Rnd 21. MDT. St Kilda V Sydney. ES , 7:25pm

[Nico]

Superb second half. We played petty well in the first half but St Kilda matched us. They left it in the sheds at half time. Appears they gave it all in the first half and had nothing in the tank after half time. Their heads dropped when we rattled on 4 quick goals. They appeared completely non plussed when we changed up our forward structure after half time. Buddy up the ground, Parker to the forward line and Heeney running forward from the wing. We forced the footy forward and appeared to flood the forward line. Looks like we have more than 1 game plan. Thought they took it out of our forward line too easily in the first half. Our pressure did go up though in the second quarter.

[dimelb]

Superb second half. We played petty well in the first half but St Kilda matched us. They left it in the sheds at half time. Appears they gave it all in the first half and had nothing in the tank after half time. Their heads dropped when we rattled on 4 quick goals. They appeared completely non plussed when we changed up our forward structure after half time. Buddy up the ground, Parker to the forward line and Heeney running forward from the wing. We forced the footy forward and appeared to flood the forward line. Looks like we have more than 1 game plan. Thought they took it out of our forward line too easily in the first half. Our pressure did go up though in the second quarter.

I agree with this, and would just add what a solid contribution we are getting from Xav - helped us hold things together in the first quarter especially.

[Nico]

He is a real revelation. He has given us more than a forward marking option. Has a big tank and works hard all over the forward line. No longer just Buddy and I reckon he helps bring blokes like Papley into the game.

[CureTheSane]

Parker is care free for one reason, the AFL won't put a Brownlow contender out of the race for a more trivial incident.
Aside from that - fend off = free, which wasn't even paid.

[Nico]

Saints supporters on BF giving it to the umpires big time, particularly about te 3 x 50 metre penalties. Hard to tell what they give 50 for sometimes but....when papley was mauled on the ground the ball had gone to another contest, frre to Papley. Then it looked like Riewolt mouthed off.....50 everytime. Then the Saints player runs 2 to 3 metres over the mark and stupidly marks the ground. About as dumb as I have seen. The Buddy 50 I am not sure of.

[ugg]

Re: The Roberton 50m penalty, technically there and not sure what Roberton was trying to do pulling one over the umpire's eyes right in front of him, but usually the umpire would have told him to go the 2-3m back to the mark before giving the 50m.

[Meg]

The Buddy 50 was pretty soft but the defender didn't need to push him in the back (albeit pretty gently) - it was late and not part of an attempt to spoil. Mostly a push like that would be overlooked but we've seen them just like that one penalised 50m before. I remember Sam Reid being penalised for about the same at Adelaide Oval sometime (can't remember the exact match).

[giant]

Fair to say I would have been a tad cranky in the Saints supporters' shoes at that point...that Nicholls can be a bit of a prat at times.

How good was Nankervis last night? Just so impressed by his repeat efforts, hard running and his ball skills - the kid has improved out of sight over the last few weeks. Just hope he doesn't get himself rubbed out! Going to be a tough decision for the selectors this week I think.

Another outstanding effort from the midfield and backs, and the forwards improving every week - Hewitt and Lloyd have both stepped up a level over the last couple of games. Good signs.

- - - Updated - - -

I thought Hanners' disposal last night was the best it's been for a while. When he concentrate's he can use the ball well enough and some of his handballing, in particular, is a delight to watch.

It was a very solid all around performance by the team. Even those whose names won't be mentioned in the match reports - like Hewett and Towers - looked very composed in traffic and were heavily involved in many of the possession chains that moved the ball forward.

I also thought McVeigh was excellent, especially early when there was still some heat in the game.

Agree on McVeigh, he was great early when it was hot around the ball; this is when he looks his best, real composure and excellent use of the footy.

[Nico]

The Buddy 50 was pretty soft but the defender didn't need to push him in the back (albeit pretty gently) - it was late and not part of an attempt to spoil. Mostly a push like that would be overlooked but we've seen them just like that one penalised 50m before. I remember Sam Reid being penalised for about the same at Adelaide Oval sometime (can't remember the exact match).

They paid one the same by a North player on a Hawthorn player. Such an unnecessary act.

[Meg]

They paid one the same by a North player on a Hawthorn player. Such an unnecessary act.

I assume you mean unnecessary by the defender? I agree with that - it is always risking a 50m penalty. I referred above to a similar Reid penalty (which turned a difficult angle shot at goal into a "gimme" just like the Buddy one). At the time I was annoyed about the softness of the 50m penalty but even more annoyed with Reid for taking the risk that the ump would be pedantic and award the penalty.

[Industrial Fan]

Re: The Roberton 50m penalty, technically there and not sure what Roberton was trying to do pulling one over the umpire's eyes right in front of him, but usually the umpire would have told him to go the 2-3m back to the mark before giving the 50m.

Roberton was in the thick of the 50m paid to Papley and wouldn't get out of the way when the ball was taken to the goal line so the quick 50 May have been a residual from that.

Umps were trigger happy but the saints were pretty undisciplined through that stretch

[Meg]

Umps were trigger happy but the saints were pretty undisciplined through that stretch

Agree. Lost control of their emotions in frustration about the turn the game had taken.