Congratulations to Raph

[bigcarl]

terrific game from raph and i'm not in the least bit surprised that he had it in him.

has a bucketload of talent and, with him, it has always been about confidence.

his father's illness and his own health have not helped his season.

imo he is a real wildcard going into the finals.

i'd play him at chf and leave roo deep with the two smalls because that worked a treat yesterday after half time.

and keep giving roo space. there's hardly anyone who can beat him one-out. it's the double and triple team that we must always guard against, however.

significant for raph, i think, is that probably for the first time he's been preferred in our best 22 to his older brother. that ought to be a massive confidence booster for him.

nothing wrong with a bit of healthy rivalry, even between brothers.

x cannot be far off either. anyone know how he went for the scorps?

[WayneJudson42]

terrific game from raph and i'm not in the least bit surprised that he had it in him.

has a bucketload of talent and, with him, it has always been about confidence.

his father's illness and his own health have not helped his season.

imo he is a real wildcard going into the finals.

i'd play him at chf and leave roo deep with the two smalls because that worked a treat yesterday after half time.

and keep giving roo space. there's hardly anyone who can beat him one-out. it's the double and triple team that we must always guard against, however.

significant for raph, i think, is that probably for the first time he's been preferred in our best 22 to his older brother. that ought to be a massive confidence booster for him.

nothing wrong with a bit of healthy rivalry, even between brothers.

x cannot be far off either. anyone know how he went for the scorps?

According to the Hun, X picked up 26 possies on the wing and Fwd flank. Big Mac played well also as a lone ruckman.

[Saints Premiers 2008]

forgive me but what did raph do apart from he goal and a few decent non-pressure headless chicken kicks??

slowly slowly with raph but to me he seems more the usual indigenous mecurial in and out of games type still

[WayneJudson42]

forgive me but what did raph do apart from he goal and a few decent non-pressure headless chicken kicks??

slowly slowly with raph but to me he seems more the usual indigenous mecurial in and out of games type still

Um, it's called encouragement... and support for a kid who's had a tough year off the field.

You know, Fortius Quo Fidelius.. and all that.

[bigcarl]

slowly slowly with raph but to me he seems more the usual indigenous mecurial in and out of games type still

he's a bit bigger bodied than the "usual indigenous mecurial in-and-out of games type" if such a beast exists.

he's also still only 21.

[Eastern]

I thought Raph went a long way towards silencing his critics yesterday. I he had have held on to those 2 or pack marks that he flew for, he could have ended up with 3 goals and in the votes.

It was his first game back and will only get better !!

[Animal Enclosure]

Not having the pressure of being in the backline where all mistakes are magnified (usually as a goal) is huge for Raph.

He has the talent to be the 3rd tall up forward. He created that goal that Roo snapped after crashing a pack & bringing the ball to ground.

We all know it is about confidence with Raph. He has always had a huge potential but just needs to be settled into a spot & show the intensity that he showed yesterday.

A step in the right direction for Raph & the club.

[Solar]

This kid played at CHB in a final against Adelaide, against bigger opposition.


He played in front and got plenty of the ball in wet conditions, also disposing with sureness and skill.

How many games did he have under his belt at that time?

Between 10 and 20 I would suggest.

He is a player crucial to our future because he has all the skills and then some plus he can play forward, back and mid - as a 189cm player.

So he also adds flexibility.

He has had some fitness issues with injury impacting (and he is no orphan there) but he has also shown just what potential he has to become a pivotal and crucial player at St. Kilda.

I was not critical of him earlier because the options he looked for were solid, team oriented options - but were absent, which was not his fault.

He was also called upon to play on the likes of Minson going forward, giving away how much exactly in terms of height and weight?

But he stuck to his guns.

Now to get his brother back and firing - because he also is a "gun".

awesome post

all the earlier mistakes this year can about because he was either given no support or he was going for the % option and it came upstuck.

He is the type to have his mistakes highlighted while say a hayes turns it over 5 times but thats ok....

[fonz_#15]

terrific game from raph and i'm not in the least bit surprised that he had it in him.

has a bucketload of talent and, with him, it has always been about confidence.

his father's illness and his own health have not helped his season.

imo he is a real wildcard going into the finals.

i'd play him at chf and leave roo deep with the two smalls because that worked a treat yesterday after half time.

and keep giving roo space. there's hardly anyone who can beat him one-out. it's the double and triple team that we must always guard against, however.

significant for raph, i think, is that probably for the first time he's been preferred in our best 22 to his older brother. that ought to be a massive confidence booster for him.

nothing wrong with a bit of healthy rivalry, even between brothers.

x cannot be far off either. anyone know how he went for the scorps?

According to the Hun, X picked up 26 possies on the wing and Fwd flank. Big Mac played well also as a lone ruckman.

i was at the scorps game yesterday and i thought mcevoys got smashed. He was good around the ground but he definately lost more ruck contests than he won and his opponent was in the best as well.

having said that it must be difficult playing as a lone ruckman.

x was fantastic yesterday, he looked full of confidence.

[BigMart]

Wasn't Fiora in our best 3 weeks ago???

[starsign]

surely they couldn't bring back Fiora ahead of a now in form and confident X? or could they!!!!

[CURLY]

forgive me but what did raph do apart from he goal and a few decent non-pressure headless chicken kicks??

slowly slowly with raph but to me he seems more the usual indigenous mecurial in and out of games type still

Seems to me your typical never played football ridiculous comment that continually comes from you. Raph was fantastic he was clean with his skills ran hard and showed the courage overhead in defence and attack we lack.

[hotdish]

Raph played really well tonight.

Didn't over-run the ball, hit his handball targets, didn't get caught holding the ball (from what I saw) and his kicks and marking were great!

lets hope he keeps it up...

[esaint66]

Brilliant game ... has been brilliant since coming back into the side.

Seemed to be the only defender that was holding his marks in the first half.

Like i said after the past 2 weeks, him hitting his straps come finals time ... what more could we want ??? The whole backline is firing.

[hotdish]

what more could we want ???

His big bro X dominating also would be nice!!!

[Solar]

once again he does the basics well

body behind the ball and works hard

great game raph

[stkfc1]

Watched Raph close today, was fantastic . Great second half. Even a few bummer supporters around me were asking who was that carving them up! Great to see!

[bigcarl]

he has the makings of a very, very good player. just reads the play beautifully and has the vision that sets top players apart from GOPs.