Where are our holes?

[Teflon]

Coming into 2010 I expect sides like Dogs etc to improve - they have some good young talent too....weve lost some players, gained others and may lose another......so what are our areas where opposition sides "could" get hold of us this year?

For mine I do have some concerns...

1. I think we are too reliant on Hayes to provide that genuine midfield spark - Dal/Joey etc are good players.......but when Hayes is "on" we are a different side and normally he starts the rot......he aint getting younger...

2. Small, speedy defender....still think pace can be exposed here.....saw a bit of it GF day...

3. Midfield goals - the old chestnut......I was praying to see Lovett stream down a wing this year......."uncatchable" and goal OVER the heads from 50 of our key fwds........so long since we've had a consistent, exciting, long range goal kicker who was/is a JET.

4. Midfield depth - Ball going does mean either Armo/Steven IMHO HAVE to stand uo in the rotations......Ball's output was reduced but he could handle his own in the grunt dept. and provided great tackling/defensive pressure.....

5. Ruck - Kings/Gardy body.....when they inevitably get injured....can McEvoy do more now than "just hold his own" - lets face it...to win flags...you need more than that....

My god I WANT to get back there that last Sat in Sept.....and win this friggin thing.......I'll be shattered if we fall away in 2010...

[Milton66]

1- Agree. Hopefully Armo, and maybe even CJ.

2- Not sure about this... at a guess, Geary?

3- Depending on how the back 6 structure up, we may see other players moved into the middle like we saw in '09. Peake will go better than many are making out IMO. Goddard is the one to watch this year if he plays midfield full time.

4- See #1

5- Expect Mac to play more games.

6- My biggest worry is the med fwd possie. Just look at what Chappy did to us. We need a solid battering ram withthe agility of a mid.

[Teflon]

1- Agree. Hopefully Armo, and maybe even CJ.

2- Not sure about this... at a guess, Geary?

3- Depending on how the back 6 structure up, we may see other players moved into the middle like we saw in '09. Peake will go better than many are making out IMO. Goddard is the one to watch this year if he plays midfield full time.

4- See #1

5- Expect Mac to play more games.

6- My biggest worry is the med fwd possie. Just look at what Chappy did to us. We need a solid battering ram withthe agility of a mid.

Yep med fwd is a worry for sure........IF we had that Hamill option we'd be just so much more unpredictable going fwd......I actually was surprised Hawks let Mark Williams go as I thought he Franklin and Roughead were a tough combination to stop.

[iwantmeseats]

Im surprised McEvoy hasnt got more game time yet. This HAS to change on 2010. Its getting awfully late to start pumping some experience into him, given where are current ruckmen sit in their stages of career. And we all know the big guys take more time...

[Moorabbin Saints]

Pace.




I think Big Mac will push on and overtake Kingy.

Armitage to play at least half the year as a replacement for Ball.

Peake will only be used as backup. Under 5 games IMO.

[Spinner]

1 - Medium lead up forward.

Clear to me that the coaching staff think so too, which is evident through their persistence with Gwilt. Unfortunately not up to the task.

2 - As suggested the reliance on Hayes.

3 - Ruck. I think this is an area we can improve on and although I liken McEvoy to a 200cm Dal Santo he will still be a couple of years away from dominating games. Definitely think he will play about 15-20 next year!!!

[Saints43]

I actually was surprised Hawks let Mark Williams go as I thought he Franklin and Roughead were a tough combination to stop.

Me too. He is a great little workhorse (despite his reputation sometimes) - leads, leads and leads again. And when he gets it he kicks the goal. I thought he would have suited us and given the opposition headaches. If not paid the proper attention he can kick 5-6.

[plugger66]

A very pacey half forward who can go into the midfield.

[Unforgiven]

A high half forward flanker, there is no way possible that there is anything else we need more. Couldn't be highlighted any more than Chappy's game. We got the talls, and the smalls, but no medium. Someone who can play lead up target, and still do something with it when it hits the deck.

Pace... meh, when your winning clearences and have a good half back rebound you seem quicker anyways. Although I won't be complaining if Lovett does get to play for us

[Milton66]

Pace.




I think Big Mac will push on and overtake Kingy.

Armitage to play at least half the year as a replacement for Ball.

Peake will only be used as backup. Under 5 games IMO.

If Lovett goes, Peake will be more than a back-up. If he works ahrd, he'll become a regular IMO.

Interesting to see what role Farren Ray gets this year.

Once again, if you settle your back 6, it releases players. Ray might go fwd.

Who knows/ Not me. Bring it on is all I can say.

[meher baba]

Pace.




I think Big Mac will push on and overtake Kingy.

Armitage to play at least half the year as a replacement for Ball.

Peake will only be used as backup. Under 5 games IMO.

If Lovett goes, Peake will be more than a back-up. If he works ahrd, he'll become a regular IMO.

Interesting to see what role Farren Ray gets this year.

Once again, if you settle your back 6, it releases players. Ray might go fwd.

Who knows/ Not me. Bring it on is all I can say.

Peake and Lovett are different sorts of players. Lovett is an evasive and dangerous runner up the middle who would have given us a level of penetration through traffic that we haven't really had since Harvey's last really good season (2007). From what I have seen, Peake is quintessentially an outside player.

Raph - with all his faults - remains the closest thing we have to a player who can play the role that we were looking for Lovett to play.

For mine, Peake will be competing for a spot in the team against the likes of Dempster and Eddy. I reckon he is superior to both of these guys, so I hope he will win that particular contest. It would help his cause if he could lay a few tackles like Eddy does.

I agree with you about Ray: I'd like to see him in more of a midfield role. Likewise McQualter.

Otherwise, I'm rather worried about our potentially weaker midfield in 2010 due to Ball's departure. Ball isn't the player he once was, but we will need someone else to do what he was doing as well as he was doing it.

We would have won the GF if we'd kicked straighter, but Geelong only managed to stay in the game long enough to capitalise because of their enormous midfield strength. We can never hope to match that strength, but we need to be able to put up a credible contest. Ball helped us to do that. Lovett, in a different sort of way, would have helped too. That's why I would be hoping for Ray and McQualter to deliver something more for us in the middle.

If one or both of Armo and Steven can step up too, then we will be even better off. Unlike some on here, I am not yet 100% convinced that either of them are really going to make it as dominiant midfielders at AFL level (although Armo did show some promising signs late last season). But we can hope.................

[DWOODROW]

Pace.




I think Big Mac will push on and overtake Kingy.

Armitage to play at least half the year as a replacement for Ball.

Peake will only be used as backup. Under 5 games IMO.

If Lovett goes, Peake will be more than a back-up. If he works ahrd, he'll become a regular IMO.

Interesting to see what role Farren Ray gets this year.

Once again, if you settle your back 6, it releases players. Ray might go fwd.

Who knows/ Not me. Bring it on is all I can say.

Peake and Lovett are different sorts of players. Lovett is an evasive and dangerous runner up the middle who would have given us a level of penetration through traffic that we haven't really had since Harvey's last really good season (2007). From what I have seen, Peake is quintessentially an outside player.

Raph - with all his faults - remains the closest thing we have to a player who can play the role that we were looking for Lovett to play.

For mine, Peake will be competing for a spot in the team against the likes of Dempster and Eddy. I reckon he is superior to both of these guys, so I hope he will win that particular contest. It would help his cause if he could lay a few tackles like Eddy does.

I agree with you about Ray: I'd like to see him in more of a midfield role. Likewise McQualter.

Otherwise, I'm rather worried about our potentially weaker midfield in 2010 due to Ball's departure. Ball isn't the player he once was, but we will need someone else to do what he was doing as well as he was doing it.

We would have won the GF if we'd kicked straighter, but Geelong only managed to stay in the game long enough to capitalise because of their enormous midfield strength. We can never hope to match that strength, but we need to be able to put up a credible contest. Ball helped us to do that. Lovett, in a different sort of way, would have helped too. That's why I would be hoping for Ray and McQualter to deliver something more for us in the middle.

If one or both of Armo and Steven can step up too, then we will be even better off. Unlike some on here, I am not yet 100% convinced that either of them are really going to make it as dominiant midfielders at AFL level (although Armo did show some promising signs late last season). But we can hope.................

Never Fear MB, this is the year of Armo. I can feel it in my bones.

[Milton66]

I think u are corerct about Raph. It will be interesting to see how he looks ohysically this year. I think the thing with Geelong is that they had stronger bodies overall than we did.

I also don't discount a bolter in the pack this year. It happens every year. Just who it will be?

Like I mentioned above, there is stil a fair bit of improvement to come from within.

[meher baba]

I also don't discount a bolter in the pack this year. It happens every year. Just who it will be?

What about the guy who won the GF day sprint (is it Stanley? I'm struggling to remember right now). He's clearly got a bit of pace, if nothing else.

[Milton66]

I also don't discount a bolter in the pack this year. It happens every year. Just who it will be?

What about the guy who won the GF day sprint (is it Stanley? I'm struggling to remember right now). He's clearly got a bit of pace, if nothing else.

too oung.. but there's also Lynch

[rodgerfox]

Some glaring holes have appeared in the coaches box over the past 6 months.

[Milton66]

Some glaring holes have appeared in the coaches box over the past 6 months.

Classic "bait" comment Rodger. Good to see you're in top form in the preseason.

I agree 100% with what you say.

I'm surprised your not down at Peter McCallum... throwing out a few insults at the patients.

[matrix]

wont even catch an old boot with that one lol

[marksnsparks]

Jeez, looking at the heading of this thread, I thought I'd strayed onto sydneymardigras.com....

Mine is where it always is thanks!

[SydneySainter]

I think we are short of a tall defender. An injury to Zac or Blake leaves a hole.

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

Yep med fwd is a worry for sure........IF we had that Hamill option we'd be just so much more unpredictable going fwd......I actually was surprised Hawks let Mark Williams go as I thought he Franklin and Roughead were a tough combination to stop.

We do have that option. He wears number 18 and would have been the ideal replacement for Hamill, as soon as Sammy started missing games through injury. He could be much more damaging there than Sammy ever was.

[Moccha]

In our socks

[Moccha]

Some glaring holes have appeared in the coaches box over the past 6 months.

Mr Positivity!

Are you a motivational speaker by any chance?

[Teflon]

Some glaring holes have appeared in the coaches box over the past 6 months.

Thanks to all for posting your thought.....I found that "hole" I was looking for...

[borderbarry]

Lets hope like last year our players lift and fill all the holes. Our replacements and improvers could easily come from within the team.