Said it once, said it twice, will keep saying it after watching the game against te Bombers live, the game against Freo and now GWS...
WE NEED TALLER BACKMEN, and bigger bodied ones. The forwards are getting bigger and taller and our backline is undersized. One of the shortest in the comp, the General and a couple of others down there on Saturday towled us up.
We were very lucky to get away with a win.....my God, I am pooting us playing the Crows...their height in the forward line......Whoa.....
Let me paint this scenario. In the 80's St Kilda used to turn the sprinklers on at Moorabin. Why? To dampen the ground and turn it into a mud bath because they were so appauling. Why? Because it would keep them in the game for as long as possible.
Now whilst we have not been at our best, where the coaching staff have erred in the last two weeks is going one tall too many in wet slippery muddy conditions against inferior opposition in the last two weeks. Unfortunantely Griff was the extra tall on Saturday when Gerg White may have been a more reasonable selection on the day.
Whilst Griff was ineffectual on the game it must be noted also that Cameron has had a fine first year in a team that was always going to struggle kicking his one or two goals a game and Patton was always going to be up for his first game being a number 1 draft pick. Now I admit we made some errors and possibly with some more care and a bit of luck in terms of kicking for goal from us and them we may have had a more comfortable win on the day. 11.20 could have been 16.15.111 from our part and 12.2 could have been 8.6. Either way makes for a more comfortable win and less panic from some of us. The sky is not falling. JUst look at Gold Coast 's performances last year at this time and you'll notice that whilst they were not winning they were competitive for parts in most games.
On a dry day Griff Dea Rance will be fine and add Grimes to come in and possibly Astbury to play back also and we have the makings of some great KPP defenders and possibly a forward in there too. That's not to say lets not see if we can snag one in the superdraft or any other way to not go for it, but the kids we had out there on Saturday will be fine in the long run.
The sky is not falling boys, just stop getting seduced when they have one good game and say they will be a superstar and when they put in a bad one we are stuffed. Part of the learning/developing process. If anything playing in the wet the last two weeks may give us an advantage somewhere down the line against a better side who play in dry weather all the time under the Dome.
An elimination final against Essendon with the stoppages and their prima donnas may work for us.