Under the radar.

[roxanne]

In all the media discussion about Geelong's stupendous, Nobel Prize winning,
greatest in all history midfield versus our 'quite good' midfield one name is never mentioned. And having just watched the replay of last weeks game may I just say my suspicions have been confirmed and this player is back to his bottom of the pack ball extractor, gut busting run down tackle best. God have mercy, he even kicked a goal.
There's only one Luke Ball.
And this is his kind of game.

[mbogo]

He is never noticed - the ball just flies out magically into Saints hands when he is under a pile of players ... and soo hard to tag

[Batnoe]

He looked like he had lost a bit of weight last week- maybe just the hair cut

Is in good form, still 20 odd touches a game. 6-7 tackles and so many 1 percenters. Definitely one of the reasons why we are number one in clearances even though we're only around 8th with hitouts to advantage.

[carnasaints55]

Seeing as Geelong have such a potent midfield, would it be prudent to use Ball as a tagger as well? Would it be too great a loss to sacrifice his in and under efforts? Is he even a good tagger (I kind of just assumed he is). If we can use CJ and Ball to effectively negate 2 of their midfielders (Ablett and Bartell or Selwood) I think we would be well on our way to winning. Maybe we wouldn't get enough clearances then. Its all about striking a balance between trying to stop them from scoring, and scoring ourselves. Can't have too much of one, or too much of the other.
Thoughts?

[StSteven]

Keep an eye on Corey as well.

[matrix]

Keep an eye on Corey as well.

yes
most deff
34 touches last week and 30 were UNCONTESTED

[BringBackMadDog]

I have a man-crush on bally Some of his kamikaze head first dives into packs last week were just unbelievable. He NEVER thinks twice before committing his body to a contest you gotta love him

[meher baba]

Against the Tigers, I noticed Luke kicking the ball a bit harder/longer than he generally did in most games before the break.

Indeed, he kicked the ball 14 times against the Tigers, which is a season high for him.

Perhaps he is starting to feel better in himself and his confidence in his kicking is coming back.

In which case, opposing teams will need to watch out!!

[SainterK]

Noticed this very same thing myself, they never seem to mention him when naming our midfield lineup? It's all good though, don't mind if he flys under the radar....then....POW!

[Legendary]

Top 3 for tackles, clearances, contested possessions ...

The minute he came on the ground in the 2nd quarter, we started kicking goals.

The most under-rated part of our midfield this year.

[perfectionist]

....
The minute he came on the ground in the 2nd quarter, we started kicking goals.

Yep, noticed that and not unusual.

...The most under-rated part of our midfield this year.

Not by me. Our number one ball getter, can handpass either hand and has been running forward of late. As mentioned, he seems to be getting stronger.

[Leo.J]

He wouldn't be flying under the Cats radar, he's a gun.

He has started kicking the ball longer and more often, which is a real positive...he used to have great skills.

[Mr Magic]

He wouldn't be flying under the Cats radar, he's a gun.

He has started kicking the ball longer and more often, which is a real positive...he used to have great skills.

I don't think it's possible to tag all our midfield, just like we can't tag all theirs.

Some of them are just going to be 'head to head' contests.

[Leo.J]

He wouldn't be flying under the Cats radar, he's a gun.

He has started kicking the ball longer and more often, which is a real positive...he used to have great skills.

I don't think it's possible to tag all our midfield, just like we can't tag all theirs.

Some of them are just going to be 'head to head' contests.

We now have a few that could be tagged.

Dal, BJ, Joey, and Lenny would be the main four possible tags imo.

Bally won't be tagged, so his improving ball use can be a massive bonus for us...he's been playing at 60-70% his full potential for a couple of years now. Now cos he's moving more freely now, he's almost like a new recruit.

[plugger66]

He wouldn't be flying under the Cats radar, he's a gun.

He has started kicking the ball longer and more often, which is a real positive...he used to have great skills.

I don't think it's possible to tag all our midfield, just like we can't tag all theirs.

Some of them are just going to be 'head to head' contests.

We now have a few that could be tagged.

Dal, BJ, Joey, and Lenny would be the main four possible tags imo.

Bally won't be tagged, so his improving ball use can be a massive bonus for us...he's been playing at 60-70% his full potential for a couple of years now. Now cos he's moving more freely now, he's almost like a new recruit.

Both sides have one tagger so only one from each side will be tagged. The obvious one is Ling to Dal and I am pretty sure CJ will go to Selwood. All the others will go head to head which just slightly favour them but hopefully we just have a better forward line and backline.

[Leo.J]

He wouldn't be flying under the Cats radar, he's a gun.

He has started kicking the ball longer and more often, which is a real positive...he used to have great skills.

I don't think it's possible to tag all our midfield, just like we can't tag all theirs.

Some of them are just going to be 'head to head' contests.

We now have a few that could be tagged.

Dal, BJ, Joey, and Lenny would be the main four possible tags imo.

Bally won't be tagged, so his improving ball use can be a massive bonus for us...he's been playing at 60-70% his full potential for a couple of years now. Now cos he's moving more freely now, he's almost like a new recruit.

Both sides have one tagger so only one from each side will be tagged. The obvious one is Ling to Dal and I am pretty sure CJ will go to Selwood. All the others will go head to head which just slightly favour them but hopefully we just have a better forward line and backline.

Ling will tag Dal, but I woud love to see CJ on Ablett. I beleive he is almost a perfect match for him...That said I reckon CJ will blanket Selwood if given the job.

I think they will have someone pay some special attention to BJ also.

[saint vince]

Seeing as Geelong have such a potent midfield, would it be prudent to use Ball as a tagger as well? Would it be too great a loss to sacrifice his in and under efforts? Is he even a good tagger (I kind of just assumed he is). If we can use CJ and Ball to effectively negate 2 of their midfielders (Ablett and Bartell or Selwood) I think we would be well on our way to winning. Maybe we wouldn't get enough clearances then. Its all about striking a balance between trying to stop them from scoring, and scoring ourselves. Can't have too much of one, or too much of the other.
Thoughts?

Is this Stan Alves in his first three years. No good tagging everyone. Just have to be good enough to win the ball ourselves and beat them around the stopages.

[saintly_safes]

Lukey B is heart & soul of St.kilda.He may not move like Judd & may not have the bravodo that Hodge exudes but he is worth his weight in gold because he is the ultimate team man.

[Iceman234]

Lukey B is heart & soul of St.kilda.He may not move like Judd & may not have the bravodo that Hodge exudes but he is worth his weight in gold because he is the ultimate team man.

Sums him up beautifully.

[Quixote]

In all the media discussion about Geelong's stupendous, Nobel Prize winning,
greatest in all history midfield versus our 'quite good' midfield one name is never mentioned. And having just watched the replay of last weeks game may I just say my suspicions have been confirmed and this player is back to his bottom of the pack ball extractor, gut busting run down tackle best. God have mercy, he even kicked a goal.
There's only one Luke Ball.
And this is his kind of game.

In all of the discussion on this game - not one mention of #14 have I seen.

Beautiful!


I would be willing to bet signifiant money if Bally is BOG, we will have won.