Autopsy Round 1, 2019: St.Kilda v Gold Coast *Parker, Wilkie & Kent Debut*

[Joffaboy]

So we are shit with a 1 point win.

I suppose we would rather be North

 

[Verdun66]

So we are shit with a 1 point win.

I suppose we would rather be North

Or Essendon.....

 

[StCicatriz]

Just back in Melbourne after being OS for 6 weeks, so I've missed seeing the pre-season games and all the build-up. Back in time to see today's game but for most part I was wishing I'd stayed away a couple more days.

In the end it was good to bag a win and take heart after watching limp efforts by the likes of Essendon and Adelaide, both much more fancied teams than us. Clearly we showed some ticker today and Cho has stated that's his strongest push this year.

But realistically, other than some strong debut performances from Parker and Wilkie and a reminder of how valuable Bruce is to our structure, there was very little to get enthused about. A one point win on our home deck against the Wooden Spoon favourites says it all. On paper it should've been our easiest game of the year.

Because I haven't seen us in the JLT I'm prepared to bank the 4 points and move on to next week and make a firmer judgment then.

But just a couple of worrying points already - Our backline will get monstered by a decent team, so we'd better get ready for some decent scores against us.
Oh, and don't start me on the ruck situation. Here we go again. Hickey/Longer...Hickey/Longer.... soon to be replaced by Longer/Pierce. The first game i saw on my return was last night's Hawks and Crows game. And there was Big Boy still rolling on like normal 5 seasons after we gave him away. For what? Savage and Dunstan. Who wouldn't undo that trade now? It's so frustrating to me that we gave up a good ruckman, just coming into his prime, to a team as good as Hawthorn. And ever since we've been bemoaning our chronic ruck situation with seemingly more of the same to come in 2019.

Sorry, for an early melt. It's good to be back and I'm hopeful for an improved year but we really need to step it up from today's performance.

And I purposely haven't mentioned the great news about the "Hanners rebuild". Are we serious?

the concerning thing on the hanners rebuild, isnt so much that its happening. its the fact it caught the club completely off-guard.

 

[Persevering Saint]

Also regarding Long - I love his aggression, cost us a goal with the reverse free and got a bloke high in a tackle. But I love that he has some aggression and c*** in him. Same with Parker. Feel like we’ve lacked this for a few years.

Loved watching Billings get involved in the push and shove down forward as well. Started with Parker I think and Billings was quickly in there being quite aggressive.

Hope Long doesn’t get scolded too badly. Did the wrong thing, yes. But was a pretty soft free kick tbh.

It was a totally stupid free kick. He and the Goldy player were both going at each other. How an ump can pick out a free to either player is beyond me.

 

[Persevering Saint]

not sure about the Joyce Bashing thought he was good today. Maybe he can go to Chb

Yep, the boy is in his second game, and was up against a 50-gamer top-10 pick (who, frankly, I think we all now wish we'd taken at 1!). He held his own, really.

 

[sunny3193]

On changes. Reckon we need another target forward. Big Rowan a go? Picked Lewie for Witts, do we have to do the same for the Dons? Kent was ordinary for just over a half but did a couple of good things later on. Setting up a goal and then kicking a beauty. And was it him keeping Harbrow quiet? Long great early, but faded. Still a bit reckless though....

Lonie did enough. Hard to know about Dunstan. Great contest at the end there. Depends on the job given. Gresham's numbers seem good. Just didn't quite have the impact I thought he might. Joyce and Battle did pretty well. Hard to see one of them going out. Wilkie was good. McKenzie pretty good.


Another interesting selection week!

Just on Dunstan.
I think he hurt his right shoulder in that last clash.
He ran off favouring it.
So the decision may already be made.

 

[FQFjt]

Playing Bruce, Paddy and Membrey was clearly our Plan A forward line for this season. The way we entered 50 today made it very obvious that we have a structural hole in the forward line without Paddy there. Given the good performances by Wilkie and Joyce, I am strongly inclined to move Battle forward again and bring Brown back into defence in his place.

If we really think Battle is a long term defender, then he can go back there once Max King is ready to go.

 

[gringo2011]

Nah, apparently I deserved it. I think I was reported.

Sorry, I didn't think of it first.

 

[Joffaboy]

Sorry, I didn't think of it first.

I report every one of your posts even if I agree with them

 

[lewdogs]

Just watched the last 5 minutes again. Have to give GC credit, they were fantastic and some of their young players had big moments. Some big grabs, and then a brilliant play where they worked it from one end of the ground to the other after the Lonie point. And Ballard nearly took a hanger from that Wright kick to the square.

Wilkie really stood up in the last few minutes too with some big disposals. Think we could have found another gem there. Did Sam Fisher come off the rookie list?

 

[Parkers tatts]

not sure about the Joyce Bashing thought he was good today. Maybe he can go to Chb

Joyce was more than serviceable

 

[gringo2011]

Yep, I've got to say it's getting harder and harder to get myself up for these uncomfortable bloody marathon trips to and from the ground (having just gotten off a sweatbox of a tram, that took almost an hour to get from the city to Caulfield station- now I'm home, 9 hours after we left this morning), only to watch us play lacklustre bloody game after lacklustre game.

And that's a big part of the reason I barely cared if we won or not by the end, because yet again we picked and chose when we had a crack.

For what seems like forever now, we don't put teams away once we get on top in the game and have our foot on the throats, and instead take our foot right off the gas, and only come back to life once the other team finally gets their noses back in front.

Then we start taking it seriously again, and invariably we win (I'd hate to think of how many times we've done that since about 2008, when Ross Lyon obviously instructed us to try to defend our leads, instead of increasing them), when a potentially big or much bigger win was in the offing.

And it's the same when we're losing. They basically throw in the towel and stop trying, because it's not close any more.

So for a long time now I generally feel like we really only have a serious crack when the game is close, rather than just going out and having a crack for 4 quarters each week, regardless of the state of the game, and I for one am sick of it.

New season, but the same shit today. We go in at half time with the clear ascendency in the match, but instead of coming out breathing fire in the 2nd half, to really put them away, we come out flat as a pancake, and stay that way until whenever the hell it was that Gold Coast finally regained the lead.

Then we pull our fingers out again as per usual under those circumstances and get the close win and yay, but if I'm going to be paying my money and giving up a big assed chunk of my weekend and sitting on those uncomfortable trains, buses and trams and having to hike between them with my 86yo father, I want to see my team have a freaking crack for 4 quarters, not just when it suits them.

I live in Caulfield and our one experience of the bus replacing trains was similar, hours to go the kind of distance you could walk quicker. I think your transport probably has you raging a bit. It was ugly but it was a win. Umpiring really seemed to keep it close.

 

[Persevering Saint]

Playing Bruce, Paddy and Membrey was clearly our Plan A forward line for this season. The way we entered 50 today made it very obvious that we have a structural hole in the forward line without Paddy there. Given the good performances by Wilkie and Joyce, I am strongly inclined to move Battle forward again and bring Brown back into defence in his place.

If we really think Battle is a long term defender, then he can go back there once Max King is ready to go.

I was thinking the same. Alternatively, give Pierce another go and have Marshall forward/ruck.

 

[gringo2011]

Just watched the last 5 minutes again. Have to give GC credit, they were fantastic and some of their young players had big moments. Some big grabs, and then a brilliant play where they worked it from one end of the ground to the other after the Lonie point. And Ballard nearly took a hanger from that Wright kick to the square.

Wilkie really stood up in the last few minutes too with some big disposals. Think we could have found another gem there. Did Sam Fisher come off the rookie list?

Fisher was a pick in the 50s.

 

[gringo2011]

Just back in Melbourne after being OS for 6 weeks, so I've missed seeing the pre-season games and all the build-up. Back in time to see today's game but for most part I was wishing I'd stayed away a couple more days.

In the end it was good to bag a win and take heart after watching limp efforts by the likes of Essendon and Adelaide, both much more fancied teams than us. Clearly we showed some ticker today and Cho has stated that's his strongest push this year.

But realistically, other than some strong debut performances from Parker and Wilkie and a reminder of how valuable Bruce is to our structure, there was very little to get enthused about. A one point win on our home deck against the Wooden Spoon favourites says it all. On paper it should've been our easiest game of the year.

Because I haven't seen us in the JLT I'm prepared to bank the 4 points and move on to next week and make a firmer judgment then.

But just a couple of worrying points already - Our backline will get monstered by a decent team, so we'd better get ready for some decent scores against us.
Oh, and don't start me on the ruck situation. Here we go again. Hickey/Longer...Hickey/Longer.... soon to be replaced by Longer/Pierce. The first game i saw on my return was last night's Hawks and Crows game. And there was Big Boy still rolling on like normal 5 seasons after we gave him away. For what? Savage and Dunstan. Who wouldn't undo that trade now? It's so frustrating to me that we gave up a good ruckman, just coming into his prime, to a team as good as Hawthorn. And ever since we've been bemoaning our chronic ruck situation with seemingly more of the same to come in 2019.

Sorry, for an early melt. It's good to be back and I'm hopeful for an improved year but we really need to step it up from today's performance.

And I purposely haven't mentioned the great news about the "Hanners rebuild". Are we serious?

I don't know why the GC are so shit all of a sudden, most of the exodus players didn't get on the park much.

 

[Pakenhamsaint]

Yep, I've got to say it's getting harder and harder to get myself up for these uncomfortable bloody marathon trips to and from the ground (having just gotten off a sweatbox of a tram, that took almost an hour to get from the city to Caulfield station- now I'm home, 9 hours after we left this morning), only to watch us play lacklustre bloody game after lacklustre game.

The other tram I'm thinking of getting when it's only between FSS-CFD is the 67 and walk to Carnegie. Couldn't do it this weekend because they were doing works on that!

 

[mightymalaka]

Nah, apparently I deserved it. I think I was reported.

Well it certainly wasn't from me Big Balls!
Have never reported anyone and never will...Prefer to handle it the old fashioned way

By getting myself a full body massage!

 

[Fehring]

I'm about ten pages behind, so apologies if this is all a mass Sandra, or if I'm mentioning wars that are meant to be left alone.

I thought our ball movement was vastly improved in the first half and it reflected a more positive game plan - we particularly delivered it well into fifty pretty regularly. I think we were spent after half time and reverted to last year's horrible kick and hope in the second half.

The fact that we were missing four first-choice talls (Carlisle, Brown, Robbo, Paddy) was really telling against a team that was much taller than I realised. I think I was right when I said last week that our biggest out is Paddy, because it changes our structure. I'm surprised that so many people want Joyce dropped. I'd be keeping him in, and with Brown coming back I'd move Battle forward. Yes, he's trained as a back all preseason, but I think we need that extra marking target in 50, and we can cover him down back with Brown.

A huge number of Gold Coast's goals came on the counter attack and showed that we're still slow, though definitely faster than last year. I think Hind for McKenzie and Clark for Dunstan could really help us.

Steven was a huge presence for us, but I did feel that he lacked some urgency or presence at certain times during the game. It was interesting that they started him on the bench at the beginning of the game. I found it even more surprising that they did it at the start of the second as well.

I'd like to see Robbie Young string together a number of games at Sandy like the one he played yesterday, but boy Dean Kent would be nervous.

Matty Parker.

That is all.

 

[Kilroy]

The changes I’d make:
.... Clark for Kent

 

[plugger66]

Playing Bruce, Paddy and Membrey was clearly our Plan A forward line for this season. The way we entered 50 today made it very obvious that we have a structural hole in the forward line without Paddy there. Given the good performances by Wilkie and Joyce, I am strongly inclined to move Battle forward again and bring Brown back into defence in his place.

If we really think Battle is a long term defender, then he can go back there once Max King is ready to go.

I thought our issue was being beaten in the ruck not having paddy missing. Watched the game really closely. Saw nothing to suggest contested marking was a problem. Fix the mids mix the main problems

 

[By a Point]

You take your wins as you can. The mpires were terrible and cost us at one stage 12 points. Tat buffer would have helped us at the time. iven our sudeen exodus of defenders, I thought we did OK. The way some favoured teams went, it was good to just dig in and get a win.
Brown will help with our structure although Joyce was very good.
I will be interested to see how Essendon recover because they were poor, very poor.

 

[Mikka84]

I live in Caulfield and our one experience of the bus replacing trains was similar, hours to go the kind of distance you could walk quicker. I think your transport probably has you raging a bit. It was ugly but it was a win. Umpiring really seemed to keep it close.

I see someone is doing well for themselves..

 

[dsav]

Photo album up.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/davesavellphotography/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1521698684631571
or
https://www.davesavell.com/p977728087





Dave.

 

[The Jack]

3 things that were very ordinary today. In no particular order.

1 Umpiring
2 Dwayne Russell
3 StKFC

 

[Madmax262]

I doubt many changes will be made for next week but......
Marshall for Pierce
Move Battle forward, Brown to come in down back and help organise/ manage the defence.
Joyce to CHB,
Wilkie to take Robbo's intercept role.
I want pace into the team so Hind for Savage as I am not convinced Savage brings much to the team.
Hunter/Acres for Dunstan.
Young possibly for Kent/Sinclair
Also get our kicking coach to focus on Geary. How many turnovers does he make?