WB Game Day V St. Kilda R18 2019

[Ghost Dog]

Was always a possibility, given what we've dished up this year.

Perhaps went in with too many blokes a bit under done & sore, against a team that was going to have a bit of a spring in their step. In hind sight, a West debut and a Bont rest might have been wise. Just to get a bit of our own exuberance in the squad and leave space for Libba to do more work at the coal face.

We are a frustrating team. Awful skills and easy to score against if the game isn't on our terms.

Skills seemed ok, but we looked nervous and lacking in self-belief. Gifted them opportunities. Despite a shellacking in the first we still looked the better movers. Just dropped our bundle at key points.

[Eastdog]

Feel bad for anyone who went to the game.

Yeah went along tonight. Sunday twilight not my favourite time slot but still went to support the mighty Dogs! Just dissapointing not to have been focused from the start of the game and that we didn't get the result.

[bornadog]

Feel bad for anyone who went to the game.

The only good thing being there was the lak of crowd with only 21,000 there, plenty of space around me and no smart arse supporters.

[Sedat]

The only good thing being there was the lak of crowd with only 21,000 there, plenty of space around me and no smart arse supporters.
There is no worse timeslot than 4.40pm on Sunday for live matches in Melbourne. I get it is a good TV ratings timeslot but it should be limited to WA or SA games.

[bornadog]

There is no worse timeslot than 4.40pm on Sunday for live matches in Melbourne. I get it is a good TV ratings timeslot but it should be limited to WA or SA games.

Yeah a shocker, I don't get the AFL.

[Eastdog]

There is no worse timeslot than 4.40pm on Sunday for live matches in Melbourne. I get it is a good TV ratings timeslot but it should be limited to WA or SA games.

Totally agree Sedat. I'm hoping in future years they phase out the 4:40pm time slots for games here in Victoria. 1:10pm and 3:20pm on Sunday is fine.

[Ghost Dog]

Yeah went along tonight. Sunday twilight not my favourite time slot but still went to support the mighty Dogs! Just dissapointing not to have been focused from the start of the game and that we didn't get the result.

Well good on you for being a great member. I watched it in Hamilton surrounded by Saints fans. Back for holidays.

[AndrewP6]

Feel bad for anyone who went to the game.

I was there, it was horrendous for the most part. And the 4.40 starts are disgusting.

[SonofScray]

Os Shache OK? Huge tumble onto his neck/head. Knocked him rotten, he was trying to get off but got caught up in the play and made 3 very courageous efforts before actually getting to the boundary. He was in strife.

[GVGjr]

Feel bad for anyone who went to the game.

It was a poor spectacle. 4.40 on a Sunday is far from ideal but there should have been a lot more there.
I wonder why we don't use the 4.40 timeslot more when there is a Monday public holiday or during school holidays

[bornadog]

Os Shache OK? Huge tumble onto his neck/head. Knocked him rotten, he was trying to get off but got caught up in the play and made 3 very courageous efforts before actually getting to the boundary. He was in strife.

I was sitting on level one not far from the interchange bench and he was groggy could hardly stand up. Hopefully he will be ok.

[Eastdog]

Well good on you for being a great member. I watched it in Hamilton surrounded by Saints fans. Back for holidays.

That would be tough GD.

[Grantysghost]

Do teams play better because they hated the coach or because they liked him?

[jeemak]

Do teams play better because they hated the coach or because they liked him?

The stats suggest they actually lose more than they win after a coach is booted. But, our experience seems to be the opposite, though I can't be bothered worrying about whether that's true. Certainly this year it is!

[BornInDroopSt'54]

Do teams play better because they hated the coach or because they liked him?

I think prior to the sacking there would be some issues, a general awareness of something amiss, in some cases even some resentments and definitely frustration from each player. When the coach goes there would be a sense of the elephant in the room being addressed and a chance at a free hit, a bit of a mulligan cos low expectations but knowing your team mates feel the shackles are off.
So the players are more relieved that the coach has gone and they have a new start with less pressure and players can play their natural game.

[GVGjr]

Do teams play better because they hated the coach or because they liked him?

I think a lot of it is a realisation that they could have and should have done more themselves to help the coach
Our players need to be looked in the eye and everyone of them asked 2 questions
1) Did you bring the required intensity?
2) Why not?

[Ghost Dog]

I think a lot of it is a realisation that they could have and should have done more themselves to help the coach
Our players need to be looked in the eye and everyone of them asked 2 questions
1) Did you bring the required intensity?
2) Why not?
Players lacked faith in each other in that 1st Qtr. Saints had the solidarity.

[SonofScray]

Players get some sort of emotional/psychological boost from a sacked coach narrative. No doubt. Saints were always going to bring something to the table and we didn't match it. That was really disappointing.

The bit that gets overlooked sometimes is the disruption to the opposition's planning. We would have set up and anticipated St Kilda will look a certain way, , move the footy in particular patterns etc. Ratten wouldn't be able to overhaul things in one week, but he would have brought something to their tactics that we weren't preparing for. That might have been a factor in the 1st qtr. We are slow to respond in the coaching dept.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

There is a moral imperative that both sides feel too. A brave man who lead the club and given his all has tragically had to step down and out.
There is a recognition of how life changing this is and that each individual in the team will show their respect with a superhuman effort. This puts the opposition off their game, their collective unconscious recognising the moral imperative, the truth of a team fighting for their lives.
Shane Lowry an Irishman just won the British Open, smashed it, played in Ireland for the first time for ages. Ben Crankshaw won the masters (beating Greg Norman) after his old loved coach died and cried for him after his last putt dropped. Players playing for something greater than themselves.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

To overcome this a coach has to first identify the dynamic and to get his team to recognise that they have the moral right to also play for something greater than themselves: their coach who is like the deposed coach except that he survives; the club and its cause and community; the collective effort and gut wrenching training everyone has done and that they were born to play in such games and to overcome things like a team energised by its sacked coach. They must rightfully own the occasion.

[Grantysghost]

I think prior to the sacking there would be some issues, a general awareness of something amiss, in some cases even some resentments and definitely frustration from each player. When the coach goes there would be a sense of the elephant in the room being addressed and a chance at a free hit, a bit of a mulligan cos low expectations but knowing your team mates feel the shackles are off.
So the players are more relieved that the coach has gone and they have a new start with less pressure and players can play their natural game.

Agree with this. The way they surged forward on our turnovers represented some sort of footy freedom didn't it. Not afraid to make a mistake to be reviewed.

[Grantysghost]

There is a moral imperative that both sides feel too. A brave man who lead the club and given his all has tragically had to step down and out.
There is a recognition of how life changing this is and that each individual in the team will show their respect with a superhuman effort. This puts the opposition off their game, their collective unconscious recognising the moral imperative, the truth of a team fighting for their lives.
Shane Lowry an Irishman just won the British Open, smashed it, played in Ireland for the first time for ages. Ben Crankshaw won the masters (beating Greg Norman) after his old loved coach died and cried for him after his last putt dropped. Players playing for something greater than themselves.

It's almost like we anticipated it and, ok this is very cynical and possibly ridiculous, gave ourselves an early out.
Well, they'll come out hard.... After that we can get them.
Horse. Had. Bolted.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

It's almost like we anticipated it and, ok this is very cynical and possibly ridiculous, gave ourselves an early out.
Well, they'll come out hard.... After that we can get them.
Horse. Had. Bolted.
Yup. Its like there's script in our heads, we can change it or ignore it but sometimes it bites you on the bum even though its just a script in your head, so is self inflicted.

[merantau]

It's almost like we anticipated it and, ok this is very cynical and possibly ridiculous, gave ourselves an early out.
Well, they'll come out hard.... After that we can get them.
Horse. Had. Bolted.

I absolutely agree with your thinking. I know it's easy to be wise after the event but were words like this ever uttered in the days before the game: "Alright you blokes, they've sacked their coach and everyone expects them to react. What they don't expect is the whirlwind we are going to engulf them with when the ball is bounced, the intensity of our attack on them and the ball, the pressure they'll be under! We are going to be the ones first out of the stalls, we are going to be cracking in hard and taking the game away from them, we'll be the ones doing their new coach, and their club, a favour by exposing the weaknesses in their list. That's our mission. Go and complete it."

[merantau]

It's almost like we anticipated it and, ok this is very cynical and possibly ridiculous, gave ourselves an early out.
Well, they'll come out hard.... After that we can get them.
Horse. Had. Bolted.

I absolutely agree with your thinking. I know it's easy to be wise after the event but were words like this ever uttered in the days before the game: "Alright you blokes, they've sacked their coach and everyone expects them to react. What they don't expect is the whirlwind we are going to engulf them with when the ball is bounced, the intensity of our attack on them and the ball, the pressure they'll be under! We are going to be the ones first out of the stalls, we are going to be cracking in hard and taking the game away from them, we'll be the ones doing their new coach, and their club, a favour by exposing the weaknesses in their list. That's our mission. Go and complete it."

[BornInDroopSt'54]

From a club and coaching point of view, the script must be identified (deconstructed) and repalced with a truer, better script with us countering the oppositions 'right to win' with our right to win. Just cos they sacked their coach does not give them a right to win even they though may believe it. The first quarter has to be massive intensity to stop their momentum and hurt them on the rebound
No fumbling or any mistake or weakness to make them think we think they have a right to win.

[BornInDroopSt'54]

I absolutely agree with your thinking. I know it's easy to be wise after the event but were words like this ever uttered in the days before the game: "Alright you blokes, they've sacked their coach and everyone expects them to react. What they don't expect is the whirlwind we are going to engulf them with when the ball is bounced, the intensity of our attack on them and the ball, the pressure they'll be under! We are going to be the ones first out of the stalls, we are going to be cracking in hard and taking the game away from them, we'll be the ones doing their new coach, and their club, a favour by exposing the weaknesses in their list. That's our mission. Go and complete it."

Yup a script is written for the game dont ignore it, its a real thing but we are going to be intense in tje first quarter to deny them. We are going to play as if they are West Coast and deny them their game, stifle them or attack all out. Must win first quarter.

[bornadog]

Did anyone notice we kicked 10 straight goals after half time. :eek:

[Eastdog]

Did anyone notice we kicked 10 straight goals after half time. :eek:

14.5 was our final score. We actually kicked straight and kicked a higher score than the past 3 weeks when we won but our defenisive pressure was where we were let down badly conceding 17.14.

[FrediKanoute]

I think that in hindsight both Libba and Daniel should have come back through the reserves.They both seemed a little off the pace yesterday and in a game where small errrors can have big consequences that litttle bit off the pace was costly.

[bornadog]

I think that in hindsight both Libba and Daniel should have come back through the reserves.They both seemed a little off the pace yesterday and in a game where small errors can have big consequences that little bit off the pace was costly.

They did look under done. Williams could have stayed in, and perhaps West could have played his first game.

[Grantysghost]

They did look under done. Williams could have stayed in, and perhaps West could have played his first game.

Bont was carrying an ankle too was in a moon boot earlier in week.

[bornadog]

Bont was carrying an ankle too was in a moon boot earlier in week.

According to Bevo, he was fine - but you know they don't like to admit everything to the public.

I think they tagged him and that also effected our performance.

[Eastdog]

The effort was there in the 2nd half but simply not in that 1st half which was real dissapointing with what was on the line. Simply could not match there aggressive game style early on.