Raph's CLANGER

[borderbarry]

He was on the ground about 6 minutes. Was trying too hard for one thing. And should not have been picked as sub. Peake would have made a better sub.

[Saint_Ash]

before you pay out on clarke. re-watch blakes game. he is the one that cost us tonight.

a highlights reel of f*** ups that gave carltank goals or cost us an opportunity at a certain goal.

what i wanna know is, was that free kick against blake which resulted into the walker mark then goal a legit free?

Yes it was a free kick, but it was not consistent with many others that hadn't been paid throughout the night. In the last 10 minutes of the game the umpires put the whistle away and that was about the only free that was paid.

[Saints43]

He wasn't good tonight.

Sub is just never is going to be his thing though, is a player who warms up in a game IMO, builds in confidence.

Not a good role for him.

Expect Winmar to be the sub next week.

My brother has always said that Raph needs to play a quarter of AFL level football before the first qurater of a Saints match. As above, he works himself into a game.

We mentioned at the start of the match that he was an unusual type to be sub.

If we know that then the selection committee should know that.

And he should have gotten a free kick.

And it was a poor effort for a professional, 8-10 year player.

[SENsei]

We mentioned at the start of the match that he was an unusual type to be sub.

If we know that then the selection committee should know that.

Yep. Exactly. Stick the boots into Raph all you like, but let's look a little deeper into the issue.

Poor coaching/selection decision to even have him as a sub.

Edit/Addition: Last week Michael Voss played Merrett in the forward line. He's got the rounds of the kitchen for a poor decision. No one is canning Merrett for not performing....he was doing what he was told.

Raph should never be a sub and should either be a back pocket full time or in the Sandy team full time. Not a sub.

[GrumpyOne]

He wasn't good tonight.

Sub is just never is going to be his thing though, is a player who warms up in a game IMO, builds in confidence.

Not a good role for him.

Expect Winmar to be the sub next week.

My brother has always said that Raph needs to play a quarter of AFL level football before the first qurater of a Saints match. As above, he works himself into a game.

We mentioned at the start of the match that he was an unusual type to be sub.

If we know that then the selection committee should know that.

And he should have gotten a free kick.

And it was a poor effort for a professional, 8-10 year player.

Your brother is spot on. Raph should be on the ground at the start or not playing at all. You can tell in the first 15 minutes whether he is switched on or not. If you are going to persevere with him, give him the first quarter and make your judgement from that.

Lynch in next week.

[InkerSaint]

Yep. Why make excuses for Raph? And why compare him to Blake?

Neither should be on the list next year.

We should expect to see Lynch, Simpkin, Walsh gradually introduced and settled into the team by August.

[Thinline]

Sub or not it was an inexcusable error by an experienced bloke who needs to do the right thing in pressure circumstances. He catches that, looks up to a vacant wing, and we're potentially away and inside fifty either having a shot or locked up in a stoppage at a crucial moment.

I feel for the bloke. He knew it was the clanger to end all clangers. His grimace spoke volumes. But how costly to a team that had busted its guts to get in a position to win the seemingly unwinnable.

Heartbreaking. Not good enough in the real world.

Lynch in now.

[SainterK]

I actually doubt he would of played if Winmar hadn't missed so much footy being the emergency.

[GrumpyOne]

I actually doubt he would of played if Winmar hadn't missed so much footy being the emergency.

Winmar has had a couple of quiet weeks with Sandy. Lynch is the man.

[SainterK]

I actually doubt he would of played if Winmar hadn't missed so much footy being the emergency.

Winmar has had a couple of quiet weeks with Sandy. Lynch is the man.

I would like Lynch in, but does it really give him a position if it's for Raph and Blake and Dawson are selected?

I would of thought he is likely to replace Blake if anyone?

[Con Gorozidis]

Raph certainly not capable of playing at the pace/intensity required for AFL footy. hes just a walking calamity cos hes always a step off the pace so then makes mistake after mistake.

But play him for the rest of the year and then de-list. hes great for us tanking games and getting a high pick. hes our secret weapon!

[SainterK]

I actually think Raph is a walking functioning self fulfilling prophecy.

It's terribly sad, but I truly believe he has come to expect these kind of moments of himself. That ball would of been coming in, and I reckon he would of had negative thoughts as it was flying through the air.

His head space appears cooked after years of being a whipping boy, injury, and as I heard Finey say last night....an inability to build on a good game/moment with another in succession.

[Solar]

I actually think Raph is a walking functioning self fulfilling prophecy.

It's terribly sad, but I truly believe he has come to expect these kind of moments of himself. That ball would of been coming in, and I reckon he would of had negative thoughts as it was flying through the air.

His head space appears cooked after years of being a whipping boy, injury, and as I heard Finey say last night....an inability to build on a good game/moment with another in succession.

perfectly put. Add thefact that they stuffed up by picking him as the sub and you might have seen the last game by this talented but unfulfilled player. Will never forget that prelim final in 2009.

[evertonfc]

Would not get drafted by another club if we delisted him.[]

I don't know a football supporter from another team in the AFL who thinks he is any good.

Find me a non-St Kilda supporter who believes R Clarke is useful in any way.

His performance was poor against Carlton.

He might do some good things, but he lacks the basic ability to make good decisions under pressure and that is critical at AFL level.

Summed up accurately.

We'd all love Raph to succeed but the fact is that for the odd glimpse he shows, his inability to convert that into something meaningful is continually costing us.

He made critical errors last night. It is the frequency with which he commits them versus his total output that makes him a target.

I'd say Gram makes as many errors - perhaps even more. But rarely are they so cataclysmic, and his output can very high.

[Sobraz]

Enrico-Misso starts a new post bagging Raph what a surprise?

Nearly as surprising as you keeping quiet about Kosi's game...

You'd have traded Kosi years ago, yet keep up the Raph support.. Pick and choose...

I've been a Raph supporter, but he is gone...

He has just become a terrible, fumbling liabilty, and being played in the back half, nearly always results in an opposition score...

Dont know how much more Lynch has to do, but he must come in this week on the half back line, not as the sub, and Raph must be delisted at years end... After 8 years, he has run his race...

As mentioned earlier, if/once delisted, there would be no takers in the draft... Unless GWS can flip us a pick in the 60's or 70's... Take that...

[plugger66]

Can someone at least explain to me why Clarke would be sub. I reckon we have got the sub person wrong nearly every game. Maybe we dont have a sub type person. Also why would Cripps sub off and not Siposs. We needed as much pace as possible out on the ground last night.

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

Raph's disastrous performance last night is the exact reason I said a couple of weeks ago (in the week leading up to him being sent back to Sandy) that I would send him to Sandy and not select him for St Kilda again, unless he ripped the VFL apart for about 6 consecutive weeks.
But what do they do? They give him just a couple of weeks and pick him again after one reasonably good game. WTF? As if that was going to be enough to get his confidence back to the level it needs to be!
His problems have got to be pretty much all above the shoulders and that was not going to turn around with one decent performance in the VFL.
Again, send him back to Sandy and pick him ONLY if he just completely dominates for weeks and gets his confidence back to where it needs to be, to be able to play AFL games without committing monumental, demoralising clangers, on a regular basis.
If not, never pick him again. Ever. Please. Enough is enough.
I reckon the same could pretty much be said about Mini, who manages to commit massive, costly f***-ups on a regular basis now. They are just demoralising.

[SainterK]

Can someone at least explain to me why Clarke would be sub. I reckon we have got the sub person wrong nearly every game. Maybe we dont have a sub type person. Also why would Cripps sub off and not Siposs. We needed as much pace as possible out on the ground last night.

I don't think our sub is tactical, I think it's the player left after every else has a role.

[Dr Spaceman]

Can someone at least explain to me why Clarke would be sub. I reckon we have got the sub person wrong nearly every game. Maybe we dont have a sub type person. Also why would Cripps sub off and not Siposs. We needed as much pace as possible out on the ground last night.

There are suggestions that Cripps was injured.

Certainly didn't look to be moving too well on the TV.

[maverick]

Can someone at least explain to me why Clarke would be sub. I reckon we have got the sub person wrong nearly every game. Maybe we dont have a sub type person. Also why would Cripps sub off and not Siposs. We needed as much pace as possible out on the ground last night.

Looked injured to me, or at least very sore.

Siposs needs game time and development, had to stay on.
Bakes should of gone off if Cripps was OK

[maverick]

Yes gwlt made a critical error......and also did 15 good things.....you can hack that ratio

100% agree, I would say, Gwilt is our best decision maker coming out of defence.

I was a Raph fan, I have now jumped off the bandwagon.
At the game, you just KNEW he was going to drop the mark and be dispossesseed of the ball.

Real shame, I like his run through the lines, the negative is just too much to carry.