Shane Savage

[Joffa Burns]

Was a first 18 fixture over the last few seasons.
Constant solid performer and good C grade AFL player.

Had to wait until round 9 to get a game this year and was the 31st player used this season.
Is now well behind Coffield, Clark, Paton, Long and it appears a host of others for selection.

Getting to the twilight of his career, has a young family and could have easily dropped his work ethic and attitude.

I'm guessing anyone who isn't 100% committed isn't getting chosen so I assume Savage has maintained the training rage and when he got his chance I thought he more than held his own.

15 odd disposals, used it reasonably well, took the game on when he had the chance.

Good on him, a guy that is outside the top 30 and comes in and plays at that level shows some depth.

Gives solid back up if we need to rest Coffield, Clark, Paton etc.

Hope he gets a few more games as it maybe his last season.

[ace]

Savage had the most metres gained of any St Kilda player according to AFL Stats Pro

Shane Savage 483 metres gained
Jack Steele 466
Jade Gresham 423

[Scollop]

Wow wee

long bombs that are intercepted

[saynta]

Did alright afaic. Deserves a second game

[The_Dud]

Solid depth player, which are handy

[johnearljames]

I like Shane's new haircut. Looks like a real killer.

[stkfc1]

He's very good depth and all good teams need that. As we progress, this season will one of managing player attrition so we need all the depth we can. I wouldn't be surprised that the team with the healthiest list, come finals, is probably going to be the one to win it this year.

[saynta]

Savage is in our best 25 players

[Zed]

He was ok
Having said that I’d rest him against GC and let Ben Long take his place but bring him back against the Cats whilst resting one of our other back 6.

[cwrcyn]

he kicks it long.....the ball comes straight back. That's why he's not a lock for the team

[The Barometer]

he kicks it long.....the ball comes straight back. That's why he's not a lock for the team

Yep. Much more comfortable with the ball with Clark, Coffield, Paton they use it much better.

[Rocket]

Kicked 2 points .. 2 goals and he has a v good game. Agree with comments does get the ball and kick it anywhere ... the next generation (Paton, Coffield, Clark) come off half back and lower their eyes.

[shanegrambeau]

Love the attitude and work. Great haircut too.

I like me a sport star who is no longer in the first option category but keeps presenting. Ivan Lendyl katter career, probably kept going for his business interests, but boy, was I impressed. Shane Wakelin at Williamstown.

Something going right for him and St Kilda's coaching.

One question though, is he too older a dog to learn new tricks? He is skilled, so can't he learn to pass to a target with a reasonable chance of starting a chain?

[WellardSaint]

Wow wee

long bombs that are intercepted

Commentators like referring to his "long kicking"
But yeah, if they don't go to our advantage, they're all wasted.
He's always been a bit off with his radar, he can't change that.

He'll only ever be a depth player as we have lots of guys who use the ball better, much better

[skeptic]

A surprise to no one... I’m not Savage’s biggest fan.

He’s 29yo, 150+ games, been part of a champion team...
He’s not here on this list to be an okay player. Expectations are different on him vs Coffield, Long, Clarke etc when they were junior and developing... and unfortunately, he became part of a core group of players that were touted as part of the future a few years ago like Dunstan, Newnes, Webster, Longer and pbly others... that yes, absolutely have good games and make you think they’re worth persevering with... but ultimately didn’t come on.

As many pointed out... he’s a really good 25-30th player. Came in and certainly didn’t look out of place in the team... played with a bit more desperation than I’ve seen in him for a while (which in my opinion ultimately speaks to what went wrong for him... don’t reckon that he gave it everything he had in terms of training and getting better, especially in the Richo years where many got a free pass for less than ideal performances)

However... he was ok. Good efforts but he ultimately doesn’t have the composure and the good decision making to play the quarter back role. That is and has been the knock on him for the last 2-3 years and it was his problem last night.
2 often gets the ball and blazer away.

Would you play him ahead of any of Coffield, Clarke, Long and Paton - answer is an emphatic no.

Very good depth player but he’s been squeezed out by better players and IMO should be behind others like Long who have the potential to be consistently better than he is.

[perfectionist]

How quaint some have become to criticise someone kicks it "long" and to position or even through the goals. Having it dribble off the boot or go straight over the head of a leading player is more a problem. Lack of height and marking power on the backline is his deficiency and not his kicking.

[minneapolis]

Good depth player. Perfect guy for this season.

I believe he is out of contract at the end of the year and will be delisted to make way for new signings.

[ace]

Wow wee

long bombs that are intercepted

Long is not a bomber.
He wears a St Kilda jumper.

[Saint_Singapore]

How quaint some have become to criticise someone kicks it "long" and to position or even through the goals. Having it dribble off the boot or go straight over the head of a leading player is more a problem. Lack of height and marking power on the backline is his deficiency and not his kicking.

Agreed. Can we try him in the midfield?

[skeptic]

How quaint some have become to criticise someone kicks it "long" and to position or even through the goals. Having it dribble off the boot or go straight over the head of a leading player is more a problem. Lack of height and marking power on the backline is his deficiency and not his kicking.

Agreed. Can we try him in the midfield?

Don’t disagree with trying him in the midfield per’se bit marking power as a deficiency is ridiculous...
He played HBF to be an attacking offensive running player... his role to hurt the opposition more than his openly hurts us.

And he couldn’t do that

[barneyboyz]

Easy enough to pot a guy playing his first game of the season, and without a real backup comp. Shane had a very good 2019 and could very well play finals this year.

Oh, and I remember another player that used to bomb it a bit, he was most certainly in the best of his years sides (Jason Gram).

Give Benny another game off, Shane deserved his return

[shrodes]

I thought he was reasonable, especially given the lack of match fitness. Nice to have depth, and I won't be unhappy if he gets a few more games before the end of the year.

[saintbob]

Wow wee

long bombs that are intercepted

Commentators like referring to his "long kicking"
But yeah, if they don't go to our advantage, they're all wasted.
He's always been a bit off with his radar, he can't change that.

He'll only ever be a depth player as we have lots of guys who use the ball better, much better

Jason Gram MKII

[The Fireman]

with so much depth it's easy to undervalue a good player

Savage is a very good player

[WellardSaint]

with so much depth it's easy to undervalue a good player

Savage is a very good player

In the last qtr, Billings handballed off to Shane, who delivered a nice weighted kick to Battle, whose opponent appeared to be not quite as tall as Josh, so it was very easy for Josh to lean into the Swine and mark, play on, and goal.
That's what he's capable of.

Doesn't do that enough