Rhys Stanley

[bigcarl]

My hope is he will be a Dustin Fletcher type or early WC Gherig. Or even an Adam Goodes type.

actually reminds me a bit of fletcher in the way he moves. very versatile and flexible player, fletcher.

[Cro]

Doesn't matter how good a side is - there are always weaknesses and there is always room to improve.

That applies to Geelong too.

So are you suggesting that St Kilda should sit complacently on its laurels and not look to improve ? .. based on winning 22 out of 25 games ?

The question is does St Kilda have an effective marking half forward flanker who has cemented a spot ?

If the answer is no then why not look to Stanley ? - as he looks a better prospect than whoever has been tried and has failed so far .

and Stanley is good at ground level .

A player that has played zero games is not going to have an influence on a season.

Did you miss Joel Selwood's first season?

Stanley did some nice things, but I don't see him featuring too much this year.

[#1GILL]

Doesn't matter how good a side is - there are always weaknesses and there is always room to improve.

That applies to Geelong too.

So are you suggesting that St Kilda should sit complacently on its laurels and not look to improve ? .. based on winning 22 out of 25 games ?

The question is does St Kilda have an effective marking half forward flanker who has cemented a spot ?

If the answer is no then why not look to Stanley ? - as he looks a better prospect than whoever has been tried and has failed so far .

and Stanley is good at ground level .

A player that has played zero games is not going to have an influence on a season.

Did you miss Joel Selwood's first season?

Stanley did some nice things, but I don't see him featuring too much this year.

Not to mention how Rhys Palmer was the General of the Freo midfield in his first season.

Or how Rich was Brisbanes most effective player with the footy.

[saintsRrising]

I don't think that comparisons with early draft pick mids is that relevant.

Comparing to Justin Westhoff at PA would bea lot more relevant.

Also it is not just whether Stanley could play...it is whether we would be better off with him as opposed to say Steven or Armo this year.

By seasons start with more games to compare well bea ina much better position to comment.

[BallBanger]

I reckon give the kid a go.

We need pace and a third mobile option up forward - ideally a 185 cm type - but he is so quick I reckon he can play on the half forward flank.
Who do we have who's better on the half forward flank at the moment ?

No one right ?

Also A Smith injects much needed pace.

In 2004 we almost won the premiership with mostly kids in our team - we can afford one or 2 good ones now - and we do need pace.

Won 22 out of 25 last year so I am not sure we need to inject players but if we did who does he replace or should we use more than our 22. And just because you are quick doesnt mean you can get the ball at ground level. I reckon there is no place for a 200cm player in our forward line at the moment unless he is very good at ground level.

Won 22 out of 25 last year why would we want to change the team...would be wrong to try and improve. We have no weaknesses do we plug

[plugger66]

I reckon give the kid a go.

We need pace and a third mobile option up forward - ideally a 185 cm type - but he is so quick I reckon he can play on the half forward flank.
Who do we have who's better on the half forward flank at the moment ?

No one right ?

Also A Smith injects much needed pace.

In 2004 we almost won the premiership with mostly kids in our team - we can afford one or 2 good ones now - and we do need pace.

Won 22 out of 25 last year so I am not sure we need to inject players but if we did who does he replace or should we use more than our 22. And just because you are quick doesnt mean you can get the ball at ground level. I reckon there is no place for a 200cm player in our forward line at the moment unless he is very good at ground level.

Won 22 out of 25 last year why would we want to change the team...would be wrong to try and improve. We have no weaknesses do we plug

We have a few but a tall HFF isnt what we need at this stage. Just one replacement name from somebody wanting him in would be nice.

[bigcarl]

Up forward, on the other hand, we have a chronic over-reliance on N Riewoldt, which would be instantly rectified if Goddard played there semi-permanently, as he showed when played up there in short bursts last year.

some good points in your post.

the quandary is that we have to win on the ball AND put the score on the board.

our midfield probably shaded geelong's in the grand final (no mean feat) with bj playing no small part, his broken collar bone and other injuries didn't help.

their forwards were able to capitalise on their limited opportunities. with riewoldt out of sorts, ours didn't.

in the finals against collingwood and the bulldogs we needed riewoldt's superhuman efforts to kick us a winning score, again showing that over-reliance on riewoldt is an area for concern.

bj forward would be one possible solution, but whether ross will entertain it is another thing. it's that troublesome third tall position that we never really found a solution for last season.

i'm sure we'll all be watching stanley with interest throughout the rest of the nab cup.

i don't want to over-hype the kid, but there aren't many 200cm-plus guys who can win grand final sprints and appear to have endurance, be able to take marks and kick straight.

[Rickabee]

bigcarl - I'm with you on this and I think that many are saying that this kid is worth watching to see how far he can go.

Earlier in the thread someone said you don't need tall flankers. I don't agree, but I do agree you don't want two tall flankers as that typically throws out the balance of being able to work at the ground level and we mostly all agree that we need our crumbers.

Coming into this year I was hoping we'd someone who could fulfill Hamill's old role being good defensively and and good overhead and a good finisher as we need someone else besides Rooey to kick goals. That is a slight overstatement as Kosi, Milne, Schneider and McQualter all contributed. For the oldies, I remember how good Ian Cooper was and how much I used to enjoy watching him play HFF.

Gwilt has been given many chances and he is a good finisher, but so far, he just doesn't get the ball often enough. He doesn't seem hungry enough to me, but that is my current perception an dI could be wrong.

Dempster - I question him as a forwardas he has the ability to play as a shutdown player on at least small & medium sized players. On the other hand lets see how much he can improve from his knee reconstruction before making final conclusions.

Lynch - I was hoping we could see him step up this year and maybe get some games and see how he performs. He may not be ready yet at this stage or have the body strength to survise a full year. Is he a "finishers"?

Heyne - same as for Lynch above. I am hoping one of them will evolve to fill this role. Is he a "finisher".

BJ - cited earlier in this thread and he could do the job very well, but he (and Dal Santo) are probably the best deliverers to our forward line so can we afford to risk this?

Gilbert - was tried out in this role last year as it is recognized that we have this deficiency. He is not always the most accurate kick but he has done reasonably well in his shots for goal. Seems better on the run than at set shots - my perception only - haven't seen the stats!

Tommy Walsh - work in progress - tall, very agile, can take a mark but needs to learn how to read the play. kicking - unknown so far. Hopefully we get to something in the NAB cup, but he is longer term development with a lot of potential upside.

Stanley - I thought was only a remote possibility for this at the start of the year but he can take good mark. He has also seems to be a good kick for goal so far from the reports that I have read. He is not the "lumbering" tall ruckman and he may be alright at ground level (jury obviously still out). He is fast, in a straight line, so he should be good on forward leads, but we don't really know his agility yet at this stage. The reports on his attitude are excellent and his background as a basketballer reflect on his athleticism.

All I think many of us are saying is let's hope he gets some more NAB game time so we can all make a better judgement of his current ability but understand where Plugger is coming from too. I can't see him displacing anyone today but let's keep watching and following his progress as he may "demand" a place in the team if he also performs at Sandringham during the course of the year.

I want to go along on the "ride" and watch this kid grow.

[stinger]

For the oldies, I remember how good Ian Cooper was and how much I used to enjoy watching him play HFF.

ahh...the memories mate......how good was he.....???

[Rickabee]

He could sure take a great mark!

Can you remember when/why he stopped? I think it was some medical condition??

[Spinner]

Doesn't matter how good a side is - there are always weaknesses and there is always room to improve.

That applies to Geelong too.

So are you suggesting that St Kilda should sit complacently on its laurels and not look to improve ? .. based on winning 22 out of 25 games ?

The question is does St Kilda have an effective marking half forward flanker who has cemented a spot ?

If the answer is no then why not look to Stanley ? - as he looks a better prospect than whoever has been tried and has failed so far .

and Stanley is good at ground level .

A player that has played zero games is not going to have an influence on a season.

Did you miss Joel Selwood's first season?

Stanley did some nice things, but I don't see him featuring too much this year.

Ok so on average 1 first year player out of 100 has an influence on a season.

....Which is very much on par with what i said.

[avid]

For the oldies, I remember how good Ian Cooper was and how much I used to enjoy watching him play HFF.

ahh...the memories mate......how good was he.....???

[/quote]He could sure take a great mark![/quote]

And he sure was skinny!!
Loved him too, climbing up like a stick insect on opposition backs.
Rhys Stanley is a bit better looking though.
(God I'm excited about Rhys!!)

[Moccha]

Rys Stanley is his own person. What the hell does he have in common with all the other 1st or 2nd year players like Selwood, Rich, Westhoff??? If he makes it he makes it in his own good time. Personally I think he'll be better than those but why the rush?

[sainter35]

Better than Joel Selwood Moccha?

[stinger]

For the oldies, I remember how good Ian Cooper was and how much I used to enjoy watching him play HFF.

ahh...the memories mate......how good was he.....???

He could sure take a great mark![/quote]

And he sure was skinny!!
Loved him too, climbing up like a stick insect on opposition backs.
Rhys Stanley is a bit better looking though.
(God I'm excited about Rhys!!)[/quote


i played against him once......under 15's i think......could have been under 17's......i pick him up ....he felt as heavy as a feather pillow...... i was so suprised..i just threw him to the ground rather than slamming him into it......

[samoht]

Nice anectode - I feel like a Cooper's Light after that !

[Teflon]

My hope is he will be a Dustin Fletcher type or early WC Gherig. Or even an Adam Goodes type.

actually reminds me a bit of fletcher in the way he moves. very versatile and flexible player, fletcher.

good call i see that too.

[yipper]

Ian Cooper would have been the Norm Smith medallist in the 66 GF if that award was around back then. Easily BOG on the day. He was a fine player in a powerful team.

[borderbarry]

Skinny Cooper was very under-rated. Pity he retired so early. Saw him play good footy with Alan Morrow at Dandy.

[samoht]

Stanley was recruited at 89 kgs as an 18 year old .. he's probably 90 kgs plus now I'm guessing.

He'll probably be best served to maintain his main assets which is his athleticism and speed - so I don't think he would want to put on any more than say another 5 kgs.

He's probably only 5% away from that - so it's no big deal.

Our immediate need is a quick, marking half forward ..
We need someone quick and mobile who can take the big mark and support Riewoldt - as we saw in the finals we need more than Kosi to do that.

and we can't keep playing 3 small forwards - especially in the tough finals - we need to move away from that.
2 crumbers is plenty, we don't need 3 (that's half our forward line)

[saintsRrising]

Stanley was recruited at 89 kgs as an 18 year old .. he's probably 90 kgs plus now I'm guessing.

He'll probably be best served to maintain his main assets which is his athleticism and speed - so I don't think he would want to put on any more than say another 5 kgs.

I think he will put on more than 5kgs in time.

As to his best position...way too early to say.

But IF he is capable of it it would be as a ruckman or key forward ,cost likely..and extra mass would help in both roles. a sper athletic and tall ruckman is a mout watering prospect.

He is young..and so initially may play in other roles...including FP or HFF

In the NAB he was basicallt rotating with Roo and Kosi. Witha reduced bench that will not hapen in the H&A unless Stanley is good enough to demad the No2 ruck spot...and King and McEvoy are more likely there.

At this stage 2010 will most likely bea development year..but again lets see how he goes in the remainder of the NAB.

[bergsone]

Skinny Cooper was very under-rated. Pity he retired so early. Saw him play good footy with Alan Morrow at Dandy.

I though cooper played for Sandy after the saints,also remember him missing a lot of footy through illness,making a comeback,but wasnt the player he once was.I was there in 66,played a great game.

Retro norm smith medals anyone?