So what's the team for the rest of the year?

[mad saint guy]

Right now it seems like a combination of an outdated game plan, lack of quality personell and a lack of hunger from the capable personell will mean that we aren't going to challenge for a flag this year. So I think the best thing to do is to scrap the battlers who can't hold their own and give the kids every chance to prove themselves. Players like Milne and Blake who are getting on in years but can still perform shouldn't be dropped for age, but if they're genuinely displaced, so be it. It's players like Jones and Gamble who just aren't up to it that need to be dropped and not brought back.

Here's my preferred team to play out 2011 and hopefully get to the finals

B: Gwilt, Dawson, Baker
HB: Clarke, Blake, Fisher
C: Smith, Armitage, Montagna
HF: Ledger, Riewoldt, Stanley
F: Milne, Koschitzke, Schneider

Foll: McEvoy, Dal Santo, Goddard
Int: Gilbert, Steven, Gram, Ray

Pushing for selection: Lynch, Archer, Cripps, Winmar, Simpkin, Walsh, Johnson, Cahill, Geary, Siposs

Never to be seen again: Eddy, McQualter, Gamble, Jones, Peake, Dempster

If Gards gets fit again then it would at least be worth playing him in some games to give McEvoy a rest. Baker stays in purely because we have no small defenders and at the very least he provides a strong body, 100% effort and neat disposal. If Polo ever gets a gig it will have to be on the back of some very impressive VFL form, otherwise I think he's just another Colm Begley.

[cwrcyn]

Would love to see Tommy Walsh and Cripps in the 22, but overall I think you're on the money with your team and your assessment of those who shoud step aside.







.

[taz]

Not interested in seeing the old guys flogged. I want something positive. Spring clean. I would rather see all the young guys run out and get flogged. Fair dinkum if we are going to finish out of the 8 what is the use of having our older guys beat up on GC etc. I would rather see our young guys play their guys.

[defacto]

Right now it seems like a combination of an outdated game plan, lack of quality personell and a lack of hunger from the capable personell will mean that we aren't going to challenge for a flag this year. So I think the best thing to do is to scrap the battlers who can't hold their own and give the kids every chance to prove themselves. Players like Milne and Blake who are getting on in years but can still perform shouldn't be dropped for age, but if they're genuinely displaced, so be it. It's players like Jones and Gamble who just aren't up to it that need to be dropped and not brought back.

Here's my preferred team to play out 2011 and hopefully get to the finals

B: Gwilt, Dawson, Baker
HB: Clarke, Blake, Fisher
C: Smith, Armitage, Montagna
HF: Ledger, Riewoldt, Stanley
F: Milne, Koschitzke, Schneider

Foll: McEvoy, Dal Santo, Goddard
Int: Gilbert, Steven, Gram, Ray

Pushing for selection: Lynch, Archer, Cripps, Winmar, Simpkin, Walsh, Johnson, Cahill, Geary, Siposs

Never to be seen again: Eddy, McQualter, Gamble, Jones, Peake, Dempster

If Gards gets fit again then it would at least be worth playing him in some games to give McEvoy a rest. Baker stays in purely because we have no small defenders and at the very least he provides a strong body, 100% effort and neat disposal. If Polo ever gets a gig it will have to be on the back of some very impressive VFL form, otherwise I think he's just another Colm Begley.

fair dinkum, i just threw up a little bit in my mouth. grams performances over the last couple of months have been pathetic. last night he was no where when the game was there to be won. his turn overs and lack of effort killed us when it mattered. the guy is a massive liability and is part of the group that is eating at the culture of our club.

his lack of effort cost gifted essendon 2-3 goals in the first half.

delist or trade. tell the pisshead to GTFO.

[BigMart]

Different

[gringo]

We are the new richmond -eating our own. Gram was at least having a dip. The whole team looks mentally and physically drained, I'm not sure you need to throw away anyone. Give some young guys game time but not if it is not warranted. There are guys there that have had some development that should be getting games on merit. Anyone from the seniors should lose their spot if they are not performing after a couple of weeks. I think we need to find a spark, getting in guys that add a little x factor would have been good. When do we get to see if Will Johnson can get it together at senior level?

[bergholt]

Here's my preferred team to play out 2011 and hopefully get to the finals

B: Gwilt, Dawson, Baker
HB: Clarke, Blake, Fisher
C: Smith, Armitage, Montagna
HF: Ledger, Riewoldt, Stanley
F: Milne, Koschitzke, Schneider

Foll: McEvoy, Dal Santo, Goddard
Int: Gilbert, Steven, Gram, Ray

Pushing for selection: Lynch, Archer, Cripps, Winmar, Simpkin, Walsh, Johnson, Cahill, Geary, Siposs

Never to be seen again: Eddy, McQualter, Gamble, Jones, Peake, Dempster

i reckon you're pretty close to what we'll be seeing, though some of your "never to be seen again" players will definitely get more games. given his injury, we're unlikely to see too much ledger in the next little while, so that spot will be filled by winmar in the short term.

based on this, the changes next week (two weeks away) would be:

IN: Baker, Blake, Koschitzke, Winmar
OUT: Dempster, Gamble, Jones, Peake

makes for a pretty defensive side again. and this side would actually be older and more experienced than the one which ran out this week. it's definitely not going to please everyone, but i wouldn't be surprised if it was pretty close.

[footynut]

I believe that lynch is a must as he is a versitale and up and coming young player, and the inclusion of Winmar and Siposs would incease our skills level dramatically


B: Gwilt, Dawson, Smith
HB: Clarke, Riewoldt, Fisher
C: Winmar, Armitage, Montagna
HF: Ledger, Goddard, lynch
F: Milne, Koschitzke, Schneider

Foll: McEvoy, Dal Santo, Gilbert
Int: Steven, Gram, Ray, Siposs (sub)

with Cripps and Stanley pushing for selection or in the current team in place of Ledger and Koschitzke.

[borderbarry]

For mine Wil Johnson is the one pushing for selection at the moment.

[bergsone]

If we are going for a rebuild,would like to get Walsh and Simpkin in the back half,maybe even see if Walsh can cut it up forward

[bergholt]

I believe that lynch is a must as he is a versitale and up and coming young player, and the inclusion of Winmar and Siposs would incease our skills level dramatically

i can't see siposs getting the ball much against men at afl level. he's a marking forward who stands at a short 189cm, so he'll need a bit of body strength to succeed. still too soon for him.

[Longwayfromhome]

Gwilt Dawson Baker
Walsh Fisher Winmar
Smith Armitage Montagna
Gilbert Riewoldt Schneider
Stanley Johnson Milne

McEvoy Goddard Steven
Int: Dal Santo Ray Lynch Archer

[nobhead]

Right now it seems like a combination of an outdated game plan, lack of quality personell and a lack of hunger from the capable personell will mean that we aren't going to challenge for a flag this year. So I think the best thing to do is to scrap the battlers who can't hold their own and give the kids every chance to prove themselves. Players like Milne and Blake who are getting on in years but can still perform shouldn't be dropped for age, but if they're genuinely displaced, so be it. It's players like Jones and Gamble who just aren't up to it that need to be dropped and not brought back.

Here's my preferred team to play out 2011 and hopefully get to the finals

B: Gwilt, Dawson, Baker
HB: Clarke, Blake, Fisher
C: Smith, Armitage, Montagna
HF: Ledger, Riewoldt, Stanley
F: Milne, Koschitzke, Schneider

Foll: McEvoy, Dal Santo, Goddard
Int: Gilbert, Steven, Gram, Ray

Pushing for selection: Lynch, Archer, Cripps, Winmar, Simpkin, Walsh, Johnson, Cahill, Geary, Siposs

Never to be seen again: Eddy, McQualter, Gamble, Jones, Peake, Dempster

If Gards gets fit again then it would at least be worth playing him in some games to give McEvoy a rest. Baker stays in purely because we have no small defenders and at the very least he provides a strong body, 100% effort and neat disposal. If Polo ever gets a gig it will have to be on the back of some very impressive VFL form, otherwise I think he's just another Colm Begley.

spot on mate ,great post . and do not under any circumstances pick up any more recycled hacks from other clubs.

[Junction Oval]

Clearly there is no easy fix. It's a problem in its totality.

Observations from last night :
- all players appeared to me to be really "trying." Execution was appalling. Very little talk on the field.
- Rucks : got thrashed. McEvoy & Stanley (in particular) are inexperienced. Kingey (ruck coach) "what are you doing about this?"
- Centre Clearances : slaughtered. Harv's "what's going wrong with the set-ups?"
- Backline Stoppages : massacred in the set plays. Berbakov "we used to be great in this area. What's going wrong?"
- Execution : indecision when moving forward. Hesitation stopped us in our tracks. Looked like there was no plan.
- "Sustained" Pressure : Essendon walked forward as they wished.
Tactics : why did Goddard regularly follow Watson to fullback? He is worth far more to us further up the field. We hardly ever ran forward with "aggression." Switches were never executed cleanly.
- Players - Jones, Gamble, Clarke looked "lost" on the ground (to name a few).
The future : Ross, it ain't easy times. There are no easy answers. The coaches & players, need to re-assess the game plan & their attitude. It is now vital that we also test new blood (min. 3 consecutive games). Kicking skills are still appalling (a long time nark of mine).

These are a few concise thoughts of mine. It will be interesting to hear the many Saints fan's suggesions come through as the week runs on. Footy's great. Everyone has a view.

.

[Statsman]

Here's my preferred team to play out 2011 and hopefully get to the finals

B: Gwilt, Dawson, Baker
HB: Clarke, Blake, Fisher
C: Smith, Armitage, Montagna
HF: Ledger, Riewoldt, Stanley
F: Milne, Koschitzke, Schneider

Foll: McEvoy, Dal Santo, Goddard
Int: Gilbert, Steven, Gram, Ray

Pushing for selection: Lynch, Archer, Cripps, Winmar, Simpkin, Walsh, Johnson, Cahill, Geary, Siposs

Never to be seen again: Eddy, McQualter, Gamble, Jones, Peake, Dempster

If we're taking the approach of blooding young players, I really can't see the sense in continuing to play Baker and Blake. They've both been wonderful servants of our club over many years, and I had the utmost respect for both of them, but if we're moving forward we're moving forward.

With that in mind, I'm much prefer to get games into Tommy Walsh ahead of Blake. Similarly I'd play Winmar or Cripps ahead of Baker. They'd be out of position in a back pocket, but it wouldn't hurt them to play back initially and work on their defensive game before moving further up the ground.

With Ledger injured at the moment, Lynch would be the obvious inclusion with his ability to play forward or back. Once Ledger is fit he comes straight in for Gram (unless Gram has learnt to kick by then).

That gives us almost a full season to get games into Armitage, Stanley, Steven, Smith, Ledger, Walsh, Winmar and Cripps. That's a lot of young blood in the team at the same time, so they'll need the support of our elite core of Riewoldt, Goddard, Dal Santo, Montagna and Fisher.

[St Chris]

If Will Johnson doesn't come into the side for Gamble next week, then Ross's "Have I been in denial??" will be answered with a resounding YES.

Johnson can lead and take a mark, he can kick straight, and probably more importantly, can apply some pressure inside 50, which is seriously lacking. I think I'd have Gamble covered in a 50m sprint, and he has the agility of a 75 year old.

Smith's earnt another game, Lynch shouldn't be far away, not sure where Heyne is at.

Steven did nothing for 3 quarters yesterday, Stanley the same.

Cripps, Crocker, Winmar, Siposs are all still too raw. Not going to have an impact at senior level until at least the second half of the year, and possibly not until next year.

[Junction Oval]

Agree. The "core" will still be there for next year. This year looks gone from a GF perspective, so let's use the balance of the year to see who is capable of coming through for next year, when we can have another serious crack at it. Re-adjust the game plan "now."

Give the young guys some confidence by guaranteeing them at least 3 consecutive matches. Those who perfom, stay. Those who don't, move on - whether experienced or not.