Post Your Apologies to Raph Clarke here

[Stillwaiting]

Haven't bagged Raph or any Saints player but geez Raph can be frustrating. Today he jumps out of the box does some slick things, shows alot of courage wins some hard ball , lays a ripper of a tackle. This is what i have been waiting for from Raph, but is he going to do it next week and the week after etc ? i sure hope so.

Agree. I have not bagged him, and have been annoyed with some of the attacks on him on this site. Hopfully ppl will lay off him now.

[georgie girl]

Played well all day - even when we were down. Sick of Raph knockers - good to see him have a great game!

[Beej]

He was very solid! Impressive play that helped win the game!

Didn't put a foot wrong second half, and he was marking everything in sight.

IMO he was better today (second half) than in the prelim.

Commanding performance.

[The Sainter]

I am one who has bagged him along with McQualter and Dawson. His game today showed that if he played to that high standard like Goddard, Hayes, Fisher and Monty to name four who consistently do there's no doubt he would be in our top 10 players. He got my third votes today and really there is no reason on that display why he cant become one of our most important players from now on. The ball is in his court as they say.

[bigcarl]

i don't need to apologise because i've always recognised his potential and have never bagged him, not even once.

he was BOG today bar lenny and i can see no reason why he cannot play like that every week.

[saintspremiers]

Lets not get ahead of ourselves 1 good game in 10 and is lucky to be in the side.

Let me get ahead of you.

Go find a dark corner without power/internet, and return when you can bash him with some reason, sad sack.

Settle down just stating the facts FFS

Not a sad sack just a fair call IMO

Why do we get so emotional about this bloke

Dunno, maybe because of the hundreds of compulsive Raph bashers.

I'm sure it can be treated with some sort of therapy!

[ralphsmith]

best game of the year for Ralph, he's had games like this before it's now up to Ralph to do this week in week out not every 10 weeks.

Thanks! That really boosts my confidence!

[Milan Faletic]

No apology from me, I think he can do it. He has bulked up too.

[Enrico_Misso]

Was awesome esp in the second half.
Great work Raph - now build on it !

[Winmar]

Good to see him do well, as most of us realise he can. It's so tedious reading people bagging him out, so it's nice to do without that for at least another week.

[StPeter]

I watched the game with a Raph hater who still managed to bag him and reluctantly conceded he was ok at the end of the game. But my friend was still disappointed because it means Raph must be selected next week.

Raph could be BOG every week and some people will still just highlight his occasional errors totally overlooking some of the great things he does.

I couldn't be happier that he proved his critics so wrong today.

[Armoooo]

I certainly have nothing to apologise for but I will admit that I have never been a fan of Raph, I have never thought he was capable of making the grade but today he was ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC!!

Having said that though he needs to string a few of those games together, he still has Geary breathing down his neck who IMO should be in the team ahead of Raph.

[matrix]

21 disp
8 marks
5 tackles
3 rebound 50s
4 one percenters

90% effective disposal %age

take em on rapher!

[Moccha]

There's a fine line between pleasure and pain with Raph. A couple of times he nearly fumbled the ball when he had tons of time. Seems like it's definately a mental issue because he has the ability. You just don't know what you're going to get.

[markp]

Maybe he performs better without thousands of 'supporters' audibly groaning whenever he goes near it, followed by howls of "Get off!"... just maybe.

[bigcarl]

There's a fine line between pleasure and pain with Raph. A couple of times he nearly fumbled the ball when he had tons of time. Seems like it's definately a mental issue because he has the ability. You just don't know what you're going to get.

agree. it takes a while for it all to come together and hopefully he can build on the excellence he showed yesterday and become the consistent gun i think he can be.

remember when bj used to be the whipping boy. i seem to recall quotes like "how did we waste a number 1 draft pick on this dud."

blake was another whipping boy of many years standing and now has developed into one of the competition's most reliable defenders.

it takes some longer than others and, in the famous words of captain blood jack dyer, i have only two words to say to raph:

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

[Eastern]

I thought it was great for Raph, great for the team and great for the fans the way he played. My hope now is that he strings 3 or 4 "Top 6" performances together in a row.

It is players like Raph (and a few others) who can take us deep into September, and we can do our bit to help. Raph is a confidence player who would receive a great lift if there was a LOUD ROAR, or lots of SCARF/FLAG waving for every positive act of play.

Even those who have "Bagged" Raph have got some sort of perverse pleasure out of it. HOW ABOUT WE ALL SHOW OUR APPRECIATION FOR HOW WELL THE GUY CAN PLAY. I'm sure there is pleasure there for ALL saints fans !!

[satchmo]

I thought it was great for Raph, great for the team and great for the fans the way he played. My hope now is that he strings 3 or 4 "Top 6" performances together in a row.

It is players like Raph (and a few others) who can take us deep into September, and we can do our bit to help. Raph is a confidence player who would receive a great lift if there was a LOUD ROAR, or lots of SCARF/FLAG waving for every positive act of play.

Even those who have "Bagged" Raph have got some sort of perverse pleasure out of it. HOW ABOUT WE ALL SHOW OUR APPRECIATION FOR HOW WELL THE GUY CAN PLAY. I'm sure there is pleasure there for ALL saints fans !!

Bingo!

[Dr Spaceman]

Great game Raph.

Looking forward to meeting up with a few of my "mates" this week. His game probably won't change their opinions but at least they'll have to shut their gobs for the time being.

Ahhhh, the beer will have never tasted better

[saintspremiers]

Maybe he performs better without thousands of 'supporters' audibly groaning whenever he goes near it, followed by howls of "Get off!"... just maybe.

Yep, and also Aboriginal players love playing in Perth.

Dunno, maybe it's the climate?

Just an observation.

[busso mick]

Raph was back to his best yesterday, here is an action shot of him coming off the half back flank in full flight.

[joffaboy]

Maybe he performs better without thousands of 'supporters' audibly groaning whenever he goes near it, followed by howls of "Get off!"... just maybe.

Yep, and also Aboriginal players love playing in Perth.

Dunno, maybe it's the climate?

Just an observation.

Think it is more the fact that Clarke seems to have his best games on the larger grounds. I have never seen him play badly at Subi and his good games far outweigh his bad games at the MCG.

Maybe it is the wide open spaces, that suits him more.

[Solar]

There's a fine line between pleasure and pain with Raph. A couple of times he nearly fumbled the ball when he had tons of time. Seems like it's definately a mental issue because he has the ability. You just don't know what you're going to get.

agree. it takes a while for it all to come together and hopefully he can build on the excellence he showed yesterday and become the consistent gun i think he can be.

remember when bj used to be the whipping boy. i seem to recall quotes like "how did we waste a number 1 draft pick on this dud."

blake was another whipping boy of many years standing and now has developed into one of the competition's most reliable defenders.

it takes some longer than others and, in the famous words of captain blood jack dyer, i have only two words to say to raph:

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

I wrote off blake at one stage when he was struggling in the seconds. It's nice when a player pushes deep inside and comes out a better player. Would love to see that form for weeks on end from raph. Has all the ability in the world. Just needs to start putting it together.

[Kris1]

[quote]It is players like Raph (and a few others) who can take us deep into September, and we can do our bit to help. Raph is a confidence player who would receive a great lift if there was a LOUD ROAR, or lots of SCARF/FLAG waving for every positive act of play. [/quote]

Loving his work this weekend and maybe, just maybe, if we all applied the same approach and cheered (rather than jeered) on our players, others like Kosi and Zac would get fired up and deliver like we know they can.

[gringo]

Straight after the game on SEN some d**khead rang in to ask how Raph gets a game. Stupid people with loud voices make the rest of our supporters look dumb. Why after the best game he has played would you ring in to complain especially after a win?