Preview St Kilda V North Melbourne Sunday 3:20 Etihad Stadium

[kangaspurs]

On the weekend he played the whole game forward, but prior to that he had been playing mostly on the wing, with rests forward.

He dropped a few kg's over the summer and got even fitter than ever (more running and training in the midfield group, etc), so he's certainly as capable as ever of running someone ragged, whether playing on the wing, or up forward.

Well hopefully he spends a majority of his time forward this week as that's where I'd be most comfortable that we can limit his influence. If he stays forward I imagine Thompson would spend a majority of time on him with Tarrant on Bruce, Firrito on McCartin (should he come in) and Wright on Membrey. If he was to spend time up on the wing or behind the ball I suspect we would have MacMillan (who has been very good this season) run with him up the ground before switching over to Thompson when he pushes forward. This would concern me though as it's easy to confuse that rotation of opponents and end up leaving a forward unmanned, particularly with a forward line as dangerous as yours.

Alternatively, if Wright is injured we might bring Hansen in and have him run with Riewoldt for the entire time, as I'm fairly sure he has done in the past. In any case, he's certainly the player that would provide the biggest headaches to our match committee. In fact, this could be the battle of the forward lines, with both sets looking extremely dangerous.

 

[Ekomaira]

Lindsay Thomas is stiff. that's not worth a week, but it's good for us so I can't complain too much

 

[Plugger35]

Definitely a winnable game imo, North might be undefeated but they've looked beatable and Thomas out gives us one less forward to worry about.

The main dangerman up forward is Waite, he's in great form and always causes us problems going back to his Carlton days.

I'd probably give Dempster first crack on him with Fisher taking Petrie, I wouldn't be surprised if Lee or Goddard come in to play on Brown.

 

[St Kilda Death]

Lindsay Thomas is stiff. that's not worth a week, but it's good for us so I can't complain too much

I dont see how it wasn't

 

[Joffaboy]

I dont see how it wasn't

Thought it was worth a free. A week? Dunno

 

[BillingsStar]

I'm concerned about who we would have on him if he's pushing right up the ground then pushing hard back into the forward 50. I genuinely don't think we would have anyone that could run with him and match his aerial prowess if that is the case. Whereas if he's spending a majority of his time in the forward line I would be more confident of limiting his output.

I don't think there is a single player in the competition that could run with him all day and limit his impact all over the ground.

The best bet is to try to nullify his impact when he is up forward by cutting off his supply and double/triple teaming him. Even then he will still manage to snag a couple of goals.

 

[St Kilda Death]

Thought it was worth a free. A week? Dunno

Dirty snipers coat hanger.

 

[Ekomaira]

I dont see how it wasn't

it was nothing more than a crude tackle. it was a free kick, that's it

 

[Falchoon]

I have been super impressed with Ross this year, hope he spanks Ziebell.

 

[PoppedCorn]

Thomas is a dirty sly sniper who takes a dive at the hint of being touched

 

[sammm]

Thomas out and maybe perhaps the one and only Ray Farren in...he might hit some Saints jumpers this time. Shouldn't say that I do like the FRay.

Seriously though Thomas suspension means Geary can shift on to Higgins and hopefully limit his output. That would be a great start. Then if Ross can curtail Ziebell, and Hickey split the difference with Goldy we should be able to turn this into a real brawl in the guts. I would expect Jacobs or Gibson will go to Savage and try and limit our run out of defense, so we are going to have to provide some good blocks for him and Newnes, Webster and Montagna will have to take on more load.

I would challenge the team to kick a winning score. Don't go into your shell about Waite. Let him have his 7 let's just kick 20 again!

I can't see any changes for mind, unless we want another big body down back. Would love to see Gresh run with Boomer for a stint, and maybe Billings on Dal. If we get the jump on North we might be a little hard to peg back this time.

How about Geary on Harvey?

 

[Mat Mann]

The thing that worries is that forward line. ALL three of our key backs are too short for a majority of the competition but North is one of the worst - supposing the following match ups:

Brown v Dempster
Webster v Waite
Fisher v Petrie

Thomas out and maybe perhaps the one and only Ray Farren in...he might hit some Saints jumpers this time. Shouldn't say that I do like the FRay.

Seriously though Thomas suspension means Geary can shift on to Higgins and hopefully limit his output. That would be a great start. Then if Ross can curtail Ziebell, and Hickey split the difference with Goldy we should be able to turn this into a real brawl in the guts. I would expect Jacobs or Gibson will go to Savage and try and limit our run out of defense, so we are going to have to provide some good blocks for him and Newnes, Webster and Montagna will have to take on more load.

I would challenge the team to kick a winning score. Don't go into your shell about Waite. Let him have his 7 let's just kick 20 again!

I can't see any changes for mind, unless we want another big body down back. Would love to see Gresh run with Boomer for a stint, and maybe Billings on Dal. If we get the jump on North we might be a little hard to peg back this time.

Geary to Boomer or Higgins

I'd be sending Gilbert to either Waite or Brown, both pretty mobile, would be better than Dempster on the chase, I'd back gilbert to half as many as Dempster would, and then would have the chance of keeping them honest going the other way with his height and speed.

Our 3 forwards did a good job last week back them in this week, If supply is limited, move Roo back to the wing.
Ross to have another good game, such poise in traffic, always a good disposal out

 

[Kilroy]

Not sure how we have sold the farm ....

Not sure how?

What will Bunny Lebowski say when she hears, man?

 

[LiterallyNobody]

Geary to Boomer or Higgins

I'd be sending Gilbert to either Waite or Brown, both pretty mobile, would be better than Dempster on the chase, I'd back gilbert to half as many as Dempster would, and then would have the chance of keeping them honest going the other way with his height and speed.

Our 3 forwards did a good job last week back them in this week, If supply is limited, move Roo back to the wing.
Ross to have another good game, such poise in traffic, always a good disposal out

Just no.

Gilbert works better as our loose man in defence to mop up. He's been really effective this year, almost a utility. Very damaging when he goes forward too.

 

[AuntieBarrels]

There seems to be a bit of mixed opinions on Sunday's game (with more of us favouring North)... here's my two cents:

-OKay, so North are a good team, but I think they are being over-praised for what they have actually accomplished this season. They've had good wins against Adelaide, Dogs (without Bob and JJ), a tight contest with the Dees in horrendous conditions, and they have had 'wins' against Freo, GCS, and Brisbane. They've had a fairly good first 6 rounds.

-I'm sure most of you would agree with me, but I honestly believe our midfield is a lot stronger than theirs. We're also quicker than them through the middle. The reason they're quite good this year is because of their amazing forward line (I'll touch on that a bit later). We have come up against stronger opposition in the first 6 rounds and our Clearances, Centre Clearances, and Stoppages numbers are all better than the Roos'.

-If we can give the sort of delivery inside 50 against the Roos as we did against the Dees, Collingwood, and the Hawks (kinda), we should tear them apart. Roo will beat Tarrant or Thompson, Bruce should beat his man, hopefully Membrey can produce something special once again, and let's hope that goals from our midfielders will be widespread once again because we will NEED it.

-And there's no doubt this game is going to be a high scoring affair imo... We will have to concede 90-100+ points win or lose, just like what happened with Melbourne. We have to expect Waite to get his 4 goals, but we have to limit the impact of Brown and Drew. Geary can go to Higgins and limit his impact now that Lindsay's on vacation.

Carn the ****in' Sainters <3

 

[gringo2011]

it was nothing more than a crude tackle. it was a free kick, that's it

I reckon it looked worse than crude, he really took it further than a straight coat hanger dragging him back over excessively by his neck. He could have had neck injuries or even a knee. I usually stick up for Thomas but it wasn't a good look and looked like a deliberate act of aggression and not a slipped tackle.

 

[gringo2011]

There seems to be a bit of mixed opinions on Sunday's game (with more of us favouring North)... here's my two cents:

-OKay, so North are a good team, but I think they are being over-praised for what they have actually accomplished this season. They've had good wins against Adelaide, Dogs (without Bob and JJ), a tight contest with the Dees in horrendous conditions, and they have had 'wins' against Freo, GCS, and Brisbane. They've had a fairly good first 6 rounds.

-I'm sure most of you would agree with me, but I honestly believe our midfield is a lot stronger than theirs. We're also quicker than them through the middle. The reason they're quite good this year is because of their amazing forward line (I'll touch on that a bit later). We have come up against stronger opposition in the first 6 rounds and our Clearances, Centre Clearances, and Stoppages numbers are all better than the Roos'.

-If we can give the sort of delivery inside 50 against the Roos as we did against the Dees, Collingwood, and the Hawks (kinda), we should tear them apart. Roo will beat Tarrant or Thompson, Bruce should beat his man, hopefully Membrey can produce something special once again, and let's hope that goals from our midfielders will be widespread once again because we will NEED it.

-And there's no doubt this game is going to be a high scoring affair imo... We will have to concede 90-100+ points win or lose, just like what happened with Melbourne. We have to expect Waite to get his 4 goals, but we have to limit the impact of Brown and Drew. Geary can go to Higgins and limit his impact now that Lindsay's on vacation.

Carn the ****in' Sainters <3

If we win it has to be from our mids being able to dictate the tempo. If the Roos get us into a contested ball slog we lose. If we can play our faster precise game we can score quickly and heavily and they will struggle like the hawks did against us.

 

[Winmar2Lockett]

Lindsay Thomas is stiff. that's not worth a week, but it's good for us so I can't complain too much

Disagree purely because I believe Thomas' intent was to hurt Hunter.

About 10secs before the incident, Thomas was shoved in the back & didn't get a free. You could see that he was majorly pissed off & when the ball spilt back to Hunter he went at the player & not the footy.

The intent was here to hurt IMO which means he wasn't just being clumsy (which if you look at the incident in isolation looks the case).

Worst still he took a dive when the Dogs remonstrated with him.

 

[Ekomaira]

Disagree purely because I believe Thomas' intent was to hurt Hunter.

About 10secs before the incident, Thomas was shoved in the back & didn't get a free. You could see that he was majorly pissed off & when the ball spilt back to Hunter he went at the player & not the footy.

The intent was here to hurt IMO which means he wasn't just being clumsy (which if you look at the incident in isolation looks the case).

Worst still he took a dive when the Dogs remonstrated with him.

I'm looking at it purely as a neutral. good on him for trying to hurt the opposition, I'd be disappointed if our players didn't do the same. if one of our guys copped a week for a bad tackle we'd all be ropeable

 

[gringo2011]

I'm looking at it purely as a neutral. good on him for trying to hurt the opposition, I'd be disappointed if our players didn't do the same. if one of our guys copped a week for a bad tackle we'd all be ropeable

I didn't think his intent was to tackle though it looked like he grabbed him around the neck to pull him up. If you do an act that puts you in the sights of the MRP you put your self into the lottery for a suspension. It looked malicious and was of little benefit to his side as he gave Hunter a free kick

 

[Ekomaira]

I didn't think his intent was to tackle though it looked like he grabbed him around the neck to pull him up. If you do an act that puts you in the sights of the MRP you put your self into the lottery for a suspension. It looked malicious and was of little benefit to his side as he gave Hunter a free kick

for me it looked a lot worse than it actually was. Hunter was low and Thomas just didn't get low enough. it all happened pretty fast. we'll leave it there cos I doubt we'll come to an agreement on this. at the end of the day Thomas isn't playing this week and that can only help us (even though numerous Roos fans have said he's in bad form anyway) so it could work out well for us

 

[Mindtraveller]

This could be the highest scoring game of the season

 

[cooperrules]

saints will win by 1 point

 

[holllywood]

Above all else, I just want the good Saints to show up.

 

[VDS66]

Heart says win. Head says loss.

Great test for the team IMO. If we can win, it will be the defining moment in our rebuild in terms of belief and ability... the catalyst for greater things to come.