Sharman will become the GOAT in 2024....

[Yorkeys]

No comprende.
If Members is Ross' dream forward why would he not get in the team.
You see your internal contradiction?

[CQ SAINT]

Sharman is a third tall utility. He set his own standards in a variety of spots all year.

No one expected him to step up in a final.

It would be ridiculous to think his big game effort is a standard. He isn't Riewoldt and on a $million but he is a professional footballer now with genuine upside.

Let's hope Allison can apply some pressure and further push standards behind Wood Membrey, Owens, Phillipou and Hayes. Shoenmaker and Hastings could do similar too as mobile tallish defenders.

Measured depth is much better than massive gaps in output across the board.

The mids can now work the same way and players in the utility groups can cross all three lines when needed.

Thats how you build that core of 35 players you can depend on.

[saintsRrising]

If he can deliver a performance like that ......, instead of every 30 games then he should go a long way to gaining respect.

LOL. He has only played 31 games. And he has had a lot more than 2 decent games.

In his first season his 4 games were all ok to excellent.

His second season he struggled somewhat. Not helped by his leads often being ignored.

His season just gone was a pretty good effort in 3 different roles, including in the unglamorous defensive forward role at times. Best 22 worthy.

[NickyDal]

I don't want to shoot Bambi but I believe Membrey should only play if we have injuries.
Give the responsibility to the young guys...

[Vortex]

If he can deliver a performance like that ......, instead of every 30 games then he should go a long way to gaining respect.

LOL. He has only played 31 games. And he has had a lot more than 2 decent games.

In his first season his 4 games were all ok to excellent.

His second season he struggled somewhat. Not helped by his leads often being ignored.

His season just gone was a pretty good effort in 3 different roles, including in the unglamorous defensive forward role at times. Best 22 worthy.

Fair call, happy to make the correction so here goes...

If he can deliver better than 4 good performances every 31 games.

And as you will agree I am sure, especially the bit about having no excuses regarding becoming consistent now he has set a fair benchmark in a final.

To be fair he's still got about 20 to 40 games to go of experience before he's expected to deliver that benchmark on a weekly basis and in finals.

[Yorkeys]

Fair enough, if you ignore how Cooper played in the final, ignore his goals against Geelong in round 23, discount all the other good things he did during the season it is reasonable to ask what has he done lately. Knocking CS has become a pathological nihilist journey for one guy. The dissonance must give quite a headache. Hoping and predicting failure of a Saints player through inuendo seems odd for a declared fan. More dissonance.

[Vortex]

Fair enough, if you ignore how Cooper played in the final, ignore his goals against Geelong in round 23, discount all the other good things he did during the season it is reasonable to ask what has he done lately. Knocking CS has become a pathological nihilist journey for one guy. The dissonance must give quite a headache. Hoping and predicting failure of a Saints player through inuendo seems odd for a declared fan. More dissonance.

I'd say consistency means you are an automatic selection each week and also develop a reputation as a good performer in finals so a big tick for his finals performance but 14 H&A games suggests he's been a fair bit off becoming an automatic selection wouldn't you agree?

A massive year for him then on that score, has set his own benchmark and Lyon will now hold him to it.

[The Fireman]

a certain poster on here wrote him off and is now backtracking faster than an Italian Tank .

[CQ SAINT]

a certain poster on here wrote him off and is now backtracking faster than an Italian Tank .

I think he mentioned 3 - 6 more months and he should have recieved the appropriate sample size to give a true indication of what was fairly obvious in his first 4 game introduction to the club.

Both he and Sharman are right on track.

[saynta]

i before e except after c.

[Vortex]

a certain poster on here wrote him off and is now backtracking faster than an Italian Tank .

No back tracking me ole mate, still not convinced he’s going to make it but he finished the year well so let’s hope he can continue that into 2024. Has to push Members out so he’s got a massive challenge on his hands and for most of last year Caminiti brushed past him with ease.

[The Fireman]

a certain poster on here wrote him off and is now backtracking faster than an Italian Tank .

No back tracking me ole mate, still not convinced he’s going to make it but he finished the year well so let’s hope he can continue that into 2024. Has to push Members out so he’s got a massive challenge on his hands and for most of last year Caminiti brushed past him with ease.

so it seems those that are convinced appear to have a bit more knowledge of the caper than you.
If your not convinced he will make it maybe another sport maybe to your liking ? It's plain to see for those can spot talent that he oozes upside.
just sayin ole mate.

[Vortex]

a certain poster on here wrote him off and is now backtracking faster than an Italian Tank .

No back tracking me ole mate, still not convinced he’s going to make it but he finished the year well so let’s hope he can continue that into 2024. Has to push Members out so he’s got a massive challenge on his hands and for most of last year Caminiti brushed past him with ease.

so it seems those that are convinced appear to have a bit more knowledge of the caper than you.
If your not convinced he will make it maybe another sport maybe to your liking ? It's plain to see for those can spot talent that he oozes upside.
just sayin ole mate.

And therein lies the excitement, one of us will be proven right one way or the other somewhere along the journey.

[shanegrambeau]

Brushed passed him?

Or bulldozered him?

[skeptic]

On last years form, I personally had Coops well above Caminati.

Anthony started the season well enough and was actually rather admirable playing in that depleted forward line. Looked way waaay off the pace for me following his suspension.

Not knocking the kid… looking forward to seeing him with a preseason under his belt, but Coops is easily a more effective forward at this stage. All of that said… one point the other way is the work they do on the ground. Caminati is better in this area and I think RTB really values that and hopefully Coops continues to improve in that aspect.

[Vortex]

On last years form, I personally had Coops well above Caminati.

Anthony started the season well enough and was actually rather admirable playing in that depleted forward line. Looked way waaay off the pace for me following his suspension.

Not knocking the kid… looking forward to seeing him with a preseason under his belt, but Coops is easily a more effective forward at this stage. All of that said… one point the other way is the work they do on the ground. Caminati is better in this area and I think RTB really values that and hopefully Coops continues to improve in that aspect.

Agree Sharman ended ahead of Caminiti at the back end of the season however Sharman must have been very concerned early on when a blow-in who’d barely been at the club 3 weeks and hadn’t even debuted flew past him.


Clearly Sharman hadn’t impressed Ross over the pre season and as we know was told by Ross to stick at Sandy and even learn the wing position.


Skeppers check out this clip as I found it fascinating and almost probably is what happened between Sharman and Lyon in last years pre season. If so all credit to Sharman for clawing his way back into the coaches good books, not an easy task .

[The Fireman]

That was an interesting watch
Reaffirms my thoughts on RTB being the right man

Regardless of any treatment by RTB on cooper i could easily see he was worthy of a spot in our side. Actually most could see it

Would hate to be on the wrong side of RTB

[The_Dud]

King is the clear number 1 by a long way.
Sharman and Membrey are fighting it out for the number 2 'tall' spot in the forwardline.
Caminiti is clear 4th.

BUT there are many unknowns going into the season, especially around Membrey's form (is he done?) and whether Caminiti can take a massive step after actually having a preseason (though his 'football brain' seemed a long way off last season)

Sharman has shown he's a smart footballer who knows how to play in the forwardline, also the claims that he is undersized are absolutely laughable!

[skeptic]

On last years form, I personally had Coops well above Caminati.

Anthony started the season well enough and was actually rather admirable playing in that depleted forward line. Looked way waaay off the pace for me following his suspension.

Not knocking the kid… looking forward to seeing him with a preseason under his belt, but Coops is easily a more effective forward at this stage. All of that said… one point the other way is the work they do on the ground. Caminati is better in this area and I think RTB really values that and hopefully Coops continues to improve in that aspect.

Agree Sharman ended ahead of Caminiti at the back end of the season however Sharman must have been very concerned early on when a blow-in who’d barely been at the club 3 weeks and hadn’t even debuted flew past him.


Clearly Sharman hadn’t impressed Ross over the pre season and as we know was told by Ross to stick at Sandy and even learn the wing position.


Skeppers check out this clip as I found it fascinating and almost probably is what happened between Sharman and Lyon in last years pre season. If so all credit to Sharman for clawing his way back into the coaches good books, not an easy task .

What a fascinating video and thank you so much for posting.

To me, what that reaffirms is how critical it is to get the balance right between effort and talent. Case in point right there is the actual story of RTB’s first preseason and Tom Lynch.

We all remember that preseason 2007 saw Troy Schwarze cut right off the bat for coming back out of shape and then no opportunity to improve.

Tom Lynch however is a far more interesting story. I don’t exactly what the interaction between them was… but not only did Lynch not really get much of a fair go and was forced out… but then as it turns out, RTB 2.0 had such little respect for him that any player that Lynch got the drop, went straight up to the top of RTB’s $#!t list.

Here’s the thing though… Tom Lynch had a respectable career. Was a decent player for Adelaide, played for 7-8 years, kicked some bags, was a prominent player on the team that reached the GF etc
So my take away from that has always been a tendency for a degree of drawing conclusions too quickly.

Bringing this back to the current debate… I would say that your analysis on preseason 2023 is pbly likely spot on. Caminati pushed passed Coops pretty quickly and that was very interesting as he stayed ahead for a bit.

But the flip side of argument is that second half of the season, Sharman had at least 4 games that I can think of that easily surpassed Caminati’s best.
So whilst there’s an argument about the lesson being taught, expectations, work rate etc the reality is that one is a better player now and possibly might have helped us win more games in that early-mid-slump.

In fact, Coops might have gotten better faster with more opportunity.

Overall however, I 100% agree with ur sentiment that Sharman absolutely cannot afford to rest of his laurels. To stay in the team he needs to improve and by and large it’s his off-ball work and aggression that is the area that offers the most opportunity.

I would say few if any are complaining about his run, lead, mark and kicking at goals.

In fact… overall, I think it’s a credit to RTB V3.0 and hopefully a sign of evolution in himself that Coops was able to force his way back in and cement a spot in the top 22 by seasons end (cement is a strong word… I mean it in the context of for that period towards the latter part of the season)… whereas once upon a time, such a player might have had the papers stamped very quickly.

In talking about the general angst that comes with how you express your views RE Coops, I will say that it does feel as though even with your acknowledgment of his stronger finish to the season, that it’s harder for him earn praise than others. It almost comes across as begrudging at times.
That said… your view is your view and there’s no rule to say that you can’t be tougher on some than others. Goodness knows I am

[CQ SAINT]

i before e except after c.

Disleksia but I manage to make piont clear with help from freinds.

[The Fireman]

In talking about the general angst that comes with how you express your views RE Coops, I will say that it does feel as though even with your acknowledgment of his stronger finish to the season, that it’s harder for him earn praise than others. It almost comes across as begrudging at times.
That said… your view is your view and there’s no rule to say that you can’t be tougher on some than others. Goodness knows I am

He revels in telling everyone how clever he is and how he is always right…this is a major dent in the armour for him
Clawing back any cred out weighs the subject matter.
Yep it’s his view but tempered by the above

[Yorkeys]

Observations from the cheap seats:
Ginger T. Lynch was probably given feedback and opportunities to get to what Ross needed but couldn't convert;
Adelaide were a pretty slick outfit in TL's best years and well coached, a much different style to ours.
Sharman may be marked down because he can look ungainly contesting a loose ground ball, nevertheless he is rarely beaten for clear possession, often there is a stalemate. Cooper's tackles stick. He is an exciting aerialist. He is in favour with the coaches. He works hard on his craft.
Troy was silly giving Ross an example when he did. Wasn't thinking or didn't care. Silly.
J. Billings never looked clumsy but lost more contested ball than he won, or was just that fraction late to the c ontest, from memory . Brilliant field kick when in space but and took a few excellent contested marks on his chest. Cooper's field kicking and judgement seem very sound.

[B.M]

WTF was Ross talking about wrt to Tom Lynch’s running?

He was an elite runner for a 192

He ran a 14 beep test in his draft year and his strength was his repeat hit up ability

That’s really poor knowledge of players, let alone coaching of your own player - you’re done?!

No wonder Lynch wanted out of StK

[Otiman]

This is worth a look. Saints Key Forwards 23 and under.

[skeptic]

This is worth a look. Saints Key Forwards 23 and under.

Hmmm…

Caminati appears to have had a much better season than I remember