St.Kilda v Richmond

The Saints lost last week in a defensive boring match against Port Adelaide in Adelaide, while the improving Tigers put up another great effort (that’s 3 weeks in a row now) against Hawthorn almost snatching victory. Yes they were in the match, but kicking 15-4 to Hawthorn’s 14-22 really was the reason they were a chance. I mean 17 more scoring shots would usually result in a 20 point or more win 90% of the time. So I’ve liked the Tigers over the last 3 weeks and I’ll talk quickly about them first before I launch into my tirade about the Saints. Richmond has improved their team with some extra run in the midfield coming from guys like Morton, McMahon, Tambling and Deledio when he plays there which has allowed them to load up their forward line with options such as Brown, Richo, Polak, Riewoldt, Pettifer and Deledio when he is up forward so winning the ball in the midfield and running it up to their many forward options is resulting in some big scores and also gives them a chance in all their matches. Simmonds and Pattison in the ruck have been good around the ground as well as being good with their centre-bounce work and of course Richo’s move to the wing and pushing forward has freed him up while making Richmond very unpredictable when they go forward which they never have had in the past few seasons. Three good matches in a row though means that there will be a bad one at some point in the next few rounds and against a St.Kilda team that is under pressure to perform (when are they not?) this may well be it.

So to everyone’s most frustrating team, the Saints. I considered writing an essay on the problems with the team and how they could be fixed but the team they have in for this week seems to have rectified some of the issues I had and so I will wait to see how they go before I really unleash on them. So there is not a lot of difference between the St.Kilda of 2004 and the St.Kilda of 2008 yet the game has changed a lot even in those 4 seasons with speed becoming an increasingly important factor. This is the main issue I have with the Saints. Ross Lyon wants the Saints to be better defensively up forward and in the midfield where as former coach Grant Thomas allowed the Saints to be in a more attacking mindset as they had a strong midfield and the best forward line in the competition so they could regularly outscore their opposition. I like what Ross is trying to do because defence wins premierships but he doesn’t have the right mix of players to make it work. The only reason Port Adelaide had 3 goals on the board at quarter time last week to St.Kilda’s 0 is because they regularly beat St.Kilda to loose balls/contests with their superior leg speed and after a while the dominance translated itself on to the scoreboard. There were at least 5 or 6 major occasions where St.Kilda players started in front of their Port opponent yet failed to get to the ball/contest before them and in a few instances gave away clumsy free kicks in their attempt to stop their Port opponent getting further away from them. When one of St.Kilda’s quicker players in Xavier Clarke got going for a few minutes in the second quarter, St.Kilda kicked a goal and had a few more chances to kick some more. Speed is what they lack. Defensively speed is important because if you can’t catch your opponent with the ball, you can’t pressure or tackle them and suddenly there is no defensive pressure which is what Ross wants them to do. You need the right cattle.

Okay so now to the players that are the problem. These are the players rotating through the middle of the ground: Hayes, Ball, Dal Santo, Montagna, X.Clarke, Birss, Blake, L.Fisher, Baker, Armitage and Harvey. Slow players: Hayes, Ball, Birss, Blake, L.Fisher, Harvey. That’s 6 of the aforementioned 11 that lack pace even Dal Santo is not that quick and when you throw in Goddard, Dempster, Sam Fisher, Charlie Gardiner and the big men Kosi and Rix, you have a slow team. Clearly I am not saying that all must be turned over but some players offer a lot more than others. Hayes and Ball find the footy and are the best tacklers in the team so they stay. Harvey still has a bit to offer, he is such a champion player and can still set up and deliver the ball to the forwards better than just about everyone else. What of Birss, L.Fisher and Blake? They are defensive players. And slow. They have a real go which is a great trait but you cannot rotate slow defensive guys throughout the midfield when they are matched up against the Burgoyne brothers, Pearce, Rodan, Cassisi etc. So this week they dropped Blake and L.Fisher which I agree with (Blake is great as a back-up key defender and Fish as a back up back pocket, but that is all.) Dempster and Baker are the defensive players in the midfield which is fine. With Hayes and Ball already in the midfield, 2 slow players is enough and they need to be surrounded by pace – Armitage, X.Clarke, Montagna, Schneider and Gram at the very least.

So now they have taken out two slow defensive players, the last thing I will talk about is the need for more goal kicking options up forward. Clearly the Saints have a strong ruck division and great inside players in Hayes and Ball so they should be backing themselves to win the clearances. Once they do though the ball is delivered to Riewoldt. Sometimes Kosi, but usually Riewoldt. Where are the other options? Predictable? Of course it is. Those who follow the basketball will know what I’m talking about here. Having great inside options is important and getting the ball in to the paint is the best way to score as you are closer to the rim and have the chance of drawing a foul as well; if a bball team only took jump shots for the entire match they would have to shoot at an amazing percentage to consistently win matches. But trying to get the ball inside and not taking any open jump shotwhen you get the opportunity becomes predictable and is easy to defend against. This is St.Kilda at the moment. They do not have enough players on the perimeter so to speak who can kick goals from 40+ metres out on the run and if Riewoldt or Kosi don’t kick them they can’t win. Once you get some good outside shooters who are prepared to take open shots then the defence has to man them up which opens up the inside for the big men. It’s not rocket science and the Saints have players that can be the ‘outside shooters’ like Dal Santo, X.Clarke, Montagna, Schneider, Gram and Armitage. So why is Dal Santo being wasted on the half back line? As I mentioned earlier, they have the ruckman and inside midfielders to win the ball so have some confidence in them and load up the forward line with some more options. Dal Santo and X.Clarke would be very dangerous options across half-forward. Both are also strong overhead marks. So use their Attacking strengths, along with Schneider and Milne crumbing and Riewoldt pushing forward suddenly it is a very potent forward line. Nothing need be lost as Goddard, S.Fisher and Maguire can be a good ‘quarterbacks’ playing the role Dal Santo is atm, and there is still pace around the middle (and youth) with Montagna, Armitage and even Gram could move on to a wing providing more pace in the midfield.

Of course I could be totally wrong, but it all seems to make sense to me. Regardless I’m willing to stick with Saints in this match as I think they can do the job against bottom 8 teams and despite Richmond’s decent form they still are a bottom 8 team. As well Gehrig is back and he will be fired up for a good performance which St.Kilda’s quicker more attacking minded midfield without Blake and Fisher should help him deliver.



Pick : St.Kilda -12.5
Odds : 1.91
Stake : 8 / 10
Bookmaker : SportingBet
Date : 2008-05-03
Match Result : 107-110
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