Autopsy Round 3, 2023: St.Kilda v Essendon *150 YEARS OF THE SAINTS*

[George]

Especially the guys who started their careers at other clubs. Really shows how much everyone has bought into what’s happening at the moment.

I get this feeling with almost every player who ends up at the Saints. I don't know what it is but most players once their careers are over, if they've played a couple of years at St.Kilda in their journey, will always find a way back to Moorabbin or support the club post career. I think once you begin to understand the supporters and the history of the club you know that you're playing for something more than just wins and losses.

I remember Doc Baldock saying after the '66 GF that the win was special but the thing he'll never forget is running the lap of the MCG hugging the elderly people in tears on the boundary and them thanking him for making their lives complete. This club is special.

 

[Saints43]

Speaking about the jumper…how good did that look?

I didn't really like the look of it in the photos when it was released but at the ground it looked amazing.
If keep it fit the rest of the year.
And consider making it the standard.
I thought Mason Wood looked like he'd stepped back in time. It really semed to suit him.

 

[gringo2011]

Spoke to her tonight said her and my younger sister were watching together screaming at the telly for 2 hours lol. My sister the same, used to go all the time but dropped off the last few years.

Special night, could look back on this game in a year or two and mark it down as the turning point. Whilst still early in the season we exorcised a lot of demons. Didn't s**t ourselves under bright lights of primetime footy, challenged and responded, kicked straight, defended well, gave everything for 4 quarters. Superb!

Even my wife watched the Dogs game on TV and asked how "Hammer, the cute little boy and the Japanese guy" went this week. She's being drawn back in....slowly.

 

[George]

Even my wife watched the Dogs game on TV and asked how "Hammer, the cute little boy and the Japanese guy" went this week. She's being drawn back in....slowly.

They are all slowly coming back. Relevance is great.

Made a bit emotional pre-game looking around and seeing that we came out in droves to support the club 2 games after sacking our coach and looking like a shambles. Gee we do stick fat.

 

[sammm]

View attachment 1649019

Yea, one more member

 

[Joffaboy]

After 11 years of vanilla vapidity and non entity list cloggers and shambolic gameplans, did we take for granted the Thommo/ RTB era?
I, for one, will never ever again take effort, and culture for granted again.
The excitement and faith is growing again.

On SM-S908E using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Parkysp]

They are all slowly coming back. Relevance is great.

Made a bit emotional pre-game looking around and seeing that we came out in droves to support the club 2 games after sacking our coach and looking like a shambles. Gee we do stick fat.

Yep and make no mistake out of that "all but" 70K I reckon we had close to 50K.

In 97 we beat them at the G in Round 8 and I sat nearly centre wing on the bottom level.

In an eerily similar game we jumped out of the blocks and led by 5 goals at quarter time. They then pegged us back to lead at 3/4 quarter time. We put the after burners on and kicked 7 goals to 2 in the last.

I remember vividly air high fiving fellow Saints supporters 5 rows away we were so out numbered.

That game was a turning point where our young boys started to believe that they were on a significant journey and were a good team. Beating the dreaded Essendon at the G.

Will be interesting to see if last Sat night is the start of similar or it's just another false dawn of hope. For what it's worth, I'm as equally excited about Mitch, Windy, Nas, Hammer, Pou as I was about Smith, Brown, Jones, Lappin, Max.

 

[Hayes4PM]

Watching the 4th quarter again and 2 of our best were Wood and Stocker. What were Norf and Carlton thinking? Wood I get had injury issues and maybe didn’t suit Norfs rebuild strategy, but Stocker is only 22(?) is a great kick, tough and looks a decent 1 on 1 defender at this stage. What am I missing here? And can we get another couple of freebie discards???

 

[Kain26Toad]

After 11 years of vanilla vapidity and non entity list cloggers and shambolic gameplans, did we take for granted the Thommo/ RTB era?
I, for one, will never ever again take effort, and culture for granted again.
The excitement and faith is growing again.

On SM-S908E using BigFooty.com mobile app

Performances like this seasons were there last year. Just that we'd see it for two or three weeks and then performance would drop off a cliff for a week or two. The third quarters against Freo away and Geel at home were blistering. Now it is the consistency across the ground for the whole match we see and love.

 

[George]

 

[Ads734]

Also don’t underestimate how much a win against matter for us. They’re always out bogie team. A sim against them/Port to me is always a barometer for us when ever we think we’re going well. Ie last year when we lost to them both, despite our early record.

 

[hayes]

I thought Stocker was going to be a waste of time but his ball use has been exceptional. It looked good in his highlights package but it’s nice to see that he’s a consistently good kick rather than them just picking his good ones for a highlights package. I still think Coffield has a bit more upside but until he can stay fit and take that spot off him it’s all his for now.

 

[Diehard Saint]

After 11 years of vanilla vapidity and non entity list cloggers and shambolic gameplans, did we take for granted the Thommo/ RTB era?
I, for one, will never ever again take effort, and culture for granted again.
The excitement and faith is growing again.

On SM-S908E using BigFooty.com mobile app

Was just saying this to a friend after the game on Saturday.
Will never, ever take the wins for granted either as we did to some extent in 09/10.
savour every moment.

 

[gubby88]

I thought Stocker was going to be a waste of time but his ball use has been exceptional. It looked good in his highlights package but it’s nice to see that he’s a consistently good kick rather than them just picking his good ones for a highlights package. I still think Coffield has a bit more upside but until he can stay fit and take that spot off him it’s all his for now.

I could see them playing together and Stocker slipping into the JWeb/Paton role. We actually have depth atm which is amazing

On SM-G960F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[hayes]

Also I’m a big Gresh fan (particularly forward) but if he’s a good inside 50 kick we’re probably 50+ points up at quarter time. It’s the one thing holding him back. He doesn’t have to hit all of them but at least hit SOME of them.

 

[Dard Ball Get]

Was just saying this to a friend after the game on Saturday.
Will never, ever take the wins for granted either as we did to some extent in 09/10.
savour every moment.

How lucky we are. We have a stoic teacher for a football club.

These clubs that win every 5 years, pfft, they learn nothing. In fact they’re weaker for it

 

[Ducky Tie]

Also I’m a big Gresh fan (particularly forward) but if he’s a good inside 50 kick we’re probably 50+ points up at quarter time. It’s the one thing holding him back. He doesn’t have to hit all of them but at least hit SOME of them.

Really struggles with his composure when he's between 50-80 from goal. Has a bad habit of just kicking it as far as he can, regardless of the situation. I suspect Ross will nip it in the bud fairly quickly.

 

[Ducky Tie]

I reckon Byrnes is showing some real tricks in his game. He's clearly a massive runner and can go all day which is helpful for the wing role. I reckon he's got a nice turn of speed though. He's got himself out of trouble a few times with a sharp burst.

He's also got a more penetrating kick than I realised. Can hit it really clean on both feet. He's a bit inconsistent by foot and sometimes scraps them, but he's definitely got some penetration. Two really impressive games from him. Only 21 too.

 

[sunny3193]

How lucky we are. We have a stoic teacher for a football club.

These clubs that win every 5 years, pfft, they learn nothing. In fact they’re weaker for it

Your stoicism is all embracing Zen Master.

 

[moirae42]

Stocker almost looks to be another absolute bargain really. Probably just another player that wasn't a good fit at the club that took him.
He went #19 in his draft. Same draft as Max King

12

Max King

Age

23

Ht

202cm

Wt

94kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

7.3

2star

K

4.7

2star

HB

2.6

2star

M

2.7

3star

T

0.7

3star

G

1.4

5star

D

7.3

2star

K

4.7

2star

HB

2.6

2star

M

2.7

3star

T

0.7

1star

G

1.4

5star

D

8.0

2star

K

5.2

2star

HB

2.8

3star

M

2.8

3star

T

0.6

3star

G

1.4

5star

and Jack Bytel. He had severe anxiety issues over his time at Carlton. Easy to sit back and take cheapies at such things, but it would be extremely difficult to manage as a young man in the AFL fishbowl.

'Things spiralled out of control': Former Blue details mental struggles

Liam Stocker said he almost retired after leaving the Blues' Queensland hub in 2020 amid a mental health battle

www.afl.com.au

Key line from that article that is from October 2022: "His axing prompted former Carlton list boss Stephen Silvagni to question whether the Blues had done enough to help Stocker develop at the club". So he gets a lifeline at Linton street. Preseason, no guarantees. You can be quite certain that he checked every box that he had to and I bet the club was right into him in regards to his welfare, which should be ongoing.

Best thing about his spot in the team is that he is effectively a role player on a flank. The communication of that would be quite clear. He can defend 1v1 well, is big bodied and doesn't get knocked off the ball easily, has good hands and can tackle for keeps. His kicking has been the surprise in my eyes. Guys that can just hit targets, be it short or long are just critical. Absolute bargain.

His confidence must be improving week by week. 17 touches at 88% DE against Essington. That's bang on the money.

 

[Sun Ra]

Stocker almost looks to be another absolute bargain really. Probably just another player that wasn't a good fit at the club that took him.
He went #19 in his draft. Same draft as Max King and Jack Bytel. He had severe anxiety issues over his time at Carlton. Easy to sit back and take cheapies at such things, but it would be extremely difficult to manage as a young man in the AFL fishbowl.

'Things spiralled out of control': Former Blue details mental struggles

Liam Stocker said he almost retired after leaving the Blues' Queensland hub in 2020 amid a mental health battle

www.afl.com.au

Key line from that article that is from October 2022: "His axing prompted former Carlton list boss Stephen Silvagni to question whether the Blues had done enough to help Stocker develop at the club". So he gets a lifeline at Linton street. Preseason, no guarantees. You can be quite certain that he checked every box that he had to and I bet the club was right into him in regards to his welfare, which should be ongoing.

Best thing about his spot in the team is that he is effectively a role player on a flank. The communication of that would be quite clear. He can defend 1v1 well, is big bodied and doesn't get knocked off the ball easily, has good hands and can tackle for keeps. His kicking has been the surprise in my eyes. Guys that can just hit targets, be it short or long are just critical. Absolute bargain.

His confidence must be improving week by week. 17 touches at 88% DE against Essington. That's bang on the money.

Heard him interviewed a couple of times and he is a very level headed and intelligent young fellow. Impressive.

 

[austinnn]

He looks freaky to me still. Every year he seems a bit thinner.

Yeah I was shocked to see him, he does look unhealthily bony - makes Peter Garrett look like Buddha (the deity, not Whiskas Hocking)

The way the media was talking about him seemed weird too, like they are being extra careful and positive, like the way they might talk about Ben Cousins or Sam Fisher if they were excelling in life and not heading for jail or the graveyard.

 

[Ducky Tie]

Heard him interviewed a couple of times and he is a very level headed and intelligent young fellow. Impressive.

Stocker, Wood, Windhager and Wilkie are terrific to listen to. Analytical and articulate. Something we have lacked.

 

[austinnn]

Did you manage to watch it? Everitt, Winmar, Loewe, Harvey, Burke were all there. Vidovic did media for the club during the week.

Given that Sam Fisher was there I think the club would've invited all past players - hard to imagine they would decide on not inviting a past player.

OK? but specifically, was Stan involved? Loved that man, still have a soft spot for him.

 

[austinnn]

Stocker, Wood, Windhager and Wilkie are terrific to listen to. Analytical and articulate. Something we have lacked.

Yep whereas the interview Rob Harvey did with Garry and Tim during the week made it clear that he's a doer rather than a talker. I'm sure he's fine to talk to one on one, but media speaking is really not his strong suit.