The elephant in the room

[Thinline]

Carlton, who are'nt really that good, were the better team on Friday night.

AND

The Dogs would beat us by 5 goals on current form.

Discuss...

[BakesFan]

Saints are 12-0. The boys are in 'cruise control', managing the list perfectly, and they only put the hammer down when they have to.
You won't see The Saints best until the Finals.

Discuss...

[ace]

Carlton beaten by 9 points even with a bonus 6 points from an interchange goal.

If the score doesn't tell you anything then checkout the statistics.
Carlton had far fewer possessions and not one of their players reached 100 dream team points.

You clearly had too much to drink last night, go back to bed and sleep it off.

[ace]

Carlton, who are'nt really that good, were the better team on Friday night.

Pllease correct your typo.
"better" should read "BEATEN"

[kosifantutti23]

Traditionally the better team is decided by multiplying the number of goals by six and adding the number of behinds.

The team with the biggest score wins.

We played the bulldogs six weeks ago. Our form was better on the night. We play them again in six weeks, our form will be different then and so will theirs.

[Thinline]

Carlton beaten by 9 points even with a bonus 6 points from an interchange goal.

If the score doesn't tell you anything then checkout the statistics.
Carlton had far fewer possessions and not one of their players reached 100 dream team points.

You clearly had too much to drink last night, go back to bed and sleep it off.

You are clearly coming down off a pill and spoiling for an argument.

Discuss, I said. DISCUSS.

Not I reckon, I believe or I think...

FWIW I think Carlton's peformance all year has been overstated and Fri night was their zenith....and they got done...

The Dogs have had a few very soft wins since pushing Cats, but there's little doubt they'll present a much sterner challenge in a few week's time. Een so, if I were a Dogs fan I'd be wanting this streak to be Rd 15 onwards, not now...

[Cairnsman]

Carlton beaten by 9 points even with a bonus 6 points from an interchange goal.

If the score doesn't tell you anything then checkout the statistics.
Carlton had far fewer possessions and not one of their players reached 100 dream team points.

You clearly had too much to drink last night, go back to bed and sleep it off.

You are clearly coming down off a pill and spoiling for an argument.

Discuss, I said. DISCUSS.

Not I reckon, I believe or I think...

FWIW I think Carlton's peformance all year has been overstated and Fri night was their zenith....and they got done...

The Dogs have had a few very soft wins since pushing Cats, but there's little doubt they'll present a much sterner challenge in a few week's time. Een so, if I were a Dogs fan I'd be wanting this streak to be Rd 15 onwards, not now...

Coming down off a pill. What do you mean coming down of a pill. I haven't heard this expression before, please explain.

[Hurricane]

Make no mistake about it Carlton are a good football side. Once they get some more experiance in their kids they will be a very good side. Carlton lost to St Kilda on Friday night that makes US the better team, if they played better than us they would have won.

"On current form this side would beat this side" I dont like that line of thinking. It makes no differance if they would beat us if we played this week (dont even count on that) because last time we met we beat them end of story. Next time they may beat us but we wont know that till we play each other again

BANG BANG

[degruch]

Carlton beaten by 9 points even with a bonus 6 points from an interchange goal.

If the score doesn't tell you anything then checkout the statistics.
Carlton had far fewer possessions and not one of their players reached 100 dream team points.

You clearly had too much to drink last night, go back to bed and sleep it off.

You are clearly coming down off a pill and spoiling for an argument.

Discuss, I said. DISCUSS.

Not I reckon, I believe or I think...

FWIW I think Carlton's peformance all year has been overstated and Fri night was their zenith....and they got done...

The Dogs have had a few very soft wins since pushing Cats, but there's little doubt they'll present a much sterner challenge in a few week's time. Een so, if I were a Dogs fan I'd be wanting this streak to be Rd 15 onwards, not now...

So...you hypothesise bulls*** but expect others to 'discuss'? Bit one sided isn't it? FWIW your statement directly above re: Carlton is right...Friday night was as good as it'll get for them, but they weren't good enough. Carlton were not the better team statistically (BTW, DT points don't amount to anything), with the exception of contested ball wins, and they were not the better team on the scoreboard.

As for us v the Dogs, who knows. Given our form (i.e. 12-0), you'd have to say we'd be red hot favourites.

[plugger66]

On form at the moment the best 3 sides are obvious and they should fill the top 3 positions at the end of the year. The 4th spot is between the blues, Hawks and Lions with a slight chance to Adelaide. Dont worry though or should I say do worry Carlton are going to be a good side.

[Moods]

I came home from the game a bit flat, trying to figure out why we couldn't put them away. When I watched the replay I realised that the blues played bloody well, but still couldn't beat us! THe doggies are a good team, but so are we. We will no doubt drop a couple of games at some point. What our form is like entering week 1 of the finals interests me more, as we've already stitched up top 2, and the players have to know that.

[stinger]

Carlton, who are'nt really that good, were the better team on Friday night.

AND

The Dogs would beat us by 5 goals on current form.

Discuss...

better team???...crap...were you there...did you even watch the game...... ...come on you can do better than that....

[Life Long Saint]

come on you can do better than that....

Can he??? I assume that you have proof!

[SainterK]

They played well, but it always seemed we could put them away if needs be. I can't explain it exactly, perhaps I am almost believing we are only doing what's neccessary at this stage of the season....could it be possible?

[bergholt]

If the score doesn't tell you anything then checkout the statistics.
Carlton had far fewer possessions and not one of their players reached 100 dream team points.

the blues had more scoring shots. they won the contested possessions and the tackles, two things we pride ourselves on. i still don't exactly think they were the better team on the night, but i don't think the saints were either.

it was a really even match which we won thanks to some very good goalkicking. it was our third best exhibition of accuracy for the year. if we'd kicked the way we normally do, we would have lost. simple.

R1: 12.8 = 60%
R2: 15.11 = 58%
R3: 25.11 = 69%
R4: 17.9 = 65%
R5: 15.12 = 56%
R6: 14.20 = 41%
R7: 20.8 = 71%
R8: 13.12 = 52%
R9: 14.13 = 52%
R10: 11.17 = 39%
R11: 15.13 = 54%
R12: 16.8 = 67%

total: 187.142 = 57%

[Thinline]

Carlton, who are'nt really that good, were the better team on Friday night.

AND

The Dogs would beat us by 5 goals on current form.

Discuss...

better team???...crap...were you there...did you even watch the game...... ...come on you can do better than that....

Stinger, Stinger, Stinger.... READ the orig post, mate.

I appreciate you'd be more likely to read it if it contained some sort of personal swipe, but quite plainly I raised the topics as a DISCUSSION.

Fact is if you stood around any water cooler at the office this morning, that is EXACTLY what would be on the agenda.

Are Carlton any good? If not, are Saints fading? And are the Dogs the form team at the moment?

Why so offended?

I'm curious as to what people think.

And of course I watched it. Fair dinkum. What kind of Sainter wouldn't?

I reckon the game could have gone either way, BTW. I also note they had an extra shot on goal than us, which is often a decent barometer (only one, granted). I think our class on demand (Montagna, Dal Santo goals cases in point) tipped us over the line.

[spert]

Carlton, who are'nt really that good, were the better team on Friday night.

AND

The Dogs would beat us by 5 goals on current form.

Discuss...

The best team on the day never loses, and also the Dogs won't win a flag until they get a power key forward and defender.

[Young Georgie]

Carlton aren't that bad but were not the better team on the night and the Dogs on current form are still a side we match up well on and in all likelihood would beat.
Now we've got to put up with 2 weeks of useless negativity while our team sits on top of the ladder 12-0.
After the barrage of Blues hype after Friday where everyone in the media it seemed was banging on about how good they were and how lucky we were, it was great to hear John Ralph from the Hun on SEN this morning state that in actual fact St Kilda was a '6-8 goal better side' on the night (never one to exaggerate..) and Carlton bumbled and stumbled their way to numerous goals making the most of their opportunities and of their luck. He said St Kilda's structure was far superior with the difference was telling in the end.
Discusseded...let's move onwards and upwards

[Thinline]

I think the 6-8 goal Ralph reckoning is probably a bit rich, but I definitely agree that many to Carlton's goals were the result of opportunism and opposition error rather than structured attack.

[degruch]

Carlton aren't that bad but were not the better team on the night and the Dogs on current form are still a side we match...St Kilda's structure was far superior with the difference was telling in the end. Discusseded...let's move onwards and upwards

Post of the week...hopefully the fortnight! Well put YG.

[Superboot]

Carlton aren't that bad but were not the better team on the night and the Dogs on current form are still a side we match up well on and in all likelihood would beat.
Now we've got to put up with 2 weeks of useless negativity while our team sits on top of the ladder 12-0.
After the barrage of Blues hype after Friday where everyone in the media it seemed was banging on about how good they were and how lucky we were, it was great to hear John Ralph from the Hun on SEN this morning state that in actual fact St Kilda was a '6-8 goal better side' on the night (never one to exaggerate..) and Carlton bumbled and stumbled their way to numerous goals making the most of their opportunities and of their luck. He said St Kilda's structure was far superior with the difference was telling in the end.
Discusseded...let's move onwards and upwards

I didn't hear the John Ralph comment but it's spot on.

The ball ran for Carlton, and we made a few critical marking errors, so they were able to maintain score board pressure against the odds.

A classic example was the goal by O'hAilpin (I think in the last quarter). Appalling kick off the side of the boot as the ball is delivered forward. Two of our guys lead in the race for the ball, but a shocking bounce puts the ball back onto Setanta's chest. Our guys are now wrong-footed and a clear way to goal opens up.

We were a 4-goal better team on the night and we're a 6-goal better team overall.

[BAM! (shhhh)]

Carlton, who are'nt really that good, were the better team on Friday night.

AND

The Dogs would beat us by 5 goals on current form.

Discuss...

When Carlton gets over it's euphoria, they'll need to consider the following:

They played one of the best games they've played in five years, and still weren't able to get over the Saints who didn't play near their best football of the year.

The Saints form isn't what it was 6 rounds ago, but as people were saying then, the only form that matters is September form... at which time I can only hope the Saints bring the level of determination the Blues did on Friday.

Great game to watch, though I'd have been filthy if we'd lost.

[jonesy]

Agree with half of the OP.
Didn't think Carlton were the best side friday night.
However I do think on current form the dogs would beat us,comfortably. They're flying at the moment,we're not.
September is another story however. Keeping a 100% list is paramount for us to have any success in the finals

[Young Georgie]

Agree with half of the OP.
Didn't think Carlton were the best side friday night.
However I do think on current form the dogs would beat us,comfortably. They're flying at the moment,we're not.
September is another story however. Keeping a 100% list is paramount for us to have any success in the finals

The Dogs are on a winning streak sure but are they flying enough to beat us 'comfortably'? Port are a rabble, Richmond (Wallace's last game where they 'cared') a rabble, Swans have shown little this year when under pressure, lost to Cats in spirited showing, scraped home against the Demons, good win over the Crows and got beaten by the Saints. Flying??

September is indeed another story.

[jonesy]

Destroyed Port where half of Port's list were playing back home in front of family. Led by 70 points at half time interstate against Sydney who never ever get thrashed. Would of beat Geelong if Johnson hadn't of choked from 10 meters out...I'd say they're flying.

We played them 6 weeks ago when we were flying. We are not flying at the moment,far from it.
For what it's worth our 'flying' was much more impressive than the dogs 'flying'. However on the current teams from from the last month,the dogs are going better.