McQualter OUT

[Junction Oval]

Forward entry & structure needs loads of work this week. Surely, double/triple teaming of Riewoldt opens other options.

[Con Gorozidis]

How about the idea of using Armitage as the 'McQualter forward'? He did good up forward, he has good defensive and offensive sides to his game, but too slow for a permanent mid. And bring young Ledger and Cripps/Steven in to give us a bit of bite.

Time for mediocrity is over. McQualter/Peake OUT!

What do people think?

correct. ledger and cripps simply must play mid. armo perm fwd in replace of mcqualter. i think also jones who has been horrible for 12 months could be re-invented in bakes role down back. as could eddy maybe.

sadly time is up for peake, mcqualter and bakes.

mcqualter still young enough to come back though. but for now its time to give game time to cripps and ledger.

winmar could also start getting some game time in replace of dempster. couldnt be any worse.

[gringo]

Just saw the Sandy report say that Will Johnson went well in the Sandy game. He was actually really close to being a very good player in the NAB, he looks like he knows his time is running out and looks eager, I would give him a go first, mature, solid and hungry give him until Kosi comes back to see if he can take a forward spot. Nothing ventured nothing gained.

[BigMart]

Here's a idea or two

Play armo as a midfielder, since he is........ffs

Not have a defensive fwd, wasted position, and ridiculous concept.....ffs

[falka]

Here's a idea or two

Play armo as a midfielder, since he is........ffs

Not have a defensive fwd, wasted position, and ridiculous concept.....ffs

Agree, put him in the middle for grunt, tackling and clearances. I cant believe we lost Luke Ball and Armo cant get regular crack in middle under Lyon. I thought he would appreciate this kind of work over role playing forward stoppers. Sigh!

Love Saints and Lyon, just cant get excited about 2011, hope the players can.

[degruch]

Here's a idea or two

Play armo as a midfielder, since he is........ffs

Not have a defensive fwd, wasted position, and ridiculous concept.....ffs

Ha! Brilliant...absolutely agree. I think that's a first BM.

[Bernard Shakey]

Here's a idea or two

Play armo as a midfielder, since he is........ffs

Not have a defensive fwd, wasted position, and ridiculous concept.....ffs

Too slow and doesn't work hard enough.

[Teflon]

Thought Armitage wasok the other night - threw in the body.

Should be in the middle aka Ball replacement for sure.

[lefty]

Yea, put Stanley in the forward line as a tall target, plus he's fast.
Put armo in the middle and move BJ or Dal up forward.

We simply need another tall to play beside Roo, as kick it to Roo results in 1 vs 4 every time, and gets boring quick.

F*** I hate people who say armo doesn't work hard enough, no one else in the darn team lays hard tackles nor dives for smoothers every friggen time, I guess some people don't watch closely enough...

[Con Gorozidis]

Thought Armitage wasok the other night - threw in the body.

Should be in the middle aka Ball replacement for sure.

fair calls. goal kickers should be in the fwd line. couple of indiginous quick blokes would be nice. but anyone who can kick a goal will do right now.

[Dr Spaceman]

Thought Armitage wasok the other night - threw in the body.

Should be in the middle aka Ball replacement for sure.

Yep, it's not like Ball is/was Carl Lewis.

[vacuous space]

Yep, it's not like Ball is/was Carl Lewis.

Reality is, there's plenty of ball winners that aren't sprinters. I don't think Lenny is leaving a trail of dead in his wake. He's really made up for that with that deft little sidestep of his. Jobe Watson, Matty Boyd, Jimmy Bartel, Scott Pendlebury. None of them will burn away with any regularity. None of those guys became elite ball winners playing in the forward line.

[SainterK]

Here's a idea or two

Play armo as a midfielder, since he is........ffs

Not have a defensive fwd, wasted position, and ridiculous concept.....ffs

Perhaps not a dedicated one anyway, if someone is causing a few headaches, then make a move.

[Richter]

peake was on the ground for just over a quarter and had 11 possessions. i think he did as much as he could given his role.

Agreed Peake was far from worst, actually pretty good.

Agreed. We kept the opposition to 6 goals and we scored 6 goals.

Pretty obvious that we played too many defensive types and not enough offensive types.

1 or 2 of the following players should be replaced with young attacking types....

McQualter, Dempster, Blake, Baker.

[Teflon]

peake was on the ground for just over a quarter and had 11 possessions. i think he did as much as he could given his role.

Agreed Peake was far from worst, actually pretty good.

Agreed. We kept the opposition to 6 goals and we scored 6 goals.

Pretty obvious that we played too many defensive types and not enough offensive types.

1 or 2 of the following players should be replaced with young attacking types....

McQualter, Dempster, Blake, Baker.

I agree.

I reckon this sides needs to see 3 maybe 4 fresh faces and that also means Armitage and co are continued to be played and NOT replaced by the likes of Mqualter et al in the short term.

Its also horses for courses.....we play Essendon in a few weeks......I think some speed via Cripps/Ledger/Steven/Smith etc would be invaluable. Id spell Dempster and maybe another back tall.....that wouldnt be the same if we were playing Hawthorn for example.

[vacuous space]

Its also horses for courses.....we play Essendon in a few weeks......I think some speed via Cripps/Ledger/Steven/Smith etc would be invaluable. Id spell Dempster and maybe another back tall.....that wouldnt be the same if we were playing Hawthorn for example.

We have big guys that are pretty mobile back in defence. I'm wondering whether we need either of Baker and Dempster back there, we certainly don't need both.

Gilbert moving back makes things really awkward for Blake. I don't think he's going to suddenly become a forward at this stage of his career. Raph has to play. Dawson, Fisher and Gwilt are locks. Suddenly we're trying to squeeze eight defenders into six spots, before we even consider the kids. There's really no point in wasting bench spots on surplus defenders.

I want to see Cripps and Smith next week and a real forward in Blake's spot. Not sure who goes out and who stays, but it's hard not to feel that the balance on Friday was all wrong.

[Teflon]

Its also horses for courses.....we play Essendon in a few weeks......I think some speed via Cripps/Ledger/Steven/Smith etc would be invaluable. Id spell Dempster and maybe another back tall.....that wouldnt be the same if we were playing Hawthorn for example.

We have big guys that are pretty mobile back in defence. I'm wondering whether we need either of Baker and Dempster back there, we certainly don't need both.

Gilbert moving back makes things really awkward for Blake. I don't think he's going to suddenly become a forward at this stage of his career. Raph has to play. Dawson, Fisher and Gwilt are locks. Suddenly we're trying to squeeze eight defenders into six spots, before we even consider the kids. There's really no point in wasting bench spots on surplus defenders.

I want to see Cripps and Smith next week and a real forward in Blake's spot. Not sure who goes out and who stays, but it's hard not to feel that the balance on Friday was all wrong.

couldnt agree more re: balance Friday.

Id also probably agree re Baker and Dempster in defence - my only concession on Baker was he has done ok against smaller, speedier players than himslef and I wonder whether his physical presence is more useful against this type than just speed

Dempster - no, should make way.

[saintsRrising]

Peake gained 11 possessions which was very good.

However whenever really under the pump in that last quarter he literally panicked and just coaughed it up.

Trouble is that this is a trait...and not an aberation...and undoes his many good points.

[saintsRrising]

Gilbert moving back makes things really awkward for Blake. I don't think he's going to suddenly become a forward at this stage of his career. Raph has to play. Dawson, Fisher and Gwilt are locks. Suddenly we're trying to squeeze eight defenders into six spots, before we even consider the kids. There's really no point in wasting bench spots on surplus defenders.

.

Ross needs to make some hard calls. we simply do not need that many tallish defenders...plus Dempster and lake is one to many.

Two need to go.

Teams are speeding up...as we will find when we play the Dons again in 2 weeks...and we lack pat s to goal.

McQualters lack of pace makes him expendable. He simply is not the player he was in 2009 and combined with stategic changes in the game he is just too slow to be small defensive forward.

Schneider will redress one path...but time for new blood.


Unfortunately in Round One quite a few of the possible ins were injured or underdone.

Some say Smith lacks stamina..though he looked ok in the NAB.


Stanley for tall defender.

Smith for Baker or Dempster
Cripps for Mini.

Schneider back in the week after.

[spert]

Gilbert moving back makes things really awkward for Blake. I don't think he's going to suddenly become a forward at this stage of his career. Raph has to play. Dawson, Fisher and Gwilt are locks. Suddenly we're trying to squeeze eight defenders into six spots, before we even consider the kids. There's really no point in wasting bench spots on surplus defenders.

.

Ross needs to make some hard calls. we simply do not need that many tallish defenders...plus Dempster and lake is one to many.

Two need to go.

Teams are speeding up...as we will find when we play the Dons again in 2 weeks...and we lack pat s to goal.

McQualters lack of pace makes him expendable. He simply is not the player he was in 2009 and combined with stategic changes in the game he is just too slow to be small defensive forward.

Schneider will redress one path...but time for new blood.


Unfortunately in Round One quite a few of the possible ins were injured or underdone.

Some say Smith lacks stamina..though he looked ok in the NAB.


Stanley for tall defender.

Smith for Baker or Dempster
Cripps for Mini.

Schneider back in the week after.

I didn't like Bakes game much and I think his time is near. McQ disappoints me and he needs to find some real form. Roo needs to play at FF, and someone like Stanley at CHF..play the bloke for a while and get him used to the position. Armo in the middle, and Lenny in the forward line for a bit of strength and contest- we can't expect him to continually carry the team from the midfield. More young blood please Ross..it's now or never.

[matrix]

peake had a disposal % of about 50-60 for those 11 touches tho from memory

[BAM! (shhhh)]

Here's a idea or two

Play armo as a midfielder, since he is........ffs

Not have a defensive fwd, wasted position, and ridiculous concept.....ffs

I was more impressed by Armitage as a forward than I have been by his midfield work since the Hawthorn game in '09. Predominantly because he wasn't playing a pure defensive role. I was stunned to see him looking a viable lead-up option. Persist a few weeks, lets see if he can actually settle in.

While I'd certainly be open to not playing a defensive forward, I think we'd be better off with a better defensive forward... the Cats got back into the game when they found a hole in our zone to get what would be generous to call "run" going.

On that performance, you'd think Mini's just keeping a spot warm for Schneider. I want to see Gilbert play up front, I want to see the team play with a bit more confidence... but most of all I want to see them against a less defensive setup before I get too worked up.

[Dr Spaceman]

Gilbert moving back makes things really awkward for Blake. I don't think he's going to suddenly become a forward at this stage of his career. Raph has to play. Dawson, Fisher and Gwilt are locks. Suddenly we're trying to squeeze eight defenders into six spots, before we even consider the kids. There's really no point in wasting bench spots on surplus defenders.

.

Ross needs to make some hard calls. we simply do not need that many tallish defenders...plus Dempster and lake is one to many.

Two need to go.

Teams are speeding up...as we will find when we play the Dons again in 2 weeks...and we lack pat s to goal.

McQualters lack of pace makes him expendable. He simply is not the player he was in 2009 and combined with stategic changes in the game he is just too slow to be small defensive forward.

Schneider will redress one path...but time for new blood.


Unfortunately in Round One quite a few of the possible ins were injured or underdone.

Some say Smith lacks stamina..though he looked ok in the NAB.


Stanley for tall defender.

Smith for Baker or Dempster
Cripps for Mini.

Schneider back in the week after.

Blind Freddy can see that some of our younger players have more skill, pace and natural talent than guys like Baker and Blake.

However the reason SB & JB are loved by many supporters, and by Ross, is because they give 100%. If these guys don’t get to a contest it’s because they can’t get to the contest.

It appears that some of our skilful young players don’t show the same intensity when playing for Sandy. I don’t know that as a fact but it certainly filters through from the comments by posters who watch the VFL games.

Ross may seem inflexible; he may seem to have favourites; he may seem to want kids to do a long apprenticeship. That’s probably all true up to a point. However I think he’s also looking for total commitment and dedication as much as anything else.

Circumstances may force his hand (eg Stanley last year) but it is really up to our youngsters to force their way in as much as to have the door opened for them.

[rexy]

Talk of poor drafting is tosh, Blind Freddy can see the problem is an overly conservative selection process.

Agree

[Richter]

Talk of poor drafting is tosh, Blind Freddy can see the problem is an overly conservative selection process.

Agree

No, the problem apparently is that the youngsters aren't performing for Sandy so don't 'demand selection.'

Seems that the likes of the Tigers and the Eagles don't have this problem with their new young players.