Rhys

[ShanghaiSaint]

Looked a bit disappointed with himself as he came off...maybe because of the Blues come back, and his last Qtr job on Hampson...but I reckon he's doing pretty well as a key defender, especially when he is new to the gig. Got good closing speed, just some positioning issues.

even though he had a few moments last night i was very happy with his game and think he's developing well in his new role... going to take time so i hope he gets some encouragement from the boys. he had some hard tall boys to play on. he has a lot of Dustin about him imo, just needs to learn how to use his pace to his advantage in the duels

[Con Gorozidis]

47 x 1% this year, next closest is Ben with 22.

Credit to him for his team efforts

thanks for pointing that out sainter k.
wish peeps would stop hassling the rhys! they all expect him to be an overnight riewoldt .

[ShanghaiSaint]

Yeah, if we had another option I'd move him to the wing and let him run rampant.

But he's doing ok. Maybe if he's struggling early, put him on the ball for a few minutes to get a touch, maybe kick a big goal. Then move him back.

I guess it depends on the opposition too. The Crows next week are a bit light on for key fwds. Will he have a match up? Might be the game to experiment a bit, I dunno.

the Crows do have tom Lynch, whom i would assume would love to kick a bag against us to prove something!

by the way , did he want to move?

don't let 10 against GWS worry you playing against our defenders is totally different. I doubt Lynch will ever kick 10 again. but i might be wrong.

[philtee]

Enrico's comparison to Dustin Fletcher could be very apt. Very similar body types.
Rhys just needs a few more of Fletcher's footy smarts and mongrel dog-fight attitude.
Fletcher - 198cm and 93kg.
Stanley - 200cm and 96kg.

[FQF]

Rhys will play on Jenkins I suspect

[skeptic]

to punish opponents he needs to be able to his natural attributes... size and speed. He's the type of player that could push down forward and take a grab

can't do that from the last line

me thinks I'm happy with hpw he's progressing but we still need a natural FB

[Saint wagga]

I agree, it's great to see him on the paddock getting games under his belt after such a tough run with injuries. He does look shaky at times...the temptation ( and I'm as guilty as anyone) is to move him when he looks dodgy and fumble, but surely he's worth hanging tough with, I have a lot of confidence in the coaching panel and senior players developing him. He only looks super dodgy against the absolute guns like cloke, the lesser the quality of forward the more solid he looks which is a good sign I think that with confidence will come improvement against the top tier.

[karnaby]

Some of his kicking has been wonderful. Frequently spotting up players 50+m away is helping us break opposition defensive shackles and enabling us to be more fast paced and attacking. Yeh, he's got a bit to learn but gee, he has some assets.

[gringo]

He's learning and apart from giving Cloke a couple of frees he's been good. No more stressful than Dawson down there.

[Zed]

Good height, good closing speed, good reach, and importantly he has very good kicking skills - which is something most of our key defenders have always been a bit shaky on.

Probably never played in defence as a junior I'm guessing is probably completely foreign to him - he will get better as he gets more games under his belt and will be invaluable in 2 -3 years from now when we are making our next run at the finals. Hope Maxy H is taking him under his wing - could have no better mentor.

[Devilhead]

Needs to get a little more awareness of whats around him - a couple of times he went for the ball in the air when we already had it covered and spolied his team mate

It is early days though and if he can play out the year ie: no injuries and develop his upper body strength next year he could really start to really impose himself on games - the fact that he is injury free and has stringed a few games together is the biggest plus

[sunsaint]

Needs to get a little more awareness of whats around him - a couple of times he went for the ball in the air when we already had it covered and spolied his team mate

It is early days though and if he can play out the year ie: no injuries and develop his upper body strength next year he could really start to really impose himself on games - the fact that he is injury free and has stringed a few games together is the biggest plus

yep he needs to works on awareness
love what he brings to our defence, and I really hope becomes the cornerstone player that we build our backline around over the coming years.
But as a forward he seems to be too "focused" on his opponent, and by that I mean at most opportunities he is watching his man instead of the ball.
His attributes are height, speed and wingspan - play to your strengths

[#gosaintas]

his other attribute is kicking. His 50+ m kicking is as good as sipposs's and his vision is excellent so there is a football brain in there somewhere. He can overkick the shortpasses though. I have no idea what his position should be but I still reckon he will be a star.

[Greg T]

Rhys is a walk up start every week
Will develop into a top footballer whether he is CHB or CHF,
Certainly glad to have him in our side.
Probably lacks a bit of confidence at the moment.

[saintsRrising]

Some of his kicking has been wonderful. Frequently spotting up players 50+m away is helping us break opposition defensive shackles and enabling us to be more fast paced and attacking. Yeh, he's got a bit to learn but gee, he has some assets.

His kicking has been a revelation this year...stunning in fact.

I had never really noticed his kicking in the past, but this year he has been ELITE.

If people want to compare hi to Fletcher, then this is another parallel as Fletcher has been a long, accurate and smart ball kicker throughout his career.

[Trev from the Bush]

Rhys is THE ultimate Saintsational love child. He is in his fifth season at the club, has nearly 30 games under his belt and I am desperately waiting for his breakout game. Plenty of posters to this site are all to willing to chop less experienced players, such as Ledger, and proven performers (CJ comes readily to mind) but see Rhys as the next messiah. Fact is he has not done much of real value to date (but I really hope he does and soon).

Those on this thread who have dared to mention Rhys and Dustin Fletcher in the same sentence really need to apply the surgical hand cuffs. Immediately!

If we are still discussing where he is best suited on the ground and discussing his glimpses of improvement and the end of the season, ie, still waiting for him to deliever then he might give us some valuable currency around the trade table. I hope it does't stretch to this but I, for one, am starting to grow a little weary of waiting for him to deliver some of his rumoured great potential.

[bigcarl]

He can play on the resting ruckman okay, but I don't like him as a regular full back against genuine forwards. Not at this stage anyway.

Fisher is a better bet at full back. I know he's just learning but Rhys looks under too much pressure on the last line ... at this stage. If we are trying to win games, that is.

[Animal Enclosure]

Rhys is THE ultimate Saintsational love child. He is in his fifth season at the club, has nearly 30 games under his belt and I am desperately waiting for his breakout game. Plenty of posters to this site are all to willing to chop less experienced players, such as Ledger, and proven performers (CJ comes readily to mind) but see Rhys as the next messiah. Fact is he has not done much of real value to date (but I really hope he does and soon).

Those on this thread who have dared to mention Rhys and Dustin Fletcher in the same sentence really need to apply the surgical hand cuffs. Immediately!

If we are still discussing where he is best suited on the ground and discussing his glimpses of improvement and the end of the season, ie, still waiting for him to deliever then he might give us some valuable currency around the trade table. I hope it does't stretch to this but I, for one, am starting to grow a little weary of waiting for him to deliver some of his rumoured great potential.

No one is calling Rhys the next messiah.. & I think he's be very good this year is a totally new role.

Trading Rhys now would be up there with the all time great f%^k ups that this club has ever made. And we've made plenty of absolute howlers.

Players like Ledger are a dime a dozen... Blokes of Stanley's height, size & athletic ability are like hen's teeth.

You keep growing weary Kev, as you mentioned he's played 30 games & barely any of those in a row with any continuity. Let's re-visit your assessment when the kid has gone past 50 games (hopefully in about 12 months time).

[Old Mate]

I reckon he should be trade bait.

[Scollop]

Rhys is a walk up start every week
Will develop into a top footballer whether he is CHB or CHF,
Certainly glad to have him in our side.
Probably lacks a bit of confidence at the moment.

Two contrasting points of view.

Greg T is the optimist and Trev from the Bush seems like he is yet to be convinced.

Rhys is THE ultimate Saintsational love child. He is in his fifth season at the club, has nearly 30 games under his belt and I am desperately waiting for his breakout game. Plenty of posters to this site are all to willing to chop less experienced players, such as Ledger, and proven performers (CJ comes readily to mind) but see Rhys as the next messiah. Fact is he has not done much of real value to date (but I really hope he does and soon).

Those on this thread who have dared to mention Rhys and Dustin Fletcher in the same sentence really need to apply the surgical hand cuffs. Immediately!

If we are still discussing where he is best suited on the ground and discussing his glimpses of improvement and the end of the season, ie, still waiting for him to deliever then he might give us some valuable currency around the trade table. I hope it does't stretch to this but I, for one, am starting to grow a little weary of waiting for him to deliver some of his rumoured great potential.

Trev says Rhys has been at the club for 5 years. I don't think we should even consider any of the years under the former coach (because development of young players was not a priority as we know). I'd only be looking at how Rhys has gone when he's been able to string a few games together when he's been injury free this year and last year.

As for the comparisons with Dustin Fletcher - for most of his career the question marks on Fletcher were always around whether he could handle the gorillas and stand up as the key FB. Sheedy saw the potential and gave the kid the confidence to forge a terrific career. Most of that career has been spent as the spare defender or as the second string KP defender.

I reckon SW is instilling confidence in Stanley and his whole coaching philosophy right now is about the senior blokes in the team embracing the younger blokes and teaching them while they get invaluable game time.

I remember SW mention at one point last year that Stanley could be the most important player structurally for the team. The footy club is providing the development coaches and the infrastructure for a bloke of Stanley's size to be an elite player.