Why we lost

[perfectionist]

The first quarter and a bit of the second quarter saw a hard attack on the ball. We outplayed them 70% of the time in the first quarter but two bad umpiring decisions gifted them two goals. You could see that some Saints players began to hestitate when tackling for fear of giving away a free.

Once again, our appalling kicking for goal let us down.

In the second quarter, while the tackling intensity fell off, our re bound run was working OK until Luke Ball had his handpass chopped off which resulted in a Lions goal - in effect a two goal turn around. The body language of most of the players - not least Luke Ball - signalled the end of the game at that point from where I sat.

Only a few Saints players kept the required intensity from that point, the most outstanding, by a county mile, being Robert Harvey.

The Lions players were able to kick the ball not only better to position but also longer - by at least ten metres.

It doesn't surprise me to hear Aussie Jones say that Thomas did no work on skills - the proof is on show for all to see - and Lyon seems to be following in his footsteps. Compare the improvement skill wise in the Lions players since 2005 (or Collingwood for that matter). It would be better to spend about 1 minute on game plan and tactics and the rest of the time on skills - give me a team that can tackle, kick, handpass, mark, bump, work players legally off the ball and run and I'll show you a team that at least can get into the position of winning a game.

And just how many goals did Max have kicked on him and how many contests did he win? Try plenty for the first and none for the second. But the hero worshippers will come up with some excuse or rationalisation.

You might want to look back on my list of players who CANNOT win a contest, Sunday only showing that I left a few out. This is not to say that they don't want to win a contest - just that they don't have to skills to do it.

On the positive side, along with Harvey, Dal Santo played with 100% effort and continued to run until the end with skill. Riewoldt's return was strong and Kosi worked hard, held on at least two occasions that I saw off the ball, with no result. I suppose he is getting used to it.

[Dan Warna]

its been 18 months

our skills have gone backwards, not forwards.

[saintsRrising]

Dal Santo played with 100% effort .

Cannot agree with this.

dal at times put little pressure on his opponents.
Dal has way way more skill than Jones...but he could learn fron Jone's tenacity.

a number of time Jones chase Lions...and even those who he did not catch he kept the pressure on them so that there kick was forced and had to be hurrioed or at full pace.

Dal ona number of occassions just cruised after guys.....rsult that they could easily lay off the ball.

Dal only laid one taclke this week...which is not good enough for he is agood tackler.

Dal is arguably the most talented player on our list at present..... He could be in the elite top half dozen players...but simply does not work hard enough for long enough.

[fingers]

The thing that really disappointed me was our inability to tackle effectively. Especially seeing the filth on Friday night and what can be achieved with good tackling. We cant even hamper movement with our tackling.

Our zone is ineffective. How many times did BNE run the ball out from a kick in. They would get it to HB before there was anything that resembled pressure.

[aussiejones]

Saints tackles were brushed off . WE need Baker

Bris seemed to want the ball more , so tackled ferociously.

THe umps were ordinary , but , if your first to the ball you have a better chance with decisions.

[Dan Warna]

the players confidence drops too easily, they get confused and make mistakes or go into a shell.

a few years ago these same players couldn't be written off when 5 or 6 goals down.

now we fold when we are 5 or 6 goals up.

we have gone backwards, the players have lost confidence and are playing baffling personal football.

we have a handful of outstanding individuals but completely lack team cohesion.

Carlton, richmond and melbourne are teams that have rubbish lists and are player better footy than us at the moment.

look at Sydney's discipline, its far better than ours.

atm we are probably along with Fremantle, the biggest rabble out there.

bringing in a heap of new players or kids playing the Ross Lyon method is not going to solve the problem.

Atm we can't get the basics rights, good players are confused where to run to, what to do, and then lose interest in the game.

frankly we look like the fat kids playing against the jocks in a school social game where they go through the motions to get a leave pass.

[QuestionOfAccuracy]

The first quarter and a bit of the second quarter saw a hard attack on the ball. We outplayed them 70% of the time in the first quarter but two bad umpiring decisions gifted them two goals.

That was the most frustrating part about the game - we were actually on top for a substantial period there! As you said again we didn't take our opportunities in that period of the game. Having said that, to drop our bundle after that is unacceptable.

[QuestionOfAccuracy]

a few years ago these same players couldn't be written off when 5 or 6 goals down.

now we fold when we are 5 or 6 goals up.

I'm pretty sure i heard a commentator in the media somewhere say that at no time under Thomas did we come back and win after being down by 4 goals. Not 100% sure though.

However you're right, "a few years ago" we certainly didn't throw in the towel so suddenly as we did on sunday.

[Red]

You obviously never saw a final in Adelaide where Harvey changed a 4 goal

deficit almost by himself. He dragged us through to a prelim. That's the

real issue we have no one who can stamp themselves on a game and

change the outcome. Roo and Harvs use to, Kosi did it against the Bulldogs

a couple of years ago when Roo was out. When we are down now we don't

know how to find an easy goal. I agree with Perfectionist (first time for

everything). Roo missing the easy goal and then two turnovers in the middle

one by Ball and the other by Harvs which Brissy scored from changed

the entire complexion of the game.

I also believe we need to free up the teams most destructive players in

Goddard, S Fisher and Gram. They are the guys who over the past two

years have set up most of the play coming off half back.

[matrix]

And just how many goals did Max have kicked on him and how many contests did he win? Try plenty for the first and none for the second. But the hero worshippers will come up with some excuse or rationalisation.

so who else should have played on one of the leading goal kickers of the comp?
(who is in better form than everyone else that shoots at goal, even fev and up there with buddy)

maybe young 'go-go' (bj)?

[saintspremiers]

Before this game we had scored only 4 goals from outside 50, the lowest in the comp.

That is a disgraceful stat IMO and sums up in the inability and lack of confidence our midfield has in scoring goals.

Same shyte happend in Brisbane yesterday...too many players on the run inside 50 passing it short, rather than backing themselves to shoot for goal.

I just hope Lyon wakes up to this and looks at ways of training players to shoot from a distance.

If they are incapable of shooting from 50, or just inside, then they are not up to AFL standard in the most part - and this especially applies to midfielders. Taking this point further, I have serious question marks around Dal and he should be considered for the trade table as his goal kicking ability is generally poor.

It's not the Roo and Kosi "take a mark" and hope they score a goal system, or at least it shouldn't be that way!