How was this allowed to happen?

[samuraisaint]

A lot of people posting on here probably weren't at the game last night, but I was and those of you who weren't were probably a bit surprosed to see a few maligned Bombers popping up in the goalkickers last night for the first time in quite some time.

Instead of potting individual St Kilda players, here is what I saw at the game sitting behind the goals.

A guy sitting next to me asked me in the third quarter why Stringer was standing all alone in the forward fifty at half forward. All on his own, when the ball was in dispute in the middle, when the ball predictably spilled out tpo an Essendon player in the middle who then lkicked it into the forward line Stringer marked unopposed. We timed the amount of time Stringer was on his own from the moment we noticed him standing there - 1 minute. How the hell does that happen to a guy as mercurial as Stringer?!?

A little later, Peter Wright, same thing. Why?!?

Shiel was another who was allowed to do as he liked? Why?!?

These were guys who had not been playing well before last night and in indifferent form to say the least, who were able to hit the scoreboard. Well, I can tell you why. Nobody was on them. And sometimes for as long as a minute at a time.
Players passing across goal had their kicks easily intercepted. More than once. Why?!?

On the basis of what I saw last night, a lot of players who have been playing all season are absolutely cooked. I just hope Highmore can come back in, and I would bring in all of DMac, Steele, Owens and Sharman.

Sharman kicked clutch goals in all three of his games and is a decoy for King.

Membrey to play in the forward line please.

Brad Hill to the wing.

Hannebery to come back in when he can.

[shanegrambeau]

Yes
Good points

Got me thinking.

If the Essendon forwards were unmarked… why?

Hypotheses
A) Saints were following a faulty plan
B) Saints were all having brain fades simultaneously
C) saints players were told to act on their own initiative and go where ever they felt was right

All three of these ideas can’t be right, but what hope is there exiting D50 in a chain, if players cannot rely on players to hold position in a pattern?

[skeptic]

I think a challenge this club has had for a while is leadership on and off the field.

Think back to the hey day…
Riewoldt, Hayes, Goddard - nice as they are… I bet these guys were really hard a$$es when it came to prep, giving everything, taking the game on etc
All took it on themselves to win us the game

Likewise, whilst not in the group, I bet guys like Kosi, Milne, Bakes etc were essential in making guys feel supported, have fun be part of the group etc

Then you’d have guys like Dal and Monty who were pbly in the middle.

Last nights game was lost psychology… guys like Crouch are far too good to make mistakes like routinely kicking into the man on the mark.
Gears was a vocal leader and guider that isn’t playing
Steele leads the way on the park but pbly isn’t overly verbal… and isn’t there

Who on this list takes it on onfield when things are going against us to manage the milliue? It’s an important thing in organisations to manage the environment to the employee needs
I don’t think we have anyone and need leaders

That’s my feeling

[Sainternist]

Hannebery to come back in when he can.

I wouldn’t hold your breath for him to come into the side at all this year, which would mean that his AFL career is all but over

[SunnyErnie]

Hannebery to come back in when he can.

I wouldn’t hold your breath for him to come into the side at all this year, which would mean that his AFL career is all but over

Hannas still gets paid so what’s the problem?

[asiu]

Skep

u used this line

Last nights game was lost psychology

(psychologically)

my feeling is

our 'disconnect' was created by the

emotional pre game pump up
verses
our practiced presence (deep breathing/ present awareness)
exercise/s

like ... HTF does team play both ends of the see saw
at the same time ??

[SAINT-LEE]

Hannebery to come back in when he can.

I wouldn’t hold your breath for him to come into the side at all this year, which would mean that his AFL career is all but over

Over? Ppfffttttt

5 yr extension on $750,000 a year....two trips to Europe per year for "treatment" & a guarantee of a coaching role when he DOES retire in 2043.

[Sanctorum]

Excellent post, thank you samuraisaint and others who have commented, this is exactly what occurred to me as well, watching the game at home. There was an absolutely total lack of on-field leadership on Friday night, not a single individual that took on the responsibility to rally the players when the Bombers started to dominate all over the ground. The ease with which Essendon defenders were able to repel St Kilda-s forward thrusts was painful to watch, as was their total control of all the avenues to goal.

On-field leadership has been a major problem for St Kilda for years - sure, Geary was a reasonable leader but mostly only ever a mediocre player and therefore unable to lead by example, which is what genuine captains like Scott Pendlebury, Joel Selwood, Max Gawn, Marcus Bontempelli, Nat Fyfe, Toby Green, Rory Sloane, Dayne Zorko etc provide in spades. Jack Steele is a fantastic player, no question, but his leadership style is subdued and the coaches need to groom him to develop that skill urgently, because that obviously does not come naturally to him.

This is such a crucial aspect of a team's success and needs to be addressed without delay! I'm not a big fan of Seb Ross but have to concede that he is one of the current players that probably could be reasonably effective in the captain's role.

Little wonder that Ratten looked so frustrated in the coach's box because he would obviously have seen all of this unfolding, yet was powerless to do anything to fix it, if none of your players are "foreman material", or "born leaders", there's bugger all you can do looking at the game from the sidelines.

The other issue that's been mentioned is the emotional build-up pre-game about Danny Frawley and mental health. It is often said that competitive sport is "90% above the shoulders". Inevitably on Friday night there would have been quite a few St Kilda players, especially the younger ones without much life experience, who would have been emotionally moved by the pre-game hullabaloo about mental illness, including suicide, and may have had trouble processing this in their heads - let's face it, it moves even grown men to tears!

One way or another, I honestly think the St Kilda hierarchy needs to examine this matter and somehow work out a way to avoid games dedicated to the memory of Spud Frawley from distracting the focus of the team away from the task at hand.....the pathetic and listless performance on Friday night is prima facie evidence that this actually occurred because it was by far the worst result this year and may well cause the team to miss a spot in the finals.

[saintkid]

Hannebery to come back in when he can.

I wouldn’t hold your breath for him to come into the side at all this year, which would mean that his AFL career is all but over

Over? Ppfffttttt

5 yr extension on $750,000 a year....two trips to Europe per year for "treatment" & a guarantee of a coaching role when he DOES retire in 2043.

Well said.

Yes, let's keep dreaming about things that are purely based on hope rather than reality.
The club's list management was built on hope and short vision thinking. We have a list that still needs a major overhaul. Our midfield apart from Steele is very average at best. He's the only genuine star we have. King could be but his play in terms of leading and working the forward line in clever way, has a lot of work to do.
Once Paddy finishes up, as he is a the end of his career, watch our ruck division plummet. We're so dependent on a 34 year old again this season.
Hannebery should not be mentioned anymore, a complete disaster thanks to idiot Lethlean.
Even if he plays a few games at the end of his huge, non-sensical contract, ''whoopy do", as they say!

[spert]

Excellent post, thank you samuraisaint and others who have commented, this is exactly what occurred to me as well, watching the game at home. There was an absolutely total lack of on-field leadership on Friday night, not a single individual that took on the responsibility to rally the players when the Bombers started to dominate all over the ground. The ease with which Essendon defenders were able to repel St Kilda-s forward thrusts was painful to watch, as was their total control of all the avenues to goal.

On-field leadership has been a major problem for St Kilda for years - sure, Geary was a reasonable leader but mostly only ever a mediocre player and therefore unable to lead by example, which is what genuine captains like Scott Pendlebury, Joel Selwood, Max Gawn, Marcus Bontempelli, Nat Fyfe, Toby Green, Rory Sloane, Dayne Zorko etc provide in spades. Jack Steele is a fantastic player, no question, but his leadership style is subdued and the coaches need to groom him to develop that skill urgently, because that obviously does not come naturally to him.

This is such a crucial aspect of a team's success and needs to be addressed without delay! I'm not a big fan of Seb Ross but have to concede that he is one of the current players that probably could be reasonably effective in the captain's role.

Little wonder that Ratten looked so frustrated in the coach's box because he would obviously have seen all of this unfolding, yet was powerless to do anything to fix it, if none of your players are "foreman material", or "born leaders", there's bugger all you can do looking at the game from the sidelines.

The other issue that's been mentioned is the emotional build-up pre-game about Danny Frawley and mental health. It is often said that competitive sport is "90% above the shoulders". Inevitably on Friday night there would have been quite a few St Kilda players, especially the younger ones without much life experience, who would have been emotionally moved by the pre-game hullabaloo about mental illness, including suicide, and may have had trouble processing this in their heads - let's face it, it moves even grown men to tears!

One way or another, I honestly think the St Kilda hierarchy needs to examine this matter and somehow work out a way to avoid games dedicated to the memory of Spud Frawley from distracting the focus of the team away from the task at hand.....the pathetic and listless performance on Friday night is prima facie evidence that this actually occurred because it was by far the worst result this year and may well cause the team to miss a spot in the finals.

I agree with you, I was disappointed with our more experienced players the other night- just didn't go that extra bit under pressure and provide leadership. I expect that DMac would have tried his guts out had he been playing. I looked at Windhager yesterday, and seemed to make his mind up to win the match, and put in a huge effort in - that's stuff you can't teach, it comes from within..I almost see him as a future captain.

[Saintmike65]

A lot of people posting on here probably weren't at the game last night, but I was and those of you who weren't were probably a bit surprosed to see a few maligned Bombers popping up in the goalkickers last night for the first time in quite some time.

Instead of potting individual St Kilda players, here is what I saw at the game sitting behind the goals.

A guy sitting next to me asked me in the third quarter why Stringer was standing all alone in the forward fifty at half forward. All on his own, when the ball was in dispute in the middle, when the ball predictably spilled out tpo an Essendon player in the middle who then lkicked it into the forward line Stringer marked unopposed. We timed the amount of time Stringer was on his own from the moment we noticed him standing there - 1 minute. How the hell does that happen to a guy as mercurial as Stringer?!?

A little later, Peter Wright, same thing. Why?!?

Shiel was another who was allowed to do as he liked? Why?!?

These were guys who had not been playing well before last night and in indifferent form to say the least, who were able to hit the scoreboard. Well, I can tell you why. Nobody was on them. And sometimes for as long as a minute at a time.
Players passing across goal had their kicks easily intercepted. More than once. Why?!?

On the basis of what I saw last night, a lot of players who have been playing all season are absolutely cooked. I just hope Highmore can come back in, and I would bring in all of DMac, Steele, Owens and Sharman.

Sharman kicked clutch goals in all three of his games and is a decoy for King.

Membrey to play in the forward line please.

Brad Hill to the wing.

Hannebery to come back in when he can.

What makes your observations even more puzzling is that 2 of our defenders are in the leadership group!!!

[The Fireman]

Skep

u used this line

Last nights game was lost psychology

(psychologically)

my feeling is

our 'disconnect' was created by the

emotional pre game pump up
verses
our practiced presence (deep breathing/ present awareness)
exercise/s

like ... HTF does team play both ends of the see saw
at the same time ??

I’ve been psychologically scarred by this game this one will be very hard to shake

[asiu]

yea

me 2

best know NOW
betterer
than finding out later

(thats the best i can dredge up)


i have NEVER spoken the F word
as many times or with such insatiable venom
as i found myself doing the other night

even during the goal bonanza
it was observable we were luckily jagging some of them

could we take the momentum
when it was handed to us on a platter

NO

and that started another operatic performance
utilising the F word

F word the Saints

[The Fireman]

I’m guessing the F Word wasn’t fabulous