Intra-Club Match Reports

[esaint66]

see other thread.
aflphotos.com.au

thanks

[St Fidelius]

joffa i notice you said raph had a fair game. honestly i thought he was terrible. had countless clangers and was constantly putting his teammates under pressure with his disposals. im afraid he wont ever make it imo...i dearly hope he can


and otiman...im pretty sure McEvoy wasnt out there. #5 was a medium height player - i think it was ben fraser

Isn't it funny what individuals see . I thought Raph was good. Took numerous uncontested marks due to good positional play, and generally held the backline very well. Possessions a bit sloppy, however will improve with a full PS and will definately make it.

Blake was as ordinary as ever. Kick out on the full from about 30 metres out, dropped marks and generally was the same old Blake, and I am a rap for Blake and am not critisising him, just that he wasn't very good, in my opinion of course.

McEvoy didn't play.

Hit the nail on the head there joffaboy...

Yes, and it happens all the time IMO...

What one or two supporters see together compared to another couple situated in another area of the ground CAN be seen completely differently...

Much the same as newspaper reports that some on here blast and take aim on one or two, as at times being "biased" and really do you think that they will still be employed if they show that bias ???

People view things differently...

Simple really

[Teflon]

Thanks for the updates.

Koi is a fwd - Browne like and in sheer presence in the contest imposes himself more than Riewoldt. I truly hope he gets a decent run there this year.

Very happy to hear M Gardiner put up some sort of performance - great news.

Raph Clarke...I to hope he makes it...must make big strides this year as to often Ive seen him put team mates under pressure with lack of thought in the disposal.

Good signs re: depth.

[midas_touch]

Thanks for all the reports guys, good to hear that there were no injuries and that the skills shown were of a decent standard.

[Otiman]

So am I to assume that I was the only one who saw Bakes limp off late in the 4th quarter?

Was standing next to the Red team race, he was certainly not walking right, and perhaps in a bit of pain.

[saintbart]

I was there and saw Bakes come off in the 4th. Can't remember exactly what happened, but remember seeing him coming off and trying to twist and grimace in pain. Think he was holding his thigh/hip area at the time, so could be a number of things (groin?). Never saw him again after that.

Felt like old times at the ground today. The weather was cool, so it even seemed like a winters day. I would say the crowd would have at least been round the 5000 mark. Before the game, went inside the club to get some money from the ATM there, and the desk seemed to be doing very well with membership sales. A small line had formed for this. The sign on the desk said that memberships were 21713 and later found out that this was at midday today.

Very impressed with VR, great size and can play. Armitage seems to have gone up another notch. I agree about Raphs disposals - poor but did improve as the game went on. I thought that King was by far the premier ruckman out there today - got a few good possesions as well. Even Rix had an ok game, winning some taps against King and Gardi - kicked a couple of goals too from memory. As others have said, Gardi was good but not great - basically as good as can be expected, but will improve with match time me thinks. Gehrig looks good as always and did some clever things as was Milne and Montagna - loved their running.

To me it seemed everyone was instructed to move the ball quickly and run rather than the tempo footy from last year.

As a reminder, the pamphlet I received at the ground with the player numbers, included an advert for the Saints Family Day to be held at Frankston Park on Sunday 9 March 11am to 2pm. It says that:
- All players attending
- 2008 membership and merchandise on sale
- Free rides and children activities
- 2008 official gurnsey presentation
- Player clinics and signing sessions
- Free admission

Also at the ground today, they said that memberships have just been mailed out and should arrive for most people in the next week. The Victory Room on Friday night for the game against the Tigers will be open to both Social Club and ordinary members.

I think that's all the info I've got. Time to go to bed

[Otiman]

We're definitely going to enjoy having Gehrig playing as a small/mid forward this year, and it's going to be fantastic. He can go on his leads, stumble around the 50 metre mark, take the best defender and generally lead the defense around on a wild goose chase so Koschitzke can kick 7-8 goal bags

After watching today's game, he will definitely play a secondary target role up forward, with Roo being a link man across half forward rather than a goalkicker, I think.

The last quarter was most definitely some form of tempo footy, but up til then it was a free flowing "play on" kind of game, without too many packs forming. Another thing I noted is a general directive of "don't go in to get the ball if you can't get out with it cleanly", so it's better to hang back and tackle/spoil unless you think you can get in, get out, and get a clear disposal.

As for what they said about memberships, they posted out membership cards to '07 members who havent renewed, all you have to do is fill in a form or call up the membership hotline and they'll activate your card for you - fantastic stuff!

[fugazi]

The little #6 for the black team was excellent....I think it was him who kicked a 60m torp for a goal wasn't it....
Kosi BOG marked everything,
Armo OK, good tackler, but looked to be tiring quickly,
Howard I'm sorry to say looked inept from what I saw
Both Gardiners did well, Michael looked very athletic and good skills,
Gehrig looked good and seemed unusually enthusiastic!
King looked in excellent nick
Allen as someone else has said, looks fantastic and moves really well.
All usual suspects were pretty good

[Ghost Like]

Great turn out for the match...I kept rubbing my eyes at the state of the surface, how good was it? Immaculate!

Not overly impressed by the skills on display but a number of factors could influence that, first real competitive hit out, sides mixed up a bit, new faces and naturally a little tentative surrounded by team mates.

I liked the look of Raph, cannot question his courage, backs back when needed to and when people say he chooses the wrong options or puts team mates under pressure...I think that a fair bit of that is the options he's given and the positions his team mates run to, I don't think it's all one way. Regardless it's good to see him out there and not rehabbing, that has to be a bonus.

Looking forward to next Friday to know exactly who I'm looking at!

[saintbrat]

crowd numbers- fox reported hundreds- vision shows few on the far side,
you all say thousands- I'm guessing somewhere inbetween as I guess no one was counting.

[adobe]

Red team (the more senior team) won easily in the end. It was a free flowing game for the first three quarters, and the last quarter was a black team flood.

Kosi (Red team) was magnificient, against not much defense, but his kicking for goal was mediocre at best.

On rookies and new players, if Khan was the one that played in #46 (edit: No, it wasnt him) , then he's quite a bit smaller and shorter than I expected, but played well on Gehrig in the first half. Miles had a good run in defense too, with Allen and Chivers up forward. Van Rheenen had less than a handful of ruck contests, and mostly played up forward where he did quite well for the black team, and kicked the intra-club goal of the century, a 40m sprint to the ball, pickup off the ground and over the shoulder snap from deep in the pocket, easily the highlight of the day. Eddy and Armo both did well without being spectacular, Armo played most of the game on Dal Santo and kept him relatively quiet, Eddy saw a lot of the ball but found it in not so great situations and spent most of the day being tackled. Jack Steven didn't do much, and Geary played well in the second half. The best of the rookies (and in the top 5 on the ground) was Clint Jones, who kicked at least two goals and looked dangerous whenever he got it. Michael Gardiner looked the goods too, beating Rix more comprehensively than King did, and also did quite a bit of work around the ground. Dempster did some good things but wasn't too exciting . Charlie Gardiner is more slimly built than Howard, and he (Howard) played quite well as a defensive mid/wing/half back. James Wall (playing in #7 at the start) was one of the better players for Team Black and easily the best of the scorps listed players (who was the guy who looked like Mick Dwyer?).

Here's a list of players that didn't play.

Gram
McEvoy
L. Fisher
Hayes
Hudghton
Riewoldt
Schneider
Ball
Goddard
Gilbert
Ferguson
Maguire
Gwilt
Connors
Attard
Haretuku

[FullMonty]

What a difference to hear all this hype about a ruck division eh?
I agree with the many posters that have made comment of just getting game time into MG.
At least we know that SK and MG both have the skills to perform at the highest level and it's a matter of keeping them on the park each week.
Rix is a good backup for them too allowing Kosi to go forward or back more.
Sorry but the lids still firmly on for me. Lets see how we are travelling at roud 10 before we get too excited eh!

[Megamaguire]

Sounds like the ruck component may finally be shaping up to let Kosi concentrate on the forward line.

Great to hear of Kosi just getting into things.

Leigh Mont is sounding like the real deal. We might see him push up to an even higher level this year - sounds like he is really focused. Glad to hear Dally has a few extra kilos on. If he is able to produce more in-close play it should keep helping Bally to reassert himself on the competition.
It all sounds fairly good at this early stage.

Looking forward to those Swannies Round 1.

G O S A I N T S !

[GeorgeYoung27]

Does anyone know about Matt McGuire? Someone saw him before the intra-club game last night with a big envelope (x-rays?) and looking quite dejected. Reports also suggest he will not be available for round 1.

[saintdooley]

crowd numbers- fox reported hundreds- vision shows few on the far side,
you all say thousands- I'm guessing somewhere inbetween as I guess no one was counting.

there were thousands bratty, the news reporters dont know what they are talking about, they are just reading a peice of paper someone gave to them, that was passed on by someones friends friend!

[hellorocky]

couldn't miss the intra club game this year with all the 'new' recruits from my area - McEvoy, Schneider and the new guy Gehrig . King was also a Murray Bushranger before he was drafted to Geelong.

Wasn't disappointed with Kosi, great game. I've watched this young man evolve over more than 7 years. He's come a long way both physically and mentally and he is truly a credit to himself and his family.

That new guy Gehrig didn't go too bad either, found a bit of pace here and there and looks like he already has his own fan club, was very popular afterwards signing and posing for photos.

Stepped back about 15 years for a moment, saw Mick Dwyer in black 31, then 1, then 34, then red 34. For those too young to remember, that hair . Apparently his name was James Taylor.

Long trip, almost 13 hours but worth it, fans have got to get in to training for the long season too

[Armoooo]

It is so hard to keep a lid on it right now, Monty is just going to go nuts this year, hopefully with a fit Ball and Hayes Dal will start getting less attention and we can see some more of his magic...

[stinger]

The little #6 for the black team was excellent....I think it was him who kicked a 60m torp for a goal wasn't it....

kyle matthews

[yipper]

My observation was that it was the best intra-club game I've seen for a few years. The skills were actually quite good - but it was the pace of the game that was impressive. They seemed to move the ball very quickly up and down the ground. Stand-outs were Geary - who is a ball magnet and quick, Raph was very steady down back, Armitage was good, Joey excellent, Kosi just looked in awesome shape and looms as a real power forward for us in 08'. Both Gardi and King in the ruck has given us some structure at last to build an attacking game plan around. They looked both big and talented. All in all - we are seeing a fit, strong and keen squad ready to deliver on many years of promise.

[Armoooo]

With Raph did he look like he was playing a similar role to that he had against Freo, almost playing as a loose man in defense as he was always waiting under the floating ball to take the uncontested mark? because if he could develop strongly into that role we would be able to play Goddard in the midfield more often and if Max or Goose went down and Fisher had to play key position we would still have a player capable of playing that loose man position that Sam Fisher did so well in 07.

[spiral2]

With Raph....because if he could develop strongly into that role we would be able to play Goddard in the midfield more often

I'm still not sold on Goddard as a midfielder, seems to me to struggle a bit in traffic. looks better with a bit more space, where he can use his kicking skills to greater advantage.
I'd like to see him have the occasional run up forward this year, his marking has really improved over the last couple of seasons and he should slot more than he misses. Would also be handy marking on HFF and delivering to deeper forwards.

[HarveysDeciple]

I am also echoing the sentiments of those who say Raph Clarke was good.

He is at home floating accross half back as he reads the play very well. Marked 8 or 10 opposition kicks inside 50.

Geary looked impressive. He had a ton of the footy and was one of the better players.

Michael Gardiner was a touch rusty but it was good to see him out there.

King was probably beaten by Van Rheenan but it was a good battle, Van Rheenan kicking a pearler from the pocket in the second term.

Joey was sublime, and Kozi looked big and powerful even if playing on young Khan.

Disposal at times overall was sloppy but it has been worse in recent intra club matches since 03, so overall fairly happy with what I saw.

Kyle Matthews is quality, as was that number 8 from the scorps....don't know who he is.

Best players overall: Kozi, Joey, Raph, Geary, C.Jones, Chipper imo...

[ben_fff]

So how does that game shape up to the 04 intra club? HD you said that our skills were better, did the intraclub get you a bit more excited coming into the Preseason cup?

[saintly]

My observation was that it was the best intra-club game I've seen for a few years. The skills were actually quite good - but it was the pace of the game that was impressive. They seemed to move the ball very quickly up and down the ground. Stand-outs were Geary - who is a ball magnet and quick, Raph was very steady down back, Armitage was good, Joey excellent, Kosi just looked in awesome shape and looms as a real power forward for us in 08'. Both Gardi and King in the ruck has given us some structure at last to build an attacking game plan around. They looked both big and talented. All in all - we are seeing a fit, strong and keen squad ready to deliver on many years of promise.

i agree that this match was the best intra club match i've seen in a couple of years. skills much better, even in the swirling wind

[joffaboy]

So how does that game shape up to the 04 intra club? HD you said that our skills were better, did the intraclub get you a bit more excited coming into the Preseason cup?

Pretty hard to tell. To many out last night to make any real comparisions.

In 04 we hit the groud running (after finishing 03 in style) ad had most of our players up and going in the Wizzy Wok.

We wont have that this year. There were up to 10 seniors out last night with mabye three coming in next week.

A couple of encouraging things though.

1) with all the players out the red team (all probable NAB cup players) looked pretty sharp. This means we have some pretty good depth in our list.

2) With Gardiner (the ruck variety) and King rucking, Gehrig up forward and Kosi up there as well, we look bloody big (Riewoldt will make us look even bigger).

Happy to also read it wasn't just me that though Raph played well. Have to agree with those who say he tends to have thoughtless disposals. Still his main weakness. Seems to want to play like Daryl White with his dinky little kicks. Cant remember the last time he roosted the ball. Needs to get more penetration in his kicking,