The Analyser - Round 19 Gold Coast vs St Kilda

The Analyser - Round 19 Gold Coast vs St Kilda

In a historic first meeting against the Gold Coast Suns, the Saints toiled to a tough 20 point win. Despite many pundits and fans tipping a thrashing, the Suns accounted for themselves well and managed the same amount of scoring shots as the Riewoldt-less Saints.

This week's edition of The Analyser will focus on several pressing topics including the Saints delivery inside 50, the trial of a small forward set-up and the form of Nick Dal Santo and Brendon Goddard.

EFFICIENCY GOING INSIDE 50

One of the big improvements in the Saints play since the bye, has been the way the ball is delivered into the attacking 50m arc.

When the ball has been delivered inside 50, the players have been lowering their eyes and spotting a target instead of bombing long to targets usually outnumbered.

Against the Suns, the Saints returned to their early season ways of delivering it deep inside 50 often. This strategy struggled especially when the deep target was usually Ryan Gamble, who was up against a quality defender in Nathan Bock.

The forward structure that Ross was trialling was a fail in my opinion.

FORWARD STRUCTURE

The trialling of a small forward line against the Suns was ultimately a fail.

Before the game, I thought that Kosi or McEvoy would rotate through the forward 50m arc when not rucking. But as per Lyon's experiment, they both spent very little time deep in the forward line.

I believe Ross was trialling a mobile, small forward line in the event that Nick Riewoldt is missing during a finals game.

Whilst the poor delivery did not help, a structure with David Armitage, Stephen Milne and Gamble as the deep targets was never going to work.

In my opinion, on a dewy night, the Saints structure would have been more effective placing Tommy Walsh or even Daniel Archer in the goal square and having them create a contest against Bock. This would have brought the small forwards into the game when the ball spilled from the contest.

DAVID ARMITAGE

Armo was a victim of his own success in his half forward defensive role last week against the Crows. It was disappointing to note that he spent hardly any time in the midfield against the Suns and had no impact on the game.

He only had 1 clearance and 2 tackles for the whole game, which was spent in the majority through the forward line. He also fluffed a chance to take a mark inside 50 in the first quarter through not reading the kick well.

I would have thought that he would have spent more time in at the centre bounces and rotating through the midfield after his supreme effort in contested situations last week.

NICK DAL SANTO AND BRENDON GODDARD

The performances of Nick Dal Santo and Brendon Goddard were superb.

Nick Dal Santo is in the form of his career this year. He has always been a great outside player but in the past few weeks he has taken his contested game to another level.

In one of the best performances of his career, Dal Santo run the Suns ragged and collected 39 touches at 85% efficiency. He amassed 12 contested possessions, 8 clearances, 6 tackles, 6 inside 50's and a goal.

He has become the Saints most dangerous midfielder. The way he creates time for his disposal is like watching an artist at work. Once the space is created, he seldom misses a target.

His workrate has also lifted to the point where he is regularly in the Saints top 3 for tackles each match.

The form of Brendon Goddard is peaking at the right end of the season. Everyone remembers his herculean effort in the first Grand Final last year and he is starting to live up to the expectations after that performance.

He is starting to excel again in the quarterback role he played so well in last season. He demands the ball as the Saints transition out of defence and once the ball is in his hands, the Saints more often than not launch an attack.

Goddard had a game-high 10 inside 50's which accounted for nearly 20% of the Saints forward 50 thrusts.

With Dal Santo and Goddard in top form, the Saints can beat any team in the competition. Lets hope they are both can have a huge impact if the Saints can sustain their finals charge.

SEAN DEMPSTER VS JARED BRENNAN

For the first time in many weeks, Dempster lowered his colours to an opponent in the form of Suns livewire Jared Brennan.

Dempster seemed the perfect match-up for Brennan who can play both tall and small. But Brennan's versatility was too good for Dempster and he had a strong impact on the game, particularly in the second quarter.

There are some rumours that Dempster is carrying a soft tissue leg injury. However if he is fit for the game against Fremantle on Friday night, he should definitely be given the job of shutting down Docker prodigy Nathan Fyfe.

Dempster has the ability to track Fyfe at the stoppages and also in the air at marking contests. These are areas that Fyfe has excelled in this season.

LOOKING TOWARD THE FREMANTLE GAME

With Nick Riewoldt returning from suspension, Tom Lynch would be the player expected to make way. Unfortunately he didn't put in a good enough performance to guarantee his spot. You could see the frustration on his face when he was subbed out of the game.

The impending cloud over Zac Dawson's immediate playing future due to an incident with Josh Fraser has renewed calls for the selection of Irishman Tommy Walsh.

However, Walsh has been playing forward for Sandringham so I'm not sure Ross would select him as a full back replacement.

After another strong performance in the VFL, I think it's time Walsh deserves a crack in the forward line. I'm not too sure who would be omitted to fit him into the squad though.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Ross may be keeping Walsh up his sleeve as an X factor player that could have an impact in finals. This remains to be seen however.

I also expect Baker to come in specifically to play on pest Hayden Ballantyne. Possibly Geary could be dropped as he has been the substitute in both matches and needs to be match hardened for finals.

THE FINAL WORD

Have had some really good feedback in regard to the blog. Would love to hear any opinions and views from footy fans on what I've been writing. Questions are welcome too.

Also open to hearing any suggestions to improve the blog as well.

I'm really looking forward to the Fremantle game. An injury hit Docker side presents a big opportunity for the boys to continue their strong form and force a gap between us and the rest of the top 8 challengers