Official Team Vs Carlton

[perfectionist]

Reality check (which will go over the heads of most of the morons who follow AFL or any other sport for that matter).

Jason Blake is the most the important member of the current (read fit) Saint squad (as I have said before). This does not mean he is the BEST player or the MOST SKILLED player or anything of the like. The best description I can come up with is the most ADAPTABLE player.

Football in the 2000s is about adaptability. JB lacks a number of skills ( frequently pointed out by correspondents to this board and obvious to anyone with eyes), but is adaptable, far more so than every other player in the AFL except two, in fact.

Think who the two might be before you respond. If you want evidence of what I have said, try asking the current playing group - they rate him in the top ten at the club. Then again, they know which way is up.

[The_Dud]

isn't great to be having thses kinds of dilemas

watching the replay of the game, Fiora did alot better than i originally thought, got some good in and under disposals and clearences, and was involved in some good link up play

its harsh on both CJ and gardiner, neither played terrible last week, in my opinion Raph is lucky, and must near his last chance before getting sent back to the 2's

but again, these are the kind of problems we want

[SaintBot]

Jason Blake is the most the important member of the current (read fit) Saint squad (as I have said before). This does not mean he is the BEST player or the MOST SKILLED player or anything of the like. The best description I can come up with is the most ADAPTABLE player.

I dont wish injuries upon anybody but id much rather Blake go down with a season ending injury than probably 15 or so other players on our list.


blake may be able to play in a number of positions however he could never replace riewoldt/koschitzke/hayes/hudghton/maguire/etc


so sorry, i still dont see how he is our most important player

[perfectionist]

so sorry, i still dont see how he is our most important player

Gee, and such a reasoned argument too! See para one.

[The_Dud]

most adaptable, yes, but most important, not quite....

[SaintBot]

so sorry, i still dont see how he is our most important player

Gee, and such a reasoned argument too! See para one.

nothing to argue with.

if you believe jason blake is the most important player at the stkilda football club then you are seriously insulting half the other players in the team...thats that

[ttufc7]

Regardless of omissions from the team. I cant wait to see that forward line in action.

The Carlton backline is going to be strrrreeeeeeeeeetttcccchhhheeeddd!

[Winmarvellous]

Who would those two be? Pavlich? AA in five different positions, and has been known to play on-ball, down back and across the forward line. Goodes perhaps. Rucks, roves, wing, forward and back within capabilities. Kos? We all know he can play multiple positions, but hasn't excelled in one for any duration of time IMO. Cox?

Who are these mysterious two adaptable players of who you speak?

[The_Dud]

Regardless of omissions from the team. I cant wait to see that forward line in action.

The Carlton backline is going to be strrrreeeeeeeeeetttcccchhhheeeddd!

yeah, but it won't be much good if we don't use the right gameplan, which is fast movement of the ball, and kicking LONG into the forward line at first opportunity, none of the rubbish we served up last week

[perfectionist]

Jason Blake was omitted from the team that played Sydney in round 11 2004, it cost us the premiership. The idiots who made this decision are now gone from the club. I can tell you that the coaching group at Sydney could not believe their luck.

I wish, along with him I dare say, that JB could kick 50 metres straight (then again, anyone at the Saints for that matter) run 100 metres in 10 seconds and leap like Roo. But if he did, then he would be the best player of all time.

Start looking at what he does rather than what he doesn't do. Hint: use a VCR or DVD recorder.

[SaintBot]

Jason Blake was omitted from the team that played Sydney in round 11 2004, it cost us the premiership. The idiots who made this decision are now gone from the club. I can tell you that the coaching group at Sydney could not believe their luck.

I wish, along with him I dare say, that JB could kick 50 metres straight (then again, anyone at the Saints for that matter) run 100 metres in 10 seconds and leap like Roo. But if he did, then he would be the best player of all time.

Start looking at what he does rather than what he doesn't do. Hint: use a VCR or DVD recorder.

without the ball blake is a fairly handy player - he is good at travelling back with the flight of the ball and chopping off leads

however with the ball...

[maverick]

so sorry, i still dont see how he is our most important player

Gee, and such a reasoned argument too! See para one.

nothing to argue with.

if you believe jason blake is the most important player at the stkilda football club then you are seriously insulting half the other players in the team...thats that

Wat we (often) miss on this forum is the fact that we need some defensive players in the team.

With Blake missing last week we had to play Fizz back which is hardly ideal.

Both Raph and Blake offer the team adaptability and can play key roles down back. BJ is another that can provide some adaptability when fully fit. Gardiner is simply a forward, nothing else.

How many in the team can play forward, back, midfield, run with and even ruck??? These might not be the most talented players but in the hurly burly of a game become the most valuable...this is what i take from perfectionists' comments....

[ttufc7]

Regardless of omissions from the team. I cant wait to see that forward line in action.

The Carlton backline is going to be strrrreeeeeeeeeetttcccchhhheeeddd!

yeah, but it won't be much good if we don't use the right gameplan, which is fast movement of the ball, and kicking LONG into the forward line at first opportunity, none of the rubbish we served up last week

I would be more than confident that we will see a much different type of game this week.

It will be interesting to see how the sydney vs port game pans out I wouldn't be surprised if Port Adelaide who are normally an attacking team find themselves playing a much less attractive style of play on the cramped SCG

[farquhar]

Fiora may not always succeed but when he does his skill opens up the game and we can score goals, he must be kept in the team.

[Gilbert=Legend]

How did r clarke survive? He didnt do anything on saturday and for his whole carrer. As for his 'adaptability' (maverick), he is too slow and scared to be a centre player (Notice against swans when running though the center, insead of sprinting forward, he was jogging and looking back at the player chasing him), not decicive and fast again to be a forward (kicking ti out of bounds on the ball in nab final when noone was near him..it was a perfect drop punt to anyone who thinks it came of the side of his boot), and is too weak to be backman (pushed undere the ball by goodes in the last quater). I would like to see anyone compare him to how he is the 'adaptabil' player some many think he is!

charlie was stiff to get dropped, he offers us sopmething up forward when our other big men are on the bench.
As for jones, he was starting to really pick up the pace with his development, this time last year he was fumbling etc. this year he looks quicker, he is sarting to take the ball and is puting the team first with his health second.

[meher baba]

I just don't get the fuss about Charlie Gardiner.

He did some reasonable things during the NAB Cup, deserved his place in Gehrig's absence, but then did absolutely nothing on Saturday night to press his claims for a permanent spot in the top 22.

Anyone who would suggest he did enough to warrant being retained ahead of Fiora or Raph wasn't watching the same game as me on Saturday night. Sure, unlike Raph, he didn't do anything wrong. However, also unlike Raph, he didn't do anything right either. And there are no signs that he would do any better as an outside player in defence.

While I wouldn't write him off, I am starting to understand why Geelong were happy to get rid of him. He's an outside-playing forward who is neither a crumber nor a marking target. He can't play defence (anyway, not as well as a number of other borderline players in our team) and doesn't look like he has the engine to play midfield. It's a pretty limited set of skills in modern AFL.

[maverick]

I just don't get the fuss about Charlie Gardiner.

He did some reasonable things during the NAB Cup, deserved his place in Gehrig's absence, but then did absolutely nothing on Saturday night to press his claims for a permanent spot in the top 22.

Anyone who would suggest he did enough to warrant being retained ahead of Fiora or Raph wasn't watching the same game as me on Saturday night. Sure, unlike Raph, he didn't do anything wrong. However, also unlike Raph, he didn't do anything right either. And there are no signs that he would do any better as an outside player in defence.

While I wouldn't write him off, I am starting to understand why Geelong were happy to get rid of him. He's an outside-playing forward who is neither a crumber nor a marking target. He can't play defence (anyway, not as well as a number of other borderline players in our team) and doesn't look like he has the engine to play midfield. It's a pretty limited set of skills in modern AFL.

Couldn't sgree more MB, it was like he was too scared to get involved....was strange for mine....

[bigcarl]

Regardless of omissions from the team. I cant wait to see that forward line in action.

The Carlton backline is going to be strrrreeeeeeeeeetttcccchhhheeeddd!

yeah, but it won't be much good if we don't use the right gameplan, which is fast movement of the ball, and kicking LONG into the forward line at first opportunity, none of the rubbish we served up last week

precisely. our outstanding tall forwards (the envy of many other teams) are completely wasted if we don't thump in there quickly.

personally i'd be playing gram and bj (when he's ready) on opposing wings because neither of them stuffs around when he gets it.

neither does goose and that's one of the reasons i'm hoping he can regain some form and confidence and get back in there.

our reluctance to kick to a contest last week (particularly kosi one-out) has me worried we have some sort of coaching directive not to.

it's not as if we don't have decent crumbers who can make an impact if our tall forwards happen not to hold it.

our buggerising around with the ball is just so counter-productive because it gives the opposition that much longer to swamp our forward line.

i'd also be encouraging dal and montagna to play forward of the ball as often as possible and to nail a goal whenever they can.

[vacuous space]

I'm not exactly encouraged that Ross has decided to drop two guys who frequently line up forward of centre. We've got the three big guys, Schneider and Milne. After that, not much in the way of forwards. Hopefully we'll be rotating some of our plentiful midfield bodies into attack.

I still don't think Charlie should have been dropped and I hope Ross decides on a late change. I'm hoping we'll show a little more forward thrust than the last one, but like I said, I'm not encouraged by the outs.

[bigcarl]

I still don't think Charlie should have been dropped and I hope Ross decides on a late change. I'm hoping we'll show a little more forward thrust than the last one, but like I said, I'm not encouraged by the outs.

i'd play gilbert in that "medium" role and i think we can spare him down back. to me he'd be the perfect foil for riewoldt. tall, quick and awkward. can take a mark and definitely no mug when it hits the ground.

not a good enough kick, you say? well it is not as if charlie is a noted goal-kicker and i remember gilbert kicking two or three one game last year when swung forward.

my line-up

B: L. Fisher, Hudghton, Blake
HB: R. Clarke, S. Fisher, X. Clarke
C: Gram, Hayes, Montagna
HF: Gilbert, Riewoldt, Dal Santo (midfield rotation, ball, schneider etc)
F: Milne, Koschitzke, Gehrig

Foll: King, Harvey, Ball
Int: Geary, M. Gardiner, Fiora, Schneider.

probably give montagna first crack at judd and assign someone to their other main play-makers. but don't become too obsessed with the match-ups.

in the main let them worry about matching up on us and go out to win it.

[BAM! (shhhh)]

anybody who even thinks for one second that jones is a better footballer than fiora certainly,...imhfo,...doesn't know their footballers...ffs.....

huh? What the hell does fiora do to lay claim to that sort of statement??

Erm, play better than Clint Jones?

I'm always amazed when I read people's comments on Fiora on here, it's like they haven't watched him play since the Richmond days. Fiora has long since shown a willingness to put his head over the ball, take a hit for a mark, and convinced me he isn't soft - on the other hand, for a guy whose role is to play outside, his skills let him down - or at least aren't anything special enough to warrant taking him over an inside guy with pace.

But as to selection - I'd imagine the guy Fiora's actually replacing is Charlie Gardiner, and will be played forward of center as a marking target. L Fisher is more of a pressure tackling mid type, and I'd imagine he's the guy who has actually taken Jones spot... the fact that they were selected on the field last week always implied that Blake and Gehrig would be straight into the side this week.