Match Sim 1 vs Essendon

[Otiman]

Essendon have been pretty poor, Laverde their best, Gresham and Duursma also good. Nobody else really of note.

[Saintmatt]

no

Is Windhager still out there, i thought i saw him walking the boundary with the doctor in the 1st quarter ?

Done for the day. Hand injury.

Fks sake. Not again. He broke his hand in the first 90 seconds of last year’s practice game against the injectors. Comptlely fkd his first 10 weeks after lighting it up in pre season.

[shrodes]

King goes BANG

[shrodes]

Saints win 16.10.106 to 5.10.40

King 4, Sharman 3, Membrey 3, Higgins 3

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

Nice.

[skeptic]

Gresh do much noting that Otiman has suggested he was amongst their better players?

[samuraisaint]

That'll do.

[Otiman]

Gresh do much noting that Otiman has suggested he was amongst their better players?

Not really. Had about 3-4 chances to kick goals or set up goals and fluffed them. That's how bad they were.

[Bernard Shakey]

Margin was 66.
Is that an omen?

[bobmurray]

https://www.saints.com.au/news/1495013/ ... ards-shine

Hugo Garcia folded through the centre bounce rotations following an early left-hand injury to Marcus Windhager.

It’s a case of deja vu for the developing inside midfielder, who similarly injured his right hand during last year’s practice game against Essendon. The extent of the injury is yet to be determined, however he was in a sling as the Saints ran over the top of their opposition.

A late stumble in a marking contest from Josh Battle had him leave the field gingerly, but he played out the majority of the third quarter with a strapped knee before being rested as a precaution and replaced by Zaine Cordy.

[meher baba]

Bloody hell re Windhager. I hope Crouch can get up for Rd 1.

Wilson was impressive. Phillipou looked ok when he played in the middle. Henry is definitely a first team player. Most of the rest went ok, but Owens was very quiet for some reason. And Howard had a total shocker: he's going to need to do much better than that.

Oh, and Essendon were garbage. I'm sure they can play better than that, but I'm not sure that Mackay and Gresham were precisely the new players they desperately needed.

[Otiman]

A one line player review.

1. Kicked 3 but not much influence otherwise
2. Was in every contest before being injured. Hopefully can maintain his momentum into the season (reports are he will be right for R1)
6. Was not overly damaging but the player we needed at times.
7. First half was in AA form. Link work brilliant.
8. Maintaining form
9. In everything, vocal and amongst it. Solid.
10. Quiet in stats but still a contested beast. His basketball bounce and ball collect on the boundary was awesome.
12. Firming for a career best season.
13. Solid but still fringe. Did some good things but didn't get near it enough. Good defensively.
14. As per #13.
19. Still our most important player. Was the difference in the first half.
20. Solid defender and we need him in the team. A liability with ball in hand but teammates getting around him to support, particularly Bonner.
21. On for a bit, unsighted
22. Wow. Really impressive and best of the new players. More impact on the game than Pou.
23. LIvely, x factor, and better in the contest than I was expecting.
25. In amongst it but a step away from it. Felt there was lack of confidence as he didn't take the body and elected to handball too often.
26. A rock in defense. Knee tweak a worry.
28. Career best form. Important member of the forwardline. Goal from the fence a highlight.
29. A hard body in defense is needed, Webster is it. Also as per #13 and #14.
32. Underrated by the commentary team, every time he got the ball something happened.
34. A huge surprise. Ready for AFL.
36. BOG in the first half, before presumably got some oppo attention. Was an outlet for Dougs and others under pressure. Got in good spots and used it well.
38. Ready when needed
43. 3 goals a good outcome. Like #1 didn't influence much ouside of the goals.
44. All class. Made their forward line look rubbish.

[Sanctorum]

There were a lot of positives out of this practice match.

1. Saints defence remains very solid, the back 6 regularly intercepted Essendon's entries, Howard started poorly but improved as the game progressed, interested to see Riley Bonner and Nasiah Wanganeen Milera taking most of the kickouts. Wilkie back to AA form, Battle solid, Webster and Stocker will vie for the spare HB flank spot, my preference is Liam....but either will be good.
2. Bonner is a lock for round 1, he has a potent left foot and kicked some excellent passes into the forward 50.
3. Liam Henry is a wizard, a couple of times gojng forward he and Brad Hill were in tandem that was a delight to watch, Henry's passing on the burst to the forwards was reminiscent of Cyril Rioli.
4. Both Darcy Wilson and Hugo Garcia impressed and will be strong chances for round 1.
5. Midfield setup consisted mostly of Marshall/Campbell, Steele, Ross, Phillipou, Garcia, Wilson and Byrnes.
6. The three tall forwards combined perfectly, King snapped a couple of monsters from a long way out, kicked 4. Membrey back to his best form, kicked 3 including a 'needle eye thread' from the boundary pocket. Sharman also presented well, kicked 3, missed 1. Higgins as he often does put a set shot out on the full but kicked truly for 3 - he looks to have bulked up a bit. If this is a precursor to the season (and that remains to be seen) it augurs well for our team's chances to play finals.
7. Michito Owens uncharacteristically had a quiet game, but it was a practice match after all and expect he'll be playing round 1.
8. Essendon never got into the game after 1/4 time, but much of that would be due to the pressure apllied by the Saints.

The reserves game followed the seniors, I hope someone will give a report on the senior players in that match.

[SaintPav]

Beautiful scoreline.

Looks like we screwed them hard. Real hard.

Hi Gresh.

[saynta]

So Gresh is a loser, but who cares.

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

Apparently Bonner had 28 (22 effective) and 7 marks and was the only one to crack 100 fantasy points for the game.

[Otiman]

Apparently Bonner had 28 (22 effective) and 7 marks and was the only one to crack 100 fantasy points for the game.

Yep was clearly BOG to half time and was a targeted outlet from his teammates especially Dougal.

[cwrcyn]

My focus was on the new guys and I was impressed by all of them

Liam Henry is Brad Hill mark 2. Hard running and clever. He's going to add something for sure

Bonner was all class. I always liked him at Port. Elite foot skills and quick across the ground. He is equally the best kick now at St Kilda. I expect him to play round one.

Darcy Wilson just knows how to play football. Gets in all the right positions. He has a huge leap and will out mark players his own height. His elite endurance is going to be a weapon

Hugo Garcia is VERY quick and attacks it like a maniac. I couldn't help thinking "we've got one here".

As for our second and third year players.....

Phillipou has elite handball skills, but still has a lot to learn about positioning, and I think it will be a slow burn for him . I don't expect him to suddenly jump into A grade status. The in close hard contact stuff is still alien to him and he'll need to develop in that area.

Owens is a maniac. His willingness to throw himself at the contest is scary at times. A little rough today

Poor Windy. Another broken hand. Was good before that happened.

[saintbob]

Being filmed on someone’s phone with a couple of randoms commentating.

The commentating was awful

[Otiman]

My focus was on the new guys and I was impressed by all of them

I agree on everything except Henry.

Henry has a contested side to him that Hill doesn't. Lends himself more to playing ahead of the ball and in tight spaces.

The link up from back to forward between Nas, Hill and Henry will be the source of many goals this year.

[saintbob]

I reckon there might be a bit more pressure on for senior spots this season? I see some good signs

Wilson, Bonnar, Henry all look likely starters (in that order).

I wouldn't be surprised if Webster is on the edge of selection.

If Windy doesn't play, expect Garcia to.

Match report on AFL says different;

The half-back duo of Jimmy Webster and Riley Bonner were particularly pleasing on the eye, with Bonner filling the void left by the injured Jack Sinclair (calf) with multiple moments of sharp kicking both coming out of defence, heading into attack and even on the scoreboard himself with a big roost from outside the arc before half-time.

[bobmurray]

Being filmed on someone’s phone with a couple of randoms commentating.

The commentating was awful

It's like they are picking people out of the crowd to do the commentating, these D grade commentators need to know when to STFU.

[Otiman]

I reckon there might be a bit more pressure on for senior spots this season? I see some good signs

Wilson, Bonnar, Henry all look likely starters (in that order).

I wouldn't be surprised if Webster is on the edge of selection.

If Windy doesn't play, expect Garcia to.

Match report on AFL says different;

The half-back duo of Jimmy Webster and Riley Bonner were particularly pleasing on the eye, with Bonner filling the void left by the injured Jack Sinclair (calf) with multiple moments of sharp kicking both coming out of defence, heading into attack and even on the scoreboard himself with a big roost from outside the arc before half-time.

It's a bloody hard selection there, balancing defense and offense.

You have to fit Wilkie, Howard, Battle, Sinclair, Nas, Bonner, Webster, Stocker into a back 6. You have one on the bench rotation but have to drop one.

[King Max]

Being filmed on someone’s phone with a couple of randoms commentating.

The commentating was awful

It's like they are picking people out of the crowd to do the commentating, these D grade commentators need to know when to STFU.

I thought the guy was ok in the end but the Richmond AFLW player was woeful.

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

Being filmed on someone’s phone with a couple of randoms commentating.

The commentating was awful

It's like they are picking people out of the crowd to do the commentating, these D grade commentators need to know when to STFU.

I thought the guy was ok in the end but the Richmond AFLW player was woeful.

You wouldn’t want to have had to drink a shot every time she said “great” or “amazing”!