VFL Rd 7 Sandringham Vs Pies -( your footy fix for bye rd)

[Con Gorozidis]

NOK > Dunstan.

Great news that White and Long had good games.

[WellardSaint]

Pies won
Collingwood 14.8 - 92
Sandringham 11.12 - 78

Goals: Bruce 4, Minchington 2, Answerth
Disposals: O'Kearney 31, Dunstan 30 & Freeman 25

From the Zebs' twitter feed

[stonecold]

How did Hickey go?

Didn't, give up on Tom, Billy's the Man!!!!!

[Bluthy]

Brucey back next week mofo's surely. Good we need him hitting the packs with our bomb & lock approach. Good to see Dunny pick up a lazy 30. He's the sort that will keep applying himself. NOK keeps impressing - we should give him a go in the big time at some point surely. I know he's another small dude but shows creativity and neat disposal.

[carn_sainter]

I watched this one, with the caveat that it's harder to watch than an AFL game and know who's who. My poorly collected observations are:

Freeman - (copy and paste from the freeman thread) - Freeman was very good today. Not clearly above vfl quality but he found the pill a lot. I also noticed that he pops his kicks up a bit, as if he doesn't point his toe. He is very good at lowering his eyes and spotting up with R Harvey-like 20m passes. Developing nicely and could have a very good 2018 if he has no setbacks between now and then.

My other observation is he is a very two-handed player. Takes it with two hands, carries with two hands. May need to improve his ability to get his hands up and free under tackle pressure. We need to be realistic - he is not a clon of Patrick Dangerfield, nor a re-incarnation of Nick Dal Santo but at this rate he will be a handy player in 2018 and possibly very good in 2020. Could fill out to a Newnes-like player with perhaps more inside grunt. With time.

Dunstan - didn't look clearly above VFL level. Fine, not damaging. In the last, we lost the game from the middle, both midfield and centre clearance. He has to put his hand up for that. Also, he is a lazy kick. Rarely kicks through the ball, kicks too often off one step, doesn't pay attention when kicking.

O'Kearney - looked good! One of the best.

Brandon White - I may be blending the performances of a few players all under the name of Brandon White (I don't know who's who too well, the jumper numbers are foreign, the view isn't great) but he looked very good out there today.

Minchington - looked AFL quality out there.

Long - looked AFL quality out there. Not super busy but damaging.

Bruce - didn't work as hard as he does in the 1s. Finished pretty well but by no means dominant or anything. Don't think he played the full game. Nevertheless, I think he should be in the 1s.

Lonie - worked hard. Didn't dominate as match reports often have him doing.

Hickey - played pretty well but like Dunstan, he has to put his hand up as he was rucking the last quarter in a losing effort. I still think he is better than Longer without question.

Goddard - didn't see much but enough to notice he has neat foot skills and was comfortable on both sides. Good hands.

Rice - quiet. Vocal when he was down the end I was at.

Nathan Wright - Quiet. Didn't play like a maniac as he does in the 1s.

Holmes - fine. Broke even.

Joyce - Good size, moves well, a bit slow on the decision making and disposal.

Guys whom I thought played the best from a Saints perspective were Freeman, O'Kearney, Minchington, Long, Bruce.

[Rocket]

Best players??

[Dave McNamara]

How did Hickey go?

Didn't, give up on Tom, Billy's the Man!!!!!

Hey stoney, I'm interested in why you think this. I won't bother detailing my oft-repeated assessment of Billy. I'll say that it's along the lines of, his pointing-out the scoreboard for bozo Zac Clarke's benefit remains the one great play that I've seen from Billy. So what do you rate about his game? And on the assumption that you'll point to his ruck work, I'd point to the fact that even if he gets the tap, he has so far shown no clue whatsoever about directing said tap... anywhere... let alone to our advantage.

I guess that I'm hoping your opinion re Billy isn't based purely 'relative to our other ruck options', as that'd be scary for us.





PS: Re your mate Bluthy. My suggestion is that you both play nice with each other. Then, he might share some of his poetry... and you'd start to like him much better. Bluthy's poetry is worth the effort. Besides, the alternative could end up being that I share some of my poetry... and nobody deserves that.

[White Winmar]

Very encouraging, is the gradual improvement in the freezer. When you think about last year and the setbacks he suffered, it is a testament that he is performing reasonably well and stringing together games. His form late last year had many wondering if he'd ever return to his best. The best part is he's building slowly but surely. If we get him right, we'll have one of the missing pieces of the puzzle. Kudos to the fitness team and the lad himself.

[Fidelis]

My notes on today:

Long: a few moments of magic made me hopeful. Didn't get a great deal of it but was one of the few to crack things open with vision or skill. The pass inside for Bruce's fourth goal was, dare I say it, reminiscent of Winmar hitting up Plugger.

Bruce: touch returning. Didn't get to a lot of contested marks but took a classic one on one contest for his first. Presented well and was hit up on the lead half a dozen times to mark strongly. Kicked quite well but could have had half a dozen in the first half if he'd kicked truly and hadn't fumbled a handball in close. Hardly got a touch in the third and sat on the pine for the duration of the last. Will go to Adelaide.

Lonie: noticed that he was in the votes but he wouldn't have got mine. Struggled to get near it early on and I'd guess was down on possessions. Does work well in heavy traffic and disposal is elite.

Battle: moments of promise. Flashed in and out without getting a lot of possessions. One brilliant passage where he broke down the wing and delivered precisely to a leading target. A bone crunching tackle in the centre drew cheers and brought a smile to Richo's face. Had the opportunity to put reiforce our lead in the last but missed a set shot from 40m.

Wright: suspect he didn't do enough for a recall. Junkyard dog - scrapped hard without great polish or poise. Kicked a handy goal and might have snapped another one.

Marshall: had a horror day. Very limited touches. Missed a set shot in the last.

Connellan: surprisingly at home. Again not a high possession game but surprised with the quality of his disposal and game sense. Hit a tight target while under pressure on the wing, nice body work outpointed opponent in one on one and put on the afterburners to demonstrate his acclaimed speed at one point when there was no option but to take his opponent on.

Minchington: smooth mover. Best distributor on the ground today. Some of his entries into the 50 were sublime. Kicked a couple and was involved in multiple assists.

O'Kearney: clean hands and neat disposal. An accumulator who doesn't make many mistakes and brings others into it without being spectacular himself. Kicked a handy goal early in the last.

Rice: genuine footballer. Does a not right with the ball; clean hands, good vision, excellent skills. But had his hands full today in the back pocket - his regular opponent kicked 6.

White: classy. The more we can get the ball to him with that classy left foot, the better. Reminds me of Hodge when he kicks.

Joyce: competitive. Great size and build. Competed well but still getting a feel for the game. Worth persisting with.

Goddard: on the way back. Impressed with clean touches, marked well and picked the right targets. One classic play saw him mark well on the wing only to have a shepherding free paid against a teammate. Ran to half back to take a beautiful mark from the resultant free only to have that one taken off him too. Almost marked that kick in the back pocket.

Hickey: class above. Started on fire winning the ruck, taking marks, tackling and picking up possessions around the ground. Influence declined as the game went on, understandably in his first week back. Will be right.

Dunstan: tradesmanlike. Gave expected effort and expected output. Does the tough work and gets plenty of it. Never magical or particularly damaging. Missed an easy, important set shot in the last.

Freeman: building solidly. Covers a lot of ground, running forward and back. Has developed the defensive side of his game and manned up, filled space, tackled well. Only saw him try to burn someone off once and didn't think his 'metres gained' were as high as I expected. Certainly knows where to run to get the ball. Many of his disposals were ineffective today. Missed an important set shot in the last (recurring theme).

[shrodes]

Thanks for the match report folks, much appreciated

[saintbrat]

Goddard and battle both headed to the rooms during the game+

Hugh mishit a kick after going back on so you assume a jab,

Curren and leGrice where willing the team on from the sidelines- and 2 more steps would have been out there.

magic goal from Jason Holmes- tight on the boundary and kicked around the corner.

[stonecold]

Hey Davie M, in answer to your question, Billy has a huge amount of upside to come, Tom has reached he's peak and the modern rules have not helped him.

Also, Bill is a general that is as hard as a cats head and the mids really love his presence!!!!!

Hope this answers your question!!!!!

In regards to your PS, im happy to wear attacks that I bring on myself, but totally UN-provoked ones are a different story all together, particularly those by Keyboard Cowboys with not ticker!####

[To the top]

The reports on Hickey, Bruce, Freeman, Dunstan and White are encouraging.

Plus that Goddard got thru another match. We have Brown so time can be taken.

That Rice had 6 kicked on him is not so encouraging - but he is a development player as are a couple of others mentioned.

In regards Hickey v Longer, to me there is absolutely no question.

You simply can not kick to Longer or handball to Longer - and he can not win a ball in a contest.

Plus he is slow.

Summary?

Along with a couple of others, a liability in today's football because he is identified as a link to be exposed by opposition ruckmen imposing themselves on the game of football and being targets to maximise on that exposure in the link.

How many times have opposition ruckmen been BOG v Longer?

And it continues!!!

White will hopefully deliver what our mid sized defensive set up requires - good defending and incisive ball usage to the advantage of our forwards.

Dunstan will continue to work his way back. His competition currently is Stevens and competition is good.

Bruce is a requirement.

And Freeman keeps building - which will put a smile on the face of Number 3.

[kosifantutti]

Hey Davie M, in answer to your question, Billy has a huge amount of upside to come, Tom has reached he's peak and the modern rules have not helped him.

Also, Bill is a general that is as hard as a cats head and the mids really love his presence!!!!!

Hope this answers your question!!!!!

In regards to your PS, im happy to wear attacks that I bring on myself, but totally UN-provoked ones are a different story all together, particularly those by Keyboard Cowboys with not ticker!####

Just because a bloke can't play, it doesn't mean he's got a huge upside.

[stonecold]

Hey Davie M, in answer to your question, Billy has a huge amount of upside to come, Tom has reached he's peak and the modern rules have not helped him.

Also, Bill is a general that is as hard as a cats head and the mids really love his presence!!!!!

Hope this answers your question!!!!!

In regards to your PS, im happy to wear attacks that I bring on myself, but totally UN-provoked ones are a different story all together, particularly those by Keyboard Cowboys with not ticker!####

Just because a bloke can't play, it doesn't mean he's got a huge upside.

Who says he carnt play????? You?????

Posters say he carnt get posies, did!!!!!

Hit Outs????? Did!!!!!

Coaches Votes????? Did!!!!!

Your Opinion????? Doesn't Count!!!!!

[kosifantutti]

I actually said he can't play. And I don't really care what flowers he picks.

[stonecold]

I actually said he can't play. And I don't really care what flowers he picks.

Whatever, lucky your not coach then, maybe stick to the art shows chief!!!!!


Physicality not your go by the look of things?????

Billy, #1 for Longer Time, suck it up Princess!!!!!

[To the top]

Both Hickey and Longer were obtained from Northern Clubs.

Hickey is 2 (Two) years older than Longer and has now played 65 games, kicking 20 goals.

Longer has played 49 games, kicking 2 goals.

Hickey is 201cm and 98kg

Longer is 202cm and 100kg

Allowing for those statistics, Longer is not in the same league as Hickey.

Hickey can play football.

Longer is a knock ruckman.

The days of knock ruckmen ended when "Big Bill" Wedding retired.

We saw v Sydney, when kicking to Longer in the centre of the ground, the rookie Sydney ruckman stood on Longer's shoulders to mark.

And was near BOG as Sydney used him around the expanses of Docklands, exploiting Longer's lack of mobility and impact.

Remember?

Then v WB, the Coach lamented that they had 3 ruck options - and Longer was absolutely creamed again.

Is that "upside"?

The problem with being "as hard as a cat's head" is that this is football - in 2017.

You need to be able to actually play football.

[stonecold]

Your Opinion, not shared by me!!!!!

Or the Coach, St.Kilda FC or those that matter, but, hey your entitled to your opinion, just not worth a pinch of rockin horse shot at present, but, hey, after all im just going with the popular opinion. Those that really count!!!!!

But, bang your head against the wall and go against the experts, knock yourself out champ!!!!!

[saintbob]

Thanks for ruining a decent read, it was good to read how our players performed today until it was hijacked by a few posters having a pissing contest.

How about PMing each other, so you don't ruin it for everyone else.

[stonecold]

Thanks for ruining a decent read, it was good to read how our players performed today until it was hijacked by a few posters having a pissing contest.

How about PMing each other, so you don't ruin it for everyone else.

Happily invited PM's, but no response, sorry Bob, but don't read it then!!!!

[Sainternist]

Time to give it a rest, Stonecold. Just chill out with the posts. I recommend you now take a quality over quantity approach.

[stonecold]

Time to give it a rest, Stonecold. Just chill out with the posts. I recommend you now take a quality over quantity approach.

Fair enough nisty, can handle being attacked, but don't like the UN-provoked attacks, such as Bluthy's!!!!!!

Thanks for the advice though

[dsav]

Photo album up.
http://www.davesavell.com/p469119825
or
https://www.facebook.com/davesavellphotography

Dave.

[Sainternist]

Time to give it a rest, Stonecold. Just chill out with the posts. I recommend you now take a quality over quantity approach.

Fair enough nisty, can handle being attacked, but don't like the UN-provoked attacks, such as Bluthy's!!!!!!

Thanks for the advice though

Glad you've taken my advice on board. You don't want to end up with a reputation like ol' Plugger66 or CityWest.