Player by Player vs GWS

[carn_sainter]

A post like this will inevitably miss the forest for the trees but it should be said that the forestry department that is our coaching team have done and continue to do a cracking good job. We really work well as a team all over the ground and are playing with some kind of endeavour at the moment.


Acres - Had a huge influence on the game with his second half. He likes to break the play open and in the last quarter he broke the whole game open. Every saints fan is rightfully very excited by his continuing improvement. As loris said a while ago, Acres tends to get stronger and better as games go on.

Billings - Huge first half. Presented really well, got himself into good spots, got the ball in good spots, kicked a couple of good goals. Billings, maligned as he is, has really built himself into this season and through sheer work and persistence is hitting some serious form.

Brown - Excellent.

Bruce - Excellent. Not polished. Not offensively damaging, but he worked like a county mule out there. Would be one of the first names picked every week.

Carlisle - This guy has improved our team enormously. What he does, what he lets others do and what he stops the opposition from doing. Carlisle is an absolute gun. I'm just fully confident whenever he is involved in the play and he works really well with the other defenders.

Geary - Again, as always, his contested work was bloody awesome. Geary, maligned as he is, doesn't get the props he deserves for his nous and ability to read the play, which he then backs up with the balls to run off his man and help out. Definitely worthy of the captaincy.

Gilbert - Played an absolute cracker! What a gutsy effort! His kicking was dodgy as hell, but his handball and contest work was generally excellent.

Gresham - Very damaging footballer. Didn't need heaps of touches to hurt the opposition. Really increases our capacity to hurt the opposition and he works back really well defensively.

Longer - Massive game. I am pro-Hickey and have not yet been confident with Longer in the team. I've been worried about his capacity to play enough minutes in there so that we don't have too much time relying on Gilbert in the ruck. But Longer played 80% of the game last night and his second half in particular was enormous. We smashed them, the best in the comp, in the clearances in the second half and last quarter especially, and Longer is a massive reason for that. He wasn't getting touches around the ground but nor was his man. Played a blinder!

Membrey - Pretty good. Is dangerous, contested pretty well. Needs to recover his set shot form of 2016.

Meatball - See Gresham.

Montagna - Pretty quiet, I guess. Lovely to see him take down Johnson in the last quarter. I think that tackle turned into a goal?

Newnes - I was spewing with that miskick to Bruce in the third quarter. But that aside, Newnes played as he always does. Very good game.

Riewoldt - Was quiet. I kept saying we need to get Roo involved. He was playing deeper this week, I think. One awful turnover in the D50...but he didn't get the best supply last night. Quite a few long leads ended up with him taking the ball off the deck.

Roberton - In the last quarter when he intercepted the ball on the wing and nailed a left foot pass that ended up in a shot on goal I thought 'this guy is the best player in the comp!' Swept up in the win, I concede that is an exaggeration. Or is it?

Ross - I thought he was almost the best player on the ground. He has some serious toe this year! And he is tough and poised, good hands. Is in very good nick lately.

Sinclair - See Gresham. This guy needs to stay in the side. His poise was displayed nicely in the last when he took the handball off Steven, didn't blaze away, just measured things, chose the best option and nailed a lovely pass.

Steele - This guy is an absolute beast. A tackling machine! A contested ball factory unto himself! Great to have him in there.

Steven - Busted his gut, was productive. Not the neatest disposal ever. Should have nailed the running shot he missed but the one he nailed in the last was a ripper.

Stevens - See Steele. Like last week, he was one of the best on the ground and a huge reason we got on top of the midfield.

Webster - I've been very critical of Webster. I think my criticisms have been valid - that his disposal is dangerously inconsistent and he lacks poise. But he is doing a lot right and last night he was very good. Dogged contesting, running into good space and working his guts out. Played really well.

Wright - Quiet. Probably the one player who could be dropped. Classic Wright goal that he kicked.


Best: Roberton, Ross, Stevens, Acres, Longer. Tough to pick only 5.

[Otiman]

Good summary, disagree about Wright. His efforts off the ball creates clear space for his teammates. Did everything he needed to do, including goals.

[bigcarl]

Webster - I've been very critical of Webster. I think my criticisms have been valid - that his disposal is dangerously inconsistent and he lacks poise. But he is doing a lot right and last night he was very good. Dogged contesting, running into good space and working his guts out. Played really well.

This guy is a real good defender. He's quick, he's tough and he's becoming lethal with the ball.

[saintbrat]

SEN do player rating soon after each game

https://www.sen.com.au/news/2017/05/05/ ... ws-giants/

I was surprised at a couple last night but provides a comarison

[CarlD]

Not sure that SEN actually watched the game with some of those ratings.

[6621104]

Agree with the OP, pleasingly I might add. NO Longer and we would have lost that game. hard to give s/o almost best on ground if you look at stats- thus the SEN ratings, but if you look at influence and countering the drive that comes from centre clearances and Longer stands tall. Cudos to the selectors.

[Scollop]

Cujo - movie about a dog
Kudos - praise and honour received for an achievement.

[dragit]

I think the SEN ratings are probably closer than our one-eyed saints reviews

Bruce - would hate see a poor game if that was excellent, 7 disposals, 2 marks & 1 goal.

Steele was decent, but wasn’t very damaging as a mid with 5 kicks

Gresham was terrible in the first half, probably fortunate that his opponent went down with a knee… finished the game well though.

[saynta]

Good summary, disagree about Wright. His efforts off the ball creates clear space for his teammates. Did everything he needed to do, including goals.

Plus one

[carn_sainter]

I think the SEN ratings are probably closer than our one-eyed saints reviews

Bruce - would hate see a poor game if that was excellent, 7 disposals, 2 marks & 1 goal.

Steele was decent, but wasn’t very damaging as a mid with 5 kicks

Gresham was terrible in the first half, probably fortunate that his opponent went down with a knee… finished the game well though.

I really disagree with most of the SEN ratings. It is interesting in that I made my comments after watching the game live. I didn't see the stats (although I looked up Longer's Game Time, that's the only one) nor did I watch on tv.

I think it provides a good perspective on the pitfalls of relying on stats to make assessments. Bruce really was excellent last night, he presented like a beast and competed ruthlessly. He impacted the game in that way. You could easily be far less influential and have a far better stat sheet. Imagine he had 15 touches and 8 uncontested marks on the wing?

The comment on Steele is interesting too. He was indeed damaging. Far more damaging than Montagna, for example, who had more kicks.

Gresham kicked three goals which we would not have got without him. That's an awesome game. If we're invoking stats as the measure of someone's game, then surely points scored is the first and most important stat.

[dragit]

Stats certainly don't tell the full story… as I agree with you about Gilbert who was really important without any big numbers stats wise.

I thought Bruce was pretty average though, as a key forward he needs to be taking marks and kicking goals… presenting and bringing the ball to ground isn't enough at this level.

[BigMart]

Stats can also tell a story

It's why coaches use them