Some good signs....but a same stuff

[BigMart]

Slowish low scoring defensive team.....we certainly like to keep possession

A lot of player positives

Archer, gamble, lynch, ledger, armitage, crocker, walsh, r.Clarke, smith.......all showing a bit...

Dal, Joey, bj, Sam, gwilt, mini, peak were steady

So many out....hard to get a gauge on 2011.....but we might have found one or two

[Legendary]

Hadn't played a practice match yet, so hard to know how much of the slow-moving stuff was due to lack of practice, and how much was deliberate gamestyle.

Looking for signs next week that we start to show a bit more attacking flair, as RL has stated.

Big positive was some of the kids. Looked up to it. Impressed with Smith again, think he will surprise many this year.

[wasaintsfan]

wasnt really low scoring =\ in less then 3/4 of a game we kicked 82 points... missing real big names including half our forward line well almost all

kosi roo gilbert and schnieder...

[jonesy]

Archer looks a future prospect. Gets into position very well. Ledger looks ok,same with crocker.

Walsh is just about ready for senior footy.

Agree with your post,same style of play.

[savatage]

You couldn't ask more for a first competitive hit-out. We were always going to fade against the Bombers. In fact I'm surprised we did as well as we did.

We've had a lot less conditioning, no practice games to this point & no long rest in between games.

Our young kids showed quality - "pleasing".

[InkerSaint]

I'd comment further but I couldn't get the 5 minutes of my life back.

[BigMart]

Why comment at all then?.....

[degruch]

wasnt really low scoring =\ in less then 3/4 of a game we kicked 82 points... missing real big names including half our forward line well almost all

kosi roo gilbert and schnieder...

Exactly. Some excuses trotted out on TV for Essendon's lack of defensive capability in the second game being the absence of Inspector Gadget and Tayte Pears! Pfft.

"A good chance for Essendon to give their team a run against a hardened St Kilda side"...double pfft. 8 players who'd never played an AFL game!

Thought, as sluggish as it appeared, the team that was out there really played as a team, and structures held up. Good signs, even though the opposition was lame.

[SainterK]

Archer looks a future prospect. Gets into position very well. Ledger looks ok,same with crocker.

Walsh is just about ready for senior footy.

Agree with your post,same style of play.

That's what I noticed too Jonesy, so many of them were in the right places at the right times.

Liked what I saw, was a good night I thought.

[saintsRrising]

PROS:

Some of the key ones for me:

Walsh: I thought was very impressive. He used the ball very well, accurately and finding guys in space. Looked capable of playing senior level football.

Ben: Looked in great nick, and once again is a very smart footballer

Ledger: Of the new players I thought that he was the most impressive.

A Smith: Very impressive in the first game.

Gamble: Played very well in that extra forward role.

Raph: Good first game back.



CON:
Gram: Looked way of the pace.

[degruch]

CON:
Gram: Looked way of the pace.

A king pin in a few crucial plays though.

[lefty]

I'd say CON was dempster.

Made too many silly mistakes, eg: letting the ball go straight pass = brisbane goal in like 3 seconds

[lefty]

Oh and I'm still concerned about our midfield not winning the centre clearance... really really not good at all. Got smashed by Essendon in the second half.

[SainterK]

Oh and I'm still concerned about our midfield not winning the centre clearance... really really not good at all. Got smashed by Essendon in the second half.

To be fair, we were experimenting in the ruck a bit though.

[InkerSaint]

Okay, constructive comment time.

Archer was in the ruck for most of the 2nd half.

[dcstkfc]

Oh and I'm still concerned about our midfield not winning the centre clearance... really really not good at all. Got smashed by Essendon in the second half.

THIS

My biggest worry.

It is Lenny or bust for the Saints in centre clearances.

Get Schneids/Jack in there.

[The OtherThommo]

Relax FFS. No games before tonight, meaning we were extremely vulnerable. Bomberland toweled us twice last year. Yet, we were always pretty much in control.

Positives from a range of junior burgers. I thought it was terrific. I reckon the boss told the guns to step in only if they had to - they were fair dinkum jogging.

Walsh, Simpkin, Smith, Archer, Heyne etc atc all did good things during the night.

And, for a first start, the Dead Actor won real points. The kid is quick, decisive and used the pill nicely. Will be a player.

I also thought it interesting the Boss played Will J forward. Gave good contests and looked far better than a VFL 2's of last year. Looked quicker too.

[The OtherThommo]

And, apart from the obvious, the OP is a butchering of the language.

[Moccha]

CON:
Gram: Looked way of the pace.

What a lazy prick this guy is. He always goes half paced

[bigred]

Gram at least looked like he could kick again.

[bergholt]

I also thought it interesting the Boss played Will J forward. Gave good contests and looked far better than a VFL 2's of last year. Looked quicker too.

he played with sandy seniors all year last year. but i agree he looks a bit better than that, good competitor and good pace for his size. not sure he's going to be a forward though, given his kicking.

[gringo]

Will Johnson was my biggest surprise of the night, he looked like he could be a gun if he was fitter. He would have been nervous and will settle a bit.

Gamble was worth the risk, Lynch looked ok once he stopped trying too hard. A. Smith is going to be good as will Ledger, Armo might be the player we wanted him to be.


All in all not a bad showing by our secondary list.

[PJ]

I thought the most disappointing thing about last night was the rule changes and the umpiring - bloody frustrating to watch young umps absolutely butcher a game. If the AFL serves this rubbish up again we're in big trouble.

Back to the OP - I think you have to expect the game style to look similar until the full deck is there and it's practiced. RL has stated that we won't be throwing the principles of our game plan out and why should he. From what we saw last year it's a matter of getting some more speed into the team. In GF 2 we looked slow, injured and rattled - we need 2 or 3 fast, confident players around the stoppages.

A Smith
T Ledger
D Armitage

Crocker will be a Cracker but not ready for full time AFL. Ledger came across in the pre-season interviews as lacking confidence and not sure he even wanted to be here but make no mistake he is ready.

The rest of the kids showed really good signs - you gotta love the aggression and size of Archer,

Gamble will get the nod first - he just seems to know where to go to get the pill.

Tommy - top effort first up - very disciplined, very committed.

Overall very happy with it.

[saintbrat]

.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
A Smith
T Ledger
D Armitage

Crocker will be a Cracker but not ready for full time AFL. Ledger came across in the pre-season interviews as lacking confidence and not sure he even wanted to be here but make no mistake he is ready.

<>>>>>>>>>>>
Tommy - top effort first up - very disciplined, very committed.

Overall very happy with it.

Was great to sit there and watch and try and work out- by second game we almost didn;t need the list

Ledger apparently was homesick pre christmas but the good showing last night will go someway to convincing him it's worth while

Tommy Took on the game when he defended the last touch out of bounds - which resulted in a goal_

[plugger66]

Must have watched a different game. Gram was good but in the end it means jack. They re simple practice games.