We got a couple of classics to end Round 2, in the form of Port’s win over Sydney and Hawthorn’s thrilling victory over Geelong, but we shouldn’t forget what happened earlier in the round.
As awesome as the Hawks and Cats were on Easter Monday, it only highlighted how pathetic St Kilda were on Good Friday, given that a hard, physical, top four level of football is what the Saints aspire to produce.
But instead of being hard against North Melbourne, St Kilda were marshmellow soft. Instead of being physical, they were bullied around by a young Roos outfit. Instead of offering up a competitive performance, they were inept in all facets.
After knocking on the door of the eight in the last two seasons, finishing 11th and ninth and winning more games than they lost across that period, the Saints have aspirations of finals action in 2018. Whether you think they are good enough to have them is another story, but the onus is on them to then play up to that standard.
In Round 1, they did just enough in beating Brisbane on their own home turf at Etihad, taking three and a half quarters to shake off a side widely expected to finish in the bottom four this year. The Lions belted St Kilda at the clearances and also won the contested possession count. The Saints were able to prey on opposition skill errors and hurt them on the outside through turnover.
(AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy)
It was a win to build on, but it certainly wasn’t a statement game by any stretch of the imagination.
Based on St Kilda’s first quarter against North, it was a win that made them more comfortable than they were entitled. Having achieved nothing but mediocrity as a playing group, they somehow stand accused of getting ahead of themselves after a middling Round 1 win.
Despite the Saints being two points up at quarter time, the Kangaroos dominated the term but couldn’t convert that on the scoreboard, finishing with 0.6.
St Kilda weren’t prepared for North’s pressure from the outset, and weren’t equipped to handle it. The Roos hunted the ball and the man, and were well organised with pressure in their forward half. It is widely known that the Saints have a number of average ball users, and can be exploited in this regard.
The longer the game went, the worse the St Kilda skills were. The closer they got to the end of the game, the less heart they showed.
St Kilda had 119 contested possessions against North Melbourne. The next two lowest contested possession counts so far this season both belong to the Western Bulldogs, who have been universally lambasted for their lack of competitiveness in the opening rounds. Sitting alongside them in any category is not where you want to be right now.
Another area the Saints compare to the Dogs is scoreline, with both sitting in the bottom three for points for. And remember, St Kilda have played teams that won 11 games between them last year.
In perfect conditions at Etihad, St Kilda kicked five goals, and the three key forward set-up of Josh Bruce, Tim Membrey and Paddy McCartin couldn’t kick one between them.
It can be said the Saints kicked 5.13, and if they’d kicked 13.5 it would have only been a two goal loss. But this then speaks to a lack of skill and execution that has been all too prevalent under Alan Richardson, and was well and truly on display against North. They were so bad this time around, that a large part can only be put down to mental weakness.
Will the coach swing the axe at selection this week, to make a statement?
Billy Longer has to be the first to go, he’s been a non-entity in the first fortnight. Koby Stevens should go out for Luke Dunstan. One of McCartin or Bruce has to be cut. Jack Sinclair should be looking over his shoulder. Although it must be said, if the club turns to Sam Gilbert again, supporters will burn the place to the ground.
(AAP Image/Julian Smith)
St Kilda had to start 2-0 with Brisbane and North to open the season. They just had to. And now that they haven’t, they are in turmoil. The fans are ropeable.
The Saints have Adelaide, Geelong, GWS, Hawthorn and Melbourne coming up over the next five rounds. Based on what we’ve seen so far, these teams will all be seeing September action later this year.
Any side is allowed a bad game. St Kilda haven’t built up a huge amount of respect within the competition, but whatever they had was lost on the weekend. Their next five matches give them a chance to show us what they are really made of with their backs to the wall.
The Saints now have it all to prove. And they’re going to be pushing uphill to do it. Let’s see if they’ve got any spine, because it wasn’t evident against North.
Republican
Guest
......what an irony then, that St Kilda focus their future across the alien ditch i.e. NZ. Talk about grasping at straws.........
reardensteel
Guest
Think of how quickly their list disintegrated from 2011 onward (not in chronological order): Blake retired. Gram got in trouble and was let go. Milne was forced into retirement. Cripps was traded. Lynch was traded. Kosi retired. Schneider retired. Goddard left for money, mostly. Hayes retired. Ben McEvoy was foolishly traded, for which they got nothing. Dal Santo was let go, inexplicably. Dempster retired. Riewoldt and Montagna retired. Who's left from 2011: Steven, Geary, Armitage, and Gilbert (who should really have retired). And who has come in to replace all that lost quality and experience? Carlisle, Roberton, Ross, Billings, Membrey, Newnes, and Gresham have all been pretty good. But they are all young, along with most of their list. And the rest of the list is driving me nuts with their inability to find consistent form. So it seems like they just aren't going to be able to get there this year. And next year? Will the yet-unproven talents start showing their potential? Or will the club get anxious again and trade away young talent who suddenly blossom at another club? I like to imagine a StK of the future in which a bunch of the young guys of today have become venerable stars, and the club is playing finals year after year. Oh, for 2006 again. But for now, we'll just hope for better performances than the last two weeks.
Craig
Guest
Fantastical accurate and depressingly honest article
me too
Guest
Goddard wasn't pushed. He went chasing a flag. A year later Dal unfortunately was.
Chris
Guest
We're losing by much less and we look like a circus. A black and white harlequin parade...
Josh
Expert
Fingers crossed!
Pope Paul VII
Guest
Ah Joshy you pessimist. They won't be the last get trounced by a much underrated outfit.
Vocans
Guest
The pundits have spoken and this Crows supporter has a tremor just south of shaking in his boots.
les
Guest
Didn't they both get extra picks for a few years after they had started?
Raimond
Roar Guru
The timeline doesn't really match up here: The Suns' first season was 2011; the Saints played finals that year. The Giants' first season was 2012; St. Kilda finished 12-10. The Saints bottomed out in 2013 & 2014. This is where I'd consider the rebuild period to start.
Perry Bridge
Guest
It was a weird game - just kept feeling that St Kilda would suddenly click into gear - at least 2nd gear. Our first 3 goals in the 3rd qrtr was a brilliant start to the term but St Kilda got 3 of their own and the margin at the last break was far from enough - - so I thought - - I'll take a 7.1 last term any day and to hold the opposition goalless at the same time - - that's a massive step forward compared to last year with the return to the 2013 issue of not being able to defend a 4-5 goal lead.
Dan
Roar Rookie
Can't agree with all your points Jay, Firstly; Clark has shown plenty in 2 games, but being his first season will need a break soon before his body falls to the rigors of AFL, Secondly, Ben Long has tremendous potential and is well ahead of his leading competitor in Jack Lonie (who can't stick a tackle if he was covered in tar) Thirdly, Stevens had an absolute mare of a game as a supposed inside mid, and his performances prior to that have been bog average - his non-selection this week is about as certain as the sun coming up. Dunstan to replace. The ruck situation is absolutely diabolical. Easily our number one priority to remedy (along with outside run). RoMo may be the option but he has question marks on his tank. Gilbert is another option as it effectively gives us another midfielder, we aren't winning the hitouts to advantage now so what's the difference? Mattress Guts, Membrey and Bruce are unsustainable with the current skill level of inside 50's. If anything I would prefer Paddy to get a string of games and Battle to replace Bruce. The decision to play players out of position is totally baffling - Sinclair was rated an elite winger by champion data last year but this year sees him rotting in the forward line where his laser disposal is redundant. Same with Billings and Acres, play them as a high half forward and in the guts. Last week against the Roos was appalling (credit to North they were very good when it mattered) the club cannot continue to perform as such and I would expect a response from the playing group this week against the Crows. Also Richo is safe as houses with a 3 year extension til end of 2020, he wont be sacked unless we have another 20 rounds of last weeks performance.
Jay
Guest
Saints supporter here. Been saying Richo is a problem for the last 12 months. I like how he has worked the list and has made good trades, but struggles with an overall game plan and doesn't have the football knowledge or savvy of a top coach. We have regressed in the last two years. We don't get anywhere near the potential from our list. - Hunter Clark isn't ready for AFL level. - Ben Long has shown nothing, and isn't AFL level. - Dunston in the reserves is a joke, he played well in the second half of 2017. - Koby Stevens is a good player, and fills his roles nicely, he should stay in the team. - Mav Weller had a poor 2017 and JLT but should be brought back for another go. - Longer and Hickey are both crap, might as well play the youngster Rowan Marshall or run Josh Bruce in the ruck (may not have the footy IQ to be effective though). - Paddy Mac along with Membrey and Bruce makes no sense with the rest of the game plan of trying to move the ball forward fast through counter attack, they don't have the mobility of the Crows tall attack, we would be better off with a smaller forward line. I kind of hope we finish last just so Richo may get the boot.
Luke
Guest
Pushing out Goddard for another first round draft pick? They knew they were needing to rebuild at that point.
TomC
Roar Guru
The selection options seem like deckchair shuffling. I think it's unfair to single out any one person or issue, but in general I think the problem is several years of slightly below average drafting and slightly below average player development. It was interesting to hear Riewoldt lay into the Seaford facilities on 360 a few weeks ago. The impact of that sort of problem is hard to measure but it's clearly pretty significant. Some people have complained about the lack of development in the Saints' skills; perhaps that's part of the reason.
sammy
Guest
I think this week is a danger game for the crows for sure. St Kilda have been bashed in the media since the loss and the supporters are unhappy.. This has all the hallmarks of a backs to the wall approach and I expect that they will come out breathing fire this week.I just hope that the crows can field a strong enough team to beat whatever St Kilda throw at them to get the win. You can forgive skill errors from players and maybe from the commentary above and on other forums St Kilda might not have the top end talent to really be competing for a flag just yet but effort is a non negotiable and I expect St Kilda to bring that at the least in spades this week
Josh
Expert
Disagree tbh, they didn't really start rebuilding until the 2013 draft when it was relatively uncompromised.
Josh
Expert
Reckon we should start calling your pieces "The Tuesday Torch", Cam! Dogs in the firing line last week, Saints this time around. With all due respect to my own team if you're losing to us by eight goals at the moment you're pretty bad.
Chris
Guest
St. Kilda have lost of on-field leadership with the retirement of Riewoldt and Montagna. Let's not forget that they have a young squad,too. The situation with Richardson makes me question why our 1990 heroes are sought after and we can't find jobs for them. Graham Wright, Damien Mionkhurst, Alan Richardson, Michael Christian etc etc. Then there are legends like Mark Williams, Andrew Ireland,Ricky Barham etc building up other teams while we suffer at the hands of the McGuire clique.Preposterous... .
me too
Guest
we don't - cameron does. sone fans whinge about his turnovers, but most can see and appreciate all the work he does on and off the ball. Was one of our best last year. But he isn't the future and we need to be giving our youth a go.