Saints v Kangas
This was always going to be a tough game. I was pissed that I missed it but a poker tournament waits for no man. And Fox Footy gave me some small window on the game.
A number of times (um, three, exactly) in the first half of this year the Saints were in front most of the day but overrun near the end. Geelong and the Kangas were the two standout examples, as well as Brisbane. And all year, but especially in the last two weeks, North have consistently allowed a big deficit but have taken over in the dying minutes.
So it went basically to the script; but the Saints showed character, as they did against the Dogs, to keep the lead when challenged in the last quarter. As expected, it was a very tough game. Total disposals and marks were both below the norm. 50 frees for the match sounds like a lot, and a number I saw on TV looked horrible. A 50 metre penalty to Petrie was especially bad, but no worse than some of the decisions to Gehrig against Leigh Brown.
And again, the Saints dominated the scoring shots (28 - 20) without quite winning by enough (23 points). Harvey was clearly best on ground with 28 touches, Gehrig's five goals were certainly handy (though four behinds continues his run of bad kicking), Riewoldt took a lot of marks. All the on-ballers were apparently decent, the forwards were a little erratic (Milne, Kossie, Riewoldt all missed relative sitters), the defence was disappointing. Hudghton is needed back ASAP.
So votes would probably be:
3 - Robert Harvey
2 - Luke Ball
1 - Fraser Gehrig
Others: Riewoldt, Hayes, Baker, Jones.
A number of times (um, three, exactly) in the first half of this year the Saints were in front most of the day but overrun near the end. Geelong and the Kangas were the two standout examples, as well as Brisbane. And all year, but especially in the last two weeks, North have consistently allowed a big deficit but have taken over in the dying minutes.
So it went basically to the script; but the Saints showed character, as they did against the Dogs, to keep the lead when challenged in the last quarter. As expected, it was a very tough game. Total disposals and marks were both below the norm. 50 frees for the match sounds like a lot, and a number I saw on TV looked horrible. A 50 metre penalty to Petrie was especially bad, but no worse than some of the decisions to Gehrig against Leigh Brown.
And again, the Saints dominated the scoring shots (28 - 20) without quite winning by enough (23 points). Harvey was clearly best on ground with 28 touches, Gehrig's five goals were certainly handy (though four behinds continues his run of bad kicking), Riewoldt took a lot of marks. All the on-ballers were apparently decent, the forwards were a little erratic (Milne, Kossie, Riewoldt all missed relative sitters), the defence was disappointing. Hudghton is needed back ASAP.
So votes would probably be:
3 - Robert Harvey
2 - Luke Ball
1 - Fraser Gehrig
Others: Riewoldt, Hayes, Baker, Jones.
