Match v Port March 8 at Alberton

[SainterK]

Commentators have said "Hickey is a player" maybe 4 or 5 times now

I agree

[SainterK]

Will there be stats I wonder?

Could you please elaborate who played where?

[degruch]

Both teams played at Alberton.

[kosifantutti]

Just got back from the ground, I'd have to say that I'm surprised Newnes had a 'shocker', he was in everything and proved very useful...decision making left a little to be desired, but nothing on, say, Jones. Dunstan looks like a great pick up, looking forward to seeing more of him. Overall, our backline cost us...porous at the start and disposals running out were shocking. Whatever our defensive zones are supposed to be, they didn't kick in until the second half.

Midfield looked pretty good, especially given Hickey never really gave us first use of the ball at centre bounce...many tap outs looked more like good luck than technique. It's McEvoy all over again, which is not such a bad thing...he's useful forward and around the ground, just not aggressive at the centre bounce. A lot of the contested stuff semmed to be on the other side of the ground though, so maybe I'm wrong.

Stanley looked okay, but lacked a bit of awareness in the F50, probably due to being stuffed in defense all year in 2013. Looked the better of the 2 ruckmen IMO. Great to see Roo brilliant as per usual, shooting sharply, deserved at least one more set shot due to a missed free kick. Lee and Maister really are casual support though.

It's hard to gauge where we're at, as both teams are an enigma (we're expected to be crap, Port on the improve, but who knows where), but Port rarely looked troubled to be honest. Good run for the team, against a reasonable even opponent. We're not gonna get too much joy this year, but I wouldn't call this a negative result at all.

You people who went to the game have no idea. Stanley and Newnes were terrible according to all those sitting at their laptops in Melbourne and listening to guys who couldn't tell the difference between Stanley and Minchington.

[Con Gorozidis]

St Kilda midfielders Lenny Hayes (26 possessions, two goals), Jarryn Geary (22) and Farren Ray (19 disposals, two goals) were their side's best, while South Australian draftee Luke Dunstan (Sth Clare FC) shone with 20 touches, eight clearances and a goal.

Jarman Impey (pick 21, Shepparton Bears FC) also had a good game and is expected to debut in Rd 1 for Port v Carlton next weekend.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-03-08/p ... tice-match

[SideshowMilne]

Thanks for the report Degruch and others.

[SainterK]

Both teams played at Alberton.

Positions please

[degruch]

You people who went to the game have no idea. Stanley and Newnes were terrible according to all those sitting at their laptops in Melbourne and listening to guys who couldn't tell the difference between Stanley and Minchington.

Haha! Well, I'm guilty of posting both arguments myself, depending on which suits my point of view. To be honest, the Saints were pretty sharp on my side of the ground for a couple quarters, lousy on the other...I couldn't see who the guilty parties were.

All those mentioned in the AFL report were great, Wingard and Ebert were super sharp for Port...no-one knew who Impey was, Port fans included!

Despite the silence, there was actually a great turnout by Saints supporters and a great little ground...an awesome li'l earner for Port Adelaide FC and there were Port supporters signing up in their droves. Wouldn't it have been great to have it at Etihad or Moorabbin? Great for testing new players, lousy for drumming up members

[degruch]

Both teams played at Alberton.

Positions please

Sorry, I should have grabbed a budget. FWIW, Newnes seemed to do his best work on the forward flank.

[tony74]

No need to panic. Just ran out of legs. Still in a massive training regime. Remember Port plays next week and we're still 2 weeks away. More concerned if I supported Melbourne. Very,very poor.

[saintbrat]

thanks degruch
why is that- the game is ALWAYS on the opposite side to where you are sitting.

Retweeted by St Kilda FC

david koch‏@kochie_online·Thanks to @stkildafc for a good final hit out and bringing AFL back to Alberton. Good luck for the season and to Richo.

Joel Bassat‏@joelbassat·
Out of Dunstan's 12 possessions, 9 are contested. He makes Tom Curren look like Nick Dal Santo! #insidemidfielder #mystkilda

[saintbob]

How did Webster & Eli go???

[samuraisaint]

been over at bigfooty reading Melbourne board. Grimes and Frawley wiped each other out. Broken cheekbones, nose and jaw (suspected). With Hogan, Clarke and Dawes out, That makes us just about even. Wonder if odds will change with those injury clouds. Currently Demons are $1.50 which is basically as sure a thing as you can get in a two horse race, I would have thought. Ridiculous.

[samuraisaint]

been over at bigfooty reading Melbourne board. Grimes and Frawley wiped each other out. Broken cheekbones, nose and jaw (suspected). With Hogan, Clarke and Dawes out, That makes us just about even. Wonder if odds will change with those injury clouds. Currently Demons are $1.50 which is basically as sure a thing as you can get in a two horse race, I would have thought. Ridiculous.

[SainterK]

Sounds bad...

Footy has a way of levelling things out.

[saintbrat]

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-03-08/h ... s-a-lesson

Roos says bopth will be ok- just cuts...

[bigcarl]

Just got back from the ground, I'd have to say that I'm surprised Newnes had a 'shocker', he was in everything and proved very useful...decision making left a little to be desired, but nothing on, say, Jones. Dunstan looks like a great pick up, looking forward to seeing more of him. Overall, our backline cost us...porous at the start and disposals running out were shocking. Whatever our defensive zones are supposed to be, they didn't kick in until the second half.

Midfield looked pretty good, especially given Hickey never really gave us first use of the ball at centre bounce...many tap outs looked more like good luck than technique. It's McEvoy all over again, which is not such a bad thing...he's useful forward and around the ground, just not aggressive at the centre bounce. A lot of the contested stuff semmed to be on the other side of the ground though, so maybe I'm wrong.

Stanley looked okay, but lacked a bit of awareness in the F50, probably due to being stuffed in defense all year in 2013. Looked the better of the 2 ruckmen IMO. Great to see Roo brilliant as per usual, shooting sharply, deserved at least one more set shot due to a missed free kick. Lee and Maister really are casual support though.

It's hard to gauge where we're at, as both teams are an enigma (we're expected to be crap, Port on the improve, but who knows where), but Port rarely looked troubled to be honest. Good run for the team, against a reasonable even opponent. We're not gonna get too much joy this year, but I wouldn't call this a negative result at all.

I hear Geary went well. Did he play in the guts a bit?

[6621104]

Another who was there- Hickey was one reason we won the clearances, great tap work. Dropped a few marks but gets to the contest and will get better. We have a good one in Dunstan, Wright and Webster again show that they will be great for us. Stanley has a great leap and did well I thought when in the ruck. Newnes, who I have had doubts about may prove me wrong. Maister and Lee are not the answer. Not AFL standard forwards. Geary will fill in as a midfielder but will be better off the HBF or small back pocket. Armo is lifting, Lenny as usual self. Billings may be the best player in the comp one day as per ToT, but that is a few years off. With Wright and Webster off the HBF where will Roberton and Simpkin (who I think is in our best side) play. Gwilt still looks lost on the big guys, Delaney a stop gap until Bruce gets fit. Savage needs to do more, Saunders needs to improve his field kicking, Jones - as most know an honest trier who if still getting a game by years end means we have had a shocker of a year. Our problems this year will be forward of centre. Too many dropped marks, no real pace for tackle pressure and a lot of one sided kicks for goal.
When we look at who was missing- Jack, Gilbo who both have pace and can break the lines , all in all not too shabby.

[Zed]

Went to the game today.

Hickey was good - and would have been in our best 3 today. Held his own against PA's rucks and did some good things around the ground contesting for ground balls, tackling, even a few short bullet passes that hit their target.
Jones was average - nothing special.
Savage didn't do a lot, kicked a couple of goals but didn't really impact the game.
Lenny got lots of it, inspirational on field leadership, but sprayed a lot of his kicks
Lee - cant chase and takes an eternity to get up off the ground every time he gets knocked down. Needs to do a lot more fitness work. Also runs under the ball too many times for my liking.
Joey - solid game
Roo - presented well. set shot kicking was good but made some odd kicking decisions when running with ball.
Schneids - did a few good things but a long way off his best
Geary - one of the best. Went in hard but disposal let him down
Billings - first half on bench , started 2nd half on the wing, got a few kicks which hit their targets, and every handball hits its target. Played on the ball in the dying minutes of the game. Makes good decisions, very clean disposal, got knocked around a bit and caught a couple of times. I think he is used to having a lot more time and space, and once he adjusts to the tempo we will want to get the ball into his hands often because he will be our most effective ball user. Cant wait until he gets 50 games under his belt.
Newnes - didn't do a lot.
Roberton - good. started really well, played as sweeper in defence and read the game well. Faded out as the game went on.
Armo - hard as nails and growing into a leader. Great example of how to attack the contest.
Delaney - didn't really have a power forward to play on, but provided a bit of run. Kicking efficiency was generally good.
Ray - got a fair bit of the ball, particularly in the 2nd quarter when we were being overrun, but his kicking disposal let him down
Dempster - reliable as ever. Played a steady game mopping up and stopping on the last line
Curren - was ok, got his hands on it a few times but wasn't really a standout
Stanley - tried to play with a bit of mongrel and gave away a few frees. Beaten in the ruck, and couldn't take a contested mark. Doesn't move around enough to present himself as an option. Not progressing how we would want.
Webster - great game, reads the ball well and picked up lots of disposals. Seems to hesitate when going for the spoil, which means he doesn't always execute it properly - something to work on.
Gwilt - needed the run. Was puffing and particularly at the end of every quarter was finding it hard to run faster than half speed. Will be better for the run.
Wright - good game, read the play well and accumulated a few possessions
Saunders - good game, played as FP, but often ran all the way into to defence to provide the switch option and then would charge forward again, Enormous tank on the kid - but cant take a contested mark - which he needs to work on.
Dunstan - close to our best for mine. this kid just keeps inserting himself into the contest and getting the ball out. This kids deserves to wear the number 7 when Lenny gives it way. Has the makings of a future captain
Maister - provided a target and contested but just cant dominate
Minch - didn't do a lot. Not sure he actually spent a lot of time on the ground
Eli - provided a real sense of urgency in the forward pocket with his chase and tackling but didn't get his hands on it a lot. Not sure he actually spent a lot of time on the ground

If Hickey can keep improving our rucks will be in good shape in 2 -3 years time. Defence still leaks and panics when the ball comes in quick resulting in silly frees. Gwilt was the worst offender. Really need to play Nick out of FF and not up the ground because nobody else even looks like taking a contested mark in the forward line. Hopefully we can land ourselves a power forward of some kind in the next draft who can take a contested grab.

We are going to play some good patches of footy this year, but we are also going to have quite a few lapses where opposition teams will get a run on. I think PA came to the ground thinking this was going to be an easy run in the park, hence why we got out to such a good Q1. It was noticeable that PA's intensity lifted in the 2nd qtr onwards. Overall I was happy with what I saw and reflective of where we are at.

[Stephen Theodore]

been over at bigfooty reading Melbourne board. Grimes and Frawley wiped each other out. Broken cheekbones, nose and jaw (suspected). With Hogan, Clarke and Dawes out, That makes us just about even. Wonder if odds will change with those injury clouds. Currently Demons are $1.50 which is basically as sure a thing as you can get in a two horse race, I would have thought. Ridiculous.

Can't see how Melbourne are $1.50 and us $2.50. Massive unders for Dees, with or without injuries.

[busso mick]

Went to the game today.

Hickey was good - and would have been in our best 3 today. Held his own against PA's rucks and did some good things around the ground contesting for ground balls, tackling, even a few short bullet passes that hit their target.
Jones was average - nothing special.
Savage didn't do a lot, kicked a couple of goals but didn't really impact the game.
Lenny got lots of it, inspirational on field leadership, but sprayed a lot of his kicks
Lee - cant chase and takes an eternity to get up off the ground every time he gets knocked down. Needs to do a lot more fitness work. Also runs under the ball too many times for my liking.
Joey - solid game
Roo - presented well. set shot kicking was good but made some odd kicking decisions when running with ball.
Schneids - did a few good things but a long way off his best
Geary - one of the best. Went in hard but disposal let him down
Billings - first half on bench , started 2nd half on the wing, got a few kicks which hit their targets, and every handball hits its target. Played on the ball in the dying minutes of the game. Makes good decisions, very clean disposal, got knocked around a bit and caught a couple of times. I think he is used to having a lot more time and space, and once he adjusts to the tempo we will want to get the ball into his hands often because he will be our most effective ball user. Cant wait until he gets 50 games under his belt.
Newnes - didn't do a lot.
Roberton - good. started really well, played as sweeper in defence and read the game well. Faded out as the game went on.
Armo - hard as nails and growing into a leader. Great example of how to attack the contest.
Delaney - didn't really have a power forward to play on, but provided a bit of run. Kicking efficiency was generally good.
Ray - got a fair bit of the ball, particularly in the 2nd quarter when we were being overrun, but his kicking disposal let him down
Dempster - reliable as ever. Played a steady game mopping up and stopping on the last line
Curren - was ok, got his hands on it a few times but wasn't really a standout
Stanley - tried to play with a bit of mongrel and gave away a few frees. Beaten in the ruck, and couldn't take a contested mark. Doesn't move around enough to present himself as an option. Not progressing how we would want.
Webster - great game, reads the ball well and picked up lots of disposals. Seems to hesitate when going for the spoil, which means he doesn't always execute it properly - something to work on.
Gwilt - needed the run. Was puffing and particularly at the end of every quarter was finding it hard to run faster than half speed. Will be better for the run.
Wright - good game, read the play well and accumulated a few possessions
Saunders - good game, played as FP, but often ran all the way into to defence to provide the switch option and then would charge forward again, Enormous tank on the kid - but cant take a contested mark - which he needs to work on.
Dunstan - close to our best for mine. this kid just keeps inserting himself into the contest and getting the ball out. This kids deserves to wear the number 7 when Lenny gives it way. Has the makings of a future captain
Maister - provided a target and contested but just cant dominate
Minch - didn't do a lot. Not sure he actually spent a lot of time on the ground
Eli - provided a real sense of urgency in the forward pocket with his chase and tackling but didn't get his hands on it a lot. Not sure he actually spent a lot of time on the ground

If Hickey can keep improving our rucks will be in good shape in 2 -3 years time. Defence still leaks and panics when the ball comes in quick resulting in silly frees. Gwilt was the worst offender. Really need to play Nick out of FF and not up the ground because nobody else even looks like taking a contested mark in the forward line. Hopefully we can land ourselves a power forward of some kind in the next draft who can take a contested grab.

We are going to play some good patches of footy this year, but we are also going to have quite a few lapses where opposition teams will get a run on. I think PA came to the ground thinking this was going to be an easy run in the park, hence why we got out to such a good Q1. It was noticeable that PA's intensity lifted in the 2nd qtr onwards. Overall I was happy with what I saw and reflective of where we are at.

Thanks for a very detailed summary of our performances Zed! Its early days yet but I agree that Dunstan has got #7 written all over him.

[Con Gorozidis]

Thanks for the great summary zed - appreciated.

[saintbrat]

http://www.saints.com.au/video/2014-03- ... enny-hayes

http://www.saints.com.au/news/2014-03-0 ... ng-the-way

AS THE final pre-season hit-out wrapped up at Alberton Oval on Saturday, veteran midfielder Lenny Hayes urged the Saints faithful to get on board and support the team for season 2014.

Speaking after the practice match against Port Adelaide, Hayes said the team had made improvements to their game and played a promising brand of footy.

“I thought we were really competitive from the start, we were winning the clearances, getting in inside 50 and we took our chances so it was really pleasing start,” Hayes said.

“There were probably periods in the second and third quarter that we dropped away a little bit, but overall it was a lot better than last week and that’s what we asked from each other.”

“We wanted to improve on last week - that wasn’t acceptable and today was a lot better. Still disappointed that we didn’t get the win but looking forward there are some really positive signs.”

[saintbrat]

http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-pre ... 6849019230


http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-pre ... 6849019230


http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/p ... 34dyh.html

[saintbrat]

review by afl media person- giving the impression as seen by some of the journos present

http://www.crocmedia.com.au/2014/03/08/ ... final-hit/