Autopsy Round 6, 2024: St Kilda v Western Bulldogs

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First live game … ok reword that, first live 3/4 of a game that I’ve seen for zonks, I feel sorry for you supporters that go every week.
I noticed in the beginning (maybe first 5minutes ) players were playing off their man, trying to open up play & were playing away from their opponents. Unfortunately & with the help of that little green rabbit in the middle the tide turned & next minute we’re a @/2 dozen goals down. Did our guys let that worry them? NO, not for the whole game were they anywhere near their man, sometimes you wonder what some of these so called professionals have between their ears. You can’t beat an opponent from 30mts away, you have to man the (add expletive) up! Disappointing showing.

 

[Saintsydney]

He was alright IMO. Better than King last week and got us back in that game. Tracking at Harry McKay level at the same age.

If we had a half decent goal kicking coach and he was kicking drop punts through the middle when he has his opportunity his stats would look a whole let better

 

[gringo2011]

Blooding the kids is nice and all, but the most concerning part is that our game plan has been worked out big time, and we don't seem to have a response to it. Dogs and Dons showed that if you chip the ball around, make us run around, and shift the zone then chances are you'll end up with a shot at goal. On top of that, they're waiting on the kick into the corridor and punishing us on turnover. No one in the team looked like they wanted the responsibility of kicking the ball. Its all well and good playing the kids, but you have to at least have some sort of game plan going/ a back up if it gets worked out. We did the same thing all night long.

We have a terrible midfield. Probably the worst in modern footy and haven't addressed it in 15 years. We can't fall back on our extractors so have to steal ball back off turn over which means pressuring. If Marshall gets beaten we are lubed up and bent over.

Steele is the only AFL standard mid we have with Crouch out and even with Crouch we then look stodgy. Steele looked ordinary last night too.

Windhager looked promising but he turned over most disposals or put the player ahead of him under pressure. If SOS can't address it soon we need to look at finding a list manager that can structure a list. Dow might be part of the solution but most sides carry spare mids, three years in a row our season fell over when injury hit our mids.

 

[gringo2011]

If we had a half decent goal kicking coach and he was kicking drop punts through the middle when he has his opportunity his stats would look a whole let better

He's a back-up key forward that performed better than our overpriced sulky first-picked one does when supply was absolutely abysmal. The delivery was so awful. The Dogs went straight up the middle and hit guys in meters of space on a lead. We blind bombed straight to the Dogs defenders or out to the boundary line. They must have tripled our inside 50s.

 

[gringo2011]

People that look at stats only would think that. His ball us is so hot and cold. He costs us more goals than he creates. Ball use under pressure is diabolical, and he runs himself into pressure a lot. He can’t release a handle once one finger is played on him, seems more worried about gently getting to ground.

I get that he works hard and has got on the end of it this year but three good kicks a game don’t make you forget the turnovers, the letting the opposition be first to the ball to avoid contact and the running into pressure like a rookie.

We have too many outside players in one team and I would prefer the others getting a game for the clubs future. Guys like Ronnie, Wilson, Henry, Wood, Hastie, NAS, Bonner.

Hill was one of the only players to be able to get the ball and move it. He had no-one to kick to ahead of him and he shouldn't be a distributor any way. He's a line breaker. Nas and Sincs were terrible and without their quality ball use we looked shit.

 

[Ricmel]

Our list is still bottom 8. We look more like Hawthorn, Adelaide or North Melbourne on paper.

Adelaide and North Melbourne lists are well ahead of ours. I'd rather their 5 year window than ours.

 

[BrutThough]

Adelaide and North Melbourne lists are well ahead of ours. I'd rather their 5 year window than ours.

The loss was awful but let's be serious please.

 

[saintbill]

Hawks, Roos and Eagles will ve looking at the Saints as one of the few AFL teams they are likely to beat this year.

All of them gave us a a run last year, with the Hawks obviously knocking us odd. Would be a huge surprise if we didn't drop at least 1.

 

[BrutThough]

He's a back-up key forward that performed better than our overpriced sulky first-picked one does when supply was absolutely abysmal. The delivery was so awful. The Dogs went straight up the middle and hit guys in meters of space on a lead. We blind bombed straight to the Dogs defenders or out to the boundary line. They must have tripled our inside 50s.

Only 10 more inside 50s for the Dogs.

The delivery was awful at times but Caminiti was also uncompetitive in marking contests half the time with our decent inside 50s. Some of what seemed like blind bombs to Dogs defenders were decent kicks that if we could have retained if the key forwards were playing half decent.

 

[Ricmel]

The loss was awful but let's be serious please.

I am absolutely serious. Watch North Melbourne's first half against Carlton. You can see what they are going to be in a year or two. We might be above them on the ladder this year and next but on current list they will be in the mix 2026 onwards. We'll still be somewhere between 8 - 14.

 

[gringo2011]

Adelaide and North Melbourne lists are well ahead of ours. I'd rather their 5 year window than ours.

North have a lot of kids that look potential elite. Powell is looking like one of their best now on top of Sheezel, Wardlaw, LDU, McKercher, Duursma etc. Most look on track to be top end and they have another half dozen kids that look promising. They will jump hard in a year or two.

We are ahead of the Hawks and West Coast but because we aren't bottoming out we are eating the scraps and with the AFL academy and North getting charity it's pushing us right down the quality order.

I can't see us going anywhere in the next 5 years unless a lot of our kids are absolute stars and our game plan holds up against the better lists. We need our version of Butters, Gulden, Warner etc. We lack those absolute top end players. The kids we have are at least AFL standard which is a nice change from Trout but we need top shelf not GOPs.

Wilson looked pretty good last night, probably the best of the young guys by a margin. Owens, King, Windy, Pou all look more like solid AFL players not stars and are heading for Gresham like careers not stars on 2024 form.

 

[beside the seaside]

Only 10 more inside 50s for the Dogs.

The delivery was awful at times but Caminiti was also uncompetitive in marking contests half the time with our decent inside 50s. Some of what seemed like blind bombs to Dogs defenders were decent kicks that if we could have retained if the key forwards were playing half decent.

In hindsight it would have been a good game to play Hayes.

 

[gringo2011]

Only 10 more inside 50s for the Dogs.

The delivery was awful at times but Caminiti was also uncompetitive in marking contests half the time with our decent inside 50s. Some of what seemed like blind bombs to Dogs defenders were decent kicks that if we could have retained if the key forwards were playing half decent.

If King had the same supply he would have been no better. He missed a few shots on goal that he should have converted but he's a 20 game kid who is back up. Butler, Snags, Owens and Phillipou were all a lot worse.

 

[gringo2011]

All of them gave us a a run last year, with the Hawks obviously knocking us odd. Would be a huge surprise if we didn't drop at least 1.

I reckon we win 3 more games for the year on current form. It will take a huge turnaround from here.

 

[BrutThough]

I am absolutely serious. Watch North Melbourne's first half against Carlton. You can see what they are going to be in a year or two. We might be above them on the ladder this year and next but on current list they will be in the mix 2026 onwards. We'll still be somewhere between 8 - 14.

North dont have a backline, barely have a forward line and their hyped 'best' midfielders haven't scored from a clearance all season.

Adelaide have some good young kids but they also dont have a backline, their starting midfield is older and slower than ours and their main score source is a 33 year old.

 

[gringo2011]

North dont have a backline, barely have a forward line and their hyped 'best' midfielders haven't scored from a clearance all season.

Adelaide have some good young kids but they also dont have a backline, their starting midfield is older and slower than ours and their main score source is a 33 year old.

North's forward line is decent, backline too but always injured. They are probably 2 KPs off being a good core and then need games into their kids. They've been given so many picks that will come good. They look like GC with a ridiculous amount of young quality.

 

[phantom13]

North dont have a backline, barely have a forward line and their hyped 'best' midfielders haven't scored from a clearance all season.

Adelaide have some good young kids but they also dont have a backline, their starting midfield is older and slower than ours and their main score source is a 33 year old.

Their backline is cooked (although combden looks a key piece to build around) but their forward line looks great.

Larkey is what we wish king was, Curtis looks really good and Zurhaar as 3rd banana s nice.

 

[BrutThough]

If King had the same supply he would have been no better. He missed a few shots on goal that he should have converted but he's a 20 game kid who is back up. Butler, Snags, Owens and Phillipou were all a lot worse.

King was shit last week but his normal standard would absolutely have been more competitive than any key forward last night.

The inside 50s weren't the greatest quality but we put too much blame solely on the mids when AFL quality forwards should be able to at least break even with average delivery. The forwards are so poor that they aren't able to even do that. Blame need to put on both groups.

 

[phantom13]

King was s**t last week but his normal standard would absolutely have been more competitive than any key forward last night.

The inside 50s weren't the greatest quality but we put too much blame solely on the mids when AFL quality forwards should be able to at least break even with average delivery. The forwards are so poor that they aren't able to even do that. Blame need to put on both groups.

Kings shit every other week and hardly some competitive beast on his best days. Given how piss poor our delivery was and the fact the game was done at quarter time I reckon king would have gone full stroppy toddler by 15 minutes in and maybe kicked a few of membs junk time goals

 

[BrutThough]

North's forward line is decent, backline too but always injured. They are probably 2 KPs off being a good core and then need games into their kids. They've been given so many picks that will come good. They look like GC with a ridiculous amount of young quality.

North's backline is far from decent. If they are relying on Corr and Louie to come in and make their backline strong, they are in trouble.

North haven't done a lot with the picks they've been gifted yet.

Their backline is cooked (although combden looks a key piece to build around) but their forward line looks great.

Larkey is what we wish king was, Curtis looks really good and Zurhaar as 3rd banana s nice.

I reckon Zurhaar is the most overrated player. Talks a big game so people think he is better than he is.

 

[Seaford_Saint]

I'm getting pretty sick and tired of the 'license' attributed to our forwards when it comes to approach at kicking for goal. Its an indictment on a professional footballer who plays in the forward line when they don't have the confidence to kick a drop punt from anywhere inside a 55 degree angle arc in front of goal. I understand they are adults and need to decide what works for them (to an extent), but when you lack the technique (mental fortitude?) to kick a drop punt from in front, that just isn't acceptable. I honestly feel Harvey as forward coach isn't the right option - get me an ex-forward to coach them - our leading patterns & positioning are just sub-standard. Watch some tape of the Cats and you will see what good looks like.

 

[gringo2011]

King was s**t last week but his normal standard would absolutely have been more competitive than any key forward last night.

The inside 50s weren't the greatest quality but we put too much blame solely on the mids when AFL quality forwards should be able to at least break even with average delivery. The forwards are so poor that they aren't able to even do that. Blame need to put on both groups.

He's flaky and doesn't chase. If he doesn't kick 5+ he's a liability. I'd trade him for the right offer. He's a distraction. Snags too, he's too unpredictable and doesn't pressure enough. Butler is done. Need Hammer, Collard and Hotton to come on. Maybe Henry spending time resting there too.

 

[BrutThough]

Kings s**t every other week and hardly some competitive beast on his best days. Given how piss poor our delivery was and the fact the game was done at quarter time I reckon king would have gone full stroppy toddler by 15 minutes in and maybe kicked a few of membs junk time goals

Leading score involvement player in his first 3 games. Our only avenue to score last year with 1 working shoulder. Everyone else seems to get grace for a bad game but it's boots into King when he has one.

 

[phantom13]

North's backline is far from decent. If they are relying on Corr and Louie to come in and make their backline strong, they are in trouble.

North haven't done a lot with the picks they've been gifted yet.


I reckon Zurhaar is the most overrated player. Talks a big game so people think he is better than he is.

100 games for 135 goals. As a second/third fiddle in a team that’s been dead last for basically his entire tenure.

What they’ve been given have played between 30 and 0 games so far. Their future looks bright, this is just contrary shit to defend our current woes.

 

[phantom13]

Leading score involvement player in his first 3 games. Our only avenue to score last year with 1 working shoulder. Everyone else seems to get grace for a bad game but it's boots into King when he has one.

Happy to make a lot of excuses for King but not willing to look at the circumstances for the roos players.

One eyed much?

Is being the leading score involvement player on a team that averages 9 goals a game really the flex you think?