Practice Match Carlton v St.Kilda - Ikon Park, Thursday 24th February, 10:00AM

[shanegrambeau]

Is Ross one sided?

I saw him take a mark on the outer wing. Momentum was rolling forward and the trajectory of the ball and his inertia was going toward the forward flank boundary, obviously good for a right footer.

He stopped, and then commenced a 270 degree arc- a slow one- as he gauged what to do next.
I wanted to say hurry up and keep running because we lost momentum. He ended up kicking to a contest and turnover inside our fwd 50. Sen Kent do the same.

Is this normal? Perhaps he wanted to give himself and the forwards time?

I am beginning to think the overall impression of our performance in the game tilts slightly in the disappointing direction.

[Ghost Like]

Is Ross one sided?

I saw him take a mark on the outer wing. Momentum was rolling forward and the trajectory of the ball and his inertia was going toward the forward flank boundary, obviously good for a right footer.

He stopped, and then commenced a 270 degree arc- a slow one- as he gauged what to do next.
I wanted to say hurry up and keep running because we lost momentum. He ended up kicking to a contest and turnover inside our fwd 50. Sen Kent do the same.

Is this normal? Perhaps he wanted to give himself and the forwards time?

I am beginning to think the overall impression of our performance in the game tilts slightly in the disappointing direction.

Very much so. What you observed there is my biggest knock on him. I suspect or would expect a player of his calibre, being a two time B&F etc, to take on more than he does. It annoys me when he calls for the ball, then stops, looks back to where he got the ball from - his plan appears to be get a possession not what to do with that possession.

As B.M. quite rightly pointed out, he was our best midfielder in a game our midfield did not turn up so kudos to him for turning up but in truth, all our mids were beaten and should be embarrassed.

No excuses for Jones, Crouch and Ross, they have all been in the game long enough and get paid enough to not put in performances like Thursday, even in a practice match. The examples set are extremely poor.

[saynta]

We actually kicked poorly for the whole game. 4 goals 11 from the start of the second quarter until Higgins goaled in the last. Jones didn't play the second half , nor did Webster and maybe Billings. Replaced by Long, Hayes and Lienert.

Three of the scumbags first quarter goals were from free kicks , plus one in the last. One of the frees to SOS was a real shocker that even the blues cheer squad members doing the commentary couldn't believe. Oh well get used to it,nothing is going to change. Same old, same old.

Until that little slimy dwarf Razor Ray left the ground for awhile after half time the frees were massively in the Blues favour. The maggots evened up after half time, fortunately, so in the end it panned out and they didn't look to bad.

All in all , a good hit out for the boys, some of whom hadn't played much footy these past 12 months, despite what the haters say about some of the on ballers.

[Jacks Back]

LMFAO

[Sainter_Dad]

LMFAO

LOL - it used to be Saints fans that would celebrate like that - glad we have moved on /s

Bring on the season proper

[B.M]

Of course it’s a higher standard

[The Fireman]

If we get thumped by the druggies, Practice game or not should we be worried

[DJ Higgins]

I watched the first half of the practise game and we have some serious concerns. Yes some guys were rusty and errors occurred which is expected but what really stood out was the lack of game plan and the skills were poor.

The long bomb into fifty is the last option not the first but from what I saw it was our only option most the day, the midfield didn’t seem to know where to stand, run to , Shepard etc. it wasn’t good. Not having Marshall or Ryder aside it wasn’t good enough.

Finally the skills were poor. Yes error are expected but so many and most under little pressure.

Bottom line is we need a huge lift against the bombers or it’s another long season ahead

[bangaulegend]

I watched the first half of the practise game and we have some serious concerns. Yes some guys were rusty and errors occurred which is expected but what really stood out was the lack of game plan and the skills were poor.

The long bomb into fifty is the last option not the first but from what I saw it was our only option most the day, the midfield didn’t seem to know where to stand, run to , Shepard etc. it wasn’t good. Not having Marshall or Ryder aside it wasn’t good enough p

Finally the skills were poor. Yes error are expected but so many and most under little pressure.

Bottom line is we need a huge lift against the bombers or it’s another long season ahead

Yeah mate I have to agree even though it was only a practise match & it's early day's but from what I saw on the replay made me think we have along way to go to be a serious contender. I'm not saying it's all doom & gloom but it was a disappointing start IMO

[Ghost Like]

Anyone's thoughts on Wood being used on the wing?

Good / Bad?

Is it a belief our backline is too short?

Or are we mimicking a trend for taller mids / wingers?

[skeptic]

It’s interesting… don’t know why I think this, but I reckon it’s a bit of a mistake not playing more of the draftees in that game.

The younger players generally tend to have a lot more to prove and have more of a tendency to take games like this on.

More established stars like Steele are a little more prone to coast until the real stuff starts. By all accounts, Steele the guy who played 2-3 games of less then excellent standard over the last 2 years was beaten in a practice game v Carlton… I don’t think so.

The only concern I would take from this this was the binning the ball forward as that has been a long term prob.

Anything else you can’t take at face value.

[saint6709]

I just want to know how Carlton can keep bringing in big dollar recruits each year ? Saad , Williams,Cerra maybe a few lesser likes on top of that - plus with their previous run of poor seasons they are stacked with top 10 draft picks who must demand some kind of decent $$

How does it add up ?

[skeptic]

Anyone's thoughts on Wood being used on the wing?

Good / Bad?

Is it a belief our backline is too short?

Or are we mimicking a trend for taller mids / wingers?

TBH, the growing trend seems to be that that may actually be his best spot. Was looking pretty decent up the ground last season in the last game or 2 before he went down.

I’m keen to get more of a look at that.

[saynta]

I just want to know how Carlton can keep bringing in big dollar recruits each year ? Saad , Williams,Cerra maybe a few lesser likes on top of that - plus with their previous run of poor seasons they are stacked with top 10 draft picks who must demand some kind of decent $$

How does it add up ?

I think the Pratt family has a good supply of brown paper bags.

[Sanctorum]

Anyone's thoughts on Wood being used on the wing?

Good / Bad?

Is it a belief our backline is too short?

Or are we mimicking a trend for taller mids / wingers?

Without Howard and Highmore who would both be in best 22 I thought the defence stood up reasonably well against Carlton, Battle was good as was Webster and Membrey took some strong marks to repel the Blues. I feel St Kilda's defence will be up to scratch this year, it's the midfield and forward line that needs attention because that was a glaring weakness in that game.

Quite like the idea of Wood on a wing but wonder if he is considered best 22, but based on Thursday's game he certainly deserves to play against the Bombers next outing.

One of my mates thinks Marshall should be stationed at CHF, effectively making him and King the Twin Towers up forward, question is, would you have Ryder and Campbell as rucks to do that? One advantage of that scenario is that it would free up Skunk to play as a follower across all lines because he is a terrific mark and rarely has a bad disposal.

Taking this a step further it suggests the following lineup:

B: Highmore - Howard - Wilkie
HB: Webster - Battle - Sinclair
C: Wood - Crouch - Hill
HF: Sharman - Marshall - Gresham
F: Butler - King - Higgins
Foll: Ryder - Steele - Jones
I/C: Membrey - Byrnes - Hannebery - Campbell

Notable omissions: Billngs, Clark, Paton, Bytel, Ross - based on current form neither Billings nor Clark deserve selection, Ross is on the way down and Paton could do with a stint in the reserves to get back to full match fitness.

There is an alternative if you don't like Campbell and that is to select Jack Hayes instead.

I'm not saying this is my favoured lineup yet, and we'll know more after the pre-season game next week, but it's without doubt a formidable team.....

Irrespective of who is selected in the team for Rd 1, the big question mark is the game plan because unless they combine well, pinpoint their passes, man up, back each other and play the loose man, they're not going to win. It's all about quick and precise ball movement combined with fearless tackling to block the opposition's path to goal!

[spert]

I watched the first half of the practise game and we have some serious concerns. Yes some guys were rusty and errors occurred which is expected but what really stood out was the lack of game plan and the skills were poor.

The long bomb into fifty is the last option not the first but from what I saw it was our only option most the day, the midfield didn’t seem to know where to stand, run to , Shepard etc. it wasn’t good. Not having Marshall or Ryder aside it wasn’t good enough p

Finally the skills were poor. Yes error are expected but so many and most under little pressure.

Bottom line is we need a huge lift against the bombers or it’s another long season ahead

Agree- there seemed to be no real structure anywhere, and as per last season in many games, our midfield defensive game was ordinary, putting too much pressure on the backline. The tackling was pretty bad too- the Carlton guys had no problems getting arms free to handball. Although it's a practice game, you still need to put your best foot forward.

[saints65]

Given we lost almost every ruck encounter and the free kick count was way against us, the result was not too bad.

[shanegrambeau]

I watched the first half of the practise game and we have some serious concerns. Yes some guys were rusty and errors occurred which is expected but what really stood out was the lack of game plan and the skills were poor.

The long bomb into fifty is the last option not the first but from what I saw it was our only option most the day, the midfield didn’t seem to know where to stand, run to , Shepard etc. it wasn’t good. Not having Marshall or Ryder aside it wasn’t good enough p

Finally the skills were poor. Yes error are expected but so many and most under little pressure.

Bottom line is we need a huge lift against the bombers or it’s another long season ahead

Agree- there seemed to be no real structure anywhere, and as per last season in many games, our midfield defensive game was ordinary, putting too much pressure on the backline. The tackling was pretty bad too- the Carlton guys had no problems getting arms free to handball. Although it's a practice game, you still need to put your best foot forward.

I am going with my radical silliness plan..cos the main one seems very vanilla.

Paton Howard Sinclair
Highmore Marshall Hill
Billings Steele Gresham
Higgins Sharman Membrey
Wood King Butler

Ryder Crouch Jones

Battle, Webster, Byrnes, Ross

Sharman and Wood both forward high risk…(Battle as back up forward but McKenzie also a possibility)
Marshall CHB…(genius move no1)
Gresham on a wing…(genius move no2)
If Marshall needed at Centre bounce, rotate wisely.

[The Fireman]

I watched the first half of the practise game and we have some serious concerns. Yes some guys were rusty and errors occurred which is expected but what really stood out was the lack of game plan and the skills were poor.

The long bomb into fifty is the last option not the first but from what I saw it was our only option most the day, the midfield didn’t seem to know where to stand, run to , Shepard etc. it wasn’t good. Not having Marshall or Ryder aside it wasn’t good enough p

Finally the skills were poor. Yes error are expected but so many and most under little pressure.

Bottom line is we need a huge lift against the bombers or it’s another long season ahead

Agree with all of that especially the highlighted