Official Round 2 MT vs. Adelaide AAMI Stadium (Team changes, Selection etc.)

[CHBench]

Surely he's got 6 in the bag.
Great win by the boys, knock off the first interstate trip so so crucial.
I tell you what the umpiring was absolutely attrocious. Adelaide has every right to feel hard done by. 30 -11 or something ridiculous.

Battle of the legs in the end. Adelaide's close match last week wouldn't have helped.

 

[foxy_dal]

Nick Dal santo you star!

 

[Look2Me4Guidance]

The umpiring tonight was an absolute disgrace, how could you end up with 30 - 11 in the free kick count...seems a bit one-sided to me. Good win though.

If you watched the game you'd realise a majority of the time we were in front or first to the ball. Yes there were some shockers, but not 19 of them.

 

[Rough_Edges]

In first for the ball all night.

88 tackles to 59.


Look at Geelongs free kicks for and against over the past couple years, their always first in for the ball and always get the +5 or +10 FF. As was the case tonight we were always first in, had 30 more tackles.

Great win, our pressure and intensity especially during the Crows late 3rd quarter surge was fantastic.

 

[Signd Sealed Saint]

That was the best I've seen a St Kilda side tackle in a long long time. Great win by the Saints. Dal Santo and Kosi were stars, what a difference two players in form can make. Rooey another quiet night, good signs to see us not so Riewoldt dependant like we were in the past. Having Dal Santo in form makes so much of a difference. Gram had a good night as well even though he butchered a few kicks. If we can beat West Coast and Fremantle we'll be off to a flier.

 

[Look2Me4Guidance]

Great work Sainters.

84-55 in the tackling department.

That is sensational stuff.

We simply outworked them.

Adelaide can feel somewhat slighted by the umpires, but it didn't cost them the game.

Excellent win. Fantastic work by the defence all with the possibility of Max and Goose to return.

 

[bubblegoose]

The umpiring tonight was an absolute disgrace, how could you end up with 30 - 11 in the free kick count...seems a bit one-sided to me. Good win though.

The number doesn't have to be even bud. Yes there sure were a number missed, but it probably comes down to the the way each team was tackling.

 

[Look2Me4Guidance]

In first for the ball all night.

88 tackles to 59.


Look at Geelongs free kicks for and against over the past couple years, their always first in for the ball and always get the +5 or +10 FF. As was the case tonight we were always first in, had 30 more tackles.

Great win, our pressure and intensity especially during the Crows late 3rd quarter surge was fantastic.

Joey leading the way with 12.

Even Grammy who isn't a strong tackler nailed 6.

 

[dg102]

Well done SAINTS! Well done Dal for backing yourself up. What a game. What a team effort! 88 TACKLES!

 

[gta007]

3 votes: N Dalsanto

Maybe it's time to get on him. 2 great games. Hope the competition keeps Dal tagless the whole year.

 

[the_riddler]

We really need to make the most of this win by winning the next two at home against the WA teams or it will go to waste just as last year when we lost to the Eagles after beating the Hawks.

Especially when the next 2 games following are against our bogey side Port at AAMI and the Doggies.

Where's all those people that wanted to trade Dal and Kosi?

 

[Fehring]

The umpiring tonight was an absolute disgrace, how could you end up with 30 - 11 in the free kick count...seems a bit one-sided to me. Good win though.

It's not the umpire's job to award the same number of frees to each team. We smashed them in being first to the ball all night. Do that, smash them in the frees for. It ain't rocket science. So why don't you nick off and put 50 on Wallace to be the first sacking of the season?

 

[Jimmy 35]

good to see St Kilda pressure well, skills abit slack though.

 

[King Elvis]

I'll take my medicine.

Congrats to you blokes - your game plan won you the game; you absolutely choked up the middle and killed our run out of the back-line.

The amount of times we'd come running out of the backline and just stop and then end up going sideways or backwards was so godamn frustrating.

The umpiring was an absolute ****ing disgrace, but that doesn't change the fact that you guys had a great plan and implemented it beautifully to knock us over.

 

[Fusilli Jerry]

Maybe it's time to get on him. 2 great games. Hope the competition keeps Dal tagless the whole year.

How good is it when he doesn't get tagged!!! If I was a coach of an oposition side he'd be the first player i'd tag in the whole league. His output without a tag compared to with a tag is so drastically different. Hope the trend continues and they let him keep going without a hard tag.

 

[Look2Me4Guidance]

I'll take my medicine.

Congrats to you blokes - your game plan won you the game; you absolutely choked up the middle and killed our run out of the back-line.

The amount of times we'd come running out of the backline and just stop and then end up going sideways or backwards was so godamn frustrating.

The umpiring was an absolute ****ing disgrace, but that doesn't change the fact that you guys had a great plan and implemented it beautifully to knock us over.

Thanks for the that brother.

Yes we've worked hard on our zoning in the middle and it's working well so far.

Any news on Hentschel?

 

[Pride of SA]

Congrats on the win guys, thoroughly deserved.

you tore our gameplan up so easily our kids were reduced to handballing in circles.

good luck for the rest of the season.

 

[StFly]

Joey leading the way with 12.

Even Grammy who isn't a strong tackler nailed 6.

I was sitting there watching the 3rd quarter and thinking "that can't be right, I've got Joey leading the tackle count, wtf?" so yeah, bloody impressive in my book from him in that regard.

Good luck to Adelaide too, some promising signs there, bit worried at 3/4 time.

 

[StonesThrow]

Well done to your mob. Takling pressure was great and you were always first too the ball. Played well as a whole unit.

Just a question, what do you guys think of our Andy Otten? I feel he is well underrated over at crow land. Am I seeing something that others aren't?

 

[Rough_Edges]

Well done to your mob. Takling pressure was great and you were always first too the ball. Played well as a whole unit.

Just a question, what do you guys think of our Andy Otten? I feel he is well underrated over at crow land. Am I seeing something that others aren't?

Agree on both points mate.

Otten despite going missing in Q3 was one of your best last night. Very good work off HB espeically in the first half. disposal sometimes a bit suspect, but runs hard to the right spots and seems to have cemented his spot in your team with two good outputs.

Not sure who goes out for Symes tho? Hopefully not Petrenko who I think you MUST blood as he did some very good things tonight in the second half and ran the game about better than just about anyone I thought.

 

[sainter]

I'll be honest. We've had a reasonable pre-season and I was quite vocal with my view that this place was far too negative about our chances for the upcoming season. Sure, we were belted in the last game against Port and some people were only reporting on what they had seen but we got plenty of game time into the vast majority of a squad that finished fourth last season. With the reasonable draw we had been handed I expected us to get off to a 4-1 or 3-2 start after 5 rounds. However this was one game I didn't think we would win and I tipped the Crows. The St Kilda of old would not have won that game.

There's something about our team this season that just bodes well for the future. The tackling was absolutely phenomenal. To record 74 last week and follow it up with 88 tonight is incredible. As the Crows supporter said above, we forced a very good opponent in front of their home crowd to go handball crazy. And it wasn't just the tackling. The all-round pressure was as good as it gets. Whenever they had the ball, you just expected one of Geary, Jones, Gwilt or Mcqualter to close them down or at least hold them up for long enough to allow a teammate to come in and lay the tackle.

The promising thing is that we still have so much improvement left in us. Riewoldt was tireless in his work ethic as usual but was well held by Bock while Goddard didn't get it as much as we would have liked and when he did surprisingly turned it on a number of occasions. In fact our field kicking is still quite poor and we once again allowed a team back into a game because of our poor kicking for goal.

On the other hand, Dal and Joey led from the front in the midfield and were well supported by the rest of the guys in there. Ball was at the bottom of everything and while Lenny looked a little rusty when he had the ball there was nothing rusty about his tackling. One thing we desperately need is for Gardiner and King to stay fit. Gardiner in particular is moving well and gives our midfielders first use of the ball. Kosi was a tower of strength in the forward line against one of the best full backs in the league. I think GT is pretty much spot on about when he says he is our most important player. You know you are going to get a consistent performance from many of our other players but with Kosi there's too big a gap between his good and bad games. When he fires, we invariably win. The game also showed how much we missed Bakes. Seeing him vomit during the third quarter was no surprise. Everybody knows about his toughness and his courage but I don't think he gets the credit for his football smarts. He just knows where to be. The decision to recruit Farren Ray is already looking like an inspired one and Zac didn't do a lot wrong either.

I'm sure there are plenty I've missed and after giving the replay a couple more viewings I'll give them a mention. It was a brilliant and much deserved to win. With home games to come against Fremantle and West Coast in the next two weeks it's important we don't waste this start.

 

[magtrev]

Top class effort from your blokes, wanted the ball far more than we did and thoroughly deserved the win.

 

[Rough_Edges]

Good read Sainter pretty much on the money as well.


ALSO don't under-estimate Jones's effort on McLeod in the last quarter. No doubt Craig put emphasis on trying to get the ball into McLeod's hand in the last quarter but Jones completley csquashed him, Jones did the job last week on McViegh and then this week has been a great performer.

Kickign still isn't great but think it has improved a lot.

 

[Plugger35]

Just finished watching the delayed telecast here in WA (only about 4 hrs later than everyone else in civilisation ). Worth the wait though, absolutely sensational win.

Just a great all round team effort tonight, our tackling and pressure was enormous. Thought we may have wasted our efforts in the 2nd and 3rd quarters with missed opportunities in front of goal but thankfully we made it up for it with that barnstorming last quarter.

Hard to single out any one player as everyone contributed. Although Dal Santo was brilliant again (wishing I'd picked him in my DT & SC teams now), likewise Kosi who is finally starting to live up to his potential again. Our recycled recruits (that everyone else derides us about) were all very good too. Gardiner was important early and Schneider, Ray and Dawson were all good contributors.

Don't want to get ahead of myself too early, but the signs are all looking good so far. Already two wins from two with the Weagles at home next week. Plenty of improvement left in us too, with Riewoldt, Lenny and BJ yet to hit their straps and Max and Goose still waiting on the sidelines.

 

[Axcellence]

I think the game made me feel the following (rightly or wrongly):-

1. St Kilda is a better team than last year. It's round 2 - and I know I am jumping the gun. But seriously, 2009 mark is better than the 2008 mark. We don't have the mesmerising moments that Harvey kept bringing in - but now there is a more even contribution across the board. Improvement for the team has come from Ray, Gardiner, Dal Santo, Koschitzke and to an extent Gwilt & Geary. For Gwilt & Geary - the test is to replicate it consistently against higher quality opposition, e.g. Dogs, Hawks, Geelong. Special mention to Gardiner - to come from almost being delisted last year to this position is an excellent effort. I think he really was a critical cog in both of St Kilda's wins.

2. Montagna was great. Also worth noticing that Lenny clocked 20 disp and 8 tackles, 3 clearances from 53% game time. This is when he is returning from injury for his first game.

3. The team's got improvement left in it. The disposal efficiency can be improved and so can the goalkicking. Let's hope Tudor keeps plugging away at St Kilda's forwards and help improve goalkicking.

4. St Kilda had almost the full team on park. But we've still got Hudghton, Raph, Maguire, Armitage as possibilities and Dempster available later during the year. Also, up & comers later during the year include Steven, McEvoy and Connors (depending on form & injuries). So, depth at the moment looks good.

5. Time is running out for X. He's a good player but risks a spot being taken over other up & coming players.