DeeSpencer

There was one where Oliver somehow got a kick with 3 guys all over him that fell to Tracc 15m forward of the play. Another where Viney was tackled without it and Gresham swooped in for a Saints goal. We still have to be more defensively minded at times. Spread is good but it has to be spread back to defend rather than just spread forward. What was really promising was to see times where mids weren't even picking it up but would just tap it through and draw a tackle and then leave the next guy free. Oliver had a couple of special plays like that over to Viney.

Commentators that praise Hill and Isaac Smith's kicking are the most obvious give away that they have no idea what they're watching. Both butchers who occasionally find enough space to lace a kick out or kick goals because they're in a mile of space. Neither can consistently hit the side of a barn. Brett Ratten's done a great job at the Saints but the plan of sitting Hill back loose to try to mount counter attacks just meant they never had equal numbers in their own 50.

The thing I like about him is he seems to play within his means. He's happy to move the ball backwards or sideways from congestion and take a pause. Even things that didn't work out for him - lofted little kick to Salem - I still think was the right idea. Kick just needed a fraction more juice and Membrey made a great play.

Don't sleep on Jack Steele. He's right up there with Petracca and Oliver. The issue the Saints have is they've invested a heap in players that weren't wanted by their original clubs for a reason. I wish we had Dougal Howard and Dan Butler (despite a quiet game tonight). They desperately miss Paddy Ryder who was a smart buy too. But Jones, Crouch, Higgins, Hill..nice short term improvements but they've put a lot in for those guys.

I keep thinking of about 100 simple mistakes we keep making and how easy they are to clean up and what they would mean for our potential. Gawn continuing to try to hit short kicks on the run when he has handball options. Long bombs inside 50 that go right to the defender or to 2 on 1's. Long bombs down the line that don't advantage Gawn (or even go to him) when he's in good position. Silly snaps in to the hot spot or at goal when one more handball means a clear shot. Ineffective shepherds. Tommy Mc trying to shrug tacklers rather than giving the first option. Fritsch's set shot technique. They're doing plenty right but leaving a lot out there too.

6. Oliver 5. Salem 4. ANB 3. Petracca 2. Pickett 1. Tomlinson Would’ve loved to give all 21 to Brad Hill but apparently is against the rules

You can if you’re Ed Langdon

He’s a dreadful pressure player that’s why he’s not on ball. But given he’s on the wing he really won’t be expected to have good pressure numbers. He definitely needs to lift to really lock in his spot but I don’t think he’s at immediate risk this week

Not too worried about the disposals. I’m surprised Jones had 3 tackles because it looked like he missed at least 5. And his goal was both a solid piece of smart running and a concern that the world was going to end before he got down to that ball.

A few stuff ups but some important touches at the right time, good contests, presented well, and the Saints transition game was slow which means the wings did a nice job. Still think Jones is below Gus in the pecking order, at least in terms of a Melksham inclusion

The first and most obvious tweak that’s desperately needed is to allow the man on the mark to move laterally on set shots at goal. Forwards not kicking over the mark is just downright embarrassing. If a forward gets 30 seconds then the defender should get to move side to side. After that the umpires just need to be more alert to players not going back over the man on the mark. If they don’t make a legitimate effort to go back behind the mark it should be play on. The thing I dislike is that the mark used to be a reward for slow play if needed, where quick play ons should’ve been encourage for their risk/reward. Good teams/players rarely stopped and went back behind the mark. I wonder if the umps had purely decided to start paying 50’s every time the man on the mark deliberately went 3m over the mark if it would’ve had the same result. The umps spend all the time saying stand now that they used to use on moving the man on the mark back 3m.

It was the right option just missed the kick, and Birch could’ve done much better to halve it. Birch is very irritating. Excellent at zoning back to fill up space. But then if she’s under pressure she plays for free kicks. Pretty much the AFLW Dylan Grimes. Her own kicking and decision making is ordinary too. The message went out for Lampard to take the kick outs for a reason.

Viney would’ve fetched us a mid 2nd round pick or if we were really luck an end of first round pick. So at best 25ish, and possibly 35 in a draft that was basically a guess after the top picks. I’m sure the club considered moving Viney but to take a loss on a vice captain when you’ve got a decent list would’ve been a huge call. There’s been trade rumours with Gus over the last 2 years. What team was going to give a good pick for a guy without a position, with a history of concussions, a lisfranc injury and on 700k for 2 more years? I’m sure we tried to package him off to Freo but look at their midfield, why would they bother? Gus’ value was most likely the same as Tom Phillips. Ie. close to nothing. Unfortunately players who have career best seasons then struggle as the game shifts away from their style end up with little value. He’s already in the Tyson zone, he has been since the end of 2019. It’s better off trying to develop his game back up.

That’s exactly what happened in the Adelaide game. Brown went off. Kelly then got concussed. And the sub that came on Hinge popped a shoulder then had to play through it. Meant it was 4 v 3 fit players on the bench, rather than 4 v 2, probably kept the Crows in the game. So that’s the positives v the negatives

There's 2 reasons why I don't care about this: 1. Why give St Kilda any inside information any earlier than necessary 2. If Harmes has the surgery they then get a decent prognosis and can report that with more accuracy. And it is another news story and more clicks on the website. It's crappy content but whatever.

Fitness, match fitness - these new draftees haven't played a consistent block of footy for 18 months, then there's a matter of throwing in a tiny defender right away before he's really proven himself at VFL level. It's a lot to ask. As far as I can tell 6 Victorian first year kids made their debuts on the weekend. Berry, Sharp, Bruhn, Cox, Henry, Lazzaro (sub). 5 of those are country kids who likely had less strict lockdowns last year as well. That's probably not a coincidence.

In fairness to Marinoff the only footage I’ve seen of that incident looks like a pure accident with a player not knowing how to protect themselves. I didn’t see a reportable offence. This one is different because Freo didn’t even argue it was a bad tackle, they just wanted the tribunal to ignore clear potential for injury.

Teams don’t need affiliations to be strong, but they do need experienced VFL players and ideally ex AFL players. Port always have plenty of both of those. From what I can see NB have Paul Ahern and Kieran Collins as former AFL players. Unless they’ve got a few more up their sleeve they might be more like the Frankston and Coburg’s than the Willy and Ports. Which is a shame. I still don’t understand how Carlton are saving money by splitting the alliance. Seems to me it will cost them the same amount and they won’t have the existing additional supporter and volunteer base (no matter how small).

Gus with a foot injury at training so might not be an issue

Agree with you it’s not ideal and we should’ve done more over summer (though less convinced on Phillips). But I think Gus’ transition speed kills us more on ball than the wing. If he doesn’t get his hands on it at centre clearances opposition mids spring right past him. Remember we had 2 off the back of the square covering in 2018. We could use Pickett at bounces then swap Gus in from half forward. But then we’re back to who’s playing on the wing? Can’t have Baker. Vanders is similar problems as Gus with the ball (only worse) but a better defensive player. Jordon maybe? Bowey maybe?

Stevo's on the case

She got up holding her neck/shoulder and the medical report confirms ongoing physio. So, it some ways yes but the tribunal deemed that low impact. We all know it's outcome based but when that occurs it means the system is broken. The potential for serious injury here has been completely ignored even though it was considered for Zac Williams in the preseason. And Zac Williams bump was far less likely to actually cause a serious injury.

Hunt's more likely to impact with counter attack runs from the backline at Marvel than the G I think. And against Freo than the Saints. His main issue on the weekend was ground balls, which is a shame because he should be better by now, but if he can find a bit of touch and composure over the ball he'll sort that out. The Saints pressure worries me about him but it worries me about our whole side! And Freo's small forwards were decent with pressure too.

Might be the worst tackle I've ever seen really. The initial tug of the back of the jumper is what they call a horse collar in the NFL. It takes your legs out from under you. Then she finishes it off by flipping her on her neck.