Ashley Sampi???

[sax]

Hi guys. I'm pretty new to this site, but I'm a life long Saints supporter & member since 1993. I live in SA, so can't get to as many games as I'd like.
Anyway, I've been reading some posts, & it seems that we're targeting a small forward. I read an article a while ago about Ashley Sampi. It said he went AWOL this year because a brother or cousin died.
It also said that he was willing to re-ignite his AFL career in 2008, be it at WCE os somewhere else.
Does anyone think he'd be worth a late pick?

[Bowey Boy]

Howdy Sax

Welcome to the Jungle !!

He can certainly play but he has also been a fair bit of trouble to West Coast. If he does end up as available it would be interesting to see how much interest there is. I suppose he would be worth a punt if he seems to have his head screwed on properly. However, I do kind of like the way the Saints have got rid of all their "head cases" in recent years.

Cheers to you

Bowser !!

[fingers]

Welcome Sax - tend to agree with Bowser - his behavior and commitment is a little unpredictable for my liking.

[Dan Warna]

welcome.

I think we should pass on sampi unless its like a round 5 or 6 pick on minimum wage.

IMO we tried a few difficult players (that guy from melbourne who's name escapes me, craig o'brien, etc and they generally dont work out, even sheeds and pagan have had trouble turning around some wild childs, although Pike was turned around, too hit and miss IMO)

[fonz_#15]

the risk far outweighs the benefit imo. the bloke has had a year off, would be rusty, and imo isn't that fantastic a footballer anyway.

good luck to him in getting his life back on track.

[st.byron]

Agree that he's too much of a risk. He's had a hell of a time keeping his personal life together and has spent much of the year up in Broome with family. I wouldn't be willing to invest anything in him, especially when he's 4,000 klm across the country from his kin. Would rather take a punt on a young bloke.

[stinger]

Agree that he's too much of a risk. He's had a hell of a time keeping his personal life together and has spent much of the year up in Broome with family. I wouldn't be willing to invest anything in him, especially when he's 4,000 klm across the country from his kin. Would rather take a punt on a young bloke.

he had a death in the family...had devastating effect on him...give the kid a break....all footballers are not robots ffs......you have a point on the distance aspect though.....depends how much he wants it...he can play a bit....

[Dan Warna]

he had a death in the family...had devastating effect on him...give the kid a break....all footballers are not robots ffs......you have a point on the distance aspect though.....depends how much he wants it...he can play a bit....

i absolutely sympathise with folks who have lost a family member.

doesn't mean we should park them on our list for 150k plus per annum.

IMO if he does want to play football again, and he is willing to lose weight, follow discipline and training etc, then 50k + match payments + perfomance on a 1 year contract and drafted with a round 4 or 5 pick.

[stinger]

he had a death in the family...had devastating effect on him...give the kid a break....all footballers are not robots ffs......you have a point on the distance aspect though.....depends how much he wants it...he can play a bit....

i absolutely sympathise with folks who have lost a family member.

doesn't mean we should park them on our list for 150k plus per annum.

IMO if he does want to play football again, and he is willing to lose weight, follow discipline and training etc, then 50k + match payments + perfomance on a 1 year contract and drafted with a round 4 or 5 pick.

yep......

[killa_gram]

IMO we tried a few difficult players (that guy from melbourne who's name escapes me,

Do you mean Sean Charles?

[Dan Warna]

IMO we tried a few difficult players (that guy from melbourne who's name escapes me,

Do you mean Sean Charles?

yep sean charles is one we threw a career lifeline too, but he didn't seem to have the application, guerra is another we gave a break too and walked out for a bigger contract.

[busso mick]

Sampi can play football and I think that a change of environment, away from Broome, away from the troubled Eagles, he could re-emerge as a more than useful footballer. A comparison would be Byron Pickett, who had 3 clubs and 2 flags to his name, and provided good service for each club.

Its a big risk, but no different to drafting someone and they get injured. If we got him he would certainly be exciting and could get us some valuable momentum, particularly for the young blokes on our list. He has had a break, done some soul-searching and wants to play footy again. I reckon a 3rd to 4th round pick would be worth it, as long as he was fit and motivated. We have the Clarke boys to provide support and a familiar face in Michael Gardiner, I am hoping it could be done, because I feel he could be a real asset for us. I am biased though as I love watching the Aboriginal boys in full flight.

[Dan Warna]

busso mick the voice of reason!

I would also look at a performance based contract as well.

[DK27]

Sampi when fit and mentally swithed on is a great player. Would be a risk but if it costs little then worth a shot. A bit like Gardiner. Huge upside if he gets on the field but little cost if we end up cutting him.

[mad saint guy]

guerra is another we gave a break too and walked out for a bigger contract.

Guerra didn't walk out, Thomas delisted him. They were never in negotiations and he wasn't offered a new contract.

On Sampi, spots on the senior list these days are far too valuable to be drafting players who will probably stop training and walk out mid-season. Even if he did get the committment back, he isn't much of a player.

If we've got a late draft pick with most of our priorities taken care of, I would like to see us take a giant ruckman, someone with freakish pace or a well performed player from the VFL like Garrubba.

[Saints Premiers 2008]

guerra is another we gave a break too and walked out for a bigger contract.

Guerra didn't walk out, Thomas delisted him. They were never in negotiations and he wasn't offered a new contract.

On Sampi, spots on the senior list these days are far too valuable to be drafting players who will probably stop training and walk out mid-season. Even if he did get the committment back, he isn't much of a player.

If we've got a late draft pick with most of our priorities taken care of, I would like to see us take a giant ruckman, someone with freakish pace or a well performed player from the VFL like Garrubba.

garrubba didnt crack it during the swans golden years so i think he is worth a crack

considering the swans didnt have injuries to...anyone it seems a good idea to get him or at least rookie him??

i thought we could have shopped guerra around instead of delisting him straight up...maybe there was more to the story???

[claystreet]

Guerra said in an interview recently
(i cant remember where) but he stated that he was being a bad lad at the saints and pulled his head in when the Hawks took him
as he was told its his last chance

booze is bad news blues

[st_Trav_ofWA]

no no and no
sampie was to slow and fat b4 he went AWOL now hes waaaaaayy out of it

[Shades]

no no and no
sampie was to slow and fat b4 he went AWOL now hes waaaaaayy out of it

he took a good mark

[midas_touch]

the risk far outweighs the benefit imo. the bloke has had a year off, would be rusty, and imo isn't that fantastic a footballer anyway.

good luck to him in getting his life back on track.

Totally agree there.

[mad saint guy]

he took a good mark

Hence the reason we are talking about him. If not for that mark he would just be another high draft pick failure.

[sax]

I really think he'd be worth a crack! A year off footy can do anyone good.
He wasn't fat, & he definately wasn't slow. Fair enough he'd be 4,000 km's from home, but that's why he'd be $50k plus incentives, like Gardiners. We need another small fwd & he'd add some excitement.
Only 23yo & 78 games experience!

[st_Trav_ofWA]

no no and no
sampie was to slow and fat b4 he went AWOL now hes waaaaaayy out of it

he took a good mark

and after that he did 2parts of sweet f**k all
sampi is not the same player he was back then
i would think he wouldnt last a preseason training let alone a full on game

[ben_fff]

I really don't remember Sampi being that good at all, I still don't rate that mark as the best that year (was that the same year as Roo's grab? if so I still can't believe Roo didn't win mark of the year, that mark is the best mark I've ever seen.)

[sax]

And what have the players we stick by done????