Some players have improved in 2014

[bergholt]

It's been a long year already and a lot more to come. But there are some positives, some players have improved and shown a bit, despite what we might think. Ignoring the negatives, here's what I reckon are the positives:

Luke Delaney: Works really hard and is rarely beaten, what more do you want from a full-back who cost very little? Great pick up.
Luke Dunstan: Averaging almost 20 touches, almost 4 tackles and has 7 goals in 11 games. Great first season. Lots to come from this guy.
Jack Billings: Pretty confident that we haven't wasted a number 3 pick on this guy. Give him a couple of years and we'll be looking good.
Tom Hickey: Looked better again as a ruckman and had a game where he kicked some goals. Injury is frustrating, and he's nowhere near there yet, but definitely some hope.
Jack Newnes: Averaging 20 touches a game, though inconsistent. I can't see him being a star but he will be a stalwart of the team for the next 10 years. Reminds me of Nathan Van Berlo, that's not a bad thing.
Cam Shenton: He was out the door for mine, and now he looks like he might be a player. Quick for his height, composed on the ball. Maybe not defensive enough for half-back but he might be player and that's light years ahead of a month ago.
Eli Templeton: Showed a bit, I'm not his biggest fan at this point but there's no doubt we're getting more than expected for pick 3 in the rookie draft.
Seb Ross: Had 28 touches in his 19th game, and in the three before that was averaging 18. Nowhere near a star yet but looks a lot better than I thought he would.
Mav Weller: Willing and hard-working. Not sure he'll ever be better than a tagger but could already slot in to replace to CJ, so that's another good result for a rookie pick.
Josh Bruce: Looks OK on the ball and is big enough to make a solid contest. Needs to be better man-on-man but is showing a lot of potential.
Blake Acres: Definitely showed something, though for mine he has a long way to go. Probably a four or five year project to hit his potential.
Billy Longer: Hasn't been great but has played 7 games and will play more, that experience can only fast-track his development.

And these two:

Lenny Hayes: I thought this was his last year for sure but he's still been playing at a high standard, not bad for a hundred year old man. Could play on next year, that's a positive.
Nick Riewoldt: I thought he was almost gone as well but now he's only three off the top in the Coleman race and has still been tireless up front. Should play on, that has to be a positive.


Unfortunately that's only 14 of the 30-odd players we've used, but it's still better than you might think given the negativity surrounding the club at the moment.

[plugger66]

Obviously all first year players have improved because they have no base but most arent as good as the players they have replaced and alas why our form is terrible at the moment. When you think about it last years team, on paper, was so much better than who has been out on the park this year. Its actually amazing we have won 3 games or was last year worse than we even thought. Dal. Milne and even Blake and Kosi are probably better than anyone who has come in and then we lost Geary for the year and Fisher hasnt played a minute.

[bergholt]

Obviously all first year players have improved because they have no base but most arent as good as the players they have replaced and alas why our form is terrible at the moment.

Right. But I'd say that all of Dunstan, Billings and Templeton have given us more than we could have expected from a first-year draftee. Especially compared to our drafting efforts over the last six years.

[Spinner]

Bruce and Delaney have been impressive.

Ross showing good improvement.

Hickey was great at the start of the year.


Newens a fair bit too and Webster.



Players that have gone backwards; Milera, Jones, Gwilt

Stagnate; Stanley, Siposs

[Spinner]

And been really happy with Weller

[evertonfc]

In essence, this means our list is well advanced on where it is last year.

We simply can't avoid the fact that we need to pump gallons of games into our kids. They won't be competitive until they average 50+ games each, which won't happen until around 2016.

[Bluthy]

Good post Berg. And until these young players who haven't played a lot of AFL acheive an AFL level tank, speed, reactions, tactics and smarts - then they will struggle to compete with decent sides. And don't underestimate how important cohesion is which you only get by the same players playing a lot of games together.

[sainters man]

Love the way Weller goes about it. He tackles to hurt, and is quicker then what people think. I recon we got one there!

[Spinner]

Love the way Weller goes about it. He tackles to hurt, and is quicker then what people think. I recon we got one there!

Same. I think he is a lot quicker than his size suggests. And kicking isn't bad either.

I think he will be more than a tagger, but he's done his role to get an opportunity and will progress from that.


One I missed was Savage - has gone backwards. Valued at pick 27 approx last year so the theory he was steak knives is incorrect. He should be performing a lot better and it's worrying he can't make even this side.

[magnifisaint]

Jones isn't good enough to be a pimple on Wellers arse.

[SaintPav]

Jones isn't good enough to be a pimple on Wellers arse.

classy.

[Zed]

yep Good post Bergs. Agree with your list. As you say about Longer - not really an improver yet, so not sure i would have him on your list. Webster despite his recent indiscretion deserves to be on the list. Has shown flashes of brilliance and I think we can expect to see consistently more from him as he matures.

The only guys who have probably gone backwards significantly are Roberton, Lee & White. The rest that have gone backward are more age and/or injury specific - or may have dropped less significantly eg Minchy has dropped probably 5% - but with Dunstan, Billings, Eli , and Mav coming in - he has dropped quite a few places in the pecking order

[gringo]

Wright, Saunders and Newnes all look good to me.

[bergholt]

Webster despite his recent indiscretion deserves to be on the list. Has shown flashes of brilliance and I think we can expect to see consistently more from him as he matures.

I'm not feeling the love for Webster yet. I like the kid, he has some good attributes but I'm not yet sure whether they add up to an AFL quality footballer. He's a good kick and a good size. But I'm not sure how defensive he is - his man seems to kick multiple goals most weeks. And I'm not sure if he finds a huge amount of the footy, even though he plays across half-back where the ball comes to you.

As far as I can see he could end up somewhere between Grant Birchall and Troy Schwarze.

[Saint wagga]

Not convinced on Weller as an AFL midfielder...lets not forget he has had 3 years development prior to coming to the saints and is nearly up to 40 AFL games in total...Not one of our 'Young' brigade has that many Games, the nearest is Jack newnes in the high 30's. I'm not saying he could turn out to be a solid performer for us, but i can't see him being a quality inside mid at this stage...Curren is comparison is only up to 12 AFL games, and despite a drop in form coinciding with our whole team falling off a cliff has shown more than Weller IMO...hope both can become good consistent contributors, but Weller has less time to prove the critic wrong IMO.

[Saint wagga]

I Agree Bergholt...I'm not sold on Webster yet, he leaks goals and gets beaten 1 on 1 a lot of the time...In saying that, he was awarded the best young talent by his peers, has good pace and is a good size...but like all the the younger players, he still has to prove he can be a consistent high quality performer at AFL level...I think consistentcy is the thing missing from his game, both within games and from game to game, does some good, but also some bad...over time if this leans towards more good less bad, he'll be good for us...