Adelaide exposed Saints' lack of height

[Sanctorum]

While watching the St Kilda v Adelaide game on Saturday afternoon on Fox Footy it seemed that the Crows were killing the Saints in the air, they appeared to have a lot more big bodied tall players both forward and back than St Kilda.

Looking into this further, it is clear from the player stats that of the top 16 players by height, Adelaide fielded 7, to St Kilda's 5, a difference of 2.

Following is a list of St Kilda players 191cm or above:

Alabakis, Sam R 211cm
King, Max 203cm
Pierce, Lewis R 203cm
Longer, Billy 202cm
Carlisle, Jake 201cm
Marshall, Rowan 201cm
Rowe, Sam 199cm
Bruce, Josh 197cm
Austin, Logan 196cm
Brown, Nathan 196cm
Clavarino, Oscar 195cm
Joyce, Darragh R 194cm
Marsh, Jonathon 194cm
McCartin, Patrick 194cm
Roberton, Dylan 194cm
Battle, Josh 193cm
Coffield, Nicholas 191cm
Wilkie, Callum R 191cm

Of the above, only 9, or half, are available, the rest are either injured or not in contention for selection.

It is quite clear that Jake Carlisle is the team's biggest loss this year because even though the team's defence has stood up reasonably well, Carlisle would enable the selectors to move Josh Battle forward, where he would be far more valuable.

It will be interesting to see what the selectors decide with the lineup against GWS. For mine, I don't think Billie Longer did enough against Adelaide (he was well beaten in hit-outs by the far less experienced O'Brien and Himmelberg) and should be replaced by Marshall, and I believe it is time to bring in Lewis Pierce to assist Marshall, allowing the latter to go forward or back as required, which he does very well. St Kilda can't afford to have either Josh Bruce or Blake Acres take turns in the ruck as they are needed forward and around the ground respectively.

[thejiggingsaint]

Spot on with that analysis colleague. I was a wee bit frustrated to see the re-emergence of the bad old "kick-it-long-to-a-contest" tactic in the latter stages of the game when the Crows defenders were simply plucking the ball away from our blokes. Adelaide (and Port too) have always recruited big guys, and not always "big" in height alone... big strong guys. On saturday it worked for them a treat!

[Scollop]

I'm sure you'll have a few people suggesting that Sam Rowe should be in this week

I hope like hell that we don't go down that path. I also don't think Marsh is ready (needs to work hard on his fitness and skills).

I'd like to see Brandon White get a game. He's hungry and desperate for an opportunity and at least in good form ...and he's fit

Hopefully we retain Longer and hopefully Marshall is over his illness

[bigcarl]

I think Battle’s valuable where he is. In fact he’s becoming a pretty good defender.

So much so, that when Carlisle gets back - which could be as far away as next year - i’d leave Battle there and throw Carlisle into the ruck.

He and Marshall would form a formidable ruck division. There simply aren’t that many guys as tall as them who are as mobile as them.

Then you’d be able to rest either back or forward depending on needs.

But yes, I agree we went in too small against the Crows. Tex, in particular, schooled us

[Sainternist]

Yes, I thought the same thing whilst watching it. They have a good balance of height and speed, too. We were simply outmatched in most departments. Would be great to eventually have a team with the likes of King up forward and Carlisle down back being a real threat to the opposition.

[Toy Saint]

Lack of height, fair enough. But we went into the game with a smaller, quick running and tackling team. It was always going to be a contest between the big guys or the running guys.

But then we lost Lonie and were down a rotation, then we realized Bruce just couldn't run, and of course we had Billy Longer in the team so we simply lost our running advantage.

The loss of Lonie was unpredictable, but we deliberately chose to play an injured Bruce and a slow Longer. Sadly gave up our advantage at selection.

[silverhalo]

I cannot wait to see Maxy King come in....will give us that much needed height and mobility on the forward line. Expectations shouldn't be high initially but he has exceptional qualities and in time will be a Goliath for us - thank God recruiters opted for Maxy at pick 4 especially given Paddy's situation.

[King12]

I cannot wait to see Maxy King come in....will give us that much needed height and mobility on the forward line. Expectations shouldn't be high initially but he has exceptional qualities and in time will be a Goliath for us - thank God recruiters opted for Maxy at pick 4 especially given Paddy's situation.

You'll need to wait a while I think, may just spend the year in the VFL as well as being rested/managed.

Best talent in the draft, don't worry about anyone else!

[tedtheodorelogan2018]

King will be massive for us but he will take time.

I expect Bytel to be a very good player for us too.

They are both good mates so things are looking good. Then we just the other twin Ben to come down.

[Scollop]

Are we still looking to entice Mav's brother?

[saynta]

While watching the St Kilda v Adelaide game on Saturday afternoon on Fox Footy it seemed that the Crows were killing the Saints in the air, they appeared to have a lot more big bodied tall players both forward and back than St Kilda.

Looking into this further, it is clear from the player stats that of the top 16 players by height, Adelaide fielded 7, to St Kilda's 5, a difference of 2.

Following is a list of St Kilda players 191cm or above:

Alabakis, Sam R 211cm
King, Max 203cm
Pierce, Lewis R 203cm
Longer, Billy 202cm
Carlisle, Jake 201cm
Marshall, Rowan 201cm
Rowe, Sam 199cm
Bruce, Josh 197cm
Austin, Logan 196cm
Brown, Nathan 196cm
Clavarino, Oscar 195cm
Joyce, Darragh R 194cm
Marsh, Jonathon 194cm
McCartin, Patrick 194cm
Roberton, Dylan 194cm
Battle, Josh 193cm
Coffield, Nicholas 191cm
Wilkie, Callum R 191cm

Of the above, only 9, or half, are available, the rest are either injured or not in contention for selection.

It is quite clear that Jake Carlisle is the team's biggest loss this year because even though the team's defence has stood up reasonably well, Carlisle would enable the selectors to move Josh Battle forward, where he would be far more valuable.

It will be interesting to see what the selectors decide with the lineup against GWS. For mine, I don't think Billie Longer did enough against Adelaide (he was well beaten in hit-outs by the far less experienced O'Brien and Himmelberg) and should be replaced by Marshall, and I believe it is time to bring in Lewis Pierce to assist Marshall, allowing the latter to go forward or back as required, which he does very well. St Kilda can't afford to have either Josh Bruce or Blake Acres take turns in the ruck as they are needed forward and around the ground respectively.

The coach has stated that Acres is now 193 cm.

[ace]

The coach has stated that Acres is now 193 cm.

I will state that Acres is 10 cm too short to be a ruckman.
All he can be in a ruck contest is an obstruction to his opponent.
But leaves him vulnerable to serious injury.

[saynta]

The coach has stated that Acres is now 193 cm.

I will state that Acres is 10 cm too short to be a ruckman.
All he can be in a ruck contest is an obstruction to his opponent.
But leaves him vulnerable to serious injury.

Well, maybe 5 to 8cm too short.

I wasn't saying he should ruck, only that he had been wrongly excluded from the op's list.