Autopsy 2024 in review. Dissapointment, or rebirth?

[Saint Watto]

IMO three games cost us finals. The first game against Essendon, the game against Hawthorn and the second game against Port Adelaide. Win those three games and we win more games than last year and finish 7th. Our other three losses by under 2 goals were the game at Geelong (we had our chances but I hardly see this as a missed opportunity), the loss to GWS (we came home hard after being second best most of the day) and the first Port Adelaide loss (ten fewer scoring shots but only lost by 10 points).

From a statistical point of view, we were better defensively and offensively in every subsequent quarter this season. Permit me to post the numbers

Q1: 16.3 points scored, 20.8 points conceded
Q2: 17.0, 20.6
Q3: 21.0, 18.3
Q4: 21.8, 16.8

This tells you we are fit. Also one of the reasons I felt confident mostly yesterday - we're a hard team to run down.

We won 46 quarters this season, lost 44 and drew 2. We won 20 halves this season, lost 24 and drew 2.

We kicked straighter than our opponents (again): 1 more goal, but 16 fewer behinds.

And also, we won all four games Riley Bonner didn't play in. Have at it, Bonner haters.

A great post TP.

Our second halves......especially last qtrs statistically were our strength most times this season.

In fact....when the Bloos were getting on top in the last....one of the guys I was with yelled in my ear(the noise was that loud) "don't worry(I was in total meltdown by this stage) we'll run the game out"

He was right...just !!!!!!!

 

[wannabewinner]

Rejuvenated the team in the second half of the year. Might do well in patches next year.

Do I see the Saints being a serious premiership contender within the next 10 years? No.

Northern academies, Father son picks, Tassie coming in and priority picks for teams like Roos means I don't hold out hope in a broken AFL system.

 

[Sarcoidevo]

Dow kicking a goal due to Cripps giving away a free kick and we win by 2pts

Sweet sweet vengeance

 

[jimmytigs]

quite bullish,but if we are looking at shiel i dont see that as a step forward in any way shape or form

if we are pursuing him ahead of parker peatling macrae etc,that is just moronic

if all these other guys are saying"no thanks"then ok let him burn some cap space for the loss of next to no draft assets,just worries me that he is linked to us,its telling me we are not contending for as long as he is there,some flags are won out of nowhere=essendon in 93,crows and us finished 10 and lower in 96,i was at the game in the last round that year when we shit all over them,then we played off in 97 against them,hawks in 08,dogs in 16,richmond in 17

i dont think shiel is ever going to be that player to make a difference and he isnt any good for our future,very perplexing,go hard at peatling,add him to the stockpile from the last 3 drafts and this one,thats the way to go

but taking him out of the equation im pretty happy,please please dont go back to the game style that has us win and lose games 51-44,that will never be the road to success

 

[Pakenhamsaint]

I'd put it in the disappointing category given we made finals last year. We dropped 6 spots on the ladder in the end.

We got things back on track after a collapsing mid year but the damage had been done by that point.

 

[tomjoad]

I'd checked out after round 6...but began missing it and checked back in after round 12 or 13.
I was reborn. That is what matters most right?
In all seriousness though the last 6 or 7 games of the year should give us optimism (Brisbane thrashing excluded) We looked good, and it seems sustainable. If we can tighten up the skills, free King and have him playing up the ground, stockpile mids in the draft, and keep developing our youth in an upward trajectory, we should be better placed for a consistent run at finals over the next while.
I think we'll still be a 6th to 13th team next year (given how even the comp is, and things like the draw etc.) but after 2025, and RTB's final year of his contract, I am expecting A LOT.

 

[_Maximus_12]

Disappointment that Rowan Marshall

19

Rowan Marshall

Age

29

Ht

201cm

Wt

105kg

Pos.

Ruck

Career

Season

Last 5

D

15.4

4star

K

8.8

3star

HB

6.6

4star

CL

3.4

5star

HO

20.2

5star

D

12.9

3star

K

9.3

4star

HB

3.6

2star

CL

2.8

4star

HO

17.8

5star

D

10.6

3star

K

5.8

3star

HB

4.8

4star

CL

1.0

3star

HO

7.8

5star

wasn’t in the all Australia squad ffs

 

[Ads734]

A few things, the season was shot after the Bombers game. We needed to pinch some of those close games.

That Dogs game was one of the worst games I have ever seen us play. No energy, no chase nothing.

However there were many green shoots. I think also the myth that Ross can't develop youth is somewhat busted.

But this has me more excited then anything.



We knew from his draft that he could be anything. He finally started to look like he belonged.
Another pre season and more time in the gym and I want to see him top 3 in our BnF.

Wilson is the other X-Factor, I seriously think he can be our Max Holmes. IN fact he s tracking better the Holmes is. Kicks both feet.

Garcia is starting next year. No more of this sub crap.

Lastly, Mason Wood

32

Mason Wood

Age

31

Ht

192cm

Wt

86kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

13.2

3star

K

7.8

3star

HB

5.4

4star

M

4.0

4star

T

2.2

4star

CL

0.3

2star

D

8.3

2star

K

2.7

1star

HB

5.7

3star

M

1.7

2star

T

1.3

2star

CL

0.0

1star

D

15.8

4star

K

8.6

4star

HB

7.2

5star

M

4.6

5star

T

2.6

4star

CL

0.6

3star

. No surprise to me that our form picked up when he rejoined the side.
The man is an asset bigger then any draft pick.

 

[The Slug]

Disappointment that Rowan Marshall wasn’t in the all Australia squad ffs

Darcy Cameron in the squad ahead of him has to be one one of the biggest travesties of all time.

 

[_Maximus_12]

Darcy Cameron in the squad ahead of him has to be one one of the biggest travesties of all time.

Hard to justify

 

[Pakenhamsaint]

Disappointment that Rowan Marshall wasn’t in the all Australia squad ffs

No Wilkie either.

 

[Ads734]

hahahaha No Naz no Ro in the All Aus squad. Hillarious

 

[my name was taken]

Its all about the next generation, who's leading this team in the future. I'll take this crop over the 2012-2016 group any day of the week.

I wrote an essay on that whole group covering each young player, might post it later when the season has digested a bit.

Its so hard to accurately gauge the direction we are heading without knowing what happens with the midfield. Are we mixing up the group with younger guys more next year to see what we have, are we bringing in big names, will we return to crouch, a second ruck? Abuse the tag options?. I'm not convinced windows are opening until we compete with the top teams in this area.

But I am exceptionally happy with the young group we have, we could already have the guys we need, just won't know until they peak. So in saying that, I guess it's kind of a rebirth. How could you not lean that way with pou's last month of the season, Wilson looking like a matchwinner, NWM basically being the first option ball user. Owens and Windy battling away respectively. Garcia coming out of no where. Liam Henry has the X factor up front. Sharman suddenly looking like he will be hit a 200 game milestone in his career.

 

[saintbill]

Most pleasing would have to be Wilson and Sharman for me. Wilson is going to be a gun. Best runner in the comp with good skills. Yes please. Love me some Sharman, reckon he has massive upside from here. I would have added Battle to this list, but he is leaving so that sucks. A really impressive year from Josh.

Some encouraging signs from Pou, but not willing to get too excited yet. Was still out of form for a fair chunk of the year.

Disappointing would have to be King and Owens. King is trending towards being a pretty limited sort of forward. Good on his day, but doubt he is ever a reliable gun moving forward.

Owens form regression is a major worry. Looks slower, and his lack of progression as a mid worries me.

Finally, I would have Lyon as the biggest disappointment of the year. We have failed to use our strengths to our advantage, which is our running power.

Too many games we were playing reactive boring footy, and it took the game being over for us to switch on. Thought he was soundly beaten in the coaches box for the vast majority of the year.

 

[sauce_head]

Disappointment that Rowan Marshall wasn’t in the all Australia squad ffs

Seriously?! That’s a bloody joke.

 

[Sarcoidevo]

Xerri in front of Marshall

 

[Sol Goodman]

Disappointed on Ro missing AA even extended squad.
I think he's got the TB though.

 

[Ephemeral Hope]

Undoubtably a worse performance than last year but we closed it out strong. I say this is the years equivalent to the old honourable loss. Get flogged then kick some junk time goals to mount a little comeback then lose

 

[Diehard Saint]

Improvement is not necessarily linear.

Yes, disappointing ladder position in the end, but boy have we seen some green shoots. We’ve seen a team that can play both scintillating, high scoring and tough footy, and who are resilient and don’t give up.

Yes, two floggings, but let’s remember the Bulldogs game off the back of three games in 11 days and travel.

Better than that, our list managers know exactly where the work on the list needs to be (even though the list managers on here could have told them )

We’ve got the best group of youngsters coming through that we’ve had for years. I’m pretty bullish on our trajectory, and I believe it’ll be upwards from here.

 

[Ads734]

My highlight of the year

https://www.saints.com.au/video/1596873/rd17-phillipou-potent-in-senior-return-over-swans?videoId=1596873&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1720491527001

 

[malevu]

Now that we know we can win without King, we can stop worrying about him and putting him in cotton wool. Which means, he can go in the ruck. He started to do this before his last season ending injury and looked good. He simply has to get positioned up the ground to bring him into it. I’m hopeful on that front.

I've being saying this all year. Ro needs a back up and what better than to get King to work in tandem with him. Okay he's got to get himself fit but 10 mins a quarter on the ball and the rest roaming the forward line would make a Marshall King combo the best in the game. Take a leaf out of the Lions book in how they now use Daniher.

 

[True Believer]

Most pleasing would have to be Wilson and Sharman for me. Wilson is going to be a gun. Best runner in the comp with good skills. Yes please. Love me some Sharman, reckon he has massive upside from here. I would have added Battle to this list, but he is leaving so that sucks. A really impressive year from Josh.

Some encouraging signs from Pou, but not willing to get too excited yet. Was still out of form for a fair chunk of the year.

Disappointing would have to be King and Owens. King is trending towards being a pretty limited sort of forward. Good on his day, but doubt he is ever a reliable gun moving forward.

Owens form regression is a major worry. Looks slower, and his lack of progression as a mid worries me.

Finally, I would have Lyon as the biggest disappointment of the year. We have failed to use our strengths to our advantage, which is our running power.

Too many games we were playing reactive boring footy, and it took the game being over for us to switch on. Thought he was soundly beaten in the coaches box for the vast majority of the year.

You just never miss a chance do you. amazing that with our fourth quarter scores you believe that we don't use our running ability.......that's if you believe the drivel you spout.....

 

[saintbill]

You just never miss a chance do you. amazing that with our fourth quarter scores you believe that we don't use our running ability.......that's if you believe the drivel you spout.....

We got locked up in so many games early. Rather than run and take the game on we had to wait until the other team tired late in games before we could break it open.

Happened week after week without us rectifying it. That's poor coaching. Lyons game plan just too predictable at times.

Anyways let's hope he develops a plan to get our running game going early when it matters, because the vast majority of the year we were too easy to play against and went into our shell.

It's hardly a controversial opinion, essentially every footy commentator was harping on about how poor our game plan was.

 

[Sarcoidevo]

We got locked up in so many games early. Rather than run and take the game on we had to wait until the other team tired late in games before we could break it open.

Happened week after week without us rectifying it. That's poor coaching. Lyons game plan just too predictable at times.

Anyways let's hope he develops a plan to get our running game going early when it matters, because the vast majority of the year we were too easy to play against and went into our shell.

It's hardly a controversial opinion, essentially every footy commentator was harping on about how poor our game plan was.

Let's just ignore the 2nd half of the year shall we

 

[Sully111]

I know many here like to lay all the blame on the players but I don't think the coaching group were knocking it out of the park for a large part of the season.

Having said that things clearly improved towards the end. I'd like to see that improvement to continue going into next year.

Our ball use and delivery inside 50 improved greatly. Ross said a few weeks ago they'd been heavily focusing on leading patterns etc. Our forward line was a mess earlier in the season.

I see no reason why Max King

12

Max King

Age

24

Ht

202cm

Wt

100kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

7.3

2star

K

4.7

2star

HB

2.6

2star

M

2.7

3star

T

0.7

3star

G

1.4

5star

D

7.3

2star

K

4.7

2star

HB

2.6

2star

M

2.7

3star

T

0.7

1star

G

1.4

5star

D

8.0

2star

K

5.2

2star

HB

2.8

3star

M

2.8

3star

T

0.6

3star

G

1.4

5star

can't be a huge asset if we have our forward line functioning and players lowering their eyes to hit targets.

Coaches were late on Sharman. Leave him as a forward.

Owens.... still believe he's a midfielder. would love to see him train there full time.

Wilson a shining light.

Sharman can be something special imo.

Byrnes has improved drastically. I thought for a while he might be a spud. I was wrong.

Pou starting to look like the player we'd hoped he'd be. Think Ross managed that well.

Looking forward to seeing Windy and Henry back. Windy is only going to get better. Hopefully Henry can stay on the park.

I really appreciate that we've got guys like Webster and Stocker on our list.

Overall I'm disappointed with the season but am hopeful due to the turnaround in form. We just played some atrociously ugly footy for a fair while there. Hope that's dead.

I still believe in RTB. Unreal game day coach. Think he's the man to take us forward but the coaching group as a whole need to continue to improve, as do the players. It's not either or.

I respect his dedication to us having a winning culture. I think it will set us up well.

Hope like hell we get this trade/draft period right.

I've had a gut full of our club being disrespected.