Autopsy Crows hammer Saints by 63 in round 1

[gringo2011]

Good statement gringo which I know will bite you on the arse.


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Right now I hate them. Tomorrow is a new day. They can redeem themselves, but respect is earned.

 

[Tommy Wigs]

I remember a long time ago, about 2 months, when people said we weren’t far away last year and our late year form was awesome.

There’s no sugar coating that. Still had 23. Plenty of experience still, much of the result is on them.

Long year, find a hobby, goodbye LDU, and let’s hope we don’t get screwed with the draft.

 

[Mat Mann]

disappointing day on so many fronts

How Hill has largely escaped this review, 6 disposals from 82% game time

Hastie with 12 from 40% was subbed

 

[Dard Ball Get]

FFS, you are like a prissy old lady....or Gerald Waterley, let the man get it out. You don't have to Ned Flanders the place up. You're better than that FGFP.

Very sexist of you. I know a few that will be highly triggered!

 

[Sheepey]

1. Well if you can’t figure that out I won’t waste time explaining it
2. Expansion areas has nothing to do with it
3. We have lower memberships, but have I think 4th largest dormant supporter base in VIC
4. They will clearly add teams, not subtract. More games = more money. Not that hard to figure out really

Sounds like you can't explain it as is. Expansion areas are included in the AFL's assessment in how willing they are to continually support a club - they want to grow their supporter base and expand their revenue. Gold Coast have never made a final and have the lowest or second lowest membership tally, what do you think keeps the AFL supporting them? I'd also love to know how you plucked the "dormant" supporter base, when we have one of the lower levels of support on social media compared to other clubs.

 

[gringo2011]

Very sexist of you. I know a few that will be highly triggered!

I'm one of them. Look what you made me do. I'm a horrible person and it's all you and Bad Hill's fault.

 

[westernsainter]

Shit game but Crows are a very real chance of a top four finish this year - hindsight could show that losing away to them isn't that bad a result.

 

[_Maximus_12]

Travaglia is more likely to play when we’ve got a full squad to support him and his deficiencies.
He and Boxshall will get picked over Jones, Byrnes & Clark as the season goes on.

 

[Dard Ball Get]

Sounds like you can't explain it as is. Expansion areas are included in the AFL's assessment in how willing they are to continually support a club - they want to grow their supporter base and expand their revenue. Gold Coast have never made a final and have the lowest or second lowest membership tally, what do you think keeps the AFL supporting them? I'd also love to know how you plucked the "dormant" supporter base, when we have one of the lower levels of support on social media compared to other clubs.

The AFL “support” every club mate. Deary me

I didn’t pluck it, was posted in an article on year last year.

 

[Sully111]

I like the look of Hall.

Hope to see Boxshall in asap. We aren't winning the flag this year, get the young talent in.

 

[_Maximus_12]

Yeah, not quite mate. 43 and still bench 300 pounds for reps. Don't drink beer at all these days. Occasional red is about all. Prioritise fitness to stay young and healthy for the kids. Never felt better actually.

Also, why I harp on about strength all the time. It's an area I do know something about having been lifting weights consistently for 28 years.

I have watched blokes put on insane strength in the gym in a short period with proper programming. I know what is possible.

Been around the block long enough to tell we don't do anywhere near as much strength work as the other clubs. 100% convinced of that.

And how have those weights of yours correlated with an AFL career muscles?

 

[Tommy Wigs]

Many will say I am over-reacting to a loss where we were undermanned, but I have seriously grave concerns about the state and future of our footy club.

We have won one final in 14 years. During that time, we've watched clubs like Hawthorn, Geelong, Collingwood, Sydney, Brisbane either complete successful rebuilds or consistently compete a high level despite the draft system supposedly enforcing a boom/bust cycle. From memory, since 2011, we’ve only truly bottomed out once (2014, when we drafted McCartin) and finished in the bottom three just one other time (Billings). As much as Kane Cornes can be a knob, he is absolutely right when he says that we've been stuck in mediocrity, occasionally competitive but never a genuine premiership threat. This means we’re in the worst possible position; not good enough to challenge for a flag, but not bad enough to secure elite talent through the draft. No one wants to deliberately lose games, but the harsh reality is that a single Higgins goal in the dying seconds of 2024 cost us two draft spots, two early picks we desperately needed. It is unbearably St Kilda that we can’t even lose properly.

We've been turned away by so many free agents (I can't even remember them all, De Goey and Callaghan come to mind) despite big money offers that it's clear that players are avoiding us for a reason. Maybe the all powerful player agents are steering their clients away, warning them that we’re not a good destination. Whatever the case, our track record only makes it harder to attract future free agents. Unlike some clubs, we can’t offer massive crowds or lucrative under-the-table sponsorship deals like Cotton On. That means we rely far more on on-field success to draw in talent, something we simply haven’t been able to achieve.

Our list has an alarming lack of talent. We made Port Adelaide look incredible in the preseason, only for them to get smashed by 90+ points last night. Adelaide’s slick ball movement today would have been easily disrupted by a side that applied enough pressure on the ball carrier - something any professional team should do as a bare minimum - but we couldn’t even manage that. We looked slow, undersized, and unskilled. Worse still, our most important players also tend to be our most injury-prone, so we consistently start seasons limping rather than firing. And now, our brightest young star in NWM could be eyeing the exit after just a few years at the club. If he leaves, it would be a disaster.

The reality staring us in the face is that we need to fully bottom out and accumulate elite talent rather than hovering around 9th-12th with an okay-but-not-good-enough list. But just our luck, thanks to academy/FS and then Tasmania's entry into the competition, the next few drafts are will be among the most compromised yet. We're staring down prolonged mediocrity without even the silver lining of a high-draft picks.

How long can a club with high levels of debt to the AFL and poor on-field results continue to stay functioning?

Like I say, I really hope I’m overreacting. But the worst-case scenario? We get key players back late in the season, go on a run, and land, yet again, in that dreaded 9th-12th range. It’s a lose-lose situation, and right now, I can’t see a way out.

I’m one that is usually positive on the Saints. Not any more. There is always a lot of excuses and what abouts with us. Just deplorable. I worry that our good recruiting in the last 3 years will inch by inch be undone by our garbage leadership and that big hole in the 25+ group. Waiting for the draft, yet again, to solve our problems, until they don’t.

I’m just not sure where our midfield help will come from to help turnaround this year. We’re really only missing Pou.

 

[Browny2Carlisle]

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Travaglia is more likely to play when we’ve got a full squad to support him and his deficiencies.
He and Boxshall will get picked over Jones, Byrnes & Clark as the season goes on.

Why wait? Jones is awful, Byrnes is a liability and Clark gets gassed standing up from the bench. They aren’t changing anything.
If Clark’s underdone and not ready for a full game why play him at all?

 

[billings2paddy]

He was also a fan of Lalor Langford Draper.

It weird people are insinuating that he was chosen because of Ross. We know we were taking either Langford or Draper if they were at the pick.

So all it means was that he was the next best rated by our club.

Very early days yet however, we are trying to keep arguably our best young player whilst attracting a grade talent via free agency
Our problem has been drafting and development especially in the midfield.
It's much more difficult to find A grade midfield grade talent in the 40's.
It doesn't look great optically when our captain does an interview the night before the draft saying it will be good to get some more talent in the midfield to help then draft 3 defenders with our first 3 picks when our midfield is sub par.

 

[stavro#4]

Very early days yet however, we are trying to keep arguably our best young player whilst attracting a grade talent via free agency
Our problem has been drafting and development especially in the midfield.
It's much more difficult to find A grade midfield grade talent in the 40's.
It doesn't look great optically when our captain does an interview the night before the draft saying it will be good to get some more talent in the midfield to help then draft 3 defenders with our first 3 picks when our midfield is sub par.

We MISSED out on the top midfield talent.

They went 1-7. Our first pick was 8.

North only willing to trade and wanted 7+8.

 

[Atomboy]

Why wait? Jones is awful, Byrnes is a liability and Clark gets gassed standing up from the bench. They aren’t changing anything.
If Clark’s underdone and not ready for a full game why play him at all?

Weird one to not play Boxshall as sub instead of Clark.

 

[_Maximus_12]

Why wait? Jones is awful, Byrnes is a liability and Clark gets gassed standing up from the bench. They aren’t changing anything.
If Clark’s underdone and not ready for a full game why play him at all?

We clearly picked what we thought was best for ‘right now’ and gave us the best chance at winning.

I would question the fitness testing they have to pass, and whether or not that replicates the right intensity because none of Crouch, Marshall, Clark looked sharp enough to justify picking in the last 12 months

 

[gringo2011]

I like the look of Hall.

Hope to see Boxshall in asap. We aren't winning the flag this year, get the young talent in.

He looked the only one capable of scoring in the first half. Most of the forwards were abysmal apart from him. If he had decent kicking to him he looks like a gun. Can we run over our old guys and put them on the LTI list and load up in the midseason draft?

 

[stavro#4]

He looked the only one capable of scoring in the first half. Most of the forwards were abysmal apart from him. If he had decent kicking to him he looks like a gun. Can we run over our old guys and put them on the LTI list and load up in the midseason draft?

Nice first pick by Dimple

 

[Joffaboy]

Right now I hate them. Tomorrow is a new day. They can redeem themselves, but respect is earned.

I hate all of them at the moment.

On SM-S908E using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Sheepey]

The AFL “support” every club mate. Deary me

I didn’t pluck it, was posted in an article on year last year.

Now you're just being disingenuous. Every club is supported, but some, like ours, are supported far more than others.

I guess that random article posted is the authority then, despite the numbers.

 

[gringo2011]

I’m one that is usually positive on the Saints. Not any more. There is always a lot of excuses and what abouts with us. Just deplorable. I worry that our good recruiting in the last 3 years will inch by inch be undone by our garbage leadership and that big hole in the 25+ group. Waiting for the draft, yet again, to solve our problems, until they don’t.

I’m just not sure where our midfield help will come from to help turnaround this year. We’re really only missing Pou.

The defence and attack was the biggest issue today. Mids look like we should be okay.

 

[Saintbloke]

Not sure who's running the player fitness system, but I think it has been a flop. Looks like we have suffered from over-training, too much physical intensity, and maybe should have been more emphasis on running, athleticism and not so much on outright physical contact training. Too many out there today, looked cooked too early which I found quite surprising considering we should have fielded a fresh hard running unit for Round 1.

 

[Sully111]

He looked the only one capable of scoring in the first half. Most of the forwards were abysmal apart from him. If he had decent kicking to him he looks like a gun. Can we run over our old guys and put them on the LTI list and load up in the midseason draft?

Thought Higgins was good.

 

[Tommy Wigs]

Not going to get too upset. Did not expect to win. Some disappointing aspects of course.

Hall a positive. Garcia started to get into the game toward the end. Windy was a bit more prominent than he has been for a while. Boyd competed. Macrae did what we thought he would. Hastie was ok. O’Connell struggled to get into it. But he will be good long term. Schoenmaker did some good things. On another day that boot will be good for us.

I thought they tried hard but we just lacked the skill and experience of Adelaide. Best thing we can say is we will be better for the run. 2 or 3 back next week would be handy. Especially in the forward line.

I’ll forget about this game quickly I hope.

In general, and this references many different comments, the fact that so many see us as being outmatched by a team who finished below us is a concern.