which 7 players 2012 ? cripps,polo ,gamble ,steven,sippos,

[oneteam]

cripps, polo , gamble , stanley , steven, sippos, ledger , blake, baker, dempster, archer ,clarke , dawson , smith, geary , jones , mcqualter , peake, winmar , cahill, simpkin gardiner

who will be the 7 that seem capable after a year of experience in 2011, of teaming next season with these 15 which i would be ok seeing playing next year for a flag ?

riewoldt , kosi, fisher, montagna, gwilt , goddard, montagna, hayes, mcevoy , milne schneider gilbert armitage gram and ray.

( I have not given up hope for 2011, but very very pleased seeing the club trying out all the guys on the list. good for the future.)

I would go for cripps, steven and ( because we need defenders) dempster . But I am not sure which next 4 currently seem capable. Dawson, blake and baker seem unlkely to be positive additions for a 2012 flag team capable of beating geelong or collingwood next year in finals.

[PaulieGa]

Good thread, interested to read the replies. What about Will J and Tommy??

[oneteam]

Good thread, interested to read the replies. What about Will J and Tommy??

I didn't really think they are likely to make it, but I suppose will j is a possible. Tommy unlikely to get there i reckon.

[St Chris]

Cripps - Quick, skillful, could be anything. I just get the feeling his body will be fragile until it matures properly, which might be frustrating for both himself, the club, and the supporters for a while.

Steven - Natural footballer, will eventually be used as an inside mid with good skills, once his tank and body are up for it.

Dawson - Still only 25, and has played some good footy this season. Still our best defensive defender, where Fisher and Gwilt are more offensive weapons.

Siposs - We are still short a third forward, which is where Arryn slips in. Gilbert, Gwilt, Johnson, Archer, Gamble all tried there at times this year, I think siposs is the most suited, and 10-15 games this year will set him up nicely for next year. Will fill out, and improve defensive game, over summer.

Dempster - As a lock-down small defender, to replace Baker. Better at the role than Eddy or Geary, who have both played there before.

Lynch - Not listed in the OP, but I think as a more attacking alternative to Blake in defense, there's a role for him. Good skills, reads the ball and the game well, just needs to improve his defensive game so other teams dont play through his man.

Number 7 is a tough one. I reckon we're one midfielder short. Smith will probably get another crack at senior footy before the finals, and I'd expect Ledger to get a run as reward for his preseason form. Might depend on how Polo goes, or McQualter perhaps. Maybe Jones if we go back to having a midfield tag, given we played our best footy against Carlton playing man on man.

FB: Dempster, Dawson, Gwilt
HB: Gilbert, Fisher, Lynch
C: Ray, Montagna, Goddard
HF: Siposs, Riewoldt, Schneider
FF: Milne, Kosi, Steven
Foll: McEvoy, Dal Santo, Hayes
Int: Gram, Armitage, Cripps, "Number 7"

The question is whether this side can win a flag, and to be honest, I can't see it, but there's 15-odd weeks of experience and learning and confidence to be gained this year.

[meher baba]

Dawson is more of a certainty than some in your list of 15 (eg, McEvoy, Gram).

Apart from Zac, I'd tip Dempster, Steven, Blake, McQualter (who I rate more than most on here) and two out of Cripps, Ledger, Siposs and Winmar.

I think Baker will probably retire and I sense that Raph is just about finished. CJ is vulnerable if Cripps, Ledger and co keep coming on.

I don't believe in Santa Claus and, on what I've seen so far, I don't believe in Smith, Johnson, Gamble and Lynch. I'll tell you whether or not I believe in Polo when I've seen him in the R,W and B

[saintsRrising]

The sifting for our next wave of players is now on in earnest.

Some will make it and some will fall by the wayside. We need to churn and look at them and test them at the highest level.

Pity that Johnno got concussed in his first AFL game as we will have to await till he gets another crack to see if he may have the goods at the highest level.

One thing for sure is that come delisting time that the end of this season one would expect a goodly number of delisting/retirements.

Former regulars such as Gardiner, Blake, Bakes ad Raph look destined to be playing their last year.



Peake will need to show more.

Polo will need to seize his chance when he gets a crack.
Gamble does not look suited for today's team football wit frenetic pressure and workrate and looks destined yo only have the one year at the Saints.

If the youngest players like Ledger and the like show a bit with Sandy or even the seniors...the slightly older ones such as Heyne and Cahill will be under the pump.

Lynch is waiting....and while his 4 quarter concentration needs improving his poise and footskills look good.

Archer so far this year has been a pleasant surprise....and if he can repeat his current improvement then 2012 could be a year that he gets regular games.


Now not everyone will be cleaned out as there is no point cleaning out more players than you can reasonably draft....but 2011 promises to be a much bigger clean out than we are used to.


The position I am most concerned about for 2012 is ruck as Big Ben in terms of rucking is not coming on as quick as his peers....and with Gardiner going that only leaves Ben and the younger Stanley...and that is a concern.

[oneteam]

I can see mcevoy being a contested marking forward and kosi playing 1st ruck, alternating with kosi.

might free uo an extra sopt on the interchnage for another runner.

The sifting for our next wave of players is now on in earnest.

Some will make it and some will fall by the wayside. We need to churn and look at them and test them at the highest level.

Pity that Johnno got concussed in his first AFL game as we will have to await till he gets another crack to see if he may have the goods at the highest level.

One thing for sure is that come delisting time that the end of this season one would expect a goodly number of delisting/retirements.

Former regulars such as Gardiner, Blake, Bakes ad Raph look destined to be playing their last year.



Peake will need to show more.

Polo will need to seize his chance when he gets a crack.
Gamble does not look suited for today's team football wit frenetic pressure and workrate and looks destined yo only have the one year at the Saints.

If the youngest players like Ledger and the like show a bit with Sandy or even the seniors...the slightly older ones such as Heyne and Cahill will be under the pump.

Lynch is waiting....and while his 4 quarter concentration needs improving his poise and footskills look good.

Archer so far this year has been a pleasant surprise....and if he can repeat his current improvement then 2012 could be a year that he gets regular games.


Now not everyone will be cleaned out as there is no point cleaning out more players than you can reasonably draft....but 2011 promises to be a much bigger clean out than we are used to.


The position I am most concerned about for 2012 is ruck as Big Ben in terms of rucking is not coming on as quick as his peers....and with Gardiner going that only leaves Ben and the younger Stanley...and that is a concern.

[bergholt]

Now not everyone will be cleaned out as there is no point cleaning out more players than you can reasonably draft....

yeah, that's the point. no matter how much you want a new start, you can't possibly dump more than about 7 players from your senior list because that's really the limit of how many you can feasibly bring in - and that includes promoting a rookie or two. in a compromised draft year like this one, you'd rather not be taking more than about 4 kids in the national draft.

best case scenario if you want a clean out is that a couple of rookies show enough to be promoted - maybe archer and walsh? that fills two spots. we then decide to draft four and bring in one recycled player which means we need five draft picks, so we can remove seven from the senior list. maybe a couple of retirements and a few moved on forcibly.

if you want a clean out, that's your best case. but it's still way too early in the year to be attaching names to any of those numbers, though i agree the list manager will have to start thinking about it before long.

[PJ]

I think the in and under mids need a top up as well so you might find Curran getting an elevation if he shows enough. The players listed as on the exit trail will not open up much room in the salary cap either so we'll likely have little muscle in the trading stakes.

Will we trade for a ruck?? With the change to having a sub good ruckmen are going to go at a premium and I can't see us being in the game unless we unload someone of value.

[St Ick]

Cripps - Quick, skillful, could be anything. I just get the feeling his body will be fragile until it matures properly, which might be frustrating for both himself, the club, and the supporters for a while.

Steven - Natural footballer, will eventually be used as an inside mid with good skills, once his tank and body are up for it.

Dawson - Still only 25, and has played some good footy this season. Still our best defensive defender, where Fisher and Gwilt are more offensive weapons.

Siposs - We are still short a third forward, which is where Arryn slips in. Gilbert, Gwilt, Johnson, Archer, Gamble all tried there at times this year, I think siposs is the most suited, and 10-15 games this year will set him up nicely for next year. Will fill out, and improve defensive game, over summer.

Dempster - As a lock-down small defender, to replace Baker. Better at the role than Eddy or Geary, who have both played there before.

Lynch - Not listed in the OP, but I think as a more attacking alternative to Blake in defense, there's a role for him. Good skills, reads the ball and the game well, just needs to improve his defensive game so other teams dont play through his man.

Number 7 is a tough one. I reckon we're one midfielder short. Smith will probably get another crack at senior footy before the finals, and I'd expect Ledger to get a run as reward for his preseason form. Might depend on how Polo goes, or McQualter perhaps. Maybe Jones if we go back to having a midfield tag, given we played our best footy against Carlton playing man on man.

FB: Dempster, Dawson, Gwilt
HB: Gilbert, Fisher, Lynch
C: Ray, Montagna, Goddard
HF: Siposs, Riewoldt, Schneider
FF: Milne, Kosi, Steven
Foll: McEvoy, Dal Santo, Hayes
Int: Gram, Armitage, Cripps, "Number 7"

The question is whether this side can win a flag, and to be honest, I can't see it, but there's 15-odd weeks of experience and learning and confidence to be gained this year.

Your number 7 could be a Mitch Clark or H-Mac if we trade for another decent ruck - I just hope we trade for quality and not a reject. If someone from the Saints, I'd probably go Ledger, looks good.