raph

[Milton66]

Still rubbish.....

and people still going into bat for him......for what reason???.....strength through loyalty????......simple answer is, he cannot cut the mustard under the pump....

He was clearly our second worse in the GF......

Who was our wrst? And let's make him a whipping boy also.

[3rd generation saint]

As I said on another post, just watched the replay, Raph was better than Varcoe and Johnson, they we're the 2 worst players on the ground.

[gringo]

Don't get upset and make rash calls. We were right in it for most of the match this is a valuable confidence boost for us.

Self belief will have come from that game something that was lacking for the dogs game.

we need to sit down and work out how we can apply ourselves better not start rebuilding as half the posters seem to think is necessary.

Geelong will loose another couple of fringe, depth players and the dogs are another year older.

We have Armo , Steven, Eddy and Geary all waiting in the background.

Trying raph forward could work but tweaking what we have or topping up is all we need. Don't panic.

[Eastern]

As I said on another post, just watched the replay, Raph was better than Varcoe and Johnson, they we're the 2 worst players on the ground.

I'd add Harley to that list !!

[saint75]

As I said on another post, just watched the replay, Raph was better than Varcoe and Johnson, they we're the 2 worst players on the ground.

I'd add Harley to that list !!

Definitely. He won't be there next year. I expect to hear an announcement on his retirement in the next few days. He is just enjoying the premiership with his team prior to making his annoucement.

[Eastern]

As I said on another post, just watched the replay, Raph was better than Varcoe and Johnson, they we're the 2 worst players on the ground.

I'd add Harley to that list !!

Definitely. He won't be there next year. I expect to hear an announcement on his retirement in the next few days. He is just enjoying the premiership with his team prior to making his annoucement.

He's already on the West Sydney advisory board !!

[saint75]

As I said on another post, just watched the replay, Raph was better than Varcoe and Johnson, they we're the 2 worst players on the ground.

I'd add Harley to that list !!

Definitely. He won't be there next year. I expect to hear an announcement on his retirement in the next few days. He is just enjoying the premiership with his team prior to making his annoucement.

He's already on the West Sydney advisory board !!

Really? That is interesting. I knew he was retiring but didn't realise he had already taken a post elsewhere.

[BigMart]

There is a reason some people are whipping boys.....

[degruch]

There is a reason some people are whipping boys.....

...yes, those boys have been very bad and someone needs to punish them.

[Solar]

There is a reason some people are whipping boys.....

apart from the mistake in the first quarter, what else did he do wrong? he was not suited for the match up he had and ross was not flexible enough to place him into a position to use their running ability. Got stuck playing as a small defender......

as has been said, there were alot higher ranked players from both sides who struggled more

[Animal Enclosure]

There is a reason some people are whipping boys.....

apart from the mistake in the first quarter, what else did he do wrong? he was not suited for the match up he had and ross was not flexible enough to place him into a position to use their running ability. Got stuck playing as a small defender......

as has been said, there were alot higher ranked players from both sides who struggled more

Spot on Solar... & the huge mistake was mainly a communication mix between Raph & Chips... Raph thought Sam was going to shepherd & Sam had peeled off to receive the handball. Hardly the hanging offence that the Raph haters have claimed.

I still think he is a very good player being played out of position. He played an absolute blinder last year from memory when he played on a wing & across half forward.

[Solar]

There is a reason some people are whipping boys.....

apart from the mistake in the first quarter, what else did he do wrong? he was not suited for the match up he had and ross was not flexible enough to place him into a position to use their running ability. Got stuck playing as a small defender......

as has been said, there were alot higher ranked players from both sides who struggled more

Spot on Solar... & the huge mistake was mainly a communication mix between Raph & Chips... Raph thought Sam was going to shepherd & Sam had peeled off to receive the handball. Hardly the hanging offence that the Raph haters have claimed.

I still think he is a very good player being played out of position. He played an absolute blinder last year from memory when he played on a wing & across half forward.

you know what hurt us more, not that situation, it was schneids, milne, mini all running into open goals and missing.......

nah lets flog raph.....

[bigcarl]

couple of observations about raph, who, i agree was beaten by a quicker opponent.

1) we might not have made the grand final at all if not for his final quarter against the bulldogs in the prelim.

2) he's being played out of position. as i've said before, he is not, and never will be, a close-checking defender. i'd play him as either a tall onballer, winger or half forward.

[joffaboy]

he's being played out of position. as i've said before, he is not, and never will be, a close-checking defender. i'd play him as either a tall onballer, winger or half forward.

this

[aussiejones]

Coach and selectors have perceptions of players position and individuals attributes.... sometimes these work against the team.

" he's being played out of position. as i've said before, he is not, and never will be, a close-checking defender. i'd play him as either a tall onballer, winger or half forward."

Wonder if RL is thinking about this ....

Ross has had Milne play further up the ground in 2009......ok he has increased his tackle count but decreased his goal scoring....

[borderbarry]

Kingy had 48% game time and 5 kicks.
Dempster had 64% game time, 2 kicks, 3 hand balls.
Raph had similar game time and 13 possessions. How come everyone isnt jumping all over Dempster instead of Raph? I dont understand you people.

[matrix]

you could clearly see chips talking to him
he then gets pinged

either he didnt hear him
or ignored it

[Bernard Shakey]

you could clearly see chips talking to him
he then gets pinged

either he didnt hear him
or ignored it

"talking to him" is not the phrase I'd use.

The fact is the game is so fast today that players don't have the time to hear much at all. You can't "talk", you must "scream", and I don't think Saints players do enough of that.

[matrix]

all ya gotta say is "hot! hot! hot!"

christ it works in B grade country footy ffs

[Jewellzy]

Actually saying "hot hot!" is generally frowned upon these days, as it can lead to an opposition player screaming it when he has absolutely no chance of catching you.

[westy]

Does anybody take a look at the absolute crapola on the facebook pages? The club posted an apology for missing X-Man's birthday and the thing degenerated into bagging Raph session! Some of those idiots should be following Richmond, the masters of implosion. I can think of a number of occasions throughout the year when Raph got us out of trouble, particularly against the Dogs a couple of weeks ago.

[Beej]

Actually saying "hot hot!" is generally frowned upon these days, as it can lead to an opposition player screaming it when he has absolutely no chance of catching you.

Wow. Regardless of whether it's "hot", "man on", "hurry the fk up!", opposition players can scream anything to resemble a teammate.

Until players master the art of mental telepathy, "hot" will have to suffice and it's up to the player to distinguish between his teammate, whose voice he would be pretty familiar with considering he's heard it for years during training, and an opposition player's voice.

Believe me, you notice pretty quickly when a foreign voice is trying to give you instructions.

I reckon the pressure of the occasion got to Raph and he just couldn't hear whatever Chips was trying to tell him. Those who have played competitive team sport will understand how much more difficult it can be to "listen" to a teammate when under the pump. If you're overcome by enormous pressure it's easy for the brain to block everything out.

[spert]

Raph should not be bagged after the grand final effort, he made a couple of clangers unfortunately, but did reasonably OK for the rest of the match and although he sometimes seems out of his depth, he is obviously talented, but a slow developer like Goddard and will only get better. You want a couple of whipping boys for the loss..try experienced players like Milne, and Kosi in a non-performing forward line that had the ball pumped into it so much that granny could have kicked a couple of goals...McQualter is still developing and I'll let him off the hook, and Schneider actually got his hands on the ball, and had he have kicked another goal, he would have done as well as Chappy.

[matrix]

Actually saying "hot hot!" is generally frowned upon these days, as it can lead to an opposition player screaming it when he has absolutely no chance of catching you.

chips was right beside him saying something
for all we know the crowd roar mighta drowned it out
s*** happens
one holding the ball decision
its not like it cost us a flag ffs
raph on the wing, get that huge stride of his going
could easily kick goals from the 50

[Ackland St. Blues]

Byrnes destroyed Clarke in the last quarter and was an instrumental part in bring premiership glory to the Cats.

God, everyone knows that Byrnes has no right boot but Clarke got turned inside out three times! Seriously dumb footballer.