What I learnt from Saturday

[older saint]

Windy is a midfield tagger and not a HBF. Not sure why he wasn't on Reid from the start but great job in the second half to shut him down and win his win his own ball too.

King looked better up the ground more . Makes him lead at the ball, Pity he got hurt as needs to get multiple games in a row.

Higgins is very important to the forward line and a great footy brain.

We may well be the 2nd worst kicking side in the AFL. WC worst. Foot skills are terrible, the amount of turnovers where we kicked 20 m kicks which were intercepted or half volleyed.

Bonner gets a lot of it but not often kicked to his own team.

Webster got found out a bit
Wilkie and Battle are key pillers which must be built around . Pay Battle just put a clause in every 20m pin point kick tried and turned over deducts money just kick it a mile if in doubt.

Ross could be a really useful sub
,
Clark was good first game back , 11 tackles I believe and something a bit different in the middle.

Marshall looks tired, 1 more game then the bye.

[The Fireman]

We have some miserable supporters

[cwrcyn]

What I learnt

Dow is a good addition
Clark is better than most people on here think
Bonner is hanging on to his spot by his fingernails
Sinclair off half back is the key
Wilson and Wanganeen-Milera are best two players we've drafted for years.
Henry is a smart footballer
Marshall is seriously tough
Seb Ross is in the twilight of his career
Higgins is crucial to the functioning of our forward line
We still miss Brad Crouch

[Teflon]

What I learnt
Kicked 5 goals to 2 in last
Dominated game from half time
Skill level is ordinary
Got nothing to do with game plan - that didn’t change…second half execution did…
Midfield is barometer- break even/win we are totally different side….lose 11 clearances in a row….it won’t matter what Max King does
We lack smart decision makers going forward- we saw what NAS did into f50 ….massive difference to dumb bombs (which still seems to be fallback for many)

[SteeleSaints]

We have some miserable supporters

We also have some extremely miserable posters, who contribute zilch!

[Scollop]

What I learnt

Dow is a good addition
Clark is better than most people on here think
Bonner is hanging on to his spot by his fingernails
Sinclair off half back is the key
Wilson and Wanganeen-Milera are best two players we've drafted for years.
Henry is a smart footballer
Marshall is seriously tough
Seb Ross is in the twilight of his career
Higgins is crucial to the functioning of our forward line
We still miss Brad Crouch

I agree with everything you said except your assessment on Crouch.

I think a fully fit Paddy Dow will fill that void and do it better. Crouch is 30. Dow is still just 24 years of age

Dow will improve. You know what you're getting with Crouch. Why do you think he didn't poll that well in the TBM even though people thought he'd have a podium finish? Clangers and turnovers through the roof.

A lot of Crouch's touches are junk. Dow is better for centre clearances. More i50's for Dow, more metres gained, more goal assists.

https://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_ ... 023&type=A

We can't fit Steele, Dow, Clark and Windhager in the team and try and squeeze Crouch in as well. What's the goal? To win a flag this year?

[MC Gusto]

Any update on king? Shame he got injured as it was finally coming in to the forward line with a bit of accuracy in the last

[Teflon]

1 other thing that I think was self evident from yesterday…
When we take that shorter kick BEFORE going into 50 …lower the eyes and don’t bomb …we can score!!!
When twits bomb away ….oppo rebound hard….
Players need to get far smarter forward of centre it helped pushing NAS up the ground …we need more of that polish

[loris]

The Saint’s runner doesn’t deliver messages to Captain Jack Steele or I didn’t notice it against the Eagles match.
After goals are scored and the few times I noticed that the runner is allowed on the field. He mostly gave Seb Ross & Wilkie messages. They then seemed to either disseminate the message to other players or give signals organizing them.
I had noticed previously on TV that Sebby Ross seems to relay lots of messages, but watching live yesterday it was really noticeable.


Part of Seb Ross’ game & attitude I’ve really liked is how he’s always talking & instructing players around him. Plus he always appears to have the time give a young player a word of confidence who’s in his vicinity if they make a mistake. Also I’ve noticed over the years on TV when they team walking off, Ross is often talking to the least experienced members of the team. It’s a trait I used to notice from Lenny Hayes & Nathan Burke.

[Beno88]

Saturday further proved that the game plan and effort are not the issues.

Midfield ball use is.

Anything below 60% is poor at AFL level.

Efficiency
Ross - 33%
Steele - 47%
Windhager - 50%
Owens - 54%
Marshall - 55%
Wilson - 57%
Clark - 58%
Wood - 59%
Hill - 61%
Dow - 68%
Sinclair - 78%

[Teflon]

Saturday further proved that the game plan and effort are not the issues.

Midfield ball use is.

Anything below 60% is poor at AFL level.

Efficiency
Ross - 33%
Steele - 47%
Windhager - 50%
Owens - 54%
Marshall - 55%
Wilson - 57%
Clark - 58%
Wood - 59%
Hill - 61%
Dow - 68%
Sinclair - 78%

Kinda scary as West Coast aren’t exactly Swans in pressure ratings
When the heat comes and it will …expect these to plummet further
We need more talent better decisions and users for sure

[Scollop]

West Coast is one match. Better to look at the year as a whole

How are St Kilda mids going this year compared to the competition’s stars?

The results are a bit of a surprise. Doesn’t fit the narrative that some are pushing on here and in the media

Jack Steele has limitations, but disposal efficiency isn’t one of them.
His kicking efficiency and total DE are better than Nick Daicos in 2024

Marshall has better kicking efficiency than Sam Walsh

https://www.wheeloratings.com/afl_stats.html?year=2024 (select clearances and disposal efficiency and it groups the top players)

[HardSaint]

another installment in the rise of Nasiah Wanganeen Milera

he just keeps getting better and better

I'm looking forward to him breaking the shackles at some point and start to take games on himself