From exciting to boring

[Goose is king]

How have we gone from playing such attractive and attacking football last year to rubbish this year.
We were genuinely a good side to watch last year even for the those how don't support the saints and now even I get a. It bored watching us play

[Con Gorozidis]

How have we gone from playing such attractive and attacking football last year to rubbish this year.
We were genuinely a good side to watch last year even for the those how don't support the saints and now even I get a. It bored watching us play

Yep. We over possess it down back and we play very wide. An absolute snooze fest. 100 disposals in a circle in the back half. Then kick wide to the boundary along the line and look for a stoppage. Which we then usually lose and watch the ball kicked straight back over the heads of the same blokes who just racked up the 100 disposals.

[Enrico_Misso]

Given our field kicking is so unreliable we might as well just move it quickly into an open forward line.
All this short passing sideways and backwards means that eventually someone will stuff up or when we are eventually forced to kick inside 50 it is a long bomb to a packed zone.

As Tommy Hafey used to say "Too much finessin'"!

[carn_sainter]

The short-kick possession game plan isn't the problem per se. That would work if players further afield were in position (forward of the ball) and working really hard to make space and open up gaps in the defensive structure. We don't do that, so our short kick play is easy to defend.

We do move the ball slow but again, that's because of a lack of options forward of the ball. It also has to do with poor set-up around the contest, which is why we have so many ineffective handballs. If we were better set-up and giving the ball to a releasing kicker outside the contest, we'd be faster.

When we lose the centre clearance and therefore have to win the ball back deep from defence, we're very slow. Notice that we're also pretty horrible at bringing the ball in from a kick-in.

[saintspremiers]

The short-kick possession game plan isn't the problem per se. That would work if players further afield were in position (forward of the ball) and working really hard to make space and open up gaps in the defensive structure. We don't do that, so our short kick play is easy to defend.

We do move the ball slow but again, that's because of a lack of options forward of the ball. It also has to do with poor set-up around the contest, which is why we have so many ineffective handballs. If we were better set-up and giving the ball to a releasing kicker outside the contest, we'd be faster.

When we lose the centre clearance and therefore have to win the ball back deep from defence, we're very slow. Notice that we're also pretty horrible at bringing the ball in from a kick-in.

It's all about run and gun. Opposition teams hold their ground and stop our run and we shyte ourselves.

[White Winmar]

How have we gone from playing such attractive and attacking football last year to rubbish this year.
We were genuinely a good side to watch last year even for the those how don't support the saints and now even I get a. It bored watching us play

I'm puzzled by this as well, apart from the obvious explanation that the other teams have worked us out. We caught a few by surprise last year, a luxury we no longer have. The most troubling aspect is, that like last year, we can't seem to stem the bleeding once the opposition gets on top. We copped some fearful hidings last year and our average losing margin this year is still 42 points. It's as though we're going to stick to our style until it succeeds consistently, or it busts completely. At the moment, the "bust completely" scenario has its nose in front.

[carn_sainter]

How have we gone from playing such attractive and attacking football last year to rubbish this year.
We were genuinely a good side to watch last year even for the those how don't support the saints and now even I get a. It bored watching us play

I'm puzzled by this as well, apart from the obvious explanation that the other teams have worked us out. We caught a few by surprise last year, a luxury we no longer have. The most troubling aspect is, that like last year, we can't seem to stem the bleeding once the opposition gets on top. We copped some fearful hidings last year and our average losing margin this year is still 42 points. It's as though we're going to stick to our style until it succeeds consistently, or it busts completely. At the moment, the "bust completely" scenario has its nose in front.

Richo says in public that we're fine when we play our way. He's always bullish about this and that. I think he has a very selective assessment of data in that he sticks to his plan because it beat GWS and thrashed Richmond. I think he remembers the good more than the bad, or at least tells himself so. Maybe this is why we keep flogging a dead horse. He really thinks it's a matter of executing the plan properly rather than the plan's robustness.

So, I'm with you in that the bust scenario has its nose in front at the moment. The fact that we have not really done any changes throughout the season supports that. Opposition teams must spend less time on us than they do on anyone else. Sydney in particular...Longmire probably had the week off.

[WellardSaint]

the team seems to have a blind faith in their system,
so that when they get in front, they think it's working and will run hard and do all the right things.
When we get behind, they revert into their shells and realise it's futile.
How many times have oppo sides run forward in big numbers with no Saints within cooee?

You see 8 of their guys in front of the ball.
No chasing, not pressure.
Monty on Sinclair in the square was one funny one- a huge height difference.

[Sainternist]

As Tommy Hafey used to say "Too much finessin'"!

I loved how Tommy used to say "It's just dumb, dumb football!"