Autopsy 2024 AFL Season Round 17 vs Sydney Swans

[Saintscomemarchingin]

Went down to Cairns City for the day, visited the Market, had a good feed on the esplanade, joined in a Spanish dance class ouside at the esplanade-oh the pretty women, omg, hips & buttocks flaying everywhere, then went to Gilligan's nightclub- oh the pretty women again.
Only heard that the Saints won, by my brother texting me.
What an absolute hoot of a day, one of the best I've had in ages, I know, that's tragic hahaha.
GO YOU SAINTS.

 

[tomjoad]

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Miracle is a bit OTT isn't it? Yeah we've played shit ugly footy, but we've been in it against the entire Top 9:

Sydney - won by 2 points
Carlton - yet to play
Fremantle - lost by 17pts
Essendon - lost by 4 points
@ Geelong - lost by 8 points
Port Adelaide - lost by 2 points
@ Brisbane - lost by 20 points
@ GWS - lost by 1 point
Collingwood - won by 15 points

Exactly my point and argument to a few mates I was speaking with back in Oz.
We're not that far off it, just need more consistency from our younger brigade (which should come) less injuries, and an upgraded and better top tier.
Trade for a big forward, move King to CHF/chop out ruck, try and keep Battle (that's just as much Battle as it is the club) and keep finding and playing/rotating kids.
The system is there, we just need to keep oiling and replacing the old parts, and make sure the parts we do have fit.

 

[Klaatu]

King will be on the sidelines wondering where that kind of ball movement has been all year haha

But if that's what we have to look forward to next year with a fit King in the forwardline, look out

Forwards dictate ball movement not the other way around, all King has to do is continue to lead & change leading patterns & it will look just as good.


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[austinnn]

Forwards dictate ball movement not the other way around, all King has to do is continue to lead & change leading patterns & it will look just as good.


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[mad-saint-guy]

What a performance. From the outset our endeavour was as good as we've seen for many years, and we were even pulling off some nice attacking plays along with manic defence. We slipped away badly late in the second and then easily could have let the umps 4 goal swing late in the third end the contest (we've seen our team lose confidence and give up countless times). But for some reason we had undeniable belief in this game and absolutely deserves the hard fought win. Yes, some players made mistakes but we didn't have one guy who didn't pull his weight.

Wilson was a livewire early and provided some spark that we needed to get on the scoreboard. Pou was great all day and went into absolute beast mode on the dial quarter. He hasn't looked so assured and confident since his first few games - bravo to the kid. Henry makes mistakes but he also makes magic - always seems to take time to build I to the rhythm of the game but in the second half he was on absolutely everything.

Wilkie, Howard, Sincs, Webster and Battle were rocks. Hopefully a few more performances like this will convince Battle to stay. NWM is an absolute gun and will keep getting better for a few years. Arie is way more composed than he should be at his age - wouldn't surprise me if he never plays VFL again.

Higgo is a gun. Cooper was constantly on the move and leading hard all day - if only King could do that he'd kick 70 in a season.

Hunter fought and scrapped all day. Not everything worked but he made something out of nothing several times and you can't fault his effort.

Ro was massive in the first half and I wish we would play a second ruck to allow him to rest forward more. Seemed to tire a bit late but still came through with some huge marks.

Overall, I think this was our best performance of the year and if we play like this for the rest of the season we'll go a long way towards correcting course. Great job, saints

 

[bergholt]

Here is hoping that put the Pou witch hunt leaders away for a week at least

Witch hunt? I don't think there are many on here with an irrational bias against him, which is what that would imply. Literally everyone on here wants him to become an A grade footballer.

But also anyone who says he was performing well in the first 9 rounds of the year is the irrational one. If yesterday proved anything, it's that he needed to get dropped and that it was a hugely important step in his development.

Is it surprising that people are more positive about a player when he plays well than when he doesn't?

 

[bergholt]

Is Nas now one of the most reliable players in the team? Another 28 touches and now he's averaging more than 26 for the year. Wins one-on-ones for fun, bursts out of the backline without them laying a hand on him, hits targets like it's going out of style. Is always still running hard deep in the last quarter. Love this guy, wouldn't swap him for anyone.

 

[Saintbloke]

Hi all, i had all but given up on Bigfooty due to all the whining bitches on here constantly criticising the club I love… and the club I appreciate so much because it is the unlucky club and it is the battling club and it is the world-against it club!
But I felt compelled to come back to this forum to send a message to all you keyboard warrior clowns who felt the need to give Dougal Howard and Jack Higgins and Brad Hill and any of our other soldiers a hard time…
and the message is…
Do yourself a favour…
Go out tomorrow and shout yourself a tub of vasaline (petroleum jelly for the tight arses - pun intended)
Then go and F$&k yourself!
And then buy yourself a Geelong membership and have a great life
Thank you

Stop complaining

 

[mad-saint-guy]

Is Nas now one of the most reliable players in the team? Another 28 touches and now he's averaging more than 26 for the year. Wins one-on-ones for fun, bursts out of the backline without them laying a hand on him, hits targets like it's going out of style. Is always still running hard deep in the last quarter. Love this guy, wouldn't swap him for anyone.

Over the past two weeks his attacking intent has lifted for sure. He now seems to have belief that he is the alpha dog and no one can get in his way. And he is correct

 

[sauce_head]

He'll get off. Bookmark it.

He has been a protected species for ever.

 

[BrutThough]

She looked a bit old I don't think that was his daughter

Was his step kid. His partner also posted some nice family photos of them in the rooms after the game so we are making sure their family feels embraced at the club. Hopefully it's enough to get the signature.

 

[beside the seaside]

Was his step kid. His partner also posted some nice family photos of them in the rooms after the game so we are making sure their family feels embraced at the club. Hopefully it's enough to get the signature.

I know you can read too much into these things but that has to be a good sign.

 

[gringo2011]

I forgot about it because his 2 goals were early, but 5 goals in 2 weeks for Marshall is great (he had only kicked 2 for the year before that). It should have been one more as well, if not for that ridiculous Milne bounce. I didn't rate him as a forward before last weeks game, but he has proven me wrong. I would like to see Heath come in so Marshall can spend a bit more time forward. Membrey tried hard today, but I don't think Heath would have done any worse than he did.

Imagine if we'd traded RoMa. He's gone up a level this year, absolute beast competitor. He looks like a big happy puppy but no-one in the side has his competitive streak. He's the type that will win finals for you.

I remember looking up his goal kicking a couple of years ago and his biggest tally was 13 goals in a season. He keeps up his scoring he's going to be in the absolute best ruck in the competition debate. Probably even pushing superstar quality if he kicks 20 goals a season while rucking.

 

[CaptainRisky]

King will be on the sidelines wondering where that kind of ball movement has been all year haha

But if that's what we have to look forward to next year with a fit King in the forwardline, look out

Maybe someone needs to get on his bike a bit more , pretty obvious I would have thought

 

[gringo2011]

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Miracle is a bit OTT isn't it? Yeah we've played shit ugly footy, but we've been in it against the entire Top 9:

Sydney - won by 2 points
Carlton - yet to play
Fremantle - lost by 17pts
Essendon - lost by 4 points
@ Geelong - lost by 8 points
Port Adelaide - lost by 2 points
@ Brisbane - lost by 20 points
@ GWS - lost by 1 point
Collingwood - won by 15 points

The results look better on paper in a lot of those because we locked down and tried to come back hard late in games but that Geelong game we were robbed by a bullshit free kick to Danger. Essendon we seemed to play with no effort and still lead for a lot of the night.

The most pleasing thing about yesterday was the game style. It was attacking, brave and attractive. It wasn't locked down and ugly. It was much more two sides going at full effort. AFL is an attractive sport when it plays like that.

I reckon when you put the two lists side by side they aren't miles ahead of us. They are more mature and have 2 absolute superstars running through the midfield and better depth in reserve but I reckon we probably have better quality middle talent. Snags, Butler, Membrey, Dougal, Clark, Hill, Wood, Battle etc are all the cake more than the cream but all are good. Sydney always seem to carry a few Paton level soldiers in their sides.

To me we are another quality depth mid for now and developing kid for the future and we should be a lot closer. Garcia, Pou and a few others might already be the talent we need but having depth is how you win a flag. Sydney have Adams and Parker sitting ready.

 

[gringo2011]

Maybe someone needs to get on his bike a bit more , pretty obvious I would have thought

I reckon that match shows that we need to redeploy him. Marshall has been given more licence to drop forward to excellent effect.

Some one needs to move him out of the deep post. Get him running up high, that was his best footy this season. Otherwise if we have him for 10 years, build his body up and turn him into a ruck forward. He's got natural talent but we are wasting it.

Sharman roaming around really rattled their zone. He wouldn't stop moving and it made them nervous. If that was Max they would have just sat a player in front of him all night and that would have made him disappear.

 

[Hubnester]

Maybe someone needs to get on his bike a bit more , pretty obvious I would have thought

I do but that's hardly relevant

 

[tomjoad]

Just managed to finally watch the game. Webster played some game. Dougs was massive, Marshall, Wilkie, Pou...all excellent. Solid effort from all really.
F*CK me, Henry just caught fire didn't he!?

 

[gringo2011]

Even with a few more wins the Saints will probably get pick 5 or 6 anyway. (Not counting any hypothetical Battle compensation). It will be only Adelaide and maybe Hawthorn that Saints will overtake. Still plenty of potentially good mid options in the top 7-8 in the draft.

I think this draft has a decent probably top 4 then it really evens out. Not sure it matters if you aren't right down the bottom and even then there isn't a stand out. Smilie is probably still pick one unless someone really likes Jagga but none of them look in the same league and Harley Reid or even McKercher and Sanders. Even Nick Watson looked a star in his under 17 year.

This is a very even draft. It's one that much more speculative at the front end. I think being even you don't need to tank for a good player. Finishing bottom 3 would probably guarantee Jagga Smith but even then I think the momentum and belief that the wins give us are probably worth more than the pick. The best players in this one could easily come from the early second round.

Ideally we sign Battle up and get a top 5 pick and have a couple of wins on the way home.

 

[gringo2011]

From this point….We smashed them
Tried to run past one got tackled just got the kick then 5 of our guys nailed him when he tried to beat them all—-should have handballed.

Selfish prick…trying to be a hero

View attachment 2042067

Steele had his mojo back. He stood up and looked really engaged for the first time in ages.

 

[pebblesofsand]

Wow that was some afternoon. Strangely confident before the game, getting as hopeful as Saints fans even do through the 2nd then completely shattered by half time.

2nd half was just a fantastic game, would have been stiff to lose it in the end but I have to admit that when McDonald was lining up I did console myself with an "ah well Pick 4" moment.

Shout out to Dougs, Webster, NWN, Phillipou - well no to actually everyone!!!

I had a couple of minute period where I kept an eye on Hill - the bloke simply does not stop running presenting - defence, midfield either wing he's there at least providing an option.

How great was it when Schoenmaker thought - I've got this from way way inside the centre square.

 

[gringo2011]

Is Nas now one of the most reliable players in the team? Another 28 touches and now he's averaging more than 26 for the year. Wins one-on-ones for fun, bursts out of the backline without them laying a hand on him, hits targets like it's going out of style. Is always still running hard deep in the last quarter. Love this guy, wouldn't swap him for anyone.

He's just quietly become one of the premier HBs in the league. Saints seem to have to play 100 below average games to end up being disappointing heart breakers. Nas came in and played a solid first year and then from his second season seemed to be one of our best 10 players. He's the one player you'd sign up to a 10 year contract now because there aren't many better at his role and you imagine he's still got gears to go up.

 

[gringo2011]

No I think the issue actually is having access to high end picks.

The club has been consistent since Ross took over that we need to keep building through the draft.


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The problem under Richo and Trout was that we couldn't even draft a core with later picks. We wasted the national draft picks for a decade with very little to show for any of the development and time put in. Toce showed how you can take a few less certain but still very high upside players in later rounds. Kids like Garcia, Keeler and Ari look like they could end up being Warner like selections.

 

[Yawkey way]

No Isak
Big out for them

Massive, we must be a big chance even over there.

 

[Yawkey way]

He'll get off. Bookmark it.

It’s already started, some Sydney journo with no idea but an agenda describing it as a fend in the age. Closer to a spinning back fist but we all saw Higgins get three and Dangerfield get off so we know how this often works. No intent, Webster the fool had his head where it shouldn’t have been blah blah.