Post-match analysis

[meher baba]

Caminiti was disappointing, but the poor guy wouldn't have had much time to prepare. Stocker didn't add much in the second half: I think Byrnes might have been a better sub.

Steele and Ross both went ok in the midfield. Crouch was disappointing. Clark was pretty meh. Sinclair did some good stuff, but was kept comparatively quiet by the Giants. Hill showed that he knew how to play finals and Wood was pretty good.

Cordy wasn't up to it IMO. I thought Howard would have gone better.

Of our five youngsters: Owens, Phillipou, NWM, Windhager and Caminiti, only NWM had a game that he might care to remember.

Up forward, Sharman was good in the first half, but then faded out. As usual, he looked rather slow. King was good, especially after Caminiti was subbed out and was therefore no longer able to interfere with his marking efforts. Gresham didn't do enough but did do some ok things. Butler did some good things but made some bad errors too. But, apart from his goal and a couple of other helpful touches, Hiiggins was a write-off.

At the end of the day, they were faster and more skilled than us. We were much better coached, which is why we only lost by 4 goals rather than 10.

[CURLY]

Stocker should have started was excellent.

Pou not ready was poor.

Cordy poor

Higgins poor.

Coffield Billings Howard had to play.

[Teflon]

Stocker should have started was excellent.

Pou not ready was poor.

Cordy poor

Higgins poor.

Coffield Billings Howard had to play.

Coffield Billing’s Howard would’ve made no difference
Midfield midfield midfield
Crouch had 7 kicks 2 tackles
Ross - no impact 24
Played the game from our backline couldn’t win enough contested ball
Midfielders needed

[meher baba]

One further point: what exactly was the strategy with Phillipou? What was his position? Wouldn't it have been much better for a young player's development to give him a specific position to play rather than a sort of general roving role? He seemed to get totally lost today.

[CURLY]

Stocker should have started was excellent.

Pou not ready was poor.

Cordy poor

Higgins poor.

Coffield Billings Howard had to play.

Coffield Billing’s Howard would’ve made no difference
Midfield midfield midfield
Crouch had 7 kicks 2 tackles
Ross - no impact 24
Played the game from our backline couldn’t win enough contested ball
Midfielders needed

it would have helped. Billing’s immediately improves us as does Howard. Coffield big upgrade on Windhager down back.

[CURLY]

One further point: what exactly was the strategy with Phillipou? What was his position? Wouldn't it have been much better for a young player's development to give him a specific position to play rather than a sort of general roving role? He seemed to get totally lost today.

Ridiculous he played today and even worse starting in the middle at times.

[saynta]

Stocker should have started was excellent.

Pou not ready was poor.

Cordy poor

Higgins poor.

Coffield Billings Howard had to play.

Yes, I agree. Also Billings or Stoker should have been in the starting 22 with Byrnes the sub.

We really missed Members too.

Wasn't our day.

[Teflon]

Stocker should have started was excellent.

Pou not ready was poor.

Cordy poor

Higgins poor.

Coffield Billings Howard had to play.

Coffield Billing’s Howard would’ve made no difference
Midfield midfield midfield
Crouch had 7 kicks 2 tackles
Ross - no impact 24
Played the game from our backline couldn’t win enough contested ball
Midfielders needed

it would have helped. Billing’s immediately improves us as does Howard. Coffield big upgrade on Windhager down back.

Rubbish
Howard been out 4 weeks
Coffield hasn’t played all year …so bring him in for final?? Ridiculous
Billing’s can’t get a contract at other clubs if he’s your saviour we are rooted

[Teflon]

One further point: what exactly was the strategy with Phillipou? What was his position? Wouldn't it have been much better for a young player's development to give him a specific position to play rather than a sort of general roving role? He seemed to get totally lost today.

I didn’t hear you criticise prior to the match when we’ve played in mid rotation all year??
Expect a flood of “harry hindsight “ posts from you now as it’s par for course
Saints weren’t going further after today IF we won anyway
Great exposure for Pou he’ll learn

[CURLY]

Stocker should have started was excellent.

Pou not ready was poor.

Cordy poor

Higgins poor.

Coffield Billings Howard had to play.

Coffield Billing’s Howard would’ve made no difference
Midfield midfield midfield
Crouch had 7 kicks 2 tackles
Ross - no impact 24
Played the game from our backline couldn’t win enough contested ball
Midfielders needed

it would have helped. Billing’s immediately improves us as does Howard. Coffield big upgrade on Windhager down back.

Rubbish
Howard been out 4 weeks
Coffield hasn’t played all year …so bring him in for final?? Ridiculous
Billing’s can’t get a contract at other clubs if he’s your saviour we are rooted

No mention of saviour simply at this stage Billings far better option than Pou.

[Lennylegs]

One further point: what exactly was the strategy with Phillipou? What was his position? Wouldn't it have been much better for a young player's development to give him a specific position to play rather than a sort of general roving role? He seemed to get totally lost today.

I absolutely loved that Pou and all the kids played today and for most of the year. Shows Ross is more than willing to look to the future, which has always been my criticism of him.

The stuff Pou would've learnt today will probably push the kid for the rest of the year. Coaching staff would know this better than anyone. The kid wants to get better and will.

[Lennylegs]

One further point: what exactly was the strategy with Phillipou? What was his position? Wouldn't it have been much better for a young player's development to give him a specific position to play rather than a sort of general roving role? He seemed to get totally lost today.

I absolutely loved that Pou and all the kids played today and for most of the year. Shows Ross is more than willing to look to the future, which has always been my criticism of him.

The stuff Pou would've learnt today will probably push the kid for the rest of the year. Coaching staff would know this better than anyone. The kid wants to get better and will.

[Otiman]

Back from the match and don't think ill watch a replay.

Some thoughts:

Cordy a spud. His direct opponent plus 1 on 1s lost against Riccardi and others cost us goals. Their delivery was unpredictable but he lost too many contests.

Marshall worth his weight in gold. Single handedly carried us in the first half.

Windhager is a run with midfielder. Call him a tagger if you must. Had more of an impact and reduced Kelly's effectiveness in H2.

We are not built for ground ball contest, are pushed off it too easily and overrun too many ground balls.

Umpiring was average (both ways) but it hurt us early when the scores were tight.

Battle has gone to the next level and was our best defender today.

We overuse the ball trying to get overlap run and end up putting ourselves under pressure, especially in the centre of the ground.

For 60,000 sainters at the G, the crowd noise was pretty poor.

Forward structure and delivery was ultimately the difference today.

[meher baba]

One further point: what exactly was the strategy with Phillipou? What was his position? Wouldn't it have been much better for a young player's development to give him a specific position to play rather than a sort of general roving role? He seemed to get totally lost today.

I didn’t hear you criticise prior to the match when we’ve played in mid rotation all year??
Expect a flood of “harry hindsight “ posts from you now as it’s par for course
Saints weren’t going further after today IF we won anyway
Great exposure for Pou he’ll learn

Christ you are a crotchety character.

Yes, it was fine for him to play in mid rotation in home and away. But finals are a different proposition. And he looked completely lost today. That's a fact, not a question of hindsight.

[shrodes]

Was also at the game. For me:

Cordy poor
Crouch poor
Sinclair average, well below his best
Marshall excellent
Hill very good and was in everything, experienced finals performance
Sharman very good, need to keep getting games into him. Brings others into the game.

Other kids were largely down on their usual output which is somewhat expected due to the spectacle so I won’t ding them too much - Mitch, Pou, Caminiti

Our forward entry is still the worst in the comp, but the unsettled structure this year probably hasn’t helped a whole lot.

[Otiman]

Didn't mention NWM, all class for his game.

[cwrcyn]

We were beaten with quick movement from stoppages and precise field kicking by GWS. Once they got a break of a couple of metres they were off. Our slow mids couldn't run them down. That gave them time and space to deliver to their forwards. A lot of little things went their way where seeming innocuous situations suddenly turned into a goal, like the Brad Crouch out on the full in the first

We fumbled a lot in the first half and our young forwards got in each other's way. Compounding that was our delivery inside 50. Predominantly, that was because the GWS players had the leg speed to chase down our ball carriers.

We had a young forward half. One of the youngest you'll see in a final. That was a factor.

Marshall, Steele, and Hill were huge, but no other player had significant influence. When we broke even or won clearances we kicked some goals and had GWS under pressure. Just not enough goals. However, the GWS midfield had periods
where they totally dominated us and they piled on goals.

I've been saying it since preseason. We need two quick classy midfielders and a tall gorilla fullback

If we'd had those today we could have knocked off GWS

[cwrcyn]

Overall cohesion and ball movement are dependent on midfield class and speed. That confidence of knowing your team mate will be first to the ball is critical. That was a huge advantage for GWS. Players up the field ram to positions knowing that they'd be hit on the chest. No second guessing. Just confidence that they could control ball movement.

When you have a slow midfield with B grade disposal, you don't have that confidence because you have to hedge your bets. It's like a Domino effect

[cwrcyn]

Our young players will be better for the experience. They'll work their arses off and improve again.

Phillipou has been playing like an 18 year old in recent weeks. He's looked fatigued. I don't know what his best position is yet. It'll take acouple more seasons for him to get the tank he needs. I really think this is a factor at the moment. And body strength,of course

Caminiti needs time in the gym. At 83kg, playing on guys 22 to 18kg heavier is a tough gig in your first season. Mentally, he probably wasn't ready to take the field today

Stocker is still young and I thought he wasver good today. He's seriously tough and a beautiful field kick. RL needs to keep playing him.

Owens has been amazing this season, but today was tough. He'll be a nightmare for opposition coach in the years to come

Wanganeen-Milera is a star. Played well again today

King needs to get fitter and stronger. He'll never be a pack splitter. It must have been mentally difficult to play this that dodgy shoulder. He was both good and bad today

Sharman lookslacinic,but can play. Was good today. Needs to work in his endurance

Windhager will be better next year. Unsighted in the first half,I thought he gave us something after that.

[Otiman]

Many small things went against us.

Take a goal for Membrey's out, a goal for selecting Cordy over Howard, a goal for playing MCG not marvel, and a goal for poor umpiring decisions - then it's an even match.

[Yorkeys]

GWS should be in the top 4.
It is better than Carlton, better than Port, probably better than Melbourne.
We are too small.
We have a great base to build on.
The exploration has shown up half a dozen that don't have the right stuff and more than that who are just terrific. If we hadn't had a final some on the list might be given a benefit of the doubt they don't deserve. Rowan and JB were marvellous. NWM and Brad Hill, fantastic.

[mickey]

Cwrcyn summary was spot on. Pressure in finals exposed a few today. I've always rated Sharman and Stocker, not sure what the coaches don't see. First final for the coaches gives them an opportunity to see who stands up when it counts, youngsters are excused but experienced players have to go in the blackbook.

Our defenders were rated number 1 this year, mid to forward has been horrendous. Time for Ross and the team to fix it, the year of exploration is over.

[SaintPav]

What are they going to do with the 3-4 players that couldn’t cut the mustard today and probably never will.

We know who they are..

[axcellence]

All I got was that GWS, GC etc have too many good players.
The big clubs have facilities and attract all big FAs.
North have the wooden spoon/ pick 1 market all covered.

Saints have the middle path available only to be a step ladder for the other clubs. I’ll just continue to enjoy the games which Saints might win in the future without any expectations of a second cup. I’m ok with that…. It’s just a game.

[samoht]

I deleted the wrong post ... this was a repeat post.