Preview Round 10, 2023: GWS v St.Kilda - GIANTS Stadium, Sunday 21st May, 4:40PM AEST

[Ephemeral Hope]

Has been an issue for probably 6-7 years unfortunately. And for some reason those issues still exist under Ross.

Maybe just maybe we've overrated our team just a fraction. We might not have the group that want to continually put in the effort. We don't seem to have players that have a drive to continually improve. I could be wrong but from the outside looking in it appears that way.

I think it’s just not a good basis for a strategy for winning. Need to have a good system and structure that works 7/10 times then have the ability to then supercharge that with a 110% effort manic injection of pressure/effort.

Like if we won most games just controlling and looking perfectly drilled but against a top side we just go bananas and have 3 more gears to go up. Instead of relying on being in top gear redlining every single game to remain competitive

 

[kernelT]

Has been an issue for probably 6-7 years unfortunately. And for some reason those issues still exist under Ross.

Maybe just maybe we've overrated our team just a fraction. We might not have the group that want to continually put in the effort. We don't seem to have players that have a drive to continually improve. I could be wrong but from the outside looking in it appears that way.

I dunno if it's effort, the list and players available isn't that great… probably not top 8 on paper. Ross had them purring at the start of the year and a few other sides weren't in great nic but after a month or two blokes are getting sore and can't run at the same level as the opening rounds.
We were winning the ball in the middle and had similar inside 50's against adelaide but butchered the footy. Same old sloppy skill problems resurfacing.

 

[Miha]

Just change things up ffs we’re dour in the middle

 

[Dard Ball Get]

Not the best week to be getting GWS IMO - effort lacking against Collingwood so expected to respond, first game back in Western Sydney in about six weeks after their Easter break. I'll take a win of any margin TBH.

It’s also a Waning Crescent moon

 

[kernelT]

It’s also a Waning Crescent moon

Thankfully Mercury Retrograde is easing tho

 

[Ephemeral Hope]

Just change things up ffs we’re dour in the middle

Even when we win the ball we don’t use it in a damaging way. So numbers look moderately even but on the eye test we suck

 

[Klaatu]

I dunno if it's effort, the list and players available isn't that great… probably not top 8 on paper. Ross had them purring at the start of the year and a few other sides weren't in great nic but after a month or two blokes are getting sore and can't run at the same level as the opening rounds.
We were winning the ball in the middle and had similar inside 50's against adelaide but butchered the footy. Same old sloppy skill problems resurfacing.

Complete rubbish, 1 bad loss & your throwing out the life boats like where on the Titanic get a grip, we will still make the 8 we will win more then enough games.

Our list is fine it's a list that is competeive between 5-8.

 

[CaptainRisky]

I dunno if it's effort, the list and players available isn't that great… probably not top 8 on paper. Ross had them purring at the start of the year and a few other sides weren't in great nic but after a month or two blokes are getting sore and can't run at the same level as the opening rounds.
We were winning the ball in the middle and had similar inside 50's against adelaide but butchered the footy. Same old sloppy skill problems resurfacing.

I think we have too many that don't have the skill level or brain to be a top side unless we play at a manic pace every week and unfortunately the boys just cant keep that level of pressure up for what ever reasons.
Good sides can slow it down and get through zones by hitting targets , we slow it down and we turn it over because of our poor skills or decision making

 

[Ephemeral Hope]

I think we have too many that don't have the skill level or brain to be a top side unless we play at a manic pace every week and unfortunately the boys just cant keep that level of pressure up for what ever reasons.
Good sides can slow it down and get through zones by hitting targets , we slow it down and we turn it over because of our poor skills or decision making

The coaches should train up and up skill our side. That’s their job isn’t it? Our boys aren’t concrete blocks they have brains they can learn new skills

 

[CaptainRisky]

Complete rubbish, 1 bad loss & your throwing out the life boats like where on the Titanic get a grip, we will still make the 8 we will win more then enough games.

Our list is fine it's a list that is competeive between 5-8.

We should not have lost the port game , fell over the line against the worst team in the league and got pants pulled down last start and you think its one bad game LOL

 

[Ephemeral Hope]

We should not have lost the port game , fell over the line against the worst team in the league and got pants pulled down last start and you think its one bad game LOL

Yep. It’s been an average month more or less. Still redeemable but we’ve clearly been playing worse

 

[kernelT]

Complete rubbish, 1 bad loss & your throwing out the life boats like where on the Titanic get a grip, we will still make the 8 we will win more then enough games.

Our list is fine it's a list that is competeive between 5-8.

Right-o genius… we're a highly skilled, star-studded premiership contender. Were only flogged by Adelaide because they didn't try hard enough.

 

[Sarcoidevo]

Complete rubbish, 1 bad loss & your throwing out the life boats like where on the Titanic get a grip, we will still make the 8 we will win more then enough games.

Our list is fine it's a list that is competeive between 5-8.

Gotta agree .... it was a bad loss .... but some on here are going into full melt down Ron Burgundy Phone Booth mode.

Steele was tracking just fine going slim jim until his broken collarbone .... its gunna take a while for him to get back into the swing of things .... now he has tweaked a knee .... a week off won't hurt

As poor as Howard was this week and last week past he has still played a big role in the no 1 defence in the league ..... yes that's right we are still no. 1 with him in there.

Re: Pou, Owens, Clark & Sincs going thru the middle - not sure what matches some of you have been watching but all have been played their part this year in the center ..... maybe not as much v Adelaide but certainly in previous games and they will continue to get time on the ball as the season progresses

We have lost two games by 1 goal to 2 current top 4 sides ..... yet apparently we aren't up to matching it with the big teams without King and few other best 22 missing .... let's see how we go with a few players back before we start crapping the bed.

As for falling over the line v North .... sure we had an average game against a fired up North but we still won comfortably by 5 goals ..... play crap and still win you would bank that every day against any team

Nearly every decent team forever in existence in any sport have form slumps during seasons ..... a bit of perspective ..... time to relax the fk out and step out of that fragile glass phone booth of emotion you frail brittle campaigners

 

[BrutThough]

Nearly every decent team forever in existence in any sport have form slumps during seasons ..... a bit of perspective ..... time to relax the fk out and step out of that fragile glass phone booth of emotion you frail brittle campaigners

I think this is so important to remember.

Even looking at this year, every team still in finals contention has had a bad loss already this season expect Collingwood. And if Adelaide as accurately against Collingwood as they did against us (6.15 at 3/4 when they played Collingwood compared to 15.6 on the weekend), Pies likely would complete the list.

 

[Sarcoidevo]

I think this is so important to remember.

Even looking at this year, every team still in finals contention has had a bad loss already this season expect Collingwood. And if Adelaide as accurately against Collingwood as they did against us (6.15 at 3/4 when they played Collingwood compared to 15.6 on the weekend), Pies likely would complete the list.

Pies had a bad loss against Brions

They lost by 33pts but were down by 45pts at one stage ...... Brions kicked 10 goals in a row through the 2nd and 3rd quarters

 

[Sun Ra]

Pies had a bad loss against Brions

They lost by 33pts but were down by 45pts at one stage ...... Brions kicked 10 goals in a row through the 2nd and 3rd quarters

Brions are actually a pretty formidable team this year on a roll.

 

[BrutThough]

Pies had a bad loss against Brions

They lost by 33pts but were down by 45pts at one stage ...... Brions kicked 10 goals in a row through the 2nd and 3rd quarters

Geez, I didn't realise Collingwood were down by that much in that game.

Change that to every team has had a bad loss already this season.

 

[luca77]

Complete rubbish, 1 bad loss & your throwing out the life boats like where on the Titanic get a grip, we will still make the 8 we will win more then enough games.

Our list is fine it's a list that is competeive between 5-8.

I don't think we need to call people's thoughts complete rubbish when we disagree, assuming we're grown ups and all. The list quality is subjective.
Lots of people thought our list was no good on paper before the season started, and still think our system, effort and the emergence of a kid or two has elevated us to this spot (for now at least). It might be that our list was and still is underrated. Maybe.

As for our form, Collingwood probably played as badly as they've played all year against us, probably worse. The system and effort got us close, but we didn't play well enough to take advantage. We fumbled badly for a lot of the game against both Port and North too. The system got us a win, and got us close against Port.

Was only going to be a matter of time before we failed to get a team locked down, and our poor form on top of that got us flogged. My point is that I don't think we've been in great form for a while now.

Don't think anyone here has us missing the 8, but if we don't pinch at least one of the NSW games (am assuming we take care of the tanking Hawks), mumblings will start.

 

[Saintbloke]

Gotta agree .... it was a bad loss .... but some on here are going into full melt down Ron Burgundy Phone Booth mode.

Steele was tracking just fine going slim jim until his broken collarbone .... its gunna take a while for him to get back into the swing of things .... now he has tweaked a knee .... a week off won't hurt

As poor as Howard was this week and last week past he has still played a big role in the no 1 defence in the league ..... yes that's right we are still no. 1 with him in there.

Re: Pou, Owens, Clark & Sincs going thru the middle - not sure what matches some of you have been watching but all have been played their part this year in the center ..... maybe not as much v Adelaide but certainly in previous games and they will continue to get time on the ball as the season progresses

We have lost two games by 1 goal to 2 current top 4 sides ..... yet apparently we aren't up to matching it with the big teams without King and few other best 22 missing .... let's see how we go with a few players back before we start crapping the bed.

As for falling over the line v North .... sure we had an average game against a fired up North but we still won comfortably by 5 goals ..... play crap and still win you would bank that every day against any team

Nearly every decent team forever in existence in any sport have form slumps during seasons ..... a bit of perspective ..... time to relax the fk out and step out of that fragile glass phone booth of emotion you frail brittle campaigners

Yeah, there are form slumps, and apart Steele with his bung shoulder and knee, there won't be any change to the team.

 

[Sarcoidevo]

Yeah, there are form slumps, and apart Steele with his bung shoulder and knee, there won't be any change to the team.

There should be to keep players on their toes and freshen things up

 

[Sarcoidevo]

As for our form, Collingwood probably played as badly as they've played all year against us, probably worse. The system and effort got us close, but we didn't play well enough to take advantage. We fumbled badly for a lot of the game against both Port and North too. The system got us a win, and got us close against Port.

Did Collingwood play bad because our system made them play bad?

Are we good enough to beat them if our system is on and we don't fumble?

 

[Sully111]

Eventually they'll move Owens to the midfield and he'll tear the game apart, and the media etc will say omg how good was he in the midfield and Ross will be happy and I'll smash my f'k'n television out of frustration.

Looking forward to that.

In the meantime I'll get to enjoy hearing how Woweee JHF is a bull in the midfield at such a young age. I'll also hear how we have deficiencies in our midfield and if only there was a solution.

 

[my name was taken]

Even when we win the ball we don’t use it in a damaging way. So numbers look moderately even but on the eye test we suck

yep, we win clearance in the stat column often but the quality of them is well below average. Think our best clearances in each game are from part timers with a point of difference - on the weekend it was Sinclair with a burst of speed just unfortunate he hit up the wrong target. Probably why he is able to turn momentum so much when he goes in there. Clark is also creative and strong enough to stand in the tackle to make a good decisions

Starting every game with 3 blokes who are basically the same height and weight and speed is counter productive. Port torched us with this, Pies and Brisbane have several breakaways in the center bounce into space each game, we just hack it out, contending teams run it out.

 

[gringo2011]

That's one of the reason why we need to get some of the younger mids - Windy/Pou/Owens - into the midfield rotation as soon as possible. They all bring something different to our older mids without us losing the creativity and class Sinclair brings at half back.

That sounds easily done but you have to make it seamless or you go backwards. Selling another down year to the fans will not be easy. It will be 13 years since 2010 which was the last time we were truely competitive, selling another 4 years of rebuild isn't happening so they need to develop them and not lose ground. Last week they had guys like Phillipou and Owens get a run but they're not ready to take control yet.

 

[gringo2011]

Saints games, one of the more ordinary midfields in the top 8.

I don't agree. Melbourne have an elite midfield. Dogs close but the rest are pretty ordinary.