saintdooley wrote:This guy does not have a future at AFL level. Yes i have seen some good things from him, but far too many of the bad. His decision making under pressure is very poor. and even when there is no pressure he will manage to turn it over and sometimes cost us a goal. Yes we all make mistakes, but he makes far too many to still be in an AFL team.
Think about it, What other club would Raph get a game at? Port? Lions? GWS? possibly, but thats because they are all s*** would just suit him perfectly. Clubs that are serious and have a future, Hawthorn, Geelong, Collingwood would not even touch him with a 10 foot stick.
Will Raph Clarke ever lead us into a Grand Final and possibly our second premiership? the answer is no. What the club has to do is work through the list and really ask themselves if this player has the potential to be a premiership player, if not, no second thoughts, just show them how to use the door. I think the ones at Seaford are now electronic so shouldnt be too hard for him to figure out.
He's been at the club now for about 7 or 8 years? and has next to nothing to show for it. its time to move on. just admit it.
Interesting change of tact
The contentious topic here was whether or not he was a better defender than Gwilt and on that point, I still reckon he is.
He closer checks his opponent whereas Gwilt on numerous occasions this year was found wanting in that department. Especially against Essendon where the bomber's consistently directed their forward thrusts through Gwilt's opponent who often marked on the lead.
Raph is also harder working and tends to cover more space. And he is better over head. Both as a mark and his ability to spoil.
Do you dispute any of the above.
I also think he is cleaner at picking the ball up from the ground, especially in contests and can generally read the play better.
Gwilt on the other hand has much much cleaner disposal and generally tends to be more composed (although I felt he butchered the ball under pressure a lot more this season... but so did every one).
He is by far a more well rounded player than Raph whose offensive capabilities are far too infrequently shown.
You tend to rant a bit in your response but I'll discard the garbage as best I can
Raph's development through many factors, stalhed in the early part of his career mainly through injury possibly secondary to the fact that he didn't work hard enough to get his body right (as Big Mart has suggested) or maybe other factors.
Throw in the combination of that in context of the the saints failing to identify a good position/role for him and you have a player that had a very average first 5-6 seasons.
Over the last 2 years however there has been marked improvement.
He is a good defender and he has been steadily developing the offensive part of his game. Yeah he tends to get caught holding the ball now and then and occasionally shanks a kick but so do a lot of others in the AFL. The question is does he make up for it in other ways and the clear answer is yes.
He had several really good games this season. And yes some stinkers too.
Why would you get rid of him now whilst he's finally starting to produce?
Your comment about him having nothing to show for 7-8 years is cr@p. He's held his spot through the most part from 09-11 in a strong team... by all reports (as reported here) his team mates rate him highly and he performed very well in the second half of the season. He strung a really good number of games together b4 having a stinker vs the Swans.
Will Raph ever lead us to a grandfinal??? He may not be a star but neither will most players outside the clubs top 10... ridiculous argument.
