Last chance to turn things around

[Badlands]

I don't live in Victoria so I don't get to see the Saints in the flesh too often. Twice in a year is usually a good year. However, I am flying down for this weekend's match against Richmond which would normally be considered a 'cheap kill' but this week is shaping as anything but.

If we keep up the not only difficult to watch but also quite ineffective style of footy we've been persevering with lately, I'm not too sure I'll be making another trip south later in the year.

I recall being hesitant when I heard we'd signed an assistant coach from the Swans and then moreso in the offseason when we drafted two players accustomed to the Sydney style of play.

At the beginning of the season, I remember thinking that if Harvs could get 10-15 possessions a week and provide those short trademark deliveries into the forward 50 every so-often then his contribution would be worthwhile. The fact that he's been in our top 3 or 4 almost every game this year is as much a sad indictment on the rest of the playing group as it is a reflection of what a champion he is.

I'm not sure it's as simple as "too many people just not putting in" though. I think the game is changing and we've failed to keep pace. Literally. Our midfielders generally show great endeavour but they just don't have the acceleration to burst through the middle like an ablett, bartel, davey, kerr, etc. On top of that, they have had to adapt to a game plan which means the first movement out of the centre is very very rarely to send the ball into the forward 50. And that's just on the limited occasions we win the clearances, which will be extremely limited in any prolonged absence of King and Gardiner.

The unreliability of our forwards' kicking is hurting us badly. Koschitzke and Riewoldt need to be within 10-15m of goal before you can guarantee that they won't shank out on the full. I was at the Dome the night Milne kicked 11 straight a few years ago but that's beginning to feel like a few decades ago. He has lost all confidence with his set shot. Our most reliable kick for the goal is struggling to get a kick with the Scorpions! In the first quarter against Geelong we should have been 4-5 goals up but went in pretty much level, which would have been deflating given our opportunities.

Our lack of depth is again hurting us even though we're probably as close to full strength this season as we've been for a long time. Birss, Fiora, Jones, Rix. How much pressure do these names really place on those above them to fight to retain their spots? One false step at a club like Geelong and there is always someone champing at the bit to take your place. A few of our guys are looking like they really need to be under the same pressure to fight for their spots.

At 3-3, all is not lost. But if we lose to Richmond on Saturday night, and more importantly, if we only kick 60 or 70 points, Ross has to put his hand up and conceed that the game plan is not only failing miserably but is turning the fans away, and it's time to abandon ship.

p.s. I'm convinced from numerous replays that whatever dialogue took place b/w Maxy and Matt Maguire on Sat night was actually initiated by Maguire. Didn't look great but how can you not admire Max's passion?

[saintsRrising]

Good first post......


But LOL...I guess I am biased as I have been saying for years that we were recruiting for yesterday's game rather than the future....


A bit over two years ago I posted that the Dogs recruiting man secured from the Lions was no fool...and that he was stocking up on and giving prioirty to fast and highly footskilled players whereas we were not. Now that they are adding a bit of height to that (including that younger talls take longer to bloom) they are lookinga very handy unit....though their next 4 games will test them out.

Ditto for other clubs.....

The Cats may not have their pace...but they have good footskills compared to us..

We dropped the ball...and are only now trying to catch up.