Review Positives & Negatives - Saints v Crows - R8 2013

[Defacto]

From what I understand he isn't one of the coaches favorites.

Personally I think he has a crack but his decision making and foot skills let him down, as does his lack of spread, deserves a chance to show if he should be on our list going forward, I know Ross Lyon likes him.

interesting. where you see these blokes in a years time:
- milera
- ray
- jones
- simpkin
- ledger
- lever
- dunell

 

[Grav]

Definitely need a player that doesn't mind getting the hard ball, in the few games that Ledger has played for the Saints, he seemed to do that. Have heard a few reports saying what a bad kick he is at Sandy, but I would rather see one of our players win the clearance, even if they kick it badly into our forward line, than see the opposition kick it into their fwd line, while we sit back & watch. Also think it's time to experiment with a few of the youngens, maybe try Siposs at FF, leads well, takes a good grab, kicks well & would probably earn the respect of opposition coaches to maybe have a couple of players on him, freeing Rooey up.

 

[tbarker]

From what I understand he isn't one of the coaches favorites.

Personally I think he has a crack but his decision making and foot skills let him down, as does his lack of spread, deserves a chance to show if he should be on our list going forward, I know Ross Lyon likes him.

Regarding Curren, if we are in serious re build mode then we turf all our rookies out except Michington, he is no better than Rob Eddy or McQualter at this stage. I suppose I am looking for the next 200 game champion when looking at him this way. Could he be the last on our list? Of course he could but he has a limited ceiling IMO. Then again he won the Sandy B&F, although probably more on jobs done that flair and skill.
He is similar to Myke Cook in that his kicking is moderate at best.

Agree. also - he is the only one not to get a chance so he should read the tea leaves and look for a deal elsewhere. Not much else he can do to deserve a run this year. Problem is we don't want anyone from Freemante - we want someone from WCE.

 

[BrianSpeaking]

I like Dunell, can't believe he isn't in the team. Milera keep, Ray keep, Jones gone, Simpkin keep, Ledger gone, Lever keep.

 

[Falchoon]

Forward line's not working, midfield short on rotations.

The solution presents itself, 2 small forwards out, 2 midfielders in.

 

[Defacto]

Forward line's not working, midfield short on rotations.

The solution presents itself, 2 small forwards out, 2 midfielders in.

i agree. a player i'd love to see get a decent run of games in the FWD pocket is saunders. reminds me of a shorter version of a young nickoski who i have fond memories of watching at subi, where he would dodge players at ease

stick him close to goal, let him dodge players and snap at goal. then run him through the midfield to give the others a break

 

[mysainters]

I like Dunell, can't believe he isn't in the team. Milera keep, Ray keep, Jones gone, Simpkin keep, Ledger gone, Lever keep.

Surely Dunell gets a crack this week

 

[tbarker]

Surely Dunell gets a crack this week

t
Yeah - you would have to think that Ledger, Dunnell and Jones are in the frame. Of those - Dunnell is most likely because he was reserve this week and the coaches seem to like him. Ledger next because weight of numbers. If he performs then we win or his currency goes up and we get more for him in the marketplace. Jones least likely because he is out for form...... which is code for - you are not in our 2014 calculations because you can't kick despite being one of our best players this year.

 

[Saint Bostriots]

Negatives: Forward Line!

IMO this is causing a lot of problems in the midfield and back line.

We started the game with 6 players that are forward line only, Milne, Saad, Roo, BM, Hickey and Milera.
With this comes less midfield rotations leading to not being able to run a game out again!
The backs are having to generate too much run in Fish, Robbo and Gwilt leaving massive holes on the turnover.
Mids can't push back as they're spent, again leaving holes in the back line.

We were lucky not to get done by much more.

 

[Saint Bostriots]

Also
Positive: Dempster on Dangerfield
Negative: No Dempster as third man in / dropping back in front of forwards.

Tagging is a job Curren / someone who doesn't generate plays for us should be doing.

 

[Hammers_Saints]

Really frustrated that we took our greatest asset out of the game (Riewoldt) at the selection table by brining in Maister. These last couple of weeks he has been in dominant form without him and to bring Beau back in who is hardly and A-grader and offers extremely little in the forward line is baffling.

We basically lost a back pocket and replaced him with a slow forward, no wonder we were run off our legs.

Milera and Saad both need a rest/stint in the 2s. As Healy I think said, neither have electric pace or are good enough to push into the midfield to have an impact which hurts us them being so one-dimensional.

Thankfully it was our younger players who were our greatest positives but for me that game frustrated me because it was one I feel we were easily good enough to win if we took our chances

 

[Tombowler]

Very little positive (apart from rooey). We were lucky to get off as lightly as we did. The bravery and flair present against carlton was sadly lacking this arvo. We need to push through the corridor, if it's turned over on skill, so be it.

I'd rather get belted by ten goals than go down with a whimper, kicking up the wing and losing possession entering fifty.

We've got the small forwards, the mids and the halfbacks to give it an honest go. Our seasons gone and percentage don't matter. We'll learn hard lessons but come out of it commensurately harder. The ball needs to go up the corridor boldly and fearlessly. We can't expect to win battles of attrition and we won't .

Onwards, upwards and, if needs be, downwards on the ladder.

 

[CrashTestDummy]

Negatives:
Forward Entries diabolical, we just fell apart anything forward of 70m out.
Forward pressure, virtually non-existant

this

 

[CrashTestDummy]

Roberton and Chips

 

[sauce_head]

It's very difficult to be an effective forward with slow ball movement. Maister should get another chance. Milera has had enough chances for now.

 

[CHBench]

Centre clearances were 6-14. Dal 2, Steven 1, Armitage 0.

Surprising to see we were +10 in centre clearances over our opponents before Round 7 (I'd argue the quality was pretty poor - rushed blind kicks rather than working the ball and running it forward). However, we're -17 (-9, -8) for centre clearances the last 2 weeks (coincides with Lenny and CJ out).

 

[TommyJay]

Agree with your comment about ray. When your 5 year old says he should be out of the team for that kick and should go be a hair dresser then there is a clear problem

Because 5 year olds are the best judges of football skill?

 

[TommyJay]

Definitely need a player that doesn't mind getting the hard ball, in the few games that Ledger has played for the Saints, he seemed to do that. Have heard a few reports saying what a bad kick he is at Sandy, but I would rather see one of our players win the clearance, even if they kick it badly into our forward line, than see the opposition kick it into their fwd line, while we sit back & watch. Also think it's time to experiment with a few of the youngens, maybe try Siposs at FF, leads well, takes a good grab, kicks well & would probably earn the respect of opposition coaches to maybe have a couple of players on him, freeing Rooey up.

What's the point of getting the clearance if you can't keep the ball?! The aim of the game is to end up with the highest score, not the highest number of ineffective clearances.

 

[Grav]

What's the point of getting the clearance if you can't keep the ball?! The aim of the game is to end up with the highest score, not the highest number of ineffective clearances.

I would still like to see our forwards get a 50/50 chance, than none at all.

 

[bangerharvey]

-Milera has to go. Flashes of 'almost brilliance' masking a pretty ordinary footballer - can't stick a tackle and fwd pressure weak.
-Can't believe how easily Adelaide hit a target up fwd when we pushed every man and his dog back there.
-Roberton. Would like to see his clanger count for the year - never seems to turn it over.

 

[Tongue In Cheek]

Positives well covered by Sunshine Saint.

Negatives - finishing in front of goal (Milera - WTF)

Constantly bombing it long to the opposition - everyone had to have a crack. Fisher, Roberton, Armitage... WHY??? Crows showed us how it was done - finding a clear target or at least a contest. They would have had 6+ goals killing us on the rebound that way.

Speaking of marking targets - seeing 6 Saints jogging to position in the D50 while a Crow marks uncontested in their midst. Saw a lot of our players trying to do "the right thing". Didn't see as much evidence of a desire to compete. If this is what we are teaching the next generation then God help us.

I honestly believe if we had ticked off those three areas we would have won. Pre-game opinions were correct - the Crows aren't much chop. But Saints were woeful.

 

[35Saints35]

Because 5 year olds are the best judges of football skill?

I thought it was an honest assessment of what he saw. Guy missed a target by 20 meters while under no pressure . Don't need to be an expert to know it was a s/-house kick .

 

[Baldur]

Sunshine Saint pretty much nailed it.

Negatives
Kicking at goal

Inability to run out games

Milera is must go unless he learns team football and tackling

 

[Squizz]

A couple of comments from Watters:

http://www.saints.com.au/news/2013-05-19/saints-have-a-lot-to-learn

"Our efficiency when we had opportunities early in the game wasn't where it needed to be."

"Centre bounces were an issue for us. I thought they got great momentum and field position of the back of that."

"We were unable to limit their uncontested ball, [they had] a lot of uncontested marks."

"Jarryn Geary continues to get some big roles and play well, I thought Sean Dempster was pretty solid tonight (and) Nick Riewoldt's work rate I don't think can be questioned."

 

[Squizz]

http://www.saints.com.au/news/2013-05-19/the-player-review-round-8

Montagna's second and third quarters were prolific, finishing with 34 disposals, four clearances and four inside 50s.

Newnes played the best game of his career against the Crows, collecting 25 touches and showing impressive poise and class when in possession of the ball.

Not only did Roberton collect 23 disposals at 87 per cent efficiency, but he also had a game-high nine rebound 50s, demonstrating his tremendous capacity to provide drive from defence. The 21-year-old displayed excellent composure and skill under immense pressure on numerous occasions, finding space in tight situations with ease and delivering with precision.

For the fourth consecutive game, Riewoldt had 11 or more grabs, finishing with 12 marks and 18 disposals in a tireless performance across half-forward. He often had to fight off two or three Adelaide defenders in the forward 50, finishing with 1.3 and three inside 50s.

Fisher began the game strongly, collecting seven disposals in the first quarter and providing great run and direction from the back half. He finished with 19 possessions at a typically lofty 89 per cent efficiency, as well as four rebound 50s. Defensively, he held McKernan to just one major.

You could be forgiven for assuming Webster had played 60 or 70 games. (He) showed great composure (and) looks to be a ready-made back-flanker, reading the play innately and disposing of the ball skillfully by foot and hand.

Dempster held Dangerfield goalless, again justifying his reputation as one of the finest defenders in the competition.