NAB cup 4 vs Melbourne Game day Notes

[mullet]

Penelope Pitstop chugga boom and the ant hill mob

seriously under rated cartoon

not quite as good as fractured fairy tales. Now they were ahead of their time

[Con Gorozidis]

I think the way it looks going in to the season

our ruck division is better with hickey
our fds better due to expected improvement from maister and saad - (but this may be equaled out by slight slowing down of roo and milne?)
mids - expected improvement from armo steven and newnes (expect lenny to slow down a bit)
backs - same as 2012 pretty much
depth - clear improvement from 2012 with addition of roberton, tdl, lee, wright and murdoch,

so i see a slight improvement - with stanley in defence still as a possible wildcard.

without signifcant injuries i see us around 8-10 again . but if we cant stop the big fwds kicking goals and lose the tight ones again we will no win more than 12 games. this is why stanley is the wildcard. if stanley becomes good - well then who knows. top 6 is possible.

[Con Gorozidis]

I walked past Pierce, Stanley McEvoy, White, Write and Curran coming out of the game...

Seriously, it was like land of the giants... Curran excepted.... Who looked like Ray Chamberlain ......

Wright, taller than thought and FIT looking

i just google imaged ray chamberlain (surely i have better things to do ) and ur right. hes a cross between tom curran and luke ball. fricking eery.

[saintbrat]

So who do we play next week and where?

GWS. Don't know where yet !!

Blacktown saturday 2 pm

shame as Sandy play a practice match saturday too..

I'm guesssing little to no coverage again.

[saintbrat]

anyone who was there care to give a crowd guestimate

http://www.afl.com.au/match-centre/nab- ... orkstation afl say 5,000 apporx

sportal say 3,000 approx
http://www.sportal.com.au/afl-news-disp ... ons-225227

roadworks on the main entry and exit meant an extra 15- 20 min detour for many leaving the ground.

[Bernard Shakey]

So who do we play next week and where?

GWS. Don't know where yet !!

Blacktown saturday 2 pm

shame as Sandy play a practice match saturday too..

I'm guesssing little to no coverage again.

Was good at Sandy today. I have no idea who most of them were, so I headed to the beach and enjoyed the cooling waters of Port Phillip Bay.

[lefty]

How come no Tommy Curren this week again?
Strange considering theres a spot on the list

[Zed]

Sounds like Reiwoldt & Beau are a lock for round 1. Which leaves Kosi , Lee and perhaps a resting ruckman battling it out for the 3rd tall position. Get the feeling SW really wants Lee to own that spot and may give him first crack - particularly as it's against the GC and he should get the 3rd best defender.

Encouraging to hear about Murdoch.

Anyone know when we might see White?

[dragit]

I think the way it looks going in to the season

our ruck division is better with hickey
our fds better due to expected improvement from maister and saad - (but this may be equaled out by slight slowing down of roo and milne?)
mids - expected improvement from armo steven and newnes (expect lenny to slow down a bit)
backs - same as 2012 pretty much
depth - clear improvement from 2012 with addition of roberton, tdl, lee, wright and murdoch,

so i see a slight improvement - with stanley in defence still as a possible wildcard.

without signifcant injuries i see us around 8-10 again . but if we cant stop the big fwds kicking goals and lose the tight ones again we will no win more than 12 games. this is why stanley is the wildcard. if stanley becomes good - well then who knows. top 6 is possible.

I agree with most of that, except for probably the last paragraph, we might improve slightly, but I reckon a few teams around us will improve more - Richmond I think will improve more & have added plenty of depth. Carlton & Essendon will be better if they can have better luck with injuries*

We might field a more balanced side this year but still finish 10-13, hope I'm wrong.

If essendon are playing.

[defacto]

I'm in NO doubt we have improved... So have other teams...

But we're heading in the right direction, and whilst most have us sliding, I'm predicting a surprisingly good year...

love reading your opinion big mart.

encouraging that you think were on the right path.

how do you think murdoch went. what are his strength/weakness this early on (given we havent seen alot of him)?

[lefty]

If we can win our first four (beat both Richmond and Essendon) that should put us in good stead... always an "if" though.

Richmond will be tough, who is going to play on Jack (who seems to come into form when he plays us and boats 6 every time)? Maybe Stanley might be able to get the job done? Griffiths beat Rooey last year iirc, just too tall. Might need Kosi down there to keep him at bay.

Essendon will be a grudge match, all about Goddard. They usually beat us though which is frustrating, however hopefully we can see a repeat of last year.

[Dave McNamara]

I'm in NO doubt we have improved... So have other teams...

But we're heading in the right direction, and whilst most have us sliding, I'm predicting a surprisingly good year...

Like to hear that BM.

Welcome aboard the 2013 Sainta's optimism-train Mart!

Our numbers are small, but growing.

Go you Saintas!





PS: I'm with yars Matt n' Mull...

IMHO, Wacky Races (go Anthill mob), Fractured Fairytales, Rocky & Bullwinkle, George of The Jungle/Tom Slick/Super Chicken... all hilarious..., all classics..., and all funnier when viewed as an adult c/f as children.

[BigMart]

From the little I saw of Murdoch

Played HB
He is tough... And has a crack... Has size about him..

I think it may have been his first game of the year, so not expecting much...

It's hard to tell, I rated Fergus, ferguson and Brooks highly?!

[Dave McNamara]

The BeauMaister is a lock for HFF this year one grabbers everywhere and his 2nd and 3rd efforts are great...

Now this is really great to hear P!!!

From what I've I've seen, dropping marks has been BBBB's main problem... does all the hard stuff to get in the prime posi', but doess not get the rewards for effort that he should coz of dropping way too many marks he should then be taking.

If he can start consistently clunking some of these (doesn't even need to hold onto 'em all)... wow, what a difference that will make to his confidence, his output... and our potency up forward... look out...!

Sooooo, does this mean they've finally sorted-out his eyesight problem...?

[bigcarl]

Bit of a rundown today from the 3 quarters I saw

good work.

[matrix]

you know ive never heard of or seen fractured fairytales

i was a big Battle of the Planets fan tho


anyhoo
bring on round one
cant wait to see who gets picked and to get into some real action

[Con Gorozidis]

From the little I saw of Murdoch

Played HB
He is tough... And has a crack... Has size about him..

[samuraisaint]

Looks like from the stats that the only real concern out of today's game was the performance of Seb Ross. For the Saints to have a good few years we need our young mids to stand up. Seb instead seems to have gone missing. Yet last week he looked pretty good. If anyone that was at the game can make a comment it would be appreciated.

I was there and I saw him get the ball a few times. I don't have the exact number of kicks as I haven't read a stats sheet, but when he gets the ball he uses it well. He got quite a few possessions coming out of defence on the wing from what I remember. I thought he did pretty well. Melbourne were serious in the way they went about the game yesterday and it was pretty hot out there, believe me.

[savatage]

Sounds like Jack Newnes you're thinking of SamuraiSaint. The fact that one is #6 & the other is #16 can confuse. Newnes was excellent & used the ball very well. Ross, looks a step behind the pace of the game & looked lost. He was on the ground for the majority of the game from what I could see too.

[saintsRrising]

I think the way it looks going in to the season

our ruck division is better with hickey
our fds better due to expected improvement from maister and saad - (but this may be equaled out by slight slowing down of roo and milne?)
mids - expected improvement from armo steven and newnes (expect lenny to slow down a bit)
backs - same as 2012 pretty much
depth - clear improvement from 2012 with addition of roberton, tdl, lee, wright and murdoch,

so i see a slight improvement - with stanley in defence still as a possible wildcard.

.

I to think we have improved. However you analysis neglects that BJ has departed. However BJ's 2012 was not his best year.

If Siposs can get the ball more then he may make a reasonable fist of setting up play BJ style. But Siposs 2013 is likely to not yet be a BJ of 2012.

However leaving that aside :

2013:

Our forward line actually looks to be better and more well rounded. We have good talls and smalls, with increased back-up. So if injuries or suspension strikes we should still have a pretty leathal forward line.
While Milne and Roo may be one year older, the better forward depth means that that their load will be less. Milne with Saad as a in partner in crime, means that opposition backlines cannot concentrate on chopping him out.

While Ben will still most likely struggle in pure ruckwork, I expect this aspect of his game to be more competitive.

Stanley shapes as a wild-card to improve the backline. but will he be on the park enough...and can he play well consistently in that role. If not then teams with 2/3 good tall forwards will continue to expose us.

Personally I rate Schneider as a a very smart ball user. If he can play a full year it will make a big difference. His MIA in the pre-season to date already has question marks on that though.

DEPTH
In 2013 we look to have much better depth across the round. Injuries will occur as they always do, but greater depth should assist us in 2013.


OPPONENTS
Unfortunately though 2013 is shaping up to be a cracker. Being as good as you were in 2012 will see a team slide.
Not sure how many teams are genuine flag threats yet, but making the 8 in 2013 is going to be tough, very tough.

Tigers for example have improved their depth, and their young-guns will be one year older. No Premiership threat in 2013, but they are a good example of the pressure there will be on to make the 8.

Pies have added to their depth as they fancy themselves as being in the hunt for a flag.
Crows have some seriously good young players emerging.
WCE have a sensational list. if Nic Nat ever learns how to really play football, god help us all.
Hawks, if Lake clicks will be better balanced.
Lions after going backwards under Vos, are now heading in the right direction.
Swans get to squeeze Tippet into their forward line for the business end of the season.
North have good balance.
Cats have some good emerging talent. Like the Saints it remains to be seen if it offsets the players they have lost.

The lesser light of GC and GWS will be that much bit better. Go into a game too cocky and you may get rolled.

Blues could get better or worse. Ditto for the Dons, but you would think with BJ and last years injury run, better.

So yes in 2013 you will need to be better, to just tread water.

[Munga]

Goals:

http://www.saints.com.au/video/2013-03- ... v-st-kilda

[bergholt]

Sounds like Jack Newnes you're thinking of SamuraiSaint. The fact that one is #6 & the other is #16 can confuse. Newnes was excellent & used the ball very well. Ross, looks a step behind the pace of the game & looked lost. He was on the ground for the majority of the game from what I could see too.

AFL stats say he was on for 63% of the game, which puts him at the bottom of the tree for TOG. Unfortunately, it also says that he only had more possessions than Kosi, six touches for the day. At that rate, even if he'd been on for the whole game he would only have had 10 touches.

[borderbarry]

The biggest improvers this year will be Brisbane. They will be much more competitive than say Richmond for instance. And if we take a chance and play youngsters we could well be rewarded with an upward move too.

[Dave McNamara]

you know ive never heard of or seen fractured fairytales...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... AAkauRR-y4

[Dave McNamara]

I to think we have improved. However you analysis neglects that BJ has departed. However BJ's 2012 was not his best year.

If Siposs can get the ball more then he may make a reasonable fist of setting up play BJ style. But Siposs 2013 is likely to not yet be a BJ of 2012.

However leaving that aside...:

OPPONENTS
Unfortunately though 2013 is shaping up to be a cracker. Being as good as you were in 2012 will see a team slide.
Not sure how many teams are genuine flag threats yet, but making the 8 in 2013 is going to be tough, very tough.

Tigers for example have improved their depth, and their young-guns will be one year older. No Premiership threat in 2013, but they are a good example of the pressure there will be on to make the 8.

Pies have added to their depth as they fancy themselves as being in the hunt for a flag.
Crows have some seriously good young players emerging.
WCE have a sensational list. if Nic Nat ever learns how to really play football, god help us all.
Hawks, if Lake clicks will be better balanced.
Lions after going backwards under Vos, are now heading in the right direction.
Swans get to squeeze Tippet into their forward line for the business end of the season.
North have good balance.
Cats have some good emerging talent. Like the Saints it remains to be seen if it offsets the players they have lost.

The lesser light of GC and GWS will be that much bit better. Go into a game too cocky and you may get rolled.

Blues could get better or worse. Ditto for the Dons, but you would think with BJ and last years injury run, better.

So yes in 2013 you will need to be better, to just tread water.

Thanks for a thoughtful analysis there sRr.

I feel that a lot of the pundits are not only underrating us, but overrating the rest...

Swines - with no outs, Muppet in and the extra $90mil in the salary cap... have to be favourites to take out yet another hollow premiership for mine.
Skunks - will be up there, but talk (inside and some leaking outside the club) that all is not sweetness and light there.
Dawks - will be thereabouts again, but their reliance on too many soft receivers was exposed for all to see in the GF. Lake has a dodgey knee and head, and at best is only a very short term option. The Ego is going (why else is he holding out?) which will create instability. Podge's knee is more suspect than Roo's.
Crones have lost Muppet and their other bookend Rutten is getting on.
Agree the Teddys will improve, but their main man is a shadow of what he was, and they don't have a coach.
E-girls have too many of their key players at the end of their careers, and NicNat's groin will keep him out for quite a few games, and may well impact on his leap in the future.
Nuff Nuff lack defenders, have only an ageing (though still good) Pratt as a key forward. Their 'exciting' (oh puh-leeeese ) game plan is very high risk.
Purple Puke are last gasp now. They are only a Pavlova or Sandilands injury away from disaster... oh wait...
Bumblers and Carlscum - too many players no prepared to get down and dirty, and I reckon Carlscum recruited poorly and have peaked... and that peak wasn't good enough, though at least they have a coach now.
Cats - agree with you.
Wogans and Sons of Beaches are artificial not real, however they are still several years away from challenging. But they will have to be able to keep their players when we come raiding. Welcome home from purgatory John Patton...


So going forward, I don't see us slipping as far as many thought, but also, as we move up again, the opposition isn't that formidable, now, nor going forward.