Selection POOR!

[meher baba]

I totally agree with the OP that the backline structure we used against the Blues and, until Max got injured, the Tigers isn't going to work against better teams. We really can't afford to have more than 2 out of 3 of Max, Blake and Dawson all playing their current roles.

It won't be easy to resolve this, bar injury. Dawson is playing out of his skin, Max is an all-time legend of the club who looked as good as ever against the Blues, and Blake is the pivot of a defence which is setting all time records in terms of its miserliness.

The idea of bringing Goose in for Max is absurd. It would make our back six even more tall and ponderous.

Dempster is more mobile than Goose or Max, but is he really the total answer, even in the short term? He is a long accurate kick, but he doesn't get much of his own ball and he doesn't break lines. Like Baker and (as it turns out) CJ, he is largely suited to a tagging role. Our current game plan doesn't seem to suit the idea of a lot of taggers: can Dempster (to use a musical analogy) adjust to playing in a different key: eg, as the sort of "go to" man to kick the ball out of defence that saintsRrising sometimes talks about? I'm not sure.

I'm still certain that Raph, in his best form, would bring something to our backline that neither Dempster nor any other player could bring. I wouldn't propose to bring Raph back against the Cats: whoever we bring in next week, they need to be in form.

All things considered, if I were Lyon, I'd bring back Gwilt as third forward. I firmly believe that BJ has better skills to play the role than Gwilt, but - whether under instruction or because of the flow of the game - he seems to drift back a lot and really does look at his best in the midfield or further back.

Gilbert didn't look the go up forward. And I have no truck with the idea that Goose or Dawson could do the job.

For me, the third forward role is the one I'd fill next week, giving us the same lineup down back that dominated for the first 8 rounds or so and with Gwilt using his physical presence to force Scarlett and Harley to make some room for Kosi and Roo.

If not Gwilt, for some reason, then I would take a long shot and try out Lynch.

Anyway, we'll find out soon enough!!

[vacuous space]

The big backline has worked for us. It's also worked for them. Enright, Harley, Mackie, Milburn, Scarlett and Taylor are all pretty tall. Enright and Mackie are the only ones who are really mobile. We have Fisher and Gilbert. Talls on smalls tends to work because the smalls push up leaving their opponent free to outnumber the talls. I don't think we'll do anything really different against Geelong.

[saint vince]

What is there match up to our forward line of
Mini
Milne
Schneider
Dal
BJ
Joey

All have played there and kicked goals in the past.

Leaving Ball, Hayes and Roo in the midfield.

[BigMart]

We play a four man fwd line

Two talls
Kosi - Scarlett (quick)
Riewoldt - Taylor (athletic)

Two smalls
Milne - Wojinski/D.Johnson
Schnieder - Millburn/Mackie both play small

Another player high HF
Goddard/Dal/Gram/Mini - Kelly/Corey/Bartel
Spare - can be either Harley/Millburn/Mackie


Our spare will be
S.Fisher, Gilbert, Goddard...

[saintbob]

Leave blake alone people!
he does his job thats why he is in the team.
i guess you gotta have a whipping boy every week though
you are suppose to be SUPPORTERS.
f****** support the team every player insted of bagging him out!

Totally agree, but then again most on here wanted Geary out after one poor game last week!!!

[BigMart]

Wasn't geary nominated for RS award recently.......who wanted him dropped??????

did anyone, or are you just making that up to validate some sort of point you have???

[saint patrick]

Agree that Dempster may be ahead of Maguire for team balance but probably needs a few more runs yet

Blakes flexability 1% ers and hard running is still underated by most...

Don't think Raph is in the mix this week especially not down back where although creating some run is way too loose for my liking

My prefered backline longterm is

Baker Maxi Dawson

Dempster Fisher Gilbert

Blake as a utility or spare back.

If Max doesn't come up I'd prefer to see Jack Steven given a chance as a spare mid or Gwilt brought back in up forward .Looked a more balanced team with Jimi up there.

[saintbob]

Wasn't geary nominated for RS award recently.......who wanted him dropped??????

did anyone, or are you just making that up to validate some sort of point you have???

Go back and check last weeks threads re: possible changes or team line ups, I'm confident you'll find those who were calling for his head.

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

Leave blake alone people!
he does his job thats why he is in the team.
i guess you gotta have a whipping boy every week though
you are suppose to be SUPPORTERS.
f****** support the team every player insted of bagging him out!

How about not telling us what to do? If we see a change that we believe will make the team better, we're allowed to say what it is. The fact that so many say the same name surely tells you something. And it's not because we "hate" him, as some ludicrously suggest.
And as you say, it's his "job". Before anyone cries themselves to sleep at the prospect of him not playing seniors, you might want to remember that he's getting paid something like $5000 A WEEK, whether he's playing seniors or not. It's not like he's here on a voluntary basis and his reward for service is playing seniors. His reward is THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS A WEEK. We're going to call a spade a spade, whether anyone/you likes it or not. Our membership money is going towards these payments, as you may be aware.

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

Gilbert actually started at half forward!

correct, but the backline lacked a bit of run without him i thought.

Wasn't he only there for about a minute? He was inside forward 50 for the first bounce, but then about 60 seconds later he was getting a kick on the last line of defence. I'm pretty sure he started down back at the next centre bounce and I didn't see him forward again all day. I don't think we learned too much from the 30 seconds he spent playing key forward!
Even when we were miles in front they didn't try him there, which I found very disappointing. They are the times to experiment, but we just keep the same structures and the guys seem to get bored out of their brains and go through the motions for the rest of the game.

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

Leave blake alone people!
he does his job thats why he is in the team.
i guess you gotta have a whipping boy every week though
you are suppose to be SUPPORTERS.
f****** support the team every player insted of bagging him out!

Some supporters look for ways in which the team can get better

Here, here! Some of us aren't just here because we're winning, or will win. We follow the club because we love footy and love the club/team and want to see it reach its full potential, not just win.
It doesn't mean we're not happy to have 13 wins, as some stupidly and ignorantly continue to suggest, it's just that we're not only here for that. We'd be here even if we thought we were going to lose and as such we just want them to play to their potential, with passion, for 4 quarters a week, whether we're on the top of the ladder, or on the bottom. We don't change that mindset, just because we're winning, and say "well, we're winning, so that'll do".

[bigcarl]

Wasn't he only there for about a minute? He was inside forward 50 for the first bounce, but then about 60 seconds later he was getting a kick on the last line of defence.

probably right, but i'm guessing that he is considered too valuable rebounding out of defence and was moved pretty quickly because the tigers were on top early.

will be intesesting to see where raph lines up today. i'm hoping hff because i think he could be effective there. plus he can be dodgy in defence when his confidence is down.