Battle

[Killa]

I take exception to those presenting that we are in rebuild phase

Simply, all Clubs seek to improve their List year on year

That is the competition

The likes of King, Clark, Owens, Windhager, Phillipou, Wanganeen- Milera, Wilson,
Henry and even Caminiti and Byrnes would rightly take exception to rebuild and look to ply their trade elsewhere seeking success

These players join the likes of Marshall, Sinclair, Wilkie, Howard, Steele, Wood, Battle fand Hill being our senior core (noting the age demographic versus most other sides)

Then we have our kids plying their trade at VFL, developing and challenging for AFL spots and consolidating at the level

We are not in rebuild, we are in development

And, given a better run with injuries and some judicious recruiting I look for us to be around the mark in 2025

The reason being I have named 18 players

[Killa]

I take exception to those presenting that we are in rebuild phase

Simply, all Clubs seek to improve their List year on year

That is the competition

The likes of King, Clark, Owens, Windhager, Phillipou, Wanganeen- Milera, Wilson,
Henry and even Caminiti and Byrnes would rightly take exception to rebuild and look to ply their trade elsewhere seeking success

These players join the likes of Marshall, Sinclair, Wilkie, Howard, Steele, Wood, Battle fand Hill being our senior core (noting the age demographic versus most other sides)

Then we have our kids plying their trade at VFL, developing and challenging for AFL spots and consolidating at the level

We are not in rebuild, we are in development

And, given a better run with injuries and some judicious recruiting I look for us to be around the mark in 2025

The reason being I have named 18 players

[St Dave]

I take exception to those presenting that we are in rebuild phase

Simply, all Clubs seek to improve their List year on year

That is the competition

The likes of King, Clark, Owens, Windhager, Phillipou, Wanganeen- Milera, Wilson,
Henry and even Caminiti and Byrnes would rightly take exception to rebuild and look to ply their trade elsewhere seeking success

These players join the likes of Marshall, Sinclair, Wilkie, Howard, Steele, Wood, Battle fand Hill being our senior core (noting the age demographic versus most other sides)

Then we have our kids plying their trade at VFL, developing and challenging for AFL spots and consolidating at the level

We are not in rebuild, we are in development

And, given a better run with injuries and some judicious recruiting I look for us to be around the mark in 2025

The reason being I have named 18 players

I would say every club is in one of two states, rebuilding or contending.

Rebuilding can be anywhere from a quick top up to a full clean out, and it doesn't stop until the kids you have brought in are competing at a level that allows you to contend.

Take Battle's compo and keep bringing in kids. We should be around the 8 next year and hopefully actually contending from 2026.

[Vortex]

we are in the midst of a fairly hard rebuild

our midfield is non existent and is more in the R&D stage than re-build stage

noting there are still folk who think the COVID vaccine is effective and are getting a weekly booster

noting my eyes have fallen out

[The_Dud]

If and I stress if we make a Grand Final Max will be the reason we win. A big statement I know but he just needs a run at it without being injured. Have you ever thought that some of his behaviour is based solely on his frustration not to perform at the level he knows he has. Have a look at Curnow performances whilst struggling through injuries at the start of his career- rant over

Indeed. It would be an act of sheer insanity to trade him, not even for 3 first rounders. Big key forwards don't grow on trees. There aren't any good ones that are gettable and if you draft a kid, it takes them years to develop and get to their peak. He hasn't had a clean run with injuries since he started, including 2 significant shoulder injuries and he still needs to develop his forward craft. He will and when he does he'll be devastating.

His speed, skills and agility are extraordinary for a bloke that's 7 foot tall. I agree with what Lyon said in his presser on the weekend, with a decent midfield in front of him, King is an 80 goal a year forward. Easily!

In regard to 'sooking'. I do recall that Nick Riewoldt used to 'sook' a bit in his younger days too. Probably for the same reasons that Tony74 has explained in regards to Max.

Glad we're offering him an extension and looking forward to watch him when he gets going.

The problem with that comparison is that when Riewoldt was King's age, he'd already won a Rising Star, league MVP, multiple B&Fs, AA, and was captain...

We thought (were told?) we were getting a Riewoldt level player when we drafted 'Winx', I can't see him getting close to that level at this stage unfortunately.

[The G Train Legacy]

If and I stress if we make a Grand Final Max will be the reason we win. A big statement I know but he just needs a run at it without being injured. Have you ever thought that some of his behaviour is based solely on his frustration not to perform at the level he knows he has. Have a look at Curnow performances whilst struggling through injuries at the start of his career- rant over

Indeed. It would be an act of sheer insanity to trade him, not even for 3 first rounders. Big key forwards don't grow on trees. There aren't any good ones that are gettable and if you draft a kid, it takes them years to develop and get to their peak. He hasn't had a clean run with injuries since he started, including 2 significant shoulder injuries and he still needs to develop his forward craft. He will and when he does he'll be devastating.

His speed, skills and agility are extraordinary for a bloke that's 7 foot tall. I agree with what Lyon said in his presser on the weekend, with a decent midfield in front of him, King is an 80 goal a year forward. Easily!

In regard to 'sooking'. I do recall that Nick Riewoldt used to 'sook' a bit in his younger days too. Probably for the same reasons that Tony74 has explained in regards to Max.

Glad we're offering him an extension and looking forward to watch him when he gets going.

The problem with that comparison is that when Riewoldt was King's age, he'd already won a Rising Star, league MVP, multiple B&Fs, AA, and was captain...

We thought (were told?) we were getting a Riewoldt level player when we drafted 'Winx', I can't see him getting close to that level at this stage unfortunately.

And in his first years Riewoldt had Loewe, Hamill and Gehrig in the forward line with him. I would suggest he may have had it easier in regard to support, than Max.

[Scollop]

If and I stress if we make a Grand Final Max will be the reason we win. A big statement I know but he just needs a run at it without being injured. Have you ever thought that some of his behaviour is based solely on his frustration not to perform at the level he knows he has. Have a look at Curnow performances whilst struggling through injuries at the start of his career- rant over

Indeed. It would be an act of sheer insanity to trade him, not even for 3 first rounders. Big key forwards don't grow on trees. There aren't any good ones that are gettable and if you draft a kid, it takes them years to develop and get to their peak. He hasn't had a clean run with injuries since he started, including 2 significant shoulder injuries and he still needs to develop his forward craft. He will and when he does he'll be devastating.

His speed, skills and agility are extraordinary for a bloke that's 7 foot tall. I agree with what Lyon said in his presser on the weekend, with a decent midfield in front of him, King is an 80 goal a year forward. Easily!

In regard to 'sooking'. I do recall that Nick Riewoldt used to 'sook' a bit in his younger days too. Probably for the same reasons that Tony74 has explained in regards to Max.

Glad we're offering him an extension and looking forward to watch him when he gets going.

The problem with that comparison is that when Riewoldt was King's age, he'd already won a Rising Star, league MVP, multiple B&Fs, AA, and was captain...

We thought (were told?) we were getting a Riewoldt level player when we drafted 'Winx', I can't see him getting close to that level at this stage unfortunately.

And in his first years Riewoldt had Loewe, Hamill and Gehrig in the forward line with him. I would suggest he may have had it easier in regard to support, than Max.

Serves the club right for its mismanagement. Josh Bruce should have been retained. We knew at the time that McCartin was at risk of retiring from the game. The only KP forward we had left was Tim Membrey.

Max wasn't suited to being a bash and crash power forward in his first few years. Even now, he struggles to play that role.

Blokes like tony74 came on here (after Bruce was traded) gloating about how much better off the team would be without Bruce... really narrow minded stuff when you could see that Max needed support.

[magnifisaint]

If and I stress if we make a Grand Final Max will be the reason we win. A big statement I know but he just needs a run at it without being injured. Have you ever thought that some of his behaviour is based solely on his frustration not to perform at the level he knows he has. Have a look at Curnow performances whilst struggling through injuries at the start of his career- rant over

Indeed. It would be an act of sheer insanity to trade him, not even for 3 first rounders. Big key forwards don't grow on trees. There aren't any good ones that are gettable and if you draft a kid, it takes them years to develop and get to their peak. He hasn't had a clean run with injuries since he started, including 2 significant shoulder injuries and he still needs to develop his forward craft. He will and when he does he'll be devastating.

His speed, skills and agility are extraordinary for a bloke that's 7 foot tall. I agree with what Lyon said in his presser on the weekend, with a decent midfield in front of him, King is an 80 goal a year forward. Easily!

In regard to 'sooking'. I do recall that Nick Riewoldt used to 'sook' a bit in his younger days too. Probably for the same reasons that Tony74 has explained in regards to Max.

Glad we're offering him an extension and looking forward to watch him when he gets going.

The problem with that comparison is that when Riewoldt was King's age, he'd already won a Rising Star, league MVP, multiple B&Fs, AA, and was captain...

We thought (were told?) we were getting a Riewoldt level player when we drafted 'Winx', I can't see him getting close to that level at this stage unfortunately.

And in his first years Riewoldt had Loewe, Hamill and Gehrig in the forward line with him. I would suggest he may have had it easier in regard to support, than Max.

Serves the club right for its mismanagement. Josh Bruce should have been retained. We knew at the time that McCartin was at risk of retiring from the game. The only KP forward we had left was Tim Membrey.

Max wasn't suited to being a bash and crash power forward in his first few years. Even now, he struggles to play that role.

Blokes like tony74 came on here (after Bruce was traded) gloating about how much better off the team would be without Bruce... really narrow minded stuff when you could see that Max needed support.

So was he implying that Bruce wasn't well liked?

[SaintWiki]

If and I stress if we make a Grand Final Max will be the reason we win. A big statement I know but he just needs a run at it without being injured. Have you ever thought that some of his behaviour is based solely on his frustration not to perform at the level he knows he has. Have a look at Curnow performances whilst struggling through injuries at the start of his career- rant over

Indeed. It would be an act of sheer insanity to trade him, not even for 3 first rounders. Big key forwards don't grow on trees. There aren't any good ones that are gettable and if you draft a kid, it takes them years to develop and get to their peak. He hasn't had a clean run with injuries since he started, including 2 significant shoulder injuries and he still needs to develop his forward craft. He will and when he does he'll be devastating.

His speed, skills and agility are extraordinary for a bloke that's 7 foot tall. I agree with what Lyon said in his presser on the weekend, with a decent midfield in front of him, King is an 80 goal a year forward. Easily!

In regard to 'sooking'. I do recall that Nick Riewoldt used to 'sook' a bit in his younger days too. Probably for the same reasons that Tony74 has explained in regards to Max.

Glad we're offering him an extension and looking forward to watch him when he gets going.

The problem with that comparison is that when Riewoldt was King's age, he'd already won a Rising Star, league MVP, multiple B&Fs, AA, and was captain...

We thought (were told?) we were getting a Riewoldt level player when we drafted 'Winx', I can't see him getting close to that level at this stage unfortunately.

And in his first years Riewoldt had Loewe, Hamill and Gehrig in the forward line with him. I would suggest he may have had it easier in regard to support, than Max.

Max is taller than them too and don't very tall players usually take a bit longer?

[Scollop]

So was he implying that Bruce wasn't well liked?

https://www.saintsational.net/viewtopic ... 8#p1826358

[Killa]

Bruce was useful at best - noting the contribution at WB (where he kicked 10 against a bottom side on one occasion but not much else)

I seem to recall WB put him back to defence where he started out

And all is now revealed - Vottex is Donald Trump!!!

[SydneySainter]

Bruce was useful at best - noting the contribution at WB (where he kicked 10 against a bottom side on one occasion but not much else)

I seem to recall WB put him back to defence where he started out

And all is now revealed - Vottex is Donald Trump!!!

In the last two season though, King has been playing like a slightly better version of Bruce at best.

[The G Train Legacy]

If and I stress if we make a Grand Final Max will be the reason we win. A big statement I know but he just needs a run at it without being injured. Have you ever thought that some of his behaviour is based solely on his frustration not to perform at the level he knows he has. Have a look at Curnow performances whilst struggling through injuries at the start of his career- rant over

Indeed. It would be an act of sheer insanity to trade him, not even for 3 first rounders. Big key forwards don't grow on trees. There aren't any good ones that are gettable and if you draft a kid, it takes them years to develop and get to their peak. He hasn't had a clean run with injuries since he started, including 2 significant shoulder injuries and he still needs to develop his forward craft. He will and when he does he'll be devastating.

His speed, skills and agility are extraordinary for a bloke that's 7 foot tall. I agree with what Lyon said in his presser on the weekend, with a decent midfield in front of him, King is an 80 goal a year forward. Easily!

In regard to 'sooking'. I do recall that Nick Riewoldt used to 'sook' a bit in his younger days too. Probably for the same reasons that Tony74 has explained in regards to Max.

Glad we're offering him an extension and looking forward to watch him when he gets going.

The problem with that comparison is that when Riewoldt was King's age, he'd already won a Rising Star, league MVP, multiple B&Fs, AA, and was captain...

We thought (were told?) we were getting a Riewoldt level player when we drafted 'Winx', I can't see him getting close to that level at this stage unfortunately.

And in his first years Riewoldt had Loewe, Hamill and Gehrig in the forward line with him. I would suggest he may have had it easier in regard to support, than Max.

Serves the club right for its mismanagement. Josh Bruce should have been retained. We knew at the time that McCartin was at risk of retiring from the game. The only KP forward we had left was Tim Membrey.

Max wasn't suited to being a bash and crash power forward in his first few years. Even now, he struggles to play that role.

Blokes like tony74 came on here (after Bruce was traded) gloating about how much better off the team would be without Bruce... really narrow minded stuff when you could see that Max needed support.

Bruce was a very average key forward, nowhere near the class of Gehrig, Hamill and Loewe.

[Sanctorum]

What has all of the foregoing got to do with Josh Battle and the talk that he could go to Hawthorn??????????

I keep checking this thread in case there are actually some new developments in this story......

[Scollop]

Bruce was a very average key forward, nowhere near the class of Gehrig, Hamill and Loewe.

You raised the topic of 'support'. I wasn't saying Bruce was anywhere near the class of those other guys. I was saying Josh Bruce was a typical bash and crash type Full Forward.

Bruce was going to be the guy we relied on to contest those high bombs into the forward line. He was going to be the guy taking on the gorilla Full backs and he was going to help King in his first couple of years, just like he did with Ugle-Hagan and Naughton.

He kicked 50 odd goals in one season at the Bulldogs before he did an acl. Not bad for a guy many people didn't rate.

[SaintPav]

While everyone is watching Hawthorn, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if another club like Collingwood make a play for him..

[Saints58]

We should look at jack Lukosius as he might be available he can play both ends of the ground and might be squeezed out of GC side he would be a fantastic player for us.
I don't really think he will go back to SA both clubs are well stocked up for bigs and don't really have anything to trade we might with Battles pick a third round and we get Lukosius and a fourth rounder or we look at player and picks.

[St Dave]

We should look at jack Lukosius as he might be available he can play both ends of the ground and might be squeezed out of GC side he would be a fantastic player for us.
I don't really think he will go back to SA both clubs are well stocked up for bigs and don't really have anything to trade we might with Battles pick a third round and we get Lukosius and a fourth rounder or we look at player and picks.

I like the idea, same age as Cooper Sharman and basically a straight upgrade. Wouldn't want to spend Battles compo though given that's about pick 6, most I would pay is a swap of firsts and maybe a late second/early third because he isn't that much of an upgrade at this stage

[The Fireman]

Really starting to to think we can’t afford to lose him

[B.M]

Couldn’t afford to Lose Lockett, Hall or Everitt either

No player is irreplaceable

[The Fireman]

Couldn’t afford to Lose Lockett, Hall or Everitt either

No player is irreplaceable

Didn’t help did it?

[B.M]

3 seasons after losing Lockett we played in a GF

3 seasons after losing Hall a PF
2 seasons after losing Everitt a PF

They were good players - who were replaced

[The Fireman]

Three seasons is such a long time ,retaining said players could’ve got us a flag
We have a history of passing on good players

They were replaced by players that didn’t get us to a flag
So losing battle isn’t a big deal with you maybe this is one of the reasons why we haven’t had a flag in such a long time

So as far as you’re concerned, losing battle isn’t a big drama ?

[Otiman]

3 seasons after losing Lockett we played in a GF

3 seasons after losing Hall a PF
2 seasons after losing Everitt a PF

They were good players - who were replaced

A very good point. The team is always more important than individuals.

We are crying out for some elite mids to change our team but the reality is that won't help unless the whole team lifts.

[The Fireman]

3 seasons after losing Lockett we played in a GF

3 seasons after losing Hall a PF
2 seasons after losing Everitt a PF

They were good players - who were replaced

A very good point. The team is always more important than individuals.

We are crying out for some elite mids to change our team but the reality is that won't help unless the whole team lifts.

Ever imagined how we would’ve went if we had a retained them.?