Wemt to game...

[WinnersOnly]

I reckon it looked worse.live ptitful reallly but will write a revuew when i get home !

[saintdooley]

Oh yeah this needed its own post. Can't wait until your home

[kosifantutti]

Oh yeah this needed its own post. Can't wait until your home

That needed it's own post as well. Can't wait until you grow up.

Looking forward to your report WO.

[Con Gorozidis]

im looking fwd for WOs review

[On the Bench]

Thanks Dools, looks as though you succeeded in convincing Winners that it was not worth the post from one of our few supporters who were at the game. Very disappointing how we treat our own.

Winners Only I'd rally appreciate your report thanks.

[st.byron]

Thanks Dools, looks as though you succeeded in convincing Winners that it was not worth the post from one of our few supporters who were at the game. Very disappointing how we treat our own.

Winners Only I'd rally appreciate your report thanks.

+1. Would also like to read observations from someone who was at the game. Nasty and unnecessary Dooley.

[saintdooley]

Yeah was a bit harsh sorry WO.

[White Winmar]

I went and I recorded it as well. Watched the first half again, just to make sure it wasn't a nightmare. Unfortunately that second quarter really did happen. It really did look worse live. What you couldn't see on the box, was our lack of spread and willingness to run to create. GWS worked much harder and as a consequence they always seemed to have numbers around the ball. So many times our players were surrounded by a sea of orange. We seemed to win a fair bit of the ball on the inside, it's what happened after that, that was the problem.

GWS weren't nearly as impressive as the scoreboard indicated. Seven super goals for a start, five straight out of their rings. There won't be any nine-pointers in round two. The lack of cohesion and clean disposal on both sides was obvious. There were very few passages of play on either side that were impressive. Their skills were also not great. Still, we were flogged. The one thing I did take out of it was the prominence of our younger players.

Dunstan, the man-child who should become an inside bulldozer. Pencil him in for round one.

Newnes, continued on his projected path of improvement. Should be a regular, and a good one at that.

Wright. Love this guy's attack on the ball, pace, intensity and smarts. In time, will be a beauty.

Longer is a true ruckman. He can jump, contests fiercely and is very mobile.

Hickey was good in patches as well.

Armo, tried hard against the odds.

Billings, a couple of nice touches, but seems a way off.

Webster, a class above many of the older players. Tried his heart out, ran to exhaustion and looks better with ball in hand than most. Good decision maker, too. Love the Webster. Should become a crowd favourite. I hate to jinx the boy, but he reminds me of a young Dal.

So that's my take on yesterday, FWIW. Remember, 'tis only a practice match. We'll know more about six rounds in. Right now I'm more worried about our shrinking membership and our growing injury list. It should be the other way around!

[plugger66]

Well i will write that then. Right now im more worried about our growing injury list and and our shrinking membership. Sounds similar to me.

[Con Gorozidis]

Top Efforts WW.

[White Winmar]

Tony 74 may well have provided an explanation as to why it looked like we were running through wet cement. If our training loads were heavy with a view to round one, then some of what happened yesterday makes sense. Hopefully fatigue also explains our poor skill level, although I think it's wishful thinking on my part.

[kosifantutti]

Tony 74 may well have provided an explanation as to why it looked like we were running through wet cement. If our training loads were heavy with a view to round one, then some of what happened yesterday makes sense. Hopefully fatigue also explains our poor skill level, although I think it's wishful thinking on my part.

I hope that was a factor. GWS plays a week before we do in round 1.

[spot on]

I agree with Webster , seems a lot more confident the before and much
Stronger. Not sure about the dal comparison thou. Gonna be a real good half back flanker. Needs to do the kick
Out... Not Delaney !

[White Winmar]

I agree with Webster , seems a lot more confident the before and much
Stronger. Not sure about the dal comparison thou. Gonna be a real good half back flanker. Needs to do the kick
Out... Not Delaney !

Spot on!

[stinger]

was also at the match...nice ground...took some fold up chairs ...had a great view of a not so great match...the local kids lost interest pretty quickly and for most of the afternoon we had hundreds of them continually walking up and down between the uneven lines of chairs, blocking ones line of sight......oh well...it was a country footy match..and i didn't miss much of value....

...the saints were pathetic....can't pick out let alone hit a target...i lost count of the times that a saints player on his own was ignored by the ball carrier who would either kick short or to a two on one contest......gws usually took the hard earned ball away with ease.....


on a positive side, dunstan will be a player, as will billy longer........billings looked slow...but that can't be right, can it??...for them kelly looked good......mumford is a monstor but longer ..and to a lesser extent....hickey.. held their own....


weller was just okay....

newenes, roo, webster wright and saunders all did some good things...as did schneider when he came on.......curren could not hit a target ..by hand or by foot even if his life depended on it....seb ross had a shocker...as did delaney...who on that showing has a long way to go to be a regular afl player....i was almost prepared to right maister and lee off as no hopers but then lee kicked two amazing goals from the boundry line.....both in the last from memory....mister will be delisted at seasons end..imho...


...it's going to be a long season guys.......i think picks 1 and 18 are good to go......

[kosifantutti]

....
...


...it's going to be a long season guys.......i think picks 1 and 18 are good to go......

Who will we trade to get pick 1?

[stinger]

....
...


...it's going to be a long season guys.......i think picks 1 and 18 are good to go......

Who will we trade to get pick 1?

[bergholt]

billings looked slow...but that can't be right, can it??

I hope not! Presumably if they have been training hard then his legs would be pretty heavy. First pre-season and he's probably doing twice as much work as he's ever done. The kid will do well to survive but he'll be better for it later in the year.

[saintspremiers]

billings looked slow...but that can't be right, can it??

I hope not! Presumably if they have been training hard then his legs would be pretty heavy. First pre-season and he's probably doing twice as much work as he's ever done. The kid will do well to survive but he'll be better for it later in the year.

I'd expect a top 3 pick in a development side to play up to 15 senior games in year 1. Maybe he'll debut in about round 5 or 6 after a few games with Sandy.

[dragit]

billings looked slow...but that can't be right, can it??

I hope not! Presumably if they have been training hard then his legs would be pretty heavy. First pre-season and he's probably doing twice as much work as he's ever done. The kid will do well to survive but he'll be better for it later in the year.

I'd expect a top 3 pick in a development side to play up to 15 senior games in year 1. Maybe he'll debut in about round 5 or 6 after a few games with Sandy.

Madness to expect X amount of games because of where someone was taken in the draft…

Got to nurture these guys… match game time to their body development. Dunstan looks ready for 15… Billings I would expect to play a handful, maybe as a sub.

[matrix]

and here i was going to watch a replay....

like i said



was

[dragit]

and here i was going to watch a replay....

like i said



was

Just watch the 2nd quarter… 65 to 8

[spert]

Pretty disappointed from the first bounce- we looked slow without much spark, second to the ball too often, and turned over the ball too much when not under huge pressure. I was hoping Ross and Curren would have shown a bit more but didn't, and I also expected a bit more from Armo who should be in his prime, but like Ross, a little bit slow through the midfield. Ray didn't seem very interested and Gwilt is a worry to me ..and Lenny is a shadow of the champ he was, and I would just play him in the forward line from now on for a little bit of strength and experience in the clinches. Encouraged by Longer, Hickey, Webster and Dunstan. No doubt we miss Steven around the ground and the experience of Fisher and the dash of Roberton in the backline. Richo really needs to get the midfield working a lot better.

[joffaboy]

Madness to expect X amount of games because of where someone was taken in the draft…

Got to nurture these guys… match game time to their body development. Dunstan looks ready for 15… Billings I would expect to play a handful, maybe as a sub.

Plus one. Absolutely insane to "expect" 15 games from a first year player. How often does that happen, Ollie Wines at Port is one, Dunstan may get quite a few games as he is physically ready eyc but this proclaimed "expectation" like every player is a robot and exactly the same is so ignorant and ludicrious it defies belief.

From what I know (am an acquaintance of the parents of a Saints player going into his third year), his first preseason was a nightmare of exhaustion, where he could hardly lift his legs after training, his body, still maturing and growing at 18, was subjected to things it had never been through even at junior football level.

Jack Watts had his football career set back in my opinion by rushing him into the seniors. I dont want to see that happen with any of our talented kids.

I will put my faith in the people on the ground at St.Kilda and he will get a game when ready.

[philtee]

Thanks for the reports WW and Stinger...hope WO gets back home to report !
Was the wind really blowing that hard? Did the GWS players simply find the sweet spot on the
ground where everything they kicked went between the posts from 60m out ?
And why couldn't we do it in the 1st and 3rd quarters?

Also - Was it a road trip to Wagga for you guys? Any good burger or counter lunch stops
we should know about?