Milne ??

[Dal_Santos_Gal]

Ok, I never got to see the game on TV so I am only going on what I was hearing on SEN.

So don't shoot me down if I am not 100% correct.

By the way it sounded, Hunt was murdering Milne pretty much the whole game, All I kept hearing was Hunt clearing the ball from half back.
At one stage they were saying that Milne should beside him, but seemed to be never be near by when Hunt had the ball

Thoughts? especially to those luckly ones that got to see the game on Telly.

[StSteven]

Milne is no longer at the level required for AFL. If you want to compare a small forward to Milne, take Stokes at the Cats. Much more dangerous.

[saintbrat]

I only heard part of the game and saw last quarter But just a query

IF Milne is the forward should he not be trying to find space? and NOt sticking to his man but rather trying to lose him?
at one point they said he needed to do more BUt hunt was actually of the ground.

Ok if he is playing in the backline and or on the wing - which he may well have been - then maybe he should be beside his opposition.

or do I have this game completely wrong?

[Dal_Santos_Gal]

I only heard part of the game and saw last quarter But just a query

IF Milne is the forward should he not be trying to find space? and NOt sticking to his man but rather trying to lose him?
at one point they said he needed to do more BUt hunt was actually of the ground.

Ok if he is playing in the backline and or on the wing - which he may well have been - then maybe he should be beside his opposition.

or do I have this game completely wrong?

I hear what you are saying Brat, but one of our biggest down falls last year was that we were 16th in the comp for defensive pressure (tackles etc) inside our forward 50.

Finding spare is one thing but you need to be held accountable as well.

IMO of course.

[Oh When the Saints]

What do you expect ... Milne to play a defensive game on Hunt?


That's not Milne's style at all.


Milney played a great game today, really stood up in the second half when he was our most experienced player on the ground and showed terrific effort and leadership.

Followed on from his good contribution last week, and showed why he has missed about 1 game in 4 years.

[saintjake]

yeah i agree,
milne was good a few years ago,
but has really dropped off
he was capable of winning games off his own boot
it was the gehrig and milne show,
now other teams barley take notcie of the blowfly.
he really needs to pick up his game
or he should be cut.
and we need more foward pressure for sure.
hopefully the snider man can bring it.

[nicko016]

He's definately not a very accountable player. But in his defence, I reckon he gets caught out a bit by turnovers because he's the kind of player who when we get possession tries to sneak away from oponents and find space to make himself more dangerous and then finds himself miles away after a bad possession. But he has to be more aware of the opposition around him and he doesn't seem as if he is aware that a turnover could occur.

What I'd like to see him improve is his kicking. He once was a great kick for goal but now I think his technique leaves a lot to be desired. He drops the ball from very high which affects his control and also means his kicks hang in there allowing opposition to come over the top off his target and spoil. This is helped by the way he often kicks off one step with his weight going backwards.

However, his game wasn't too bad. He got a good amount of the ball and got himself into some good positions and probably could have had a couple more goals if he was a bit cleaner picking up the ball. He looked good around Kosi when the ball went to ground but on a couple occasions could pick up the ball in one grab.

[Bernard Shakey]

Milne played well and I would say adopted the game plan as instructed by Ross, who has a much better idea of what he wants the Saints to do than any trumped up commentators on 3MEN.

[Otiman]

Milne is a forward pocket, not a wingman. He should be played by the coaching staff to use his strengths and hide his weaknesses.

We have tried of late to improve his weaknesses and give him an extra dimension, but I believe that is futile. Keep him at his most potent and don't require him to play mid.

[Oh When the Saints]

Milne played well and I would say adopted the game plan as instructed by Ross, who has a much better idea of what he wants the Saints to do than any trumped up commentators on 3MEN.

A+

Bet anyone on here $100 that Lyon was on balance pleased with Milne's contribution today.

[Eastern]

Kicked 1 goal. Should have been given a Free Kick to win the game for us, called play on and Jack Steven won the game for us.

If Milney kicks 2 goals per game he will end up with almost 50 for the year. That, from a small forward is an exceptional return. Don't write him off !!

[jill]

I'm so over commentators that perhaps see 2 or 3 - whatever - Saints games a year & then pass "judgement". "We" (Saints Faithful) have ben told by the "Experts" for the last 3 years if Milne doesn't get 3 goals a game he's a failure! As far as I'm concerned for the past few years (&yes he's had some gliches) , he's been far more accountable, more disciplined and more team-orientated!

[Dal_Santos_Gal]

What do you expect ... Milne to play a defensive game on Hunt?

As I said at the beginning of this thread, I was only going on what I was hearing on SEN.
I didn't see the game which makes it hard, I was just really wanting to see what people thought on the matter.

I agree he needs to attack but at the same time you do need to play a little defensive as well "At times"

[Sam23]

Watched the entire game, Milne won us the game in the last quarter IMO.

Him, Dal and Monty teared them appart.

Fantastic second half.

[sainter#4]

i agree with sam
milney in the last quarter was a big reason why we got over the line
he won possession, he was clean with it and he set up team mates,he also worked extremely hard and gave as another target with his constant presenting!!
he might not kick 3-4 goals a game but he will get u atleast 1 and a few assists aswell as take the best small defender from the opposition
when Schneider is back opposition teams should be shitting themselves as most if not all don't have enough key defenders for schneider,milne, roo,charlie,kosy and fraser

[Spinner]

The reason Hunt was allowed to move off Milne was because he isn't a threat.

Milne doesn't need to be defensive, he just needs to because a dangerous/important/value contributer to the team. Conquer that and theres no doubt Hunt wouldn't be more than a few inches away from him the entire game....


But sadly, I doubt that will happen.

[saintsRrising]

Hunt was the Cats go to man....

At times this hurt the Saints...

But certainly in the last quarter it bit the Cats on the bum when Milney did a lot of damage.

[Eastern]

Hunt was the Cats go to man....

At times this hurt the Saints...

But certainly in the last quarter it bit the Cats on the bum when Milney did a lot of damage.

Hunt pulled out of a contest late in the game (3rd or 4th Q), a point that wasn't lost on Allister Lynch. This is the 2nd time now that Hunt has squibbed a contest at crucial times in matches against the saints !!

[Enrico_Misso]

I don't think Milne does enough these days.
And he is too predictable.

I feel Schneider will replace him as our prime crumbing forward.

Maybe that will be Milne's lifeline.

Either
being dropped will force him to really rethink the one-dimensional way he plays

Or
Ross might find a way to incorporate both of them on the forward line.
If Schneider takes a higher quality defender then that might leave Milne with more freedom and opportunities.

[saint-stu]

Milne is a forward pocket, not a wingman. He should be played by the coaching staff to use his strengths and hide his weaknesses.

We have tried of late to improve his weaknesses and give him an extra dimension, but I believe that is futile. Keep him at his most potent and don't require him to play mid.

I totally agree. Milne has been less effective since he started playing as a midfielder.

He's far more useful as a small forward. He only has to kick a couple of goals a game, which he normally does.

I thought he was pretty good these past two weeks.

[WinnersOnly]

I was at the game and saw the amount of running MILNE does in the switch of play link ups. He was very good yesterday and his work rate assisted in us running over the top of the CATS...

I cant believe the radio commentators were carrying on about HUNT as he only got touches in the first 1/4 and after that dogged it. Didn't play on MILNE all game but MILNEY was ahead of HUNT IMO....

[Spinner]

I'm so over commentators that perhaps see 2 or 3 - whatever - Saints games a year & then pass "judgement". "We" (Saints Faithful) have ben told by the "Experts" for the last 3 years if Milne doesn't get 3 goals a game he's a failure! As far as I'm concerned for the past few years (&yes he's had some gliches) , he's been far more accountable, more disciplined and more team-orientated!

....All this about Milne being accountable, disciplined and more team orientated.

Its as simple as the bloke just isn't good enough at AFL level.

It is well known that his game has deficiencies, but it is more importantly his positive attributes that really aren't as good as some people believe.

[plugger66]

I'm so over commentators that perhaps see 2 or 3 - whatever - Saints games a year & then pass "judgement". "We" (Saints Faithful) have ben told by the "Experts" for the last 3 years if Milne doesn't get 3 goals a game he's a failure! As far as I'm concerned for the past few years (&yes he's had some gliches) , he's been far more accountable, more disciplined and more team-orientated!

....All this about Milne being accountable, disciplined and more team orientated.

Its as simple as the bloke just isn't good enough at AFL level.

It is well known that his game has deficiencies, but it is more importantly his positive attributes that really aren't as good as some people believe.

Your basis against Milne is unbeleivable. Most players have deficiencies and so does he but not enough to keep him out of our and most sides starting 18.

[To the top]

The questions are, can we or any team afford to have a "forward pocket specialist" and, if so, are 2 to 3 goals a game sufficient justification to play someone who can only play in one (and particularly that) position?

My view is that neither we nor any other team can afford to play a "forward pocket specialist" unless that player is doing the team things in respect to creation and pressure on the opposition - and applying both disciplines within an instant - and by creation I mean contributing directly to 6 to 8 goals in a majority of games played - and especially against finals participants. Being a real and constant source of concern to the opposition. Consistently dangerous, with the ball and without it.

Because of the position being played inside the F50, every possesion should lead to a goal plus there should be applied pressure goals.

Two goals a game is not the measure, because it is nowhere near enough.

Milne will be overtaken by someone who has genuine leg speed, and an ability to contribute to mid-field rotations.

Milne relies on ducking and weaving, is getting caught far too often with the ball as a result and has a need to increase the efficiency of his harrasment and tackling.

He is in competition with others for a place in the team - and that is good.

With the likes of Armitage and Geary and others standing up, Milne is under pressure because these mid-fielders will squeeze out a "forward pocket specialist".

Hence the continuing experiment with Milne in the mid field.

And the pressure mounts, which is of benefit to St Kilda.

[plugger66]

The questions are, can we or any team afford to have a "forward pocket specialist" and, if so, are 2 to 3 goals a game sufficient justification to play someone who can only play in one (and particularly that) position?

My view is that neither we nor any other team can afford to play a "forward pocket specialist" unless that player is doing the team things in respect to creation and pressure on the opposition - and applying both disciplines within an instant - and by creation I mean contributing directly to 6 to 8 goals in a majority of games played - and especially against finals participants. Being a real and constant source of concern to the opposition. Consistently dangerous, with the ball and without it.

Because of the position being played inside the F50, every possesion should lead to a goal plus there should be applied pressure goals.

Two goals a game is not the measure, because it is nowhere near enough.

Milne will be overtaken by someone who has genuine leg speed, and an ability to contribute to mid-field rotations.

Milne relies on ducking and weaving, is getting caught far too often with the ball as a result and has a need to increase the efficiency of his harrasment and tackling.

He is in competition with others for a place in the team - and that is good.

With the likes of Armitage and Geary and others standing up, Milne is under pressure because these mid-fielders will squeeze out a "forward pocket specialist".

Hence the continuing experiment with Milne in the mid field.

And the pressure mounts, which is of benefit to St Kilda.

Im not sure any player in AFL history can be contributing directly to 50% of the score in most games through a year. If a FP with an occasional run on the ball can kick 44 goals in a year that is a big win for any side.