VFL Semi FInal- Sandringham Vs Pies - Reviews

[Jacks Back]

Great win Sandy. Never give up. Clint Jones best player in the VFL!

As I understand it all St Kilda players who are fit and healthy for selection are available. Acres broke a hand in last week's game for example.

What? Again?

[SemperFidelis]

Great effort to run it out to the end; Markworth looked good early (not sure what happened in the second half), Minchi was excellent all day, Shenton tried very hard all day but kicking sometimes let him down (except for a brilliant kickout at the end when it was needed most), Saunders had a great effort in the second half and good to see Curren back. Holmes started well but faded badly.
TDL and CJ classy all day but especially lifted in the second half. And that Mitch Brown took some great grabs in the last.
Beautiful day out! Roll on Box Hill ...

[saintsRrising]

Whilst it was great to have a win, and this week and next will provide valuable experience for our kids It was disappointing in terms of what was on offer in terms of St Kilda's future.

Brown was the Sandi player, apart from Jones that looked most like an AFL level player. And he is not on our list. I would be surprised after the VFL year he has had that an AFL Club does not draft him this year. Apart from the Saints the Doggies would probably make an excellent home for him and you would imagine that they should be keen as he can play forward or back (They would probably like Carlisle, but with a $1m mark and kick man in Boyd who IMO will never live up to that price tag, I doubt that they can take a $0.7m risk on Carlisle too).

Pierce every time I have seen him this year has left me cold. Maybe I have just seen the wrong games though.

Will be interesting see how much the axe is swung post VFL Finals. A supposedly weak AFL draft may see it not swung as much as it probably needs to be.

Holmes at almost 26 is possibly 2 years late arriving at the Saints as he looks to need a couple of more seasons at least to read the play better etc. Still his use might be as a cheap back up to be used in case of injury/ suspension.

But I am having my doubts now that he can bloom in time to be a genuine first 22 player He is way behind Longer and I personally would prefer Hickey to Longer.

[Saintly Passion]

Great win Sandy. Never give up. Clint Jones best player in the VFL!

As I understand it all St Kilda players who are fit and healthy for selection are available. Acres broke a hand in last week's game for example.

What? Again?

Yep heard that at Port today. Apparently different to previous injury, so rotten luck. Others obviously injured too like Membrey and Wright who didn't play AFL again.

[saintbrat]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/loca ... 9368029479

THRILLINGLY, brilliantly, Sandringham on Sunday advanced to a VFL preliminary final after seeing off Collingwood in a tense semi-final at North Port Oval.

The Zebras, chasing their first premiership since the 2006 team completed a run of three flags, are down to the last four and will meet minor premier Box Hill Hawks at 2.40pm on Saturday.

Their standard carried by ex-Saints Clinton Jones and Trent Dennis-Lane and former Cat Mitch Brown, Sandy came from three goals down at half time to defeat the Pies by seven points — 15.14 (104) to (14. 13 (97) — in glorious spring sunshine.

[saintbrat]

On a perfect spring day at North Port Oval, Sandringham and Collingwood put on a memorable display of Peter Jackson VFL finals football at its finest.

In what has become their typical style, the Zebras recovered from an early deficit to overrun the Magpies and advance to a preliminary final against minor premiers the Box Hill Hawks on Saturday.

SANDRINGHAM 15.14 (104) d COLLINGWOOD 14.13 (97)

A huge crowd saw both teams miss a handful of shots at goal early in the match, with Sandringham leading by only three points at quarter time when the margin could well have been greater if not for inaccuracy. Collingwood capitalised in the second term, taking control of the match with five goals to two and opening up at three-goal break at the half. But the Zebras, masters of coming home with a wet sail in 2015, dug in to draw level at the last change and eventually hit the front through Trent Dennis-Lane’s fifth goal at the 17-minute mark of the final term. They held on as Mitch Brown proved to be a colossus up forward for Sandy with three second-half goals, while Clint Jones found the ball 44 times as well as kicking a goal. For the Magpies, Matt Scharenberg provided a defensive wall while Jack Hellier and Brent Macaffer (two goals) were important through the middle.
http://www.foxsportspulse.com/assoc_pag ... D=35960528

Match Stats
http://www.foxsportspulse.com/comp_info ... =0&a=ROUND

http://www.foxsportspulse.com/round_inf ... &pool=1001

[saintbrat]

Sandringham avoided a straight-sets exit from the VFL finals with a thrilling seven-point semi-final win over a gallant Collingwood at North Port Oval on Sunday.
The Zebras advanced to a preliminary final against the Box Hill Hawks on Saturday, with skipper Adam Cockie rated a strong chance to return from a severe hamstring injury.
Collingwood's Jonathon Marsh is helped from the ground by trainers after sustaining an injury.
Collingwood's Jonathon Marsh is helped from the ground by trainers after sustaining an injury. Photo: AFL Media/Getty Images
With only a goal the difference in the dying stages, Magpie Ben Moloney's act of desperation took out the legs of Josh Saunders, who was awarded a free kick and and goaled to give his side a buffer.
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Soon after, Brayden Maynard kicked a goal to give the Pies some hope of a revival, but it was all too late.
Zebras coach Paul Hudson has lauded his three recruits Mitch Brown, Clint Jones and Trent Dennis-Lane all season and the trio were clearly the difference when it mattered most.
Brown, who has taken the second most marks in the competition and is second only to Jones at the club for most disposals, had a great individual last quarter, finishing with three goals and seven marks. The ex-Cat swingman is favoured to be drafted by Essendon, but there could be several other suitors after another telling performance.
Jones with 44 disposals, 10 of them in the final term.
Another former Saint, Dennis-Lane, kicked five goals, all in the second half.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/s ... z3lbSuKhLv
Follow us: @theage on Twitter | theageAustralia on Facebook

[saintbrat]

Thanks Dave

http://www.davesavell.com/p509422749

[saintbrat]

The Song after a great win

https://video.fadl1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/hvi ... e=55F55526

[avid]

I saw some players' performances a little differently from some earlier reports.
Siposs -- in the first quarter he looked great -- showed a lot of presence, fantasic kicking. Then he got injured. I think he was off the field for most of the middle half of the game -- which would explain some comments about him not doing much. In the last quarter he looked good again. I'd given up hope on his career, but he seems to be putting his hand up again this finals campaign.
Curren -- didn't seem to be on the ground in the first half. But when he was on in the second he showed a lot of class. Really quick and clever getting the ball out. Powerful tackles. First game back from a broken leg. A glimpse, but looking good.
Saad -- almost did a couple of clever things early on, and did apply some good pressure, but his first half was statistically a dud. His second half was pretty impressive though -- in the play a lot, very good defence pressure, and good attack on the ball too. Classic Saady set shot goal, when the pressure was really on. Has he put his hand up too for retention?
Saunders -- boy is he quick! And boy does he try hard. Just lacks finesse, and height, etc
Markworth -- looked competent throughout, but I didn't see any flashes of what I was hoping to see.
Shenton -- I thought he played a pretty influential game -- did some great things, showed a lot of poise, and courage, and also stuffed a few things up too. Hovering between an AFL and a VFL player.
Simpkin -- just love his toughness -- he hit two or three players (completely fairly) who didn't get up for a long time. Did some courageous spoils, and tackles. But just doesn't seem to have enough in his game beyond that.
Murdoch -- looks poised and competent, though nothing special. But when he puts boot to ball it is very powerful.
Holmes -- out-rucked all day. Did one or two nice things in general close-in play. But is a long way from a full package.
Pierce -- could probably say the same thing about Pierce -- except that he looks like he will learn, and become possibly quite good.

Ive probably missed one or two Saints.
Enjoyed the work of several non-saints too -- especially CJ and TDL.

The highlight of the day was the last quarter end-to-end goal.
Pretty sure it was Murdoch who kicked it out to the wing -- a massive kick.
The ball was tapped across to Siposs who let fly with an enormous, perfectly weighted way-over-the-back pass into the arms of TDL running full pelt towards goal.
Goal. And one of the best two-kick transitions you'll ever see.

[Enrico_Misso]

I'm at The G with no phone, so please keep the score updates coming - please please

You've got your laptop?

Haaaaaa
My iPad using the MCG hotspot which needless to say refused to work at all during the match.
It struggled on Sat night as well despite the smaller crowd.
Basically it is crap.

But it hung on long enough to get your updates and final scores.
Many thanks Kosi.

About to settle down and watch the Sandy replay.

[matrix]

I didn't know Holmes was 26yo.
Reckon he will def struggle to make it unless he improves quite a bit next season.

[saintbrat]

http://www.saints.com.au/news/2015-09-1 ... -semifinal

Tom Simpkin

Tom played another really good game. He doesn’t get lots of the ball by gee whiz, when he goes near it he makes an impact.

Cameron Shenton

Cam was tremendous. He played predominantly on the wing and through the midfield but also managed to have three scoring shots. He played with that presence and took the game on.

Darren Minchington

Darren contributed across the board. In the last quarter he stood up and impacted with some tackles and six disposals. He got better as the game went on.

Daniel Markworth

I was really pleased for Daniel because he had a bruised foot from the week before and did everything possible to get himself up for the game. He played mostly on the wing and also drifted forward at times.

Tom Curren

Tom didn’t have a touch in the first quarter after missing the last three months with a broken leg. But as the game progressed he improved. He had nine touches in the third quarter and another nine in the fourth term. He’ll be better for the run.

Sandringham FC retweeted
#PJVFL ‏@VFL
Great @7Sport ratings: 61,000 @FootscrayVFL v @EssendonVFL / 81,000 for @sandyzebs v @CollingwoodFC (peak 154,000) - biggest of 2015 #PJVFL

audio post game
https://soundcloud.com/sandringham-zebr ... aul-hudson

[saintbrat]

and the Stats
http://www.saints.com.au/news/2015-09-1 ... ollingwood

Great work Jason and Lewis