Definitely need both Bally and Lenny back for the finals. On todays performance I think Gwilt, Zac, Armo and King will all be considered to be ommitted for next week. Armo tried hard but I think his decision making and disposal are still off the mark. Gwilt has had some good games this year but toda...

max is still one of the best full-backs in the league and must play finals,he is an important foundation in the back half as he rarely gets beaten over a whole game of footy. although he doesnt have the best disposal in the team his defensive efforts and ability to shut down key forwards makes him ...

saint66au wrote:Gee people turn when we lose a couple

Exactly...its incredible!

I thought RL was just keeping things in perspective and not hitting the panic button. Sure, it wasn't a vintage performance by us, but for 3 qtr's we controlled the game but just didn't take our oppurtunities.

I'd prefer Gwilt over Fisher up forward. Fisher has made his name as a smart defender who sets us up from defence very well with his ball use. Also, Gwilt is a great kick.

Losing the contested ball and allowing a lot of I50s is going to make it tough to win, no matter who we have back there. That was the key to the loss on the weekend no doubt. We got smashed in the midfield. Having said that, the back six did seem quite unbalanced but I think part of that was due to...

Having the ball blast in there cleanly time and time again didnt help either Thats the key. There was no pressure on the Essendon midfielders up the ground. If any team allows easy delivery into the forward line it doesn't matter who you've got in the back 6 they are going to get exposed. At the sa...

Fisher in the forward line was one of RLs few flops this season- even though a couple of goals came from it. I think its a bit harsh to label that move as a flop because it was a good idea to try it now and it gives us another option for the finals if Fisher gets tagged (as he probably will against...

The first time we played Essendon this year their pace also really hurt us. But on that occasion we were still able to apply enough pressure on them to make their ball use ineffective. Yesterday though, they were winning the ball in and under and were able to run in numbers without pressure . And th...

desertsaint wrote:they wanted it more, and deserved their win -simple as that!

Thats right. They played with greater intensity for the majority of the match. We didn't work hard enough in the midfield.

samoht wrote: Our players looked flat or were made to look flat ?

Combination of both I think. I think in the 2nd & 3rd qtr's we didnt work anywhere near as hard as we have been in regards to pressuring the opposition and also weren't working hard enough in winning contested possession.

If you want to pin-point the loss on something then it should be Kosi's decision to play on and handball with 1:30 left. We had players flooding forward and he just needed to show some composure.

Oh well, I'm happy with the spirit that the players showed in the last qtr or so.

CJJJJJJJJJJJJJ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mullet wrote:

fingers wrote:Whatever the result today I am amazingly proud of the boys and the effort and pressure. Given the outs this is amazing.

agree, they are following ross's instructions with precision

If Bruce was commentating this game he'd describe it as "Delicciiouss"

saint_mite wrote: maybe the hawks are just a really tackle-able team? haha

Except Cyril is a little tough

Our kicking for goal needs to improve as well - making the most of our chances will help to no end with these wind conditions. Yeh TQ you make some valid points. This could well be what the conditions are like on a cold windy day at the G' in September! Some of the goal-kicking thus far has been di...

indeed

LovedLintonStreet wrote:
By the way love the tackling saints!!

Too bad the umpires aren't rewarding our tackling

"Sam Mitchell gets the ball...and its a double-bunger" - Robert Walls

lol

Devilhead wrote:Yeah I know whatever we won

but Geelong 22 Saints 14

We got absolute shafted by the umpires and they pretty much well kept Geelong in the game

Some of the decisions were truly mind boggling

Totally agree.

The umpires were a blight on this magnificent game.

They were our two best today. Hats off to them!

Also gotta mention Roo, BJ, Dal (but how did you miss that goal!?!?!), Gardi, CJ

GARDIIIIII!!! YOU LITTLE BEAUTY!

GO SAINTERS!

GO SAINTTTERRSS!

Need to lock it in our fwd 50 as much as possible!

I think if we perform to the level that we have produced the last 3 weeks then we will be in big danger of dropping one of those 3 games. We don't seem to have the sharpness that we had in the first 6/7 rounds. I think the midfielders will be benefit greatly from the mid-year break.

Bally was in our best 2 or 3 players on Sunday. Whilst he isn't playing as well as he did in 04/05 he is going about his business very well and apart from the Essendon game has been doing well. Bally has been playing his role very nicely. 13 contested possessions and 77% disposal efficiency on sunda...