Marshall Out

[Jacks Back]

LATE CHANGE: Rowan Marshall is out due to illness. He'll be replaced by Billy Longer.

[saynta]

LATE CHANGE: Rowan Marshall is out due to illness. He'll be replaced by Billy Longer.

F^^k

[stmob]

Oh dear....

[shrodes]

Damn, oh well. Let's see where Longer is at. He's up against 6th gamer O'Brien, so hopefully he can have a big impact.

[beebarry]

Goddamn it. That was a clear advantage to the saints ! Billy on a one year deal from memory so hopefully he plays for his life (career) today. 40 hit outs, 15 to advantage, 10 kicks, 8 handballs, 4 tackles and a goal.....would love to see something like that ! (Probably dreaming )... on the train on the way to Marvel - Come on Sainters !!

[Crossy66]

Billy!!!!!

[spert]

I would feel more confident with Lonie in the ruck!

[bigcarl]

Billy's big chance. If we lose, he's in trouble

[The_Dud]

Goddamn it. That was a clear advantage to the saints ! Billy on a one year deal from memory so hopefully he plays for his life (career) today. 40 hit outs, 15 to advantage, 10 kicks, 8 handballs, 4 tackles and a goal.....would love to see something like that ! (Probably dreaming )... on the train on the way to Marvel - Come on Sainters !!

That’s a seasons worth of disposals for Billy!

[wasaintsfan]

Marshall out is probably a good thing. For weeks people on here have said he needs to be rested.

Longer now has his chance to put pressure on the Ruck spot. That can only be a positive.
I remember when he got masked by hickey, he worked hard and started to dominate for a little bit. Let's hope this brings the same fire

[Crossy66]

Gee, he's heavily taped around that knee.
Hope hes fit.

[Crossy66]

Bruce doesnt look right either

[suss]

Bump. We really missed this guy today.

[Ape_Man]

We most certainly did.

Today I watched as Longer continuously could not cover ground to get to contests. Time and time again was caught between a ball up and a clearance.

Billy just isn’t up to the modern game.

Maybe if we played him a kick behind play he could be involved in more of the contests he is meant to be a beast at.

[Sainternist]

I didn't think Billy was that bad today. Took a couple of decent marks and his tap worked looked quite good. He probably would have found it hard going against the likes of Jacobs, though.

Will definitely have to holler for a Marshall to be back in the team against GWS.

[ace]

I can't wait to read Stonecold's assessment of Billy's game.

Look at the time I have to go to sleep.

[ausfatcat]

I didn't think Billy was that bad today. Took a couple of decent marks and his tap worked looked quite good. He probably would have found it hard going against the likes of Jacobs, though.

Will definitely have to holler for a Marshall to be back in the team against GWS.

The like of Jacobs? He got killed by O'Brien with twenty games experience he should have dominated him completely, longer ain't no spring chicken

[Kate]

Playing Billy = playing one man short.

[realdeal]

We most certainly did.

Today I watched as Longer continuously could not cover ground to get to contests. Time and time again was caught between a ball up and a clearance.

Billy just isn’t up to the modern game.

Maybe if we played him a kick behind play he could be involved in more of the contests he is meant to be a beast at.

Baffling.
So where on the ground does he actually play? He's not a threat or a presence up forward and i dont often see him helping out down back and chopping off opposition entries. (This would've been particularly useful yesterday).

It appears that he only runs around the middle of the ground between the 50m lines.. providing a link up option? Providing a target when our defense has to rush kick out of defence? Im not sure. Is he fit enough? He appears to be. Does he need to slim down abit, or bulk up more? Has he got footy IQ? Is he being coached correctly?

Who knows.. He was a highly rated junior.. why? And whats gone so wrong?

Longer actually had one of his better games and wasnt our worst player on the day but he was still beaten in every facet by 6 gamer O'Brien.

[spert]

Longer would be fine in the 1970s or 80s style of footy, but he is not mobile or flexible enough for the current game.

[Toy Saint]

Bruce doesnt look right either

Watched Bruce doing what appeared to be a fitness test about 45 mins before the game. He was very clearly unable to run freely, and I was almost certain he would have, or at least should have been a late withdraw.

Whoever made the decision to play Bruce should be help accountable. And if it's the same bloke who conducted Hannebury's fitness test, he should be sacked.

[SaintPav]

Longer would be fine in the 1970s or 80s style of footy, but he is not mobile or flexible enough for the current game.

Yes, Billy would have been good in the 1880s.

[Joffa Burns]

I really think the game has gone by Billy.

He is not mobile and could not match it athletically with the modern midfield style rucks.

On top of this his skills are below average and it looks like his teammates don’t have the confidence to play through him in the midfield like they do Marshall.

IMO he at best broke even if not was beaten by a raw ruck who’d played a hand full of games.

Good luck to Billy and I hope he gets a run against GWS, but to me I think his style of play has been rendered obsolete by the current breed of midfield rucks who influence the game around the ground and not just at ball ups.

[Toy Saint]

McEvoy, Stanley and Hickey were all outstanding today, and we're left with Longer.....how does that work?

I mean, really, who takes responsibility for these decisions?

[Scollop]

McEvoy, Stanley and Hickey were all outstanding today, and we're left with Longer.....how does that work?

I mean, really, who takes responsibility for these decisions?

Stanley is showing some good form. He was vital to the Cats getting out of jail on many occasions last year and I thought he arrived as an AFL player in 2018.

McEvoy struggled to hold his spot after he was traded. Clarko showed some tough love and had him playing in the VFL late in the year and probably planned to always have him in his best 22 on Grand Final day. Thing is that Hale and other back up was available with Roughy also giving him a chop out

Stanley also usually got help but Chris Scott has shown enough confidence in him these days to basically play him without a back up.

Hickey too has usually had back up.

I would like to see Marshall playing in the ruck amd sharing ruck duties with Longer. Longer takes most of the battles in the centre and spends more time off the ground than Rowan. Rowan spends time standing 30 metres out from goal in the hot spot and gives us a tall target to aim for