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From Afl site, dont want to link it they have enough money
News
By Katrina Gill 12:48 AM Sat 04 April, 2009
ADELAIDE coach Neil Craig praised St Kilda’s defensive pressure and ability to win the contested ball, saying it was as good as he’s seen in a minor-round game.
The Saints beat the Crows to the ball on their way to a 12-point quarter time lead and continued to stifle the home side’s ball movement with intense pressure.
Adelaide recovered the contested possession deficit late in the third term, but St Kilda went up another gear. Craig said the high intensity game was great exposure for his side, which included four teenagers.
“The thing that won the game for St Kilda was their unbelievable pressure at the ball carrier all over the ground for long periods of the game,â€
PHYSICAL strength and experience may have been St Kilda's greatest advantages in its gritty 32-point win over Adelaide at AAMI Stadium on Friday night.
Defender Sam Fisher said the Saints' dominance in the midfield was encouraged by their seasoned bodies at the contests.
"We’re a pretty experienced group with bigger bodies going in against Adelaide, who are a pretty young side at the moment with guys who haven’t played many games and have some light bodies," he said.
"It’s always handy to use your bigger bodies to outmuscle them (the younger players) and win the contested ball. I think we won the contested ball every quarter so that was a great result."
The Saints came into the game having only won five times in 18 years at the venue, but threw away the form guide to record a well-earned victory.
"It’s always tough coming to AAMI Stadium to play Adelaide. They’re a tough side and we needed a big contribution," Fisher said.
"We did our homework on them early in the week and they got off to a great start against Collingwood, but they were allowed to. If you let guys like Andrew McLeod and a few of those dangerous backs get running they’re going to hurt you.
"They’re such great players and great ball users. We focused on limiting those players and the team really put in a performance to stop those players tonight."
Early in the last term, Adelaide cut the deficit to one point but St Kilda produced a late run of goals to seal the victory.
Fisher was pleased with his teammates' ability to close out the game, especially after the Sydney Swans outscored the Saints in the final quarter of last week's clash.
"We knew they were going to come and they always do and once they get that so-called 19th man (crowd) behind them they’re a hard team to stop," he said.
"It took a real big effort for us to control them in the last quarter and we managed to stop their ball use which was the key to getting over the line.
"We ran the game out quite well. They’re a well-drilled side, but our boys were confident after doing the work in pre-season so we knew we could run out the game and we did that well in the last quarter."
Adelaide's renowned defence also struggled against St Kilda's tall attack – yet another boost for the visitors.
"Ben Rutten is an All-Australian full-back so he’s not an easy bloke to get around or have a big influence over," Fisher said.
"It was good to see Justin (Koschitzke) and Nick (Riewoldt) having an impact on the game."
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.everybody still loves lenny....and we always will
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Im going to take Fisher by his word and accept that the 1st and 4th quarter fade out against the swans was an abberation that is not acceptable in 09.
and
doing homework on the opposition pays off.
saint patrick wrote:Have always respected Craig and his praise is good value and an indication of our improvement.
So much more good grace after defeat than Malthouse or Thompson have ever shown.
Glad Hentschel is ok.The kid deserves a bit of luck!
never respected craig as he comes across as a sports scientist trying to make players uber fit and ruining ends of seasons through too heavy training too early in the year
saint patrick wrote:Have always respected Craig and his praise is good value and an indication of our improvement.
So much more good grace after defeat than Malthouse or Thompson have ever shown.
Glad Hentschel is ok.The kid deserves a bit of luck!
never respected craig as he comes across as a sports scientist trying to make players uber fit and ruining ends of seasons through too heavy training too early in the year
Funny, I've always respected Craig for the sports scientist approach - it's how I view the head coaching role these days.
I've struggled to understand how he's not addressed his late season fade's though... all well and good to be the fittest team in round 1, but it's come back to bite them year after year as other teams catch up and the Crows start paying the price with injuries.
Perhaps this is going to be that year for the Crows. I can't remember the last time I saw someone run over the top of them quite like that in round 2 - 4th quarter the Crows were spent and Saints still had gas in the tank.
"Everything comes to he who hustles while he waits"
- Henry Ford
sunsaint wrote:Im going to take Fisher by his word and accept that the 1st and 4th quarter fade out against the swans was an abberation that is not acceptable in 09.
and
doing homework on the opposition pays off.
I agree the 1st quarter was a bit of a worry... the 4th quarter was excusable to an extent. As one of the players (Gilbert?) said - they just ran out of legs. It certainly wasn't a problem on Friday night.
they have enough money
