Preview Round 5, 2024: GWS v St.Kilda - Manuka Oval, Saturday 13 April, 1:45pm AEST *GARCIA DEBUT*

[Dr Spaceman]

Hugo was ecstatic to learn that his lifetime dream to play AFL was about to be realised.

He was simply overcome with emotion.

 

[Plugger35]

Darcy Wilson seems to be the only Saints first year player that Ross trusts to play a full game and hasn't been dropped.

He is my only Saints first year player in my Supercoach team too and I'm still holding him, he hasn't made enough cash yet to trade him out.

 

[TheJackal]

Darcy Wilson seems to be the only Saints first year player that Ross trusts to play a full game and hasn't been dropped.

He is my only Saints first year player in my Supercoach team too and I'm still holding him, he hasn't made enough cash yet to trade him out.

Darcy is a bit of a Unicorn with his mix of speed and endurance. The number of runs from pocket to pocket in last quarters is something to behold. As much as Darcy belongs at that level, if he had an off day - the least you can expect from him is that he'd still be running himself to every contest at the 20 minute mark of the 4th.

 

[SG34]

Exactly how we want it. Players have to fight hard to get into this team.

I love Zac, think his style works well for us, but if your tackle count is low and your disposals aren't that great and your opponents are getting the ball a lot, then how are you helping the team?

v Tigers- 11 poss, 4 tackles, 5th least distance gained, in statistical terms, the only Saints with less impact were Hammer, Butler and Hastie.

Hello?
v Tigers?
Jones played half a game!
What do those numbers mean?

 

[Plugger35]

Darcy is a bit of a Unicorn with his mix of speed and endurance. The number of runs from pocket to pocket in last quarters is something to behold. As much as Darcy belongs at that level, if he had an off day - the least you can expect from him is that he'd still be running himself to every contest at the 20 minute mark of the 4th.

Yeah Ross would like his ability to run hard both ways all day, he has made a few clangers so far but he also does a lot of good things too.

Against Richmond he made a clanger in the last quarter but then he made up for it with a couple of good things which is why he's a keeper.

.

 

[stfan]

Not a great deal to report today, was relatively wet under foot so there were a few hairy (slippery) moments.

Paddy, along with Hastie and Lance were doing a drill at the far end of the ground with the guys playing VFL. He looked rusty blowing out the cobwebs a bit, skillswise was fine but just seemed to be trying to hard to get positioning right to get the ball. Halfway through the drill I saw he limp off with what looked like a lower leg issue. Not sure if ankle, calf or whatever but hopefully he is ok. I saw him earlier trying to stretch in between drills so perhaps it's just soreness/tightness that he didnt want to risk. Obviously he didn't participate in match sim as he was already in the rooms by then.

King and Howard got up gingerly from a marking contest, talk about heart in mouth stuff. Max did some run throughs and seemed ok.

Keeler, with his physique and the glimpse of 7 on his back reminds me so much of a teller Nas. The guy has so much class.

Mitchito has the serious yips, his goal kicking practice was dead set shocking. Missing badly to the left, then right, rinse and repeat. Everyone focusing heavily on goalkicking, love to see it. I'll put the moz on him but Darce is a bloody good shot for goal, didn't help Owens' cause that Wilson was slotting them from everywhere he was missing them from.

Howard, he is such a good trainer, sounds dumb, but without the pressure and second guessing of a game situation he looks so good.

Was great to see Henry and Clark running laps. Clark, whilst he'll never have arm definition, certainly looks bigger across his upper torso. Love seeing Henry back, he is such a breath of fresh air around the place!

I've got a feeling about this week, shackles feel like they are off a bit - no expectations of winning I think we might see a surprise result this week!

Yes at Norwood Owens practice his goal kicking in the warm up. He was awful in his set shot routine. He seems to lean back when he kicks and the ball just shanks anywhere.

The only goal he licked was from his only banana kick.

Owens need someone to work with him on a good set shot routine. He needs it to become muscle memory.

I think he just panics now and just does not know what to do. No fluency at all

 

[akaifu]

Jones is 100% being managed. Imo if he was dropped, his name would be in the emergencies list over Hastie. A couple of short turnarounds between rounds on top of limited TOG and a couple of knocks he copped against the Tigers was probably enough to manage him this week.

 

[seasonedsainter]

Jones is 100% being managed. Imo if he was dropped, his name would be in the emergencies list over Hastie. A couple of short turnarounds between rounds on top of limited TOG and a couple of knocks he copped against the Tigers was probably enough to manage him this week.

I highly doubt they'd list him as omitted if he was actually being managed.

 

[RBW_007]

Yes at Norwood Owens practice d his goal kicking in the warm up. He was awful in his set shot routine. He seems to lean back when he kicks and the ball just shanks anywhere.

The only goal he licked was from his only banana kick.

Owens need someone to work with him on a good set shot routine. He needs it to become muscle memory.

I think he just panics now and just does not know what to do. No fluency at all

He has little to no confidence in himself when taking a set shot. I would hope the club has him talking to a sport psychologist about finding a way to work through mentally preparing himself for this. It seems to me that he is focusing more on trying hard not to miss the goal instead of trying hard to kick it.

 

[hayes]

We can’t base things off three years ago any more, Jones has been awful. I was one of his biggest fans but he’s playing as a midfielder and averaging 14 touches a game. That’s horrendous. I was hoping he’d go to a new level under Ross but his last good season was three years ago, it’s time for some new names in there. No point being a point of difference if you don’t have the ball. Windy, Garcia and eventually Dow is the way to go from now on.

The one thing I’d love to see more than anything else in this game is Windy to repeat his Collingwood game. That one game was exciting but we need to see it more often so we can at least have ONE PLAYER put their hand up for a post-Steele midfield.

 

[pebblesofsand]

People being very harsh on Jones. Has played an average of just over 53% game time so far (subbed on in one game, subbed off in another) for an average of 14 possessions a game.

In his only full game he still only managed 61% game time for 16 possessions, 5 clearances and 3 i50's.

Clearly not match fit so having him sit on the bench for 90% of a game does him no favours. A full game at Sandy is a much better outcome.

That said - great to see Garcia get a game. Ideally he gets a reasonable run at it for most of the last qtr as a tactical sub not an injury sub.

 

[BrutThough]

Darcy Wilson seems to be the only Saints first year player that Ross trusts to play a full game and hasn't been dropped.

He is my only Saints first year player in my Supercoach team too and I'm still holding him, he hasn't made enough cash yet to trade him out.

It's not that Wilson is being 'trusted' more. All the others have only been selected because we require a 23rd player to be the sub.

They aren't being selected because we want more youth or to give them expereince. We have no one else to pick.

 

[Sunshine Sainter]

Is that the last game Zac plays? Was very ordinary to the point of disinterested, had very low game time and subbed out which is telling considering we needed energy and attack around the ball.

Got a bit if the Dunstans about it...

Dunstan, Billings mmmmm Can see Melbourne trading for Jones

 

[sammm]

Jones is 100% being managed. Imo if he was dropped, his name would be in the emergencies list over Hastie. A couple of short turnarounds between rounds on top of limited TOG and a couple of knocks he copped against the Tigers was probably enough to manage him this week.

we'll see if he is lined up for the vfl this week.

 

[Mighty_sainter]

Don’t mind the idea of having the first years as sub. It brings them slowly into the routine of game day and slowly bringing them up to pace of afl footy for when they are ready to come in and play a game they are not as overwhelmed

 

[SteeleSaints]

Yes at Norwood Owens practice d his goal kicking in the warm up. He was awful in his set shot routine. He seems to lean back when he kicks and the ball just shanks anywhere.
The only goal he licked was from his only banana kick.
Owens need someone to work with him on a good set shot routine. He needs it to become muscle memory.
I think he just panics now and just does not know what to do. No fluency at all

If any club needs to address their goal kicking its St Kilda - as a collective group we are very ordinary. I find it astounding that in professional full time environments more work is not done with players on their techniques and goal kicking. It wasnt until Max King was getting hammered in the media about his kicking that they did something and now it seems we have so many other players who could do with some assistance.

If supporters can see players are losing confidence in their routine and ball drop, surely the club has and lets hope they are doing something about it! Spend the time and money Saints and get all our forwards etc working closely with a proven kicking coach.

On top of that Caminiti and others need to work with a specialist marking coach - opponents now know how susceptible he is to being forced under the flight of the ball and are constantly forcing him forward. Perhaps its a strength thing also, but a lot is technique and how he is setting himself up to jump at marks.

I wonder if RTB and his assistantants are so focussed on our ball movement and structures, individual coaching isnt getting the attention required?

 

[The_Steadier]

Jones hasn’t looked his aggressive self at all since returning

Agree- his point of difference is/was his attack on the play and burst speed.

Have rarely seen any of that this year imo.
My guess is that he's worried about tearing something if he goes at full tilt (fair enough).

Unfortunately for him though- going full tilt is the only thing that makes him a decent footballer.

If his career is on the line- I wouldn't be adverse to sending him back to where he came from (either in the vfl or afl)- the backline.

See how he goes as a jimmy webster style small defender.
(Fwiw- i dont rate jimmys kicking, so jones being a scrappy kick is like for like in my books).

He's a couple of years younger than jimmy- and with paton potentially cactus; it would be worth a shot (if rtb does now rate jones as a mid below the kids)

 

[StFly]

Agree- his point of difference is/was his attack on the play and burst speed.

Have rarely seen any of that this year imo.
My guess is that he's worried about tearing something if he goes at full tilt (fair enough).

Unfortunately for him though- going full tilt is the only thing that makes him a decent footballer.

If his career is on the line- I wouldn't be adverse to sending him back to where he came from (either in the vfl or afl)- the backline.

See how he goes as a jimmy webster style small defender.
(Fwiw- i dont rate jimmys kicking, so jones being a scrappy kick is like for like in my books).

He's a couple of years younger than jimmy- and with paton potentially cactus; it would be worth a shot (if rtb does now rate jones as a mid below the kids)

Butler if underdone, stick him in the FP and state "run fast, lay tackle, kick at goal" that way if it's a scrap kick inside the F50 it's generally beneficial.

 

[Joffaboy]

Gather Round in Adelaide, 6 day break travel to Canberra, 5 day break Bulldogs, then travel to Adelaide against Port.

Some players will have to be managed. Maybe Jones v Bulldogs, Campbell the same.
The AFL draw for many teams is a shambles.

On SM-S908E using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[stavro#4]

I think Ross isn't a fan

On the contrary RTB is a massive fan…. When he is at his best. Really rates what he brings to the side… when he is inform

We won’t be carrying players when our issues are that we are 4 games in and haven’t delivered a 4 quarter performance so far.

Straight from the horses mouth..

I said a few days after that the initial timeline of 7-8 weeks - the club believed he was on the early side of that.

4 weeks from now has Henry in the 6-7 week range.

So slightly ahead.

 

[stavro#4]

Butler if underdone, stick him in the FP and state "run fast, lay tackle, kick at goal" that way if it's a scrap kick inside the F50 it's generally beneficial.

Butler should be circling in on match fitness now. It’s about form and touch.

 

[CursingFijian]

Don’t mind the idea of having the first years as sub. It brings them slowly into the routine of game day and slowly bringing them up to pace of afl footy for when they are ready to come in and play a game they are not as overwhelmed

I agree. Especially, if travel is involved then getting a sneak leak at how senior players prepare is invaluable.

The warmth of a match day payment in your bank account also helps to inspire the youngsters as well.

 

[StFly]

Butler should be circling in on match fitness now. It’s about form and touch.

Oh I figured, it was more at that push if we had to lug Jones anywhere for his 60% that isn't mid, it's F50 and not D50. Butler was just the one coming back from injury was all.

 

[Remboy]

Gather Round in Adelaide, 6 day break travel to Canberra, 5 day break Bulldogs, then travel to Adelaide against Port.

Some players will have to be managed. Maybe Jones v Bulldogs, Campbell the same.
The AFL draw for many teams is a shambles.

On SM-S908E using BigFooty.com mobile app

The fixture has been all over the place. It takes us until round 6 to get a home game at our home ground, by which time we’ll have had two interstate trips back to back and two five day breaks while some other clubs are having byes.

 

[The Punter]

The early byes were driven by the awkwardness of Richmond and Melbourne having to play on a Wednesday night - this was their solution.