Four must surely be looked at

[The Sainter]

For us to improve we must make hard decisions. It wasn't Carlton this week and again the same players let us down when the chips were down. Fiora, Gehrig, Blake who still gives away stupid free kicks and R Clarke who doesn't seem to know what to do when he gets possession, often making mistakes a 10 year old would not. Could someone explain why we continue to play Dal on the backline???What a waste having him kicking out when you have Goddard in the team?
Dal is not a great onballer because he lacks hardness but give him free rein on the forward line where he would be much more damaging.
One thing in Blake's defence at least he has a go but often seems unsure what to do at times which is more than Gehrig does if things are not going well for him as he just seems to show no interest.
All is not lost as it is only 3 games but surely we must look at players at Casey who have leg speed. And for all you Fiora fans, the mark of a top player is how you perform when the pressure is on like a Sam Fisher who stands his ground in front of a pack in marking duels.

[Sobraz]

And for all you Fiora fans, the mark of a top player is how you perform when the pressure is on like a Sam Fisher who stands his ground in front of a pack in marking duels.

Could this not be said about Dal also... and a dozen other players.. And conversly, Raph did this a number of times; does this make him a good player??!! Agree, changes need to be made (not Gtrain), but Fizz was far from our worst... When the chips are down, you look at the top liners who didnt pull their weight, not the proven fringe players..

[Richter]

Fiora - poor, but no more so than any of the rest of the midfield. He was good last week and has generally been playing well for the last 18 months. He shouldn't be singked out as the scapegoat for what was an extremely poor midfield performance - Joey in particular was disappointing tonight.

G train - poor game from him tonight. But again, he was excellent last week so doesn't deserve to be dropped on this game alone.

Blake - ditto. Generally does the job asked of him. No worse than anyone else tonight.

BJ - first game back, can't expect him to shoulder all the creative burden behind the ball straight up.

Dal - not one of his best but was not dreadful.

[Huzzad]

Fiora played pretty well tonight. Out of all our players, seemed to make the less mistakes and set up alot of play. Why he didnt rake in the possessions, I thought he was one our more reliable tonight. No complaints with him at all. Shoulda had more of the footy but thats it. Great disposals compared to some of our other players

Gehrig- Was very dissapointed tonight. Expected him to have a big game despite the slow start. Didn't see him after that goal. One of my fav players but his effort tonight was pathetic. Didn't lead, didn't attack the footy. Might as well have been on the bench. Needs to remember why he rejoined us.

Blake, played well last week but had a shocker tonight. Was silly and made no impact.

Raph- impressed by his confidence this week, but as usual, poor disposals. Ran 50 meters on Scott Welsh then handballed to a 2 on one instead of kicking it inside 50. Absolute moronic decision and as I have said countless times, has the talent but not the footy smarts. Besides that major screw-up, he played ok.

King- Started well but had a shocker overall. My guess is that he was run off his feat due to lack of rotation. We missed Gards big time tonight. Our ruck division was non existant. Kosi had no impact either, but I was dissapointed by King. Know he can do better.

Players who played well:

Schnieder- went missing every now and then but was creative when he got the footy. Despite the overall game, his individual performance was good. Didn't make the mistakes of some other players and kept running all night.

Geary- Made a blunder or two, but was reasonanbly solid all night.

Milne- When he got the footy he gave us spark, missed some easy shots though, but at least had a good crack.

BJ- Didnt even look like he was coming off an injury. Racked up the possessions and took a great 1-on-1 mark. Went quiet, but great signs.

LFish- Kept West reasonably quiet and had a good hand in a few plays. was quiet himself, but was tagging.

Players who dissapointed tonight (other than the afforementioned):

Monty, Hayes, Ball, Harvey, X, Gilbert, Kosi, Roo

Some of the biggest names in our team there and they were all very average for 3 quaters.

My drops

Raph
Blake

In
C Gards
Jones

At the end of the day, wtf happened? Team was on fire for 1 quater then kicked 4 or 5 for the rest of the match. Absolutely ashamed of the saints tonight. Was a disgrace. We had the wood on them and then after the 1st, we had no spark, no motivation, no drive. Virtually everyone on our team was a passenger tonight. Roo needed to lift and be a captain. Hayes and ball should have stood up.

In the words of Homer Simpson, you're all cut....

[plugger66]

Fiora played pretty well tonight. Out of all our players, seemed to make the less mistakes and set up alot of play. Why he didnt rake in the possessions, I thought he was one our more reliable tonight. No complaints with him at all. Shoulda had more of the footy but thats it. Great disposals compared to some of our other players

Gehrig- Was very dissapointed tonight. Expected him to have a big game despite the slow start. Didn't see him after that goal. One of my fav players but his effort tonight was pathetic. Didn't lead, didn't attack the footy. Might as well have been on the bench. Needs to remember why he rejoined us.

Blake, played well last week but had a shocker tonight. Was silly and made no impact.

Raph- impressed by his confidence this week, but as usual, poor disposals. Ran 50 meters on Scott Welsh then handballed to a 2 on one instead of kicking it inside 50. Absolute moronic decision and as I have said countless times, has the talent but not the footy smarts. Besides that major screw-up, he played ok.

King- Started well but had a shocker overall. My guess is that he was run off his feat due to lack of rotation. We missed Gards big time tonight. Our ruck division was non existant. Kosi had no impact either, but I was dissapointed by King. Know he can do better.

Players who played well:

Schnieder- went missing every now and then but was creative when he got the footy. Despite the overall game, his individual performance was good. Didn't make the mistakes of some other players and kept running all night.

Geary- Made a blunder or two, but was reasonanbly solid all night.

Milne- When he got the footy he gave us spark, missed some easy shots though, but at least had a good crack.

BJ- Didnt even look like he was coming off an injury. Racked up the possessions and took a great 1-on-1 mark. Went quiet, but great signs.

LFish- Kept West reasonably quiet and had a good hand in a few plays. was quiet himself, but was tagging.

Players who dissapointed tonight (other than the afforementioned):

Monty, Hayes, Ball, Harvey, X, Gilbert, Kosi, Roo

Some of the biggest names in our team there and they were all very average for 3 quaters.

My drops

Raph
Blake

In
C Gards
Jones

At the end of the day, wtf happened? Team was on fire for 1 quater then kicked 4 or 5 for the rest of the match. Absolutely ashamed of the saints tonight. Was a disgrace. We had the wood on them and then after the 1st, we had no spark, no motivation, no drive. Virtually everyone on our team was a passenger tonight. Roo needed to lift and be a captain. Hayes and ball should have stood up.

In the words of Homer Simpson, you're all cut....

Leigh Fisher may have kept West quiet but he was on Cooney who was one of their best. Fish is to slow and I dont understand having a guy in the middle who never gets it.

[clarky449]

We cant drop a player like Frase atm. Hes a player that has a s*** game one week and then the next week he can kick 10 we all know that.
In Charlie Gardiner



Out Raphael Clarke

[Saintschampions08]

We cant drop a player like Frase atm. Hes a player that has a s*** game one week and then the next week he can kick 10 we all know that.
In Charlie Gardiner



Out Raphael Clarke

Yeah he can kick 10, assuming he's playing on a 19 year old from Carlton

He's not going to kick near 10 next week, not against the cats defence. But after that, Essendon he's half a chance, but should be followed by a poor game against Port.
After that though, Collingwood and Richmond should be smooth sailing for him.

Has been the story of his last few years, plays well against s*** defenders, struggles against moderately good defenders

[SaintBot]

Leigh Fisher may have kept West quiet but he was on Cooney who was one of their best. Fish is to slow and I dont understand having a guy in the middle who never gets it.

Blake acctually was on Cooney

I agree with the bolded though

[plugger66]

Leigh Fisher may have kept West quiet but he was on Cooney who was one of their best. Fish is to slow and I dont understand having a guy in the middle who never gets it.

Blake acctually was on Cooney

I agree with the bolded though

Fisher player on Cooney for sure. Blake was never in the middle so how was he on Cooney. I think Blake was on Griffen early then went to Hill after half time and did OK on him.

[SaintBot]

Leigh Fisher may have kept West quiet but he was on Cooney who was one of their best. Fish is to slow and I dont understand having a guy in the middle who never gets it.

Blake acctually was on Cooney

I agree with the bolded though

Fisher player on Cooney for sure. Blake was never in the middle so how was he on Cooney. I think Blake was on Griffen early then went to Hill after half time and did OK on him.

Ah...incorrect

Blake spent a majority of the match in the center square, watching as Cooney gathered yet another clearance

[plugger66]

Leigh Fisher may have kept West quiet but he was on Cooney who was one of their best. Fish is to slow and I dont understand having a guy in the middle who never gets it.

Blake acctually was on Cooney

I agree with the bolded though

Fisher player on Cooney for sure. Blake was never in the middle so how was he on Cooney. I think Blake was on Griffen early then went to Hill after half time and did OK on him.

Ah...incorrect

Blake spent a majority of the match in the center square, watching as Cooney gathered yet another clearance

What game were you at. Fisher was clearly on Cooney but continue your pathetic hatred towards Blake and blame him for being on a player he wasnt. Give LF a call in you do not believe me. I'll pm his number.

[SaintBot]

Leigh Fisher may have kept West quiet but he was on Cooney who was one of their best. Fish is to slow and I dont understand having a guy in the middle who never gets it.

Blake acctually was on Cooney

I agree with the bolded though

Fisher player on Cooney for sure. Blake was never in the middle so how was he on Cooney. I think Blake was on Griffen early then went to Hill after half time and did OK on him.

Ah...incorrect

Blake spent a majority of the match in the center square, watching as Cooney gathered yet another clearance

What game were you at. Fisher was clearly on Cooney but continue your pathetic hatred towards Blake and blame him for being on a player he wasnt. Give LF a call in you do not believe me. I'll pm his number.

Hey - I'm not hating anybody here. Just setting the facts straight - Blake was at the center bounce more times than not.

[plugger66]

Leigh Fisher may have kept West quiet but he was on Cooney who was one of their best. Fish is to slow and I dont understand having a guy in the middle who never gets it.

Blake acctually was on Cooney

I agree with the bolded though

Fisher player on Cooney for sure. Blake was never in the middle so how was he on Cooney. I think Blake was on Griffen early then went to Hill after half time and did OK on him.

Ah...incorrect

Blake spent a majority of the match in the center square, watching as Cooney gathered yet another clearance

What game were you at. Fisher was clearly on Cooney but continue your pathetic hatred towards Blake and blame him for being on a player he wasnt. Give LF a call in you do not believe me. I'll pm his number.

Hey - I'm not hating anybody here. Just setting the facts straight - Blake was at the center bounce more times than not.

So was Fisher so unless they were both there which they werent one of us is wrong and it isnt me. By the way who was Fisher on in the centre bounces then.

[SaintBot]

Leigh Fisher may have kept West quiet but he was on Cooney who was one of their best. Fish is to slow and I dont understand having a guy in the middle who never gets it.

Blake acctually was on Cooney

I agree with the bolded though

Fisher player on Cooney for sure. Blake was never in the middle so how was he on Cooney. I think Blake was on Griffen early then went to Hill after half time and did OK on him.

Ah...incorrect

Blake spent a majority of the match in the center square, watching as Cooney gathered yet another clearance

What game were you at. Fisher was clearly on Cooney but continue your pathetic hatred towards Blake and blame him for being on a player he wasnt. Give LF a call in you do not believe me. I'll pm his number.

Hey - I'm not hating anybody here. Just setting the facts straight - Blake was at the center bounce more times than not.

So was Fisher so unless they were both there which they werent one of us is wrong and it isnt me. By the way who was Fisher on in the centre bounces then.

I am not sure - Going by my memory, which in this case may be wrong, I think Leigh was on Scott West - who rotated from short stints on-ball and longer runs from the wing all night

[Ghost Like]

I also thought Blake was picking up Cooney Plug...I thought L. Fisher was watching (literally) Cross. I believe Ball was running with West.

[Saintschampions08]

I also thought Blake was picking up Cooney Plug...I thought L. Fisher was watching (literally) Cross. I believe Ball was running with West.

What's the point of even tagging these blokes?

Sure, if Fisher and Blake do a good job, they might end up with 15-20 disposals. But we're basically sacrificing 2 midfielders, as well as Blake and Fisher.

So the Bulldogs midfield gets tagged, and our midfielders still end up only getting 20 disposals each.

[Ghost Like]

I also thought Blake was picking up Cooney Plug...I thought L. Fisher was watching (literally) Cross. I believe Ball was running with West.

What's the point of even tagging these blokes?

Sure, if Fisher and Blake do a good job, they might end up with 15-20 disposals. But we're basically sacrificing 2 midfielders, as well as Blake and Fisher.

So the Bulldogs midfield gets tagged, and our midfielders still end up only getting 20 disposals each.

Exactly, if our midfielders are not good enough to go one on one with theirs, perhaps it's time to get new midfielders. I personally think we should back our best mids against any oppositions. Having two blokes in the square not trying to get the ball does not make sense.

[Quixote]

Yeah Bot you're pretty much right.

Blake started in the centre square a lot.

Fisher did too, but was also on the wings and the bench quite a bit. He could possibly have strained something too.

At times, both Blake and Fisher started from the centre square. Which for mine is far too defensive.

Only one of the two should be in the team I reckon.

Have Hayes, Ball and Dal in the square, rotating with X, Joey, Armo, Harvey, Goddard, hell, throw Geary in there...

But attack, and get the ball for ourselves. BEAT the opposition.

We cannot rely on Lenny and Bally to do all the hard work - and too many times last night did I see those guys, especially Bally, getting smashed 3 on 1 at the bottom of a pack.

It was actually disgusting. Really felt for Bally.

[Saintschampions08]

I also thought Blake was picking up Cooney Plug...I thought L. Fisher was watching (literally) Cross. I believe Ball was running with West.

What's the point of even tagging these blokes?

Sure, if Fisher and Blake do a good job, they might end up with 15-20 disposals. But we're basically sacrificing 2 midfielders, as well as Blake and Fisher.

So the Bulldogs midfield gets tagged, and our midfielders still end up only getting 20 disposals each.

Exactly, if our midfielders are not good enough to go one on one with theirs, perhaps it's time to get new midfielders. I personally think we should back our best mids against any oppositions. Having two blokes in the square not trying to get the ball does not make sense.

Harvey should be on West.

Dal should be on Cross.

Hayes should be on Cooney.

If we still get beaten, tough luck, all we're doing at the moment is protecting our midfielders reputations. If they get beaten, hell at least we know what to work on.

[lefty]

Dont drop F.Gehrig. Its not his problem the coach cannot work out a decent structure/gameplan for the entire team.
How can you lead if there is 4 players in front of you, and with the long bombs into the forward line. Its pathetic, and that is a coaching issue.

Out:
R.Clarke
J.Montagna
A.Fiora
Blake
One more for birss

In:
Armitage
C.Jones
C.Gardiner
Other Gardiner
Birss

[plugger66]

Dont drop F.Gehrig. Its not his problem the coach cannot work out a decent structure/gameplan for the entire team.
How can you lead if there is 4 players in front of you, and with the long bombs into the forward line. Its pathetic, and that is a coaching issue.

Out:
R.Clarke
J.Montagna
A.Fiora
Blake
One more for birss

In:
Armitage
C.Jones
C.Gardiner
Other Gardiner
Birss

Must drop Joey for sure. Also Sam Fisher and Lenny Hayes. For Birss I would suggest Rooy.

[lefty]

Dont drop F.Gehrig. Its not his problem the coach cannot work out a decent structure/gameplan for the entire team.
How can you lead if there is 4 players in front of you, and with the long bombs into the forward line. Its pathetic, and that is a coaching issue.

Out:
R.Clarke
J.Montagna
A.Fiora
Blake
One more for birss

In:
Armitage
C.Jones
C.Gardiner
Other Gardiner
Birss

Must drop Joey for sure. Also Sam Fisher and Lenny Hayes. For Birss I would suggest Rooy.

I like your saracism, but please explain Joey's performance's over the past three weeks...

He should not be kept sanctioned because of his name. He's had 3 crap games in a row, its time to go back to square one, we have depth, use it.

[jill]

Think Gilbert, Raph, L Fisher & Fiora are all in the mix for a run at Casey.

[plugger66]

Dont drop F.Gehrig. Its not his problem the coach cannot work out a decent structure/gameplan for the entire team.
How can you lead if there is 4 players in front of you, and with the long bombs into the forward line. Its pathetic, and that is a coaching issue.

Out:
R.Clarke
J.Montagna
A.Fiora
Blake
One more for birss

In:
Armitage
C.Jones
C.Gardiner
Other Gardiner
Birss

Must drop Joey for sure. Also Sam Fisher and Lenny Hayes. For Birss I would suggest Rooy.

I like your saracism, but please explain Joey's performance's over the past three weeks...

He should not be kept sanctioned because of his name. He's had 3 crap games in a row, its time to go back to square one, we have depth, use it.

Look he hasnt been great but he would have been in the best 10 every game. Just because he should be better than that doesnt mean he should be dropped ahead of a player who constantly not in the top 10.

[jill]

Gilbert, Raph, Fiora & L Fisher should all be given a run wth Casey.