Such a great thing happened tonight, massive improvement!

[SainterK]

Inside 50's

We had 52 of them, 52

Let that sink in, even with McEvoy/Blake in the ruck.

52 inside 50's, as opposed to multiple 30 somethings in the finals series last year.

One of our major problems last year was inside 50's and midfielders pushing forward and having shots on goal.

10 midfielders had shots on goals, we went inside 50+ times.

Roo of course had no chance to make the most of the entries, but that is a seperate issue and one that will need to be rectified.

This is so significant, especially against a good side against Geelong.

[Enrico_Misso]

Not sure that inside 50 stats mean as much when a mega-flood is in place.
Geelong flooded better than Brisbane (the city not the team).
They repeatedly got everyone back and basically said "go ahead and bomb it into your 50 because we've got the numbers to repel you".

And then we of course obliged.
So lots of cheap totally ineffective inside 50s.
But not many nicely structured inside 50s to players in space.

[wasaintsfan]

in 09 we drew the flood out so well... when they went forward we went back... and they followed

[plugger66]

Not sure that inside 50 stats mean as much when a mega-flood is in place.
Geelong flooded better than Brisbane (the city not the team).
They repeatedly got everyone back and basically said "go ahead and bomb it into your 50 because we've got the numbers to repel you".

And then we of course obliged.
So lots of cheap totally ineffective inside 50s.
But not many nicely structured inside 50s to players in space.

Did Geelong flood. We refuse to play a 6 man forward line so Geelong play 6 backs. I dont see that as flooding as much as us being negative.

[BigMart]

Innaccurate analysis....

Geelong did not flood.....at all..

They defenders simply held thier positions when our fwds went up the ground to get the footy and put it inside 50 .....52 times.....only problem, they were kicking to their opponents...

[SainterK]

I think it's hugely significant.

Keeping in mind the forward line is missing Kosi and Schnieder.

We really need to score more, create more opportunities.

[desertsaint]

You're definitely a glass half full girl sainterk.
.

[SainterK]

You're definitely a glass half full girl sainterk.
.

Probably.

But it's something to be half full about isn't it?

I hope the ball continues to go inside 50 that many times, I hope the mids become more instinctive as each week passes.

On a crappy night, I thought it hugely significant that the Saints managed to improve on what has been a crappy stat for us.

[vacuous space]

I wouldn't get carried away with the inside fifties. We lost the count 54 - 52. Both teams had a high number because neither team could get it through the big sticks. As a result a lot of the game was spent clustered in and around the fifty arcs. Both defences held up really well under pressure. I think you're probably looking at two top-4 teams right there. Defence goes a long way in this league.

[SaintPav]

I wouldn't get carried away with the inside fifties. We lost the count 54 - 52. Both teams had a high number because neither team could get it through the big sticks. As a result a lot of the game was spent clustered in and around the fifty arcs. Both defences held up really well under pressure. I think you're probably looking at two top-4 teams right there. Defence goes a long way in this league.

They had 50% more contested posession. I think we deserved to lose and that it will hopefully be a good thing in the long run. A win can cover over the cracks.

[barks4eva]

I think it's hugely significant.

Keeping in mind the forward line is missing Kosi and Schnieder.

Oh yes Kossie is the answer, of course he is, how could I have forgotten Kosi, FAIR DINKUM

[SainterK]

I think it's hugely significant.

Keeping in mind the forward line is missing Kosi and Schnieder.

Oh yes Kossie is the answer, of course he is, how could I have forgotten Kosi, FAIR DINKUM

Who is Kossie?

[barks4eva]

Inside 50's

We had 52 of them, 52

Let that sink in, even with McEvoy/Blake in the ruck.

52 inside 50's, as opposed to multiple 30 somethings in the finals series last year.

One of our major problems last year was inside 50's and midfielders pushing forward and having shots on goal.

10 midfielders had shots on goals, we went inside 50+ times.

Roo of course had no chance to make the most of the entries, but that is a seperate issue and one that will need to be rectified.

This is so significant, especially against a good side against Geelong.

Crack open the champagne, I'm now jumping for joy, thanks for that, really not sure why I got pissed off at all

FAN F****** TASTIC

Time to celebrate, 52 inside 50's woohoooo


might mean something if we had a forwardline

Would definitely mean something if some numbnut had not draft Armitage instead of Jack Riewoldt

that's what's sinking in with this club

it's run by incompetent fools and surrender monkeys

one monumental **** up after another

but hey who cares

we had 52 inside 50's so lets party

[barks4eva]

I think it's hugely significant.

Keeping in mind the forward line is missing Kosi and Schnieder.

Oh yes Kossie is the answer, of course he is, how could I have forgotten Kosi, FAIR DINKUM

Who is Kossie?

Exactly

[saint66au]

Bless your optimism SainterK, but Id have preferred 30 inside 50s that were delivered cleanly, accurately and resulted in either a mark or a score

For such a close game, the difference in how the two sides moved the ball into their forward line was very stark

[SainterK]

Bless your optimism SainterK, but Id have preferred 30 inside 50s that were delivered cleanly, accurately and resulted in either a mark or a score

For such a close game, the difference in how the two sides moved the ball into their forward line was very stark

Reality is we got pumped in the GF replay.

Something has to give, Ross told us we were going to kick it long, so I don't know why we're overly surprised.

I trust him that it will work out in the long run, but I think he truly knows that 30 odd inside 50's will ever be enough.

The mids were having a crack tonight, that was more my point, it was stunted...overthought....generally awful.

But how else do you improve on an area without trying?

[PJ]

But how else do you improve on an area without trying?

Seriously SK I didn't see a lot to give me any confidence that we were trying anything different. Worst performance in the season proper for some time. Poor skill. poor descision making. I'm struggling to find a positive.

[savatage]

But how else do you improve on an area without trying?

Seriously SK I didn't see a lot to give me any confidence that we were trying anything different. Worst performance in the season proper for some time. Poor skill. poor descision making. I'm struggling to find a positive.

+1

[SainterK]

But how else do you improve on an area without trying?

Seriously SK I didn't see a lot to give me any confidence that we were trying anything different. Worst performance in the season proper for some time. Poor skill. poor descision making. I'm struggling to find a positive.

I'm obviously alone in my sentiments, I get that now...

10 shots on goal from mids to me is completely different to what I'm personally used to. Kicking the ball long inside 50 is also different.

It's cool, I'll keep my musings to myself PJ

[barks4eva]

I think it's hugely significant.

Keeping in mind the forward line is missing Kosi and Schnieder.

Yes because we all know KOSI is the answer!

The thing that's significant is we overlooked Jack Riewoldt and drafted Armitage instead

Which buffoon was responsible for that premiership costing decision?

Westaway must go!

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

Inside 50's

We had 52 of them,

This is so significant, especially against a good side against Geelong.

I admire your positivity, but I'm not sure I'd consider Geelong a particularly "good" side tonight.
From their last year or so: no Ablett, no Chapman, no Selwood for 3/4 (all generally ranked in the top 15-20 in the league), no Ling (that's an A-grade midfield right there), no Podsiadly, new game plan to get used to, have only had about one good hitout as a full side in the preseason, more "kids" than usual.
And they looked pretty average for much of the night to me and we had them on toast, even though we weren't playing remotely well ourselves.
If it was Geelong of last year, or the three previous years, then sure, but tonight they barely looked like a top 8 side (the team we played tonight) and neither did we.

[PJ]

It's cool, I'll keep my musings to myself PJ

On the contrary I think we need to throw up everything we feel. I'm glad you feel positive - I personally felt we took a step backwards. I'm not venting just shell shot at what we put out on the park tonight.

I can see why you'd go with the experience but there were too many players putting up the same level of work as last year. Some very, very poor descisions and no it wasn't just Blake and Gilbert Ross, it was happening all night long.

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

But how else do you improve on an area without trying?

Seriously SK I didn't see a lot to give me any confidence that we were trying anything different. Worst performance in the season proper for some time. Poor skill. poor descision making. I'm struggling to find a positive.

I thought we were bloody awful, but I did definitely see us playing differently.
We were without doubt moving the ball on much more quickly, pretty much every time we got our hands on it, which is why I reckon we were so terrible with our delivery of it, for basically the whole night.
In the last two years we'd usually hold on to the ball for a lot longer (especially after a mark, or free kick) and play things a lot more safely. This made it easier to hit targets, but gave the opposing side more time to flood back. But tonight I definitely noticed us moving it on constantly and quickly, but of course we then had to make decisions and execute on the run and they made a huge mess of it, time and time again.
The thing they were lacking was POISE. Kramer was certainly on to something.
It was the same in at least GF2 last year, and maybe no.1, as well. They're used to having plenty of time to assess the situation and pick out their target and execute, but now they're seemingly going to have to get used to doing it on the run and that's clearly going to take some time for them to get used to.
It's fine to play on quickly and all that, but you still need POISE while you're doing so. Time and time again they played on, or moved it on quickly, but then rushed the kick, or chose a poor option and that's when it all broke down. Most of those times they didn't need to rush it, because moving it on quickly had opened things up, but like in the GF's last year, they were like a deer in the headlights and didn't know what they hell to do with it, so they panicked and turned it over, even though there was no need to rush by then (because they'd done all the hard work to get clear).
They need to learn how to move it on quickly, but have enough poise to assess the situation and execute, without rushing it, or losing their heads.
Robert Harvey is the best exponent I remember seeing at that, so hopefully he'll be able to teach them. Most of them badly need it.
The other noticeable thing that we did differently was not kick it sideways and backwards as much. We used to do that seemingly all game, every game and I hardly saw it tonight. It was pretty much all about moving it forward as fast and directly as possible.

[barks4eva]

Inside 50's

We had 52 of them, 52

Let that sink in, even with McEvoy/Blake in the ruck.

52 inside 50's, as opposed to multiple 30 somethings in the finals series last year.

One of our major problems last year was inside 50's and midfielders pushing forward and having shots on goal.

10 midfielders had shots on goals, we went inside 50+ times.

Roo of course had no chance to make the most of the entries, but that is a seperate issue and one that will need to be rectified.

This is so significant, especially against a good side against Geelong.

I'm not sure what K stands for but can I have whatever your on?

[degruch]

We looked good getting there K, but there was no defensive pressure. Poor Gamble, I swear the guy was a 'plant'...he gets to it, drops it, gives up and applies no pressure whatsoever!

Not that it matters...he'll improve, it's R1.

One brain fade and a free kick less and we would have won. No need for panic.