Autopsy Round 11, 2023: St.Kilda v Hawthorn

[DougalHoward]

At least the other results went our way

 

[George]

How good was he.

He was our #1 meters gained by a huge margin - 624m. Next best was, wait for it, Webster with 357m.

That pass he pulled off in the 2nd/3rd?

 

[George]

At least the other results went our way

Would've been nestled in 3rd had we won.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Watch the presser. I'm more confident in Ross turning this around than I was ratten and richo

It was obvious ratten and richo were out of their depth in their pressers.

Ross ain't in that bucket.

Pressers aren't coaching. Pressers are showbiz.

 

[Browny2Carlisle]

Lol suddenly POU needs a rest again when this was a very complete game for him taking contested marks and kicking a big goal. Talk about moving the goal posts. Least of our problems.
Everyone was hopeless at tackling today. He got 2 which is more than the other tall forwards and one behind the pressure forward butler. Higgins had 0.
The issue is the midfield.

 

[Ads734]

I don’t get the severity of the Byrnes hate. He is one of our best game runners and Ross clearly plays him because he like Mason gets back to help the defenders better then anyone had Wood. Does he need to work on his kicking, sure. He’s only played 40 odd games. Still getting better.

 

[Pakenhamsaint]

Saints supporters jumping off now should be ashamed of themselves.

If you can't handle St Kilda at it's worst then you don't deserve St Kilda at it's best.

We've been through far worse than this, we're still in the Top 8 and a chance of playing finals this year.

If we end up like Carlton then melt away but we aren't as bad as them yet, we can still turn this around.

As Bon Jovi says, we've got to keep the faith.

We have handled St Kilda at thier worst for so long we don't even know what the best looks like.

 

[Daniels2Heatley]

He can go become a long distance runner then I want footy players in the team

Like Seb Ross?

 

[The Cobra]

All good, thank you. I will be okay. Am I venting, yes absolutely!!

Incredibly disgusting response from that POS, when somebody has just lost their mum.

Do you need an ambulance, really? Gubby, u an a disgrace. You would absolutely need an ambulance if I ever find u, u little twerp. Yes, I will have a break.

Stand by the fact we are an ordinary side.

Take care - tough time

 

[Browny2Carlisle]

Like Seb Ross?

He can go with Byrnes

 

[George]

Byrnes is McQualter 2.0. Role player but a very smart footballer.

 

[Daniels2Heatley]

I don’t get the severity of the Byrnes hate. He is one of our best game runners and Ross clearly plays him because he like Mason gets back to help the defenders better then anyone had Wood. Does he need to work on his kicking, sure. He’s only played 40 odd games. Still getting better.

Well said Ads. He'll never be an All Australian, but he has some abilities that modern coaches and football teams require, hence why he's in the team.

 

[Dard Ball Get]

These are off their head

 

[EddieMurphy]

Have to wait to Rnd 20 to get the stink off us, let's hope RTB knows what he is doing with our limited list.

 

[AirWinmar]

Well that was shijze!! We don't have a great midfield but they are playing terrible. Honestly don't think I've seen them play collectively this bad.

We seriously need a better defensive plan for teams that will get through our zone with handballs and overlap run. Also a specialist tackling coach - we have so many tackles that players break thru or get 1 off to a team mate.

That's almost embarrassing to kick it to Sicily so many times. Apparently Sharman is at the hairdressers getting it died orange

Credit to Hawks, played very well and the scoreline flattered us

 

[stfan]

We've done well in the past couple of drafts, if we can crush this one, we have a really good young core which will limit the damage when the older ones retire....so important this draft

Yes overall we have done well with our draft selections in the last couple of drafts, BUT we have still not taken a high draft pick who was a pure mid.

You can see the Poo will be very good for us, but will he be a midfield beast? Owens looks like being a freak for us, but again may not be a midfield best.

Our pure mids have all been later picks like Windy or even Bytel. Though we did get Crouch as a free agent. He is not an elite mid though.

The midfield is the engine rooms of all teams, and ours is not a V8.

 

[aussierulesrules]

Just watched the presser. Sounds like Ross was very keen to get to RSEA to see Windy play in particular. Reckons he’s taken the feedback extremely well and is rapidly improving in the areas they want him to. Reckon he’ll be in for Clark next game.

Hopefully Owens (who he said is recovering well and not having any unexpected issues so far) will be in for Seb, and start playing a lot more midfield- which he was doing early last week, before his concussion.

There’s not much point stressing about what happens this year and I think Ross knows that. We simply don’t have the midfield to go all the way, but that will hopefully be a fair bit better next year, with Owens hopefully beasting it up in there and Windy and Pou playing a lot more there and maybe Sincs as well, if we get Whitfield.

We’re probably two years away from being a legitimate threat. Once Owens, Windy and Pou are starting to really own the midfield, Caminiti is a couple of years older, and we’ve filled some other holes in the side.

We’ll just be making up the numbers in the meantime most likely. Ideally getting some finals experience under our belts.

 

[Browny2Carlisle]

Byrnes is McQualter 2.0. Role player but a very smart footballer.

Don’t see the smarts several occasions he did the wrong thing leading to a hawks score like when he kept the ball in play for some reason surrounded by hawks or when he hack kicked it 30m from the back pocket.
He’s just a runner

 

[George]

Don’t see the smarts several occasions he did the wrong thing leading to a hawks score like when he kept the ball in play for some reason surrounded by hawks or when he hack kicked it 30m from the back pocket.
He’s just a runner

I disagree I think he's got good knowledge of the game. Some of his comments post Ratten and last week on Ross were eye opening. It seems obvious to me why Ross continues to play him.

 

[gringo2011]

Faaaaaark this loser organisation. My mum died suddenly this week. Nothing is more fitting than these pack of losers doing what they do best right when it hurts the most. I hate this club.

There is 1 thing more certain in life than death and taxes, and that is St.Kilda FC being the worst organisation in all of sporting history.

It's torture barracking for these bums. 3 generations wasted. Get faaaaaarked. Not watching any games again this year. Wish we didn't even bother to tease. Just finish last already and save as all the time u caaaaaants.

**** that sucks SB. That’s a shit week topped off by an insipid performance from the Saints. I can see why you’d be pissed off. Hopefully you can come back when you’re ready brother. Look after the people you have left and get around each other. Footy is just a game but it can hurt sometimes.

 

[gringo2011]

Remember how many people had written Sinclair off 4 or 5 years ago! Byrnes never stops having a go, which can't be said for a lot of his team mates today.

He’s not getting dropped because his work rate is higher than 90% of them. If the guys with more talent had his work ethic we’d be a top side.

 

[Daniels2Heatley]

He’s not getting dropped because his work rate is higher than 90% of them. If the guys with more talent had his work ethic we’d be a top side.

Amen Gringo. RTB will hopefully sort them out

 

[Present Not Past]

Can expect a clean out of players at the end of the season, including some that have been at the club for many years.

 

[cartwright]

Just watched the presser. Sounds like Ross was very keen to get to RSEA to see Windy play in particular. Reckons he’s taken the feedback extremely well and is rapidly improving in the areas they want him to. Reckon he’ll be in for Clark next game.

Hopefully Owens (who he said is recovering well and not having any unexpected issues so far) will be in for Seb, and start playing a lot more midfield- which he was doing early last week, before his concussion.

There’s not much point stressing about what happens this year and I think Ross knows that. We simply don’t have the midfield to go all the way, but that will hopefully be a fair bit better next year, with Owens hopefully beasting it up in there and Windy and Pou playing a lot more there and maybe Sincs as well, if we get Whitfield.

We’re probably two years away from being a legitimate threat. Once Owens, Windy and Pou are starting to really own the midfield, Caminiti is a couple of years older, and we’ve filled some other holes in the side.

We’ll just be making up the numbers in the meantime most likely. Ideally getting some finals experience under our belts.

Good post … need to fix the midfield that’s been terrible for years. In saying that there’s no two ways about it this should have been a win

 

[malevu]

Everything about todays games was awful. We looked disinterested and a team who had already checked out for their bye expecting this to be an easy win.

- Blaming the loss on Higgins is moronic. His dropped mark might have cost us the chance to ice the game but we let them kick 3 goals after that moment. Putting that on Higgins ignores there were other 21 players who weren't hungry enough, skilled enough or just plain good enough in those last 5ish minutes when we needed them to be. He's a good player, having a very good season who had a bad moment.

- Steele is clearly still injured. Admiral that he is trying to get up each week and getting the tackle numbers he does. But you can see he is struggling physically and it's getting close to the point that we cant continue to carry him until his body is right

- Midfield well beaten again. Crouch and Ross look like shadows of the players they were in the first 6 weeks. Not sure what has happened to both of them but it's concerning. Steele has already been discussed. Clark was injured early so not a factor in getting beaten to badly but it's unlikely he would have provided the pace we need in there given his weaknesses. Sinclair being thrown into the middle in the 2nd half isn't enough.

- It's time to make some changes - it was time 2 or 3 weeks ago. The coaches have had their mulligan and then a 2nd mulligan. Time to try some different combinations. I want to see Windy come in and play midfield. Owens, once cleared, as a midfielder. Maybe try Phillipou in there for a full game. Bring in Billings to play forward to improve the foot skills. Does Steele need to spend time forward with his injures? Clark back to half back for a full game to fit others in. Maybe try resting Marshall up forward for a few minutes instead of just the bench. Everything we try won't work but I want to see us trying something different with the midfield and forward mix.

Time to re group. I hope this sits with the players and stings for their entire time off. As unlikely as it seemed when the siren went, our best is good enough to beat Sydney.

Excellent post.