ray, peake and polo

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stinger
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ray, peake and polo

Post: # 1121273Post stinger »

those three have been exceptional for the saints this year, and along with benny mack and young jack have helped our established stars in nicky dal, chips, bj and joey restore some pride and hope in saints supporters this year...

it should be remembered that all three were original high draft picks with farren going at pick no 4 in 2003 , peake as a father/son selection at pick no 43 in the same year and polo pick 20 in 2004...

..all can play footy.....hand have proven it with their new club...

..i was therefore appalled to see a poster state on friday night that polo and peake had just proven that they were not up to scratch to match it with the filth.....

..i considered both to be in our best ..as i'm sure the saints coaches did also..

just my rant....

..i get pissed off with supposed supporters taking their frustrations out on saints players....


.everybody still loves lenny....and we always will

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mad saint guy
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Post: # 1121309Post mad saint guy »

Ray has been ok, far from exceptional. He seems like he is capable of more than what he produces. Peake had that great patch but has trailed off to just good in the past few weeks. Polo is an improvement on McQualter or Eddy but it's unclear whether he'll be a long term player. He's got good hands and works hard but doesn't have much pace or great skill.

When you compare their output with the support mids of Collingwood and Geelong like Wellingham, Johnson, Corey, Kelly etc they fall short. Not saying that ours are bad players, but they're certainly not untouchable.


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sRaf
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Post: # 1121311Post sRaf »

Ray and Polo go missing at times, but you can't knock their efforts. As mentioned, I think Ray is falling short of his potential. Maybe change his role? I don't know.

Peake on the other hand has done a 180. He has composure, speed and skill that he's now showing on a consistent basis. Top work rate that's finally paying off.


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Post: # 1121324Post meher baba »

Peake is the only one of the three who has really impressed me this year. Polo has played reasonably well and has held his spot, but is no world-beater.

Ray looks like he has the talent to be a first-rate player. But to some extent he just plods along, rarely featuring in anyone's list of BOG, let alone scoring any Brownlow votes.


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Post: # 1121333Post FQF »

I would be very curious to see Ray play a stint, maybe one quarter, as a lead up forward. There isn't really any downside to the experiment, but with his hands it could prove to be very valuable in alleviating the never ending issues of our forward line.


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Post: # 1121343Post stkfc1 »

Regarding Polo,don't forget this is his first year in our system.

Most newbies take a year to settle into new game styles,positions etc.

I think next year we can expect another 10-15% improvement from him.


bergholt
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Re: ray, peake and polo

Post: # 1121349Post bergholt »

stinger wrote:those three have been exceptional for the saints this year, and along with benny mack and young jack have helped our established stars in nicky dal, chips, bj and joey restore some pride and hope in saints supporters this year...
exceptional? that might be going too far. of those five mentioned:

mcevoy: consistently very good and improving
steven: up and down, ranging from solid to excellent
peake: very good with a few quiet games
polo: a serviceable, tough player who gets a different role every week
ray: as expected from him; good enough but very rarely excellent

your three have been fine but certainly aren't superstars, and aren't going to be. that's fine. but don't fall into the trap of talking them up too much just because they've been better than you expected.


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Post: # 1121365Post skeptic »

Ray us and always has been one of the most overrated players on our list

Don't get me wrong, he's an ok player

generally doesn't do enough
very rarely produces under pressure

he's more a player that does a few good things in a game that stand out
kind of like the opposite of Raph (who does a 1000 things u don't notice but his mistakes really really stand out)


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Post: # 1121399Post SainterSoul »

I still question whether any of them will be part of a Saints premiership - particularly Polo.


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Post: # 1121402Post borderbarry »

With Lenny, Cripps, and Ledger back next year I can see Polo battling to get into the 22.


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Post: # 1121403Post Spinner »

All cant kick.


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Post: # 1121419Post fingers »

FQF wrote:I would be very curious to see Ray play a stint, maybe one quarter, as a lead up forward. There isn't really any downside to the experiment, but with his hands it could prove to be very valuable in alleviating the never ending issues of our forward line.

Good overhead. Not a bad suggestion.


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skeptic
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Post: # 1121471Post skeptic »

it's different playing lead up forward as opposed to running back with the flight which is what Ray is particularly good at doing

still worth a shot

the best players in the league are the ones that can kick goals... that's why guys like Milne, Roo, Kosi, Schneider etc get persevered with even when form is down.

It's easy to play on a HBF (in AFL terms) that's where plenty of players that struggle as midfielders and forwards end up - Leon Davis as a good example

At some point we need to be trying to develop some of our list as forwards so yes I think Ray should give it a go... has all the attributes

Goddard is another that should play forward more... why? Because he can and Gilbert/Clarke etc can't

That's why people want us to get more games into Gamble, Lynch, Walsh as forwards rather than play Blake as the sub in a non role

we have way more players that can play HBF than HFF


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Post: # 1121587Post gringo »

Ray is a good over head mark not just with the flight.


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Post: # 1121595Post BigMart »

Polo has below acceptable skill level for a mid....he appears as awkward as michael gardiner, but not 6'6"

He tries hard.....


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Post: # 1121598Post gringo »

Polo has been a real engine room driver up until the Pies game. Playing a guy who's skill is his handballing in traffic with a broken thumb may have been not a great idea. He is going well and will keep getting games while not injured, I would try him as a forward while his hand heals and give Armo a go in the middle.


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Post: # 1121600Post BigMart »

Maybw he could play our patented "defensive fwd" position.

Can he do it better than those whose career it f***ed
Eddy, mini, armo


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Post: # 1121654Post plugger66 »

BigMart wrote:Maybw he could play our patented "defensive fwd" position.

Can he do it better than those whose career it f***ed
Eddy, mini, armo
You seem to be more positive by the post. You must be one of the great coaches.


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Post: # 1121675Post gringo »

Could also say that guy's on the fringe have been given lifelines by the defensive forward role. Mini was wasting away in the ressies and as far as I know Armo is still going. Eddy was playing back mostly and as a fill in utility when needed. not sure Eddy's career was because of his DF role. Maybe just role for slow nuggets that tackle well and can kick a goal from limited opportunities.


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