RAY!

[saintjake]

whats the deal my fellow saintsational posters,
big fazza ray came across and had a GREAT year!
he allowed Goddard to roam around more freely,
displayed great courage in floating across packs, a good set of hands, provided good run and a very nice penetrating kick,
but now im seeing people posting their "future 22" and Ray doesn't even get a mention, or he has been put on the bench with PEAKE coming onto the ground!
whats the deal, am i imagining what i saw of ray this year?

[Gilbo1on1]

dont get me wrong i love him but he just needs three or four more kegs in the shoulders.

[bigcarl]

he's in my best 22. didn't have a great finals series, but i reckon he will keep improving. very good player.

[Gilbo1on1]

he's in my best 22. didn't have a great finals series, but i reckon he will keep improving. very good player.

he's in my 22 too. i just want to see him become a bit stronger in the arms and shoulders and play a bit more direct.

[Batnoe]

Deadset Jake, i agree totally with you.. Is a must in our side. Very important and i rate him highly

[borderbarry]

I imagine he will be competing with Peake for a place?

[Gilbo1on1]

I imagine he will be competing with Peake for a place?

RL would have a plan for them both one would imagine.

[Eastern]

whats the deal my fellow saintsational posters,
big fazza ray came across and had a GREAT year!
he allowed Goddard to roam around more freely,
displayed great courage in floating across packs, a good set of hands, provided good run and a very nice penetrating kick,

whats the deal, am i imagining what i saw of ray this year?

The deal with Farren is;

NO RODNEY EADE & HIS BLINKERED VIEWS !!

[Armoooo]

Yeah I noticed that in another thread too, he had a great season and I still feel he's got significant improvement left in him, it just shows how strong our list is that he is a real borderline player, especially with the arrival of Lovett.

Am I the only one who thinks Peake is nothing more than back up?

[Gilbo1on1]

cool that we are discussing him though because i think he is an asset but i would hate to see a lack of development in him. from what i can gather about farren ray is that he is handy, can take a good grab, is useful by foot and is a thinker.
the negative trend would be if starts to get too comfortable and plays that type of role he did at WBD where he gets it on halfback waddles around a bit going forward and then looks for that kick over the square at an angle that is neither a centering kick or an inside fifty. the one that goes to a defensive midfielder under pressure rather than a goal kicker.
i think he's much more damaging when he gets it on the edge of the centre square takes it straight ahead, has a bounce and then puts it inside fifty. to play forward in a more damaging role he needs a few more kegs in the shoulders to be able to say to a defender
- i'm going to take you on all day and i'm going to beat you with leg speed and a good kick.

Yeah I noticed that in another thread too, he had a great season and I still feel he's got significant improvement left in him, it just shows how strong our list is that he is a real borderline player, especially with the arrival of Lovett.

Am I the only one who thinks Peake is nothing more than back up?

you're not the only one but peake is going to be asset. whether peake is played forward time will tell, but he adds a bit of genuine grunt and muscle.

[mick13]

Ray was the only player, (along with Blake) to play every game this year. I don't think it matters what our supporters think, because the coach certainly rates him.

He was finally able to tap into the potential he's always had, but was never able to display at the Dogs cos they have far too many similar players. Sticking him on the HBF and giving him some freedom was vital in letting us release Gram and Goddard further up and into the middle of the ground.

Not so sure he's competing for a spot with Lovett to be honest. They can both fit into the same team I think. Peake's the one that has to prove something in the pre-season to get a shot in our best 22. And judging by this year he'll want to, otherwise he'll be playing for the Zebs all year.

[Gilbo1on1]

i think grammy was a bit reluctant at first but warmed to the idea of ray once he was made aware that fazz could take a good mark. now that lovett is one the scene things are going to be a little bit different.

our defensive structure has proven itself, now, in 2010 the overall transitional structure will undergo a makeover. this is where LT and RL are going to be steadfast. they'll set-up routines that will make people's heads spin. high rotation, roles-roles-roles, anything to move the ball quicker, bimBAMBOOM!

lovett's going to be playing left wing sweeper largely. joey will be his mirror image on the right. everyone else slots in and around these guys. blokes like ray, gram, peake and co will be transitional role-makers playing from defensive primarily rotated forward. it's going to be a really cool thing to witness.

[SydneySainter]

whats the deal my fellow saintsational posters,
big fazza ray came across and had a GREAT year!
he allowed Goddard to roam around more freely,
displayed great courage in floating across packs, a good set of hands, provided good run and a very nice penetrating kick,
but now im seeing people posting their "future 22" and Ray doesn't even get a mention, or he has been put on the bench with PEAKE coming onto the ground!
whats the deal, am i imagining what i saw of ray this year?

Agree with you completely, big Ray fan myself.

As for the finals, I actually thought Ray, along with Kosi played a good first final, but had a quiet prelim and grand.

Overall, a very good player with improvement still to come.

[JABBER]

I had Ray as third emerg in my 22 Milne and King the others.

I brought in Jack Steven as a forward pocket.Andrew Lovett as a HFF and Geary and McEvoy on the bench as the improved players for next year.

I just rate Sean Dempster infront of Ray for a back pocket position.

I rate Brett Peake in the 26-30 bracket at this stage

[Armoooo]

I had Ray as third emerg in my 22 Milne and King the others.

I brought in Jack Steven as a forward pocket.Andrew Lovett as a HFF and Geary and McEvoy on the bench as the improved players for next year.

I just rate Sean Dempster infront of Ray for a back pocket position.

I rate Brett Peake in the 26-30 bracket at this stage

RL has stated that he believes in a 4 year apprenticeship for youngsters (unless they're something special) going on past form this would indicate that first year players are lucky to get a game, second year players should get 4-8, third year players should get 10-15 and fourth year players should get around 16 or 17 before joining the core group.

I would be surprised to see Steven, Geary or McEvoy to be starting players next season.

[Spinner]

Great year - Poor finals series.

In best 22, borderline 18.

[S.A Saint]

had a very good year up until round 18 then fell away....will need to work even harder next year as he is one of the players who's spot could come under threat from up and coming players

[Milan Faletic]

At least we have the depth on our list to evoke this discussion.

They all have opportunity to prove themselves and Farren Ray is one of those players.

Had an excellent year and was very nervous in the Finals. Sometimes the second year can be harder. He will need to bulk up in the shoulders and hold his marks but he has the ability to hold his spot in the team.

[JABBER]

Jack Steven,Ben McEvoy and Jarryd Geary hopefully will get more time next year I also got David Armitage as a first rover depending on whether luke ball stays or goes.

Next year looks exciting i rate nearly all the players at the club and according to Quixote i might even through in alister smith into the team

[clarky449]

Defs in the 22

[n1ck]

dont get me wrong i love him but he just needs three or four more kegs in the shoulders.

Have seen him at the gym 4 or 5 times in the last few weeks. Is only a month and a half on from the GF but he looks very fit.

[To the top]

The fact that some (including me) name Ray on the bench is neither here or there.

Simply, he will rotate as he did in 2009 and hopefully take another step forward.

His marking prowess sets him as a dangerous forward option - given we can afford to play him there.

In regards Peake, we actually traded for him so I would expect him to be allocated more than a list depth tag by the Coaching panel.

As I have said before, we lack a 'small defender' with good rebound skills including because of ball usage abilities and it would not surprise to see Peake ear marked for this position and giving run out of defence.

This also frees up the likes of Gram, Clarke and Ray for mid-field rotations and forays forward.

Baker can do the hard bodied shut down role but he does not give what the likes of Wirrupunda gives to the West Coast defence or Johnson before him gave to Brisbane.


Peake is highly skilled - and, like Ray, someone on the St Kilda panel has seen something they like.

[skeptic]

He improved out of sight this year but a poor finals campaign took the gloss off his season.

Needs to continue to improve otherwise he'll easily be overtaken in the clubs best 22


Big year for Farren, we'll learn a lot about him next season.

He's clearly good enough to be a C grade rotation midfielder

The season just past i'd rate him a B

IMO he's good enough to be at least a B+ midfielder... he has the potential to be an A grader though... dunno if i c him getting there but he could

[Milan Faletic]

He improved out of sight this year but a poor finals campaign took the gloss off his season.

Needs to continue to improve otherwise he'll easily be overtaken in the clubs best 22


Big year for Farren, we'll learn a lot about him next season.

He's clearly good enough to be a C grade rotation midfielder

The season just past i'd rate him a B

IMO he's good enough to be at least a B+ midfielder... he has the potential to be an A grader though... dunno if i c him getting there but he could

I think his ability to become A grade will be from the shoulders and above.

Mentally he needs to believe in himself.

Physically he needs to bulk up in the shoulders.

[saintsRrising]

I think Ray basically gave us a very good replacement for Banger who finished off as an outside running mid.