Recruiting not so bad now??

[saintsRrising]

Was a lot of bagging a month ago.....


Peake was very good last night...looks to be a first 22 player....knows how to play Saints Footy now and was VERY hard at it. love the way he attacked the ball.

Ray is undervalued
Gardi was excellent
Schneider was sublime
Dempster was useful (not bad for the steak knives pick-up)

Ben, Stanley, Geary and Steven make our future look good...

[rodgerfox]

Was a lot of bagging a month ago.....


Peake was very good last night...looks to be a first 22 player....knows how to play Saints Footy now and was VERY hard at it. love the way he attacked the ball.

Ray is undervalued
Gardi was excellent
Schneider was sublime
Dempster was useful (not bad for the steak knives pick-up)

Ben, Stanley, Geary and Steven make our future look good...

I hate to say it, but these guys are the same as they've always been.

It's the output we're getting from the likes of Joey, BJ, Lenny, Dal, Milne, Baker etc. that allow these guys to get free and play lesser roles.


Gardiner is the exception. He has been great.

[BigMart]

Brooks is excellent
M.Clarke is excellent
McGough is excellent
Rix is excellent
Watts is excellent
Lovett is excellent
Ackland is excellent
Pattison is exellent


Point is....

[saintsRrising]

Was a lot of bagging a month ago.....


Peake was very good last night...looks to be a first 22 player....knows how to play Saints Footy now and was VERY hard at it. love the way he attacked the ball.

Ray is undervalued
Gardi was excellent
Schneider was sublime
Dempster was useful (not bad for the steak knives pick-up)

Ben, Stanley, Geary and Steven make our future look good...

I hate to say it, but these guys are the same as they've always been.

It's the output we're getting from the likes of Joey, BJ, Lenny, Dal, Milne, Baker etc. that allow these guys to get free and play lesser roles.


Gardiner is the exception. He has been great.

TIP: Next time the Saints play...take the time to actually watch Ray...watch what he does and how hard he runs and presents...

He is undervalued and under-recognised for his work.

[35...LEGEND]

Was a lot of bagging a month ago.....


Peake was very good last night...looks to be a first 22 player....knows how to play Saints Footy now and was VERY hard at it. love the way he attacked the ball.

Ray is undervalued
Gardi was excellent
Schneider was sublime
Dempster was useful (not bad for the steak knives pick-up)

Ben, Stanley, Geary and Steven make our future look good...

I hate to say it, but these guys are the same as they've always been.

It's the output we're getting from the likes of Joey, BJ, Lenny, Dal, Milne, Baker etc. that allow these guys to get free and play lesser roles.


Gardiner is the exception. He has been great.

TIP: Next time the Saints play...take the time to actually watch Ray...watch what he does and how hard he runs and presents...

He is undervalued and under-recognised for his work.

Very highly rated at my house.

Have drilled it in to the family.

This bloke is a gun.

[BigMart]

Ray is a good player which is why he was pick #4 in a ND.....no questions over his talent.

You left peake off that list.

Gardiner was a No.1 Pick with injuries....but if he got over those he was always going to contribute....a good footballer. But a risk, paid off...

Schnieder is a VG player....Premiership player they wanted to offload to inject youth (DP) so we grabbed him.

Dempster is also a premiership player - no gun, but a GOP

[Moccha]

Finally Dempster played as a defender and did OK. Let him settle there and he will become a good player

[3rd generation saint]

Agree Mocha, Dempster was playing really well in 2008 as a defender who occasionally drifted down and kicked a goal before he did his knee in 2008.
Last night when he went back he was good.
Let's remember too that he did do that knee and it can take more than the normal physical healing time to get over it.

[Leo.J]

I thought Ray had an average night last night...5 critical errors and gave away 4 free kicks.

Do that in a GF and it can be game over.

He still has issues under pressure at times.

That said he is in our best 22, and if he can remain cooler under pressure he'll go up in my standings.

[Moods]

I like Ray and reckon he's been great this year. BUT that 1st 50m he gave away for abusing the umpy cost us our momentum in the 2nd quarter. We were all over them, they got that 50m and scored a goal and then scored 3 more in succession. Was ready to strangle him when he gave away about 2 more free kicks in a short space of time. Was very selfish in that respect and lazy.

However, credit where it's due, he kept trying and like I said, has been fantastic this year and really stood up.

[saintsRrising]

You left peake off that list.

No..he is/was there.

[saintsRrising]

Brooks is excellent
M.Clarke is excellent
McGough is excellent
Rix is excellent
Watts is excellent
Lovett is excellent
Ackland is excellent
Pattison is exellent


Point is....

Point is I am talking about recent aquistions since Lyon took over....no Frost etc!!! So lets ignore MCGough , Rix etc...

Lyon and Co had inherited some good players, but the list had some huge gaps...particularly when you looked at who was about to go.

With smart recruiting they hve addressed most of the gaps.


A player like Patto is an "insurance" pick in case our rucks went down, and IMO given the history of Gardi and King very prudent to do so.

M Clarke was alsoa very cheap "insurance" pick...PSD from memory.


On balance and realising that while everyone will not work out our overhall recruiting/trading in recent years as been pretty good even allowing for Lovett!!

Moreso when you look at it froma perspective of not individual players, but what that player adds to our team.

[St Ick]

Peake looks as though he is settling into the team quite well, which in hindsight, was always going to take a little time so hopefully he keeps it up. Still needs to work on some things but I can definitely see the upside.

Dempster down back was good, please don't play him as a defensive forward (looks lost when does this). I feel for him as CJ came into the side and smashed it around the time when Dempster had that injury.

I still am unsure that we have 'won' out over our choice to recruit so many recycled players in the last 10 years as per the common assumption, but we are definitely gettin mileage out of some of our recent choices (I suppose its easier to succeed/look good in a better team) but credit where credits due.

[meher baba]

sRr: this is a bit rich coming fom the bloke who posted hundreds of posts bagging the recruitment prior to Lyon joining the club. You are as obsessed with Lyon as teenage girls are with thei favourite rock stars.

Against Geelong, as usual, the two post-2006 recruits who showed real class were, as usual, Schneider and Gardiner. The rest were so-so. Steven has always looked like he will develop into a good player, but is a way off. Ditto McEvoy. Stanley is even further away. Peake and Dempster were ok I suppose, but I couldn't imagine either of them even getting onto the Geelong list, let alone their top 22. even less so Eddy. Jones and Geary are a cut above Dempster and Peake, but a long, long way behind the likes of Dal, Lenny and Joey,

And I'm hardly salivating at the prospect of Zac, King, Patterdon, Heyne or Armo coming back into the side.

Face up to it: they're a fairly mediocre bunch.

Did they fill gaps in our list? Gardi and King certainly did, but I'm not too sure about the rest. They certainly suit the current game plan, which is fine. But let's not get carried away. These guys would be no help at all unless they were playing in a team shaped by a group of superstars and seasoned veterans recruited up to 12 years ago.

[Con Gorozidis]

most criticism is that our under 23's are sub par. probably still holds.
dunno if ive read anyone baggin ray? the guy is awesome. still young. totally under-rated. you are right. but dont reackon hes been bagged at all. i sure as hell reckon hes an awesome player and still improving.

i still would not want to be saints coach in 5 years. but who gives a flog. we are the premiership zone right now.

[jays]

Was a lot of bagging a month ago.....


Peake was very good last night...looks to be a first 22 player....knows how to play Saints Footy now and was VERY hard at it. love the way he attacked the ball.

Ray is undervalued
Gardi was excellent
Schneider was sublime
Dempster was useful (not bad for the steak knives pick-up)

Ben, Stanley, Geary and Steven make our future look good...

this is so true

[QuestionOfAccuracy]

Was a lot of bagging a month ago.....


Peake was very good last night...looks to be a first 22 player....knows how to play Saints Footy now and was VERY hard at it. love the way he attacked the ball.

Ray is undervalued
Gardi was excellent
Schneider was sublime
Dempster was useful (not bad for the steak knives pick-up)

Ben, Stanley, Geary and Steven make our future look good...

Ray has been very good over the last 5 weeks.
Gardi - ditto.
Schneider had his best game of the season, conditions suited him and he took advantage.
Dempster was a good inclusion. Very glad he was in, in place of Eddy.

Steven had his best game of his career, but I hope he develops into a midfielder not a small forward. We have no a-grade midfield prospects coming through. Armo has been disappointing thus far.

Stanley competed really well in trying conditions. But he needs to be able to use his body better.

Geary is carving a spot himself at halfback - he plays taller than he is, good overhead mark, and disposal is sound.

Ben didn't have his best game. Only 5 hitouts. But big men take time to develop.

But - at this stage - can you see any of our youngsters being any more than role players in the future (except for Stanley)?

[saintspremiers]

Was a lot of bagging a month ago.....


Peake was very good last night...looks to be a first 22 player....knows how to play Saints Footy now and was VERY hard at it. love the way he attacked the ball.

Ray is undervalued
Gardi was excellent
Schneider was sublime
Dempster was useful (not bad for the steak knives pick-up)

Ben, Stanley, Geary and Steven make our future look good...

I hate to say it, but these guys are the same as they've always been.

It's the output we're getting from the likes of Joey, BJ, Lenny, Dal, Milne, Baker etc. that allow these guys to get free and play lesser roles.


Gardiner is the exception. He has been great.

I hate to say it, but you had a bad habit of ignoring any players that weren't of "high moral ground" and could not see the possibility of redemption.

Hence, you wouldn't have touched Gardi.

Nor would have you had a sniff in recruiting Schneids as you didn't have a Sydney connection like our Ross does.

Come on "rodgerfox", admit that you screwed up with your recruiting of mature players.

Sure, you did a good job keeping the core draft picks together, but get a reality check mate and stop sooking over the past.....

P.S. Has Ross done anything right, or do you just want pick holes in him ALL the time?!

[saintly]

most criticism is that our under 23's are sub par. probably still holds.dunno if ive read anyone baggin ray? the guy is awesome. still young. totally under-rated. you are right. but dont reackon hes been bagged at all. i sure as hell reckon hes an awesome player and still improving.

i still would not want to be saints coach in 5 years. but who gives a flog. we are the premiership zone right now.

i would agree with the above.

the saints may be in big trouble in 3-5 years time.

[gringo]

I have been waiting for Jack Steven to have a break out game after the start of last season the rumblings out of Moorabbin were that we had unearthed the next Robert Harvey. Glad the guy got over his injury and really found his feet in a huge match.

Interesting article in todays Age about how we took Eljay Connors over Michael barlow after Beveridge had him training with the Saints. That's a big one that got away. Recruiting is a really hard job. In s*** comps sometimes you don't get to see players shine. Who would have thought Gwilt could come from suburban footy and be a hidden gem. The recruiters will probably now start grabbing every reject from every fringe comp in the land and find that only a small percentage will make it and jump off again.

[wasaintsfan]

ive always rated all the above....

as for ray having a bad night.... you can say same about guys like lenny
roo etc.... ray is normally pretty watertight...

peake is getting better every game... he was held out in the first half against geelong but he worked hard to get into the game in the 2nd... and it was guys around this area that caused us to overrun geelong

[gringo]

In the second half we delivered it too slowly into the forward line, Peake really gets the ball going at manic speed and didn't allow the cats to get structured in defense. He doesn't always use the ball well but the pace makes up for it, like Gram. If he plays like that every game he will be a gem.
He is going to be a real wild card for the finals if he keeps it up.

[sunsaint]

I thought Ray had an average night last night...5 critical errors and gave away 4 free kicks.

Do that in a GF and it can be game over.

He still has issues under pressure at times.

That said he is in our best 22, and if he can remain cooler under pressure he'll go up in my standings.

that was my reading of last nights game. Yes 25 poss, but little game impact. The FreesAgainst clangers were killers. The umpires were hot on dissent all night, so he just had to pull his head in.
in reference to the pressure assessment, last night was a "big game" last years GF (obviously) a big game and he had a quiet one then as well. It was Eades parting comment on "Ray drops away in the big ones."
Give him space tho and he is clean with the ball

[saintly]

I have been waiting for Jack Steven to have a break out game after the start of last season the rumblings out of Moorabbin were that we had unearthed the next Robert Harvey. Glad the guy got over his injury and really found his feet in a huge match.

Interesting article in todays Age about how we took Eljay Connors over Michael barlow after Beveridge had him training with the Saints. That's a big one that got away. Recruiting is a really hard job. In s*** comps sometimes you don't get to see players shine. Who would have thought Gwilt could come from suburban footy and be a hidden gem. The recruiters will probably now start grabbing every reject from every fringe comp in the land and find that only a small percentage will make it and jump off again.

however its has taken Gwilt 5 years to become an established player.

[battye]

Brooks is excellent
M.Clarke is excellent
McGough is excellent
Rix is excellent
Watts is excellent
Lovett is excellent
Ackland is excellent
Pattison is exellent


Point is....

Rix took a good mark for Subiaco yesterday.