Shane Savage

[ShanghaiSaint]

Can't say I have been pleased with Savages start at the St.Kilda FC. What are his upsides? Only feel like he got a game tonight from his Kiwi heritage (harsh I know) and just not the clever half forward I thought he was?

Might have misjudged one here.......? i am happy to be told otherwise by my criticisms are

he always seems rushed, under pressure and decision making not great. His pressure and ability to read the play is not very good either. Maverick Weller would give us a lot more then he does ATM

??

Since it was ANZAC day yesterday i didn't want to be putting the boot into anyone...

BUT, I have been disappointed in Savage. Thought he would slot right in and start adding something to the team. he hasn't and imo don't know what to do with him. we already have TDL and terry at similar points to him... we don't need three of them so I think it's time to work out who of the three we keep.

[Schillaci]

Couldn't believe it when I saw the ball flying over his head and bounce away as I turned my head. Thought to myself how did Savage manage that as was a regulation hand back... Great time to give away 50...not.
Thought he'd be a great pick up but is looking like a front runner to me and we're no Hawthorn.

[Old Mate]

Always looks incredibly rushed. Plenty of his kicks are either smothered or travel 5-10 metres along the ground. He's got a lot of work to do!

[Spinner]

Something that's been around for a long time is that 23rd player who is so very overvalued when teams are winning premierships.

Players like Tim Notting.

I dont have any other examples at the top of my head, which probably doesn't add to my argument, but its something for sure.

[maverick]

Couldn't believe it when I saw the ball flying over his head and bounce away as I turned my head. Thought to myself how did Savage manage that as was a regulation hand back... Great time to give away 50...not.
Thought he'd be a great pick up but is looking like a front runner to me and we're no Hawthorn.

Definitely an outside player = front runner
They are needed… we have too many inside players.
He is quick and a good kick in space, we don't have a lot of them….

[SemperFidelis]

Not much love for Shane. I personally thought he showed a few positive signs last night. I think he will be handy. Looks to me like he doesn't quite feel comfortable in the group yet. Just my observation. Might be totally wrong.

His throwing skills also need some attention.

I think you nailed it.

Best game by far, much harder at the ball, nice kick but every time he handballs it's like he's expecting Cyril Rioli to cruise past and magically pluck it out of the air ...

[I Love Peter Kiel]

PS I don't mind Savage but what was with that throw at the end?

Doea anyone know...did he mean to throw it over the guy's head or was it just a bad throw?
Did the other player do the old 'duck/look away so you don't get the ball' hoping for a 50?

[busso mick]

I suspect his 30 possession, 3 Brownlow votes display against us in Round 20 last year might have coloured the judgement of our recruiters.

He looks like the classic player who plays well in a good team as he is not rated much by the opposition. Now that he has to win his own ball and be part of a developing team his output is not the same. I have not given up on him yet but just lowered my expectations. We need a way to take advantage of his booming kick, like the way we used Jason Gram.

[Saints94]

I suspect his 30 possession, 3 Brownlow votes display against us in Round 20 last year might have coloured the judgement of our recruiters.

He looks like the classic player who plays well in a good team as he is not rated much by the opposition. Now that he has to win his own ball and be part of a developing team his output is not the same. I have not given up on him yet but just lowered my expectations. We need a way to take advantage of his booming kick, like the way we used Jason Gram.

+1.

[elizabethr]

He threw it 3 metres over his head!

[st_Trav_ofWA]

Something that's been around for a long time is that 23rd player who is so very overvalued when teams are winning premierships.

Players like Tim Notting.

I dont have any other examples at the top of my head, which probably doesn't add to my argument, but its something for sure.

your onto something there .... and we have a tendancy to fall for it time and time again ....
from recent memory :

Charlie Gardiner from Geelong was not good enough to make the geelong premiership team so came to St Kilda where we were meant to get value out of him ... dud player for us

Ryan Gamble also from Geelong was seen as a surpluss for geelong an unlucky player who found himself behind the Geelong AA's that shared his role in the team was given the life line to get his shot at St Kilda to show he was a good player .. one good game one average game and 9 lacklustre games later he was delisted by us ...

TDL emergancy in Sydneys flag year , lacked opportunity in sydney was seen to be only slightly behind the Swans smalls so was sure to be a good player in a less skilled team ... shown to be easil pushed aside and go's missing during games ... strong chance to not be at the club next year ...

Shane Savage a player who was unlucky to have peers like Mitchell Hodge ect to compeate with for spots .. seen as a good quallity player who just needed the opportunity ... at the moment looks like a list clogger seems to me to spend a lot of time flat footed ... as the sub comes out and runs his guts out for 5 mins and then blows up and cant make it to the contest ... hopefully a bit more conditioning will see him turn out to be somewhat of a player but i cant see him ever being a star for us ..

[WellardSaint]

The players mentioned by Travis in the preceding post, are a bit harshly done by.
Getting drafted by an AFL club is not like joining the circus and offering to clean out the tents etc, hoping to get into the ring.

These young fellas were drafted as they had some level of talent which elevated them above the VFL standard.

Possibly they found it hard to maintain the standard required, or they carried injuries which they did their best to suppress.

To call them "list cloggers" is not fair, as they worked hard to get there, but maybe they just didn't have that bit extra needed to be competitive.

[stevie]

Something that's been around for a long time is that 23rd player who is so very overvalued when teams are winning premierships.

Players like Tim Notting.

I dont have any other examples at the top of my head, which probably doesn't add to my argument, but its something for sure.

Tim Notting over valued? He would've walked into any other team. He earned his spot in the Lions team bro. If Savage was half as good as him, we would be laughing.

[sunsaint]

I think you nailed it.

Best game by far, much harder at the ball, nice kick but every time he handballs it's like he's expecting Cyril Rioli to cruise past and magically pluck it out of the air ...

and that's the hammer + nail post
At hawthorn he was the last half sub player specialist - he would come on with fresh legs cruise the flanks and and kick long raking goals -
life was pretty good and he was in a pretty good side.
I reckon the shunt from the hawks has done his head in and most likely he is still weighing up if this whole afl caper at a bottom side is worth all the effort
I thought he showed some attitude on the ground against the lions and we need to give him time to adjust post hawthorn

[Bernard Shakey]

I suspect his 30 possession, 3 Brownlow votes display against us in Round 20 last year might have coloured the judgement of our recruiters.

He looks like the classic player who plays well in a good team as he is not rated much by the opposition. Now that he has to win his own ball and be part of a developing team his output is not the same. I have not given up on him yet but just lowered my expectations. We need a way to take advantage of his booming kick, like the way we used Jason Gram.

Nah! We were after the draft picks, he is the Steak Knives!

[magnifisaint]

The players mentioned by Travis in the preceding post, are a bit harshly done by.
Getting drafted by an AFL club is not like joining the circus and offering to clean out the tents etc, hoping to get into the ring.

These young fellas were drafted as they had some level of talent which elevated them above the VFL standard.

Possibly they found it hard to maintain the standard required, or they carried injuries which they did their best to suppress.

To call them "list cloggers" is not fair, as they worked hard to get there, but maybe they just didn't have that bit extra needed to be competitive.

Ok call them toilet cleaners!

[whiskers3614]

I want to re-visit this thread in a couple of years.
Reckon he showed a fair bit this week and still getting to know new game plan and teammates.

[thequarry]

I want to re-visit this thread in a couple of years.
Reckon he showed a fair bit this week and still getting to know new game plan and teammates.

This will be really interesting- both short term in if he's selected for this Saturday and in the mid-to-long term where he is in around 3-5 years (although impossible to say now).

His seven tackles last Friday were second only to Lenny's eight for us, and some of those tackles were pretty solid and exactly what we needed at a time where we were floundering in the contest.

He was the man who took the mark when the ball came down as Roo gave away the free kick to Adcock, so instead of giving away the 50 (that throw was comical) he may well have been kicking for the game from his specialist range (albeit from a set shot).

I do wonder what the recruiters had in mind when they took him - obviously there was/is a long-term plan in place and were they thinking that he'd simply be a quasi-senior player for a couple of years and then take it from there, or were they thinking he was a deadset long-term proposition with plenty of time and improvement on his side?

[Bernard Shakey]

I want to re-visit this thread in a couple of years.
Reckon he showed a fair bit this week and still getting to know new game plan and teammates.

This will be really interesting- both short term in if he's selected for this Saturday and in the mid-to-long term where he is in around 3-5 years (although impossible to say now).

His seven tackles last Friday were second only to Lenny's eight for us, and some of those tackles were pretty solid and exactly what we needed at a time where we were floundering in the contest.

He was the man who took the mark when the ball came down as Roo gave away the free kick to Adcock, so instead of giving away the 50 (that throw was comical) he may well have been kicking for the game from his specialist range (albeit from a set shot).

I do wonder what the recruiters had in mind when they took him - obviously there was/is a long-term plan in place and were they thinking that he'd simply be a quasi-senior player for a couple of years and then take it from there, or were they thinking he was a deadset long-term proposition with plenty of time and improvement on his side?

He took the mark as Roo gave away the free kick? What game were you watching?

[Jacks Back]

He won't get dropped this week because we are playing his ex-team. I'm sure he'll want to show them a thing or two (at least I hope he shows something, anything)!

[saintbob]

He'll be selected this week without a doubt in the world, last week was his best game for us minus the brain fade at the end of the game.
Also this week will show AR and all of us if he really has got the right stuff, because if he can't fire up against his old team then maybe his heart ain't in it!!!

[Trixilver]

I want to re-visit this thread in a couple of years.
Reckon he showed a fair bit this week and still getting to know new game plan and teammates.

This will be really interesting- both short term in if he's selected for this Saturday and in the mid-to-long term where he is in around 3-5 years (although impossible to say now).

His seven tackles last Friday were second only to Lenny's eight for us, and some of those tackles were pretty solid and exactly what we needed at a time where we were floundering in the contest.

He was the man who took the mark when the ball came down as Roo gave away the free kick to Adcock, so instead of giving away the 50 (that throw was comical) he may well have been kicking for the game from his specialist range (albeit from a set shot).

I do wonder what the recruiters had in mind when they took him - obviously there was/is a long-term plan in place and were they thinking that he'd simply be a quasi-senior player for a couple of years and then take it from there, or were they thinking he was a deadset long-term proposition with plenty of time and improvement on his side?

He took the mark as Roo gave away the free kick? What game were you watching?

I didn't understand this post because that's actually what happened. Apart from that 50 metre penalty he did play a decent game.

[Con Gorozidis]

One discussion which I feel might almost warrant its own thread is inside v outside players.
You need a balanced list. Hawks have plenty of inside grunt but their outsiders like Hill Breust and Smith do loads of damage.


One of the criticisms of the Tigers and Bombers lists are the lack of outside run.

At the moment we have Hayes Armo Dunstan Ross Curren on the inside.
Savage is very importance for our team balance so if he is not performing it is hurting us.
We need a goal a game from him and it hasnt happened at all.
Ray is also not scoring.
Breust already has 15 goals for the hawks this season (drafted as a rookie too) .

If Savage cant get us some outside run we need to give Markworth and Milera a chance.
Maybe even dunny as well.

[Moods]

I didn't understand this post because that's actually what happened. Apart from that 50 metre penalty he did play a decent game.

You are easily pleased

[FQF]

One discussion which I feel might almost warrant its own thread is inside v outside players.
You need a balanced list. Hawks have plenty of inside grunt but their outsiders like Hill Breust and Smith do loads of damage.


One of the criticisms of the Tigers and Bombers lists are the lack of outside run.

At the moment we have Hayes Armo Dunstan Ross Curren on the inside.
Savage is very importance for our team balance so if he is not performing it is hurting us.
We need a goal a game from him and it hasnt happened at all.
Ray is also not scoring.
Breust already has 15 goals for the hawks this season (drafted as a rookie too) .

If Savage cant get us some outside run we need to give Markworth and Milera a chance.
Maybe even dunny as well.

We have a number of outside runners who are seemingly in good form playing at Sandy. You mention Markworth, who I can't wait to see debut, and Milera. There's also Acres who has dash and poise, Shenton, Roberton, maybe a few others if you include Fisher, TDL.

All of the above will likely get game time this season.