Game Day AFL Round 17: West Coast Eagles vs St Kilda @ The Gabba Thursday 5.10 pm AWST 10th of September 2020.

[HoneyBadger35]

If you’d like to listen to our commentary while you enjoy a replay of tonight’s epic, it’s now live on Spreaker!

Listen, scrub through, skip to whichever part you like. UTBC.

 

[xInfected_Virus]

The battle to determine top 4 spot continues with finals around the corner a win for both teams is important especially for us.
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St Kilda have been in flat track bully form this season for the past 5 games beating bottoming out Hawthorn and out of form Essendon while barely losing to a poor side in Melbourne but fought hard against top 2 Brisbane Lions while getting smashed by the Cats.

We do well against them but those games are usually close with us coming out on top on most of them. Got smashed in the midfield in 2017 but we still only lost by eight with JK kicking 5. Both us and them kicked straight in 2018 in another close game which saw us beat them by just over two goals with JK kicking 6 but Membrey also kicked 6. We managed to beat them by three goals in 2019 with Bunga looking like god that game with his laser kicking (if only Ryan kicked straighter).

With top four on the line, we MUST hold on here until we can get Shuey, Yeo, Redden, (Sheed now) and even Gov back.

Someone tried to clone Jack Darling and done a sh*tty job. As a result, it turned out like this: A rip off downgrade.

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How do we beat the Saints?

The Saints at their best play a fast brand of chaos footy (our weakness) so clogging the corridor is a must and we make them go down the line. I reckon Bailey Williams has to play since they'll be playing Ryder and Marshall who are really good rucks who can beat Nic Nat (Both Soldo and Nankervis reduced his influence) and give their mids first use so a genuine second ruck is a must since Allen goes missing more often than not for the past few weeks and is a bit undersized to take on those two however it will be forecasted to rain during the game so Allen will need to use his mobility and smarts in the ruck to reduce Ryder and Marshall's influence.

We still won't have Shuey and Yeo but we'll be getting Nic Nat back so the mids Kelly, Redden, Sheed, Gaff and XON have to stand up and fire up after getting smashed by the Doggies mids. We've always been efficient with our entries so winning the clearances will go a long way with our forward line working their magic espcially JK, Darling and Ryan.

Playing chaos football isn't our style but conditions, we maybe forced to play such style so we need to attack the corridor hard. Obviously pressure is a must but we'll be having another four day break which means we must take every opportunity when we do apply high pressure. The Saint's defense is pretty tall with both Carlisle and Howard both nearly 200 cms but we should have Ryan, Allen (if he plays) and Waterman who should stretch the Saints defense. There were good signs against the Dogs that only one or two at most went after the footy which allowed our crumbers to score from. However we'll need crumbers at the front of the pack because I noticed that any spoils going in front of the pack went to the Dogs and they killed us on the rebound so having good crumbers is key so Ryan needs to reduce the amount of times of going for mark of the year which thankfully he did in the past two games and play as a proper crumber.

With the weather wet, we need our forwards to kill the contest and fist the ball to the boundary line like in the Geelong game so we can get a stoppage up the field more and have Nic Nat work his magic and hopefully our mids capitalize on Nic Nat's work. We have to be rough, brutal and first to the footy to show that we can win the flag in QLD.

Ainsworth done a great job tagging considering he's never tagged before so I'd like to see him on Ross, if he can shut down Ross, then he'll have a future at this club as Hutch's successor.

Tim Kelly has been down on form for the past few weeks. He MUST stand up otherwise we can kiss top 4 goodbye.​

Key Matchups.

Kennedy vs Howard: JK has been in great for this season but Howard has also been good. If JK can kick at least two then it will at least help.

Barrass vs King: King has been a gun player for them and will be a dangerous matchup for Barrass. Steven May destroyed him by out reading the flight of the ball so if Barrass can do that then King will be stopped just if the mids can hold their end of the bargain.

Time for Barrass to seal King for good.​

Nic Nat and Allen or Williams vs Ryder and Marshall: Ryder and Marshall together has worked brilliantly this season but Nic Nat is in AA form. Nic Nat was sorely missed against the Dogs but it was the right call to rest him considering we have another four day break and up against two gun rucks. Allen or Williams has to give solid support when Nic Nat's off otherwise they'll exploit us.

Gov, Edwards or Schofield vs Ryder or Marshall when forward (depending who they choose): In addition for Nic Nat and Allen combating them in the ruck, both of them can go forward to stretch the defense and with Gov probably out, one of themwill need to hold his own against those guys otherwise the Saints will have a field day in the air against us.

Steele vs Kelly: Battle of the gun mids. If one of them performs better than the other than there's a good chance that their team will win so hopefully Kelly will beat Steele so we can win. Time for Kelly to stand up.

Ainsworth vs Ross: Ainsworth does have a future at this club as a tagger being Hutch's successor after keeping Caleb Daniel quiet (mind you Ainsworth has never tagged in his life and kept Daniels quiet, Simmo should've tagged him much earlier when the game was on the balance). Very important the Ross get's shut down.


Last five matches in 2020.

West Coast Eagles.

W vs Will Clarko be there Hawthorn 81-49.
W vs Riccardi will be a gun GWS 61-49.
L vs We won't be there to stop Richmond 61-88.
W vs Ok Bombers 60-45.
L vs Best playing at their best Dogs 49-47.

St Kilda.

L vs Surging Geelong 34-93.
W vs Struggling Essendon 68-33.
L vs Top 2 Brisbane 48-50.
L vs Poor Melbourne 49-52.
W vs Near Adelaide standard Hawthorn 80-66.

Last five matches vs St Kilda.

R8 2019: W 88-70. Close game for the first half until we blew them away in the third and we held on the fourth.
R11 2018: W 101-88. Dominated them for the first three quarters of the match until they mounted a fourth quarter comeback which thankfully the damage was already done early on.
R20 2017: L 95-103. Another close game thoughout but their mids smashed us, at least JK kicked 5.
R2 2017: W 116-97. Was a very close game up until the third when we ran them over at the fourth. Determination got us the win and we kicked straight as well.
R8 2016: W 132-29. Absolutely smashed them and the game was won by quarter time. LeCras and JK couldn't be stopped.

Teams.

TBA at 4.20 pm the day before the game.

Predicted Changes: Gov goes out with his thumb injury and Edwards or Schofield will come in. Hutch will go out with another hammy injury and either Brayshaw will debut or we bring in Brander. Oh god, we just lost Redden so Brayshaw and Brander will have to come in. Jetta will be rested since he has a calf strain and probably Cameron will come in.

Six changes to the side. With injuries to Sheed and Redden, Brayshaw will be making his debut and Brander will return to the senior side to replace Sheed. Nic Nat is an obvious inclusion with Hickey making way. Nice to see Petch back who comes in for AhChee who's suffered a broken finger. Schoey comes back after an elbow injury and comes in the side for Hutchings. Hurn comes back after being rested for the injured Jetta who's done a calf. Pretty surprised Gov's still in but the thumb injury isn't as bad but he maybe a late withdrawal through.

Weather Forecasts.

Oh God Please Help Me: Cloudy. High (70%) chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening. Light winds becoming southeasterly 15 to 25 km/h in the early afternoon then tending southerly 15 to 20 km/h in the evening.

According to this it will be raining during the game which knowing us are horrible with the wet ball especially in slippery conditions.


Where can I watch it on TV or hear it on the Radio?

Free to air: Seven 5.00 pm AWST
Subscription TV: Fox Footy.
Streaming/IPTV: Kayo.
Mobile: AFL Live pass.
Radio: Triple M Rocks Footy, ABC, AFL Nation or 6PR. Just hear the our BigFooty commentary, beats the radio for sure.

West Coast Eagles BigFooty Commentary: HoneyBadger35 will send us a link above the post. Hear Badge and Miguel talk high quality stuff.


Venue Tickets.

Call Ticketmaster on 136 100 for tickets to watch the game at The Gabba to support the legendary mighty Eagles for any Gold Coast or Brisbane based WCE fans. We need you support to boost morale. Lets overrun the crowds with Blue and Golds to demoralize the Saints. It'll be nice seeing Blue and Gold supporters on TV.

Address is in: Vulture Street, Woolloongabba, QLD 4105.


Prediction.

St Kilda by 38 points.

Yeah I know I'll get hated for this post and the Saints haven't been good for the past 5 weeks but I was one of the few users who predicted the Dogs would win (by 29 points in my case) and they would have smashed us by more if they kicked straighter and I predicted the Tigers would beat us by 20 if it's slippery and I predicted we would win against the Bombers by 19 points. I hope I'm wrong though. I apologize for being a pessimist here.

The Saints mids will smash our mids, Ryder and Marshall will beat Nic Nat and Allen. A lot of our mids are one way runners unfortunately and one of our best two way running mid Yeo won't be available. The Saints will kick straight (unlike the Doggies) and they'll use chaos ball on a consistent basis to prevent our defense from setting up. The wet weather will make our kick mark game invalid and we'll be forced to go down the line where they'll have crumbers to kill is on the turnover. Oh god, we'll have no Redden who's been one of our best mids in our past two games so we lose hardness in the contest.

 

[RookiePick]

I think every right thinking person has pencilled in a loss for this one. We are decimated in our weakest area of the ground.

I'll be cheering the boys on but it will be more about seeing who is showing potential for down the track.

 

[Gazeah78]

Do we actually pray for rain in this one?

With all the injuries our best chance may be getting over the line in a low scoring scrap. Those games often come down to a random moment or two and a bit of luck.
Negative attitude I know but rain will hamper the speed/run of the Saints also. Might not be the worst result weather-wise.

Hate watching wet games though.

On SM-G920I using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[UseR2006]

I believe these negative, opposition supporting previews are cursed and clearly causing our losses.

Wins or Nothing.

 

[daddy_4_eyes]

Nice write up.

Our midfield is shot, but we have tons of quality down back, up forward and obviously in the ruck. Between Sheed, TK and Gaff we have 3 classy guys, just need someone else to step in there who has enough AFL experience to play their role (Duggan, Cole, Nelson, Shep & Ryan the obvious candidates).

Don't need to obliterate the opposition in the middle, just give the forwards and backs the opportunity to do their thang.

 

[Obeanie1]

Weather Forecasts.

Oh God Please Help Me: Cloudy. High (70%) chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening. Light winds becoming southeasterly 15 to 25 km/h in the early afternoon then tending southerly 15 to 20 km/h in the evening.

According to this it will be raining during the game which knowing us are horrible with the wet ball especially in slippery conditions.

BOOOOOO BOOOOOOO!!!!

Another reason why this season is crap.

K Cornes says a lot of silly stuff but I'm agreeing with his concerns over the quality of football people can honestly expect in QLD this time of year and come finals.

It's getting hot and humid with rain. Because of heat and TV they are playing late afternoon and night games. The result is pretty poor, slippery conditions, poor skills and more contested game styles. You get a few closer games but the quality on show is pretty average.

The Saints have Gresham and Hanebury out, two of their better mids.

We have Shuey, Yeo, Redden and now Hutchings and Jetta out.

Running out of troops.

Will be interested in seeing Brayshaw debut this week, sounds like its on the cards.

 

[bUCKET__]

But if we shut down Seb Ross, how are we going to profit from his terrible kicking skills?

 

[DanWCE]

Brayshaw is our wet weather specialist

 

[Chris_6678]

Steele is the beast i would be worried about . He is been killing it in clearances.

 

[DanWCE]

 

[FKASC]

Eagles will win

 

[ukurrie]

Survive and advance.

Style, square pegs in round holes, efficiency, inside 50’s, take 90+ marks and you win the game, play them in their position, unorthodox ball drops, more of an outside mid, we’re not a wet weather team, why are ASADA taking so long, it’s all a conspiracy, worried about the dew, percentage, scoreless quarters, Nic Nat game time.

None of the how or why matters.

Just win baby.

Survive and advance.

 

[MrKK]

Is anyone else genuinely excited for tonight's game? I may be the eternal optimist but this could be a win for the ages with our decimated lineup. I'm looking forward to which young players stand up or who thrives in an unfamiliar role. Bring it on.

 

[Astro7]

It's a crazy mixed up world full of influencers, reality show celebrities, fake news artists, sideshow alley spruikers, and pr0n stars - so with a chaos ball theory amongst groundhog day wet and slimey-arsed conditions and a Sherrin disguised as a greasy bar of washing soap, my badly miseducated guess is that anything could happen and probably will!? Expect the unexpected, put out the wheely bins and prepare for the zombie apocalypse coz today is the day when the circus burns to the ground and Dirk Diggler comes charging out of the smoking carnage, mullet flowing in the wind and a 'get up and boogie' death defying stare on his porno-mo face...and y'all know what that means!?

 

[squashface]

Is anyone else genuinely excited for tonight's game? I may be the eternal optimist but this could be a win for the ages with our decimated lineup. I'm looking forward to which young players stand up or who thrives in an unfamiliar role. Bring it on.

Not expecting a win but I'm excited to see the young guys giving it a crack and some other senior players mixing up their roles. Duggo to mid for example

 

[bUCKET__]

Glad we have Jackson Nelson to stop someone like Jack Lonie. Of course, Lonie will be looking for further opportunities next year and keen to impress us with his best game of the year. Definitely the match-up I'm most looking forward to.

 

[06Premiers]

Is anyone else genuinely excited for tonight's game? I may be the eternal optimist but this could be a win for the ages with our decimated lineup. I'm looking forward to which young players stand up or who thrives in an unfamiliar role. Bring it on.

I'm wavering between being super excited & absolutely dreading the game.
Bit of a similar vibe to 2015 QF - I wonder who the Priddis late out will be (probably Gov).

If we do manage to get up & win, my arrogance will go through the roof and I hope the majority of the board joins me.

UTBC!

 

[The wily weagle]

Wet weather and a highly make shift midfield.........

With Nic Nat getting first hands on the ball, and all his first choice receivers injured, maybe its time to go old school back to basics: just smash the ball forward at every opportunity. Unless Nic thinks he can clear it himself, don't do anything fancy, just belt it as far forward as he can.

There is no doubt, with our midfield so decimated, Saint kilda would have been studying Nic's hit zones and will be looking to shark his taps.

We nullify that by having him keep it simple and bashing the ball as for forward as he can. And if its a repeat stoppage from that, we are within scoring range

 

[JohnW]

bookmark the win.

 

[Chris_6678]

Reminds me of the 07 Final V Pies. We had no Cousins, Judd or Kerr and we were ever so close to wining.

 

[KERRPOW]

The midfield plan should be that all players block for nicnat to rove his own ball and kick it to kennedy/darling/allen/waterman/ryan.

If we impliment this successfully 30 times then we have a chance.

 

[Doashuey]

Im excited for this one for 2 reasons.
Firstly to get a glimpse into the future with our young on ball brigade finally getting time in the middle.
Secondly because I have no expectations of a win so I can hopefully watch this game with an open mind not clouded with emotion. I dont expect a win so wont lose my shit if it doesnt happen for us tonight. If we do win then we may give ourselves a sneaky shot at the flag if we can get most of our players back by finals.

 

[Astro7]

Is anyone else genuinely excited for tonight's game? I may be the eternal optimist but this could be a win for the ages with our decimated lineup. I'm looking forward to which young players stand up or who thrives in an unfamiliar role. Bring it on.

Like most, will watch with morbid fascination, not expecting a win, but a brutal slog, would be ecstatic if we won, but mainly to see how the young players go..and what plan the coach unveils. It's said we get over 80 marks we win, guessing that won't happen tonight, but 80 ground ball mud-grubbers kicked in the right direction might do it?

 

[Seadog]

Im excited for this one for 2 reasons.
Firstly to get a glimpse into the future with our young on ball brigade finally getting time in the middle.
Secondly because I have no expectations of a win so I can hopefully watch this game with an open mind not clouded with emotion. I dont expect a win so wont lose my sh*t if it doesnt happen for us tonight. If we do win then we may give ourselves a sneaky shot at the flag if we can get most of our players back by finals.

Pfft, I don't care who is playing, I'ma still going to melt. Would be a win for the ages but can't see it happening.