Herald Sun Article on Jason Blake

[TimeToShineFellas]

Good to see the Hearld-Sun can't get their headlines right on the internet. Anyway, this is an article on Jason Blake, not Matthew Pavlich

Source: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/ ... 42,00.html

BLAKES's played everywhere, man
Jon Ralph | March 07, 2008 12:00am

IF Matthew Pavlich is the most versatile player in the AFL, St Kilda's jack-of-all-trades Jason Blake might just run a close second. Blake will never be named as an All-Australian rep - or in five different positions like Pavlich - but try these statistics on for size.

Last year, in what Blake considers his best season to date, he played full-back, centre half-back, wing, ruck, and as a tagger of the game's starring midfielders.

He played on Matthew Lloyd, Cam Bruce, Luke Darcy, Warren Tredrea, Adam Goodes, Luke Hodge, Chris Tarrant, Heath Shaw, Shane Crawford and Ben Cousins.

No wonder he calls himself "Selly's No More Gaps" as a trouble-shooter for coach Ross Lyon.

Blake, 27 next week, might never find a permanent spot on any line, but he hopes he has done enough to cement a position in St Kilda's starting 22 this year.

Just 191cm - clearly too short for a ruckman but with an engine capable of keeping up with the league's endurance stars - he has somehow carved a niche as an old-fashioned "utility".

"I enjoy it. It's one of my strengths, to multi-skill and to know the roles of each part of the field," he said ahead of tomorrow's NAB Cup grand final against Adelaide.

"I have been able to fill the holes the team has really felt I needed to go into to provide a supporting role."

Blake knows there are plenty of challenges ahead.

In the ruck, former Cat Steven King has arrived in excellent form, and Michael Gardiner's body is finally holding together.

In tagging roles, Sean Dempster has been drafted from Sydney and the midfield has much more depth than in previous years.

But as Blake enters his ninth season he hopes he can complement the new playing stocks, rather than be pushed out by them.

"I have really welcomed guys like Kingy and Gardy coming in. They are first-class ruckmen and will do a great job in there," he said.

"Definitely, there's still a chance of playing ruck. Clubs have ruckmen of varying size and shape and different strengths with running ability.

"If the match-up is right I might go in there and do some damage, or I could be down back, or in run-with roles."

At no time was Blake's adaptability more apparent than in the last month of the 2007 season.

From Round 19-22 he took on Sydney onballer Adam Goodes, Fremantle ruckman Daniel Gilmore, star Eagle Ben Cousins and Richmond ruckmen Graham Polak and Adam Pattison.

It capped a year in which he played all 22 games, was second for minutes played at the club, and finished ninth in the Trevor Barker Medal.

Blake is combining football with working at management consultancy firm Thinc Projects, while finishing an engineering/business management degree.

"They have been great. Between those two and footy it makes for a pretty hectic lifestyle. It's a distraction away from footy and it allows me to get away from footy and enjoy it more."

But while teammates famously grimaced when the club won its most recent pre-season silverware in the 2004, Blake is still waiting to experience some kind of emotion.

"I actually got knocked out in the last quarter so I can't remember getting my medal," he said.

"You will see me in the background looking dazed and confused, so if we win hopefully I will be able to remember this time."

[saint66au]

I love players who strive and strain and bust a gut to get every little bit out of the ability theyve been given

Jason Blake will always be one of those blokes

Also enjoy players who can "stick it up em" when they cop flack on here for not having the natural skills of a Dal or a Roo. For this reason I get a special kick from seeing Blakey, Fizz and Raph play well

Good article..he truly is an old fashioned "utility"

[markp]

former Cat Steven King has arrived

Yusuf Islam?...

Blake reminds me of Boxer from Animal Farm- "I will work harder"... the guy deserves much respect.

[bigcarl]

blake's always been able to hold off the competition and find a spot for himself and i'm tipping this season will be no different.

there's very few blokes of his size with his mobility and endurance.

an under-rated player who seems to be very highly regarded among both the coaches and the players.

might be tough to get a spot on our half backline with blake, raph and perhaps bj vying for the same spot

[saint patrick]

Would have Blake ahead of Raph at this stage...is still underated by most but does the 1 percenters as well as anyone in the side...at least you know he will give you a fierce contest and will keep running until the final siren...still a versatile asset to the club IMO.

You gotta love the Blake

[fingers]

former Cat Steven King has arrived

Yusuf Islam?...

LOL

[saintbrat]

former Cat Steven King has arrived

Yusuf Islam?...

LOL

the cats in the cradle- the saints cradle


atleast they got Jason's name right- he gets James far too often still.

Bit like Clinton JONES getting 'Johns!' last week I'm guessing C ourtney J ohns and C linton J ones are confusing- both being blonde and all.

[B W and R all over]

former Cat Steven King has arrived

Blake reminds me of Boxer from Animal Farm- "I will work harder"... the guy deserves much respect.

Wouldn't this imply St Kilda is a communist organisation?

[markp]

former Cat Steven King has arrived

Blake reminds me of Boxer from Animal Farm- "I will work harder"... the guy deserves much respect.

Wouldn't this imply St Kilda is a communist organisation?

Animal Farm was about communism??? ...Now it makes sense!


Just mean he's a tireless worker who gives his all in trying to doing what's required of him... sadly when his time is up we'll probably send him off to the glue factory like poor old Boxer too...

But I'm sure there are parallels comrade!

[barks4eva]

BLAKES's played everywhere, man
Jon Ralph | March 07, 2008 12:00am

Just 191cm - clearly too short for a ruckman

*************************************************************


CLEARLY, unless you're a numbnutted, buffoon who has the gall to turn around a take out a legal action against the club you say, you'd never do anything to hurt.

Anyone with a fair dinkum clue knows that Blake is not a ruckman, yet Thomas played him there for 15 games in the one season and but for Blake getting injured and missing about 4 weeks it would most likely have been more, and what happened?, we finished the year, 16th for hitouts to advantage.

As for Blake he is one of the most courageous footballers playing the game and for this alone he should be applauded, he is never going to be a star, but he has a fair dinkum honest go.

It's a shame really that Blake was crucified in the ruck by some know nothing, snakeoil salesman who as a rookie coach overpaid himself to the tune of $500,000 straight up from the get go, no questions asked, I mean fair dinkum

[stinger]

BLAKES's played everywhere, man
Jon Ralph | March 07, 2008 12:00am

Just 191cm - clearly too short for a ruckman

*************************************************************


CLEARLY, unless you're a numbnutted, buffoon who has the gall to turn around a take out a legal action against the club you say, you'd never do anything to hurt.

Anyone with a fair dinkum clue knows that Blake is not a ruckman, yet Thomas played him there for 15 games in the one season and but for Blake getting injured and missing about 4 weeks it would most likely have been more, and what happened?, we finished the year, 16th for hitouts to advantage.

As for Blake he is one of the most courageous footballers playing the game and for this alone he should be applauded, he is never going to be a star, but he has a fair dinkum honest go.

It's a shame really that Blake was crucified in the ruck by some know nothing, snakeoil salesman who as a rookie coach overpaid himself to the tune of $500,000 straight up from the get go, no questions asked, I mean fair dinkum

there's always gotta be one...........that turns a really good thread into crap......anyone notice that it is usually the same guy....


...anyway back to blake.......glad to see that it is finally acknowledged that he is worth his spot...and also that he is actually 191cm ......not the 189cm credited to him by nuff nuffs.....

...plugger played in the ruck...and at 190cm..i never heard anyone say that he was too short.......by the way... blake would still be a better option than rix...at least he knows what a football looks like.....

[Dan Warna]

can any post a link to a stats reporting site that said which year we came 16th in hitouts? or hitouts to advantage?

I've posted links before categorically proving that claim wrong from recognised data reporting sites.

further what did you think about Ross Lyon using Blake in the ruck in 07

[barks4eva]

BLAKES's played everywhere, man
Jon Ralph | March 07, 2008 12:00am

Just 191cm - clearly too short for a ruckman

*************************************************************


CLEARLY, unless you're a numbnutted, buffoon who has the gall to turn around a take out a legal action against the club you say, you'd never do anything to hurt.

Anyone with a fair dinkum clue knows that Blake is not a ruckman, yet Thomas played him there for 15 games in the one season and but for Blake getting injured and missing about 4 weeks it would most likely have been more, and what happened?, we finished the year, 16th for hitouts to advantage.

As for Blake he is one of the most courageous footballers playing the game and for this alone he should be applauded, he is never going to be a star, but he has a fair dinkum honest go.

It's a shame really that Blake was crucified in the ruck by some know nothing, snakeoil salesman who as a rookie coach overpaid himself to the tune of $500,000 straight up from the get go, no questions asked, I mean fair dinkum

there's always gotta be one...........that turns a really good thread into crap......anyone notice that it is usually the same guy....


...anyway back to blake.......glad to see that it is finally acknowledged that he is worth his spot...and also that he is actually 191cm ......not the 189cm credited to him by nuff nuffs.....

...plugger played in the ruck...and at 190cm..i never heard anyone say that he was too short.......by the way... blake would still be a better option than rix...at least he knows what a football looks like.....

If Plugger plyed in the ruck then it was for what?>one game

Blake was played in the ruck for at least 15 games in the one season, and wasn't even chosen as the preferred ruckman for our final against melbourne and we finished the year 16th for hitouts to advantage, how nuffy is that?

Blake's courage can never be questioned, but as for him being worth his spot, well we'll just have to wait and see, in 2008 the competition for positions in our 22 will be much tougher and Blake is far from guaranteed a spot.

[Dan Warna]

fair call on blake having to earn his spot, but anything further on hitouts to advantage?

nothing also to do with the fact in the final against melbourne we lost what 7 players? through injury during the game ><

thats bad luck, nothing more nothing less, we are a far better team than the dees that day.

[barks4eva]

can any post a link to a stats reporting site that said which year we came 16th in hitouts? or hitouts to advantage?

I've posted links before categorically proving that claim wrong from recognised data reporting sites.

:

Depends which data site you go to I suppose

but we were 16th for hitouts to advantage, 16th for first hands on the ball

15th for centre clearances

and 13th for .........I can't quite remember, but something similarly related


and Dan I did get those statsat the time from an official source

further what did you think about Ross Lyon using Blake in the ruck in 07 :roll

Didn't like it, but at least it was only on a couple of occasions and if you had of blinked, you'd have missed it.

Wasn't anything like 15 games in the ruck.


Anyway, Blake is CLEARLY not a ruckman so don't expect him to be sacrificed in this position anymore as we no longer have a buffoon for a coach.

[Dan Warna]

at the time you posted it originally you claimed you read in the herald sun, now you claim its from an official source.

you repeated so many times, you had other people who had no idea where the data came from quoting it as if it were fact.

I got a friend of mine (who works for a stats company which works for the AFL) to pass me on data which is normally fee for service. I posted this data on the forum at the time, at which point you started posting links to posts I made 4 months earlier and said it was the herald sun that you got the data from.

the fact is your stats are wrong, and a myth you wish to perpetuate in your obsession with GT.

further its good to see your tune with regard to blake has softened from outright abuse to acknowledging his courage and what he has to offer the team.

you also forget that Blake, put his body in the line as a young man and had his spine cracked for him by stafford, an injury for which he spent years returning from, and cost him i believe speed and agility, which through hard work he tries to make up with endurance.

his academic achievements also put lie to criticism regarding him being stupid.

good on you blake, might not be a superstar champion, or a 500k p/a player, but your red white and black and your courage, even apparently by your most ardent critics has been acknowledged.

[The_Dud]

i agree that Blake was never the same after he got hit by Stafford

he looked like a very promising young player

[barks4eva]

at the time you posted it originally you claimed you read in the herald sun, now you claim its from an official source.

.

Dan, I read the herald sun article on Saintsational, this article had a reference to the data company the stats had been made available by, champion data, not sure, can't remember, but I can tell you what I posted was exactly what was in that article>FACT, which to the best of my recollection was Oct 2006.

the fact is your stats are wrong,

Dan they are NOT MY STATS, I quoted directly from a herald sun article posted on Saintsational which sourced their information from an official data stats company.

As has been pointed out to you previously different data companies tend to have different results even for the same subject matter.

I referred to the article posted in the herald sun Oct 2006, which referenced champion data as their source, to the best of my recollection.

his academic achievements also put lie to criticism regarding him being stupid.

Excuse me, but is this supposed to insinuate that I previously referred to Blake as stupid?

I've never said such a thing, I have written last year that as footballers, many of our players were soft and were playing dumb football, after the collingwood and bulldog's games in particular, absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with their overall intelligence as people.

I personally do not believe that Blake is in our best 22, but hey when do we ever have our best 22.

good on you blake, might not be a superstar champion, or a 500k p/a player, but your red white and black and your courage, even apparently by your most ardent critics has been acknowledged

Blake has always been courageous, given 100%, etc...etc...the issue was largely centred around the fact that Blake is NOT a ruckman.

Blake was crucified by a know nothing over paid rookie coach without a clue and since Lyon has been coaching Blake's effectiveness and value as a footballer has increased imho, largely due to him being played in more appropriate roles that add value to the team as a whole.

IMHO Blake will be up against it to find a position in the 22 this year, but his courage can never be questioned and for that alone he should be applauded and will be continually putting his hand up for selection.

[markp]

you also forget that Blake, put his body in the line as a young man and had his spine cracked for him by stafford

Was there ever a greater swine than Stafford? Was sat next to him at a pub in Richmond while watching Hird play his last in WA... Stafford laughed with a couple of other Richmond has-beens and winced and mimicked Hird as he cried at the end... he's not James Hird's bootlace

[mad saint guy]

Dan, stinger - just ignore it. No need to restart pathetic petty arguments and get a good thread locked.

[Dan Warna]

you also forget that Blake, put his body in the line as a young man and had his spine cracked for him by stafford

Was there ever a greater swine than Stafford? Was sat next to him at a pub in Richmond while watching Hird play his last in WA... Stafford laughed with a couple of other Richmond has-beens and winced and mimicked Hird as he cried at the end... he's not James Hird's bootlace

yep blake had worked himself into some awesome form and was being talked up as being a young kid in our starting team etc, and then stafford drops his knees into his spine, i remember even richmond fans at the time who weren't animals condemning stafford (a few tigers fans were laughing but you get all sorts of idiots).

IMO should have had his career finished for him there and then (stafford) and I guess for a lesser person than blake, his career would have been finished too.

IMO i've always been impressed with folks who can work there way through adversity to achieve.

[Armoooo]

you also forget that Blake, put his body in the line as a young man and had his spine cracked for him by stafford

Was there ever a greater swine than Stafford? Was sat next to him at a pub in Richmond while watching Hird play his last in WA... Stafford laughed with a couple of other Richmond has-beens and winced and mimicked Hird as he cried at the end... he's not James Hird's bootlace

That is pathetic, I respect a man who is willing to cry for his club, it shows true passion...

[Dan Warna]

stafford was an asswipe, even richmond supporters who knew him thought he was a creep.

[vacuous space]

Dan they are NOT MY STATS, I quoted directly from a herald sun article posted on Saintsational which sourced their information from an official data stats company.

We were last in hitouts to advantage. It's right there on page 246 of the 2007 AFL Prospectus for everyone to see. And if you flip over to page 259, you'll see just how much Rix Rox Rux.

[fonz_#15]

blake's always been able to hold off the competition and find a spot for himself and i'm tipping this season will be no different.

there's very few blokes of his size with his mobility and endurance.

an under-rated player who seems to be very highly regarded among both the coaches and the players.

might be tough to get a spot on our half backline with blake, raph and perhaps bj vying for the same spot

i wouldn't say he is under-rated, those who have a clue know what he brings to our team..A great success story of a player with very limited ability who busts his balls for the betterment of the team.

Would be one of the first on any team sheet i write up, because a bloke who is prepared to give every ounce of energy he has to win us a game is a player we must not undervalue.

keep working hard and you will be around for a few more years yet blakey.