As bad as the Saints were, and I can't see them doing too much this year, Ross Lyon is too good a coach to tolerate mediocrity. Also, he comes out of the Paul Roos camp, where pre season games are for practicing and trying things, not winning. 

Unfortunately, I think Spargo and Chandler might be fighting for the same spot. As good as Chandler was, some of Spargo's field kicking and tackling was off-the-charts brilliant. His goal assist work is vital to our attack so would still give him the nod. 

Sparrow and Harmes look to also be fighting for the same spot. At this stage, Sparrow looks the goods but Harmes can also play the lock down role, and when if he finds his best, his work rate and kicking help us arrest momentum from opposition. He often helps win those 50/50 balls around the ground.

I can't wait for JVR to debut, but seeing TMac and BBB fit and firing was great to witness. Put Fritsch in there with all three of them fully fit, our forward line looks strong, multi-faceted and dangerous. 

I reckon next week against the Tigers will clarify so much more.

Is there anything in this Steven May late hit on dan Butler? 

I swear if May misses round 1 because of his aggression & stupidity then I'll be disappointed 

26 minutes ago, old dee said:

From anyone who went yesterday how many D fans were there?

75/25 Saints to Dees. Maybe 70/30. It was a lot louder when they kicked a goal but that might have been because they didn’t really get to celebrate much so when they scored it was a big deal. 

2 minutes ago, dees189227 said:

Is there anything in this Steven May late hit on dan Butler? 

I swear if May misses round 1 because of his aggression & stupidity then I'll be disappointed 

Nothing in it mate, ear tickler that's it.

2 minutes ago, dees189227 said:

Is there anything in this Steven May late hit on dan Butler? 

I swear if May misses round 1 because of his aggression & stupidity then I'll be disappointed 

If he gets more than a fine then there are some incidents I’ve seen over the past few years that the assailant should have gone to prison. 

1 hour ago, Demonland said:

Also in regards to our forward line (which still managed 16 goals with a few gettable misses due to the swirling wind in 33 degree heat) we lost TMac to the backline after half time. 

Also missing our best goal kicker in Fritsch. 
 
In saying that, the Saints defense is hot garbage so this win means about as much as our demolition of Norf in the corresponding game last pre season. 

46 minutes ago, old dee said:

From anyone who went yesterday how many D fans were there?

My guess is about 3 to 4 thousand.

The stadium had a majority of Saints in them. The outer was a grassed area where it seemed a bit 50, 50.

Many were not wearing any colours, they seem to be supporter's from of both teams.

The attendance was pretty good, maybe touching 10 thousand.

Saints will be Saints, saw a couple of their supporters jump the fence. (It was free entry)

The RSAE field and club facilities were very good.

Edited February 24, 20232 yr by kev martin

8 minutes ago, kev martin said:

My guess is about 3 to 4 thousand.

The stadium had a majority of Saints in them. The outer was a grassed area where it seemed a bit 50, 50.

Many weren't not wearing any colours, they seem to be supporter's from of both teams.

The attendance was pretty good, maybe touching 10 thousand.

Saints will be Saints, saw a couple of there supporters jump the fence. (It was free entry)

The RSAE field and club facilities were pretty good.

According to the match report on the Saints website there were around 5000 people there. 

34 minutes ago, Dee Viney Intervention said:

 On paper our forward line is really imposing but doesn’t quite play like it. It is the missing link and if we can get to a stage where we sort out the delivery, the leading patterns ensuring our key talls  have separation and our smalls are in the right spot. If we get back to playing selfless footy there providing blocks etc then I am certain we will break our premiership drought.

 

 

Without Fritsch, and Kozzie playing further up the ground, I don't think our forward line is imposing. Our midfield dominance masks some of our deficiencies. The addition of Hunter will create even more opportunities, but I don't think our current forward structure or personnel take full advantage.

Our high half forwards in Harmes, Sparrow, ANB and Spargo aren't goal kickers. Kozzie is our only legitimate crumbing forward, although Fritsch has the smarts to get crumbing goals.  Chandler seems to have the smarts to get on the end of passes and kick goals, which is why he should be a round 1 lock, in place of 1 of the half forwards.

I don't like our ruckmen resting forward, and competing against our key forwards, when we lack crumbing forwards. And none of them are good contested marks.

We'll have no problem scoring when the ball is in open play, but when the opposition hold us up, bombing long deep into the pockets will be a problem like last year.

1 minute ago, Demonland said:

According to the match report on the Saints website there were around 5000 people there. 

There were no counters at the gates, thought more than that. But, if correct that would make Dees having about 2 thousand.

1 hour ago, Demon Dynasty said:

 

Phillipou.... WOW!.  What a lovely footballer the Aints have their hands on here it would seem.  The next Kouta but more a medium forward?  If he's this good at this age the sky's the limit.  Early days and not getting too carriex away juat yet but lip smacking stuff for mine.

 

Yup he could be very special!
 

reminds me a lot of Petracca when he played as a fwd for the first couple of seasons of his career.  Phillipou could become a powerful mid in the future too

Positives from seconds game were Ferris White will be a gun .  Can't teach height and he is up there wth Max.  His first hit out with a flip ovr the back was a beauty.  Runs well and can take a grab.  The other was Verrell - more a key position player than a ruck and seems to have footy smarts.   Give them both a couple of years to grow their bodies, but maybe earlier.

9 minutes ago, kev martin said:

There were no counters at the gates, thought more than that. But, if correct that would make Dees having about 2 thousand.

To be fair I thought there were more people there as well but I thought that perhaps the Saints would know what a certain capacity looks like. Then again who knows if the author was just guessing too. 

13 hours ago, dl4e said:

It was just a practice game so won't read to much into it but there was a problem with delivery inside the forward 50. Too many times it went to a saints player. Is there something familiar in  what I am saying.

The following is not necessarily particular to yesterday's game (but some instances pertaining did occur)

Bombing it deep when we're outnumbered deep often leads to uncontested marks to the opposition.  And when our forwards get to the contest from those long bombs we rarely take marks anyway.  As a percentage play, it doesn't work consistently enough

Far more thinking is required with our forward 50 entries.  And all our forwards need to be on the move too in order to create multiple options.  Playing in front and/or creating separation is a must

It's really not all that complicated ... lowering the eyes should be a prerequisite for our midfielders

Hate to say it but we could learn a bit by how the Pies go about it

So we get the first bit right ... a midfield that gets an abundance of the ball thus creating lots of forward 50 entries

If we want to win another flag we need to be far more efficient heading into the forward line

2 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

I'll also add that I thought Jake Bowey was superb off half back. Didn't realise he was so strong overhead and took a couple of good intercept marks.

Bit scratchy at the start but as the game wore on he got better and his ball use and drive off half back was excellent.

He's best 22 now. 3rd year now and I expect him to make big strides in his game.

Watching Riv go through the midfield is salivating.

Powerful 188cm 88kg type with speed and and a booming kick who could really change the dynamic of our midfield set up. Looks fit and ready to go.

100% bowey is in our best 22.

For one thing he is one of of only a handful if elite kicks we have. And he has footy smarts and plays that critical half back distributor role super well. Though needs someone on the other side. Would/will be salem. Suspect it will be mcvee round one (which would make for 2 young half back flankers).

His dropping last year felt like a development thing to me, perhaps to temind him AFL is not all about rocking up and winning.

2 hours ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

Not entirely sure I agree with this.  I didn't overly notice Harmes, but did see him do a few good things.

In terms of sliding down the pecking order, from the moment he stepped into the club as a final round rookie draftee, I think he's been fighting to justify his place in the side just about every season since.  He's a tenacious beast and good honest footballer in my book, but does also have some assets being his hardness, kicking is generally better than some make out and I think he has a reasonable ability to break out of a pack situation with his strength power and speed in those situations and break lines a bit.

His best asset is his ability to be at the right place, right time and execute some fantastic well weighted passes into 50 in critical match situations.  Turned the premiership in our favor with his brilliant pass to Fritta in the 3rd quarter and back in 2018, he hit up a perfect pass to Dean Kent that put the sealer on us beating West Coast and got us a finals birth for the first time in 14 years.

Selectors would be excluding him form the side at their peril IMHO.

Disagree.

He was best 22 everyday of the week from about 2018-2020.

The premiership is coming up 2 years ago.

We need to stop this whole narrative of always going back to that moment in justifying a players position in our current team. History will tell you that.

There are players that are putting pressure on spots and right now I don't know if Harmes is exactly best 22. The likes of Laurie, Howes, Woewodin, AMW, Chandler will be putting huge pressure on Harmes to perform.

I saw more exciting things from the likes of Chandler, Woewodin and AMW then I did from Harmes yesterday. 

34 minutes ago, kev martin said:

My guess is about 3 to 4 thousand.

The stadium had a majority of Saints in them. The outer was a grassed area where it seemed a bit 50, 50.

Many were not wearing any colours, they seem to be supporter's from of both teams.

The attendance was pretty good, maybe touching 10 thousand.

Saints will be Saints, saw a couple of their supporters jump the fence. (It was free entry)

The RSAE field and club facilities were very good.

Thank you KM. A lot more than I expected. Everyone seems to have good facilities except.......

2 minutes ago, Macca said:

Bombing it deep when we're outnumbered deep often leads to uncontested marks to the opposition.  And when our forwards get to the contest from those long bombs we rarely take marks anyway

Thought we started the game with some semblance of lowering our eyes and hitting up with short and drilled passes. It was looking like a great change for us. It didn't last long, and as you say we, reverted to the long bomb into them.

Hoping the game revue will show how we started, and they encourage them to keep lowering the eyes. Thus, creating the easy marks inside the 50.

The long bomb is a panic, especially if they don't get any advantage for the forwards. 

13 minutes ago, Demonland said:

To be fair I thought there were more people there as well but I thought that perhaps the Saints would know what a certain capacity looks like. Then again who knows if the author was just guessing too. 

Thanks Andy. I am struggling with the decision on whether to get Kayo via the club membership this year. Could not go yesterday due to  having a cataract removed but after studying the fixture there are quite a few games that will be tv events for me this season. May have take a subscription. 

30 minutes ago, kev martin said:

Thought we started the game with some semblance of lowering our eyes and hitting up with short and drilled passes. It was looking like a great change for us. It didn't last long, and as you say we, reverted to the long bomb into them.

Hoping the game revue will show how we started, and they encourage them to keep lowering the eyes. Thus, creating the easy marks inside the 50.

The long bomb is a panic, especially if they don't get any advantage for the forwards. 

Well I was more referencing last year as opposed to yesterday but the point remains regardless

And in 2021 the tactic often worked ... but the other teams have done their homework and also, the game and gameplans evolve

As previously stated, to the eye at least, the Pies are very efficient when they enter their forward 50

Edited February 25, 20232 yr by Macca

27 minutes ago, old dee said:

Thank you KM. A lot more than I expected. Everyone seems to have good facilities except.......

It pays not to judge or predict a crowd based on one's own enthusiasm to attend OD, and the forecast of 30odd degrees, about 4/5  which were in shade on the grandstand and western side of the ground.

The Hsun indicated 5,000 in their match report. 

4 minutes ago, 58er said:

It pays not to judge or predict a crowd based on one's own enthusiasm to attend OD, and the forecast of 30odd degrees, about 4/5  which were in shade on the grandstand and western side of the ground.

The Hsun indicated 5,000 in their match report. 

doubt it was the hun's estimate, 58. probably just parroting what a saints official guessed

44 minutes ago, binman said:

100% bowey is in our best 22.

For one thing he is one of of only a handful if elite kicks we have. And he has footy smarts and plays that critical half back distributor role super well. Though needs someone on the other side. Would/will be salem. Suspect it will be mcvee round one (which would make for 2 young half back flankers).

His dropping last year felt like a development thing to me, perhaps to temind him AFL is not all about rocking up and winning.

Well he deserved to be omitted when it occurred but it was a travesty of justice ( selection with the walking wounded) that Bowser was not returned for the Finals  vs Swans and Lions. 

Not much coverage of the game here in Delhi but I assume from the lack of comment that Brayshaw didn't play. Is he injured ?

1 hour ago, mo64 said:

Without Fritsch, and Kozzie playing further up the ground, I don't think our forward line is imposing. Our midfield dominance masks some of our deficiencies. The addition of Hunter will create even more opportunities, but I don't think our current forward structure or personnel take full advantage.

Our high half forwards in Harmes, Sparrow, ANB and Spargo aren't goal kickers. Kozzie is our only legitimate crumbing forward, although Fritsch has the smarts to get crumbing goals.  Chandler seems to have the smarts to get on the end of passes and kick goals, which is why he should be a round 1 lock, in place of 1 of the half forwards.

I don't like our ruckmen resting forward, and competing against our key forwards, when we lack crumbing forwards. And none of them are good contested marks.

We'll have no problem scoring when the ball is in open play, but when the opposition hold us up, bombing long deep into the pockets will be a problem like last year.

Maybe the coach of the forwards should be changed like the goal kick coach!!!