Wiseblood

Good pressure from Mitch Brown there.

Ha ha, all our nightmares coming true in the first three minutes!

No idea mate. They were discussing how those two stats make for an interesting battle in that area of the ground tonight. They didn't discuss it much outside of that.

No. They only showed the Top 5 across the season. They highlighted this stat as the Saints are #1 for scoring from forward turnovers, but we are #2 in the comp at not conceding from turnovers in our back half.

They just showed some forward pressure stats on Fox Footy. Butler and Lonie for the Saints are #1 and #2. We need to pay plenty of attention to that. For the record, Pickett is rated #4 for forward pressure in the comp.

That's a tough gift to receive. Imagine wanting to crack open a few beers to drown your sorrows after a loss, and hearing our theme song while you do it? I'd vomit on the spot.

That worries me slightly, titan. You always strike me as someone who can find the positives in there somewhere, no matter how bad we're tracking!

That's interesting - if I was a Saints fan I would be feeling pretty confident about this game. They normally have us covered quite well and there is no indication that the outcome should be any different tonight. Our mids are probably slightly better than theirs overall, however, it will be how we use it that will tell us all we need to know. If we're blasting away and they mop it up easily off half back then we're in for a long night.

Found myself nodding along to this post. I bloody hate the Saints. The article Riewoldt wrote today smacks of arrogance as well. Talking up his mob while in the same breath describing Langdon's season as just 'okay'. Muppet. Also: This seems like something our old mate 'Petraccattack' would say before a game.

I think every supporter is well within their right to feel slightly ill about this game. The Saints play a similar brand to the Dogs with their run and carry, and if last week is anything to go by, then we could be in for a similar fate. The Cats, who are a better side than us it has to be said, showed how it can be done - they don't possess a lightning fast side by any means, yet they stuck to their task and wore the Dogs down with some good, hard, disciplined footy. We have the capacity to do this, but I wonder if we have the discipline to stick to our guns for long enough to get ourselves a win. Battle will be won, as it often is, in the middle. If we can win our fair share of clearances and up the pressure then we can beat them. We play the ground at Alice quite well so that is something in our favour. Also, I hate the Saints and I hate that they have the wood over us a little. I'd love to knock them off tonight!

Riewoldt says the Saints have got it right since 2014, while we haven't. I recall us playing and winning more finals than them since 2014 but yeah, don't take those St. Kilda goggles off Nick. And yes, I am well aware they might play finals this year, but we can still play finals as well. He also really only highlights the previous off season for St Kilda. Outside of Hannebery he doesn't talk about anyone else. So yes, Nick, if you had of said that since 2019 the Saints have got it right compared to us, then I'd be inclined to agree. But since 2014? That's a longer bow to draw.

Is that you, Ethan?

If anything, that first term shows how good Steven May is. Naughton has looked sensational in that first term, and he didn't get a sniff last week.

Perhaps, but who takes him? He would be on half decent coin, so if it freed up room then I'd be happy to shift him for something like a third round pick.

And Hogans Heroes and Yze Magic and so on.

That's the least of his worries.

Interesting take on Jay's name, LH. German?

Fritta was dropped for not turning up to training on time.

That's the one that annoys me the most. The others I can some value in, especially with Oscar as the Saints like to go quite tall down forward, but Lockhart has been consistently good for the last month. It's a very strange decision to say the least.

Might be his last chance, bin. Saints play a tall forward line - they have named Battle, King, Membrey and Marshall there, with Ryder in the ruck, so I can understand his selection and our need for a little more height down there. But with him OOC at the end of the year, he might get a few games here to show us why he deserves another contract.

With the above - happy with the changes overall, although I reckon Lockhart is a little stiff. Thought he had been pretty good. I like the Brown inclusion as is smart enough to just play his role, and can do so up the ground away from Weideman. Bit mystified by the Josh Wagner inclusion, and same with Oscar, although Oscar coming in might mean we push Tomlinson back to a wing. Rivers has speed. Looks like we went with some experience, though. Jones, Gawn and Brown bring plenty to the table in that regard.

Six changes In: Brown, Gawn, Jones, J. Wagner, Oscar McDonald, Rivers Out: Fritsch, Lockhart, Tom Mac, Preuss, Sparrow, Harmes

The only thing that will hurt us is that Preuss really doesn't seem to have any idea how to play forward. Tom at least knew what he was doing, and he has the ability to get up the ground and get out of Weideman's way. Preuss doesn't have the athleticism to do this, and I can see him staying too close to goal and having a negative impact on Weid and his contribution to the game, or we ask Weideman to push up the ground more, which would be a mistake.

So, at the moment, we have Sparrow, McDonald, Harmes and Fritsch all out. Does this mean Preuss keeps his spot? Not sure how I feel about playing him and Gawn in the same side. Not convinced it will work.