Match Thread Saints v Pies Round 3 2020

[Ghost Like]

Another issue we have with Collingwood is that we guard space. We have been guarding space against them since 2010. Their game style is built around precision kicking and running. They struggle when a side goes man on man. This is the 4th St Kilda coach to adopt this strategy against them.

[The_Dud]

Sounds like it was probably a good thing I missed this game!

But sounds like there were some reoccurring problems that I’ve been worried about.

The ruck plan didn’t come off. I didn’t buy in last week after beating up on a terrible ruckman. Ryder doesn’t offer enough around the ground and Marshall should be the number 1 with someone giving him a chop out every now and then. He might get beaten in the tap outs, but he provides heaps around the ground and will only improve.

Gresh has gone backwards from his hype a few years ago. Can’t kick in a straight line to say his life, everything is across his body, which isn’t great.

Looking at the stats it seems Hill had a good game, but everyone is saying he was poor? What happened?

[Sainter_Dad]

Looking at the stats it seems Hill had a good game, but everyone is saying he was poor? What happened?

Lots of cheapies in the backline - very short dashes then a dinky kick - a couple of horrendous turnovers

DID NOT PLAY THE WING

[perfectionist]

Another issue we have with Collingwood is that we guard space. We have been guarding space against them since 2010. Their game style is built around precision kicking and running. They struggle when a side goes man on man. This is the 4th St Kilda coach to adopt this strategy against them.

That's true, but you have to be as fast and as strong as them to play man on man. Over recent years, Richmond, WC and GWS have been able to do it. It was clear yesterday that we are physically weaker than Collingwood and they are more skilled. Once again, there was nothing wrong with our "endeavour" and our fitness which showed up in the 2 goals to one in the second half, although Collingwood probably eased off slightly. I thought we did OK in the ruck department. Our backline players are dropping their marks, but they must persist. Punching the ball away is never going to be a winning strategy as we saw in both 2009 and 2010. Just a few contested marks on the backline in either game would have had us holding the cup.

[saintsRrising]

As much as it pains me to say it the Pies have built up a very good team that is ready for a tilt at the flag. Grundy is at the height of his powers.

They are a measuring stick, which when we we measured against we came up short.

Now part of this is that I think that virtually all players had a bad day out. So we will be better on other days than what we showed this week.

We were younger and less experienced, but not by enough to explain the lack of competitiveness.

We still lack that absolute gun inside mid, or mids. Our ruck dominance last week against the Doggies masked that, but with Grundy in full flight there was no hiding it.

[Joffa Burns]

Smashed by a team who was a class above us in every facet of the match.
Taught an absolute lesson by a top 4 contender.

Out run, superior skills, tougher, better drilled and coached.
Reality check for the coach and team, how they respond will be interesting.

Most frustrating part as a supporter watching on TV was trying to work out how we were kicking long to Moore & Howe to take easy if not virtually uncontested marks. On TV only Steele & Long appeared to show aggression and any heart.

This was very Richo like in how we played.

Next week against a vulnerable Tiger will be interesting and a good reality check to see if they have the heart to bounce back.

[fugazi]

Losing to the Pies doesn't hurt so much in itself...they are the best team in the comp.
That we could have played much better and challenged them is what is so galling.
We were rubbish last night, and to be honest, looked overawed and rattled from early on.

[cwrcyn]

We don't have a player like Grundy.
We don't have a player like Sidebottom
We don't have a player like Pendlebury

That pretty much sums it up. Until we get midfielders who can consistently influence games, and I mean REALLY influence them rather than getting possessions, we will not contend.
Other teams have those kind of mids. Richmond have Cotchin and Martin, Geelong have Dangerfield and Selwood, West Coast have Gaff, Shuey, and Tim Kelly, and on it goes. All those guys play inside and outside. There are teams like Brisbane and GWS that posses similar midfield strength. The quality of our midfield sits in the bottom third of the competition. There is no hiding from that fact so let's hope that the likes of Bytel and Byrnes can develop quickly and really show something.

[Peanut Farm]

We were all confident of a win against the Pies, especially since they could only kick 5 goals in perfect conditions last week.
Most ruckman are going to get beaten by Grundy so don't have a problem that our boys got a bath from him yesterday. Marshall has a terribly low leap for someone of his height, he needs to improve.
It's the mids that need to fire up - that was a really soft performance and I think Billings needs to be dropped - just did not go in hard enough and he consistently plays like that when the heat is on. Team selection will be very interesting this week. Hard nut Dunstan should never have been dropped after his great round 1 performance - hope he comes back to face the Tiges. I want to see Jimmy Webster replace Long as well.

[freely]

We don't have a player like Grundy.
We don't have a player like Sidebottom
We don't have a player like Pendlebury

That pretty much sums it up. Until we get midfielders who can consistently influence games, and I mean REALLY influence them rather than getting possessions, we will not contend.
Other teams have those kind of mids. Richmond have Cotchin and Martin, Geelong have Dangerfield and Selwood, West Coast have Gaff, Shuey, and Tim Kelly, and on it goes. All those guys play inside and outside. There are teams like Brisbane and GWS that posses similar midfield strength. The quality of our midfield sits in the bottom third of the competition. There is no hiding from that fact so let's hope that the likes of Bytel and Byrnes can develop quickly and really show something.

We don't have the bottle to develop such players. All we can come up with is recruiting mercenaries who play like... mercenaries.