Melbourne better than the saints

[MC Gusto]

But obviously we'll need to assess that after the game if the saints win.


Commentators say this everytime!!!



Goooooooooo saints!

[bigcarl]

Let's just say we have the wood on them and they are crap at Etihad.

[Saint_J]

But obviously we'll need to assess that after the game if the saints win.


Commentators say this everytime!!!



Goooooooooo saints!

also sick of hearing that crap. only reason they got back in and didn't lose by 80was our crap kicking at goal.

[WellardSaint]

How many misses in front?
We could have kicked at least 5-6 more!
Acres, Rooey, Membrey, Weller, Wright...
Why, when an inaccurate guy like Gears was calm enough to get 2 right in the hi-diddle-diddle

[Bluthy]

With the amount of time down the bottom and the ridiculously high draft picks they have had access too, its still a worry that aren't more advanced than they are. I don't know if that Roos style chippy-chip, slow football, will work for them going forward. Who knows what Goodwin will bring to them. This "once-in-a-generation" bulls*** about Hogan is way overblown to me. He looks a good big forward but so do Paddy, Cameron, Patton, Lynch, Wright and another 5 others. Its a new generation of power forwards starting to take the game by storm and Hogan doesn;t necessarily look at the top of that list. And Hogan seriously needs to get a proper goal kicking routine going because he's very proppy and stuttery.

We've had the advantage of some genuine elite players with Roo, Joey, Fish, Steven to give us class that Demons don't have. Both teams are very up and down. Today they were down, we were up. I'm still not sure we have the cream we need going forward but at the moment we seem to show more confidence and belief when it counts. But today is just one battle, the war is still to be decided.

[Trev from the Bush]

Blah, blah, blah Melbourne!

I'd be seriously peed off if I was a Demon supporter after quarter time. 130+ possessions followed by a 9 goal turnaround. Not good enough for a Club 10 years into a 3-year rebuild!

Go Sainters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[thejiggingsaint]

Yes, Melbourne are definitely better than the Saints.............. At turning strawberry jam into dog schitt!

[Life Long Saint]

We've had the advantage of some genuine elite players with Roo, Joey, Fish, Steven to give us class that Demons don't have.

Interesting that you use those four players as an example...
Roo was the only first round selection.
Joey was taken at 37, Fisher at 55 and Steven at 42.
Sam and Jack have both won two B&F's...Jack's on track for a 3rd.

Melbourne should be light years ahead of us in terms of development.

[Saint wagga]

Damian Barrett....you were wrong!!

About so many things, but your constant criticism of us and your agenda pushing praise of the Dee's has been found out! Twice beaten by over 5 goals, we are a way better side than them, and have a lot more potential for rapid improvement. The demons still rely and openly talk about there 2-4 year plays as being crucial to there performance, but that age bracket is inconsistent. We have a more rounded list, 3 quality young forwards, a bunch of gun young small forwards who can and will push into the middle over time...we have them covered in so many areas it's not funny!

This year our best footy has been a grade, we've been able to mix it with the best teams...period. I don't believe the demons best is anywhere near that! Case closed.

[Viking3]

Said to the wife and son after the game how satisfying the win was.
Mainly because we were ignored when media spoke about the up and coming clubs. Melbourne was "a good couple of years ahead of the Saints....."
2016- Played twice, gave them a lead twice, gave them a touch up twice!!

[thejiggingsaint]

Been giving them " touch ups " quite frequently over the past decade or so. I reckon get there's only been one or two games during this period where we've been able to say we just crept in against the Demons. The Montagna winning goal match last season was about as close as they've come to beating us. Round 22 in 2009 was also one in which we were shaded for large portions of the game. Melbourne are going to beat us at some stage, but I can't honestly see when, based on what we saw from them yesterday when the game was there to be won.

[kosifantutti]

To be fair, we've had an easier draw. We get to play Melbourne twice and they had to play us twice.

[stkfc1]

It basically comes down to 'We are hard bastards' compared to' They are marshmellow soft (except for Viney)'. AR is building a team of wrecking balls (Weller, Wright, Membrey,Newnes, Gears etc) and adding class around it (Billings, Gresham, Sinclair etc). They are so desperate for Hogan to become the "Messiah" they won't realise ,till its too late, that he's a GOP and by then they'll be left with another 10 year rebuild on their hands. I'd take our list any day of the week.

[Mr Magic]

I know it's unfair to single out an opposition player for criticism but has there been, over the last 10 years, a 'softer' player than Jack Watts?

Seriously talented 195cm #1 pick that's been allowed (instructed?) by a succession of coaches to get 'soft/cheap' possessions behind the play.
Rarely gets into a contest and seemingly is the guy they kick/handpass backwards to.
It strike me that this is a deliberate part of the Roos' game plan and I just shake my head every time we play them and see the stark comparison to our seriously talented 195cm #1 pick
No wonder the Demon fans 'hate' Roo with such venom - he exposes their 'darling' to awkward comparison every time they see him.

IMHO Melbourne will not progress whilst they build their game plan around getting Watts 'easy stats'.

[samoht]

It basically comes down to 'We are hard bastards' compared to' They are marshmellow soft (except for Viney)'. AR is building a team of wrecking balls (Weller, Wright, Membrey,Newnes, Gears etc) and adding class around it (Billings, Gresham, Sinclair etc).

My take on it exactly. I was initially concerned before the game that we were going to miss the outside run and leg speed of of Savage and Webster, but I also felt (before the game started) that we had the clear advantage as far as tough, hard-at-it players were concerned - that we had 5 or 6 more "wrecking balls" (as you aptly put it) than they did, which would hold us in good stead. And that's the way it turned out.
Tougher is better, as it turned out.

[prwilkinson]

I know it's unfair to single out an opposition player for criticism but has there been, over the last 10 years, a 'softer' player than Jack Watts?

Seriously talented 195cm #1 pick that's been allowed (instructed?) by a succession of coaches to get 'soft/cheap' possessions behind the play.
Rarely gets into a contest and seemingly is the guy they kick/handpass backwards to.
It strike me that this is a deliberate part of the Roos' game plan and I just shake my head every time we play them and see the stark comparison to our seriously talented 195cm #1 pick
No wonder the Demon fans 'hate' Roo with such venom - he exposes their 'darling' to awkward comparison every time they see him.

IMHO Melbourne will not progress whilst they build their game plan around getting Watts 'easy stats'.

You're spot on really. His early development program was pretty horrific, which was made worst by the fact Melbourne picked him over a rare athlete like Nic Nat. The way he was hung out to dry against the Magpies that day... wow... I'd have been mortified if St.Kilda did that to a young player.

Was he the last number 1 draft pick taken directly from the inner city school system rather than the TAC cup?

[stevie]

Dreamons were always gonna struggle when their best player for the season - Nathan Jones - was non-existent for thegame and well held. He's the only Melbourne player i have any time for so it was good to realise all of a sudden he did bugger all

[Vazelos]

Notice the sour grapes remarks by Roos after the game knowing he is the 4 th Demons coach to retire without beating the Saints and cut him up big time. He touched on our reliance of older players and how the Demons are still better placed moving forward. Dropped Jack Stevens on that list, he is only 26!!
Other than Roo all those players will be covered adequately when they retire and even then a system always is better than an individual. We played in a GF 3 years after Lockett left, the greatest of them all!!