Wouldn't have beaten a good team

[carn_sainter]

Well done the last 4 weeks, Saints. Gotten into a solid position to contend for finals.

But to keep things in perspective, the way we played against GC wouldn't have beaten a good team. Lost clearance and contested ball, so a team with skill on the spread could have cut us up.

Also, got a little seduced by long bombs and back door crumbing, which is pretty easy to defend, however great our crumbers are.

Huge challenge coming up. It must bw tough to keep producing focus and mental effort every 4 or 5 days. If we can beat Geelong it will be a huge boost in credibility for toughness and legitimacy.

Just wanted to add an extra mention of Paton and Wilkie. Carlisle and Howard (JC in particular) have been great, Clark and Coff super, but Wilkie and Paton are the glue. So reliable and trustworthy. Ideal team mates, especially in defence.

[stkfc1]

Agree with your assessment of our problems tonight but I don't think you're giving GC enough credit. I reckon most teams would have struggled to win that one. They were very good tonight and they're better than their record states. They have some bona fide stars in the making and if they can keep their list together then they'll be scary good in a few years.

[kosifantutti]

Three of those four wins were genuine away games at our opponent’s home ground in front of some sort of crowd.

[ace]

Original draft selections by whatever club
Passes don't count as picks,
Rookie draft treated as continuation of national draft
Rookie drafts realigned with national draft year

This is the team we played
P1 2010 David Swallow
P2 2018Jack Lukosius
P2 2019 Noah Anderson
P3 2018 Izak Rankine
P3 2010 Sam Day
P4 2016 Ben Ainsworth
P6 2018 Ben King
P10 2016 Jack Bowes
P13 2014 Lachie Weller
P15 2011 Brandon Ellis
P19 2017 Wil Powell
P27 2013 Seam Lemmens
P27 2019 Jeremy Sharp
P29 2014 Touk Miller
P42 2017 Charlie Ballard
P51 2013 Nick Holman
P55 2015 Sam Collins
P67 2011 Jarrod Witts
P79 (R16) 2019 Connor Budarick
P88 2011 Alex Sexton
P107 (R27) 2006 Jarod Harbrow
P117 (R48) 2015 Hugh Greenwood

Not Availalbe
1 2019 Matt Rowell

[ace]

If Rowell had played we would have lost.
Every team in theory gets only 1 of the top 18 each draft season.
Except when the AFL cheats and gifts you Noah Anderson.
They played 10 from the top 18 but have an 11th who was not available.
7 were from the top 6.
They have heaps of talent that we can never match.
We won because our boys are better coached which made us a better team.

The only reason Gold Coast and GWS hav not won multiple premierships is game plan and coaching.
Leon Cameron useless.
GWS may as well not have a coach his game plan is so poor.
They leak like a sieve.
I think the jury is still out on Stuart Dew, but he is way better than the rubbish that preceded him.

[The Peanut]

... But to keep things in perspective, the way we played against GC wouldn't have beaten a good team. Lost clearance and contested ball, so a team with skill on the spread could have cut us up.

Perhaps the GC with their coaching/match-planning is better than you give them credit for. Overall we looked a bit tired and in need of a decent break, but with the 4 day turn around coming up it's only going to get harder for a team that is now hunted ... and we beat GC by at least one point more than we have in the past 4 games we played them.

[skeptic]

IMO we were a much better team for the majority of the night and would back us in again vs GC.

We just bad lapses in concentration and GC to their credit maximised every chance they got. Had a number of guys way down and am quite happy just to bank the 4 points

[The Fireman]

Gold Coast looked very good last night very sharp and clean with the disposals. We beat a good side

[Sainter_Dad]

Agree with your assessment of our problems tonight but I don't think you're giving GC enough credit. I reckon most teams would have struggled to win that one. They were very good tonight and they're better than their record states. They have some bona fide stars in the making and if they can keep their list together then they'll be scary good in a few years.

Also - I think that they set themselves for this game as a way to springboard their finals campaign - a win would have seen them in the eight!

[samuraisaint]

They are a good team, chock full of the very best talent in the entire country. They will be like Brisbane are now in two seasons. Lock it in.

We have been on the road now since the first week of July.

We had a two and a half hour bus ride to get to the ground.

Our Captain and Vice Captain were missing.

As was our only A grade midfielder.

Ripping win!

We are now playing consistently and kicking accurately. Since the resumption of the season in early June we have won 7 of 9 matches - including the reigning premier and 2016 and 2017 premiers.

And you know what the best thing is? We now have one foot in the finals.

[ace]

You don't have to beat a good team.
You have to beat your opponents, good bad or indifferent to get the 4 points.

[The_Dud]

As was our only A grade midfielder.

No, Steele was definitely playing.

[The_Dud]

The constant long bombing into the forward line was a worry, will not work against a better team, hopefully they throw that away for the Cats game.

[Trixilver]

We should have lost this game. All the stats say so and I think this was one of our worst performances of the year and GC performed at their best. Without that freak Butler we would have been smashed.

[Sanctorum]

Agree with your assessment of our problems tonight but I don't think you're giving GC enough credit. I reckon most teams would have struggled to win that one. They were very good tonight and they're better than their record states. They have some bona fide stars in the making and if they can keep their list together then they'll be scary good in a few years.

Also - I think that they set themselves for this game as a way to springboard their finals campaign - a win would have seen them in the eight!

Exactly my thoughts "Daddy'.

GC Suns were absolutely desperate to win last night because their window to play finals is starting to close, so to me for the Saints to withstand the immense pressure, from a team stacked with young talent that are destined to succeed, was a great result - testimony once more to the team's ability to play 4 quarters and get the points.

My non-Saints fans siblings reckoned it was a thrilling game to watch (too thrilling for me!) and a high standard of open football.

[freely]

We should have lost this game. All the stats say so and I think this was one of our worst performances of the year and GC performed at their best. Without that freak Butler we would have been smashed.

Yeah, but where would they have been without that freak Rankine? As someone else said, you can only beat the team that's in front of you.

[saynta]

If Rowell had played we would have lost.
Every team in theory gets only 1 of the top 18 each draft season.
Except when the AFL cheats and gifts you Noah Anderson.
They played 10 from the top 18 but have an 11th who was not available.
7 were from the top 6.
They have heaps of talent that we can never match.
We won because our boys are better coached which made us a better team.

The only reason Gold Coast and GWS hav not won multiple premierships is game plan and coaching.
Leon Cameron useless.
GWS may as well not have a coach his game plan is so poor.
They leak like a sieve.
I think the jury is still out on Stuart Dew, but he is way better than the rubbish that preceded him.

Add Rowell and they would beat us every time.

[bigred]

We did beat a good side.

At times they were much cleaner and in many ways better than we were.

[The Fireman]

We did beat a good side.

At times they were much cleaner and in many ways better than we were.

Exactly

[Scollop]

Exactly my thoughts "Daddy'.

Is it ok if I also called you ‘Daddy’...would you like everyone to refer to you as ‘Daddy’?

[tony74]

Good teams win those games.

[damienc]

Well done the last 4 weeks, Saints. Gotten into a solid position to contend for finals.

But to keep things in perspective, the way we played against GC wouldn't have beaten a good team. Lost clearance and contested ball, so a team with skill on the spread could have cut us up.

Also, got a little seduced by long bombs and back door crumbing, which is pretty easy to defend, however great our crumbers are.

Huge challenge coming up. It must bw tough to keep producing focus and mental effort every 4 or 5 days. If we can beat Geelong it will be a huge boost in credibility for toughness and legitimacy.

Just wanted to add an extra mention of Paton and Wilkie. Carlisle and Howard (JC in particular) have been great, Clark and Coff super, but Wilkie and Paton are the glue. So reliable and trustworthy. Ideal team mates, especially in defence.

The Suns are a good team. Don't let their ladder position fool you. They have some real guns thanks to their mortgage on high draft picks. We did really well to beat them. It was a significant win in terms of character building for our footy club IMO.

[Saintmatt]

Original draft selections by whatever club
Passes don't count as picks,
Rookie draft treated as continuation of national draft
Rookie drafts realigned with national draft year

This is the team we played
P1 2010 David Swallow
P2 2018Jack Lukosius
P2 2019 Noah Anderson
P3 2018 Izak Rankine
P3 2010 Sam Day
P4 2016 Ben Ainsworth
P6 2018 Ben King
P10 2016 Jack Bowes
P13 2014 Lachie Weller
P15 2011 Brandon Ellis
P19 2017 Wil Powell
P27 2013 Seam Lemmens
P27 2019 Jeremy Sharp
P29 2014 Touk Miller
P42 2017 Charlie Ballard
P51 2013 Nick Holman
P55 2015 Sam Collins
P67 2011 Jarrod Witts
P79 (R16) 2019 Connor Budarick
P88 2011 Alex Sexton
P107 (R27) 2006 Jarod Harbrow
P117 (R48) 2015 Hugh Greenwood

Not Availalbe
1 2019 Matt Rowell

Everyone should look at this. This is what a dream team list looks like. It will be so good in time. Harlem Globetrotters stuff. The fact that we beat the greatest aggregation of draft talent ever assembled should make us proud. Not just "oh, we only beat Gold Coast". FFS - it's absolutely criminal how much talent they have. They're a solid team now - and we played them on their home deck. And beat them fair and square.

[damienc]

Original draft selections by whatever club
Passes don't count as picks,
Rookie draft treated as continuation of national draft
Rookie drafts realigned with national draft year

This is the team we played
P1 2010 David Swallow
P2 2018Jack Lukosius
P2 2019 Noah Anderson
P3 2018 Izak Rankine
P3 2010 Sam Day
P4 2016 Ben Ainsworth
P6 2018 Ben King
P10 2016 Jack Bowes
P13 2014 Lachie Weller
P15 2011 Brandon Ellis
P19 2017 Wil Powell
P27 2013 Seam Lemmens
P27 2019 Jeremy Sharp
P29 2014 Touk Miller
P42 2017 Charlie Ballard
P51 2013 Nick Holman
P55 2015 Sam Collins
P67 2011 Jarrod Witts
P79 (R16) 2019 Connor Budarick
P88 2011 Alex Sexton
P107 (R27) 2006 Jarod Harbrow
P117 (R48) 2015 Hugh Greenwood

Not Availalbe
1 2019 Matt Rowell

Everyone should look at this. This is what a dream team list looks like. It will be so good in time. Harlem Globetrotters stuff. The fact that we beat the greatest aggregation of draft talent ever assembled should make us proud. Not just "oh, we only beat Gold Coast". FFS - it's absolutely criminal how much talent they have. They're a solid team now - and we played them on their home deck. And beat them fair and square.

Perspective.

[damienc]

If Rowell had played we would have lost.
Every team in theory gets only 1 of the top 18 each draft season.
Except when the AFL cheats and gifts you Noah Anderson.
They played 10 from the top 18 but have an 11th who was not available.
7 were from the top 6.
They have heaps of talent that we can never match.
We won because our boys are better coached which made us a better team.

The only reason Gold Coast and GWS hav not won multiple premierships is game plan and coaching.
Leon Cameron useless.
GWS may as well not have a coach his game plan is so poor.
They leak like a sieve.
I think the jury is still out on Stuart Dew, but he is way better than the rubbish that preceded him.

Add Rowell and they would beat us every time.

Maybe. Maybe not.