Much To Do.....

[Teflon]

Im wrapt we won and thought the effort, intensity and guts to fight it out was super. Real good and only the second time according to the experts weve won 3 in a row under Lyon.

BUT...


We've got to address some things.

1. First qtr again was an abomination. Carlton shouldve been 4 up.
2. GOAL KICKING - Milne, Hayes, Riewoldt, Armitage (20 mtrs out FFS) missed absolute sodas tongight. You just wont get away with that against the best.

3. Tempo footy. We did it in qtr 1. We got slaughtered. We DID NOT do it for qtrs 2 & 3 and dominated. For 15 mins QTR 4 again we went defensive and Carlton spent 15 minuites in their fwd 50. Against good sides we wouldve paid dearly.

Gilbert/Gwilt/Allen struggled big time for me tonight. Gilbert looks to be struggling - gets caught, slaps it on the boot turns it over. Gwilt Im afraid IS a good athlete. It may not be to late foer ther Olympics for him......it doesnt look flash as an AFL footballer to nbe honest.

On the plus side:

Eddy's fierce tackling and putting himself into dangerous fwd positions was excellent.

Jones was great.

Kosi was great

King was awesome tonight I thiough...so nice to have a tap ruck....

Maxxy....another notch

Gram - did well on Judd early.

Dempster flogged Stevens.

Mqualter flogged Murphy.

We arent top 4........so where are we ? I keep asking.......hhmm..

[The OtherThommo]

Way too harsh on Gilbert, Teffers. On his way back, given the job on Beddy Etts, and towelled him until late. I just think the Boss wants to pour game time into him 'cos he rates him as a versatile type.

[Teflon]

Way too harsh on Gilbert, Teffers. On his way back, given the job on Beddy Etts, and towelled him until late. I just think the Boss wants to pour game time into him 'cos he rates him as a versatile type.

Possibly Thommo -Im a Gilbert fan and have him in my best 22 but he blazed a little to much for my liking tonight but your right and Ross himself has said it - we do struggle at present for a small fwd match up....

[jonesy]

We're not top 4 that's for sure,and we're not going to be. But the situation is much better than a month ago where it appeared the players had lost total interest,there were rumours of infighting, the side was a disgrace to watch at best.

One thing now they're doing is giving value for money again and playing for the jumper. We will not win the flag,but at least we're having a go again,something that wasn't happening 4 weeks ago. As long as they're having a go!
I'll take a week one finals appearance at the SCG any day than a 12th placed finish

[Goody]

I must say I'm a glass half full sort of bloke than half empty and I'll use the clique that you can only beat what is in front of you.
However I'm starting to see signs of us against them and playing for the jumper type of stuff we saw n the days of 04-05.
Carlton were/are a seroius threat to becoming a very good side, they had there chances, especially in the 1st qtr.
If we can give the Hawks a shake next week just watch the media all over us, we have no major injuries of late, Kosi and Roo are big problems to ANY defence, Ross seems to have left the dog off the lease so to speak. Our defence is settling Ball and Hayes and Dal are in there groove.
We were challenged tonight late and rallied and won well in the end, I have this feeling in my water, things are starting to turn our way.
We can improve and we will, sides above will get injuries and sh!t happens, at the moment it isnt happening to us.
I like this cruising through a season, not in the headlines, just doing the business and seeing other sides implode( North, Carlton-Fev, Freo, Eagles, Sydney-Hall), in the past its been us with GT Butteres, Hamills knee, Kosi fainting, Injuries,injuries,injuries!!!!!
Right now we seem in a good place
Excuse me I'm in Thailand, maybe the Karma, Buddist thang is rubbing off, but Ive been here 3 weeks and it is hard to find any negatives of late other than a scrappy Freo win.
Good ehh!!

[Stephen Theodore]

Dont agree with your call on Gilbert. I thought he did a good defensive job down back, and seems to be getting better every game.
Gwilt is definitely not upto scratch, and you would thing if X.Clarke is right to go next week, there would be a straight in and out there.

[saintsrus]

Dont agree with your call on Gilbert. I thought he did a good defensive job down back, and seems to be getting better every game.
Gwilt is definitely not upto scratch, and you would thing if X.Clarke is right to go next week, there would be a straight in and out there.

We miss Xs polish, will be a better team once hes back.

Gwilt, dont know if anyones ever told him around the neck isnt a great place to tackle, he could be good but the jurys out

[bigcarl]

I thought gilbert did a good defensive job down back, and seems to be getting better every game.

agree. betts kicked a coule of nice goals, but he is a much improved player.

[fugazi]

Gwilt nearly dragged Carlton back into the match by himself....I counted 4 goals he handed to them and 2 others he had a hand in.
Was laughing out loud in the end as I was there with a Carlton mate who was pinning his hopes in the last Q on Gwilt givibng them more freekicks in front of goals.

[joffaboy]

Gwilt nearly dragged Carlton back into the match by himself....I counted 4 goals he handed to them and 2 others he had a hand in.
Was laughing out loud in the end as I was there with a Carlton mate who was pinning his hopes in the last Q on Gwilt givibng them more freekicks in front of goals.

had a dirty night but watching the replay he kept at it and won himself a free or two and also did so nice in and under.

Someone is going to have a dirty night. Gwilt IMHO is not a defender.

[WinnersOnly]

I agree that GWILT did some ordinary things last night that were very costly! But there is that 'x' factor about him that when he is comfortable playing at this level IMO we will see some major benefits by showing faith in him and the other kids!

IMO he still has a bit to do with his fitness and to learn about the game. When he is confident in what is expected and own his abilities I believe he is sort of player that will move into the midfield and tear a game apart...

ALLEN did not get a lot of game time and when he was on the ball simply went around him. Again is worth persisting with - but would rotate him with GODDARD at times to get him into the game.

GILBERT remember has not had a lot of footy and is improving. His mistakes although minor cost us goals but he will learn and improve on that effort.

The SAINTS will reap rewards be playing these kids and showing faith in their abilities... Slowly the depth of our list and subsequent confidence has grown as will our wins...

[HarveysDeciple]

good post teffers.

Gilbert struggling I agree.

Almost second year blues (even though it's his third year).

Broke into the side last year and was excellent, but just struggling perhaps with the extra expectation now of being a good player. Has had a few injury niggles but his form on both sides of that injury has been poor.

Showed promise last night, but Betts got space a few times and when your playing on a small forward thats fatal, ask Carazzo.

[JeffDunne]

There's some harsh critics around here.

No doubt Gwilt made some blunders but I didn't see him shirk a contest when he was required to put his body on the line. He's young, he's still learning and he's been given some tough jobs.

God help some of you when both Gwilt and Raph are out of the team.

Who will you be nailing to a cross then?

[The Peanut]

... 3. Tempo footy. We did it in qtr 1. We got slaughtered. We DID NOT do it for qtrs 2 & 3 and dominated. For 15 mins QTR 4 again we went defensive and Carlton spent 15 minuites in their fwd 50. Against good sides we wouldve paid dearly.

Agree

One other thing that really, really s..ts me is the ball held up with three minutes to go - it gives the impression that they are happy to be a few goals in front. I know that under GT we did some very dangerous things at times when the game was done and dusted i.e. Goose's injury - but I like to see the team play the full game - yeah, don't take any stupid risks but we have lost games in the past doing that stupid kick backwards stuff in low gear.

GRRRRR

[Otiman]

A few points.

Gwilt - Was our worst defender. Carlton pinpointed his opponent to exploit our otherwise pretty dour defense.

Gilbert - Did well defensively while mismatched on Betts. Needs confidence and gametime, is still improving every week.

McQualter - Will be elevated at the end of the year. Plays the Hayes/Ball role in the midfield rotations.

Gram - Is a midfielder now. No doubt about it.

Montagna - Still struggling.

Dal Santo - Is much better defensively and has a good mindset. It's helping his team game at the expense of his solo game. (this is a good thing)

Hamill, i mean Eddy - Looks the goods, great forward pressure, can take a good mark, finds space well, and tackles like a bear.

[The Peanut]

There's some harsh critics around here.

No doubt Gwilt made some blunders but I didn't see him shirk a contest when he was required to put his body on the line. He's young, he's still learning and he's been given some tough jobs.

God help some of you when both Gwilt and Raph are out of the team.

Who will you be nailing to a cross then?

... Gwilty really had a dirty day but he put in. I felt sorry for him when the siren sounded and looked down at the ground with a miserable look on his face.