Our Top 13

[Con Gorozidis]

Given our injury situation I thought it worthwhile to assess their impact.

Ill start with my top 13 rankings (my opinion only)

1. Roo
2. Steven
3. Armitage
4. Montagna
5. Fisher
6. Newnes
7. Weller
8. Hickey
9. Dempster
10. Delaney
11. Geary
12. Savage
13. Dunstan

Now if we can keep all 13 these guys on the park week in week out I think we are competitive and maybe sneak a few wins along the way. If we start getting injuries to these lot we are in strife. As it stands all are relatively healthy at this stage. So fingers crossed.

[70s sainter]

To put a negative spin on it , I think it shows why we're definitely wooden spooners material.
Delaney - still raw
Geary - can't kick
Dunstan and hickey are still developing .
We only have two elite players - reiwoldt and Steven .

On a bright note our list is very balanced and our bottom end is closer .
Plus we have a lot of players with gun potential.
Recruit the best midfielders possible next year and a elite free agent and well have a very exciting list .

[dragit]

I'd have Gilbert ahead of a few of those guys when fit... I'm not sold on Savage yet, he needs a good solid season before I rate him in the top 13. Hopefully Billings bursts into this list soon.

Why did we go for 13 Con? Do we not have 15 good players

[saintspremiers]

Gilbo is in our top 10.

I'm optimistic this year that we can win 2 matches. Not sure against who though.

[fugazi]

Yep...got to be the worse top 10 ever.

No disrespect to the players, but Roo is 33 and our only elite player

Steven not quite an A-grader, let alone elite

Fisher used to be elite, Monty was borderline elite - both now B+

Apart from that a bunch of GOPs

In: Newnes, Billings, Dunstan, Goddard, McCartin, Acres.....and maybe even Templeton and Murdoch - we might get some A-grader talent

Us or the Dogs for wooden spoon

[Con Gorozidis]

I'd have Gilbert ahead of a few of those guys when fit... I'm not sold on Savage yet, he needs a good solid season before I rate him in the top 13. Hopefully Billings bursts into this list soon.

Why did we go for 13 Con? Do we not have 15 good players

Well I started at top 10 but once I got to 7 they all kind of seemed similar and after 13 I was going into pure speculation mode. I thought well we have13 blokes we at least know where we stand with their performance. I mean I love Webster but really he's just not proven or reliable enough yet. Gilbo probably a top 12 but Im not sure you can put him in there after 5 games in two years or whatever it is.

[Con Gorozidis]

We only have two elite players - reiwoldt and Steven .

I was honestly going to put 'daylight' in at third before Armo but I was trying to write a positive post and thought better of it

[Jacks Back]

The old baker's dozen.

[cwrcyn]

Just shows how difficult this transition is going to be

[bergholt]

Yep...got to be the worse top 10 ever.

No disrespect to the players, but Roo is 33 and our only elite player

Steven not quite an A-grader, let alone elite

Fisher used to be elite, Monty was borderline elite - both now B+

Apart from that a bunch of GOPs

In: Newnes, Billings, Dunstan, Goddard, McCartin, Acres.....and maybe even Templeton and Murdoch - we might get some A-grader talent

Us or the Dogs for wooden spoon

Hard to argue with any of that, though I'd like to.

[bergholt]

Well I started at top 10 but once I got to 7 they all kind of seemed similar and after 13 I was going into pure speculation mode. I thought well we have13 blokes we at least know where we stand with their performance.

Savage was pretty inconsistent last year, surely he doesn't fit that description?

[citywest]

To put a negative spin on it , I think it shows why we're definitely wooden spooners material.
Delaney - still raw
Geary - can't kick
Dunstan and hickey are still developing .
We only have two elite players - reiwoldt and Steven .

On a bright note our list is very balanced and our bottom end is closer .
Plus we have a lot of players with gun potential.
Recruit the best midfielders possible next year and a elite free agent and well have a very exciting list .

Free Agents should not even be considered until at least the end of the 2016 season. Hopefully we may have had 10 wins for the season and also relocated back to the JO. No point in grabbing a FA this year when finals are still at least 4 years away.

[plugger66]

To put a negative spin on it , I think it shows why we're definitely wooden spooners material.
Delaney - still raw
Geary - can't kick
Dunstan and hickey are still developing .
We only have two elite players - reiwoldt and Steven .

On a bright note our list is very balanced and our bottom end is closer .
Plus we have a lot of players with gun potential.
Recruit the best midfielders possible next year and a elite free agent and well have a very exciting list .

Free Agents should not even be considered until at least the end of the 2016 season. Hopefully we may have had 10 wins for the season and also relocated back to the JO. No point in grabbing a FA this year when finals are still at least 4 years away.

I agree on the FA but I cant see us getting close to 10 wins next season. Hope I am wrong.

[Zed]

I reckon from about the very late 80s onwards our top 6 have usually been as good as (if not better than) the top 6 at just about every other club. But inevitably the list depth would fall away quite quickly , and arguably in our grand final years it was our lack of depth that let us down.

This is by far the 'weakest' top 6 weve had for a long time. However I dont know why, but I do feel like we are gradually building a list which will have a much more even spread of 'A & B grade' talent... rather than the more typical saints list of the last 20 years comprising a half a dozen elites, a couple of A graders, and then a mixture of B grade GOPs, and a good handful of try hard spuds.

[Con Gorozidis]

Well I started at top 10 but once I got to 7 they all kind of seemed similar and after 13 I was going into pure speculation mode. I thought well we have13 blokes we at least know where we stand with their performance.

Savage was pretty inconsistent last year, surely he doesn't fit that description?

Well I was doing my upmost at putting a positive spin on things berg and Savage got the benefit of the doubt for his back half of the season. He seemed to find something in Rd 13. But hes not a player ud bet your house on at this stage. His good is very good but seems to be a mental battle with him.
Nothing like the old bakers dozen though.

The main thrust of this post was simply that none of these blokes are injured (yet) but if some of them get injured we will be struggling.

[gringo]

I can see plenty of future upside in Webster who could be in our best 5 players if he gets a decent run with injury same with Ross. Both are in the window to take off. People have lost patience with Wright, Saunders and White but any of those could become very high level players. It's pretty bare for established guns but there is plenty of kids showing heaps. Bruce and Lonie look good on preseason form but Billings, Dunstan, Eli all showing something. Not as bad as it looks on paper. I truly expect we have at least 5 new names pushing up the order by the end of the year.

[bergsone]

I reckon from about the very late 80s onwards our top 6 have usually been as good as (if not better than) the top 6 at just about every other club. But inevitably the list depth would fall away quite quickly , and arguably in our grand final years it was our lack of depth that let us down.

This is by far the 'weakest' top 6 weve had for a long time. However I dont know why, but I do feel like we are gradually building a list which will have a much more even spread of 'A & B grade' talent... rather than the more typical saints list of the last 20 years comprising a half a dozen elites, a couple of A graders, and then a mixture of B grade GOPs, and a good handful of try hard spuds.

Agree with this

[spert]

Just remember it is a team game, not a bunch of individuals with various football skills. Premierships are won by good teams, and this season I want to see how Richo develops a team to go forward. To really go up a gear we need a big season from Steven and Armo more than anyone, as they have been in the system long enough and need to step up and show a lot more midfield leadership and consistency, and stamp themselves on games. There's good younger talent who show encouraging signs, and any input from the old blokes is a bonus.

[QuestionOfAccuracy]

13? Why not 11? 10? 7?

Anyway...my 'top 13'...

*ASSUMING ALL PLAYERS BAR THE ONES ON THE OFFICIAL INJURY LIST ARE 100% FIT (which isn't the case obviously)

1. Riewoldt
2. Steven
3. Fisher
4. Geary
5. Armitage
6. Newnes
7. Montagna
8. Weller
9. Dempster
10. Dunstan
11. Hickey
12. Delaney
13. Wright

[gringo]

13? Why not 11? 10? 7?

Anyway...my 'top 13'...

*ASSUMING ALL PLAYERS BAR THE ONES ON THE OFFICIAL INJURY LIST ARE 100% FIT (which isn't the case obviously)

1. Riewoldt
2. Steven
3. Fisher
4. Geary
5. Armitage
6. Newnes
7. Montagna
8. Weller
9. Dempster
10. Dunstan
11. Hickey
12. Delaney
13. Wright

I would probably change it around a bit.
1. Riewoldt
2. Steven
3. Fisher
4. Armitage
5. Montagna
6. Newnes
7. Geary
8. Gilbert
9. Dempster
10. Ray
11. Delaney
12. Hickey
13.Shenton
Billings and Dustan on their tails though.

[FQF]

Biggest positive of this thread is that Dunstan, after just one year, has made so much progress.

[QuestionOfAccuracy]

13? Why not 11? 10? 7?

Anyway...my 'top 13'...

*ASSUMING ALL PLAYERS BAR THE ONES ON THE OFFICIAL INJURY LIST ARE 100% FIT (which isn't the case obviously)

1. Riewoldt
2. Steven
3. Fisher
4. Geary
5. Armitage
6. Newnes
7. Montagna
8. Weller
9. Dempster
10. Dunstan
11. Hickey
12. Delaney
13. Wright

I would probably change it around a bit.
1. Riewoldt
2. Steven
3. Fisher
4. Armitage
5. Montagna
6. Newnes
7. Geary
8. Gilbert
9. Dempster
10. Ray
11. Delaney
12. Hickey
13.Shenton
Billings and Dustan on their tails though.

I didn't include Ray as he is injured. Ditto Gilbert.

Are you serious about Shenton? Shenton is the worst kick on our list (not including Holmes) by a long, long way - and I would even say Holmes has a better technique. My heart is in my mouth every time he has the ball.

Geary is also a horrible kick, but he does everything else to a good or great level.

[gringo]

13? Why not 11? 10? 7?

Anyway...my 'top 13'...

*ASSUMING ALL PLAYERS BAR THE ONES ON THE OFFICIAL INJURY LIST ARE 100% FIT (which isn't the case obviously)

1. Riewoldt
2. Steven
3. Fisher
4. Geary
5. Armitage
6. Newnes
7. Montagna
8. Weller
9. Dempster
10. Dunstan
11. Hickey
12. Delaney
13. Wright

I would probably change it around a bit.
1. Riewoldt
2. Steven
3. Fisher
4. Armitage
5. Montagna
6. Newnes
7. Geary
8. Gilbert
9. Dempster
10. Ray
11. Delaney
12. Hickey
13.Shenton
Billings and Dustan on their tails though.

I didn't include Ray as he is injured. Ditto Gilbert.

Are you serious about Shenton? Shenton is the worst kick on our list (not including Holmes) by a long, long way - and I would even say Holmes has a better technique. My heart is in my mouth every time he has the ball.

Geary is also a horrible kick, but he does everything else to a good or great level.

I think Shenton is a decent kick. He certainly isn't as bad as plenty of others. His first few games he made a few skill errors but he was also in our best 3 or 4 times from a rookie elevation. I think Savage had some shockers too but is generally good except when kicking out. Delaney is the worst kick by a fair way and prefers not to kick at all if possible. If we are writing off guys with skill issues we are going to struggle to do a top 5.