Dempster

[derby Street]

Gee Sean has been a great player for us but he has developed a bad case of the fumbles. Is this a temporary thing or is it an indication of decline?

[SainterK]

Geary injured, no like for like.

Del injured, no like for like.

Then chips does his hammy.

Tough for him.

[#gosaintas]

He is a 3rd backman. When they failed to select a cover for Geary last week and followed that up with a failure to select a cover for Delaney this week, they stitched him up.

[plugger66]

He is a 3rd backman. When they failed to select a cover for Geary last week and followed that up with a failure to select a cover for Delaney this week, they stitched him up.

Im surprised the Saints can score with these errors they keep making in selection or is it that they have more idea than us? Im going they have more idea. Considering the amount of inside 50's the WCE had I would suggest that the backs weren't the problem .

[Kernal75]

Has butchered the footy a lot recently. Great servant, ripper of a bloke but we must look to elsewhere in the medium term of we are going to move forward.

[plugger66]

Has butchered the footy a lot recently. Great servant, ripper of a bloke but we must look to elsewhere in the medium term of we are going to move forward.

Is there really any hurry in getting rid of the older guys. it will happen soon anyway. He is still our best option down back in that type of role.

[Kernal75]

Has butchered the footy a lot recently. Great servant, ripper of a bloke but we must look to elsewhere in the medium term of we are going to move forward.

Is there really any hurry in getting rid of the older guys. it will happen soon anyway. He is still our best option down back in that type of role.

No hurry but would really like if there was someone who was putting him under pressure for his spot. Right now he's in the best 22 but for our development we need someone else.

[Junction Oval]

He is playing in a backline that is under constant siege. I don't envy his task at times.

Happy to have him there. It will take a very good player to replace him.

[8856brother]

One of the most courageous players I've seen at our club, but why all the excuses. His fumbling and decision making over the past 2 weeks have been horrible. I don't care who hasn't been playing. Why does that matter? Hope he can sort himself out because every time he goes near it atm, the opposition look like scoring. He's a seasoned pro and shouldn't be making the howlers he is currently.
Shenton and Robbo didn't fumble yesterday. In fact, they were 2 of our best.

[#gosaintas]

He is a 3rd backman. When they failed to select a cover for Geary last week and followed that up with a failure to select a cover for Delaney this week, they stitched him up.

Im surprised the Saints can score with these errors they keep making in selection or is it that they have more idea than us? Im going they have more idea. Considering the amount of inside 50's the WCE had I would suggest that the backs weren't the problem .

He is not suited to playing on the smalls and he is not suited to playing on talls. Whether you and the match committee understand that or not doesn't change the fact that I am right and the team selected was wrong.

You will back the selectors and then give yourself a pat on the back for being "right" with the logic that the selectors know more about footy so whoever disagrees with them is wrong.

I agree that no backline was going to stop that onslaught. This thread is about Dempster being either hopeless or played out of position. You of course have not commented on the topic at hand.

[saintsRrising]

I think a big part od the Saint's poor first quarter was that the whole team was focussed in stopping the two much taller Weagle forwards due to knowing that we lack key defenders, and that this then made a bad situation worse.

That allowed both the Weagle small forwards and Weagles mids to play under a lot less pressure than they should have and caused a real mismatch.

Second quarter we restored the balance of worrying about and pressuring the whole Weagle teams, and not just their key forwards.

However Dempster having to play on a genuine tall forward was always going to end badly. After Fisher went down, it became even worse.

The position that Dempster plays well is as that of the floating intercept defender. That is his niche, and the role he can play well. He has never excelled in any other role...ie on small defenders, on KPF, HFF etc.

Playing him out of position, may well be what is best for the team on any ggiven day, but it is never likely to end well.

IMO we should have played another tall defender, and had Dempster in his customer role. Lee or Goddard may still have got towelled up, but at least it would have been a good learning exercise for them. Dempster will have learnt nothing, and the club will have learnt nothing as both already know that he is nota key defender.

[RW&B]

Reminds me a bit of the last two seasons of Jason Blake's career. A bit fumbley and perhaps lacking in confidence. I'm prepared to back him in though because, like Jason, Dempster cracks in every week despite occasionally being played out of position. Has credits in the bank.

[plugger66]

He is a 3rd backman. When they failed to select a cover for Geary last week and followed that up with a failure to select a cover for Delaney this week, they stitched him up.

Im surprised the Saints can score with these errors they keep making in selection or is it that they have more idea than us? Im going they have more idea. Considering the amount of inside 50's the WCE had I would suggest that the backs weren't the problem .

He is not suited to playing on the smalls and he is not suited to playing on talls. Whether you and the match committee understand that or not doesn't change the fact that I am right and the team selected was wrong.

You will back the selectors and then give yourself a pat on the back for being "right" with the logic that the selectors know more about footy so whoever disagrees with them is wrong.

I agree that no backline was going to stop that onslaught. This thread is about Dempster being either hopeless or played out of position. You of course have not commented on the topic at hand.

I actually did. Twice. Your first post was about selection. Really quite weird.

[Bluthy]

Dempster's pace and reactions are definitely slowing down a bit. His marking is still a real advantage for us. We need to keep working on ways to get more attack from our backline so its going to be a difficult decision as to when Dempster makes way for someone else. I think he really missed having Delaney out there killing the ball when it came in high.

[Bernard Shakey]

West Coast midfield destroyed us, which made it very difficult down back.

Can't understand the wraps for our mids!

[Country Kid]

West Coast midfield destroyed us, which made it very difficult down back.

Can't understand the wraps for our mids!

Correct. We look good when we have the ball but our midfield and forwards at times do not know or want to defend. This places enormous pressure on our short and at times inexperienced backline. Yes, Dempster fumbled a few of times but only had one goal kicked on him while still trying to cover for his teammates something our inexperienced backmen have yet to learn. Yesterday his role was to play on the resting ruckmen - Naitanui & Sinclair. They took a total of two marks for the game between them. I have to admit ours weren't much better with Longer & Hickey taking one between them. When Chips went down he had to play on Kennedy and in the last quarter at one stage was even on Le Cras (covering for one of his teammates) - all this without a rest on the bench.
Yes he does not have the pace he once had but lets not forget that he has played on the top two in the Coleman the last two weeks. His ideal role is playing on the 3rd tall while intercepting & being 3rd man up but at the moment he is having to fill holes due to injuries. Again yesterday we lost two backmen.

[Griggsy]

Was best on ground imo a few weeks back, against the Dons I think it was. Just a slump with defense under so much pressure.

[spert]

West Coast midfield destroyed us, which made it very difficult down back.

Can't understand the wraps for our mids!

Very true- the WCE mids were clearing the ball with hardly any pressure, and that really puts the backline under the pump. Can't ignore that two defenders went off injured earlier in the game, but I do think Dempster has lost a bit of confidence and is slow to recover in contests while his opponent is up and gone on the attack