This weeks team - official

[saintsRrising]

Think Polo is unlucky.

Really?

I just can't see a spot for him in the side.

Polo has many good qualities.

However we as a team need to acquire better footskills.....and that means some who are not good kicks will get squeezed out.
Polo is in that group. Not all will go. Polo may come back in. But over time we need to get better ball users into the team.

[saintsRrising]

Wilkes stays in as we might need him down back on Roughead or Buddy.

I'd be suprised, but maybe Kosi will come in to stretch their defence with Gisbson out?

Even with Gibson in the Hawks have a small backline.

With Roo, Stanley and Wilkes they will be stretched.

[saintly]

according to mark fine on SEN, he thinks team selecton is crazy. "polo was good in the wet, why not leave him in, and kosi had his best game before he got suspended."

what about that?

[saintdooley]

hallelujah!

[Shanka]

Great team selection. Sorry about Koz, but as soon as it hits the ground he is a liability and yes he did play his best game, but so did Wilke's, Stanley is starting to believe which is great and Roo, well enough said. Wilkes was superb last week. Great to see Sippa in, has earnt his spot without a doubt. Well done S Watters!

[Junction Oval]

Very interesting team selection this week. The weather is likely to influence final decisions. If it is wet and slippery, Wilkes to stay in, as he is more agile than Kosi and can play foward and back if needed. Stanley has pace and size for the big MCG ground.

On the big MCG ground, Sipposs, with his great kicking skills, seems to have outpointed Polo (who has played well).

[Leo.J]

Wilkes stays in as we might need him down back on Roughead or Buddy.

I'd be suprised, but maybe Kosi will come in to stretch their defence with Gisbson out?

Even with Gibson in the Hawks have a small backline.

With Roo, Stanley and Wilkes they will be stretched.

Who takes Buddy and Roughy?

[St Ick]

Suprising about Kosi, but then again who to drop for him? So fair enough. How many games does Jimmy need in the magoos? Will he take Gilberts spot? I think Simpkin, Dempster, Fisher, Geary etc deserve their spot in front of Sam on current form only.

[saintspremiers]

hallelujah!

Well after that post Dools I hope he's a late change. Just for you!

[Dave McNamara]

Ohhhhhh, I like that team. Wilkesy survives (and Crippa) and Sippa is in. Also, history is once again on our side to WIN as no-idea-me certainly didn't pick that selection!

Poloveriser very unlucky. But to replace a tough experienced, but limited, player of his type (and in a pressure game), with a young skilful player like Sipposs indicates to me where selection policy is headed. Similarly, I'm really very pleasantly surprised that the selectors seem to value Wilkesy's forward pressure and repeated efforts, enough to make the big call of leaving out an in form Kosi. Pleasing.

If we must persist with the late change thing - Grammy out for Ledger (is Ledge the 4th emergency???) But then I shouldn't get too greedy...

leigh matthews on 3aw said wilkes did nothing much .

according to mark fine on SEN, he thinks team selecton is crazy. "polo was good in the wet, why not leave him in, and kosi had his best game before he got suspended."

what about that?

Two fair points Saintly.

I rated Lethal as the best player I'd seen, and was pleasantly surprised when he was 'officially' declared to be so. I reckon Finey is a bit mad, and he gets so heated I'm regularly waiting for him to stroke out. That said, I like him. I also did hear those comments tonight.

I reckon both Lethal and Finey each know more about the game than I, but for the reasons stated above, on this one I'm sticking by my opinion.

Visionsary selection! Go you Saintas.

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

Very interesting team selection this week. The weather is likely to influence final decisions. If it is wet and slippery, Wilkes to stay in, as he is more agile than Kosi and can play foward and back if needed. Stanley has pace and size for the big MCG ground.

Agree with that. I'm pretty much expecting Kosi to come in, as long as it's not really wet.

If anyone is to go out for Kosi (if it's reasonably dry) I reckon it will be Blake. He is the obvious one as far as I'm concerned, as the other tall options are all giving more at the moment, although it would obviously involve a bit of a shuffle of the team set-up, to move one of the taller options from the forward line down to defence. I'd love to see Roo go back there and give us a dominant backline again.

Polo stiff to miss as he would be suited to a wet game at the G. Cripps lucky to keep his spot again.

Really glad to see Wilkes keep his spot, although I'd especially love to see how he goes on a dry track and thrilled to finally see Siposs! Very happy to see Saad on the verge as well.

[Sobraz]

How many games does Jimmy need in the magoos? Will he take Gilberts spot? I think Simpkin, Dempster, Fisher, Geary etc deserve their spot in front of Sam on current form only.

I'd think Gwilt will need another fortnight in the VFL, so baring any setbacks, I'd be hoping he'd be back in the back 6 by round 8 v's the Eagles away, but they may hold him back for the long trip, so round 9 v's the Swans at Etihad. Obviously all just my speculating, and he may be back next week...?!!?

I agree with your assessment of those players listed, but I'd be hoping Gwilt will take Blake's spot, who I believe is on a rapid downhill and needs to be replaced... Gilbo is far more important, and I personally dont think he has been as bad as many perceive this season so far..

[The Redeemer]

hallelujah!

Well after that post Dools I hope he's a late change. Just for you!

It is so obvious that Kosi is going to be a late change.

Dools has the strength of a 5 year old girl.

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

How many games does Jimmy need in the magoos? Will he take Gilberts spot? I think Simpkin, Dempster, Fisher, Geary etc deserve their spot in front of Sam on current form only.

I'd think Gwilt will need another fortnight in the VFL, so baring any setbacks, I'd be hoping he'd be back in the back 6 by round 8 v's the Eagles away, but they may hold him back for the long trip, so round 9 v's the Swans at Etihad. Obviously all just my speculating, and he may be back next week...?!!?

I agree with your assessment of those players listed, but I'd be hoping Gwilt will take Blake's spot, who I believe is on a rapid downhill and needs to be replaced... Gilbo is far more important, and I personally dont think he has been as bad as many perceive this season so far..

I wouldn't mind seeing Gwilt playing a bit closer to the middle of the ground in the VFL this week, so that he runs around a lot more than he would on the last line, to increase his fitness more quickly. Maybe even a quarter or two on the wing, where he used to play.

[Grimfang]

http://www.saints.com.au/team%20announc ... fault.aspx

Umpires

S.Hay (20), R.Findlay (23), J.Mollison (32),

What, Mollison again?

That's 3 weeks in a row he has umpired us. Would have been happy to not see him again after his efforts in the first game.

[SainterK]

Surprised if Kosi doesn't play.

Very.

[saintsRrising]

Wilkes stays in as we might need him down back on Roughead or Buddy.

I'd be suprised, but maybe Kosi will come in to stretch their defence with Gisbson out?

Even with Gibson in the Hawks have a small backline.

With Roo, Stanley and Wilkes they will be stretched.

Who takes Buddy and Roughy?

Gilbert, Sam, Blake, Wilkes all provide options.

However I think we are still better off than the Hawks are in this respect.

[Bernard Shakey]

Wilkes stays in as we might need him down back on Roughead or Buddy.

I'd be suprised, but maybe Kosi will come in to stretch their defence with Gisbson out?

Wilkes will not play down back, he is a crap defender as evidenced by his ventures down back at Sandy. He only plays forward at Sandy now.

[Bernard Shakey]

Surprised if Kosi doesn't play.

Very.

He will play for Sandy on Sunday. Punishment for acts of stupidity in three of the four games he's played.

[To the top]

Unbelievable!

Wilkes gets 4 kicks against a team which has not won a match all season (and has been widely maligned for its performances) and he stays in versus a player who has been our most dangerous forward (and has had a presence around the ground) in each of our first 4 games?

Like it or not, Koschitzke is the best kick in the side and has the cleanest hands.

Polo I do not have a problem with - but we still have disposal free types such as Blake and Geary and Dempster in our defence. Simpkin I can excuse because of the tasks he is being set against size.

And I repeat again, Milne is past it as was evidenced for the fifth time this season versus Melbourne.

Again it is going to fall to the outstanding performances of Hayes, Dal Santo, Armitage and Steven - those who saved our bacon against the winless Melbourne along with the work of Gram.

[matrix]

im happy to see wilkes stay in
earned a spot from 3 quarters of footy last week and was good when the cherry was slippery

sips was a surprise pick to me
glad to see him tho
if its a dry track i reckon they might bring in koz

preferred
ledger in polo out

[Bernard Shakey]

im happy to see wilkes stay in
earned a spot from 3 quarters of footy last week and was good when the cherry was slippery

sips was a surprise pick to me
glad to see him tho
if its a dry track i reckon they might bring in koz

preferred
ledger in polo out

It will be a dry track and Kosi won't come in. Ledger has not earned a game yet, one quarter at Sandy last week not good enough.

[To the top]

My recall was that Wilkes kicked 2 goals in the first quarter before the rain arrived.

Was then virtually unsighted until taking a spectacular (and desperate) mark from behind - hence was marked to be subbed.

Again, it appears that 3 goals from not many more disposals is the criteria for assessment - not impact on the game of football.

Apart from his 3 goals - and a miss - I did not think he was not effective.

Plus he can not pinch hit around the ground and in the ruck - where we lack.

Lessens our options for mine and a poor selection decision.

If he was effective, why was he listed to be subbed off?

[matrix]

ledge has earnt a game as much as saad has

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

Were you at the game, To The Top? Did you even watch it, or just look at the stats?

Wilkes work when he doesn't have the ball has been a talking point in his VFL games this year and we got to see that for us on the weekend. Did a lot of good stuff, like two genuinely crunching tackles, good second and third efforts when the ball hit the deck, crashed one pack in the air really hard and directed the ball down to the numbers we had at the bottom of it and knew when and where to fly for marks and when to stay out of the contests. While we love the high marking Kosi does, he does also have a habit of crunching into the likes of Roo, when they're trying to mark, while Wilkes seemed to have a bit more "smarts" about him, knowing which ones to fly for and which ones to stay out of.

And yes, two of Wilkes goals came before the rain arrived. The game was relatively free-flowing and high scoring to that point, but once it got wet, guess what? It developed into much more of a scrap and went from a game where the ball was being moved into the forward line well, to a game where the ball was just being forced forward any which way, which makes it much more difficult for anyone to mark a ball up forward.

Between the time the rain started (very end of the 1st) and the time Wilkes was subbed off (mid way through the third) hardly anyone for either team took an overhead mark, but in the two minutes before he was subbed off, Wilkes took two of them, including a hanger. As they said in commentary at the time, he was the "most likely to score out of anyone up forward for either team". And of course if you're playing forward at St Kilda and your name isn't Nick Riewoldt, then the ball isn't going to be going through you all that often, especially when it's just your first game for the club.

So he did very well from the low number of opportunities he had and did a lot of good stuff when he didn't have the ball, which would be a large part of the reason he's kept his spot. He also only spent 53% of the match on the ground. So to kick 3 goals (the most anyone kicked for the game for either team) from full forward, in just 3% over half a game, is a fine effort and it's very well worth having a look to see if he'll do that on a consistent basis.