gilbert

[bigcarl]

i haven't seen the game yet. can anyone tell me how gilbert went?

[Ball_Breaker]

IMHO he was sensational. First competitive hit out for the year and he showed that he won't be a one-hit wonder. Some great defensive work in pressure situations and some great run through the middle. Disposal was pretty good too.

[Otiman]

Was on par with his '07 form, which is fantastic considering it's his first competitive hitout for the year.

[bigcarl]

great. where did he play?

[Eastern]

great. where did he play?

Running off Half Back. Still looks very awkward, but effective. Would just about be in the best 5 today !!

[nicko016]

He was very good today. He played relatively deep back and showed that he can build on last year. He managed to have a big impact with only 10 or 12 touches so imagine what he could do with 20+.

[GRAMophone]

IMHO Sammy Gilbert has something very special. His tenacity and inate tendency to create attacking opportunities when you would least expect it are something we saints have been a bit starved of lately.

[bigcarl]

IMHO Sammy Gilbert has something very special. His tenacity and inate tendency to create attacking opportunities when you would least expect it are something we saints have been a bit starved of lately.

a true utility. he's been variously talked about on this forum as a centre half back, half forward, onballer and possibly our next full back ... all positions i think he can handle.

he reminds me a bit of a young fraser gehrig. strong, quick and, as someone else put it, awkward.

a good way to describe him .... he is an awkward customer

[plugger66]

He was OK but the fact some people are sponser him may be effecting their opinion. Made heaps of mistakes early but got better. Top 10 at best IMO.

[bigcarl]

just watched the replay.

nice run by gilbert belting out of defence when the game was in the balance. one of the moments that tipped it in our favour. jeez he's quick.

the other was grammy's monster punt. must have gone 85 to 90 metres.

[maverick]

He was OK but the fact some people are sponser him may be effecting their opinion. Made heaps of mistakes early but got better. Top 10 at best IMO.

Who are the 9 in front of him just out of interest?
Not necessarily disagreeing mind you..

[plugger66]

He was OK but the fact some people are sponser him may be effecting their opinion. Made heaps of mistakes early but got better. Top 10 at best IMO.

Who are the 9 in front of him just out of interest?
Not necessarily disagreeing mind you..

In no order at Kosi, Dal, Joey, Milne, Blake, Chips, Armo, Gardiner, Geary, and maybe one or two thers. Only my opinion.

[bigcarl]

In no order at Kosi, Dal, Joey, Milne, Blake, Chips, Armo, Gardiner, Geary, and maybe one or two thers. Only my opinion.

do you think we can make a forward of kosi, plugger?

[plugger66]

In no order at Kosi, Dal, Joey, Milne, Blake, Chips, Armo, Gardiner, Geary, and maybe one or two thers. Only my opinion.

do you think we can make a forward of kosi, plugger?

I never once said he couldnt be a forward, I just dont like to many talls in the forward line. Kosi will play a similar role to Brown between CHF and FF with G the leading FF. And as good as he was yesterday the Cats had their best 3 backmen out.

[Mr Magic]

In no order at Kosi, Dal, Joey, Milne, Blake, Chips, Armo, Gardiner, Geary, and maybe one or two thers. Only my opinion.

do you think we can make a forward of kosi, plugger?

I never once said he couldnt be a forward, I just dont like to many talls in the forward line. Kosi will play a similar role to Brown between CHF and FF with G the leading FF. And as good as he was yesterday the Cats had their best 3 backmen out.

And if it comes to a 'contest' in the air between
Scarlett v Gehrig
Egan v Kosi
Harley v Roo
Milburn v C Gardiner

I reckon we will come out in front.
Not 1 of their tall defenders is likely to outmark our tall forwards so there would be a gameplan to try and bring the ball to the ground.

Historically,Scarlett has done pretty well on Gehrig.
Egan has shown he doesn't have the pace to go with Roo and if Kosi plays up forward he is their tallest defender so will need to take him I would back Kosi to outmark Egan.
They have continued to try Harley on Roo and whilst he has the pace to run with Roo, he ccannot compete against him in the air.
C.Gardiner has been a revelation in the 2 NAB games and if he can keep that form up will cause all sorts of problems for other teams because he plays as a 4th tall, and very few sides have enough tall defenders to cope with 4 tall forwards, especially if they are planning to try and double-team Kosi/Roo
If we end up with a gameplan that allows all 4 talls to play we will be a totally different proposition this year.

More like those periods in 2004 when Kosi was resting in the forward pocket and we had G, Roo and Sammy all fit.

[bigcarl]

I never once said he couldnt be a forward, I just dont like to many talls in the forward line. Kosi will play a similar role to Brown between CHF and FF with G the leading FF. And as good as he was yesterday the Cats had their best 3 backmen out.

personally I like a tall forward line, so long as they are good talls and can kick goals.

not many defences will be able to cover all of the 3 Divas. One of them is going to have a field day given half decent delivery.

C. Gardiner or Allen on a flank beside Riewoldt will stretch their mediocre resources even more so.

... and we have a couple of little pipsqueak options such as milne or schneider to pick up the crumbs.

the beauty of kosi forward is that it brings back into the game the long, direct kick to a contest and rewards quick delivery from our mids and half backs.

it could be the aerially dominant forward line that changes the face of football

if we have a half-decent run with injuries, look out!

[bigcarl]

More like those periods in 2004 when Kosi was resting in the forward pocket and we had G, Roo and Sammy all fit.

Exactly. It was pretty formidable then and, imo, can be even more so in 2008

[Armoooo]

He was OK but the fact some people are sponser him may be effecting their opinion. Made heaps of mistakes early but got better. Top 10 at best IMO.

Who are the 9 in front of him just out of interest?
Not necessarily disagreeing mind you..

In no order at Kosi, Dal, Joey, Milne, Blake, Chips, Armo, Gardiner, Geary, and maybe one or two thers. Only my opinion.

Wow, for a change I agree with you, I thought Gilbo was good when he had to be but did nothing more than was required of him...
Still quite good for his first game all year...

And a little off topic but has anybody else heard the rumour that Egan could be out for the year? if so what do you t hink of it, personally I think (and hope) it's BS...

[plugger66]

I never once said he couldnt be a forward, I just dont like to many talls in the forward line. Kosi will play a similar role to Brown between CHF and FF with G the leading FF. And as good as he was yesterday the Cats had their best 3 backmen out.

personally I like a tall forward line, so long as they are good talls and can kick goals.

not many defences will be able to cover all of the 3 Divas. One of them is going to have a field day given half decent delivery.

C. Gardiner or Allen on a flank beside Riewoldt will stretch their mediocre resources even more so.

... and we have a couple of little pipsqueak options such as milne or schneider to pick up the crumbs.

the beauty of kosi forward is that it brings back into the game the long, direct kick to a contest and rewards quick delivery from our mids and half backs.

it could be the aerially dominant forward line that changes the face of football

if we have a half-decent run with injuries, look out!

Please do not get to excited yet about Gardiner and Allen. These are practice games and Gardiner had 6 years to make it at Geelong and didnt. Allen has more work today IMO but could become a good player.

[bigcarl]

Please do not get to excited yet about Gardiner and Allen. These are practice games and Gardiner had 6 years to make it at Geelong and didnt. Allen has more work today IMO but could become a good player.

okay i'll try to keep a lid on it, but bear in mind that either will be picked up by an opposition that already has to mind riewoldt, kosi and fraser and they'll probably want to double-team one of the above. ought to be really easy for a talented kid to shine

[Iceman234]

Love your optimism Plugger66 but C Gardiner I am excited about.

I think he was well and truly good enough to make it at the Cats, sometimes there are just some who aren't quite in favour with the boss. Same applies in all workplaces I'm sure.

I just reckon he'll give his all here and I'm 100% behind him.

Regular 22 spot for him AFAIC.

[Oh When the Saints]

Gardiner was an emergency for the Cats for about the last 6 weeks of the season, including the Grand Final.

He was in the best 25 players down there ....

No reason he can't be in our best 22 with a different role and a new environment.

Brett Voss had 5 years to make it at the Lions and didn't ... and look what happened. Ditto Aaron Fiora.

[saintsRrising]

With Allen he looks like he will be a player...but is not ready yet.

Hopefully he will come on-line nicely once GTrain retires as a permanent tall forward 193cm...

A forward line now, even if Allen was yet good enough, of GTrain, Kosi, Roo and Allen is too tall with not enough pace or mobility...even allowing for the extra smalls.

They will not always mark the ball and so you need players to rove, chase, tackle etc...
While many keep referring to hamill asa "tall" or that he played tall....this mainlya myth. Yes he was good leading mark...but he had fantastic defensive skills and new how to chase and harry...and was thus a perfect foil to the true talls.


Apart from his extra experience C Gardiner 190cm is currently a much better fit if we are playing 2 or 3 talls as he is very mobile and can more easily support the midfield as well as the taller forwards.

Tall Forwards.
Kosi, Gtrain, Roo and Allen

Medium Forwards

C Gardiner.........and resting mids, but our mids are not adept half forwards.

Small Forwards
Milne, Schneider, X, Jones


From the above it is evident why C gardiner will be so useful to us if he can continue his form of the last two games. He currently is ina niche of 1!!!



Options

It is good to have different forward options this year...allowing tinkering for opposition, different grounds and form of our players.

C Gardiner Roo Schneider
Milne GTrain Kosi


C Gardiner Roo Schneider
Milne GTrain or Kosi X


C Gardiner Roo Schneider
Milne Kosi Gtrain

C Gardiner/Schneider Roo Resting Mid
Milne Kosi Gtrain

etc

[bigcarl]

While many keep referring to hamill as a "tall" or that he played tall ... this mainly a myth. Yes he was good leading mark ... but he had fantastic defensive skills and new how to chase and harry ... and was thus a perfect foil to the true talls.

sounds like gilbert you're talking about, but he's likely to be needed down back if max keeps getting injured

i like the look of most of those forward lines in your post.

fraser, kosi, roo, charlie and a couple of pipsqueaks should help us kick winning scores given even half decent supply.

kosi is a key because he is a contested marking target and allows us to kick to a contest rather than just find fraser or roo laces up

on the subject of small forwards, jack steven seems to have a bit of toe and knows where the goals are.

i don't know much about him. how old is he and what's his best position?

[dsreg1]

Please do not get to excited yet about Gardiner and Allen. These are practice games and Gardiner had 6 years to make it at Geelong and didnt. Allen has more work today IMO but could become a good player.

Fair point, but on Allen, the thing that surprised me was how quick he was once he was up and going.

Watching the replay, when he nearly ran down byrnes, (or stokes), it took me a second to recognize him because there is no way i thought he would be that fast.