Apologies to Dal

[spert]

Very improved effort, but needs to carry that application into crunch games against close taggers

[Solar]

needs to do this EVERY week. Upped his workrate and thus got to more contests. Football is a simple game, gut running is a key!

[3rd generation saint]

Dal gets accused of being "soft" by many posters but I think this needs to be qualified better than has been expressed.

How anyone can accuse him of being soft when he has often been whacked and belted and still gets up and goes to a contest are simply wrong on this criteria. He does not walk off and whine or carry on but picks himself up and goes on with the job.

He has also been a good tackler in the past and often still is!

I, like many others, think he offers far greater value to the team when he is played in the midfield and delivers to our forward line rather being played in the backline. His delivery skills are amongst the very best of the whole team, along with Harvey and Goddard.

I think some of us are just disappointed by what we believe he could be if he would commit himself to raise his fitness to a higher level so we could see four quarters of effort. The best example is Gary Ablett jr from last year. I'd love to see Dal become determined to go to the same efforts because, if he did, we'd all see more goals, more wins and maybe even the ultimate team reward. We'd all like to see his skills on show far more consistently.

I personally hate this business where the players just try to "corral" opposition players. Just tackle them to ground, repeatedly, properly!

Just calling Dal "soft" is not really fair or accurate. I believe he can be called "lazy" on some ocassions, but not "soft". Five years without missing a match while receiving some close tagging should not be ignored.

[Saints43]

Your one of the idiots I am talking about....

4 bad games......no, just not four dominant games.....and he isn't the first player to get towelled up by Linga....who is an AA

Aren't you a school teacher? I hope Dal never gets as poor at his job as you are at YOUR job.

How often does Dal tear the game apart? He would earn as much as Ablett & Mitchell & Kerr. Have a think.

He had a terirfic game last night

That Dal has finished well in the B&F raises questions about the voting system rather than wraps him up. Gram has finished top three. Matthew Young finished top three. Riewoldt won it once because Lenny got thrown into a fence..

[Washedup]

The title of this thread is ridiculous. To say that people need to give Dal an apology for stating the plain obvious, that he had had a poor start to the season is idiotic. Dal was very good last night but what us as fans want to see is that kind of commitment week in week out. I have no problem if a player gets beaten by a tagger, as long as you leave the game feeling that they gave 100% and did everything they possibly could to get on top. Dal Santo, as plenty have stated, has the potential to be in the top 5-10 players in the comp but he will never get there unless his work ethic improves. I think the critisisms from the media have sent a rocket up him, he has been lazy in patches in most games this season. Last night was a massive improvement and he was very good, but does he deserve an apology, Definitely not

[Lennon]

Beauty game last night.

All hail the Matrix!

[BigMart]

Am I a scool teacher???

maybe I am, but what do I teach????

Actually I have a few degrees, but I dont worry to much about grammer on an internet forum....I have enough trouble typing....

Are you one of these guys who police spelling and grammer in threads because you have to find some edge...because the lack of footy knowledge aint gonna....

BTW - are the same people howling down Dermott for being wrong, also refusing to admit they are ridiculous for bagging a gun....because he will always come back to and plant some egg fair and square on your face...

[Bernard Shakey]

Dal seems to have accepted the fact that he has been lazy this year, and most of last year.

He lifted his game last night and proved all his critics correct.

The criticism was justified and he knows it.

Hopefully he can continue to play at that level.

No apology required.

[OneEyedSainter77]

Dal Santo is like Robert Harvey ina way. You go to games just to watch him play. NO player in the league has skills as silky or smooth as him. NONE. Ablett, Bartel, Corey, Sewell, Power, etc. They all have great skills, but Dal Santo has a way of doing it and making it look easy.

HOWEVER, his biggest problem is his tendency to go missing when it counts the most (ie in a big game against quality opposition) and his susceptibilty to tags. If he can learn to shake a tag, no other player would ever win the brownlow. He is one of our most skilled midfielders who rarely misses targets but he needs to back up performances like last night's with ones against quality opposition also.

I never doubted him and knew he can play well and would NEVER say he is trade bait or lazy, but I will say he must learn to be accountable every week. (I am throwing that word around a lot tonight)

[saintsRrising]

Funny you should mention Gary ablett.

A very good player who used to be up and down in his influence in games too...who could go missing.

Part of the Cat's current dominance is that he and quitea frw others at the cats all committed to playing well and in doing more more often.

[OneEyedSainter77]

Funny you should mention Gary ablett.

A very good player who used to be up and down in his influence in games too...who could go missing.

Part of the Cat's current dominance is that he and quitea frw others at the cats all committed to playing well and in doing more more often.

Exactly. Its a team effort about Geelong. They have an exceptional midfield but the rest of their team don't have any standout stars, because they share it around so much. IN saying that, I'm not saying Mooney, Chapman, Johnson and Hawkins aren't stars. they are but they aren't superstars who win the game off their own boot.

The wonderful thing about Geelong is that they play for one another and last night and indeed throughout the eyar I have seen flashes of this in our team.

This was also something Brisbane did in 01-04. Watch the round 6 game of 2004 and watch closely the first goal they kick. Three players have an opputrunity to kick the goal but they work as a team to get the right result. Maybe this is all we need to work on for our own goalkicking woes.

[Saintschampions08]

So thats 1 good game from 6 so far....

[Iceman234]

If Dal had been selected he would have had a crack tonight....

[mick13]

Yeah we're really missing him tonight, shame he wasn't picked...

oh wait.

[vacuous space]

How's he supposed to win the ball when he's not even in there?

[midas_touch]

Dal getting absolutely raeped by Kane Cornes so far. Perhaps a game or two in Casey is worth considering for him now.

[Iceman234]

Dal getting absolutely raeped by Kane Cornes so far. Perhaps a game or two in Casey is worth considering for him now.

So harden the flower up and raepe (sic) him back twice - get suspended for a game or two Dal - but DO SOMETHING.

Kane Cornes has a head like a grey pumpkin FFS - toughen up and give it back, they are just flesh and blood - remember those quotes from your coaches?

[Spinner]

Dal getting absolutely raeped by Kane Cornes so far. Perhaps a game or two in Casey is worth considering for him now.

Shut up idiot.

That would be doing the opposition a favour.

Get some sense if you are going to make comments like that.

[Saintschampions08]

Dal getting absolutely raeped by Kane Cornes so far. Perhaps a game or two in Casey is worth considering for him now.

Shut up idiot.

That would be doing the opposition a favour.

Get some sense if you are going to make comments like that.

You mean doing the Casey opposition a favour???

[starsign]

hes gotta learn to fade into the game rather than out of it!

[Teflon]

Dal getting absolutely raeped by Kane Cornes so far. Perhaps a game or two in Casey is worth considering for him now.

hes 1 player who would learn what from dominating at VFL level?

Nup.

[kalsaint]

Dal's effectiveness is low with 4 possessions. Kane Cornes has 15 possessions. Dal need's to be either:
1 given help by the team to break his tag if he is playing midfield or,
2 move him forward, make himself more accountable when without the ball but present himself as a forward option to make Kornes more accountable.

Kornes cannot continue to set up forward moves.

Hayes is on Cassissi. Both are racking up stats. Perhaps Dal should go onto Cassisi as he is destroying the midfield.

About to start again.

Keep punching guys own the corridor.

[Saintschampions08]

Dal getting absolutely raeped by Kane Cornes so far. Perhaps a game or two in Casey is worth considering for him now.

hes 1 player who would learn what from dominating at VFL level?

Nup.

He's either got to start working really hard, and actually becoming a good quality mid, or he's got to be dealt with.

I'm more then sure hes in the top % for pay at the saints, and the way he's playing, theirs no way he's deserving on it.

What would happen to you if they were paying you a lot at work, and you were delivering mediocre results?

[midas_touch]

Dal getting absolutely raeped by Kane Cornes so far. Perhaps a game or two in Casey is worth considering for him now.

Shut up idiot.

That would be doing the opposition a favour.

Get some sense if you are going to make comments like that.

He's been playing poorly all year, save for last week's game against a poor side in Essendon. He, along with the rest of the players need to be held accountable for consistently mediocre efforts, however u seem to believe he's a protected species.

[The_Dud]

yeah, Dal's playing terrible, as opposed to the rest of the team who are absolutely tearing it apart....