Options down back

[MC Gusto]

I reckon big Rhys might get a run down back just to see how he goes.

Thoughts?

[White Winmar]

I've been watching the 2012 season replays of the saints on Foxtel (tragic and desperate I know, but I'm working in Canberra atm, so please forgive me!). I must say Rhys has looked very good as a forward. Given a decent run with injuries in 2013, I reckon he's primed for a breakout year. He just looks so natural, not only as a forward, but also as a ruckman. Watching some of his work in the early games, he outshone Big Ben with his reach and tapping to advantage. He has a massive leap, so I think the rules will suit him as well. He could well be our version of Nic Naitanui. I'm sure his greatest value to us will be in those roles.

[SunburySaint]

I've been watching the 2012 season replays of the saints on Foxtel (tragic and desperate I know, but I'm working in Canberra atm, so please forgive me!). I must say Rhys has looked very good as a forward. Given a decent run with injuries in 2013, I reckon he's primed for a breakout year. He just looks so natural, not only as a forward, but also as a ruckman. Watching some of his work in the early games, he outshone Big Ben with his reach and tapping to advantage. He has a massive leap, so I think the rules will suit him as well. He could well be our version of Nic Naitanui. I'm sure his greatest value to us will be in those roles.

I remember watching the Weagles game last year when he lasted 10 minutes and thought gee he is matching it with Nic Nat.... then he got injured and we went 8 goals down...

[White Winmar]

Yep, we certainly missed him that day. Probably one of the starkest examples of our weakness in the area, once we lost Rhys. Didn't Big Cox kick 5 and tear us another one in the ruck and around the ground? Hickey and Rhys are the future of rucking.

[St Ick]

Yep, we certainly missed him that day. Probably one of the starkest examples of our weakness in the area, once we lost Rhys. Didn't Big Cox kick 5 and tear us another one in the ruck and around the ground? Hickey and Rhys are the future of rucking.

Where does that leave Big Mac? Trade bait?

[matrix]

i dont reakcon he will

but would like to see it just to see what happened

[White Winmar]

I still think Ben has a significant role to play. He's still developing even though he's played 70 odd games. Our lack of depth in the area exposed young Ben to the main responsibilities before he was truly ready. The upside is that he's made a good fist of things and I think 2013 could be his breakout year. His strengths are his strong hands, great endurance and the fact that he can go forward and kick a goal. He's certainly not as quick or athletic as the other two, but he's still an important piece of the puzzle. All three of them rotating through the forward line and roaming around the ground will certainly stretch the opposition.

[bobmurray]

Big Mac does a great job when he drops back in defence and takes a few overhead marks, i prefer him doing that to falcons in the forward line...

[paddy]

I would be very surprised if they wasted 1 or 2 years of Rhys' development as a key forward, to play him as a band aid down back.

Doubt he would do much better than others on our list who are experienced defenders... albeit a little on the short side

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

Given that we are likely to have all of Roo, Wilkes, Lee and Kosi (plus Siposs and Dunell, who can play the lead-up role up there and even Hickey, who could potentially be played up forward a bit, switching with Mac) as options up forward, we can certainly afford to give Rhys a go back there to see how he goes, IMO and this is the whisper that we are hearing about what the club is planning.

I expect that Lee, for one, could take just as many marks up forward as Rhys would, but given his more accurate goalkicking, would probably kick more goals (Rhys only kicked a goal a game this year and was very wayward), so I don't think we'd be losing out there necessarily and even if Rhys down back doesn't work, I think the experience back there could be invaluable for his development, just to see things from a different perspective and maybe learn some tricks from the Petrie's or Tippett's of the AFL, that he could apply himself, once he gets back into the forward line. It could be a great learning curve for him, whether it works out or not.

While I see the potential wrestling as being a major concern for him back there, he does have a lot of other genuine attributes that could enable him to be successful back there, if he plays it like Dustin Fletcher and looks to avoid wrestling where he can. Such as; his 202cm height, his long reach, his huge leap and his ridiculous speed. Just having him in the area is going to give us a much better chance of getting a fist in to the high balls, as he is going to probably have the biggest leap of anyone in the area (for either team) and good luck to anyone who tries to outrun him on the lead. If was a long lead he could run straight past them!

I don't think we have a lot to lose at all by trying it and I see the positives, if it does work out, as being very well worth any small risk. For one, he could give us the height there next year and beyond that we have lacked in the past 12 months and secondly, if it happened to work out, it would mean that won't have to pay through the nose for someone like Mitch Brown next year, who we were about to pay over $300K per year for and give up two mid 20's draft picks for this year.

If we don't have to give up something similar to that next year, because Rhys has done a good enough job and are instead free to go after someone else instead, perhaps a "gun mid", with that money, or those picks, then that would be a brilliant result and could make it a very, very worthwhile exercise. I see it as a low risk and potentially high reward idea and if it doesn't work out we simply move him back into the forward line (if there's a spot there for him).

Shane Wakelin, Fraser Gehrig, Sam Fisher, James Gwilt and Zac Dawson are just a few examples of those who have gone from playing in the forward line to being successful down back and if there is a decent chance of it being similarly successful for Rhys, then I'm all for us seeing how it goes, if that is what the club has in mind.

[gringo]

I have a feeling Rhys will play as a ruck forwad and will suit the new ruck rules. Big Mac may actually be handy as the chop out in defence and as a centre square ruck where he just has to break even. My thinking is Blake is there as the defender for the bigger backline roles and Simpkin will play most games with fisher getting a combination of close checking and looser roles depending on the team we play.

[Saintersss]

I really hope Rhys doesn't play down back. This is the first year Rhys has actually shown something and he actually looked very good when he wasn't injured. Yes, he wasn't a major goal kicker (probably only averaged 1.5 goals/game), however he played the lead half forward role to perfection. If he can play a full season without injury in 2013, he can be a very valuable player. It will be a tragedy if Rhys has to play down back, because we couldn't (or wouldn't) pick up a key defender from the draft.

[Moorabbin Man]

I think Riewoldt should be played at CHB.

[bergholt]

Yep, we certainly missed him that day. Probably one of the starkest examples of our weakness in the area, once we lost Rhys.

With the sub rule, any game where you lose a pure ruckman is going to be tough to win because you've rarely got two of them in the 22. The only contingency plan is to have two or three guys in the side who can play ruck or forward. I'm not convinced McEvoy, Hickey and Stanley can play in the same side but then I don't know how good Hickey is forward.

[Sainter_Boy]

Yep, we certainly missed him that day. Probably one of the starkest examples of our weakness in the area, once we lost Rhys. Didn't Big Cox kick 5 and tear us another one in the ruck and around the ground? Hickey and Rhys are the future of rucking.

Where does that leave Big Mac? Trade bait?

Maybe big ben can go up front and be a full foward and get rid of kosi

[Teflon]

Options down back?


I think Buddy will give us a colonoscopy

[SainterK]

I think where Stanley ends up will depend a lot on Lee.

[saintjake]

Sam Fisher will take the monster forwards.
Simpkin/gwilt/gilbert will take the other forwards.
Its that simple.

Theres still plenty of run there with Gilbert/Gwilt/Ray/Geary/Roberton.

[saintsRrising]

One of Stanley's biggest assets is his pace, and that few tall defenders can match him in this regard.

His pace is mainly an advantage when he is up and running, rather than from a 20 m sprint.

This is being exploited by having him play up the ground, and then dashing back into the space with his opponents left in his week.

Lee I would see as playing closer to goals. If you will Lee is our potential FF and Stanley the CHF. Both have the agility to play on the flanks too though. and while Roo is still around they may well be in the flanker "third tall" role.

[borderbarry]

If you have Lee at FF, Stanley at CHF, where are you playing Spencer White?

[plugger66]

If you have Lee at FF, Stanley at CHF, where are you playing Spencer White?

At Sandy.

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

If you have Lee at FF, Stanley at CHF, where are you playing Spencer White?

If Spencer plays a single game in the seniors next year that will probably mean he's ahead of schedule (or that we have a lot of injuries up forward). He has immense talent and physical capabilities, but reportedly still needs to build his tank quite a lot and is also recovering from wrist surgery, so may not do any ball work for a while either, delaying a lot of his pre-season training. I expect he will be given plenty of time. If he was someone that was likely to be ready to go from day dot he probably would have been taken in the top 5 or 10, given the position/role he plays.

I also wouldn't bet on Lee playing FF. He may have kicked 70 goals this year, but I'm pretty certain he didn't do it playing at FF. From what I can gather he was playing the sort of role Roo and/or Rhys were playing this year, across HF, running up, back and all over the place, putting his speed, mobility, ground skills and athleticism to advantage. To me, his physical attributes and style of play seem a lot more like your Roo than your Kosi, Hawkins or Wilkes.

If the club are planning on Rhys playing down back, as some are suggesting they are, then you can pretty much bet that they will be planning on Lee taking over the role up forward that Rhys was playing this year, with Roo in his normal role and probably Beau at FF.

Maybe big ben can go up front and be a full foward and get rid of kosi

Wilkes pretty much pushed Kosi out of the team by the end of this season (even though Roo was out of the team by then, meaning there was room for both of them if Justin was playing remotely well), so unless Kosi comes out next year on fire and/or Beau is out of form, or not fully fit, then I would hope that Beau is picked ahead of him next year as well, if we're fair dinkum (which I expect we will be).

[bergholt]

If you have Lee at FF, Stanley at CHF, where are you playing Spencer White?

Extreme marking power forward line, 2015:

HF: Lee, Stanley, Siposs
FF: White, McEvoy/Hickey, Saad

It'll never happen because there'd be zero options when the ball hit the ground, but it'd be good to watch an opposition defence try to cope with it in the air.

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

That is part of the reason I believe our list is in a much better state than many think. Our future forward line is looking so stacked that we are likely going to be able to afford the luxury of playing the likes of Siposs across HB, or on the wing and don't forget that Roo is hoping to play for longer than the 2 years he's just re-signed for, so he is also a decent chance to be playing in 2015 as well (he will be 32 for that whole season- not super old, a lot will depend on his knees).

[magnifisaint]

Options down back - not many