My wrap on the 22- v Adelaide (Round 6 2011)

[dcstkfc]

1- Gram- Did little all night and his use was no better than average. Only 2 tackles and 4 contested possessions. We could do worse than to drop him but we need some run.

3- Steven- Wore the wrong boots and slipped over at critical moments. 7 clangers although he converted a nice set shot. Not a great night but at least is starting to win some footy. Tackled well.

4- Jones- Did a reasonable job on the dangerous Thompson. Disposal was awful though, and the 50 he gave away was incredibly costly.

5- McEvoy- Comprehensively outrucked and minimal impact around the ground. His lumbering clumsiness is a liability.

6- Dawson- Well beaten by Tipett, and made some poor errors by foot. Worst game for the year.

10- Baker- Kept Wright to a goal and won his share of contested footy, but his lack of skill is easily pounced upon.

11- Montagna- Tagged out of it. Quiet night continues his lacklustre season.

12- Riewoldt- Not hanging on to many grabs in 2011. Concussion won't help. Needs to lift, and his miss late in the first was especially untimely.

13- Schneider- Atrocious finishing prevented him from having a good night. 8 tackles important in fightback, but kicking reminiscent of two losing Grand Finals

18- Goddard- Looks a frustrated man. Middling night where he won plenty of the ball and was important in the comeback, but generally well down on best. Perhaps his Grand Finals were a bit of an exaggeration of where he really is in the league- very good but perhaps not yet fully fledged superstar. 5 tackles a positive.

19- Gilbert- Quiet night. Was thrown forward for little impact though he does attract attention. 1 tackle not good enough.

20- Armitage- Worked bloody hard to have 17 contested possessions and 11 clearances. Lacks a bit of polish in terms of evading tackles, but he led the second half turning of the tide. Will make it.

24- Dempster- Very dirty night in which he was part of the defensive disorganisation in Q1, had minimal offensive impact and gave away four frees. Still battled away but no more.

25- Fisher- Loose man down back after drifting forward early. Missed a shot he should have kicked and was solid without having a huge impact.

26- Dal Santo- 29 disposals, including 12 contested and 7 clearances, and used it well including a clutch goal. Needs to keep it up and lift a bit more in the absence of Hayes and with Riewoldt, Goddard and Montagna down, but he has been the best player of our season so far.

27- Blake- Did little. May as well play Archer or Stanley if he is going to be used as a ruck/forward. I'll say it again, it's defence or Sandringham.

32- McQualter- Was important in the third term revival as he won his share of contested ball across half-forward. Used it very well at times, but his kicking for goal and tackling is miles off 2009. Probably should keep his spot though.

33- Gwilt- Reasonable for most of the night in defence, but his man Knights turned it on at times meaning that he was probably beaten.

35- Cripps- Overawed in his first game and his errant handball at half back in Q3 and inability to stand his ground against Tambling on the wing late in Q4 were pivotal moments. Nonethless his second goal was pure class, and he played enthusiastically.

38- Johnson- Did little before copping knock from McQualter, but wasn't given a chance with our abysmal first half. He is more agile than Kosi and bigger than Stanley (bulk-wise) meaning he put on slightly better pressure. Probably deserves another crack if injury isn't too serious, but Kosi/Stanley/Archer's ability to ruck may be preferred.

39- Smith- Very quiet night. Winmar/Cripps/Ray may see him miss out in the short term.

44- Milne- Brilliant in spurts, and was a big factor in us getting back into the game, but couldn't stick one tackle all night.

[wasaintsfan]

pretty much spot on

[Moods]

I agree with almost everything you have written - except for Jones who frustrates me with his poor disposal/general skill. Did I hear the commentators say that Thompson had 27 disposals half way through the last 1/4? I thought he was a liability and we can no longer afford to carry unskillful taggers. Either he or Bakes are going to have to go. Baker does a better job of keeping his man quiet.

[dcstkfc]

I agree with almost everything you have written - except for Jones who frustrates me with his poor disposal/general skill. Did I hear the commentators say that Thompson had 27 disposals half way through the last 1/4? I thought he was a liability and we can no longer afford to carry unskillful taggers. Either he or Bakes are going to have to go. Baker does a better job of keeping his man quiet.

Thompson finished with 27 which is marginally below his season average of 30. In hindsight I have been kind on Jones. His tackling is still elite though. McQualter could be an option to take up the tagging mantle which he inherited throughout some of 2008. He is a better user of the footy for sure, although his aerobic capacity and tackling pressure may not be up ton Jones' standards. Baker is no longer a tagger and hasn't been really since his injury-wrecked 2008 season. He now plays as a small defender (taking the opposition's best small forward).

[Moods]

I agree with almost everything you have written - except for Jones who frustrates me with his poor disposal/general skill. Did I hear the commentators say that Thompson had 27 disposals half way through the last 1/4? I thought he was a liability and we can no longer afford to carry unskillful taggers. Either he or Bakes are going to have to go. Baker does a better job of keeping his man quiet.

Thompson finished with 27 which is marginally below his season average of 30. In hindsight I have been kind on Jones. His tackling is still elite though. McQualter could be an option to take up the tagging mantle which he inherited throughout some of 2008. He is a better user of the footy for sure, although his aerobic capacity and tackling pressure may not be up ton Jones' standards. Baker is no longer a tagger and hasn't been really since his injury-wrecked 2008 season. He now plays as a small defender (taking the opposition's best small forward).

Agree on Bakes - but I guess I'm talking about players playing -ive roles in the team who have low skills. Our skill level appears low compared to other clubs - not even the top clubs.

[dcstkfc]

Moods we have some poor ball users, but I think as a supporter we focus on our own skill errors more than our opponents. Our superior skills won us the game last week in spite of a loss in contested possession.

We are probably somewhere between 7-12 in the competition for ball use.

[meher baba]

I thought Baker was good last night.

Blake might not have done much around the ground, but he was a hell of a lot more effective in the ruck than McEvoy (or Archer or Stanley in previous rounds). Which is a worry: if Gardi doesn't cone back, Kosi is our #1 ruckman at the moment. (Can somebody please explain to me why Pattison was delisted?)

Smith was dreadful. If he drops back to Sandy I doubt we'll see him at AFL level again.

Gram was appalling too.

I still reckon Johnson is good, but he looked totally overawed. Cripps didn't, even though made some errors, he which is highly encouraging.


Surely there is room for one of these to make way for Raph to return!

[wallbanger]

Excellent post - spot on with almost every player.

McQualter I thought was ordinary at best. Decision making and disposal is horrible at times, and his kicking at goal - once a huge bonus - was bad again. Doesn't do enough for mine - lives up to his nickname around us of the ghost.

And Jones. Ugh. The game has passed the completely unskilled tagger by. I cringe every time he gets it, and usually for good reason.

[gringo]

I thought Jones was ok in close and Fisher had a great game in defence. Dal and Armo were our best by a fair margin. Jones wasn't used as a tagger i thought.

[Con Gorozidis]

Thanks for the review. Good comments and accurate assessment.

Ruck is a serious concern. No idea why we de-listed patto. Big reliable unit on minimum wage. Not sure why we should de-list him. Crazy.

Club clearly massively over rated McEvoy for 2011. Can we try and get that Gaertner guy back? We seriously might have to.

[3rd generation saint]

I'll make a big call re Armitage right now, he has officially replaced Luke Ball, just wish he had done it a year earlier.
We do need someone to step up for Lenny, not just this year but near future as Lenny is the wrong side of 30 and wont be playing for too many more seasons.
As I said on other posts, very interested in how Ledger goes today.