Game Day Round 8, 2019: St.Kilda v West Coast

[George]

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Preview
St.Kilda v West Coast

St.Kilda suffered their third loss for the season last Saturday, going down by 44 points to a rampant GWS.

As for the Eagles, they were lucky in the end to get the win at home against the Gold Coast, and despite a spirited Suns fightback, the home side came away 23 point victors.


Let’s have a look at possible best 22s:

St.Kilda Best 22
B: Jimmy Webster, Nathan Brown, Shane Savage
HB: Callum Wilkie, Josh Battle, Daniel McKenzie
C: Ben Long, Sebastian Ross, Jack Newnes
HF: Jack Billings, Josh Bruce, Matthew Parker
F: Jonathon Marsh, Tim Membrey, Jade Gresham
Foll: Rowan Marshall, Jack Steele, Jack Sinclair
I/C: Blake Acres, Hunter Clark, Dean Kent, Ben Paton

West Coast Best 22
B: Shannon Hurn, Will Schofield, Liam Duggan
HB: Lewis Jetta, Jeremy McGovern, Brad Sheppard
C: Daniel Venables, Elliot Yeo, Andrew Gaff
HF: Oscar Allen, Jack Darling, Chris Masten
F: Liam Ryan, Josh J. Kennedy, Jamie Cripps
Foll: Tom Hickey, Dom Sheed, Luke Shuey
I/C: Jack Redden, Jack Petruccelle, Tom Cole, Mark Hutchings



Medical Room

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For the Saints, Jimmy Webster looked to have injured his hand early in the match but managed to play out the match after some treatment.

As for the Eagles, Gun defender Brad Sheppard copped a big hit in the third quarter and had ice applied to his leg after the game but is expected to be fine. Ruckman Tom Hickey is also aiming to return after being a late withdrawal due to a slight hamstring problem.



Preview

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St.Kilda's frustrating form continues, and after a convincing defeat last week against Adelaide the Saints were outmatched once again, with the Giants steamrolling them for 8 goals in the first quarter to run away with a 44 point victory despite a small St.Kilda resurgence in the third term.

In another disappointing day for the Saints, emerging ruckman Rowan Marshall lead the way for the visitors, collecting 22 possessions (14 contested) to go along with 27 hit-outs and 2 goals in a best on ground performance.



Other notable performances included Seb Ross (26 disposals, 5 tackles), Jack Steele (24 disp) and Dean Kent (16 possessions, 8 marks, 2 goals).

After losses to Brisbane, Port Adelaide and Geelong, the Eagles were looking to get back on the winners list as they played host to a much improved Gold Coast at Optus Stadium.

After leading by 39 points at half time, thanks to a 5 goal to 1 second term, the Eagles looked to have it in the bag. However the Suns stormed back in the second half, kicking 6 goals to 3 after halftime to reduce the margin to a final 23 points.

West Coast's midfield was absolutely superb all night, and surely will be credited for the reason they won the game. Andrew Gaff (35 disposals, 10 marks, 6 tackles), Dom Sheed (32 possessions, 9 marks, 2 goals), Luke Shuey (31 disposals, 8 tackles) and Elliot Yeo (28 disposals, 7 marks, 12 tackles, 1 goal) all played a major part in the overall result - Yeo adjudged best on ground.





Potential changes

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St.Kilda key defender Nathan Brown should be an automatic inclusion into Alan Richardson's side for this Saturday night's game, as the Saints will look to add much needed experience to a young back six.

Other notable inclusions could be Nick Hind and Luke Dunstan.



Key Match-Ups

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Josh J. Kennedy
After the Saints backline gave up 18 goals last weekend (with 5 of them to Jeremy Cameron) the task of stopping premier forwards doesn't get any easier this weekend. One would expect Nathan Brown to come straight back into the St.Kilda back-line and take Kennedy in what will be a pivotal match-up.

Andrew Gaff
Gaff has been in Brownlow medal winning form this season, and after 35 touches and 10 marks against the Suns, his run from the middle could cut the Saints open if they aren't manning him tightly. With a plethora of midfielders the Saints will need to curtail, it's hard to identify an immediate matchup for Gaff. One would expect that the St.Kilda midfielders rotate to Gaff at different stages throughout.



Tip

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This will probably go against the grain a bit, given the Saints have just come off 2 straight losses and have a huge injury list, but I think the fact that the game is in Melbourne is a huge advantage for the Saints, and whilst the Eagles are the reigning premiers, they haven't set the world on fire this year. They have travelled to Melbourne twice this year and played Collingwood and Geelong - being comprehensively beaten in both games.

I think that if St.Kilda can get back to their pressure game and lower their eyes when going inside 50 they could cause an upset on Saturday night. I think it will be a close one.



Saints by 2 points.

Thoughts?​

 

[TheEnsign]

I like our ins in terms of winning this particular game; will take Saints by 9 points.

 

[Sab22]

I'll be there at Marvel to witness our glorious win

 

[Grav]

As long as we come out firing in the first (unlike last week) I think we will give this a big shake. Saints by 23pts.

 

[Cornish]

Saints by 7 points

 

[cooperrules]

We will run out gas.

W C by 30

 

[Sir Skid]

Wet Toast to turn up at Marvel Stadium this week.

The Umpires to enact the reciprocal 20+ FF home team rule.

Saints by 21 points.

 

[Saintbloke]

I hope our defence keeps the WCE to a losing score, while our forwards kick a winning score.

 

[kernelT]

What are the chances we are right in the game to 3/4 time.... before a free kick avalanche sees WCE scrape over the line with 8 of the last 9 free kicks?

 

[St Muir]

Really could go either way this one. If we bring our A game and they are still in cruise mode, we will win in a canter. If not, we’ll play them into form and things could get ugly.

 

[jwikked]

If we win the 2nd quarter I think we will win the game.

 

[From 45]

If we win the 2nd quarter I think we will win the game.

What happens if we lose the other 3 quarters?

 

[MUFKilda]

Bloody hell, a game which starts at a reasonable hour over here! The pommy Saints will report for duty at bounce up.

 

[MUFKilda]

What happens if we lose the other 3 quarters?

That would only matter if the other three were lost by more than the second quarter is won.

 

[Sippa]

Write up says they were comprehensively beaten by the pies in Melbourne ... no they weren’t they comprehensively beat them .

 

[triggering bro]

Some really bad signs over the past fortnight especially last week against the Giants. Those opposition run-ons came back with a vengeance as did our poor forward entries & failure to stop rebound.

I’ve lost that early season confidence in the space of two weeks & can’t see us winning against an out of form WC who will see us as an easy kill & an opportunity to build some momentum. Yes I’m fickle.

I’m predicting poor forward 50 entries, our forwards not working hard enough to stop the rebound & Kennedy & Darling to monster our undermanned defence.

Eagles by 30 points with Kennedy & Darling kicking 8 between them. I would love to be proven wrong.

 

[MUFKilda]

Some really bad signs over the past fortnight especially last week against the Giants. Those opposition run-ons came back with a vengeance as did our poor forward entries & failure to stop rebound.

I’ve lost that early season confidence in the space of two weeks & can’t see us winning against an out of form WC who will see us as an easy kill & an opportunity to build some momentum. Yes I’m fickle.

I’m predicting poor forward 50 entries, our forwards not working hard enough to stop the rebound & Kennedy & Darling to monster our undermanned defence.

Eagles by 30 points with Kennedy & Darling kicking 8 between them. I would love to be proven wrong.

Actually, I think I'll just stay in bed

 

[gringo2011]

Some really bad signs over the past fortnight especially last week against the Giants. Those opposition run-ons came back with a vengeance as did our poor forward entries & failure to stop rebound.

I’ve lost that early season confidence in the space of two weeks & can’t see us winning against an out of form WC who will see us as an easy kill & an opportunity to build some momentum. Yes I’m fickle.

I’m predicting poor forward 50 entries, our forwards not working hard enough to stop the rebound & Kennedy & Darling to monster our undermanned defence.

Eagles by 30 points with Kennedy & Darling kicking 8 between them. I would love to be proven wrong.

I think with injuries mounting and sides not taking us lightly we stopped being able to surprise attack. Other sides worked on stopping us like sitting player on Savage who was using his kicking to clear the press and minding our two big forwards. A few weeks of looking ordinary might see them take us lightly again and I think we are good enough to jump teams that don't work hard enough. I'm not confident that we will win but not pessimistic either. Real toss of the coin which two teams show up. A lazy WCE and a driven Saints and it's game on. Lazy Saints and woken up WC and it's going to get ugly.

 

[triggering bro]

I think with injuries mounting and sides not taking us lightly we stopped being able to surprise attack. Other sides worked on stopping us like sitting player on Savage who was using his kicking to clear the press and minding our two big forwards. A few weeks of looking ordinary might see them take us lightly again and I think we are good enough to jump teams that don't work hard enough. I'm not confident that we will win but not pessimistic either. Real toss of the coin which two teams show up. A lazy WCE and a driven Saints and it's game on. Lazy Saints and woken up WC and it's going to get ugly.

Injuries have certainly hurt us & injuries during games certainly gives an excuse. Losing Lonie & playing an injured Bruce against Adel put us well behind the eight ball. But signs were there early that we’d struggle. Tex & Himmelberg monstered our defenders.

Last week it all fell apart. The giants are no joke but their injury list to key players was on par with ours.

I really think tonight’s game could make or break us. We win & I think we are still in that 7-12 mix with 10-12 wins. Lose & I reckon the arse will fall out & we’ll struggle to win 8-9.

Massive game. The boys should be treating it as a final.

 

[busso_mick]

If we can win the contested ball we can win the game. The Eagles struggled to get over Gold Coast last week and they are vulnerable. If we can start well we can take this one out, need a big game from Billings and Gresham and we will get the 4 points.

 

[kernelT]

Remarkable turnaround needed from about 6-8 of our 'senior' players... otherwise it'll be punchable heads by 6+ goals.

 

[saintscott]

Saints by 66 points. Billings with 30 and 5 snags, Parker to take mark of the year and gresh for gotw contender right foot banana dribbler running into the left pocket

 

[gringo2011]

Injuries have certainly hurt us & injuries during games certainly gives an excuse. Losing Lonie & playing an injured Bruce against Adel put us well behind the eight ball. But signs were there early that we’d struggle. Tex & Himmelberg monstered our defenders.

Last week it all fell apart. The giants are no joke but their injury list to key players was on par with ours.

I really think tonight’s game could make or break us. We win & I think we are still in that 7-12 mix with 10-12 wins. Lose & I reckon the arse will fall out & we’ll struggle to win 8-9.

Massive game. The boys should be treating it as a final.

That's the depth of the Giants though, their seconds side would be better than our best side on paper. Hopper and Taranto average about 30 possessions a game and win their own ball without trying. Cameron and Himmelberg are both substantially better players than our forwards. Finlayson was one plenty of us wanted and when he plays forward looks much better than our forwards. Toby Greene was a gun mid who now plays as a half forward but on his day can kick bags, they are just ridiculous with their depth. Apart from the first quarter we weren't too bad against them and same with Adelaide, they were remarkably efficient with their shots on goal. I know it sounds like a cop out but both sides had quarters where they couldn't miss while our conversion was below average, despite an almost unprecedented conversion rate by both we fought back. Surely WC can't put us away with one quarter of efficient conversion....it's not like they have Kennedy, Darling and Allen who are clinical in front of goals or anything.

 

[Saintbloke]

Long, Parker and Gresh need to take the game on, and Bruce needs to get out of the cotton wool and start playing tough footy. Richo needs to start punching holes in the coaches box wall, and rip his headset off and smash it..swear a bit, then I'll know we're fairdinkum

 

[triggering bro]

That's the depth of the Giants though, their seconds side would be better than our best side on paper. Hopper and Taranto average about 30 possessions a game and win their own ball without trying. Cameron and Himmelberg are both substantially better players than our forwards. Finlayson was one plenty of us wanted and when he plays forward looks much better than our forwards. Toby Greene was a gun mid who now plays as a half forward but on his day can kick bags, they are just ridiculous with their depth. Apart from the first quarter we weren't too bad against them and same with Adelaide, they were remarkably efficient with their shots on goal. I know it sounds like a cop out but both sides had quarters where they couldn't miss while our conversion was below average, despite an almost unprecedented conversion rate by both we fought back. Surely WC can't put us away with one quarter of efficient conversion....it's not like they have Kennedy, Darling and Allen who are clinical in front of goals or anything.

They also had a massive run on after Parker missed in the third. Run ons like that have been natural occurrence under Richo lead teams. Even in 2016-7.

What was equally damning was we had 20 more inside 50’s & failed to capitalise. That inefficiency showed poor entries & failure of our forwards to work.

Granted the Giants are a good side & have excellent depth I still saw some really poor signs last week.