Anyone who thought we were a realistic chance of causing an upset tonight are kidding themselves. Rawlings had coached one game and suddenly we had turned the corner. Lets get things into perspective, in Rawlings first game we beat the West Coast who's away record is appalling. Accusations of them tanking had been widespread so it shouldn't have come as a surprise to many when the young tigers tasted victory. St Kilda on the other hand have been undefeated, if anyone has been watching the way they play it is based on pressure and more pressure. They don't just hold their positions they push up constantly, they actually make ground without the ball. The tigers as we all know have well publicized skill deficiencies at the best of times but have been proven to be woeful when put under extreme pressure. In the first quarter St Kilda were unusually lazy and didn't apply their normal level of pressure. We did however run for each other but as with any young group it couldnt be sustained over four quarters and as the turnovers started we witnessed the playing group being embarrassingly ground to dust.
The most disappointing aspect of tonight's game for me was Brett Deledio. We need a coach who is going to push this guy beyond his limits. He is currently running third on "Rexona Greatest Athlete" for Gods sake yet jogs behind opposition players who he would beat by 10 metres in the Grand Final sprint. What is he saving his energy for, he is one of the more experienced playing group now where he should be able to grab a game by the scruff of the neck yet he never does.
The test for us now is how we bounce back from this next week against Adelaide. what sort of message does Rawlings want to send to the underachievers from tonight's games and who is good enough to replace them. Any of the old guard coming in would almost be an admittance of failure and a definate backward step. Adelaide are also good at turning the screws so we need to work out how to cope with pressure without falling in a heap as we did today.
