Ok. I've been waiting. Waiting. A pre-season has gone by. It's now Round 5. Still no Rodger! (Sigh.) So,
Pleasing:
Quite a few blokes will have, if not silenced their knockers, caused them to holster their guns for a while..........
Mav.
Long. (Can't go wrong on a footy field with Rioli genes. And adding Long genes can't hurt.)
White.
Sinclair.
Brown. (Still don't get his critics! That final enemy attack – Brown put in the big fist to the boundary. No other outcome was ever going to happen. That’s called a defender who inspires confidence in the job he does. )
Hickey (Once again, a ruckman who contributes around the ground makes such a difference).
Paddy. (That’s now 5 games in a row - which may be a significant number to some over in Western Australia? But also, and despite a head high hit with no bloody free, that’s now 5 games in a row with no concussion. And in each game Paddy, is getting a little bit better. Kicked 3 for the first time. A bag of 5 isn’t far away!)
Desert Saint’s pupil - Cool Hand Luke!!!
We played well without Robbo’.
We played well without Members or Sav having their usual impact.
And what an amazing huge bloody great difference it makes
- Actually having blokes in the forward fifty.
- And actually looking for targets in the forward fifty, instead of just universally bombing it in.
We had it in our fifty 67 to 47 times! Should have won comfortably!
Yes, there were still a lot of very very poor kicks, but at least there was also an obvious effort to look for the best option, c/f bombing. Interestingly/tellingly, we fell back into 'the bomb' in our worst quarter, the third......... But intel indicates, what was most missing was that bit of polish to finish things off. We had 'em on toast at least half a dozen times, only to let them get hold of it, and rebound. But be in no doubt that, that missing polish will come as blokes get more experience, size and hence, confidence.
The crowd = PASSION!!!
kosifantutti wrote:The 14,900 Saints fans were making a lot of noise in the last quarter.
Not So Pleasing:
We had it in our fifty 67 to 47 times! Should have won comfortably!
Billings - J, you could be worse, but you could (and should) be better.
Gresh - J, you should be better! Don't throw out the party tricks Gresh. But, don't forget the basics either! (Hint. All of us recall a beloved former Saint, who when he embraced this one principle, then went on to become the greatest forward pocket of this century, and arguably one of the greatest ever. )
Certain Saints-listed Sandy players who shall remain nameless, missed an opportunity to press hard for selection.
However, that wasn’t the case with a certain Saints-listed Franga’s player.
The crowd - size. A crowd of 14956. How much is that going to cost our club? A report has been received from Saynta out in the field, stating that we do in fact have a ‘guarantee’. At the time of writing this Flux Report, details, and even confirmation of, this ‘guarantee’ haven’t been received. So it’s a collective holding of the breath on that one for the moment.
saynta wrote:Fans who didn't go missed a great match.
Not Bloody Well Pleasing At All!!!:
WE WERE BLOODY WELL ROBBED BLIND!!!
Initial thoughts were that Davis infringed in 'that' marking contest against Jake. And that was from the same side as the main broadcast cameras. Couldn't believe it wasn't either paid a mark or a free!!! They pay them all the time.
But then further analysis when the angle from front-on was shown....... Davis' left arm going whack over Jake's neck and jaw! It was that left arm impact that caused him to 'drop' the footy!
About 30 seconds in is the initial view that the main camera showed.
About 55 seconds in is the more front-on view.....
http://www.afl.com.au/match-centre/2018/5/stk-v-gws#
Opposition Player(s) to Bag:
Normally this would have been an (almost) no brainer, a choice between three ‘outstanding’ candidates.
-It took till half way through the third quarter to determine that Jonathon Apple was actually playing. This was confirmed by a Giant’s lackey in the stands yelling out when the ball went into their forward 50 “Don’t kick it near bloody Paton!” (Is Paton the new Tom Boyd?)
-However, it took till reading the stat’s sheets post-game to realise that Toby Greene and Heath Shaw were out there!
But, whilst this week’s Opposition Player to Bag is indeed a three way tie, the aforementioned very ‘worthy efforts’, were in vane. This week’s winners are the Giant’s not on the ball trio of Bloody Harris, Bloody McInerney & Bloody Wallace!!! &
Looking Ahead - Tactics for Jeffed’s skid-marked poker machine parasites:
-Continue with our radical new plan of having a forward line for blokes to kick to.
-Don't drop Hunter Clarke! He needs some continuity, and he (tellingly) came good in that final quarter when the game was at it's hottest.
-Seb to do his 3 Brownlow votes Dangerfield-style soft tag on Mitchell. (If Mitchell plays.)
Stand Mitchell at the ball ups, then run off him. Mitchell doesn’t tend to get into dangerous positions around the ground anyway, but he has yet to be sighted actually being accountable for his man.
-Bloody well man up on ‘em and apply fierce pressure so they can’t play their soft little short passing game! That side is a shadow of what it was, and has plenty of blokes who don’t like actually having to try and win their own footy.
-Laugh at what they gave up to get Jaegar O’Meara and his one knee, and 16 possessions at 56.3 efficiency.
Looking Ahead - INs/ OUTs:
Webster/ Newnes (concussion).
Saint Paul (welcome)/ ‘Mr Huggins’ ('retired by the club').
Some new construction built in that classic ‘housing commission’ architectural style/ The Huggins Stand (vale).
Actually having a forward line/ That ‘game plan’.
and,
Blue skies / ‘That’ thread about us losing to the Giants by 450+ points.
Jigging Dave / All those other ‘Chicken Little’ threads.
Take it away Sara and band... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ga7iVEVyTA
Emergencies:
Armo’.
Battle.
The Marshall.
One more bloke, probably the Bruce, but anyone really, just not Billy.
Unlucky:
The emergencies.
Jake Carlisle.
‘Mr Huggins’ (vale).
Thoughts, Rodger?
Thoughts, Saintsationalists?