marshall. Hickey has been huge this year but Marshall just annhilated him! Really didn't see that coming, but a good reminder of how good Rohan is in the ruck. He was everywhere, intercept marking, little kickaway kicks, grew into the game. This bloke was in quarantine a week ago! He is a deadset gun player.

Steele immense as usual, nothing new here. Did everything, the way he marks the ball at the ultimate point is something new. Just an out and out gun, possibly the best St Kilda player since Harvey. (Ok I wrote that part when I was a bit jolly last night but I'm just going to leave it here.)

Sharman was very pleasing. Has only been at the club two months, hasn't even done a pre season. Exciting to see what he can become.

I loved Coffields game, backed himself in and looked dangerous.

Would happily keep Joyce on the list as backup. We have probably underutilised him this year.

King becoming very exciting. Starting to dominate opponents.

I thought Dunstan's last quarter was important. And we also saw last night how important Sinclair gas become.

There was a lot to like last night. I don't think we make finals, even if we win all our games, but that game at least reminded us that at our best we can trouble most sides. Good to get a win at Docklands too.

 

[Jay Beast]

Dmac, you are supposed to be my whipping boy goddammit! Now I need to find someone else to draw my ire.

Seriously, this is one of the biggest turnarounds of player form I can remember. Kudos to him, huge props.

 

[RBW_007]

Dmac had a great game. Caused two turnovers that lead to shots on goal.

Thought Sharman was serviceable in the ruck last night too. That's what we need post Ryder. Someone who can just compete ala Shaun Grigg or something.

Not sure whether he was instructed to take ruck contests or not, but I loved that he stuck his hand up when the umpire called for a St Kilda ruck. So sick of hearing the umpire say "No St Kilda ruck" previously in games. Happened way too often.

 

[LennyHayes77]

I think Sydney are unique in that they have Reid and Buddy as key forwards and neither are huge bustling types. Howard will be missed against Tom Hawkins. Billings isn't a huge impact player on his current form but against a top 4 side you could easily argue he'd add more than Connolly or Byrnes did last night. It gives you an extra rotation of a good player. One ruck definitely seems better than carrying a second poor one though.

I still can't agree that Billings adds any boost to our team. Byrnes and Connoly were both pretty poor last night but I can't see that Billings would have done anything above what either of them did.
He probably would have been about the same as Byrnes was, who had arguably his worst game of the season. And while Leo barely touched it, Billings just wouldn't bring that dash and dare he showed us glimpses of last night.
Bring on a late 2nd rounder for him imo.

 

[gringo2011]

WHOOOOAH.
Ok the biggest one for me was Marshall. Hickey has been huge this year but Marshall just annhilated him! Really didn't see that coming, but a good reminder of how good Rohan is in the ruck. He was everywhere, intercept marking, little kickaway kicks, grew into the game. This bloke was in quarantine a week ago! He is a deadset gun player.

Steele immense as usual, nothing new here. Did everything, the way he marks the ball at the ultimate point is something new. Just an out and out gun, possibly the best St Kilda player since Harvey. (Ok I wrote that part when I was a bit jolly last night but I'm just going to leave it here.)

Sharman was very pleasing. Has only been at the club two months, hasn't even done a pre season. Exciting to see what he can become.

I loved Coffields game, backed himself in and looked dangerous.

Would happily keep Joyce on the list as backup. We have probably underutilised him this year.

King becoming very exciting. Starting to dominate opponents.

I thought Dunstan's last quarter was important. And we also saw last night how important Sinclair gas become.

There was a lot to like last night. I don't think we make finals, even if we win all our games, but that game at least reminded us that at our best we can trouble most sides. Good to get a win at Docklands too.

King should have had about 15 free kicks. Rampe was holding and pushing in the back at every opportunity. Buddy got one for having Wilkie too close to him but Rampe can do whatever he wants.

 

[PostmanBish]

It really helps when you have spread of scoring options all firing at once. Higgins 4, Kent 3, King, Membrey and Sharman 2 each, Steele dropping in for a single. Butler didn't trouble the scorers but worked hard. It really makes defence difficult when everyone looks like they need minding.

Agreed ... last night was probably my most enjoyable watching experience of 2021 - we had workrate, cohesion, and 23 players who showed up. No doubting that King kicking a couple of bags has really opened up opportunities for our other forwards to get more space.

 

[gringo2011]

Dmac had a great game. Caused two turnovers that lead to shots on goal.

Not sure whether he was instructed to take ruck contests or not, but I loved that he stuck his hand up when the umpire called for a St Kilda ruck. So sick of hearing the umpire say "No St Kilda ruck" previously in games. Happened way too often.

He must have been the ruck for the forward line. Seemed to contest quite a few. Darragh was the chop out and halved the contest at least.

 

[ScrappyDo]

FB: Paton, Howard, Wilkie
HB: Coffield, Highmore, Sinclair
C: McKenzie, Jones, Hill
HF: Byrnes, Membrey, Higgins
FF: Marshall, King, Butler
R: Ryder, Steele, Crouch
IC: Bytel, Webster, Gresham, Clark

(Gone: Frawley, Carlisle, Roberton, McKernan, Lonie, Hunter)

Others:Geary, Kent, Connolly, Wood, Long, Battle, Joyce, Clavarino, Sharman, Allison, Heath, Hannebery

Team adjusted for trade period and personal bias.

Outs:
Ross
Dunstan
Billings
Hanners

Ins: much better draft/trade hand

 

[LennyHayes77]

I also liked seeing Hill and a few other guys demanding our forwards lead up towards the ball carrier. So often we've just banged it long to no affect. Our forward line seemed a bit more open last night too which made hitting up leading players easier. Still work to do on our forward entries though.

 

[St Neil]

Just got some big news via PM.

Can see why Hanners freed up some SC.

Don't PM me as it is not my news. Not sure if I am happy but can't question it.

Ben King?

 

[gringo2011]

I still can't agree that Billings adds any boost to our team. Byrnes and Connoly were both pretty poor last night but I can't see that Billings would have done anything above what either of them did.
He probably would have been about the same as Byrnes was, who had arguably his worst game of the season. And while Leo barely touched it, Billings just wouldn't bring that dash and dare he showed us glimpses of last night.
Bring on a late 2nd rounder for him imo.

Don't agree, early this year he was getting his 28 possessions a week and he uses the ball really well. He's not damaging but he's very solid. Byrnes and Leo both looked like young players that got a bit lost. Byrnes dropped his marks and looked a bit heavier in the legs than he has all year. I'm his biggest fan but he looked young and inexperienced like Connolly. If we want to play finals we need quality depth. If a kid can push him out we are going very well, I was happy for him to go for a top 10 pick but suggesting that you'd take a late second for him is just crazy talk.

 

[CaptainRisky]

Just watching it now for the first time ,

Where are ones who talked about trading Coff now , He is starting to get his MoJo back
Kent is still way better than Lonie , Has great closing speed and his pressure was good , well a lot better than Lonie can do
Sharman is one hell of a get , imagine him after a big pre season , The kid is just so smart
Tommy another great pick up
DMac is such a better player away from deep in the backline
Webster i thought was done start of the year has been very good all year
Sincs another that was border line last year IMO has really stepped up , maybe he has found his spot down back
Leo and Ronnie both quiet but they are just kids
Max, He is going to be a star but you don't need me to tell you that

Dustan is still a dumb footballer , just bites off more than he can chew too often
Ross is going to be easily replaced if he goes
Billings was very quiet = Not missed
Joyce , i just dont rate him although one big contest in the last quarter was very good
Hill , i just wish they would stop trying to give it to him at every opportunity , just over doing it a bit IMO

Steele, Marshall , Wilkie, Higgins Nothing need to be said about them

The even goal spread was good with more than usual hitting the scoreboard , pressure was great , still a few things that worry me but it was nice to get a win