Scared to make a change?

[Spinner]

Dropping Dal and Milne was an entirely different situation. Our backs were to the wall. We were in jeopardy of losing the season. Today - we are winning, and winning well.

You intimated that RL didn't have the guts to bring in players. However he had the guts to drop two Saint favourites.

Exactly the same situation when it comes to discussing RL's intestinal fortitude.

You seriously don't think Max and Gram are walk up starts? Hopefully not.

No I dont think they are walk up starts. What has Max done this season? And Gram has butchered the ball all year.

Both are not walk up start because they have a name.

Yeh, I understand and tend to agree that for discipline Gram should get sent back. And I like the luxury of having Max build fitness in the seconds.....But they are walk up starts, based on their ability, contribution and talent. Much alike 10-12 other players in our team.

What contribution? None from Max - and piss poor from Gram.

They have shown nothing this year and dont deserve to be handed a spot because a fanboi deems it so.

Let them wait. They dont walk into this TEAM.

Goose the exception. Long term injury....But another point to counter the 'walk up start' theory....These players have done their dues in the seconds.

Who says they have done ther dues? And who cares the players in the seniors have done their dues by winning 9-0.

They can wait.

From all reports Gram played well, Max has held his own and Goose has been as versatile as hell....Its not like they don't have performance to back it up.

I couldn't care less. Gram didn't want his spot and lost it. Max "held his own" well the defence has held every team to under an average of 59 points.

Goose has been versatile. Well good for him. When we have an injury mabye that will keep him in good stead.

As stated the benefits of consistency and stability are important...But so is a structured process between performance in the reserves and promotion into the firsts.....And I don't want that process of elevation to solely rely on injury and forced change.

Why not? If you elevate someone you drop someone. I deal in facts and the facts are we are 9-0. We elevate Max Gram and Maguire and we could not have been better placed than we are.

Therefore they are not walk up starts.

Gram didn't work hard enough for his spot and it was taken off him - he has butchered the ball all year and deserved to be dropped.

Max is old in football terms and goes down with injury at the dropp of a hat - he hasn't played all year and like G-Train could well be a liability compared to our fantastic backline that we currently have.

Goose - too slow for the backline - mabye as a third forward but for who?

Really just because you like their names - none are a walk up start.

I like the fact that our team doesn't get injured and also wins.

obviously this is not good enough for you but I bet you will one of the first on here complaining WHEN we eventually lose.

I think we have a differing opinion on whether players deserve to be automatic selections regarding senior players....No other way past that.

I do take on board the toughness of dropping Dal Santo and Milne, although still different circumstance....But I did fail to recognize the severity of this decision.....Its just now we are winning, it is too easy to not make changes. And I hope that the first does not automatically indicate the second.

[starsign]

.Its just now we are winning, it is too easy to not make changes. And I hope that the first does not automatically indicate the second.

All this really "automatically indicates" is your terrible lack of any semblance of football nouse!

Its not a case of too easy , not to make changes for changes sake , but very [b]astute[/b] not to

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

I most certainly wouldn't remove Zac from full back, as I reckon he's been going almost as well as Max ever has down there, but this is the ideal time to put Max back in the pocket, on the smaller guys he's always been ideally and best suited to. I would bring him in as soon as he's ready, no doubt at all. Our opponents would be thrilled to see him running around in the two's and not the seniors.
Although he's done a brilliant job at full back when needed there, I believe Max has always been best suited to the guys that aren't quite as big as he's ended up playing on for most of his career. He only ever went to full back when the likes of Jamie Shanahan, Shane Wakelin and later Luke Penny left the club, because he was the next best option. He's not quite big enough to be ideally suited to the really big guys and I reckon playing on them has put a huge strain on his body. I'm really looking forward to seeing him play on the likes of Steve Johnson, Paul Medhurst, Taylor Walker, Brad Johnson, Daniel Motlop, Brad Ebert, Michael O'Loughlin, Mark Le Cras, etc. I wouldn't hesitate to put him on them.
As for Goose, I would put him in at CHB immediately (unless he plays in the ruck this week) and move either Sam Fisher, Sam Gilbert, or both, to half forward, to be our "lead-up" guy/guys from half forward, to play the sort of role Sammy Hamill used to play and the role James Gwilt is trying to play. I reckon they could play just as well there (as they do down back) and give us great leading and marking targets between half forward and the wings. This would mean Rooey no longer has to lead that far out from goal, leaving he and Kosi in the 50 almost the whole time. Imagine that! It would be like Buddy and Roughead last year, but with better marking targets across half forward. We would lose a bit of run from half back, if we did, but that's easily solved by putting Gram or Geary or someone like that back there. We can afford to do it, especially at this point in the season.
We will especially need some strong marking targets across HF for when we play Geelong, as the likes of Mackie, Milburn and Enright would have a field day in the air across half back with some of the guys we have across HF at the moment.
I hope we have the guts to try a few things and I certainly agree that unless they have something going on that we aren't aware of, that they're lacking the guts to pick our best team. I reckon they're definately taking the soft option and waiting till we get injuries till they bring in some of these guys. If they think that we're going to win the flag, after winning 1 in 100+ years, without picking our best team, with Geelong going as they are, I reckon they're kidding themselves.