http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/t ... 1to9b.html
BEAU Wilkes had moved on. Sort of. Tomorrow night, the 25-year-old will play his first game for St Kilda, filling the back-line spot vacated by Zac Dawson. But this time last year he had no AFL club to play any games for, after three years of being swung on and off the West Coast rookie list.
Wilkes decided to concentrate on two things when he was delisted at the end of 2010: his carpentry work, and enjoying his football more. He wanted to relax while playing back at Claremont and stop worrying about what things might bring.
It got him what he wanted, deep down: one more chance. ''After my time at West Coast I made a pact to myself, to let my hair down a bit and just play,'' said Wilkes, who played 23 games in his five seasons with the Eagles, where he was put on the rookie list three times.
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''I didn't worry too much about anything last year, I just let my instincts take over a bit and tried to play my natural game, the way I knew I could play. It would probably have been easy to drop my bundle and think: 'I've been delisted, I'm just not that good a player,' but I always felt like I was good enough and I think that helped me a lot last year. I'm a carpenter by trade and I'm doing my builder's registration so I had a plan for the year and for the future, but I never stopped believing and I feel like that came through a bit in the way I played my footy.
''I enjoyed the year, I really enjoyed what we were doing at Claremont and I was ready for the rest of my life, so it was just a matter of whether another club wanted to give me a go. And I guess that's the thing, you can believe in yourself, but sometimes you need someone to instil some belief in you too.''
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/t ... z1n7OCaWpy
Story on Beau Wilkes
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hungry for a premiership
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Re: Story on Beau Wilkes
Dont like the headline "The saints new Zac..." No way could he be that dumb.
"Too big, too strong, too whatever."
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Con Gorozidis
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Re: Story on Beau Wilkes
good on him. there are probably 20 guys in the country not in the afl around 25 that could make a fist of afl and its a lottery knowing who is who. i see freo got some dude who kicked 55 odd in the wafl.
but beau has a few things going for him. hes big. doesnt seem to get injured much and is a good bloke. so i reckon we have a goodun. if we get 3 years and 50 games from him everyone wins.
go beau!
but beau has a few things going for him. hes big. doesnt seem to get injured much and is a good bloke. so i reckon we have a goodun. if we get 3 years and 50 games from him everyone wins.
go beau!
Re: Story on Beau Wilkes
hungry for a premiership wrote:Dont like the headline "The saints new Zac..." No way could he be that dumb.
If he does as well as Zac the club will be very happy. Cant see it but you never know.
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SaintPav
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Re: Story on Beau Wilkes
If Zac was so important and is so good, why didn't the club off load someone like Raph who wasn't that critical to our structure?plugger66 wrote:hungry for a premiership wrote:Dont like the headline "The saints new Zac..." No way could he be that dumb.
If he does as well as Zac the club will be very happy. Cant see it but you never know.
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perfectionist
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Re: Story on Beau Wilkes
I really can't remember ever having seen him play, although he played against us twice apparently. I note he is wearing number 37. Tony Lockett wore 37 in his first year and Dean Rice wore it for all his games (116) at St Kilda. At 194cm and 100kg, he is a big boy. Without putting too much pressure on him, our season will largely depend on how he performs. And yes, if he does as well as Zac, he (and we) will do well.
Re: Story on Beau Wilkes
SaintPav wrote:If Zac was so important and is so good, why didn't the club off load someone like Raph who wasn't that critical to our structure?plugger66 wrote:hungry for a premiership wrote:Dont like the headline "The saints new Zac..." No way could he be that dumb.
If he does as well as Zac the club will be very happy. Cant see it but you never know.
Probably because of the salary cap. The club didnt unload Zac they just couldnt meet his demands. Raph wouldnt have demands.
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Con Gorozidis
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Re: Story on Beau Wilkes
plugger66 wrote:SaintPav wrote:[quote="plugger66If Zac was so important and is so good, why didn't the club off load someone like Raph who wasn't that critical to our structure?
Probably because of the salary cap. The club didnt unload Zac they just couldnt meet his demands. Raph wouldnt have demands.
Raph is like Costanza. He just turns up to work in the morning. Noone even knows if he has a contract. "Morning Raph".
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sainter104
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Re: Story on Beau Wilkes
heres hoping hes alot better than dawson who in my opinion was lost in the backline without the likes of Bakes Blake and Gwilt helping him out Dudson was constantly beaten one out
Go Wilkes !!!! Go Saints
to hell with freo
Go Wilkes !!!! Go Saints
to hell with freo