Last time we played them Rd18 2008

[Thinline]

101 played 93 after Port led until a bit into the last term.

We were bad in that 07/08 kinda way for all but 20 minutes.

We were extremely effective when were direct and quick by hand (which was rare it must be said).

Just watching the last quarter (when we made our move), we were down on cattle (Harvey and Hayes were struggling with twinges). Ball and Gwilt were outstanding, Gwilty actually rotating through the middle foir aforesaid cattle reasons I suspect. Kosi had the odd good mark and touch. Gram was all over the shop - fumbly and bumbly - so too Fiora. Schneider struggled to kick straight but was putting in. Milne was quiet. Ruck contingent was sloppy. Goddard was effective. Dal was nowhere to be seen. Jones was good, but half the player he seems to be this year. Riewoldt was average but took a typical flight of the ball speccy at a crucial time. Blake took Motlop reasonably well. Montagna/Gilbo neither here nor there. Eddy was throwing himself about but didn't really do a great deal. Fish did some good stuff.

Overall it was a gutsy effort, but our disposal was abysmal, our tackling was pretty meek, and compared to now we looked awfully disorganised.

In short we are a much better side now. Much more confident and settled and our B and C level players are significantly more accomplished. We really battled our way to that win last year. This year we are much more polished and purposeful.

Even though Port have improved as well, we have improved more. Bring our A game and we will win on Friday night. I'm convinced.

[Go Sainters Go]

How was the weather that day, what were the detailed scores and who were the goal kickers and best players for both sides. Thanks.

[saintlee]

I'm never confident against Port, but I live in hope.....we are definitely a better team this year than last...

[Loyal]

grammy was special late kicked us ahead witha beauty on the run in the final term.
thought they won a lot of the hard ground ball. they were better than us at ground level.
rodan for them was good and he is in good form at the moment.
bally was good and went down with a hammy late but grammy stepped in and was special.

roof was closed from memory.
in slippery conditions this one will be played on the deck if port have their way.

[Thinline]

How was the weather that day, what were the detailed scores and who were the goal kickers and best players for both sides. Thanks.

It's comparing oranges with apples, I'm afraid, espcially as the game was played under the roof at the Dome.

Amazed to see Gram on the best list. I thought he looked really wobbly. Remember tho I only revisited the last quarter so my assessment was only based on the final thirty mins.

My point is that we are now playing a significantly more refined style of footy.

Full scores etc:

St Kilda 4.1 7.5 9.10 14.17 (101)
Port Adelaide 4.1 8.3 12.5 14.9 (93)

GOALS
St Kilda: Riewoldt 3 Fiora 2 Gram 2 Gwilt 2 Ball Harvey Koschitzke Milne Schneider
Port Adelaide: Westhoff 3 Motlop 2 Salter 2 Bentley Boak Brogan Burgoyne Ebert Rodan Surjan

BEST
St Kilda: Gram, Montagna, Ball, Fisher, Dal Santo, Harvey
Port Adelaide: Cornes, Brogan, Boak, Cassisi, Stewart, Carlile

INJURIES
St Kilda: Ball (corked leg), Harvey (concussion)
Port Adelaide: Salter (concussion)


Reports: Nil

Umpires: Vozzo, Head, Keating

Official crowd: 22,878 at Telstra Dome

[InkerSaint]

Probably best known for Bally's ballerina-style scissor kick that sidelined him for the rest of the season, Jacob Surjan's tackle on Harves that knocked him out cold, and Roo taking a screamer or two and generally leading the effort.

Gram was all over the shop - fumbly and bumbly

Hmm, he fumbled and bumbled his way to 34 disposals and 2 goals.

[matrix]

the only other win was a few years earlier at Yorke........then we have to go back to 2000 to have a win.

deff a boggey side
i hope we smash the tossers this week
f*** i hate port.
HATE!!!

[Loyal]

Probably best known for Bally's ballerina-style scissor kick that sidelined him for the rest of the season, Jacob Surjan's tackle on Harves that knocked him out cold, and Roo taking a screamer or two and generally leading the effort.

Gram was all over the shop - fumbly and bumbly

Hmm, he fumbled and bumbled his way to 34 disposals and 2 goals.

LMAO i know, grammy was great that night. he was better than great he was .. special!

[Go Sainters Go]

Thanks Thinline, I'd forgotten it was a home game.
I think this time, King and Gardi should play a big part in giving our improved mids first use of the ball, we are more accountable and expect Milne and Schnieder to play a bigger part, particularly if it's wet as expected.

[matrix]

gards v grogan

should be firey, cant stand brogan

[Thinline]

Probably best known for Bally's ballerina-style scissor kick that sidelined him for the rest of the season, Jacob Surjan's tackle on Harves that knocked him out cold, and Roo taking a screamer or two and generally leading the effort.

Gram was all over the shop - fumbly and bumbly

Hmm, he fumbled and bumbled his way to 34 disposals and 2 goals.

Have a look at the last quarter. I suspect it didn't match his effort in the first three (which I didn't revisit).

Even still,

[sainter2631]

More relevant to this weeks clash was the match against Port, Anzac Day Weekend 2007. Was pouring of rain, our ball use was shaky the entire game and we got flogged. I also remember us getting some key injuries due to the wet weather.

Yes we are a much better side now, but what worries me is the wet weather.

Port Adelaide 96 St Kilda 43

[Thinline]

How much did that game suck...

[matrix]

yeah
sucked
drenched
unhappy
long drive home
hasnt forgot

[sainter2631]

How much did that game suck...

Understatement. It was brutally painful to watch and ceased any hope we all had for an illustrious 2007 season.

[dcstkfc]

How much did that game suck...

Understatement. It was brutally painful to watch and ceased any hope we all had for an illustrious 2007 season.

Harves was infinitely better than any of our other players, and it was just depressing that few of the others were giving a yelp.

[spert]

In trying to work out why our record against PA is so bad, I think it has mostly been the case of PA playing the man hard ..especially our play makers, and also running hard from the half back line. We haven't had a lot of tough hard tackling defensive forwards in recent years, Hammill excepted, and the ball has bounced out of our forward line too easy. This year it has been a different story, with our forwards fighting much harder, so I hope that we see a good result this time around.

[jonesy]

Let's not forget Port fielded there worst side in there short history.
Was a disgraceful performance. We were very lucky late last year,we played a lot of sides that were massively depleted late in the year. That's why our top4 finish was misleading.

That match was marred by one of the worst umpiring displays in recent memory

[saintsrus]

How was the weather that day

By memory we won the toss and kicked with the air conditioning

[Thinline]

We were very lucky late last year,we played a lot of sides that were massively depleted late in the year. That's why our top4 finish was misleading.

Pretty much every side's 'depleted' by season end... You can only play who you play... Would you prefer it if we took the opportunity to insist upon clubs playing players you thought more suitable?

Our top four finish was what it was. We won enough games by enough points to have us in a particular position at a particular time.

What on earth is misleading about that?

This ' fourth was misleading' shite is a complete crock and it really riles me up...

What are we meant to do? Write to the AFL after Rd 22 and say 'Look Andrew, I know we finished 4th and all, but we really don't think our spot on the ladder is reflective of our ability. We actually reckon we are more a 5th-6th-7th kind of side. Do you reckon you could make a couple of adjustments before the finals start? Cheers, mate. Ta.'

I mean really...what planet are you from?

[jonesy]

We were very lucky late last year,we played a lot of sides that were massively depleted late in the year. That's why our top4 finish was misleading.

Pretty much every side's 'depleted' by season end... You can only play who you play... Would you prefer it if we took the opportunity to insist upon clubs playing players you thought more suitable?

Our top four finish was what it was. We won enough games by enough points to have us in a particular position at a particular time.

What on earth is misleading about that?

This ' fourth was misleading' shite is a complete crock and it really riles me up...

What are we meant to do? Write to the AFL after Rd 22 and say 'Look Andrew, I know we finished 4th and all, but we really don't think our spot on the ladder is reflective of our ability. We actually reckon we are more a 5th-6th-7th kind of side. Do you reckon you could make a couple of adjustments before the finals start? Cheers, mate. Ta.'

I mean really...what planet are you from?

Is that you Mick Malthouse?

What I said was correct, and if you insist otherwise you are kidding yourself. Of course you only play the side which is fielded,but the facts are we played a lot of ordinary sides on the that run home. Am I complaining? No ! We were overdue some for some luck for a change.
The ladder doesn't lie,we finished 4th,however if you think we weren't a weak top 4 side then you are deluded. The results against the top 2 sides proved it

[Thinline]

You compare me to Malthouse!??!?!? Now I'm really riled up... I always thought of myself as a reasonable bloke...

Mate, you've switched your tune.

You first said our top four finish was misleading.

Now you suggest we were a weak top four side.

The latter is kind of obvious.

The former insinuates we weren't worthy of 4th on the ladder which is plainly ridiculous.

I mean who is it that you think was MORE worthy?

North? Beat em. Collingwood? beat em. Sydney? Beat em. Adelaide? Beat em.

We did not beat Cats or Dogs.

We did manage a win against the otherwise all conquering Hawks.

In the wash up, I reckon fourth was where we were at.

So what exactly is your point?

[jonesy]

You know what my point is Micky( ) and you're just trying to be technical with my wording.
We were a weak top 4 side, agree?
We were fortunate enough to get a good run home against some depleted sides.
Did the sides below deserve to finish higher than us,no.

As time go's by people will look back at history and see we finished 4th and think we must of been a great side. That's what is misleading. The stigma of finishing top4 suggests you are a very very good side. IMO,we weren't

[Thinline]

You're trying to wriggle out of a pretty determined tackle Jonesy...

Agree to disagree.

We were very good (4th), not consistently so (3rd), and somewhat less than great (2nd and 1st). 5th to 8th were lesser sides.

Look back at top four's of years gone by. Little was different in 08.

[jonesy]

Thought I brushed it aside as well as a Harvey swivel in the late 90's.

Anyhow,I'm off to work