Autopsy Saints v Dees

[SaintsofSteel]

yeah knowing that now, in hindsight he was always going to be up against it trying to keep up with Gawn. didn't help that Keeler was uncompetitive so couldn't really spell him.

Keeler did his future at the club no favours. I am beginning to fear Adelaide were right about this kid, he has the potential but not the drive or intent to make it.

He will need a huge turn around in form to save his career at seasons end. His apathetic efforts can no longer be accepted.

 

[Teflon]

Contrast that to that to Jordan Lewis piece on selfish Nas - the difference?? Like him or not Hird has been that generational player …Lewis hung round in good sides and was never that player so he’d had fck all idea what a young player learning to play that “everywhere” role has to go through

 

[gringo2011]

To a point yes but dumb stupidity that says “just add water and get a flag” is no excuse. We went out and used our salary cap to recruit players to make our club better - how dare we!!

Not many had us winning a flag but most had us at least competitive. Playing a declining Collingwood after hyping the match as the biggest HA game ever and then losing looked a bit mildly embarrassing. But losing to a side that has finished in the bottom 6 for a few years after losing Petracca, Oliver and May was really bad optics.

By losing both we have put the blow torch on ourselves and now at round three are starting the season a fair way behind the other sides going for a top 10 spot.

It's not over by any stretch but each loss dials up pressure and criticism. And each loss puts us a fair bit further back and with a young side it starts to get to a point where belief drops and performance suffers.

GWS and a decimated Brisbane are both very gettable but the way we played the last 2 weeks won't get us anywhere near them. It's up to the coaches and leaders to get everyone at maximum performance levels and putting in.

 

[gringo2011]

Keeler did his future at the club no favours. I am beginning to fear Adelaide were right about this kid, he has the potential but not the drive or intent to make it.

He will need a huge turn around in form to save his career at seasons end. His apathetic efforts can no longer be accepted.

People have been critical of Van Rooen too. Isaac's going at nearly a goal a game and had 12 games over 2 season with a lot as sub. He's not a finished product type.

 

[The Punter]

Macrae with 23 disposals from 56% TOG with a sprained MCL

He hasn't been at his damaging best but you can't fault the spirit - massive respect to the guy

I thought at the ground on Sunday he was one of the few blokes who really lifted in the second half. But he made a few mistakes that cost us.

 

[Joffaboy]

We will be 0-10, win the last 13 games come 10th and win the flag from there.
Just put a lazy lobster on it.

 

[Saintbloke]

We will be 0-10, win the last 13 games come 10th and win the flag from there.
Just put a lazy lobster on it.

Joffa, I think if we got to 0-10, then 0-11 is looking likely

 

[Joffaboy]

Joffa, I think if we got to 0-10, then 0-11 is looking likely

What a pessimest

 

[Ads734]

One possitive, I really think some of Alix’s efforts.
Tackling , marking and chasing were quality. I think he’s going to break out soon.

 

[gringo2011]

One possitive, I really think some of Alix’s efforts.
Tackling , marking and chasing were quality. I think he’s going to break out soon.

The chase stood out as an amazing effort. You can see that the attitude is there to be a pretty special player. He still looks a fair way off taking the game by the scruff of the neck but you can see the raw potential is huge. Not many talls will chase down a quick small and not give up after 40 or 50 meters. He saved a certain goal by pure will power. If we all played like that we wouldn't have lost two games so far.

 

[Remboy]

We will be 0-10, win the last 13 games come 10th and win the flag from there.
Just put a lazy lobster on it.

Rubbish. I actually can't see us losing another game from here. The juggernaut is about to launch.

 

[The Punter]

There's no issue with Tauru's talent or work ethic or attitude. His last quarter was a highlight when we had few.

But he has two issues at the moment:

1. He's raw
2. He's been asked to play a role he's specifically not suited to (playing on a small forward)

 

[SaintsofSteel]

People have been critical of Van Rooen too. Isaac's going at nearly a goal a game and had 12 games over 2 season with a lot as sub. He's not a finished product type.

He is not showing enough at present it might improve throughout the year. Keeler looks like another Hunter Clark to me, someone who is allergic to the gym.

 

[Jade Buddha]

One possitive, I really think some of Alix’s efforts.
Tackling , marking and chasing were quality. I think he’s going to break out soon.

Alix is averaging 1 tackle per game so far in 2026. Love his energy but we need skill to go with that. The dropped sitter chest mark was a killer.

 

[beside the seaside]

He is not showing enough at present it might improve throughout the year. Keeler looks like another Hunter Clark to me, someone who is allergic to the gym.

The thing that's tough on a guy like Keeler is he comes in and has to play a role he's not really suited to. He's just not that good as a second ruck. It felt like he spent long chunks on the bench and then went into the ruck where he got killed. In the pre-season games he played as a tall back which is also not his preferred role. He played basically one quarter as a tall forward against Melbourne and looked decent.

It's tough because he has to kind of go up there and be the number one forward. He'd look so much better in a forward line with King and some time to develop a combo. Unfortunately our forward line feels very makeshift and we are already chopping and changing it so much, there's not a lot of synergy.

But realistically he's probably going to have to go back to the VFL. Hopefully he gets a chance to play as a key forward there and starts dominating games, kicking bags etc. Essentially we need some forwards that are going to kick goals so we're not relying on Hall and Nas to do it every week.

 

[Saintbloke]

Alix is averaging 1 tackle per game so far in 2026. Love his energy but we need skill to go with that. The dropped sitter chest mark was a killer.

I reckon he looks all at sea in the back half, needs a few games as a forward- we need a bit more pack crashing in the congestion, helps the crumbing players, as our forward work is all looking a bit too careful and timid so far.

 

[akaifu]

I reckon he looks all at sea in the back half, needs a few games as a forward- we need a bit more pack crashing in the congestion, helps the crumbing players, as our forward work is all looking a bit too careful and timid so far.

I'd argue him looking all at sea is because of his matchup

As a proper key defender last year, he had the right to fly for marks because that's what his opponent was doing too

Now that he's playing on a small, he needs to weigh up whether to stay down with his opponent, or to fly and run the risk of not impacting and resulting in a likely goal conceded

The balance is wrong atm and as long as we don't figure it out, we're pretty much throwing one of our brightest stars under the bus with a role he shouldn't be playing

 

[Yawkey way]

There's no issue with Tauru's talent or work ethic or attitude. His last quarter was a highlight when we had few.

But he has two issues at the moment:

1. He's raw
2. He's been asked to play a role he's specifically not suited to (playing on a small forward)

He’s such a threat in the air it’s just crazy the way we’ve used him so far this year.

 

[beside the seaside]

He’s such a threat in the air it’s just crazy the way we’ve used him so far this year.

He was awesome in the last quarter against the Dees. If we'd won the game we'd all be singing his praises and saying he was a huge factor in the win.

Really hoping he can build on that last quarter this week. He can have a huge impact.

 

[The Punter]

I'd argue him looking all at sea is because of his matchup

As a proper key defender last year, he had the right to fly for marks because that's what his opponent was doing too

Now that he's playing on a small, he needs to weigh up whether to stay down with his opponent, or to fly and run the risk of not impacting and resulting in a likely goal conceded

The balance is wrong atm and as long as we don't figure it out, we're pretty much throwing one of our brightest stars under the bus with a role he shouldn't be playing

He’s such a threat in the air it’s just crazy the way we’ve used him so far this year.

And the issue here is... Jack Silvagni is playing his position.

I think moving Caminiti out and just moving everyone up (rather than replacing Caminiti with Howard) leaves us prone to being monstered. I mean, even more prone.

Wilkie is the one this week who could play on Greene, but Greene has been playing more midfield due to other injuries so that might not happen much anyway.

A number of positional moves rankled with me last week.

• Keeler not forward enough (too much time on the bench and not enough time on the ground forward with Sharman and Owens)
• Owens into the ruck (defeats the entire purpose of signing TDK and playing a recognised ruck at all times)
• Swapping a tall forward back (Keeler and Sharman both have some key defence experience - could have swung one of them around with Caminiti, Silvagni or Tauru)
• Just moving NWM to half-back

 

[gringo2011]

There's no issue with Tauru's talent or work ethic or attitude. His last quarter was a highlight when we had few.

But he has two issues at the moment:

1. He's raw
2. He's been asked to play a role he's specifically not suited to (playing on a small forward)

Silvagni, Wilkie and Tauru are to samey. Like our forward line who seem to have too much of the same.

 

[gringo2011]

He is not showing enough at present it might improve throughout the year. Keeler looks like another Hunter Clark to me, someone who is allergic to the gym.

He's a project tall who is on the fringes. Games into him helps get a future pay off. Most players don't make it but he's got some good traits if we can harness it.

 

[akaifu]

He is not showing enough at present it might improve throughout the year. Keeler looks like another Hunter Clark to me, someone who is allergic to the gym.

Nahh to Keeler's credit he's bulked up like crazy over the past 8 months ever since they changed his training program mid-last year

It's just that he's sooo lazy and lethargic on field that I wrote him off at season's end last year when even with the bulkier build, he still couldn't grab a hold of games

He won't be at the club next year at this rate. Dodson will start to overtake him starting this weekend via the VFL

 

[beside the seaside]

Our midfield is very young isn't it? It's probably the one positive so far is that we've got guys like Hugo, Windy etc going through there and it's looking pretty good. Hall, TDK, Nas, Hugo, Flanders, Windy, Pou... there's a lot of youth there, the future midfield looks bright.

 

[SaintsofSteel]

Nahh to Keeler's credit he's bulked up like crazy over the past 8 months ever since they changed his training program mid-last year

It's just that he's sooo lazy and lethargic on field that I wrote him off at season's end last year when even with the bulkier build, he still couldn't grab a hold of games

He won't be at the club next year at this rate. Dodson will start to overtake him starting this weekend via the VFL

Bulk doesn't mean strength just means he has added weight, he has no muscle definition at all ala Ckark.