06-29-2020, 05:04 AM
Bit hard to get a handle on St.Kilda. Collapsed against an undermanned North Melbourne, cleaned up Footscray, got cleaned up by Collingwood and then cleaned up Richmond. I think Clarko and Hawthorn have worked out Richmond and Ratten used the key again last match. Ratten has always been a good game day coach so Teague will need to be on his game. In last years draft they gave up 1st & 2nd round draft picks, Newnes, Steven, Bruce & Acres for Butler, Howard, Ryder, Hill, Jones & Abbott. Basically last year's draft was an admittance that their rebuild from the Riewoldt and free kicks from the AFL era has been a failure. They have traded to become competitive. Hill & Jones will give them outside run and class, while King & Clark are pretty good players. When they are on top they appear to be able to kick goals, first half against North, game against Footscray & Richmond, but when they are losing they struggle to kick goals, 2nd half against North and against Collingwood. I think this means that if we keep it tight we should be able to restrict their scoring ability. Last week St.Kilda took their opportunities against Richmond while I don't think we have fully taken our opportunities against any of our opponents this season. O'Brien, Fisher & Kennedy are all pushing for selection, and maybe De Konning, and McKay would be handy to bring in. Silvagni, Philps and Newnes are possible outs. I think if we are competitive from the start and trust our skills, we should be too good for them, however StKilda, along with North, is a side we haven't played up to our abilities against for quite a while.