TOPIC:

Todays team V Saint
TEAM v ST KILDA
B: Ethan Hughes, Alex Pearce, Luke Ryan
HB: Brennan Cox, Hayden Young, Heath Chapman
C: Jordan Clark, Will Brodie, James Aish
HF: Sam Switkowski, Luke Jackson, Jaeger O’Meara
F: Lachie Schultz, Nat Fyfe, Matt Taberner
R/Fol: Sean Darcy, Andrew Brayshaw, Caleb Serong
I: Josh Treacy, Liam Henry, Michael Frederick, Nathan Wilson
E: Brandon Walker, Sam Sturt, Bailey Banfield, Matthew Johnson

Only round 1 I know but that was a pretty insipid effort by the Dockers against a severely understrength St Kilda side. 7 goals is not going to win you too many games and they should have known what they were coming up against when the opposition is coached by Ross Lyon. They seemed to be playing quite a lot of possession footy which involved chipping the ball around and gathering possessions without much result on the scoreboard.

I'm sure supporters will be looking for a big increase in energy and effort next week.

Totally agree. A very disappointing display. They never seemed to be prepared to run and stun as they did Last  year . Last year, ball in hand across HB,  Clarke and Walker took chances and made the play. I was surprised when I saw Walker missed out to Wilson. Wilson's day of breaking lines have gone.
Not many shining lights from today. Mids were lost in ground ball. 
A quick turn round is needed now.

Freo were very ordinary. The backs were good and the mids will get better when O'Meara and Jackson start to gel with their team mates but as we all expected, it was the forward line which struggled. Treacey is not an AFL footballer. He has the size and has a crack but he's just not good enough to be a key forward much like Michael Apeness a few years ago.

Taberner worked hard and they'll have to stick with him as there's no-one else other than a couple of rookies in Sturt and Amiss to be hit up targets. The smalls were ok and I'd keep Fyfe up forward as he at least pressures the opposing backs when the ball turns over but he should also get a run through the middle in short bursts.

I also didn't like Longmuir's game plan of slowing it up by kicking sidewise and backwards coming out of the back half which was all the rage about 10 years ago but now all the other teams have moved on from and focus on fast movement and breaking the lines. Lyon out-coached him big time with a disciplined defensive structure and would be feeling very satisfied tonight.

All in all a disappointing effort.

BC Longmuir said tonight it was not the plan to switch as they did. But said he had no problems with it as long as it got results. Obviously today it didn't work.

Our forwards were pathetic Treacy's dropped mark in the first qtr was a soda but sometimes forwards are at the mercy of slow transition and fk we were slow. Was Brandon Walker fit to play? If so why wasn't he out there?

It pissed me off Blake Acres walking out. Good to see him drop a couple of sitters including one that could have made him an instant Carlton hero. Instead he's the villain. Karma bus 🚐.

Walker was fit but made way for Wilson. He, Walker makes mistakes at times, but Is prepared to take the game on. Wilson has lost that and the but of pace he had.
I would be more concerned about Taberners form then Treacy.

Clark, Pearce, Ryan

Young, Cox, Chapman

Jackson, Brodie, O’Driscoll

Switkowski, Treacy, O’Meara

Amiss, Fyfe, Shultz

Darcy, Serong, Brayshaw

Aish, Frederick, Johnson, Sturt, Erasmus

A bit harsh on Wilson and possibly Henry but if O’Driscoll is good to go, get him onto the wing. Amiss is the long term option and has the most potential out of all our key forwards so while Fyfe is down there and taking the best defender let’s give him some games when he’ll be on the second or third best defender.

The same thing with Sturt, Johnson and Erasmus. Get them in and let’s see what they can do.

If Sturt breaks down again then just put a line through him but he let him have a run at it to see what he can do.

Use Jackson the way that Geelong use Mark Blicavs.