When Gorringe was in the ruck and the Saints were walking it out of the centre for goals a tactic would have been to set up a defense with maximum numbers behind the ball and concede the centre bounce by having a fifth player step into the square before the bounce .

Today was the reality check we needed

This talk about finals and the media attention given to this club has been way over the top

We are still 6-8 players short and at least 2-3 years away

While our form has been good, let's keep a level head and realise we have much work in front of us

Reality check.

Looked like St Kilda had done their homework. Richardson out-coached Bolton. We were chaotic and disorganised and couldn't get our structures and systems back together. Disappointing. Put things back in perspective a little.

Like most others hate Etihad. Not going there again this year. Only MCG.

Reality check.

They ran us off our feet, way too quick. We didn't appear to zone like we have at all in previous weeks, appeared to go man on man and they were too fast, defenders weren't assisted by the way the mids had ample time to deliver it lace out. And the Saints fwds made good use of most of their opportunities.

What worries me apart from the lack of pace & over use.
1. Walks, gets a couple of easy goals but overall he is a liability
2. Everitt & Gorringe pulled out of several contests today to avoid the hit.....unacceptable

What I do like
We have the likes of Jaksch & Silvagni banging down the door for their spots

Etihad is a crap stadium..from a football ,club and financial perspective. No club has won a premiership with etihad as a home ground bar Essendon** in the grounds 1st year in 2000

IMO kreuzer's form today was consistent with having concussion the week before. Happens across the board.

Also my father and i both noticed cripps going 3rd man up way too much today. When cripps goes 3rd up generally he gets tackled and gives a free away. On top of that when he goes 3rd man up if he doesn't win the contest it renders kreuz useless but also takes away our best clearance player. Just doesn't make sense to us

It was interesting watching the players and coaches respond today to what was happening on the field.
St Kilda played a 5 man forward line in the first half and the space seemed to work well for them. Savage was also very influential as their 7th defender.
After half time it went back to 6 man forward lines apiece and our backs were forced to play more of a man on man defence because the ball was coming in under little pressure, especially when Gorringe was in the ruck.

Interestingly in the last quarter we played an 8 or 9 man defence at the centre bounces with 2 of our defenders coming in off the back of the square without a lot of success. The most interesting aspect was watching the interaction of the players. There was some "robust" conversations between a number of the players and at times, there was total confusion.
At one stage one of the players (I can't recall who) was pushed back as a 9th defender and Simpson told him to push out to the wing and pick up a player who was on his own. Walker, who was standing at half back yelled out to the player to overrule Simpson. He player stood there thinking WTF is going on.
Walker then proceeded to run in off the back of the square before the umpire bounced the ball and gave away a penalty.
Bolton talks about equilibrium. There wasn't a lot of that out there today. More a lack of direction and leadership.

The most enjoyment for me was watching Sam Docherty. He is just an absolute gun. Tough, courageous, smart. Simmo rightly gets plenty of plaudits but Docherty is just as influential, but he also plays on an opponent which makes him twice as valuable IMO. He is our real leader IMO and the other unofficial leader which may surprise most is Levi Casboult.
He loves dishing out a bit of pain and the players seem to love the physical presence he offers.

Any good answers to why we weren't on? We had a real chance to draw up to the Eagles today against a lower team.

The excuses sound a little tired to me.

Today's result would've happened last week v Lions if the Lions were any good at retaining possesion. Midfield demolition happened last week too but Lions couldn't actually do anything with it and just handed it back. Stk capitalised.