Jack Steven, just a question

[SaintWal]

Has he lost a yard of pace since the Hawks game last year? Looks really big in the upper thighs?

[mad saint guy]

I've noticed this with a lot of our young players. Geary was also very quick when he started out with Sandy, not to mention much more attacking and creative. I fear our kids are being developed into hard working GOPs and having creative flare stamped out. Geary, Steven, Armo and Eddy are all now hard working, defensive-minded guys with ok skills and average pace. Compare that to some of the kids tearing it up at other clubs and you wonder if it's how they're developed, who we're drafting or who we're giving games to.

[avid]

I'm hyper-excited about him being in the team.
But he does seem to have lost a little of his zip maybe.
And his run / tenacity -- did you see him pull out of one long chase along the wing -- 3rd 1/4 I think? If he had have persisted, he would have got to the middle of several tackling opportunities, but the Carlton player got away with a fumble or two.
Really worried me. (I've got a lot of faith invested in Steven.)

[Bernard Shakey]

He is and never was quick. Nothing has changed.

[Con Gorozidis]

i watched him very very closely tonight.

either he is injured and very ginger/proppy (why did he play?)

or he just plain cant run.

his running action is almost a joke. a real shuffle. watched him attempt some chases. was almost comical. if hes not injured, hes in big trouble in modern day footy. just got burnt off too many times.

[Con Gorozidis]

I'm hyper-excited about him being in the team.
But he does seem to have lost a little of his zip maybe.
And his run / tenacity -- did you see him pull out of one long chase along the wing -- 3rd 1/4 I think? If he had have persisted, he would have got to the middle of several tackling opportunities, but the Carlton player got away with a fumble or two.
Really worried me. (I've got a lot of faith invested in Steven.)

i saw it completely and commented at the time. one guy burned him off and handballed to judd and then it got embarrasssing and JS just stopped to stop himself looking silly. in fact i chuckled. worrried the hell out of me. either the club come out this week and say he played with an injury and could not run or, if not, he simply CANT RUN AT ALL.

[St. Luke]

Regardless of how fast he is, he's getting in some good places at the right time. I've also noticed (perhaps not last night?) that he lays a terrific tackle!

[plugger66]

i watched him very very closely tonight.

either he is injured and very ginger/proppy (why did he play?)

or he just plain cant run.

his running action is almost a joke. a real shuffle. watched him attempt some chases. was almost comical. if hes not injured, hes in big trouble in modern day footy. just got burnt off too many times.

Has always had that running style. Looks exactly as he always has.

[backit]

I looked at his running against the dogs and noticed that he has a shuffle with small steps, he does not have a stride which makes him possibly look slower than he is. I do think that we don't have much pace in our younger players when you compare them with other lists, we don't seem to have the lean, wirey types like the Jettas, the Hills etc.

[Con Gorozidis]

I looked at his running against the dogs and noticed that he has a shuffle with small steps, he does not have a stride which makes him possibly look slower than he is. I do think that we don't have much pace in our younger players when you compare them with other lists, we don't seem to have the lean, wirey types like the Jettas, the Hills etc.

looks slow and IS slow.

[borderbarry]

I wonder why we did not persevere with Choo Choo. He had lots of genuine pace.

[saintsRrising]

I wonder why we did not persevere with Choo Choo. He had lots of genuine pace.

Rather he did not persevere with us. Unfortunately he got homesick and returned home.

[remboy]

I wonder why we did not persevere with Choo Choo. He had lots of genuine pace.

He weighed about 45 kgs dripping wet.
The guys mentioned earlier have never been super quick. Gery and Eddy had got good endurance rather than pace. It's why we took the risk with Lovett.
Mind you you don't need to be that quick to wina clearance. And when the opposition has the ball you always seem to look slower.

[lefty]

Regardless of how fast he is, he's getting in some good places at the right time. I've also noticed (perhaps not last night?) that he lays a terrific tackle!

Meh, if you watch the second quarter (fairly sure it wasn't the first) his opponent - simpson, runs away with the ball, has plenty of time to fiddle with it, gives it to judd, who then runs sideways then forwards, and you can see Stevens stops running/chasing.

He basically gave up chasing after Simpson, if he continued to run, he would of got Judd, instead of him kicking it into their forward line.

[Con Gorozidis]

Regardless of how fast he is, he's getting in some good places at the right time. I've also noticed (perhaps not last night?) that he lays a terrific tackle!

Meh, if you watch the second quarter (fairly sure it wasn't the first) his opponent - simpson, runs away with the ball, has plenty of time to fiddle with it, gives it to judd, who then runs sideways then forwards, and you can see Stevens stops running/chasing.

He basically gave up chasing after Simpson, if he continued to run, he would of got Judd, instead of him kicking it into their forward line.

i was watching that. he was running backwards. ur kidding me right?
simpson burned him off. then judd put a grand canyon in between him so he gave up. he cant run.

[battye]

Has he kicked a goal in every senior game he's played for St Kilda?

I'm not quite sure what his position is; small forward, flanker, mid-fielder?

Regardless, he looks promising. Not sure he is a better option than Armitage though - at present.

[Con Gorozidis]

Has he kicked a goal in every senior game he's played for St Kilda?

I'm not quite sure what his position is; small forward, flanker, mid-fielder?

Regardless, he looks promising. Not sure he is a better option than Armitage though - at present.

promising as what? has to be inside mid i think.

[battye]

Has he kicked a goal in every senior game he's played for St Kilda?

I'm not quite sure what his position is; small forward, flanker, mid-fielder?

Regardless, he looks promising. Not sure he is a better option than Armitage though - at present.

promising as what? has to be inside mid i think.

I'm not sure... just promising.

[Saintsfan]

So he kicked two goals however what is his position? Or what is he meant to be doing out there?

[ThomasR]

accountability is a problem - does not work hard enough up the ground and leaves his man free.. i don't think this is part of the zone. good for him because he can get a couple of cheapies over the back, but not so good for the defence trying to man up an extra player.

case in point last night, i think judd had marked it just behind the wing, not sure who was on the mark but there was a blues player short over the top further up the wing, instead of waving the man on the mark over to the player and taking the mark himself, jack just stood there in no mans land about 10m behind juddy not protecting any space, by the time the ball got chipped over the top he had realised his mistake and started running towards the player but all too late

i think he's a smart player with the ball in his hands and a natural footballer (as opposed to an athlete) but he needs to sharpen up the defensive side of his game - could even be a fitness issue. either way i would not be surprised or disappointed if he made may for armo this week

[SaintWal]

I agree with that plugger but do you think he has become leg heavy? I thought in the Hawks game he had reasonable pace, not the quickest but able to hold his own.

i watched him very very closely tonight.

either he is injured and very ginger/proppy (why did he play?)

or he just plain cant run.

his running action is almost a joke. a real shuffle. watched him attempt some chases. was almost comical. if hes not injured, hes in big trouble in modern day footy. just got burnt off too many times.

Has always had that running style. Looks exactly as he always has.

[Spinner]

i watched him very very closely tonight.

either he is injured and very ginger/proppy (why did he play?)

or he just plain cant run.

his running action is almost a joke. a real shuffle. watched him attempt some chases. was almost comical. if hes not injured, hes in big trouble in modern day footy. just got burnt off too many times.

Has always had that running style. Looks exactly as he always has.

Yep from what I can remember.

[eel33]

I thought Steven was limping slightly when the team ran out onto the ground, so I watched him carefully at 1/4 time. He was definitely limping as he walked/jogged to the bench for the start of the 2nd quarter.

[rexy]

accountability is a problem - does not work hard enough up the ground and leaves his man free.. i don't think this is part of the zone. good for him because he can get a couple of cheapies over the back, but not so good for the defence trying to man up an extra player.

case in point last night, i think judd had marked it just behind the wing, not sure who was on the mark but there was a blues player short over the top further up the wing, instead of waving the man on the mark over to the player and taking the mark himself, jack just stood there in no mans land about 10m behind juddy not protecting any space, by the time the ball got chipped over the top he had realised his mistake and started running towards the player but all too late

i think he's a smart player with the ball in his hands and a natural footballer (as opposed to an athlete) but he needs to sharpen up the defensive side of his game - could even be a fitness issue. either way i would not be surprised or disappointed if he made may for armo this week

I also thought he looked lost in the zone. A couple of times when they found a short target he seemed to be the gut out of position.

eddy may get his spot next week for this reason alone, regardless of who is better with the ball.

[degruch]

Interesting that he was drilled as a forward over the pre-season. Was he really lost when it came to zones?