The quandary

[The Fireman]

We have Members, king and Steele to return
Who will be the poor buggers that have to step aside?



Our depth is real my friends

[ausfatcat]

Easy one Cordy for King,

Membrey for Caminiti or Phillipou?
Steele for Windhager

[The Fireman]

Easy one Cordy for King,

Membrey for may Caminiti or Phillipou?
Steele for Windhager

Can’t see caminiti being dropped

[Trev from the Bush]

Easy one Cordy for King,

Membrey for Caminiti or Phillipou?
Steele for Windhager

I think you were supposed to think about the answer. Or, perhaps, you haven't watched any Saints games the past 4 weeks.

[bigcarl]

Worry about it when the time comes. Great to have competition for spots.

[Otiman]

Membrey for Philippou, who is then free to play wing/midfield
Hayes for Cordy, second ruck is needed

I think King and Caminiti in the same side is dangerous, one up and one deep, but as neither are backup ruckmen I don't think we will play all of King, Caminiti and Membrey up forward.

Maybe Membrey goes back.

[DJ Higgins]

I hope Ross has learnt about not playing youth. If he has a brain which he does we should have a bit of a rotating rooster manage the young guys but play them when possible but not if it is a critical game

[Moods]

Easy one Cordy for King,

Membrey for Caminiti or Phillipou?
Steele for Windhager

Disagree with all of that. The kids have performed. Reward them! No point dropping Cordy unless we plan to play King in the ruck for periods of the game. We need a 2nd ruckman. If we keep playing like this I wouldn't be adverse to Members coming back through the reserves. Windhager was on Rowell last night wasn't he. He does a job. He stays for mine.

[Vortex]

The big question of the day has to be does Caminiti have more competitive beast in him than Max?

I haven't seen a forward of his size in a Saints team compete for the ball like he does for a while?

I also haven't seen a forward of his size welcome the body contact since Roo and Kosi's playing days.

As some others have pointed out, King has kicked goals in a team where every forward entry was directed at him.

There is such a long way to go to know what type of player Camaniti will be but in a 4 game sample size I'd say he's got some instinctive skills that King doesn't and they all derive from his attitude about how he earns a goal or helps the team earn a goal.

[bigcarl]

Easy one Cordy for King,

Membrey for Caminiti or Phillipou?
Steele for Windhager

Disagree with all of that. The kids have performed. Reward them! No point dropping Cordy unless we plan to play King in the ruck for periods of the game. We need a 2nd ruckman. If we keep playing like this I wouldn't be adverse to Members coming back through the reserves. Windhager was on Rowell last night wasn't he. He does a job. He stays for mine.

King could play second ruck, couldn’t he? Huge leap and quick and agile at ground level. I reckon he’d be more than a handful.

It’s probably a matter of if we want his body beaten up … but on the other hand he cops plenty of that as a key forward already.

[Otiman]

King could be the coleman medalist or a second ruckman. I think you go all in on having the best FF in the comp.

[King Max]

No quandary. Our luck is in this year and by the time those players are ready to return we’ll have 3 more long term injuries.

[The_Dud]

Yeah, would be very un-St Kilda like to have a full list to choose from.

King, Membrey, Steele definitely straight in.

Cordy out, rotate thru some young blokes?

Can Howard play second ruck? Caminiti?

[Scollop]

Although it was Higgins who kicked three goals in the 2nd quarter, I thought both Pou and the ignited the team.

Pou's ground ball gets and his handballs to space created multiple opportunities. Caminiti is inspirational. His energy and enthusiasm is infectious

The only reason you rest these young guys (including Owen and Windy) is if they are sore or carrying niggles.

There'll be 5 day breaks and 6 day breaks where we simply have to rest a number of older blokes. Rowan might also need to be managed for a couple of these or some interstate games when it's not ideal to be sitting in a seat for 5-6 hours for the round trip

[skeptic]

I don’t think it’s too much of a quandary either.

The challenge for a lot of players is what a performance is going to look like when/if we start losing.

[bigcarl]

King could be the coleman medalist or a second ruckman. I think you go all in on having the best FF in the comp.

He’s not a good enough set shot for that. And I don’t want to see us directing every foray forward to Max King with four defenders hanging off him. We’ve been down that path before and It’s not the percentage play imo.

I’d be playing him chf pushing up the ground and doing some relief ruck work along with Owens probably. Leave Caminiti, Higgins, etc deep. And change it up if it’s not working on any given day.

Having no real focal point to the forward line makes us difficult to defend against.

[Scollop]

Skunk and Steele aren't that much of a risk. If they are fit, you know what to expect. I feel that Max could unsettle the balance in our forward line and the selflessness

Lyon has been calm and calculating and our coaching team and leadership group have been terrific

What we haven't seen is any signs that Ross is prepared to be ruthless. It's time that a statement is made to all players that no individual gets a free ride.

Make Kiing come back through the magoos

[Sanctorum]

It's a really interesting question, is Caminiti a better tall key forward than Max King??

Based on the 4 game sample so far you would have to answer in the affirmative, he appears to have a lot more confidence than Max, takes strong grabs and has a reliable action kicking for goal.

When King becomes available I would prefer to retain Caminiti as his forward partner and maybe switch Tim Membrey to a defensive role.

King and Caminiti will be like having Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay, Hawkins and Cameron, Lynch and Riewoldt......all strong marking tall key forward duos.

In recent posts I have lamented the performance of Dougal Howard at full-back, and bugger me dead, last night in the last quarter the Suns kicked two goals that were directly attributable to bad errors by Howard - the first was a direct kick that landed straight into the arms of a Suns player, the second a 'golden punch' in a marking contest that had the same result. Do this against the top teams and that will cost games.....

Put Membrey into Howard's place and the Saints have a very experienced and strong marking 'small who plays tall' player to team up in defence with Wilkie and Battle. He's been there before when the team needed extra marking power down back and did really well.

[The_Dud]

Caminiti better than King? I like the kid, but please let’s not be ridiculous!

[Vortex]

I don’t think it’s too much of a quandary either.

The challenge for a lot of players is what a performance is going to look like when/if we start losing.

Totally, it's a very long way to go and the players are clearly on a high and so they should be, they are playing great, but part of that could be from the honeymoon period most new coaches enjoy.

And we are yet to play a side who challenges us with a top 8 or top 4 performance and for 4 quarters.

A big test this week.

[Vortex]

It's a really interesting question, is Caminiti a better tall key forward than Max King??

Based on the 4 game sample so far you would have to answer in the affirmative, he appears to have a lot more confidence than Max, takes strong grabs and has a reliable action kicking for goal.

When King becomes available I would prefer to retain Caminiti as his forward partner and maybe switch Tim Membrey to a defensive role.

King and Caminiti will be like having Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay, Hawkins and Cameron, Lynch and Riewoldt......all strong marking tall key forward duos.

In recent posts I have lamented the performance of Dougal Howard at full-back, and bugger me dead, last night in the last quarter the Suns kicked two goals that were directly attributable to bad errors by Howard - the first was a direct kick that landed straight into the arms of a Suns player, the second a 'golden punch' in a marking contest that had the same result. Do this against the top teams and that will cost games.....

Put Membrey into Howard's place and the Saints have a very experienced and strong marking 'small who plays tall' player to team up in defence with Wilkie and Battle. He's been there before when the team needed extra marking power down back and did really well.

There is some next level thinking there Sanctorum. Replacing Dougal with Members would probably get the interest of the AFL integrity unit though.

[SinCitySainter]

Steele in for Byrnes, who drops back to sub. Yes Byrnes has been great but he is last in the midfield rotation and his pace coming into the game fresh as a sub is a weapon.
King is in for Cordy. Either Battle or Caminiti can give Marshall a break.
Membrey comes in for Paton. This will allow Owens to spend more time in the middle where his strength is a huge advantage.

[SinCitySainter]

Steele in for Byrnes, who drops back to sub. Yes Byrnes has been great but he is last in the midfield rotation and his pace coming into the game fresh as a sub is a weapon.
King is in for Cordy. Either Battle or Caminiti can give Marshall a break.
Membrey comes in for Paton. This will allow Owens to spend more time in the middle where his strength is a huge advantage.

[Sainter_Dad]

Maybe:

FF - Higgins - Caminiti - Butler
HF - Phillipou - King - Owens

C - Wood - Steele - Byrnes
Foll - Marshall - Crouch - Sinclair

HB - Stocker - Hill - Wanganeen-Milera
FB - Battle - Howard - Wilkie

IC - Ross - Windhager - Clark - Paton

2nd Ruck - King or Owens

Tough Outs:
- Cordy
- Gresham

Horses for Courses of courses!

[The Fireman]

Steele in for Byrnes, who drops back to sub. Yes Byrnes has been great but he is last in the midfield rotation and his pace coming into the game fresh as a sub is a weapon.
King is in for Cordy. Either Battle or Caminiti can give Marshall a break.
Membrey comes in for Paton. This will allow Owens to spend more time in the middle where his strength is a huge advantage.

I think this will be the solution to the quandary.