Preview Round 3, 2023: St.Kilda v Essendon - MCG, Saturday 1st April, 7:25PM AEDT *150 YEARS OF THE SAINTS*

[hangdog]

Interesting what Lyon does this game. We have played two sides that refuse to go forward so easy for team defence. Essendon have beaten us lately because they do go forward. That hasn’t changed under a new coach. We certainly won’t have the time we have had in the last 2 games to set up.

Don't think we're giving Lyon and co. enough credit. We've forced teams to go slow with our set ups

 

[plugger66]

Don't think we're giving Lyon and co. enough credit. We've forced teams to go slow with our set ups

I couldn’t have given him more credit but everyone I heard even said before both games that they move the ball to slowly and don’t go forward enough. Don’t worry Lyon was a huge part of both wins especially the first but Essendon won’t play like that. That doesn’t mean we don’t win or Lyon can’t come up with something else

 

[Dard Ball Get]

I was brought up on the “don’t burn your bridges” philosophy.
Would have left a far greater impression had he thanked the Saints for the opportunity in the first place - especially considering he was a rookie pick.. Not like he wasn’t offered a contract by the club afterall.

Or say nothing, like Longy did. No swipes on the way out. Shows a bit of class.

My two cents.

Agree 100%.
The gossipy, whingey, sooky, ungrateful stuff is so classless. Can’t stand it.

 

[Plugger35]

Don't think we're giving Lyon and co. enough credit. We've forced teams to go slow with our set ups

The Dogs moved the ball quicker and better last night but Brisbane didn't bring the same defensive pressure we brought which slowed them down.

Hopefully we can do something similar against Essendon, it might be tougher to do that at the bigger MCG than it was at Marvel but we will find out.

 

[stavro#4]

Interesting what Lyon does this game. We have played two sides that refuse to go forward so easy for team defence. Essendon have beaten us lately because they do go forward. That hasn’t changed under a new coach. We certainly won’t have the time we have had in the last 2 games to set up.

I don’t agree with this at all.

Freo retain possession and work the ball forward safely. Similar to St Kilda 09-10.

The Dogs attack and like to get the ball on the outside. They can go the length of the ground quickly. Look at the last 15 mins of the second.

Essendon will sit somewhere in the middle.

If there is a genuine concern it is the midfield match ups without Steele.

Crouch Ross Clark Windy V setterfield Shiel Merrett Parish.

They have the advantage. Especially if Draper gets ontop of Marshall.

If we make them go slow. We will win. But I think we will need another forward to stand up. Looking at Butler or Higgins.

 

[Mowman]

I was brought up on the “don’t burn your bridges” philosophy.
Would have left a far greater impression had he thanked the Saints for the opportunity in the first place - especially considering he was a rookie pick.. Not like he wasn’t offered a contract by the club afterall.

Or say nothing, like Longy did. No swipes on the way out. Shows a bit of class.

My two cents.

Throw petrol on the bridges and watch them burn go in a blaze of glory

Much more fun

 

[plugger66]

I don’t agree with this at all.

Freo retain possession and work the ball forward safely. Similar to St Kilda 09-10.

The Dogs attack and like to get the ball on the outside. They can go the length of the ground quickly. Look at the last 15 mins of the second.

Essendon will sit somewhere in the middle.

If there is a genuine concern it is the midfield match ups without Steele.

Crouch Ross Clark Windy V setterfield Shiel Merrett Parish.

They have the advantage. Especially if Draper gets ontop of Marshall.

If we make them go slow. We will win. But I think we will need another forward to stand up. Looking at Butler or Higgins.

Well you don’t have to agree. It was so obvious in the game especially against freo. And I’m backing the media who analyse the games and before not after both games they pointed out the major problem of freo and wb. Freo refused to go forward when we played them and that was their problem last year. They won 4 and half more games than us and kicked 30 more points and we were low scoring. Wb score more but when they attack to much their defence opens up so they can play many games with slow play and controlling the footy. This isn’t just me saying this. It was all the analysts. And they also couldn’t stop praising Lyon but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t both. Actually Lyon said when interviewed before the freo game they spread the ball deep in their backline and we have to slow the next passage of play down. Essendon will not play anything like those sides. They just don’t play that way. Does that mean we can’t slow them down? Obviously not but it does mean a completely different way of defending. We defended freos attack at the wing or even our hf line. It will be much deeper when we defend Essendon.

 

[Barrels]

I don’t agree with this at all.

Freo retain possession and work the ball forward safely. Similar to St Kilda 09-10.

The Dogs attack and like to get the ball on the outside. They can go the length of the ground quickly. Look at the last 15 mins of the second.

Essendon will sit somewhere in the middle.

If there is a genuine concern it is the midfield match ups without Steele.

Crouch Ross Clark Windy V setterfield Shiel Merrett Parish.

They have the advantage. Especially if Draper gets ontop of Marshall.

If we make them go slow. We will win. But I think we will need another forward to stand up. Looking at Butler or Higgins.

If we could take Bontempelli/Macrae/Smith/Liberatore/English, we can take Shiel/Setterfield/Parish/Merrett/Draper.

Even without Steele.

• Draper is a bit hit-and-miss; can be hugely influential, or make some very silly decisions.
• Setterfield has been good this year, but isn’t exactly a star.
• Parish gets a lot of the ball, but the effectiveness of his possessions is sometimes questionable.
• Shiel is a myth.
• Merrett is an out-and-out gun.

We may lack star quality in the middle with Steele out, but one thing you can say about Crouch and Ross in particular is that they’re steady. That counts for a lot, IMO.

Marshall is beatable in ruck contests, but excellent on the deck for a big bloke.

Windy, as we’ve seen, is still a work in progress, but can be very effective locking down.

Clark is an enigma.

I’ve been open that I think they should be favourites over us, but we’re very much a chance.

 

[phantom13]

I don’t agree with this at all.

Freo retain possession and work the ball forward safely. Similar to St Kilda 09-10.

The Dogs attack and like to get the ball on the outside. They can go the length of the ground quickly. Look at the last 15 mins of the second.

Essendon will sit somewhere in the middle.

If there is a genuine concern it is the midfield match ups without Steele.

Crouch Ross Clark Windy V setterfield Shiel Merrett Parish.

They have the advantage. Especially if Draper gets ontop of Marshall.

If we make them go slow. We will win. But I think we will need another forward to stand up. Looking at Butler or Higgins.

Based on last week it won’t be Higgo.

 

[plugger66]

Based on last week it won’t be Higgo.

I heard someone maybe Paton say they love the running the 2 forwards do to create space in the forward even if it means they don’t kick goals. I think Lyon is using them like eddy and mini. The difference should be our smalls now have better goal sense. They just need to add it to the running to create space.

 

[gringo2011]

Yes we should talk about it if they don’t come good even though no one is there now who selected them. Also it’s a lot of crap looking at star players taken 10 or more picks after ours because that means most clubs rated them like we did. I really think you should only go around 5 picks after ours. Also no recruiter knows about injuries. Our two still haven’t had a good go. Coffield had one full year and was 5th in the b and f in about season 3. That’s bloody good.

You kept telling me that we shouldn't be allowed to criticise the ones that did select them. If we struggle to draft talent at the same rate as others it should be a massive priority. Poach the best available recruiter.

 

[Plugger35]

If we could take Bontempelli/Macrae/Smith/Liberatore/English, we can take Shiel/Setterfield/Parish/Merrett/Draper.

Even without Steele.

• Draper is a bit hit-and-miss; can be hugely influential, or make some very silly decisions.
• Setterfield has been good this year, but isn’t exactly a star.
• Parish gets a lot of the ball, but the effectiveness of his possessions is sometimes questionable.
• Shiel is a myth.
• Merrett is an out-and-out gun.

We may lack star quality in the middle with Steele out, but one thing you can say about Crouch and Ross in particular is that they’re steady. That counts for a lot, IMO.

Marshall is beatable in ruck contests, but excellent on the deck for a big bloke.

Windy, as we’ve seen, is still a work in progress, but can be very effective locking down.

Clark is an enigma.

I’ve been open that I think they should be favourites over us, but we’re very much a chance.

I think Parish can be more effective and damaging than Merrett with his possessions, if I had to choose one of them to tag it would probably be Parish.

 

[gringo2011]

I couldn’t have given him more credit but everyone I heard even said before both games that they move the ball to slowly and don’t go forward enough. Don’t worry Lyon was a huge part of both wins especially the first but Essendon won’t play like that. That doesn’t mean we don’t win or Lyon can’t come up with something else

We saw how they played us a few weeks back, they were fast and we had to corral them to get them to take low percentage shots on goal. I think they may have had more scoring shots but couldn't convert. Steele going out is a massive loss but we should be better placed to cover him than last year.

 

[plugger66]

You kept telling me that we shouldn't be allowed to criticise the ones that did select them. If we struggle to draft talent at the same rate as others it should be a massive priority. Poach the best available recruiter.

Unlike you I’ve seen nothing to suggest we may not have the best recruiter. Also there is a soft cap. And maybe we have approached the best recruiters and now they could be satisfied they have the best they can get. We have replaced most staff. I’m not sure what else they can do considering things like the soft cap and a person wanting to come to us. And I’m not sure I’ve ever said you aren’t allowed to criticise previous recruiters. I’m nearly certain I’ve said it doesn’t mean anything for the current recruiting so I understand the point. We all know the recruiting hasn’t been great just by the amount of finals we have played in the last 10 years.

 

[DougalHoward]

Watch out !!!

 

[bird_man]

If we could take Bontempelli/Macrae/Smith/Liberatore/English, we can take Shiel/Setterfield/Parish/Merrett/Draper.

Even without Steele.

• Draper is a bit hit-and-miss; can be hugely influential, or make some very silly decisions.
• Setterfield has been good this year, but isn’t exactly a star.
• Parish gets a lot of the ball, but the effectiveness of his possessions is sometimes questionable.
• Shiel is a myth.
• Merrett is an out-and-out gun.

We may lack star quality in the middle with Steele out, but one thing you can say about Crouch and Ross in particular is that they’re steady. That counts for a lot, IMO.

Marshall is beatable in ruck contests, but excellent on the deck for a big bloke.

Windy, as we’ve seen, is still a work in progress, but can be very effective locking down.

Clark is an enigma.

I’ve been open that I think they should be favourites over us, but we’re very much a chance.

Game plan plays just as much of a role as personal though

Plugger is pretty spot on with what he was saying, especially with Freo who move the ball at a snails pace which gives us plenty of time to push back and out number them.

Dogs were just ordinary against us so that helped.

I think Essendon fast movement may cause us a few head aches, even if they don’t have the star midfield the Dogs do.

Very important we win the midfield battle and get the ball forward more than them.

 

[Cairnsman]

I heard someone maybe Paton say they love the running the 2 forwards do to create space in the forward even if it means they don’t kick goals. I think Lyon is using them like eddy and mini. The difference should be our smalls now have better goal sense. They just need to add it to the running to create space.

Yep I recon Higgo has been asked to play the defensive forward role with Buttler and help with the wall across the middle of the ground, if you watch replays he spending a lot of time high up the ground and behind the ball, I recon Gresh has been given the license to cheat and run forward of stoppages to see if he can pick up the opportunist goal.

 

[gringo2011]

Game plan plays just as much of a role as personal though

Plugger is pretty spot on with what he was saying, especially with Freo who move the ball at a snails pace which gives us plenty of time to push back and out number them.

Dogs were just ordinary against us so that helped.

I think Essendon fast movement may cause us a few head aches, even if they don’t have the star midfield the Dogs do.

Very important we win the midfield battle and get the ball forward more than them.

I was at the Freo game and they were trying to move it but we were sticking to them like a cheap suit. There was nothing ahead of them to kick to.

The Dogs did to the Lions what we did to them. Just pressured every possession and played the game at a higher tempo and intensity. I think it was 100% the Saints making them look bad.

I don't know how much to take out of the practice match but they looked like they troubled us a bit without being able to score. That again is making them take long range or angled shots through which is game plan too.

 

[Cairnsman]

If we could take Bontempelli/Macrae/Smith/Liberatore/English, we can take Shiel/Setterfield/Parish/Merrett/Draper.

Even without Steele.

• Draper is a bit hit-and-miss; can be hugely influential, or make some very silly decisions.
• Setterfield has been good this year, but isn’t exactly a star.
• Parish gets a lot of the ball, but the effectiveness of his possessions is sometimes questionable.
• Shiel is a myth.
• Merrett is an out-and-out gun.

We may lack star quality in the middle with Steele out, but one thing you can say about Crouch and Ross in particular is that they’re steady. That counts for a lot, IMO.

Marshall is beatable in ruck contests, but excellent on the deck for a big bloke.

Windy, as we’ve seen, is still a work in progress, but can be very effective locking down.

Clark is an enigma.

I’ve been open that I think they should be favourites over us, but we’re very much a chance.

We haven't come up against a midfield that has played well nor to it's potential in the first 2 weeks, if the Dogs midfield plays like we know it can then it beats our midfield arguably comfortably.

Steele being out tips things horribly in Essendon's favour.

How good though will it be if we arse another win with this current side.

 

[plugger66]

I was at the Freo game and they were trying to move it but we were sticking to them like a cheap suit. There was nothing ahead of them to kick to.

The Dogs did to the Lions what we did to them. Just pressured every possession and played the game at a higher tempo and intensity. I think it was 100% the Saints making them look bad.

I don't know how much to take out of the practice match but they looked like they troubled us a bit without being able to score. That again is making them take long range or angled shots through which is game plan too.

Dogs have ball movement issues this year and part of last year. When you have kicked 10 or less 3 games in a row there are issues moving the ball quickly. I’m not sure we stuck with freo. We let them kick it to each other then structured up due to their slow play which meant no space at all. If you played footy with the room you see from level 3 every side would move the ball well but when you play at ground level to block the space so it looks like there is no room to hit a target so what do you do. Go backwards again.

 

[stavro#4]

If we could take Bontempelli/Macrae/Smith/Liberatore/English, we can take Shiel/Setterfield/Parish/Merrett/Draper.

Even without Steele.

• Draper is a bit hit-and-miss; can be hugely influential, or make some very silly decisions.
• Setterfield has been good this year, but isn’t exactly a star.
• Parish gets a lot of the ball, but the effectiveness of his possessions is sometimes questionable.
• Shiel is a myth.
• Merrett is an out-and-out gun.

We may lack star quality in the middle with Steele out, but one thing you can say about Crouch and Ross in particular is that they’re steady. That counts for a lot, IMO.

Marshall is beatable in ruck contests, but excellent on the deck for a big bloke.

Windy, as we’ve seen, is still a work in progress, but can be very effective locking down.

Clark is an enigma.

I’ve been open that I think they should be favourites over us, but we’re very much a chance.

Let me be clear.

I think we are favourites. I expect to win.

But I’m not going to turn my nose up at that midfield.

The honest answer, is that you can’t keep taking quality players out of a side and expect to keep winning. I just hope Steele isn’t a gun too far - for this weeks game

 

[plugger66]

Let me be clear.

I think we are favourites. I expect to win.

But I’m not going to turn my nose up at that midfield.

The honest answer, is that you can’t keep taking quality players out of a side and expect to keep winning. I just hope Steele isn’t a gun too far - for this weeks game

So true. That fool Dwayne Russell said there is no excuse for either side with injuries as both are depleted. I’d suggest we are depleted a lot more than them. They are missing about 3 first 23 players. We are missing much more than that. If they say Stewart we may as well say hayes.

 

[Pakenhamsaint]

The bosses at work are going to this in a corprate box.

Based off last year thank God I'm not in it. Seething quietly isn't my thing

 

[Hayes4PM]

I feel for Paton a little bit, but he also going to struggle to compete with Webster, Sinclair, Stocker and now Nas rotating through the backline. He seemed like our next start a few years back and copped that broken leg, then Sincs rocketed up the order and Webster has coke back to his old form.

 

[gringo2011]

I feel for Paton a little bit, but he also going to struggle to compete with Webster, Sinclair, Stocker and now Nas rotating through the backline. He seemed like our next start a few years back and copped that broken leg, then Sincs rocketed up the order and Webster has coke back to his old form.

Coke back sounds like what I need to get back to my old form.