not an anti RL thread, but rather a question

[fonz_#15]

why on earth did Ross crucify Jarryn Geary by leaving him on Aker for so long?
he has played a handful of games, and was getting towled up by a class act, don't you think you could move him a little earlier than the 20 minute mark of the 4th quater when aker had 6 goals to his name.

I think Geary is a good prospect, but this sort of thing will hurt confidence, and not further development imo.

[LENNY LEADS THE WAY]

Plugger once kicked 10 on a young sos at full back that really killed his carrer didn't it.

Sometimes tough love is the best way

[fonz_#15]

Plugger once kicked 10 on a young sos at full back 1 day that really killed his carrer didn't it.

Sometimes tough love is the best way

agree, but not in this case, also plugger is the best full forward ever, and god humself would struggle to stop him when he was on.

there are points to play for, and we needed to win to get a spot in the 8 so tactically it was stupid.

[CURLY]

Geary wasnt helped by senior players around him one in particular Gram who is by far the worst defensive player in the league. He now has Jordon McMahon and Ryce Shaw covered for that mantle.

[matrix]

Plugger once kicked 10 on a young sos at full back that really killed his carrer didn't it.

Sometimes tough love is the best way

yeah....especially when the game is there to be won huh, and especially when it was aker who systematically destroyed us....

hang on a min.....
is that u Ross?

[luckysaint]

Who else would you have put on him?

[fonz_#15]

Geary wasnt helped by senior players around him one in particular Gram who is by far the worst defensive player in the league. He now has Jordon McMahon and Ryce Shaw covered for that mantle.

i agree, i really like grammy but he is just rubbish at defending.

he should play on the wing and wing only

[fonz_#15]

Who else would you have put on him?

max?
L.fisher?

[CURLY]

Who else would you have put on him?

Baker comes to mind probably first choice for Leon Davis a few weeks back but we all know his story.

[luckysaint]

Who else would you have put on him?

max?
L.fisher?

Both are good negators however they both don't have the explosive pace to go with him, anyone else?

[redwhite&blackblood]

The problem began at the selection table. We have a not match fit Baker who is out #1 choice for small forwards. With Attard out injured as well (#2 small defender) we have absolutely no one else to try. Gram started on him but he lacks accountability (the one thing Ross was bringing to the club). Tried both Fishers both too slow, BJ too slow, Max too slow, Birss too slow, Dempster too slow. Th only player who could remotely go with Aker for speed and had some sort of accountability was Geary but his lack of experienced was going to be found out.

We have very little in the way of Small Defenders with speed. so we need to develop some and Geary appears to be it. Aker was set for a monster game well and truly before the game started.

[fonz_#15]

Who else would you have put on him?

max?
L.fisher?

Both are good negators however they both don't have the explosive pace to go with him, anyone else?

the same explosive pace that Geary had in his attempt to negate Aker?

i refuse to criticise the young bloke as it isn't his fault but i am sure that maxy's smarts would have made up for his lack of speed.

[groupie1]

Isn't the likes of Dempster in the side for the likes of Aker? Dempster or Birss is who I'd have gone with if Geary was being toweled up - but, you know, steep learning curve, he'll be OK

[meher baba]

All this discussion of who should/shouldn't have been on Aker is irrelevant IMO.

We didn't lose this game down the back: we lost it in the midfield and up front.

They only scored 106 points against us at the Dome FFS!! And eleven of those points were gifted to them by the umps.

It's our attack that is utterly up the creek in 2008, not our defending.

Used properly, Gram is an attacking player from the back half of the field: like Aussie Jones (and talk about a player who didn't take the slightest interest in playing accountable football).

The whole point about playing a Jason Gram or an Aussie Jones on anyone - Aker if you insist - is for them to run off him and set up attacking opportunities on the rebound.

We are all getting sucked into the Ross Lyon mental universe in which there are effectively 18 taggers on the ground.

Personally, I wouldn't have put Gram on Aker, but if a coach chooses to do this, he would expect Aker to kick a few but for Grammy to set up more opportunities down the other end. And, indeed, we looked better when Gram was on Aker than when Dempster and Geary played on him.

It's no good picking on individual match ups or player performances when the entire team set up and match day strategy are all totally out of whack.

Players like Gram, Kosi, Raph, Gwilt, Geary, Schneider, BJ, Riewoldt, Fish, Milne, Fiora and even Dempster would contribute a hell of a lot more under a better coach than Lyon.

[cwrcyn]

Our forward set up is just terrible. Without doubt the worst in the league. I'm not talking about talent, I'm talking about how they position themselves when our player win possession at half back and the wing. If you look at our players when they get the ball on the wing, take a few steps and look up, you will see that our key forwards are at least 70 metres away. The guy on the wing then has to stop, and cut inside. By this time, the opposition has pushed back. Our forwards then either all push out wide or all congregate at about 25 metres out from goal. Either way, we make it very easy for the opposition to rebound.

I'd love to see the stats on marks taken by St Kilda players between 45 and 60 metres out from goal. I bet it's the worst in the league. Our half forward zone is a ghost town, with the occasional tumbleweed rolling through.

This, and our slow midfield are our biggest problems. One of them we can't fix immediately, but one of them we can. Unfortunatley, we have a stubborn coach whose mind moves like treacle.

[Red]

Geary went to Aker after Gram started to get toweled up.

I think it was good to see how he would handle the situation. I have no

problems with it because on yesterdays form he would have killed anyone.

[saint66au]

Geary went to Aker after Gram started to get toweled up.

I think it was good to see how he would handle the situation. I have no

problems with it because on yesterdays form he would have killed anyone.

At last someone who can see the wood for the trees.

Bloody hell we can be over-critical sometimes us Saints fans. Do you see North fans bleating that whoever the hell was supposed to be on Ablett cost them the game Fri night? I reckon they just accepted that in that sort of mood Ablett is unstoppable.

Part of the reason Aka had a day out was the silver service he got from upfield when our forward line fell apart and the Doggies rebounded with ease. If we'd applied some forward pressure or had some forward structure the ball would have spent more time in our Fwd 50 AND we'd have put some more scoreboard pressure on them.

RL only put Geary on him after the game was shot. I for one was happy to have him learn the caper and he certainly did no worse than the others before him. Sam Fisher actually played on Aka for the last 10 mins or so.

Move Dempster onto him? Robbing Peter to play Paul..Cooney would have then torn us apart

[Spinner]

why on earth did Ross crucify Jarryn Geary by leaving him on Aker for so long?
he has played a handful of games, and was getting towled up by a class act, don't you think you could move him a little earlier than the 20 minute mark of the 4th quater when aker had 6 goals to his name.

I think Geary is a good prospect, but this sort of thing will hurt confidence, and not further development imo.

I agree....

Why would you let him get destroyed on Aker, (which was the result of lack of help from the rest of the team) and then just decide to put him forward when the game was well and truly lost.

I seriously believe that the Saints had conceded defeat well before the start of the fourth quarter.

[iwantmeseats]

Dont worry guys , apparently RL actually knows something about coaching. Thats what his defenders will claim. Why not let a young player with less than 10 games get torn a new one? Great coaching right there?

He would have really learnt nothing in the great scheme of things, but his confidence will take a hit. He will recover, but the point is....

Dont worry, RL knows what he is doing

[Saints Premiers 2008]

Dont worry guys , apparently RL actually knows something about coaching. Thats what his defenders will claim. Why not let a young player with less than 10 games get torn a new one? Great coaching right there?

He would have really learnt nothing in the great scheme of things, but his confidence will take a hit. He will recover, but the point is....

Dont worry, RL knows what he is doing

you dont though

[matrix]

Dont worry guys , apparently RL actually knows something about coaching. Thats what his defenders will claim. Why not let a young player with less than 10 games get torn a new one? Great coaching right there?

He would have really learnt nothing in the great scheme of things, but his confidence will take a hit. He will recover, but the point is....

Dont worry, RL knows what he is doing

you dont though

[sunsaint]

For the record Geary was NOT on acker all day, RL tried everyone
And I wonder if it is the same people who are crying about poor "kid" Geary on acker are the same people who are screaming for play McEvoy, play the kids...?

[congorozides]

Who else would you have put on him?

max?
L.fisher?

Both are good negators however they both don't have the explosive pace to go with him, anyone else?

leigh fisher is barely a footballer. i mean what is the point of that guy? hes not tall. hes not fast. hes just a battler. gives us nothing. oxygen theif.

[Teflon]

We have very little in the way of Small Defenders with speed. so we need to develop some and Geary appears to be it.

Exactly what Lyon said at the presser...we just dont cover small forwards well.....guess what we are seeing more of in the game (apart from freak Franklin) - small forward lines....scary.

[Sam23]

first

Gram on aker

second

Goddard on aker

third

Gram on aker

fourth

Gram on aker

5th

Geary

6th

Geary



Geary was also on Akermanis for nearly the whole of the 3rd quarter without Aker really having an impact but was kicked a few times against him with great delivery to him in the last.

I thought one of the more shining lights was Geary.