Charlie Gardiner- can he play defence

Batnoe · Post: # 563227Post **Batnoe** » Thu 08 May 2008 10:41pm

I like the guy, i think we have done well and we need him now that our forward line is shakey with Roo out and Gehrig out of form, but can he play back?

i am asking this because i want to see how Raph and Gwilt go in the forward line, i think they will be hard to match up on, Gwilt- like a faster Mal Michael, huge strong lower body, could be a great forward... and Raph, he is a good mark on the lead, that is where he should be played

LENNY LEADS THE WAY · Thu 08 May 2008 10:43pm

He may be able to but my gut feel is he would struggle

Saints Premiers 2008 · Thu 08 May 2008 10:48pm

he comes across as having one string to his bow and i think is a very important one...

all he needs to do is lead, mark and handball off...ocassionaly kick a few

he won't ever attract a decent defender either...so this is his niche...

Armoooo · Post: # 563242Post **Armoooo** » Thu 08 May 2008 11:08pm

Good god, if Kosi has to play in ruck this week we will have an absolutely deplorable forwardline...

This is the time our midfield steps up, we can't afford to send blokes like Charlie down back....

Saints Premiers 2008 · Thu 08 May 2008 11:14pm

Armoooo wrote:Good god, if Kosi has to play in ruck this week we will have an absolutely deplorable forwardline...

This is the time our midfield steps up, we can't afford to send blokes like Charlie down back....

kosi wont play ruck

boh king and gardiner will play...i would even be tempted to bring back rix if king doesnt get up to ensure kosi plays the entire game in the forward line

Batnoe · Post: # 563260Post **Batnoe** » Thu 08 May 2008 11:30pm

Rix wont get another game

worth playing McEvoy

If Kosi has to play ruck, bring in Gwilt to play forward

a forward line of

FF Milne, Gwilt, Gehrig
HF Shneider, Gardiner, Dal Santo

that still isnt a bad forward line at least we wont be too one dimensional

if Gardiner plays back, i would play Raph in forward line, i wouldn't be surprised to see Fiora play a flank role

FF Milne Gwilt, Gehrig
HF Fiora Raph Schneider

on paper it isnt competitive, but it will work, it means our mid fielders and wingers will have to run into forward line and present, something they haven't had to do too often

sometimes a negative is a positive, a Roo injury will see us play a different brand of footy and if we can get some confidence without him imagine how much more attacking we will be with him, if we only kick to him 40% of time instead of 98%

bigcarl · Post: # 563274Post **bigcarl** » Thu 08 May 2008 11:49pm

kosi must play forward. got to have someone down there who can take a contested mark,

HF: R. Clarke, Kosi, Dal Santo
FF Milne, Gehrig, Schneider

gardiner to wing. allen to backline?

meher baba · Thu 08 May 2008 11:58pm

Without being too hard on the guy, I'm far from convinced that he can play forward consistently at AFL standard, let alone anywhere else.....

mad saint guy · Fri 09 May 2008 12:10am

Defensive Gardiner = Blake

Winmar7Fan · Post: # 563340Post **Winmar7Fan** » Fri 09 May 2008 1:02am

Saints Premiers 2008 wrote:he comes across as having one string to his bow and i think is a very important one...

all he needs to do is lead, mark and handball off...ocassionaly kick a few

he won't ever attract a decent defender either...so this is his niche...

"all he needs to do is lead, mark and handball off...ocassionaly kick a few"

Id be happy if we had anyone that could that at the moment

Winmar7Fan · Post: # 563342Post **Winmar7Fan** » Fri 09 May 2008 1:07am

meher baba wrote:Without being too hard on the guy, I'm far from convinced that he can play forward consistently at AFL standard, let alone anywhere else.....

Im with you apart from Shnieder and a few promising signs from Armitage im not seeing really anything from this new lot

skeptic · Post: # 563345Post **skeptic** » Fri 09 May 2008 1:13am

even w/o Roo, I'd still rather not play Gehrig... just too much of a liabilty. Would rather play Allan or Ferguson

groupie1 · Post: # 563354Post **groupie1** » Fri 09 May 2008 7:15am

good question - different things are always worth thinking about - your looking at him as a bit like an S Fisher type?
(And BEFORE any of the losers on here bark up and down with 'FISHER'S ONE OF OUR BEST PLAYERS AND I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE COMPARING GARDINER WITH FISHER... BLAH DRIVEL BLAH DRIVEL BLAH', I'm talking type, not standard)

plugger66 · Post: # 563367Post **plugger66** » Fri 09 May 2008 8:52am

He has never played back so would he now. And didnt we lose a forward in form and a backman out of form. Who is more important to replace. Maybe Rooy I think. Goose wasnt getting the ball anyway.

Another idea is if Max is fit maybe he could go forward.

Saints Premiers 2008 · Fri 09 May 2008 10:19am

plugger66 wrote:He has never played back so would he now. And didnt we lose a forward in form and a backman out of form. Who is more important to replace. Maybe Rooy I think. Goose wasnt getting the ball anyway.

Another idea is if Max is fit maybe he could go forward.

when rooey comes back we should make our forward line incredibly unpredictable by clearing it all out and leaving max one on one in the goalsquare...he then spoils as a true backman should and then waits untileveryone rushes back into the forward 50 to pick up the crumbs

Wollongong_saint · Fri 09 May 2008 10:51am

Players like Gwilt and Raph aren't magicaly going to make good players by putting them in new positions. If they were going to make the team regularly in any position they would have by now.

Time to give untried players a go. I would hate to see Gwilt back in the team.

Wollongong_saint · Fri 09 May 2008 10:54am

Winmar7Fan wrote:
meher baba wrote:Without being too hard on the guy, I'm far from convinced that he can play forward consistently at AFL standard, let alone anywhere else.....
Im with you apart from Shnieder and a few promising signs from Armitage im not seeing really anything from this new lot

Michael Gardiner and King have both had a massive impact in the games they have played. Playing them both regularly is the only way we are going to click with Ross Lyon's stubborn strategy and challenge the big three teams come September.

saintsRrising · Fri 09 May 2008 11:56am

meher baba wrote:Without being too hard on the guy, I'm far from convinced that he can play forward consistently at AFL standard, let alone anywhere else.....

Well I am different I have actually been pleasantly surprsied with Charlie.

I orgiginally though that he would just be a bit of a depth player occassionally sneaking into the seniors.

If people expect Charlie to a be a star...no they will be dissapointed. He shows no signs of that, though he is capable of bobbing up with an occassional bag of goals.

If he had to play as our No 1 forward he would struggle...as he is not that.

But as a medium forward he has shown that he is more than useful. He has played 4 games and kicked 2 goals twice for a total of 4...and remember that alot of our players struggle to kick goals and so this result should not be sneered at.

His main lack is his kicking skills... (what a surprise for a Saints player!!!) and sometimes his marking is not one grab.

However on the plus side he has shown that he is reasonably smart footballer. As a marking target he knows when and where to present.

He has an excellent motor and endurance and so can run a lot to add valuable midfield support....which is very important in these days of zoning and flooding.

If Charlie was the worst player in our 22...then I think we might have a pretty useful 22.

If he was in our top 10....then I think we might have a big problem.

PS..as to whether he can play back. I don't know as I have not seen him play back.