Rl's press conference.....Goddard

[fingers]

....Ross mentioned that Goddard had 40 possessions in his game last week and has played 3 full games. Would be pushing for selection...nice to have some players to choose from.

[Enrico_Misso]

That's great news.

Did he mention Goose ?

[Ralphy]

i dont think goose will play untill round 4 against geelong,
Just my wishing hahaha

but think goddard will play

im excited to see dempster (any word on him)

[Saints Premiers 2008]

bj is back

[saintsrus]

Next week in BJ out Gilbert

[SuperSaint]

Next week in BJ out Gilbert

More likely to come in at the expense of Raph Clarke.

[meher baba]

Next week in BJ out Gilbert

More likely to come in at the expense of Raph Clarke.

Or perhaps Geary.

It'll be a close run thing.

[claystreet]

I reckon it should be BJ in and bye bye Raph
who needs a run in the magoos i reckon

[james rose]

think raph is looking slightly better every week... where as to me gilbo looks more and more nervous.. think he should get an extended run in the two's to find that confidence again unless we get a couple injuries

[claystreet]

Not much seperating Raph and Gilbo.
Gilbo had 2 more posessions 8 and 4 to Raphs 5 and 5

Neither are really firing but Raph still looks to me like he lacking confidence

[joffaboy]

Neither are really firing but Raph still looks to me like he lacking confidence

So dropping him to the reserves will inspire confidence???????

[Apu]

Should be either Raph or Gilbo since they all play in the same position.

[jonesy]

Gilbert is struggeling compared to last year....on last years star form you'd give him another week or two to try and find it. Hopefully he can get back on track.

I'd drop Raph for Goddard. He'll be a very handy inclusion!

[hAyES]

Gilbert is struggeling compared to last year....on last years star form you'd give him another week or two to try and find it. Hopefully he can get back on track.

I'd drop Raph for Goddard. He'll be a very handy inclusion!

Sounds good to me. Goddard can do Raph's job and do it a hell of a lot better.

[maverick]

Gilbert is struggeling compared to last year....on last years star form you'd give him another week or two to try and find it. Hopefully he can get back on track.

I'd drop Raph for Goddard. He'll be a very handy inclusion!

Sounds good to me. Goddard can do Raph's job and do it a hell of a lot better.

No he can't, BJ is not a defender.....

[The Saintsational Man]

Isn't it awesome for once.....

We're discussing who to omit due to a better player been available for selction......

Where as last year after all our blokes were getting injured, we would been saying;

"Well whos gonna take BJ's place? Who's Gonna take Goose's place?"

Such an awesome luxury we have at the moment.

"Touch wood"

[saintspremiers]

I thought Raph played quite a good game against Carltank, and no way would I even consider dropping him....excellent spoils (yes sometimes he should've taken a mark!), very few mistakes, plus I'm sure it lifts X having his little bro in the team - and look how good X is this year??

Gilbert is looking a tad rusty and IMO is the one to go for BJ.

[st.byron]

Next week in BJ out Gilbert

More likely to come in at the expense of Raph Clarke.

Would prefer to see him in and Fiora out.
Gilbert adds flexibility in defence, Raph is going ok without starring and Geary has 20 plus possessions in his two games.

In - BJ
Out - Fiora

[The Saintsational Man]

Next week in BJ out Gilbert

More likely to come in at the expense of Raph Clarke.

Would prefer to see him in and Fiora out.
Gilbert adds flexibility in defence, Raph is going ok without starring and Geary has 20 plus possessions in his two games.

In - BJ
Out - Fiora

Fiora is getting better and better as the months go by with us.....

Hes a great target to kick to, as was shown by his screamer lastnight, and hes an awesome runner.

I wouldn't drop him.

[Oh When the Saints]

Interesting comment's in RL's full media conference.


Said Geelong were still far and above the best team in the competition and that Collingwood, Port and Hawthorn were the strongest teams.

Believes we have a "long way to go" and are a "long way off" getting to that level consistently.

(Spin?!?)

Loved his philosophy at the end ... "I've never seen anyone help you get a kick on the field, except your team-mates" ... got to just ignore the media crap was his point.

[ausfatcat]

Next week in BJ out Gilbert

More likely to come in at the expense of Raph Clarke.

Would prefer to see him in and Fiora out.
Gilbert adds flexibility in defence, Raph is going ok without starring and Geary has 20 plus possessions in his two games.

In - BJ
Out - Fiora

Fiora is getting better and better as the months go by with us.....

Hes a great target to kick to, as was shown by his screamer lastnight, and hes an awesome runner.

I wouldn't drop him.

Don't let the one mark blind you, was pretty hopeless last week (9 posies no goals) just on average this week (15 posies no goals) and he's not getting better every month with us he's the same up and down player he was at richmond.

[Solar]

really good problem to have, would rather see BJ play on a wing then down back, has been playing as a ruck rover for the scorps and there is no reason why he can't be a damaging winger who floats back into defence.

not sure who to drop from the team but I would lean towards dropping king, play kosi as second ruck to get his hand on it more against a smaller team and add a extra midfielder in BJ.

[mad saint guy]

not sure who to drop from the team but I would lean towards dropping king, play kosi as second ruck to get his hand on it more against a smaller team and add a extra midfielder in BJ.

That's not a bad idea. It would solve our problem of being too top-heavy, give us a more mobile ruck division and we don't have to drop Raph or Geary, who have both played well so far.

[Solar]

not sure who to drop from the team but I would lean towards dropping king, play kosi as second ruck to get his hand on it more against a smaller team and add a extra midfielder in BJ.

That's not a bad idea. It would solve our problem of being too top-heavy, give us a more mobile ruck division and we don't have to drop Raph or Geary, who have both played well so far.

I just feel quesy when king goes into the ruck currently, don't rate his marking and all his tap outs go straight to the opposition. Kosi looked great coming in as a second ruck against the second or third best from the other side.

I would keep both raph and geary in. Agree that gilbert is having second year blues so to speak but it will be important to ride him through this slump.

[st.byron]

[
Fiora is getting better and better as the months go by with us.....

Hes a great target to kick to, as was shown by his screamer lastnight, and hes an awesome runner.

I wouldn't drop him.

Disagree that he's a great target. He's fine if he's out on his own. One screamer doesn't make a player a good target. My main criticism of Fiora is that he is easily pushed off the ball in a contest. He loses his feet and goes to ground too often in a contested situation. Seen it over and over again.He's also soft IMO, hangs out on the outside of a pack rather than going for it like he absolutely has to have it.
On the plus side, he is one of the better users of the footy in the team. Set up two goals last night with lovely passes to leading forwards.
Perhaps I'm not valuing his contribution enough, but I just don't see him winning hard balls when it really counts. Is an outside front-runner IMO.