One concerning thing

[skeptic]

Obviously we won and won well.

Personally I felt quite uncomfortable at 1/4 time. Collingwood were beating us at our own game and really pressuring us into making some awful mistakes.
Even though we were up at the first break, it felt a bit to me like we were lucky they couldn't capitalise.

Doing what good teams do, we adapted, carried on and blew them out of the water but I just wonder if maybe the blue print has been put out there for the opposition to look at.

Under pressure we saw:
-Goddard shank the ball quite a bit
-Dawson looked very uncomfortable playing on Rocca who's attack on the ball i felt was good

Both improved immensely however.

I thought by their standards, Geary and Jones struggled a tad too.

McEvoy played ok but clearly isn't ready just yet (not criticising him)

As far as changes go, I'd pbly bring Raph in for Geary
and King for McEvoy if he's fit

and whilst I really like him, it seems Dawson is minding Hudghton's spot for him ATM. That being said, IMO Zac is iur next full back.

Now as for listing my positives... there are really far far too many... at a glance:
Gardiner was superb in the ruck
take ur pick of midfielders: Monty, Dal, Hayes, Ball... all superb
Milne and Schnieder were super all night
Riewoldt kicked the goals that mattered
Gwilt and McQualter are both turning into the players we lways hoped they;d be

[Gabba]

The worst part is that Collingwood will win next week if the trend is anything to go by.

[markp]

The worst part is that Collingwood will win next week if the trend is anything to go by.

I hope so........ they play the scum.

[ace]

Only thing to be concerned about was the score.
Failed to beat them by 100 points.
Will have to do better next time.

[perfectionist]

Collingwood play Carlton.

Sometimes we get too greedy and think that we should beat a side by 5 goals every quarter. They manned up hard in the first quarter and had plenty of plans. We made more skill errors in the first ten minutes than we had made for the previous 6 games.

In the end, I was quite happy with our equal 18th best win ever against all opposition and our best win ever against them. If they had had all their players in we would only have won by 12 goals.

[Richter]

Some fair points there skeptic.

Don't agree re CJ though. I thought he had another terrific game. Really works hard to make sure that he can focus on the best parts of his game i.e. in attack: run, carry, handball, shepherd; and in defence: run, harry, tackle, tackle, tackle.

[Dan Warna]

Collingwood play Carlton.

.

shame there has to be a winner

[Gabba]

Collingwood play Carlton.

.

shame there has to be a winner

Yep, that truly is the disappointing thing. A draw, however, will piss both teams off

[ace]

It is St Kilda's smaller players who are making the difference.
Geary, Jones, McQualter are ferocious when the opposition have the ball.
Give us back OUR ball Collingwood, give us back OUR ball Collingwood and then get out of way Collingwood.

The unrelenting chase and tackle until the opposition turn over the ball is preventing the opposition scoring and keeping the ball inside 50 for St Kilda until someone can score.
These smaller guys have the speed to catch the opposition's slower players.

Replacing these guys with more experienced, steady, reliable type players would be a mistake.

[F_Q_F]

Dawson has proved a handy back up player but he definitely looked uncomfortable 1 out with Rocca to me.

I think we were lucky that Rocca has been out of touch of late.

Seems like when Max is ready Dawson will have to make way for him. Tough break because he would be a handy 2nd tall defender but he doesn't have the ability to rebound of the half back flank like the others.

He will only get better though as he gets more comfortable playing AFL.

[SainterK]

Dawson has proved a handy back up player but he definitely looked uncomfortable 1 out with Rocca to me.

I think we were lucky that Rocca has been out of touch of late.

Seems like when Max is ready Dawson will have to make way for him. Tough break because he would be a handy 2nd tall defender but he doesn't have the ability to rebound of the half back flank like the others.

He will only get better though as he gets more comfortable playing AFL.

Come on people, Rocca would have been out there to prove himself as much as Zac....he would be aware people would be wanting Zac to win the rematch.

[saintsRrising]

I thought by their standards, Geary and Jones struggled a tad too.

On Geary...I am now a huge fan. He has stepped up enormousaly and the Crows game was his turning point.

I think he is a marvelous player now....just needs games to make him more experienced.

He know when and where to run.....and is a good user of the ball who will get better.

With another 15 games under his bely he will improve and be good value in the finals.


On CJ...was on Swan tonight. Swan normally rips us apart...whereas tonight he was quiet. J was quieter than he has been...but he kept the dangerous Swan out of the game...and bobbed up fora goal. kyon would be happy IMO.

[F_Q_F]

Come on people, Rocca would have been out there to prove himself as much as Zac....he would be aware people would be wanting Zac to win the rematch.

No doubt he would have.

If he had a few more matches under his belt then he could have easily had 4-5 goals.

[bergholt]

Obviously we won and won well.

Personally I felt quite uncomfortable at 1/4 time. Collingwood were beating us at our own game and really pressuring us into making some awful mistakes.
Even though we were up at the first break, it felt a bit to me like we were lucky they couldn't capitalise.

Doing what good teams do, we adapted, carried on and blew them out of the water but I just wonder if maybe the blue print has been put out there for the opposition to look at.

i agree with this to some extent.

collingwood matched us for pressure (matched but didn't beat) until about halfway through the second quarter. that meant that things were tight. we were lucky that we were the ones capitalising on opportunities and that they had no forward firepower. there was a point in the second quarter where our quick handballs started hitting targets, we started getting free runners, and the game was over at that point.

geelong will match us for longer than a quarter and a half, so i agree that this could be an issue against them. if it had been tight all night last night, our better conversion would still have won us the game. but if we have an off night in front of goal, while the pressure is being matched, we'll be in for a very tough night.

good kicking covers all manner of sins.

[InkerSaint]

You have got to be joking.

We still outscored them 3 goals to 1.

It wouldn't have bothered me if we had played every quarter like that. It still would have pushed the percentage back over 200.

While I did notice the Pies were applying good pressure, my thoughts were that Lyon would set the group straight at quarter time and we would "unleash the beast" - which is pretty much what happened.

Geelong are a different matter. The Saints have 6 more games to hone their attack and pressure enough to be any chance of beating them. I don't think we'll see any drop-off in effort between now and then. Geelong is all they and Lyon talk about - they're on a mission.

[Saint Bev]

Only thing to be concerned about was the score.
Failed to beat them by 100 points.
Will have to do better next time.

Yes agree, and we allowed them 4 goals in the second half, just not good enough. Lets not forget Sam Gilbert, an awesome game also.

[Thinline]

The Pies came out breathing fire. Why wouldn't they? They had to do something with half their list in bandages. But that kind of thing never sustains, especially when you don't get goals for effort. We soaked it up, snuffed it all out, and trampled on the carcass.

Jones - how good are his hands, by the way - was OUTSTANDING; a one percenter machine. Dane who? Smashed him.

Geary was extremely effective as well. An exciting, tough, livewire.

All that said, Geelong, with their amazing skill level and big around the ball bodies, are still - quite easily I think - the benchmark.

I think our intencity is masking some skill deficiencies a little. Maybe that doesn't matter. Only round 14 will answer the quessie. I mean when Gilbo takes a bounce I still shudder, Dawso's ball drop makes me gulp in horror, Roo in front of goal, Gwilty and turnovers... They are incredibly minor quibbles, but I couldn't level the same at the Cats. Wish I could. I can't. No one could. Except for Mooney and his occasional waywardness I suppose...

[mordi]

they were like the Saints in the 80's........you come up against a top side..........have a crack for 30 minutes and then class takes over , and you are smashed.

Let the paybacks continue.......

[Moccha]

Under pressure we saw:
-Goddard shank the ball quite a bit
-Dawson looked very uncomfortable playing on Rocca who's attack on the ball i felt was good

I thought by their standards, Geary and Jones struggled a tad too.


As far as changes go, I'd pbly bring Raph in for Geary

You certainly got that wrong. I really think you are over analyzing.

Geary was again excellent. Disposal is great and has a huge tank. Cannot fault this kid and would have him over Raph any day of the week, not that Raph is not a good player. I think a lot on here have analysis paralysis. Collingwood were clearly undermanned and considering tried their guts out but you can only beat what's served up.

[bigred]

Harsh on the first quarter.

I honestly thought they did well.

Surely you expected the Filth to try to completely shut down any movement.

We still out scored them 3 to 1.....and then went on with it.

That second quarter is one of the better you will see. Absolutely put the screws on them and made them look ordinary.

Sure the Filth were very undermanned, but we made them look absolutely second rate.

[3rd generation saint]

Scum play filth, best result draw, reports, suspensions and injuries, cripples them both for rest of season.

It was pleasing to hear Monty say that they were determined last night to win every quarter and being ruthless is the sign of a top side.

Yes there is still improvement and we have players who can walk into the side and make a difference and do their role.

Thought McEvoy was a good inclusion as it helped our structure being able to leave Kosi at full forward and McEvoy got his share of hit outs and posessions. This is important so he can come in & fill in for King or Gardiner when needed.

Most important our mid field are kicking goals, would be interesting to see the stats of how many goals have been contributed from our midfiled players to date compared to last year.

[saint vince]

Obviously we won and won well.

Personally I felt quite uncomfortable at 1/4 time. Collingwood were beating us at our own game and really pressuring us into making some awful mistakes.
Even though we were up at the first break, it felt a bit to me like we were lucky they couldn't capitalise.

Doing what good teams do, we adapted, carried on and blew them out of the water but I just wonder if maybe the blue print has been put out there for the opposition to look at.

Under pressure we saw:
-Goddard shank the ball quite a bit
-Dawson looked very uncomfortable playing on Rocca who's attack on the ball i felt was good

Both improved immensely however.

I thought by their standards, Geary and Jones struggled a tad too.

McEvoy played ok but clearly isn't ready just yet (not criticising him)

As far as changes go, I'd pbly bring Raph in for Geary
and King for McEvoy if he's fit

and whilst I really like him, it seems Dawson is minding Hudghton's spot for him ATM. That being said, IMO Zac is iur next full back.

In hindsight we were good in the first quarter. That is the best anyone has played against us all year and we still held them to one goal and kicked three ourselves. The reason it turned around after then is because no one can stay with us for a whole game. Our tackling pressure and hard running is to much for anyone to go a whole game.

[BringBackMadDog]

Personally I felt quite uncomfortable at 1/4 time. Collingwood were beating us at our own game and really pressuring us into making some awful mistakes.
Even though we were up at the first break, it felt a bit to me like we were lucky they couldn't capitalise.

I think this was what impressed mt the most about our game last night. We absorbed everything that they threw at us and then went up a gear and wiped the floor with them. That is a sign of a very very good outfit. Remember they did the same thing to Geelong last year and Geelong capitulated and got done by 86 points!!

[Armoooo]

I think Cometti put it best at half time...

St Kilda took Collingwood's best punch..... and laughed at it!

[borderbarry]

Re CJ, was happy with his performance, except his disposal is still not the best. Sometimesd his decisions are ?? With 7 seconds to go in a quarter he has the ball on a wing, and turns around and kicks it backwards to a contest? Brain Spasm.