sam gilbert, code breaker

bigcarl · Post: # 773227Post **bigcarl** » Sat 11 Jul 2009 10:30am

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/ ... 42,00.html

ST KILDA fans joke that they would love to rob a bank with Sam Gilbert, throw him the bag of cash and watch him run out the front door as an army of cops fruitlessly tries to cuff him. Sounds ridiculous, but anyone who has watched Gilbert help the Saints to their 14-0 start to the season would almost deem it plausible.

Gilbert is the competition's most-improved player in its most-improved team -- a rebounding defender with an exciting arsenal of sidesteps and "don't argues" that has left would-be tacklers floundering.

The dashing Saints half-back has conceded just 13 goals to direct opponents. Despite claiming the second-most groundball gets in the defensive 50m in the competition and an average of 21 disposals a game, he has been caught holding the ball only once.

It is the sort of form that has him right in the thick of All-Australian selection in what would be the latest achievement in a remarkable journey to AFL prominence.

Moods · Post: # 773237Post **Moods** » Sat 11 Jul 2009 11:23am

He surely has to be a monty for All Australian? Gun!

jonesy · Post: # 773240Post **jonesy** » Sat 11 Jul 2009 11:31am

In 2007 he was the only shining light out of a poor season. Had star written all over him
Last year was a major dissapointment,he was out of sorts early,then got injured,and never seemed to recover. Was starting to wonder if the 07 form was a fluke. However this year he's taken off from 07 again,and is turning out to be the gun we thought.

hotdish · Post: # 773242Post **hotdish** » Sat 11 Jul 2009 11:43am

He is a "shoe-in" for AA selection either in the back pocket or on the half back flank.

I, like most, love the trademark "goose step"! I wish we could clone him and put another Gilbert on the wing where he could run 50m and pot goals!

Beej · Post: # 773248Post **Beej** » Sat 11 Jul 2009 11:53am

hotdish wrote:I, like most, love the trademark "goose step"! I wish we could clone him and put another Gilbert on the wing where he could run 50m and pot goals!

Is that what they're calling Gilbert's side-step?

Campese wouldn't be happy

CeilidhSaint · Sat 11 Jul 2009 2:29pm

The Goose step I thought was the stiff legged wak a la the Nazi party. The Grape does the classic side step based I think largely on the Rugby league move that he obviously developed playing as a kid. Perhaps the Gilbert Step is a better name. He has also improved it i nthat when he was first playing with us he left the ball out hanging which meant it got stripped from him a bit......

vacuous space · Sat 11 Jul 2009 3:00pm

hotdish wrote:He is a "shoe-in" for AA selection either in the back pocket or on the half back flank.

If he wasn't before the Geelong game, he certainly is now. Surely everyone has now seen what a wonderful player he is. He leads our defence in contested marks and groundballs and is right up there with Sam Fisher for rebounds. He had nine marks, nine groundballs and 5 rebounds against Geelong. FWIW, Ross said on the radio earlier in the week that he doesn't play loose man very much, he's just so good at rolling off that he makes it look like he's loose.

I'm totally on board for the cloning idea. I'd love to have one of him up forward and another in the middle. He runs and carries, is dominant in the air and on the ground and he tackles with force. With his size and agility, there isn't much he can't do.

clarky449 · Post: # 773319Post **clarky449** » Sat 11 Jul 2009 7:20pm

Armoooo · Post: # 773320Post **Armoooo** » Sat 11 Jul 2009 7:22pm

If we could clone any player I'd want it to be Goddard, have on on the HBF, one in the centre and one in the FP...

However a couple of Riewoldts wouldn't go too badly either

James · Post: # 773321Post **James** » Sat 11 Jul 2009 7:35pm

Armoooo wrote:If we could clone any player I'd want it to be Goddard, have on on the HBF, one in the centre and one in the FP...

However a couple of Riewoldts wouldn't go too badly either

Hmm

B: Goddard - Dawson - Goddard
HB: Gilbert - Fisher - Goddard
C: Goddard - Hayes - Montagna
HF: Goddard - Riewoldt - Goddard
F: Milne - Riewoldt - Goddard
R: Gardiner - Goddard - Dal Santo
INT: Gardiner - Goddard - Goddard - Goddard

busso mick · Post: # 773325Post **busso mick** » Sat 11 Jul 2009 7:48pm

To quote a mate of mine "He's as slippery as an eel in a bucket of snot !"

kosifantutti23 · Sat 11 Jul 2009 8:32pm

James wrote:
B: Goddard - Dawson - Goddard
HB: Gilbert - Fisher - Goddard
C: Goddard - Hayes - Montagna
HF: Goddard - Riewoldt - Goddard
F: Milne - Riewoldt - Goddard
R: Gardiner - Goddard - Dal Santo
INT: Gardiner - Goddard - Goddard - Goddard

Still no Goose!

Richter · Post: # 773429Post **Richter** » Sun 12 Jul 2009 1:15am

Interesting to look back at that 2005 draft. Some decent players in there.....

1 Marc Murphy Carlton
2 Dale Thomas Collingwood
3 Xavier Ellis Hawthorn
4 Josh Kennedy Carlton
5 Scott Pendlebury Collingwood
6 Beau Dowler Hawthorn
7 Patrick Ryder Essendon
8 Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls Richmond
9 Mitchell Clark Brisbane Lions
10 Marcus Drum Fremantle

15 Travis Varcoe Geelong

19 Courtenay Dempsey Essendon

33 Samuel Gilbert St. Kilda

49 Michael Rix St. Kilda

61 Mathew Stokes Geelong

-----------------------------------

In retrospect, Gilbert probably would now go pick 3 behind Pendlebury and Ryder for mine. Murphy would come in next and Rix would round out the top 5. Likely that Gilbert will be the first AA of the draft.

Stokes certainly a steal at pick 61 - would be top ten now.

st.byron · Post: # 773437Post **st.byron** » Sun 12 Jul 2009 1:36am

Richter wrote:
49 Michael Rix St. Kilda

61 Mathew Stokes Geelong

............and Rix would round out the top 5. .

Thanks Grant

Beej · Post: # 773439Post **Beej** » Sun 12 Jul 2009 1:41am

Mitchell Clark's quickly becoming one of the best ruckmen in the comp.

Stokes, Dempsey, Varcoe, Dowler, Kennedy, Ellis and Thomas would be all in front of Rix surely.

From a totally unbiased view:

1. Pendlebury
2. Murphy
3. Ryder
4. Gilbert
5. Clark

With my St Kilda cap on I'd have Gilbert 3rd.

Richter · Post: # 773476Post **Richter** » Sun 12 Jul 2009 12:39pm

Dale Thomas 75 games
Matthew Stokes 62 games
Travis Varcoe 48 games
Xavier Ellis 43 games
Josh Kennedy 37 games
Michael Rix 29 games
Courtney Dempsey 23 games
Beau Dowler 10 games

Ok, maybe Rix isn't ahead of all those players...... but clearly the second best ruckman of that draft........

Goose is king · Sun 12 Jul 2009 1:48pm

I've been busy with work and only just had time to read the article. I would love to offer him an apprenticeship as a plumber. I wouldn't get any work done though. I'd just bring the footy to work and kick it with him. My current apprentice is a saints fan too. That would make work pretty fun.

vacuous space · Sun 12 Jul 2009 3:30pm

OLB wrote:3. Ryder
4. Gilbert

I don't get that one at all. Until this year, Ryder was a pretty ordinary key defender. He started the year playing as a ruck-forward and has since gone into the ruck. He's hardly been spectacular. Gilbert has been spectacular.

If the 05 draft were redone, I think there's a good chance Gilbo would go #1. His combination of size, speed and skill is rare. AFL teams fall over themselves for tall talent.

mick13 · Post: # 773596Post **mick13** » Sun 12 Jul 2009 4:19pm

Wait till the years done and Gilbert is an AA HB. Then we can consider him the best of that draft.

At the moment Pendles and Murphy are still ahead, no doubt Gilbo-Plug is tracking them down fast, and I reckon he has greater potential as well.

bigcarl · Post: # 773598Post **bigcarl** » Sun 12 Jul 2009 4:24pm

vacuous space wrote:If the 05 draft were redone, I think there's a good chance Gilbo would go #1. His combination of size, speed and skill is rare. AFL teams fall over themselves for tall talent.

agree.

he's been superb in defence all season and i thought he was BOG against the cats. gardiner's heroics notwithstanding.

opposition supporters really rate him and would love him in their backlines. he's just a hard guy to get past.

perfectionist · Sun 12 Jul 2009 4:29pm

On current form he's numero uno in my mind. We all know the reason he does the side step (no right foot) but he does seem to have perfected it.

plugger66 · Post: # 773602Post **plugger66** » Sun 12 Jul 2009 4:31pm

perfectionist wrote:On current form he's numero uno in my mind. We all know the reason he does the side step (no right foot) but he does seem to have perfected it.

The good thing about the side step is that he does it on the side a right footer would do it which confuses most players.

thecroc · Post: # 773604Post **thecroc** » Sun 12 Jul 2009 4:35pm

try this for a nick name? Gilbert Gobstopper - from a kids book

Gobstopper is British slang for an all-day jawbreaker that prevents speech, eating or almost any function using the mouth. This lively account of the adventures of a bright red gobstopper spans at least fifty years and possibly one or two galaxies. Rendered in technicolor, the craziness begins when Gilbert balances the candy on his nose and drops it down the sewer. The gobstopper frightens a couple of rats, hits the ocean floor, is eaten by an exotic fish that is caught by an unwitting fishermanand so on. Gilbert wonders about that gobstopper throughout his life. One day, it bounces through his window and hits him on the head. Gilbert, now a grandfather, thinks, "I knew it would turn up eventually." Haddon's wonderful cartoon treatment is wild and free-flowing; he saturates each scene of this fast-paced adventure in rich color. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

saintbrat · Post: # 774803Post **saintbrat** » Mon 13 Jul 2009 5:23pm

how he is held is really shown with this;

So impressed were AFLQ officials with Gilbert's development and the second-chance message he sends to aspiring youngsters, they instigated the Sam Gilbert Medal, presented each year to the best player in the Queensland under-21 side.

"All my mates refuse to win it, they say they will not wear it and will not acknowledge it at all," Gilbert said, laughing.

"It (medal) is embarrassing, very embarrassing. It's something I'll always have and that I'm deeply proud of, but I think it's something I'll look back on later in my career."

Beej · Post: # 774827Post **Beej** » Mon 13 Jul 2009 6:02pm

vacuous space wrote:
OLB wrote:3. Ryder
4. Gilbert
I don't get that one at all. Until this year, Ryder was a pretty ordinary key defender. He started the year playing as a ruck-forward and has since gone into the ruck. He's hardly been spectacular. Gilbert has been spectacular.

If the 05 draft were redone, I think there's a good chance Gilbo would go #1. His combination of size, speed and skill is rare. AFL teams fall over themselves for tall talent.

Murphy and Pendlebury have been doing it for three years and I think the number one pick would still be between those two.

I think if you asked the same question to a bunch of neutrals they would agree.

Gilbert's come of age this year and has been exceptional, but until this year he hasn't been great. It takes more time for some to find their way than others, sure, and with Gilbert coming from a rugby background it was probably always going to take him that little bit longer but he's arrived now.

Ryder has taken that next step in the same way Gilbert has and is now complete IMO. Ryder was drafted as a ruckman originally and it's taken an injury to David Hille for him to get a regular shot in his preferred position but now he's absolutely flourishing.

I think agile, versatile ruckmen/kpp's are more valuable to clubs than the Gilbert type for the simple reason that they're extremely rare.