bigcarl wrote:from another thread, but equally applicable here.
i thought we were on the right track against fremantle. goddard presenting as a forward for a considerable period of the match. taking riewoldt's place. quality for quality. maintaining the structure that worked so well most of last year.Since losing skipper Nick Riewoldt to a hamstring injury, the Saints are averaging only 5.8 marks a game inside the forward 50m.
That is 16th in the AFL - and just below the winless Tigers.
In the same four-match period, Geelong averages 20 inside-50 marks a game. Collingwood is tracking at 16.
You won't win many games if you're not marking it inside the arc. It's a footy basic.
With Riewoldt's input in the first three rounds, St Kilda was turning 33.8 per cent of all forward-50 entries into goals - No. 1 in the AFL.
Without Riewoldt, St Kilda has converted forward entries only 21.1 per cent of the time - No. 16 in the AFL.
A team of St Kilda's quality may be able to conjure and scrounge enough snap goals to get over the line against some opponents, but winning regularly is unsustainable if you can't take more than six marks a match within scoring range.
but we seem to have discarded it.
KOSI INSIDE THE ARC ISN'T WORKING, so i reckon at the very least it is goddard to ff and kosi to chf.
goddard is one of those players who is very difficult to beat one out. he can get you in the air and on the ground. plus he has a natural goal sense. so give him some space and get him one out.
i'd go further and put kosi in the ruck, using gilbert or blake at chf. i expect ross to stick with him at ff, but for how long i do not know. that's his call, he's the coach.
kosi tried his guts out last week, but i agree with sRr that he isn't good enough as a forward to be the No. 1 target. however he provides more than king and gardiner around the ground as a ruckman.
the other question i would ask of you is can we afford NOT to replace someone of the calibre of riewoldt with someone who is also elite in goddard
This last part I tend to agree with, and I also think Goddard will relish the role....
Look how fired up he was against Freo, and let's be honest, I think we need some of that spark out there rather than ability
