Round 1: Saints (match thread)

[doctor swan]

who we going to bash this yr ........ mcveigh was actually useful, mathews didnt play , so we ll have to focus on the 2 bs bevan and jude

[stellation]

I thought Richards was pretty poor tonight.

[David Votoupal]

You never know what could happen this season, in this day and age team's fortunes can change dramatically from one year to the next.

Last year, however, you had the feeling from the start of the year that we were going to go backwards after a couple of highly successful years and the trend would continue this year. At best we'll be in the 8 again, at worst we'll just miss out.

That all said, narrow defeats and big wins have been a Swans tradition for what seems like an eternity. That's why we've had percentages of over every year since 1995.

[LaDoleCheckVida]

Why did Roos bother benching Davis for the last minute?

cause he knew you would come on rwo and have a whinge.

Well i am glad schnides showed us all why we don't need him. Game in the balance and a typical schnides miss.

Positives: we didn't get belted and welcome one keiren jack.

Negatives: Goodes non show hall not being able to mark some poor disposal and the umpires as usual giving the opposition a 2 goal advantage.

Still only round 1 and we did play against a sdie who is coached by someone who knows us inside out.

Long season.

[Yianni1]

Mistakes and mishaps should even out in a game.. it is ?umpires? decisions that make the difference.. At the right moment.. When we were to take the lead.. the umpire doesn?t play advantage, when we got a mark in front of goal?? but instead stops play and gives us a free kick outside the 50 line .. that?s what decided the game

[connolly]

The good
-Kennelly back and just looks a class above the rest of the backline running out of defence
-Jack had a great game, I loved his (legal) bump in the first quarter.
- Moore was good in passages, some great kicks into attack.
- LRT's great attack on the footy. That's the way to play.

The bad
- We are in serious trouble if Bevan is going to play on the opposition's best small forward every week. He has little idea of how to play as a defender.
- Is there a money back guarantee on Hall's surgeries? Perhaps we can direct them to some anger management classes.
- Ablett clearly not fit, why play him?
- Jude MIA.
- Poor Bird was clearly overawed early on, and he looked hurt coming off. Not a n auspicious start.

The ugly
- The club should place a permanent ban on preseason Adam Goodes fluff pieces.

Bevan played actually played on Aaron Fiora who is 186 centimetres or 6 foot one inch in the old scale. If he is St Kilda's best small forward then you know something about football. Mattner played on Schnieder and Jack on occasion took Milne.

[Yianni1]

Mistakes and mishaps should even out in a game.. it is ?umpires? decisions that make the difference.. At the right moment.. When we were to take the lead.. the umpire doesn?t give advantage when we got a mark in front of goal?? but instead gives us a free kick outside the 50 line .. that?s what decided the game

[573v30]

Bevan played actually played on Aaron Fiora who is 186 centimetres or 6 foot one inch in the old scale. If he is St Kilda's best small forward then you know something about football. Mattner played on Schnieder and Jack on occasion took Milne.

That doesn't mean Bevo's performance was any better.

[Yianni1]

Umpiring not refereeing.

Mistakes and mishaps should even out in a game.. it is ?umpires? decisions that make the difference.. At the right moment.. When we were to take the lead.. the umpire doesn?t give advantage when we got a mark in front of goal?? but instead gives us a free kick outside the 50 line .. that?s what decided the game

[ugg]

Bevan played actually played on Aaron Fiora who is 186 centimetres or 6 foot one inch in the old scale. If he is St Kilda's best small forward then you know something about football. Mattner played on Schnieder and Jack on occasion took Milne.

Bevo started on Milne, got beaten time and again before Mattner moved onto him. Kennelly then moved on to Schneids. Jack was not near Milne all night.

[Legs Akimbo]

We played the second favorites for the flag coming off a win in the NAB cup. We played average all night and lost by two points. OUr best player, Goodes, was crap and several of our young guys showed they will make it.

This year is going to be a development year and my expectations have shifted. It's still disappointing to lose, but all up, we actually did okay.

Having said all that, this is definitely Hall's last year. He has lost it.

[DeadlyAkkuret]

So..Mattner was is defence all night?

[mcs]

I think we will probably tread water to last year, but I think we will also in the process begin the important rebuilding phase. Surely tonight Jack and Moore booked themselves into the team for at least the first few weeks of the season and Bird while he had a shocker will be given some more chances as there are such big raps on it. Those blokes can be the first of the new brigade to come into the team. Hopefully joined by a few others this year and a few more next year and the nucleus of a very good young side can be begun to be built as we farewell some of our older stalwarts.

As silly and stupid as BBB was at times tonight, I think the hunger might be back.Didnt do a lot but looked a hell of a lot freer around the ground then he has for a long while. Just need to channel that anger and get any sort of delivery into the forward line and he will come good.

The less said about Goodesy's performance the better. Thought he might have cracked it when he went up forward in the last term, but he will come good. And I reckon itll be by about rd 3 or 4 this year, and if it is I reckon he'll push them awfully hard in the Brownlow.

So very impressed with Jack tonight thought he was our Best player. Did some really good things and goes in very tough. Ill be disappointed if he stays fit if he doesnt play 20+ games for us this year. Moore also did some good things. Not a good start for Birdy but its only early days for him and I reckon he will be a star.

And really unhappy with the umpiring generally. There were an awful lot of frees paid that did not need to be paid. They need ot learn at times to keep their whistle out of their mouth and let the game go -> and that applies for advantage as well when we got absolutely killed on that free near the 50 where we played on and Goodes was in on goal.... saying that I cant remember the end result of the ensuing free kick but cost us a definite goal. Not that I dont think the umps got most of the calls right, but sometimes they get rather trigger happy. And it was a very harsh call on Mattner that free that led to Schneiders goal.

[ugg]

...we got absolutely killed on that free near the 50 where we played on and Goodes was in on goal.... saying that I cant remember the end result of the ensuing free kick but cost us a definite goal.

Yes I was filthy with that as well. The result was Micky O handballing to Davis who kicked a behind.

Not that I dont think the umps got most of the calls right, but sometimes they get rather trigger happy. And it was a very harsh call on Mattner that free that led to Schneiders goal.

Wasn't too unhappy with that one. Perhaps a tad unfair but I think you have to reward Jones for getting there first.

[connolly]

That doesn't mean Bevo's performance was any better.

In game where we were beaten by a team that scored less than 60 points you reckon the defeat came from a poor defense? Our defense played very well against one of the best forward lines in the competition, including Bevan. Our problem was mainly across the half forward line where we were, apart from ROK thrashed. If you are looking for a player that simply is too slow and lacked ability overhead try Grundy. Magic now lacks speed and we were too slow coming down the ground. In the midfield our young players especially Moore and even Mc Veigh, apart from some atrocious kicks from him went well.