You take the reins

[lemmon]

For some unknown reason Eade has been sacked and David Smorgon has turned up on your doorstep and asked you to coach against St Kilda this week, undoubtedly you take the job.
You make all the descions and set the tactics. What changes would you make this week, what are your matchups and tactics?

In the midfield I would send Boyd to Dal Santo, Cross to Goddard and Picken to Montagna. They look to feed the ball to Dal Santo so I would try and drag him away from the contest and put tackling pressure on him when he has the ball. The contested ball will be massive as alway to give your forwards first use.
When Kosi is at FF I would match him with Lake, who will be giving up some height but hopefully can hurt him on the rebound. Morris did a good job on Riewoldt last year so Id go with that again. I would look at giving Gillbee some freedom on a wing or even a half forward flank, try and help him escape the tag.
We have been lacking run from the half backline so Everitt or Wood would be in contention for a call up at the expense of Ward who was dissapointing against Carlton.
The forward line matchups are going to be crucial and hopefully Welsh and Aker will return to straighten us up. The game will be won and lost in the midfield but the ruckmen will be crucial, King and Gardiner have been fantastic this year so Hudson and Minson will have there work cut out.
Now its your turn, how would you take on the all conquering Saints.

[AndrewP6]

You know I have had a recurring dream this year that this actually happened..only Rocket was still there, and he used to call me and get my opinion. :)

[LostDoggy]

My first response would be:

"Hi Smorgo, uh, could you just give a couple of minutes, am still recovering from the weekend, my footy team SUCKED! Let me get a daily swig of my Red Bull and I'll be right with you, have a seat, watch some old bulldogs games and I'll be right with you.....this may take a while, I got a lot of thinking to do....."

[LostDoggy]

If I was in charge:

The Saints have new found defensive intensity and the dogs have to do a lot of homework on how to break through the zone - 5 other teams haven't been able to do it.

The Opponent:

St Kilda is undefeated in 2009 and are strangling their opponents with incredible defensive pressure as teams are trying to move the ball from their backline.

Their two experienced ruckmen in Michael Gardiner and Stephen King are working in tandem and giving first use to a midfield comprising of Lenny Hayes, Luke Ball and a white hot Nick Del Santo, along with running machines in Leigh Montagna and Jason Gram.

To appreciate how strong the 2009 Saints team is to look from their backline:

The Saint's backline in 2008 relied on Max Hudghton to play on the Gorillas and there was more pressure with Matt Maguire spending quite a bit of time on the injury list.

A new recruit is Ex Hawthorn player Zac Dawson who is anchoring the Saints backline. Dawson has great help in All Australian Sam Fisher, Sam Gilbert and Jason Blake (the last three are leading the Saints in marks). Farren Ray has become a welcome addition for the Saints playing a rebounding half back flanker.

When these players look up after cleaning a forward entry from the opposition, they have a skillful and hard running midfield waiting to get the ball and pass it to a forward 50 containing Nick Reiwoldt, Justin Koschitzke, and Stephen Milne (the tip rat is in good form).

The Saints have a great team defence, however there are two players are regularly used by Coach Ross Lyon to negate "star" oppostion players - Steve Baker (who missed quite a bit of 2008) and a new and improved Clinton Jones who has been sicked on players such as Daniel Kerr.


The Match Ups:

Tom Williams Vs Justin Koschitzke:

For the first time in a long while, the dogs can have an opponent for Kosi that matches him for height, weight and running power. The only thing Williams will be lacking in of course is experience on playing on Kosi. This would probably be a big man "tag" where Kosi goes, Tommy goes except in the ruck of course. I'm looking forward to this match up - Tommy had a shocker against the blues and would be looking to rebound with a strong performance against Kosi.


Dale Morris Vs Nick Reiwoldt:

The Glove has played on St. Nick before and has beaten him in the two games in 2008.
I'm sure Morris would be hoping the dogs midfield will limit the number of contests he has to go against Reiwoldt. And perhaps Morris has now got enough confidence to go for a run from the backline to make Reiwoldt accountable.


Tim Callan Vs Stephen Milne:

Seeing as I'm coaching this game, I would advise the match committee to bring in Tim Callan especially for this game - two full games for Williamstown, I'm sure Tim is chomping on the bit to get into the dogs best 22 and having a crack at red hot Milne. (A second option would be Ryan Hargrave - he'd love to play on someone that is shorter and lighter than him...).


Liam Picken Vs Nick Del Santo:

Slim Pickens will have the hard tag on Del Santo - and perhaps Slim has learnt that he can also hurt the opposition by not only tagging a player (great goal from the boundary line against the blues :D maybe Lake should be getting goal kicking lessons from him speaking of which...)

Brian Lake Vs Zac Dawson:

It's the logical thing - Johnson, Aker and Murphy are covered by Fisher, Gilbert and Jason Blake. Which leaves Jarrad Grant and Brian Lake as the tall forwards for the dogs. So it's a case this time the DOGS can stretch the Saints defence.

This will of course only work if the Dogs actually kick to Grant's leads :rolleyes:


Hudson/Minson Vs King Vs Gardiner:

The all important first use of the ball falls on these ruckmen - I read that King is having a test on a hammy. And if he misses it would be a major blow for the Saints because King and Gardiner have been dominating for the Saints.

I think Minson would have more value as a target around the ground rather than waiting for the ball as a forward (he can't take many good grabs...and when he does he isn't kicking the goals - not what you want for a KEY forward).

Clinton Jones Vs Adam Cooney.

A big challenge for the Saints new and improved tagger. Cooney will want to get off to a good start after missing 2 games of footy in a row. What more would a player like Jones want than having the scalp of the reigning Brownlow Medalist who is lacking match fitness? Should be an intriguing match up.


Steve Baker Vs Ryan Griffen.

Baker might be small, but he's a small vicious tagger who doesn't take a back ward step. With the return of Cooney, there's less pressure on Griffen to be THE midfielder who starts everything, with his height and strength, Griffen should try to get in one on one situations against Baker.

Keys to Winning:

With two mobile ruckmen, the Saints has easily destroyed the opposition. The game against the Blues has shown how much a mobile ruckman can hurt the dogs.

The battle of the midfield is second only to how the dogs forward line copes with a lock down backline which won't give an inch.

The dogs backline needs to improve out of sight if it will survive the Saints forward line pressure (or Frontal Pressure as is the popular term these days). One clear thing - the dogs cannot afford to have no run from the backline or the dogs will just keep trying to switch play and sooner or later will make a mistake. Run the lines, break the lines but are the dogs skills good enough to do this?


Last year, Josh Hill thrived on playing on the Saints - it seems they didn't show enough respect on Hill - this time they'll be ready. For the last 2-3 matches - Hill has been used as a "key" forward because he's a good contested mark. He has struggled with this and with Lake as the key forward, Hill is now free to play on the wing with running deliveries to Lake and Co. Should be interesting who Lyon will turn to, to play on Hill.

Lindsay Gilbee needs to lift - so far he has not been a game breaker for the dogs as he is being tagged out of games. The dogs need Gilbee's pin point kicking to get through the Saints zone (so far this pin point accuracy is non existent for Gilbee, his clanger kicks are pretty damn high).

The Outcome:

*sigh* I just don't know, my heart says the dogs, current form says the Saints.

But you've got to look at the match ups, particularly the forward line of the dogs - Aker, Lake, Johnson, Murphy and Grant. A mix of young, old and in the case of Murphy - lack of match fitness. The dogs have got saints forward line covered, how much ball that goes into the Saints forward line is the problem.

If the dogs can't break the zone, then Saints by 30.

If the dogs get possession, keep possession and manage to break even in the forward 50 entries - Dogs by 20.

Big Test for the dogs - they have to do a lot of homework to pass the test.:(

[Mantis]

^^^

Good write-up Dexter.... not much I don't agree with.

Just on the ruckman I think you may be over-rating the Saints pair a little, take a look at the 2009 averages for the opposing players:

Hudson - 13.4 disposals - 2.6 marks - 15.8 hit-outs
Minson - 11.4 - 3.6 - 9.4

King - 10.2 - 3.2 - 12.2
Gardiner - 11.0 - 3.6 - 12.4

Not a great deal of difference there.

[boydogs]

I like the look of the matchups for us. I was feeling good about our chances reading the review until thinking of the zone, and the turnovers and lack of accountability against Carlton. This has to be the key - tight marking, good decision making and skills going into the forward line with the right personnel and structure to deliver to

[Scorlibo]

In: Cooney, Aker
Out: Ward, Harbrow

Cooney and Aker are coming back from injury and suspension and they will definitely come back in. Ward had his chance to hold their spot last week and didn't perform for the fifth match in a row. Harbrow just unlucky.

St Kilda Danger Men:

Riewoldt
Koschitzke
Milne
Dal Santo
Hayes
Montagna
Goddard

Match-ups:

Morris to Riewoldt - has done the job successfully many times.

Williams to Koschitzke - assuming both play, Williams is in the side for exactly this sort of purpose. He has the athleticism, height and bulk to play on Kosi.

Addison to Milne - I think this is the ideal match-up for DFA, he has the ability to really get Milne riled and has the nuggety toughness and speed to play on Milne.

Picken to Dal Santo - Despite Boydy's recent success with going head to head with opposition number one mids, I would rather just try and shut Dal completely out.

Cross to Hayes - Cross to go head to head with Hayes, playing him tight in and around the stoppages.

Boyd to Montagna - Boydy to go head to head with Montagna, doing a similar sort of job on him as he's done in the past two rounds with Judd and Kerr.

Gilbee to Goddard - This is possibly the most daring of my match ups, Gilbs has been out of sorts in recent weeks, and is likely to be tagged again, instead of letting him try and handle the tag, I would pit him against Goddard in a defensibe role.

Other than these match ups and emphasis on skills during the week, I would be rocketing my thoughts to the playing group - no more, "we habe confidence in our ability to bounce back from challenges so I don't feel the need to shout at the players", 90% of performance is within the players' heads, and seeing as though our side is as experienced and talented as any, I put the slump down to lack of WANT to win - so I'd be smashing them with my thoughts.

[Mantis]

Match-ups:

Williams to Koschitzke - assuming both play, Williams is in the side for exactly this sort of purpose. He has the athleticism, height and bulk to play on Kosi.

Neither are expected to play.


Addison to Milne - I think this is the ideal match-up for DFA, he has the ability to really get Milne riled and has the nuggety toughness and speed to play on Milne.

Been posted on here a lot, but Addison doesn't have the speed or agility to play on players of Milne's ilk, expect Hargrave to get this job.


Boyd to Montagna - Boydy to go head to head with Montagna, doing a similar sort of job on him as he's done in the past two rounds with Judd and Kerr.

Boyd rarely finds himself out of the centre square, Montagna rarely finds himself in the centre square... Can't see this one happening either.


Gilbee to Goddard - This is possibly the most daring of my match ups, Gilbs has been out of sorts in recent weeks, and is likely to be tagged again, instead of letting him try and handle the tag, I would pit him against Goddard in a defensibe role.

Gilbee has been tagged out of the game the last 2 weeks. Over these 2 weeks we have lacked drive from defence and thru the middle of the ground perhaps as a direct result of Gilbee's poor showings. I think Ross Lyon would have noticed and will apply a hard tag on Gilbee, expect someone like McQualter to stick closely to Gilbs for much of the game.

As you say we may try and shake this hard tag by pitting Gilbee against someone like Goddard, but to me Ross Lyon seems like a pretty stubborn bastard and won't let this occur.

Sorry to be so dismissive of your match-ups, but I can't see any of these ones eventuating, but I have been wrong before.

[Scorlibo]

I'm not saying they'll eventuate, it's just what I would do.