Notes from the game: 2015 Round 3 Saints

The Pies play their first game of the year at their spiritual home.

Team                    Q1      Q2      Q3      Q4      Final 
Collingwood Magpies     6.2     12.6    16.10   21.14   140
St Kilda Saints         6.3     7.4     8.6     10.6    66

Trivia

Leigh Fisher, erstwhile St Kilda footballer, was one of the field umpires.

Quarter one

The Saints came out of the blocks like a rocket. Continuing his form from last week against the Suns, Savage gave them heaps of drive off half back. He was in several forward thrusts. The Saints quickly skipped out to a 3-goal lead with quick, effective ball movement. It wasn't that Collingwood was playing badly, but they weren't getting near the ball.

Then the Pies kicked two in two minutes; and St Kilda replied with two in two minutes.

It felt like I'd watched a lot of exciting footy. I looked up at the clock. Only 15 minutes had elapsed. I've been at games where it has felt like the quarter has been going forever; I've looked at the clock and discovered that only 10 minutes have passed. This was better.

It went on like that to the end of the quarter (which lasted 35 minutes). At quarter time, there was a point in it. I felt that the scoreboard flattered Collingwood substantially. At 6-4 I mentioned to Matt that the score was a reasonable reflection of the play. He thought then that it was a bit kind to Collingwood. The Magpies kicked some low percentage goals (eg Sam Dwyer); the Saints had missed shots they might normally have kicked (eg Adam Schneider).

That might have boosted Collingwood spirits some while deflating the Saints a bit.

The rest

That was pretty much the end of the penny section for St Kilda. They managed just 4 more goals for the match (1-1-2), while the Pies kicked 15 (6-4-5).

Collingwood dominated the important scoring stats eg inside 50s 77-42. In addition, they dominated the free kicks 28-16. No doubt the ferals felt hard done by.

The game

Unsurprisingly, many Collingwood players shone. Swan led the charge with a game-high 39 disposals. But it wasn't just the number: he had a mammoth 15 I50s (next best 7 - Crisp, Armitage); he was seen repeatedly taking possession from the centre bounce and winning clearances. He had 17 contested possessions and 7 clearances. It was a vintage Swan performance; almost certainly 3 Brownlow votes.

Pendlebury was far from 100%, but still managed to milk 7 free kicks (giving none away). He seemed reluctant to kick or run, constantly electing to handball, not always effectively (12k, 17hb). When he marked well inside 50, he elected to chip over to Swan, not in a better position. (Swan missed, but that was hardly Pendlebury's fault.) Later when he was given a free on 50, he handballed to Oxley for a goal.

Blair had a team-high 8 marks. Crisp was very effective in the centre, kicked a goal and laid 9 tackles. Varcoe, who this blog has lambasted something shocking in past weeks, was unrecognisable. He chased, he tackled (also 9), he crumbed, he showed enthusiasm, took marks, kicked a goal - in short, for once, he earned his keep. We can but hope that he - along with the rest of the team - continues in this vein.

Grundy found the ball 23 times - in addition to his 30 hitouts. He also produced a breathtaking chase which resulted in a goal. Broomhead and Oxley played like midfielder/forwards each racking up 22 disposals, 3 marks, 5 tackles and a goal. I don't know where Langdon was playing, but he also took possession 20 times. He was named at half back, but Goldsack was named in the forward pocket yet played in defence all night. We may have found a player for kick-ins. Goldsack took on that role and was delightful. Twice (maybe more) he bombed long straight up the guts. One time, Cloke marked; another time something good happened.

Seedsman was more than handy in defence, taking 6 marks, one a metre short of a goal.

For me, the revelation of the night was Jackson Ramsay. He was a sterling defender but also managed a number of eye-catching moments without ever losing sight of his defensive obligations.

Frost almost didn't trouble the scorers with stats, but that's a defender's lot. They don't give supercoach or dream team points for spoils. Yet he did all that one would ask of a defender - without giving away a free.

I should probably mention Cloke's 5 goals (and several misses) and Elliott's 4. We managed 13 goal scorers.

My fixation on individual performances almost led me to overlook something vastly more important: team play. St Kilda had it in spades in the first quarter. I can't understand why they fell away after quarter time. I don't think Collingwood improved that much. Maybe the last-minute withdrawal of Nick Riewoldt had an impact. I wonder how the game would have run had Riewoldt played.

Team play: in the last three quarters, Collingwood showed quite a bit. After one delightful passage which resulted in a mark and goal to Elliott, I waxed lyrical.

How straightforward the game
When one has trust in one's player

Tim Rice, Chess

Lest we get too carried away, it wasn't all as rosy as the picture above suggests. There were many errors and passages which raised doubts. For instance, late in Q3, White takes possession on the right half-forward flank with Swan running past. For perhaps a step or two, White thinks of taking the kick himself; then the natural order of the universe is restored and he gives the ball to Swan who passes to Blair. Goal. It was only an instant, but in important games it could be the difference between winning and losing. A man's got to know his limitations.¹

Metaphysics

Matty and I really enjoyed this game. The clue is in my last observation. There were the usual suspects around us, bad-mouthing our players. The guy behind is just a heavy-duty curmudgeon. The guy next to me is doomed. He cries out for an impossible play, then groans when the player "responds" and the play doesn't come off. And he's like that all through the game.

"Kick it! Kick it!" he shrieks like a girl. "Oh! Why did you do that?! Why didn't you handpass?!" On and on and on. "Good tackle!" he applauds - but then spends a disproportionate amount of time berating the same player when his rewarded kick goes astray. He seems to see no difference between bad decisions and failures of execution. In my philosophy, you first want a player to understand and subscribe to the game plan (doing the right thing). If the play itself doesn't come off because, perhaps, the player missed his target, you hope that that error can be eliminated in the future by the relevant skill training.

Of course, allowances must be made for Cloke's kicking which seems to be beyond help. So, when Cloke had a set shot about 15m out in the second quarter, Matty and I reminded each other that Cloke is 50% from anywhere. Cloke duly missed the gimme. Because our expectations were not great, we were pleasantly surprised at how the game played out. We did not dwell on Cloke's miss; our mood was not dampened (despite the rain). And sure enough, within a minute or two, Cloke marked about 50 out on the wrong angle. "He'll probably kick this," one of us observed. And he did.

So, coming back to the last paragraph of the previous section, here am I dissecting the game as if we were a real team. On the back of my review of last week's game, that's a bit rich.

The wrap

One swallow does not a summer make.² We've had a good result. I can't even say we've played a good game. There were some good passages; but there were also some others.

I don't think we have the cattle or the game to beat Essendon next week, but there were some signs that we might be able to give a respectable account of ourselves.

Sources, Notes, References

http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/ft_match_statistics?mid=5982
http://www.afl.com.au/video/smart-replay

[1] Clint Eastwood inimitable as Dirty Harry in Magnum Force.
[2] Aristotle according to http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/one_swallow_does_not_a_summer_make.