Dawson

[borderbarry]

He was not on Lynch for the entire match. He spent some time on McKinley.

[repta]

I am not a Zac fan, and think the only reason he gets a game is that we have no alternative tall backman. He desperately needs a spell, however with Richmond and Adelaide coming, he should stay as he will get the better of Porpus and Riewaldt. If not it is the end for him. Both backmen arent gorillas that will scare him. We should be up in both games therefore it might give him the chance to reestablish himself.

[Saintsfan]

I really doubt if we are to win a premiership he will be in the team.

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

Dawson got his one kick with about 1 minute to go. Needs to be dropped and find some form at Sandy. Is hopelessly lost out there now for some reason.

How many goals did his opponent kick??

got the runaround from mkinley for a while. wasnt pretty. hes not playing well . hes just lucky there are no alternatives now goose has gone.

oh kill me with pedantry. im a zac lover. but the fact is he had a few kicked on him... some where he either missed the ball or missed the man. u crap on all day . hes not playing well . its not about who he is on. hes playing crap. lost his mojo for some reason. if u r going to be a pedant i will go back over the tape and give u the exact minutes and circumstance of the goals. but i dont think its neceassary. i like the bloke. 195cm backmen dont grow on trees. but hes still playing crap this year. just face it it. FFS.

Well put. Lynch may not have done much, but is that saying anything? He's spent most of the year in the WAFL.
I've liked Zac a lot, and have defended him and wanted him kept in there, but he looked hopelessly out of sorts, yet again, yesterday and as stated, it's not just what his opponent kicks that matters (as those who really understand the game would be well aware). On two occasions, he had the chance to mark, or at least punch the ball away and failed to do so, both times. Both cost us goals, in what was a low scoring game at the time. One was the McKinley left footer from the boundary. If Zac had bothered to look at the ball, he would have seen that it was going to fly over the top of Lynch and could have easily enough gone behind him and marked/punched it. But for the umpteenth time this year, he tried to make unnecessary body contact, first and the ball flew over both their heads and bounced through for a goal. The other one was later in the game and the ball flew through his hands and he looked incredibly unco-ordinated. Someone over the back then kicked a goal, from memory. And they're just two, off the top of my head.
Then there's the fact he had one possession for the game. Sure he played at full back, but didn't Brian Lake, the day before? He had 40+ possies and 22 marks, apparently. That's how far Zac is off the best, at the moment.
As has also been stated, Zac only played 60% of game time. That was less than Gardiner and McEvoy. That's far from ideal, especially since Lynch was on for 93% of the game.
If we're able to cover down back for Zac, for the other 40%+ of the game (as some of that 60% was spent up forward) then I believe it's time to let them cover for him for the whole game and let him take a load off and get his form, confidence, etc, back, at Sandy. We've been "top heavy" down back a few times this year and leaving Zac out may be the perfect antidote to that, unless we're playing someone who has about 3 "goliaths" up forward. Otherwise, Blake, Gilbert, Fisher, Gwilt and Raph ought to be more than enough.
That way, we can bring in some more speed and skill, which we've been lacking, in the form of someone like Jack Steven.
I'd also be very happy to see Mini go back to Sandy as well, as he's having about as poor a year as Zac. Armo could come in for him.
Many seem to want these guys left in the team, but they're way off their best and hardly having an impact. The VFL is there for guys like that to get their form, etc, back. Lets use it, and maybe give some of the younger guys a taste, to give the senior team an extra shot of enthusiasm and spark and to help fast track their development (while the more senior guys get their form/touch back).

[kosifantutti23]

er, did he not get his first touch with a minute to go? Thought he was poor, again.

How did Lynch go?

not good, your point ? jebus.

Pretty obvious if you understand footy. He played on a FF who got one goal.

Yeah but 2-3 Eagles goals came directly from his clangers and crap play. He was really poor again and looking at Lynch's lone goal is misleading stats. He had several chances to score from Dawson's weak play on him but fortunately for us kicked points.

My pet hate on this board is people who make stats up about players they don't like in order to support their argument.

Zac Dawson had one disposal for the game. It hit a team mate on the chest. Now get out a calculator and tell me what's the maximum number of clangers he could have.

[St Fidelius]

er, did he not get his first touch with a minute to go? Thought he was poor, again.

Just how many goals did his opponent kick

[Con Gorozidis]

er, did he not get his first touch with a minute to go? Thought he was poor, again.

How did Lynch go?

not good, your point ? jebus.

Pretty obvious if you understand footy. He played on a FF who got one goal.

a few words for you to mull over, contests and RFEBOUND out of defence. Understand footy? pfft. Your a total knob. Its staggering how many threads you drop into to prove it, consistantly.FFS.

im so sick of people who reckon they know the "inside word on peoples roles"

the same people who told me eddy was doing well because his role was to "fill space".

your role is to be a GOOD FOOTBALLER.

lets look at brian lakes stats over the last 2 weeks.

41 disps (35 kicks 6 hballs) and 22 marks in Rd 9 70-pt win over North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium (22 May 2010)

24 disps (14 kicks 10 hballs), 11 marks and 2 goals in Rd 8 38-pt win over Sydney at Manuka Oval (15 May 2010)

I like Zac - and 195cm dont grown on trees. but this year he is playing BAD FOOTBALL - compared with what we know he can do.

So shove your "role" crap and stop pretending you have "inside" knowledge of the coaches and blah blah blah. I dont care how i"nside" your knowledge is. you could be ross lyons hairdresser for all i care.

Zac is playing sh*t footy! end of story





Yes I am a knob but that has nothing to do with what he does. Do you actually know what his role is? If you do can you please tell us.

[saint tezza]

Well I sat down and watched the replay once again to see how much I missed the first time.

Now I think Zac is an average footballer playing far below average football.

Yes I know he only had one possession but that does not necessarily mean everything.

So I watched again to see whenever there was a contest in his vicinity what was the outcome.

When that happened he almost never looked a chance to take possession , more often than not running under the flight or failing to anticipate what his opponents might do.

Yes Lynch might have only kicked one but at least he gained possession or looked a chance to impact the match (especially if he would have kicked a little more accurately).

And Lynch is a very average footballer who has spent a period playing seconds for a very average football side.

Really Zac never looked a realistic chance of winning a contested possession in most of the minutes he was on the ground.

Hope he gets better but as my daughter says too .....OMG

[spert]

I reckon we have a great team, but some players are just not getting enough of the ball compared to last season. Watching the replay, Zac is way below par and Kosi is not far behind. I'm sure RL wants to get these guys into form, but jeez, they better start producing the goods.

[The Fireman]

I am not a Zac fan, and think the only reason he gets a game is that we have no alternative tall backman. He desperately needs a spell, however with Richmond and Adelaide coming, he should stay as he will get the better of Porpus and Riewaldt. If not it is the end for him. Both backmen arent gorillas that will scare him. We should be up in both games therefore it might give him the chance to reestablish himself.

this

[saintpeter]

Zac's form has been below par. If there is a better option, Zac should be relegated. This would have the effect, by definition, of strengthening the backline. It may also cause Zac to refocus and recover some form (maybe or maybe not as the impact on confidence is difficult to predict) I am not sure who the better option is however. Difficult decision for the selectors to make.

[3rd generation saint]

So is Brian Lake a better full back than Max or Frawley? Don't remember them having massive possession games.
Yes Zac is out of form, but he has a chance to find some form over the next two weeks.
Also he played quite well against Hall a few weeks ago.
As for Gaertner, yes he is a prospect, but he is a rookie and can't play unless we put someone on long term injury in order to elevate him.
Then when Roo comes back, he goes back to being a rookie.
The most important thing they should be doing with Zac is getting him in the gym and rebuilding some of the muscle he lost.

[saintpeter]

I agree with 3rd generation. For the time being we need to work on getting Zac into better shape and some form. The shape might take some time, but Zac has proven that he has the ability to play.

[3rd generation saint]

Saint Peter, thanks for your agreement, does this mean I get into heaven?
Mind you that requires a St.Kilda victory on September 25th.

[BigMart]

Yes Lake would be considered a great FB - not only does he beat opponents, he wins the ball ... He was All Aust. last year and is certainly the second best FB in the AFL

Good Full Back beat opponents...Great FB's win the ball and lauch attacks

Scarlett, Lake, Silvagni, Southby, Rantell, Fletcher, Langford, Pert

[rexy]

So is Brian Lake a better full back than Max or Frawley? Don't remember them having massive possession games.
Yes Zac is out of form, but he has a chance to find some form over the next two weeks.
Also he played quite well against Hall a few weeks ago.
As for Gaertner, yes he is a prospect, but he is a rookie and can't play unless we put someone on long term injury in order to elevate him.
Then when Roo comes back, he goes back to being a rookie.
The most important thing they should be doing with Zac is getting him in the gym and rebuilding some of the muscle he lost.

Lake is a better footballer than Max or frawley, whether he is a better full back I am not sure, still early days in his career in comparison and I am not sure he has the stopping power of either guy, who would you select though if you had to choose? Hard decision to make wearing my saints heart onmy sleeve?

Think Dawson will go, Walsh will get promoted and play this week.

Big call but I am making it early.

Could always be wrong though.

[BigMart]

Should definitely be dumped until he earns a spot back...

[BallBanger]

How did Lynch go?

I would have thought that Zac was on him very early than moved so Lynch's game had nothing to do with Zac
But Westcoast did not kick many goals so Zac must have been outstanding

[plugger66]

How did Lynch go?

I would have thought that Zac was on him very early than moved so Lynch's game had nothing to do with Zac
But Westcoast did not kick many goals so Zac must have been outstanding

I asked how Lynch went not the WCE forward line. By the way when was he moved off him?

[BallBanger]

How did Lynch go?

I would have thought that Zac was on him very early than moved so Lynch's game had nothing to do with Zac
But Westcoast did not kick many goals so Zac must have been outstanding

I asked how Lynch went not the WCE forward line. By the way when was he moved off him?

You made the statement inferring Lynch only kicked one goal so Zac did his job so you should know.
Watch the replay again

[3rd generation saint]

Walsh is a rookie too, wont play.

[plugger66]

How did Lynch go?

I would have thought that Zac was on him very early than moved so Lynch's game had nothing to do with Zac
But Westcoast did not kick many goals so Zac must have been outstanding

I asked how Lynch went not the WCE forward line. By the way when was he moved off him?

You made the statement inferring Lynch only kicked one goal so Zac did his job so you should know.
Watch the replay again

I have and when Zac played apart from 5 minutes in the 3rd quarter to me it looked like he played on Lynch.

Can I ask you one question, why would he be dropped this week after one goal was kicked on him when he wasnt after 7 were last week?

Zac is badly out of form but I think RL made it clear that he wants to try and keep structure in our backline and ZAC is our FB. There isnt a replacement in the seconds and moving someone else in the ones changes structure.

[rexy]

Walsh is a rookie too, wont play.

Thats why I wrote he will get promoted and play, because he is a rookie and would need to get promoted to play?

[3rd generation saint]

If memory serves me right, we need to put someone on the long term injury list in order for him to get promoted.

[plugger66]

If memory serves me right, we need to put someone on the long term injury list in order for him to get promoted.

Pretty sure Miles was or is.