NAB cup rnd 2. Saints vs Swans Game Thread.

[TheMase]

Thing is I reckon the umpie screwed up. Doesn't look like he sets the mark properly so it's hard to tell where it is but Seaby runs in a straight line toward the goal, so he shouldn't be called play on for deviating, and I reckon he doesn't go over the mark, goes close but not over, so it shouldn't have been play on and should've been a 9 pointer.

The mark is only the indicator. Only the umpire calling play on should exclude the 9 pt goal. I am not convinced that occured.

Does not matter anyway, the low key buildup will be better for us.

[dimelb]

These hawks all look the same.

Must've been McGlynn then.

Or are you numerically dyslexic? 12 and 21?

[ScottH]

Seriously? Kennedy has about 6 inches and 15 kilos of muscle on McGlynn!

Beat me to it Stella. I believe a trip to the optometrists may be in order Scott.

These hawks all look the same.

Must've been McGlynn then.

[Primmy]

Seriously? Kennedy has about 6 inches and 15 kilos of muscle on McGlynn!

Beat me to it Stella. I believe a trip to the optometrists may be in order Scott.

[stellation]

As Above.
Confused here, Kennedy/McGlynn hard to tell them apart sometimes, but kicking was atrocious at times, in the last 2 games.

Seriously? Kennedy has about 6 inches and 15 kilos of muscle on McGlynn!

[dimelb]

... In the end it was the lack of clean hands that cost us the game. Missed targets with handball and failing to take possession without a fumble at crucial times were v costly ...

I think this is where we really missed Bird. Good at turning dirty ball into clean ball.

[Doctor J.]

grundy was brilliant, clearly beat riewoldt and had the saints fans around me whinging all night cos riewoldt couldn't get near it.

Oh and don't they whine like stuck pigs when Nick doesn't get a touch!!

On to the game. My impressions on the night.

Seaby and Mumford will be a good ruck combo. Some of Mumford's tap work was first class.
Midfield has acquired more grunt with McGlynn. Not sure on Kennedy. Disposal worse than McG's
MOD is an unbelievable ball magnet
Backline can only get better. In the first half, with Kennelly acting as the general we were in such control. Add C. Bolt to that lineup and I can only wonder how good we could be.
Pyke -??? Just don't know where or how he fits into the equation ( a back up for the back up ruckman maybe)
Rohan will be a superstar of AFL football. Just hope it's with us for his entire career.
Add Bradshaw, Shaw, C Bolt to that lineup at the expense of Pyke, maybe Kennedy and Currie, and it's a pretty good rnd 1 team.
In the end it was the lack of clean hands that cost us the game. Missed targets with handball and failing to take possession without a fumble at crucial times were v costly.

As for the opposition. Will be another good year for them. Would love to start them off with a loss, and a big one to make it even more satisfying!!

[kangle4]

grundy was brilliant, clearly beat riewoldt and had the saints fans around me whinging all night cos riewoldt couldn't get near it.

[liz]

Most of it has already been said, but my twopenneth worth...

Really liked the swagger and confidence of White when he finally got out there. He looked like he believed he really belonged. His lead and conversion was very good indeed.

Rohan came to us with the hype of being an x-factor player but what has been really impressive about him thus far is that he is doing the bread and butter stuff and doing it really well.

Don't understand the use of Sumner. For two weeks now he's spent three quarters sitting on the bench, no doubt getting really nervous, and then has had very little time to make a contribution. I realise he's not really in the running for early season senior games but still seems a bit unfair on him.

Kudos to Bevan reinventing himself. Was a bit lucky in that his first goal was a push in the back, and then he got a very soft free for his third, but looks like he might become a useful mid-sized forward and is a good converter.

Thought Seaby was very good. Not going to be a star but was solid around the ground and sound dropping back to fill a hole in defence.

Mumford was reasonable only, but some of his tap work was quite impressive.

Jude was very good, I thought. Especially in the first half.

Delighted to see MOD's improvement. He ran really hard all night and to the right spots to support others. Some of his disposals went astray (and sadly that is unlikely to improve much, given he has already improved vastly on where he was a couple of years ago) but by hand he was pretty good. He still has a few tricks that haven't become apparent at senior level yet - like he is very very good above his head. It is going to be quite hard to leave him out of the round one team.

Really like Mattner in the midfield. He has the pace and penetration in his kicking to breakthrough the traffic. Good balance of defensive and offensive parts to his game. And he's not really needed on the half-back line any more.

Some of Kennedy's work at clearances was very good. He's still a work in progress but is showing signs.

It's nice to have a midfielder in McVeigh who warrants a tag as hard as that Jones applied to him. He was being held and scragged all night, but I guess that is the life of a taggee.

Wish Goodes would lead a bit more. He seems to be playing quite deep and trying to outmark in one on many contests. The best CHFs get most of their possessions from hard leading. He should benefit from having White and Bradshaw back in a properly structured forward line.

Currie showed some glimpes of why reserves watchers have been pumping him up for a couple of years. But he's a way off getting the confidence that he beliongs. His reaction when he took that great mark in the first quarter was priceless. Glad he settled and went back and took his shot.

[ScottH]

As Above.
Currie needs a sever injection of confidence. Everytime he had the ball, even that first mark, he seemed to panic. Unsure what to do.
Seaby was OK most of the night.
Confused here, Kennedy/McGlynn hard to tell them apart sometimes, but kicking was atrocious at times, in the last 2 games.

Pyke, WTF, he actually did some good things last night. The jury is still out on his future.

Defense did really well without Cbolts.
Kicked a number of goals from stoppages.
Took 3-4 players to tackle Mumford. Hilarious.
Kirk looked way out of sorts. I notice the HS named him amongst the best.

All up a much better effort than last week. Not as many stupid errors. Last week was a joke. Carlton were just much worse.
As Primmy said, Forward line needs a lot of work. But I like having Bevan and Mcglynn, up there. Add some tough defense too the offense.

I expected StK to wallop us, so was very happy that we were able to lead them for much of the match. They only won due to Seaby's brainfart, but it is a stupid rule.
So take away there 2 9's, we won by 5!!

[Primmy]

I liked LRT's game; he has a self assurance now and he is a unit. No longer an easy beat.
Bevo in the forward line is a great idea. Still has no fear.

The Big Red has proven he is a class tackle machine - looking good.
Jetts was probably told to cool it a bit; all that approval from us could go to his head.
Marty is a gun.
Tadgh is a worry at this point.
Kennedy could be a keeper, one day.
NicMal - You Schtar!!!!
Jesse played like a grownup this time, and didn't look to be put off by whatever used to worry him. Tatt is not too horrible.

I am a bit uncomfortable about our forward setup.
Defense appears to be just fine.
Midfield has some good combinations, and I don't think we are going to miss Jolls too much.

If MOD settles down and doesn't play anxious he may be a keeper. Jude used to play anxious, and he turned out all right.
Bulldog looks to have worked on his upper body re chest expansion and isn't blowing after hard runs - looks like a lot of hard work has been done in the offseason.

The kid from St Kilda sensibly shook Kirky's hand when it was offered. Smart boy.
S Milne looks like he has spent summer sleeping in the day and spending the nights out and about - vampire was mentioned amongst our mob, but.... - pity he is a good player because I can't stand him.

[magic.merkin]

Oh and I think Mummy will be our new impact player Barry's gone. Threw his weight around a bit, good stuff!

[Nico]

Gee a few on here have gone a bit early on bemoaning Goodesy's 2 games and are worried about his upcoming season. I wasn't at the game last night and didn't see it on TV bar the first 10 minutes, but I thought last week he was OK.

We are talking here about a double Brownlow Medallist who largely held us together last year. There is a fair chance that as one of the older brigade now that he is pacing himself into the season. Also at the moment he is the key forward so can be expected to be tagged and double teamed. Just relax fokks, blokes like Goodes don't lose form overnight. See him as an ace in the pack. He, ROK (first hitout) and McVeigh may have had quite ones, but we know that won't last, and add their expected form reversal to the inclusion of Craig Bolton, Daniel Bradshaw and Rhyce Shaw and we have a very formidable team.

I liked the news that Matt O'Dwyer is now becoming a ball magnet and that the wow factor emerging is that with him and McGlynn hard at it that we are now starting to win centre clearances. Even Jude Bolton I believe got his hands on the pill at centre bounces. I like the news that Seaby is looking very good, and the centre clearance improvement against about the best in the business may in large be his doing.

[AnsweredPrayers]

MOD got a lot of the ball. When you get a lot of ball you will make more mistakes than someone who hardly touched eg ROK.

[Melbournehammer]

Good run around for us.

Am getting worried about Adam, nothing from 2 games.

i think it is fai to say that he is ot a key position forward