Rd 1 loss not as catastrophic at 2nd glance

[Moods]

I reckon a few of us were thinking, 'if we can't beat the Kangas then we might not be as good as we hoped.'

In actual fact I thought after that game, whilst bitterly disappointed, that it was probably the most physical game of Rd 1. The amount of tackles laid and the pressure exerted by both teams was better than any other game in Rd 1. Because it was the Kangas I reckon a few of us thought it didn't count for much. If we'd lost to the Tiges, GWS, even pies or Cats like that we'd almost have accepted the loss. I think the Kangas may end up being a lot better than many have given credit and their beating of GWS in Sydney is exhibit A.

I'm still bitterly disappointed we lost that game, but I reckon at season's end we'll look back as a missed opportunity to knock off a top 6 side. Hopefully we'll be thereabouts and it's a good indication of how we're travelling this year as well.

[Beno88]

Can't agree with that. Perceived ability of the opposition counts for very litte.

The reality is we were 31 points up with 30 minutes left. North had just 2 goals on the board, and were down to one on the bench.

One of the worst St Kilda chokes I've seen.

[bigcarl]

Yes, it was a choke. A bit of panic set in. Maybe we should have flooded the backline. Or gone further on the attack. Anyway, I’m sure Ratts and the club will have learned from it. One instance doesn’t confirm a trend.

[Saintmatt]

Yes, it was a choke. A bit of panic set in. Maybe we should have flooded the backline. Or gone further on the attack. Anyway, I’m sure Ratts and the club will have learned from it. One instance doesn’t confirm a trend.

Agreed. I don't think it was a choke as much as we had literally forgotten how to win. We played so poorly for so long under Richo that losing breeds losing. We literally shat the bed and didn't know what to do when the inevitable north pressure came. The fact that North had 1 on the bench for so long makes it worse. That said - Gresh's knee and Long's ankle certainly hurt us.

Ultimately - the 3 easy missed shots at goal at the start of the 3rd Q (remember we started that like a steam train) stuffed our chance to go 40+pts up.

Interestingly - we were the only team that could win it in the last 40 seconds (RoMa's missed set shot)

[Moods]

Look. There's no doubt that the loss itself in isolation was a shocker in terms of it being a game we should have won easily (or at least won)
We were in control and I have no problem with opposition teams having their crack during a game. It's unrealistic to think you will dominate the entire game. We should have been able to steady and win from the position we were in. My point is that it appeared that we had lost that game to a middling average team which in many respects made the loss even worse. I actually said to a few mates at the time that I believed that the game was of a far higher quality than what it was written up as. The scribes almost expected it to be a dour affair between two middle ranked teams, although in my mind it was the best game of the round. Check out the tackling stats for the game and compare them against say, Rich v Carlton that same round. I guess what I'm saying is that at this early stage I reckon we're right up in the top bracket of teams. This week I'm very bullish and I rate the pies, but I think if we bring our pressure we could be a massive chance.

[Otiman]

I definitely think there's an element to North's gameplan where they sucker you into playing a certain way (hard slog, flooding, tire you out with high pressure) and then change it up to a loose style mid-quarter and get a jump. I feel that's what happened with us and we just got caught out.

Expect to see a few come from behind wins from them this year.

[Devilhead]

It's all well and good until North get beat a couple of times in the next few weeks against non final sides

Bottom line was that it was a bad loss against a team we were completely dominating and should have beaten by 40+

We just stopped dead in our tracks and there was no reasoning to it

This week we found ourselves in a very similar situation but this time we played the game out and won comfortably

[Yorkeys]

It will haunt us all season. Other clubs will always consider themselves a chance given our third quarter. Ratts is a very good coach but he could not stop the bleeding - perhaps it was too late by the time he considered the blood flow was significant. He learnt a bit that day.

[magnifisaint]

Geezus, its one game. The fact we were up by 6 goals and they had scored 2 says a lot. Do you just think that maybe a few in the team that were playing for the 1st time maybe became a little complacent or just didn't understand or gel with each other properly? It may need some time before the team clicks

[New Toy Saint]

It was disappointing to lose against North

[samuraisaint]

North always bounce out of the blocks well. They oftentimes fall away in the back half of the season - except when they play us, of course.

[Jacks Back]

Has everyone forgotten about the covid lockdown already? Okay,it didn't affect North but it may have been a factor.