Koby Stevens

[skeptic]

I don't really know how you can call it a top up...
The guy potentially has 7 years ahead of him if he's any good

[Goose is king]

[quote="skeptic"]I don't really know how you can call it a top up...
The guy potentially has 7 years ahead of him if he's any good[/quote]

A 25 year old who has played 74 games. Certainly fits in to the top up category for me.

[fugazi]

At least we're not following Collingwoods desperate strategy with Wells (32) and Mayne (27), so that Buckley can cling on to his job by making finals next year

[stevie]

lol I still have seen no footgae or pictures of GF. Have no idea who won the NS. I've done well.

Note - i know someone will post info and pics on this thread to get me woohoo!!

[terry smith rules]

This guy is so far from a top it is not funny

Until he got injured this year he was a key player for the Dogs

First 6 games of this year his supercoach scores were

79 89 72 113 123 91

Doesn't tell you everything, but over 100 points 2 weeks in a row is very good football

His size, fantastic. He is bigger than Tim Membrey!!

Midfields are about big bodies, yes sure you can get away with a couple of 175cm players but the future is Acres and the like.. 184+ and over 85kgs

Throw in Steele at 187 and suddenly our midfield will look enormous

fqf

[dragit]

Charlie Gardiner
Ryan Gamble
Trent Dennis-Lane
Koby Stevens

All unlucky not to be part of premierships

[saintsRrising]

Charlie Gardiner
Ryan Gamble
Trent Dennis-Lane
Koby Stevens

All unlucky not to be part of premierships

Makes more sense to compare Koby Stevens to the cast offs that our CURRENT recruiting team have evaluated and picked up:

Roberton
Weller
Savage (steak knives)
Bruce
Delaney (traded for pick 77 which means for nothing)

Overall you would have to say that they are going ok.

[dragit]

What year was our current recruiting team assembled?

[freely]

Give it a rest, Bluthy.

Are your ideas Freely given as they are freely taken? A rest? Yes, a rest indeed. Let us all rest on our laurels and pat ourselves on the back in our own self-deluded dreams of glory and ignore cold brutal viscous reality. Yes this is what you crave. A simple world, a world without niggly doubts creeping in. A world where there is no dissension. A boring world. A world of death. I dream not of death but of glorious life! Live on pebbles in the shoes of the self-righteous "team players" who are fearful to look into the dark parts of our team!!! Now we have Steele, we should not be Iron Maiden

ps I was always angry we only had one Steven. Now we will be even Steven(s)

No, what I crave is a world where you stick to the topic of the thread instead of taking every post as another opportunity to bag Richo's coaching style.

[saintsRrising]

What year was our current recruiting team assembled?

It is probably a bit like "grandfather's axe" with various people coming and going but I reckon the start of our "New Age Recuiting " was given birth here in 2011:

Bains was part of a strategic review, alongside Chris Pelchen, which identified a need to rebuild the list along the lines of the successful Port Adelaide and Hawthorn blueprints. As Bains notes, “unless something dramatic happened, we were going to go into the wilderness for a period of time… Whilst the draft and other measures over time can help square things up, we needed to take a more proactive approach to transforming the list.”

Bains joined the Saints in January 2011 as the General Manager Player List and Legal Affairs.- _ initially I think this was more on the contract side, but as he hada flair for playing talent he becam more and more involved in this until his recent promotion. But h is stil heavilly involved despite his new duties.
Pelchen joined as Head of Football in August 2011
Tony Elsaugh, a past assistant coach then returned to St Kilda as the recruiting manager in 2011. I think in about Sept?
Lyon left at the end of 2011, but was not actually part of the recruiting team though naturally would have had some input. In the GT era the Recruiters were under GT but Butters restructured that.

I am not sure when all the others joined, but Bevo used to be the main man. Our recruiting improved when he was not the main guy calling the shots anymore.
There was much sniggering at Hughes joining us, but on would have to say that talent from other AFL teams which he is reponsible for reviewing has gone well for us.


OPERATIONS & LIST MANAGEMENT
Ameet Bains Chief Operating Officer & General Counsel
Chris Liberatore Recruiting Advisor
ChrisToce Recruiting Advisor
John Beveridge Recruiting Advisor
Jon Couston Project Director
Kirsty Kelman Executive Assistant to Chief Operating Officer & General Counsel
Mark Smart Recruiting Advisor
Tony Elshaug Recruiting & List Manager
Wayne Hughes Pro Scout

[Sainternist]

Looks like a very serviceable player to me. Some Bulldog supporter mates reckon he was really popular amongst the young players and rated him even more than the likes of Farren Ray.

[dragit]

What year was our current recruiting team assembled?

It is probably a bit like "grandfather's axe"

Cheers sRs…

I guess the point I was making more was that a player just outside the best 22 of a premiership side isn't necessarily a very good player… that said Stevens looks to be a better bet than the others I mentioned.

I will support him once he pulls on a saints jumper regardless.

[st.byron]

Don't think it's fair to call him a top-up. Still got plenty of footy left. Same draft as Martin, Fyfe, Carlisle and Gunston. Taken before Carlisle and Gunston.

[saintsRrising]

What year was our current recruiting team assembled?

It is probably a bit like "grandfather's axe"

Cheers sRs…

I guess the point I was making more was that a player just outside the best 22 of a premiership side isn't necessarily a very good player… that said Stevens looks to be a better bet than the others I mentioned.

While I understand your point the Doggies main strength was their midfield, but an area we are weak in.

I don't se him an amazing pick up, but he suits our needs well. I think he will be very cheap pickwise and so even if we only get 2 or 3 years out of him he will serve a purpose. If things go well he has the potential to be better than that though.

With 2 second rounder this year and two first rounders next year that is a bit of quality youth coming in, and so we need some readymades for a bit. Picky up Koby will for example allow all 4 picks to be used on youth.

I will support him once he pulls on a saints jumper regardless.

As will we all

[desertsaint]

can't see the harm provided it's pick 50 or higher. Very handy, tough, experienced mid - something we need. will at the very worst add depth, at the best he'll be in our 22 next year.

[Johnny Favier]

The guy is a well handy pick up IMO.

Not a world beater, but will go a long way to bolstering our team balance and giving us a more solid core to build on.
He was well liked by the younger players at the Doggies, according to a mate of mine who's a mad keen Doggies supporter.

[Bluthy]

Give it a rest, Bluthy.

Are your ideas Freely given as they are freely taken? A rest? Yes, a rest indeed. Let us all rest on our laurels and pat ourselves on the back in our own self-deluded dreams of glory and ignore cold brutal viscous reality. Yes this is what you crave. A simple world, a world without niggly doubts creeping in. A world where there is no dissension. A boring world. A world of death. I dream not of death but of glorious life! Live on pebbles in the shoes of the self-righteous "team players" who are fearful to look into the dark parts of our team!!! Now we have Steele, we should not be Iron Maiden

ps I was always angry we only had one Steven. Now we will be even Steven(s)

No, what I crave is a world where you stick to the topic of the thread instead of taking every post as another opportunity to bag Richo's coaching style.

Exaggerate much? Getting Stevens reflects what I've been saying is the main brand of footy Richo is building - pressure and tackling (we need the bigger bodies to do more tackling though). I've asked doggies supporters and they say the same thing - Stevens is tough as nails - even a mongrel, has a bit of dash but his kicking and decision making can be erratic. So its very pertinent on a topic about a player we are looking at recruiting as it gives further insight into the type of team we are building. Sorry for wanting to dig a bit deeper than "Yay Stevens. Super!" And thats not "bagging Richo" - it may even win a flag - but just attempting to understand his approach to footy. But I have concerns we aren't building the highly skillful side with the ability to keep the ball a lot that I think a lot of flag winners have. Time will tell.

[repta]

"Longer taps out of the ruck to Stevens, handball to Eli who boots it forward to Lonnie in the pocket"
Sounds great for Sandy

Waste of a list spot. Well only pay off if we have the dogs injury curse.

[Bluthy]

"Longer taps out of the ruck to Stevens, handball to Eli who boots it forward to Lonnie in the pocket"
Sounds great for Sandy

Waste of a list spot. Well only pay off if we have the dogs injury curse.

I'll think he'll play. I think Richo wants the bigger bodies, more inside grunt out there for our finals tilt this year. He is very much a recruit for the now seeing as we have flicked the switch and are genuinely going for it. To make finals we need to lift our tackling numbers which were very low despite our high pressure points. Basically we have a good system and buyin for getting at the oppo but didn't have the size of players to stick the tackles. Add the naturally bigger bodies of some of our youngsters after another year and we should be able to 1) be more effective inside and 2) be better at grinding to teams to a halt with tackling and pressure particulary when the momentum is against us.

[stkfc1]

Give it a rest, Bluthy.

Are your ideas Freely given as they are freely taken? A rest? Yes, a rest indeed. Let us all rest on our laurels and pat ourselves on the back in our own self-deluded dreams of glory and ignore cold brutal viscous reality. Yes this is what you crave. A simple world, a world without niggly doubts creeping in. A world where there is no dissension. A boring world. A world of death. I dream not of death but of glorious life! Live on pebbles in the shoes of the self-righteous "team players" who are fearful to look into the dark parts of our team!!! Now we have Steele, we should not be Iron Maiden

ps I was always angry we only had one Steven. Now we will be even Steven(s)

No, what I crave is a world where you stick to the topic of the thread instead of taking every post as another opportunity to bag Richo's coaching style.

Exaggerate much? Getting Stevens reflects what I've been saying is the main brand of footy Richo is building - pressure and tackling (we need the bigger bodies to do more tackling though). I've asked doggies supporters and they say the same thing - Stevens is tough as nails - even a mongrel, has a bit of dash but his kicking and decision making can be erratic. So its very pertinent on a topic about a player we are looking at recruiting as it gives further insight into the type of team we are building. Sorry for wanting to dig a bit deeper than "Yay Stevens. Super!" And thats not "bagging Richo" - it may even win a flag - but just attempting to understand his approach to footy. But I have concerns we aren't building the highly skillful side with the ability to keep the ball a lot that I think a lot of flag winners have. Time will tell.

I share your concerns. While the physical side we are trying to bring is definitely a requirement of finals football at the end of the day, without good skills, any gameplan falls apart. We were shown up a few times this year that if the ball goes outside our 'pressure zone'we are vulnerable on the outside. We aren't a great spreading side like the Doggies or Hawks which is becoming one of the most important aspects of the modern game. Hopefully Billings, Gresh, Sinclair, Freeman etc can take their game to the next level and give us the outside use we desperately need. Also take some pressure of Steven. I have faith this will happen. Big bodies in the mix definitely help. I think we'll see alot of Acres and Steele basically rotate between midfield and forward so we always have one big body in the middle. Makes sense.

[Johnny Favier]

Give it a rest, Bluthy.

Are your ideas Freely given as they are freely taken? A rest? Yes, a rest indeed. Let us all rest on our laurels and pat ourselves on the back in our own self-deluded dreams of glory and ignore cold brutal viscous reality. Yes this is what you crave. A simple world, a world without niggly doubts creeping in. A world where there is no dissension. A boring world. A world of death. I dream not of death but of glorious life! Live on pebbles in the shoes of the self-righteous "team players" who are fearful to look into the dark parts of our team!!! Now we have Steele, we should not be Iron Maiden

ps I was always angry we only had one Steven. Now we will be even Steven(s)

No, what I crave is a world where you stick to the topic of the thread instead of taking every post as another opportunity to bag Richo's coaching style.

Exaggerate much? Getting Stevens reflects what I've been saying is the main brand of footy Richo is building - pressure and tackling (we need the bigger bodies to do more tackling though). I've asked doggies supporters and they say the same thing - Stevens is tough as nails - even a mongrel, has a bit of dash but his kicking and decision making can be erratic. So its very pertinent on a topic about a player we are looking at recruiting as it gives further insight into the type of team we are building. Sorry for wanting to dig a bit deeper than "Yay Stevens. Super!" And thats not "bagging Richo" - it may even win a flag - but just attempting to understand his approach to footy. But I have concerns we aren't building the highly skillful side with the ability to keep the ball a lot that I think a lot of flag winners have. Time will tell.

I share your concerns. While the physical side we are trying to bring is definitely a requirement of finals football at the end of the day, without good skills, any gameplan falls apart. We were shown up a few times this year that if the ball goes outside our 'pressure zone'we are vulnerable on the outside. We aren't a great spreading side like the Doggies or Hawks which is becoming one of the most important aspects of the modern game. Hopefully Billings, Gresh, Sinclair, Freeman etc can take their game to the next level and give us the outside use we desperately need. Also take some pressure of Steven. I have faith this will happen. Big bodies in the mix definitely help. I think we'll see alot of Acres and Steele basically rotate between midfield and forward so we always have one big body in the middle. Makes sense.

All good points and hopefully will also help to stop those interstate floggings we received this year, which ended up costing us a finals spot.

[ctqs]

I haven't seen a lot of him, but my memories of his games were that he was a ball butcher. Can someone please tell me otherwise?

Richo won't mind. 80% of our team are average with the footy. A lot of our good ball users end up playing seconds. Pressure and this year ramping up the tackling are the keys for Richo. He hates that pesky "keeping control of the footy" thing. That means you can't get your pressure points up.

We were ranked number one for disposal efficiency this season on 75.3 per cent. Next was Hawthorn on 75 per cent.

Edit: Apologies. I just discovered someone else had already posted this stat.

[Wrote for Luck]

Richo's new Travis Boak.

[Bluthy]

I haven't seen a lot of him, but my memories of his games were that he was a ball butcher. Can someone please tell me otherwise?

Richo won't mind. 80% of our team are average with the footy. A lot of our good ball users end up playing seconds. Pressure and this year ramping up the tackling are the keys for Richo. He hates that pesky "keeping control of the footy" thing. That means you can't get your pressure points up.

We were ranked number one for disposal efficiency this season on 75.3 per cent. Next was Hawthorn on 75 per cent.

Edit: Apologies. I just discovered someone else had already posted this stat.

So what does that stat represent? It just says that a handball or kick is completed. It says nothing about penetration - the golden word in modern footy with its presses and zones and walls and clusters and webs.

You chip it 20m sideways to an open guy thats a completed disposal. But the oppo won't give a damn. In fact they love it. They just shuffle across a bit and gives them more time to set up exactly how they want and have a breather. Someone like Geary may have increased his disposal efficiency last year because we have more guys with bigger tanks and experience making space and getting open. Doesn't say anything at all about Geary's ability to slice open the oppo - in fact he doesn't even try now - he tends to the take the safe kick.

Hawks pioneered that mark, swing past the mark straight away and kick to the first guy presenting. They are backing themselves constantly marching up the field and keeping the oppo back peddling and not having the time to get set up. Their 75% is a lot more powerful and penetrating than our 75%. Hence all the flags. Why do you think we play Joey on the backline? Because he's one of the very few that can do that penetrating kick from the back that breaks the lines and opens play up. Its gold. Fisher was another but he may not be there. Carlisle is not bad from what I've seen esp for a huge unit. Brown doesn't helps in that area though.

[saint3d]

Clearly they're recruiting players to provide protection for Jack Steven.