kev martin

If we can't get the ball, we can't work our system out. Long bombs into the forward line, or leads into the boundary. We still can't play when under pressure. They killed us with their pressure. They slipped too many tackles. Did not try and control the tempo. All straight line and red mist. Why can't we stop their ball movers. If English and Bruce learn to kick goals they will give it a shake. Disappointed, no confidence created to buy in. Panic, fumbles, very little 1 percenters, handball to pressure, turnovers from kicks. Too many passengers. Without May, Fritta, ANB, Langdon, Gawn and Lever, we would be completely lost.

Thought there was not much love out there for or from any of the players.

Thought when he got the ball he could find space. As soon as he lifted his eyes he was pressured. A couple of turnovers and early shots on goal were bad.

I'm not sure "ego" is the right word. Selflessness makes more sense. I want them to have big egos, to strut and display their "feathers", they are elite players of Aussie rules. Be proud of their skills. Don't take a back step and play without second guessing or anxiety. Pump them up Goody.

The practice match of the WA derby was devastating. Too much pride on the line, silver tails versus the workers. They took it a bit seriously, playing above the 90% effort. West Coast wanting to show some dominance after the first practice match and Freo trying to chase down the score. Probably no more practice matches between them in the future. Adelaide and Port too big a difference in level, GWS and Sydney don't have the same dislike. Suns and Brissy, probably not the same mentality. Hope we are smart against the dogs. No repeat of son of Smith. Just a test for our systems and to get some anaerobic effort into them.

Baker does have some pretty good evasive skills. His speed can also bring some pressure to the oppositions halfbacks. I don’t think it is such a bad thing to try. T. Mac is made for the wing with his endurance. Hope his field kicking has improved. Petty is the obvious back up for CHF. It will be interesting to see were they start and finish. Why would Goody be playing mind games with the dogs or the spectators?

Add Lauren Pearce to one of our most important player. She is determined. Zanker has the yips infront of goal. A few on the board, will add confidence and fix her up. We need Cummins taking marks. At times this year we have played a stylish game, with reasonable efficiency. The first game of the season was an example. We have just gone a bit downhill with use of the ball since then. Hoping they can create elite efficiency, and finish the home and away well.

We are playing top teams. Wins against them, may open up the ladder for us, give us confidence going into finals (hope we make it) and improve our standard of play. Adelaide at Casey, Freo in WA and Brisbane at Casey.

Lily Mithen is an almost star. She is quick, her disposal are thoughtful. Why does she seem to run into the opposition? I'd like to see her move into space and not congestion when she wins the ball. She goes a bit straight line. Needs some lateral and backward movement or some tricks and baulks, shimmy's, tight turns. I wish she hated getting tackled and becomes untouchable. Needs also to push off, or off step her opponent. They regularly seem to be right on her tail. Love that she gets to the ball first and is tough.

Final quarter 9. 12. 66 To 3. 4. 22 Start of the quarter was played in our forward half, the last 10 minutes the saints got a run on. We started to miss some easy goals. Zanker, L Pearce, Hore, Daisy, Hanks, Mcnamara, Colvin, Lampard, Heath, Sherriff, Parry, Scott, played well. Tarrant did enough. Mcgee, better than first game though faded and her kicking style needs work. A good win.

3rd quarter, the lights are on. 7. 6. 48 To 1. 3. 9 What a difference scoring goals, makes. Playing with confidence and controlling the game. The midfielders are working well as a pack. Running, tackling, using the ball. Much better efficiency than last week

Second quarter: 4. 3. 27 To 1. 3. 9 Saints bit more in it this quarter. A few errors and poor decisions let them hold the ball in there half. Kicked a goal against the run of play, which helped. Backline held up with Colvin, Birch and Heath. We moved the ball well by hand a couple of times, going end to end. We're attempting to use possession football with some 20 meter kicks. Sometimes resulting in turnovers. Saints were kicking long. They won a few more clearances that quarter. Zanker and Hanks doing well, as is Lauren Pearce

Good start by the women. Great that Daisy Pearce is playing in the forward line. Not converting enough given our domination of inside 50's. St. Kilda has no inside 50's First quarter 2. 2. 14 to 0. 0. 0 Playing well: Zanker, Gay, Pearce, Mcnamara, Hanks

Would like to see us hammer some of the bottom teams by 15 or about goals. It would show we are working towards being ruthless. In the past, a 4 goal lead by Melbourne was not a guarantee for a win. They can sometimes give the opposition a look in. Hoping that changes and we have no more fade outs or switch offs.

Love your analysis Dee.

You are right about our reactions to turnovers. They are going to happen. If we can limit the scoreboard pain when it happens. Good teams can do it. Gut running, pressure, picking up your man, slow the ball down, get it back. The ball does come out of our forward line a bit easy sometimes. Do need more goals from stoppages in the 50. Elite ruck, rove combination can only help. Max is a force we should use in there. Scoring is more important than getting re-entries.

Don't we need them. Hoping to go deep into the finals this season, become successful and getting them satisfaction. Only way way to guarantee their signatures, as salary caps and us buying others may restrict us paying their full price.

Really takes the pressure off.

I want some mongrel in our team. Other teams and their supporters see us as easy. Its great when we are up and running. The opposition supporters get agitated. They get nasty as do their players. The opposition will try and rough us up. We should start giving it back. We've had too many years of "taking it". Time to get some pride and believe. Unpredictability, together with good skill execution is hard to defend against. Coast to coast creates confidence and hurts the opposition. As does breaking the lines.

Without the runner to pass on coaches messages, it really is up to the on-field leaders to straighten the ship. They need to assess the situation, have a plan, communicate and lead by example. Not so easy, but they have to try something and not just let the opposition roll over us. The plan would have to include tempo control. Push our lines deeper or more shallow. Set a tagger on a hot player. Support, encourage and instruct team-mates. Get the ball. Score goals. Some individual brilliance would also work. Post game accountability is good but they should act as soon as the rots starts.

I agree, we need to be able to hit up leads, kick to advantage and change up the angles when attacking. Too many times we kick it to the oppositions sweeper or intercept player. The teams like Westcoast and Tigers must lick their lips when playing against us.

Some of their turnovers came when they had time to think and steady. Turnovers when under pressure are understandable, Bad skill execution and brain fades are not. Those unable to perform should be consistently kicking and handballing everyday of the week.

I really hope Goody has been working on the oppositions game. We can't just be about our brand! He has to able to do something to cool an opposition player or to stem the goal rally of the opponents.

Been thinking about our game style. We get the ball enough but because of turnovers, poor decisions and not being able to convert inside 50's we lose matches. I'd like to see us minimise turnovers, play smart and of course convert. This would mean an increase to our skills, better use of strategy when working out a game plan, and taking marks and becoming better crumbers. The other thing I want to see is a plan to stop the opposition when they take control of the game. Finally, I want us to play for the entire 4 quarters. Most of this comes down to being mentally strong with good coaching.

We should do better than last year. We are desperate to prove ourselves, our list has changed for the better and there has been a coaching renewal. The draw is also pretty good for us, especially the first third of the season. Wins will create confidence. I expect us to go on and win at least 14 games this year. Hoping for no losses, though finishing 4th, 5th or 6th is where I realistically see us. Bold prediction: Tom Lynch will be rubbed out for 3 weeks because of excessive sooking. Max Gawn wins the brownlow. Brisbane versus St kilda grand final.