Max King in our thinking

[Cairnsman]

Getting the best midfielder is strategy no. 1.

Take it to the bank.

So who's the best midfielder?

Walsh / Smith / Caldwell?

I reckon the scope could be/has to be wider than those three but flip a coin, I reckon it's what the recruiting department will do on the night (tongue firmly planted in cheek).

[bigred]

Yeah we need that mid.

Would love King too. Make it so.

[tedtheodorelogan2018]

Max King. Make it so Governor.

[Aussie Jonestown]

Max King @ 4 for the win if available PLEASE

[Joffa Burns]

Hedging your bets on #4 Teddysainter?
Oh yes things change this time of year, get used to it

Massive chance that the swap will happen.

King is apparantly the front runner.

Rozee

Tomorrow's Heroes: Draft's most dedicated looms as top-10 pick - http://m.afl.com.au/news/2018-11-14/tom ... iley-smith

Would prefer Smith over anyone

Pretty sure Max King will be a Saint in 2019. Well...

Good player and kid. Country boy too so honest and no BS. We could do much worse, but I think we would take King, Smith, Rankine or Luco before him...with pick 4.

[Jimmy O'Dea]

Max King will take minimum 2 and most likley 3 pre-seasons to be able to play key position at AFL level. Gonna have to be very patient.

[DJ Higgins]

Max King will take minimum 2 and most likley 3 pre-seasons to be able to play key position at AFL level. Gonna have to be very patient.

Exactly. We need a key full forward so best plant the seed now. midfielders take less time to get ready with some AFL ready on day 1. So get King now and wait for 2020.

[magnifisaint]

That's where McCartin comes in. Sheahan compares him to Tom Lynch ex Suns. If that's the case why wouldn't you wait.

[tedtheodorelogan2018]

If he turns it to be a Tom Lynch (as recruiters are suggesting) then we should take him, but Smith or Rozee would be nice too.

[sunsaint]

all this year's pick points to is a massive miss our big war chest and AA star pulling power failure
T Lynch and B Smith running around in the red white and black in 2019 and suddenly the saints are different side

[samoht]

As long as we are realistic about where we're likely to finish over the next couple of years if we again draft a big forward ... as we know big forwards take time (especially the skinny/lanky ones), and we really, really do need a genuine midfielder with elite skills. We even needed one way back in 2014 when we drafted McCartin.

All I know is, we can't keep shunning the elite-skilled midfielders - while other teams keep building on their already healthy A grade midfields.
Not only are these other teams drafting the elite midfielders, they are also poaching them.
These teams are stealing the march on us, year by year.

Someone like Bailey Smith would probably impact straight away (if he's available at pick 4)..., and with some luck with injuries, finals might not be out of the question for us.

We are not that far away, believe it or not -- but we do need to start recruiting according to our most pressing needs - to start getting the balance right.

Bailey Smith would be a step in the right direction - he ticks all the boxes - genuine midfielder, speed and acceleration, elite skill on both sides, reasonable build, etc.. - we can't keep going down the slippery slope by missing out each year on what our team needs.

[Joffa Burns]

As long as we are realistic about where we're likely to finish over the next couple of years if we again draft a big forward ... as we know big forwards take time (especially the skinny/lanky ones), and we really, really do need a genuine midfielder with elite skills. We even needed one way back in 2014 when we drafted McCartin.

All I know is, we can't keep shunning the elite-skilled midfielders - while other teams keep building on their already healthy A grade midfields.
Not only are these other teams drafting the elite midfielders, they are also poaching them.
These teams are stealing the march on us, year by year.

Someone like Bailey Smith would probably impact straight away (if he's available at pick 4)..., and with some luck with injuries, finals might not be out of the question for us.

We are not that far away, believe it or not -- but we do need to start recruiting according to our most pressing needs - to start getting the balance right.

Bailey Smith would be a step in the right direction - he ticks all the boxes - genuine midfielder, speed and acceleration, elite skill on both sides, reasonable build, etc.. - we can't keep going down the slippery slope by missing out each year on what our team needs.

I was right with you and enjoying your post until you mentioned the F-word.

I really think we have little to no chance of finals.
Of the clubs that missed finals I can't see us improving more than Essendon, Bulldogs, Port, Lions, Adelaide and there are those that finished in the 8.

I think we will improve and maybe win 7-8 matches with bottom 4 or 5 finish.

[Scollop]

hang on...you can't highlight an opinion can you?

[samoht]

I was right with you and enjoying your post until you mentioned the F-word.

Oh, yeah
I now regret not mentioning the GF-words to you .... Grand Final (let's say) .

[the dome]

"Not only are these other teams drafting the elite midfielders, they are also poaching them.
These teams are stealing the march on us, year by year."
Yes in Melb. the hawks, Pies, & Bummers are getting an extra good to very good player ahead of the Saints.
I'm really hoping we get a a genuinely talented mid.

[Dave McNamara]

Rodger and Gersh' have posted the assessments of Paddy pre his draft...

Einstein said something about insanity. It related to not learning from the mistakes of the past...



When will we learn the danger of looking at the hype, instead of looking hard nosed at how a player in question's attributes would be transferable to playing against AFL men???

(And even more so, if they aren't doing key things, playing against boys. Smaller than them boys. )

[Dave McNamara]

In non-alphabetical order... Smith & Rankine, then followed by Daylight.


(Carlscum are welcome to Walsh. Talent yes. Physique that can develop into an AFL body? Unlikely.)

[silverhalo]

Our recruiting guys cannot afford to get this one wrong......we need star power, we need Max King, make it happen! We don't have a great key forward, and despite a lot of people banging on about needing a gun midfielder, we're deficient up forward as well - lots of forwards but no guns unfortunately - Maxy King will fix that.

[Train9]

Listening to 1116 yesterday morning and Garry Lyon asked Liam Pickering who is the best player in the draft in your opinion and he said Max King. Not sure if it has already been mentioned. Thought it was very interesting

[mad saint guy]

I just want to break down King's scoring shots from the round 2 vs Oakleigh video (the infamous match that people say shows he would have gone at pick 1 if not for the ACL)

- Wins a free kick for HTB. Set shot from 50 on almost no angle and sprays it out on the full
- Contested mark 30m out, kicks on a moderate angle and misses to the left
- Juggles a mark in the goal square and kicks it at point blank range
- Marks on the lead 35m out directly in front, misses to the left
- Contested mark 40m out, misses to the left
- Handball receive 20m out, snaps a goal
- Contested mark, opponent falls over and King runs in to kick goal from point blank
- Loose ball get, snaps a goal on an angle from 20m out
- Questionable free kick, misses from 50m no angle
- Free kick in goal square, goal
- Marks near the behind post, misses from sharp angle
- Contested mark 25m out no angle, goal
- Mark 30m out no angle, goal
- Mark on lead 20m out slight angle, goal

14 shots
8 goals
5 behinds
1 out on the full

3 goals from point blank range
2 snaps from general play
3 from set shots within 30m of goal

5 misses from set shots 30m-50m from goal and 1 miss from a sharp angle close to goal

I know it's a small sample size but I'd be very concerned if we land another forward who can't kick a goal from 40m out directly in front. It must also be noted that King had a massive size advantage to his opponent for the entire game. Looks like a good 12cm difference. It worries me that we could be drafting another kid who stars as a junior because he's so much bigger than his opponents and he's never matched up against an experience defender who knows how to use their body to stop him having a clean jump at the ball. Those factors along with the ACL and the current makeup of our list make me very concerned about using pick 4 on King.

Tom Boyd was supposed to be a once in a generation talent. Josh Schache was supposed to be a superstar. Paddy McCartin was supposed to be the next Josh Kennedy. John Butcher, Scott Gumbleton, Kristian Jaksch, Tyrone Vickery, Jarrad Grant, Mitch Thorp, Beau Dowler etc....

[Beno88]

I just want to break down King's scoring shots from the round 2 vs Oakleigh video (the infamous match that people say shows he would have gone at pick 1 if not for the ACL)

- Wins a free kick for HTB. Set shot from 50 on almost no angle and sprays it out on the full
- Contested mark 30m out, kicks on a moderate angle and misses to the left
- Juggles a mark in the goal square and kicks it at point blank range
- Marks on the lead 35m out directly in front, misses to the left
- Contested mark 40m out, misses to the left
- Handball receive 20m out, snaps a goal
- Contested mark, opponent falls over and King runs in to kick goal from point blank
- Loose ball get, snaps a goal on an angle from 20m out
- Questionable free kick, misses from 50m no angle
- Free kick in goal square, goal
- Marks near the behind post, misses from sharp angle
- Contested mark 25m out no angle, goal
- Mark 30m out no angle, goal
- Mark on lead 20m out slight angle, goal

14 shots
8 goals
5 behinds
1 out on the full

3 goals from point blank range
2 snaps from general play
3 from set shots within 30m of goal

5 misses from set shots 30m-50m from goal and 1 miss from a sharp angle close to goal

I know it's a small sample size but I'd be very concerned if we land another forward who can't kick a goal from 40m out directly in front. It must also be noted that King had a massive size advantage to his opponent for the entire game. Looks like a good 12cm difference. It worries me that we could be drafting another kid who stars as a junior because he's so much bigger than his opponents and he's never matched up against an experience defender who knows how to use their body to stop him having a clean jump at the ball. Those factors along with the ACL and the current makeup of our list make me very concerned about using pick 4 on King.

Tom Boyd was supposed to be a once in a generation talent. Josh Schache was supposed to be a superstar. Paddy McCartin was supposed to be the next Josh Kennedy. John Butcher, Scott Gumbleton, Kristian Jaksch, Tyrone Vickery, Jarrad Grant, Mitch Thorp, Beau Dowler etc....

Conversely Jack Billings was an elite shot for goal at TAC Cup level.

[Scollop]

The comment on JB is very pertinent because I believe we must ensure that the club provide proper leadership (hopefully Billy Slater can make an impact). I've always felt like JB somehow didn't quite gain the confidence of some of the senior players at St Kilda in his first 3-4 years.

The on field leaders need to embrace all the different personalities and make every individual young draftee feel like they belong and are valued members of the playing list. The head coach and development coaches also need to do their bloody job properly. Plus of course you can't have double standards and you can't play favourites and you can't be too soft on anyone just because they are a high draft pick

[sunsaint]

.... The head coach and development coaches also need to do their bloody job properly.

Did you read that interview comment over on AFL>COM>AU with RiCho?
More consistent and less knee jerky
ok from what i saw he was pretty consistent in team selection so the knee jerky bit must be team position and game plan
Was Billings a victim in 2018? Or at least perceive himself to be so which fueled his discontent

[chico2001]

King looks fairly athletic to me, so he might come on a bit earlier.

[saintrod]

For all the people that are so keen to get Max King does anyone not think that it is a big concern that AFL doctors effectively rate him as having a 30% chance of having another ACL

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/dra ... 50hfa.html