So was Wilke's Dogs selection an audition for Pies game?

[saintsRrising]

Can't help thinking that the Wilke's selection against the Dogs was all about trialling him out to decide whether to play him against the Pies....moreso than it was for the game against the Dogs itself.

In part as the Pies only play a non-ruck as their No2 ruck, and in part as 3 tall forward line structure should test the Pies backline.
The game tried Wilkes out ina role that he probably has not played in before, in a scenario i it was a complete flop that it would most likely not afect the result of the game.

In the end his kicking let him down. He could have had 3 goals, but gained nil. Given he was the "third banana" he did ok. You would still prefer Stanley ina heart beat, but he is not available.


So for the Pies will Watters stick with Wilkes after the audition, or will he go for an extra running player instead?

[Animal Enclosure]

I think that Willkes needs to play this week as a legitiamate 3rd target to keep the filth tall defenders honest.

Sippo is the alternative & he is not quite there yet in terms of will commanding the respect of Maxwell & co. Beau can take a mark & is experienced enough to get himself into dangerous spots that will demand that the filth defend him rather than sag off & double team Nick & Kosi. If they don't then our blokes need to be smart enough to go to Beau & he'll kick 4 or 5.

Those bagging him are not worth worrying about.... Beau is a big unit that gives a fantastic contest & tackles like a madman. He lacks the polish but that's why he's a depth player & not an automatic starter each week.

We can definitely knock these prycks off... just need to take our chances in front of goal. If we do we'll give them a shake.

[Moods]

I reckon Siposs is a far better option up fwd. Provides better variety. Can take a mark (maybe not as good contested as Wilkes) but gives far more around the fwd line. His kicking skills will be very useful on a big ground.

Remember the pies have possibly the tallest backlines going around. Playing tall up fwd will not stretch them. With Maxwell, Tarrant, Brown, Reid, Harry O, they are well equipped to handle tallish targets in my opinion. In fact I would suggest we would be playing right into their hands. Where the hawks and Blues have got them is playing a smaller fwd line and spreading their backs, thus creating far more one on one contests. Harry O in particular is struggling in that department this year. A fwd line with Milne, Siposs, Saad, and possibly Schneider if available could be very interesting. Kosi contests the high balls and Roo does his thing.

The second ruck is a problem I admit. Possibly have Gilbert pinch hit again. Kosi just doesn't have the engine to compete, which is very disappointing. Dawes is a hopeless ruckman so those two may neutralise each other.

[Bernard Shakey]

Wilkes is a good VFL player at best, nowhere near AFL standard. He drops twice as many marks as he takes, lets the ball hit his hands and drop in front of him. He gets away with this at Sandy by following up on the ground and kicking goals over his shoulder. AFL defenders don't allow this. Send him back to TBBO where he belongs.
Siposs is a much better option for us.

Says a lot about how the club regards Kosi when they put Wilkes in the ruck.

[Dr Spaceman]

Says a lot about how the club regards Kosi when they put Wilkes in the ruck.

It says they regard his value as a forward more than they regard his value as a ruckman. That's all it says.

[Animal Enclosure]

I love Sippo & think he will quite possibly be the best player on our list in 5 years time but Wilkes has him covered in the competitive stakes at the moment.

Do we want/need a player who will fight for possession, contest hard in the air & tackle or is it preferable to have Sippo's superb kicking skills.

Once Sippo gets that mongrel in him & develops a maniacal want to tackle & pressure his opponent (what better coach to have than Sammy Hamill for that), he will be a beauty. He just looks like a talented kid that hasn't come to terms with the physical pressure as yet. He really struggled against the physical Swans last week & will probably encounter the same against the filth.

[70s sainter]

Wilkes isn't a better player than sipposs , so I'm tipping sipposs was rested or slightly injured on the weekend and they chose Wilkes purely for structure. Sipposs is the future and would swap him for Wilkes this week if available .

[St Chris]

We're probably going to play a defensive-type forward this week to keep Heath Shaw quiet - it's been a key plan for the last few teams who have rolled the Pies. Perhaps Dempster or similar could bob up with a couple of goals, while keeping Shaw quiet, it would be a win for us.

So if you have Kosi, Roo, Milne, "Defender", Ahmed and one other, do you go with Wilkes, Siposs, Schneider, Dunnell??? Do you leave Dempster in the back half, and bring in Raph Clarke or someone else to play defensively?? I dunno, but I do think we need to limit the amount of footy Shaw gets - beyond just making him "accountable".

[taz]

I suspect that Hamill has had an influence in the way Wilkes plays. That tackles on Cross reminded me of Hamill's on Polo

[jimmy_slats]

plain and simple! Watters said in his press conference that stanly is the teams most important player all be it structurally.
So for him to say that means that he has decided what we need is for even a bit part player to be able to ruck and go forward and have a general presence around the ground to relive Macca and allow our forwards to be more competitive when the ball comes inside 50.
Wilkes may not be better than Sippos but he can at least ruck as he semi showed on the weekend.
No way after seeing how this worked so well for our forwards especially kosi this week will Wilkes be a direct swap for Sippos. i love Sippos but seriously if you watched the game on sunday you would have seen how important Wilkes will be against collingwood or untill Stanly is back.

[Teflon]

plain and simple! Watters said in his press conference that stanly is the teams most important player all be it structurally.
So for him to say that means that he has decided what we need is for even a bit part player to be able to ruck and go forward and have a general presence around the ground to relive Macca and allow our forwards to be more competitive when the ball comes inside 50.
Wilkes may not be better than Sippos but he can at least ruck as he semi showed on the weekend.
No way after seeing how this worked so well for our forwards especially kosi this week will Wilkes be a direct swap for Sippos. i love Sippos but seriously if you watched the game on sunday you would have seen how important Wilkes will be against collingwood or untill Stanly is back.

Agree

Love Sippos to be there but reality is he's young and maturity wise will not provide the body contest Wilkes right now can

Wilkes ain't a world beater but he bought the ball to ground a few times against Dogs to allow Milne/Saad the chance. Sippos simply doesn't do this....... yet

[Cairnsman]

If Wilkes plays this week it will mean that one Collingwood player will think it's Xmas, Easter and a Birthday all rolled into one.

[jimmy_slats]

If Wilkes plays this week it will mean that one Collingwood player will think it's Xmas, Easter and a Birthday all rolled into one.

why because Wilkes will tackle him so hard into the ground he will end up crying like Cross? you must not have had very good christmas and easters growing up....?

[battye]

Siposs for mine. Why waste time on Wilkes when this game could be a fantastic opportunity to give time to Siposs in a real tough match? It's doubtful we'll make finals, so we need to pump time into our kids against quality opposition.

[Bernard Shakey]

plain and simple! Watters said in his press conference that stanly is the teams most important player all be it structurally.
So for him to say that means that he has decided what we need is for even a bit part player to be able to ruck and go forward and have a general presence around the ground to relive Macca and allow our forwards to be more competitive when the ball comes inside 50.
Wilkes may not be better than Sippos but he can at least ruck as he semi showed on the weekend.
No way after seeing how this worked so well for our forwards especially kosi this week will Wilkes be a direct swap for Sippos. i love Sippos but seriously if you watched the game on sunday you would have seen how important Wilkes will be against collingwood or untill Stanly is back.

Will Minson thought it was Christmas when he saw Beau on the other side of the circle, they won every clearance Beau contested in the middle. He's not a ruckman's bootlace.

[SainterK]

Not so much that he can ruck, more that he is willing to go in there and give it a crack....which is all he is needed to do v Dawes.

[Dr Spaceman]

Not so much that he can ruck, more that he is willing to go in there and give it a crack....which is all he is needed to do v Dawes.

Sounds about right

[paddy]

Yeah,

I think it was a very intelligent move by SW...

Wilkes provides another crash/bang target, to bring the ball down to our crumbers...

he may not kick the goals, he may not take the marks, but he presents, and our crumbers are superb...

I also really like him having a crack in rucking, during stoppages... It just hurts Kosi's game far too much when he has to ruck....

[Cairnsman]

Siposs for mine. Why waste time on Wilkes when this game could be a fantastic opportunity to give time to Siposs in a real tough match? It's doubtful we'll make finals, so we need to pump time into our kids against quality opposition.

I agree with this.

Why waste time with a player that is more than likely not going to be around next year and if he is, then it will probably be because the club had no choice but to keep him on (as a back up player, like this year). It sound like a harsh opinion I know but the majority of punters can tell he's not AFL material and when you are a mature age rookie you haven't got much time to prove yourself. You either come in and blitz it or you get relegated as an failed experiment.

[jimmy_slats]

plain and simple! Watters said in his press conference that stanly is the teams most important player all be it structurally.
So for him to say that means that he has decided what we need is for even a bit part player to be able to ruck and go forward and have a general presence around the ground to relive Macca and allow our forwards to be more competitive when the ball comes inside 50.
Wilkes may not be better than Sippos but he can at least ruck as he semi showed on the weekend.
No way after seeing how this worked so well for our forwards especially kosi this week will Wilkes be a direct swap for Sippos. i love Sippos but seriously if you watched the game on sunday you would have seen how important Wilkes will be against collingwood or untill Stanly is back.

Will Minson thought it was Christmas when he saw Beau on the other side of the circle, they won every clearance Beau contested in the middle. He's not a ruckman's bootlace.

Its not so much getting every tap we know he's not going to do that and neither is Kosi but who would you rather wasting there energy in the middle Wilkes or Kosi?
and on the other side of ur post it wasn't just Wilkes that got pantsd by Minson McEvoy got well smashed as well. So what would you rather bring in Sippos and let Kosi waste his time making a semi contest and being to buggered to take a big mark in the forward 50? or leave in Wilkes have a bigger body around the ground and have kosi focus on what he is meant to be doing?

[The Redeemer]

We need to tag Heath Shaw and make Harry O'Brien the backman that we direct our ball through. The guy is squib and cracks it under the high ball.

Kill the freedom-fighter douchy wannabe shooting victim.

[SainterK]

I got the end of a 'rumour' on SEN tonight that Gilbert was going to go forward to play on Maxwell?

Did anyone catch where it this rumour was from, had they heard something or seen this at training?

[plugger66]

I got the end of a 'rumour' on SEN tonight that Gilbert was going to go forward to play on Maxwell?

Did anyone catch where it this rumour was from, had they heard something or seen this at training?

It was from this Saints supporter wanker that rings SEN all the time. He knows jack from what I gather. Well he hasnt been right at all anyway. He also said Wilkes will play on Dawes. Got know idea why they would do either of those moves.

[SainterK]

I got the end of a 'rumour' on SEN tonight that Gilbert was going to go forward to play on Maxwell?

Did anyone catch where it this rumour was from, had they heard something or seen this at training?

It was from this Saints supporter wanker that rings SEN all the time. He knows jack from what I gather. Well he hasnt been right at all anyway. He also said Wilkes will play on Dawes. Got know idea why they would do either of those moves.

Ok thanks, I didn't catch it all but just enough to hear that hosts say thanks for the good oil or something so thought it was legit...

Wilkes may ruck v Dawes, but sure hope he doesn't push back to defence

[spert]

If Wilkes plays this week it will mean that one Collingwood player will think it's Xmas, Easter and a Birthday all rolled into one.

Kosi and Milne are playing at the MCG- Xmas for Collingwood backs!