Intra club - Thurs 16th 5 pm

[borderbarry]

I thought Billings was the best on the ground. Had a really good four quarters.

[kosifantutti]

From what I saw in the interclub match, Battle should be playing Round 1, at the expence of Bruce or Membrey. And Jason just may have developed into our best ruckman.

Battle was impressive but it was just a practice match. You seriously want to drop Bruce or Membrey based on that.

Holmes played OK yesterday but he's a long way behind Hickey.

[BigMart]

Impressed mainly

Gilbert and Roberton excellent

Ross, Newnes, Armitage, Sav, Webster, Weller and a few other mid range players were as they are expected to be every week now - Solid or better

Koby Stevens was excellent

Steele was ok but a bit rusty

Acres a mixed bag ... a lot to like, lot of mistakes

Disagree about Lonie thought he was very good indeed and creative

Sinclair, Bailey, Phillips, Minch, Rice all had good moments and

Dunstan was very good around the footy, used it well

Longer was clearly the most dominant ruckman... the others were ok

Bruce and Carlisle were possibly the least impressive players on the field

McCartin was very dangerous... a smart and strong player. Kicking is mixed.

Battle was really dangerous, and is a natural forward with goal sense

Wright and Geary are as mad as meat axes in their attack... along with DMac

DMac and Billings outstanding ... the latter BOG

White was quiet, obviously the Irish boys were learning and Coughlin battled hard against better opponents.


But even though Battle kicked 5 I was most impressed by Marshall... he did 4 things that made my sit up and take notice... for a big man he is a natural footballer, kicks it beautifully and moves well. He is a KF, KD, Ruck... how's that for versatility

Overall
Standard good, intensity and defensive pressure a bit low - didn't seem too hard to get a kick

Nick Riewoldt looks like a machine

Jake Carlisle is as tall as a ruckman, but fairly lean... Hugh has lost heaps of weight... as has Rice

[Bernard Shakey]

But even though Battle kicked 5 I was most impressed by Marshall... he did 4 things that made my sit up and take notice... for a big man he is a natural footballer, kicks it beautifully and moves well. He is a KF, KD, Ruck... how's that for versatility

A lot of promise in this kid!

[saintbrat]

http://www.gettyimages.com.au/search/ev ... al#license

getty photos

[saynta]

Tracked out to Sandy today and my observations below:

Dmac: very very good, silky and precise with his kicking playing off back flank
Hickey: (played for Sandy) he dominated around the ground and smashed Longer
Koby Stevens: played very well as the in and under player
3 Talls all looked very dangerous up forward
Carlisle: he's a fair monster and did some nice things, showed some aggression
Gresch: will be a star
Rice: did some nice things
Geary: played a more attacking half back role
Battle: has a Load of talent but needs a couple of years
Newnes and Savage both nice long kicks and used it well
Billings: looks quite slim, but disappointing, I was hoping he got a bit chunkier legs and a lower centre of gravity.. Hasn't

The saints really attacked the ball hard and U could tell a focus is the forward line pressure trying to compensate for the 3 talls.. Mav Weller, Lonie, Billings will be a key cog for this..

Amazing report MS, you got so much right but you are so wrong on Hickey and Billings.
Longer destroyed him today.
A fact acknowledged internally by coaching staff.
As for Billings, your very solid report comes completely unstuck if you thought his game was disappointing.
He was BOG for the 2nd week in a row, and his workrate, defensive efforts and silky skills have everyone very excited.

Love your input Jaxons but I am still very much of the opinion Hickey towelled Longer..

In regards to billings I meant I was disappointed with his body shape.. His game was decent (although wouldn't say BOG) I've always had big wraps for Jackie B but I just don't think he is going to come on and be a superstar which is disappointing. He will be the cream and hopefully we can scoop up a couple of superstars in FA and the draft

Dont agree . Jack was easily bog from what I saw.

Oozes class. Moves so gracefully.

Classiest player on the ground by far.

You can just tell the boy will be a star.

[To the top]

So who was on Battle?

Given he was in a Sandringham jumper and his opponent/s was/were in a St Kilda jumper.

[Wrote for Luck]

Demptser was on Battle in second quarter, when he kicked the sneaky around the corner when ball fell to ground in the square.

[borderbarry]

Hickey: (played for Sandy) he dominated around the ground and smashed Longer.

I saw it differently. Sandy had the better of the Saints in the first quarter, when Longer was their ruckman and giving them drive from the ruck contests. So at quarter time they swapped Longer and Hickey around, and then St.Kilda started to dominate. As I have posted previously, if they had of given Pearce and Holmes a go in the ruck against the other two it would have been interesting.

[SaintPav]

From what I saw in the interclub match, Battle should be playing Round 1, at the expence of Bruce or Membrey. And Jason just may have developed into our best ruckman.

[kosifantutti]

Hickey: (played for Sandy) he dominated around the ground and smashed Longer.

I saw it differently. Sandy had the better of the Saints in the first quarter, when Longer was their ruckman and giving them drive from the ruck contests. So at quarter time they swapped Longer and Hickey around, and then St.Kilda started to dominate. As I have posted previously, if they had of given Pearce and Holmes a go in the ruck against the other two it would have been interesting.

Wait. What?

You're saying Hickey and Longer swapped teams at quarter time. I didn't see that.

Can anyone confirm?

[BackFromUSA]

Hmmm I do remember Longer wearing #2 for the Saints team in quarter 2 but I can remember him wearing another number of jumper in quarter 1. May be worth a look on the stream replay!

[Bluthy]

http://www.saints.com.au/video/2017-02- ... lonie-1702

Got quite a few over the back in this game. Lonie has to get that work rate up real high. Just got to be a pesky little flea all game - tackling, crumbing, pressuring, keeping defenders stressed by zipping around and being dangerous. I loved his ability to set up fellow forwards with his short passing when he first came to us. Needs to be landing those more.

[SMS]

Acres = not top 22 will be traded for fyfe weve overated him. His disposal is bad, his thought process is slow. He has ELITE traits which is why we get keen, but his other attributes are average to below average.
Lonie is a great footbaler just not AFL elite standard. Same with Sinclair. All 3 will be gone by 2018/2019 but doesnt matter as we will win flags yes FLAGS from 2017 to 2027

Get excited. Seb Ross, Mackenzie, Dunstan, Gresham, Billings, Battle will be elite. Everyone is ripping on them but THEY are the elites. We have amazing depth and balance.
Dogs won 2016. I gaurantee we'll have more flags than dogs by 2027. Watch. this. space.

[samoht]

It depends how things pan out, but I have a feeling we won't be playing two ruckmen - and I think Battle will get quite a few games this year.

A forward line with the marking power of Battle, Bruce, Membrey and McCartin plus two ground-level small-to-medium forwards to apply forward pressure and lock the ball in our forward line. Long/Weller/Steele et al, all rotating through there? Why not?

Membrey is also good at ground level. So, I think the balance would be OK?

I think it would work - notionally, it works for me, anyway. Fifteen F50 marks/game are almost guaranteed.

[Joe Bloggs]

Acres = not top 22 will be traded for fyfe weve overated him. His disposal is bad, his thought process is slow. He has ELITE traits which is why we get keen, but his other attributes are average to below average.
Lonie is a great footbaler just not AFL elite standard. Same with Sinclair. All 3 will be gone by 2018/2019 but doesnt matter as we will win flags yes FLAGS from 2017 to 2027

Get excited. Seb Ross, Mackenzie, Dunstan, Gresham, Billings, Battle will be elite. Everyone is ripping on them but THEY are the elites. We have amazing depth and balance.
Dogs won 2016. I gaurantee we'll have more flags than dogs by 2027. Watch. this. space.

Battle ??????? Has not played a game yet. Way to early to crow. Fyfe???? No chance ACRES aint going anywhere .

[samoht]

Battle could work through weight of numbers- there'd be too many talls to contend with - who do you stop?

Battle can get under the guard - as he won't have the best defender on him. Initially, anyway.

[stkfc1]

Acres = not top 22 will be traded for fyfe weve overated him. His disposal is bad, his thought process is slow. He has ELITE traits which is why we get keen, but his other attributes are average to below average.
Lonie is a great footbaler just not AFL elite standard. Same with Sinclair. All 3 will be gone by 2018/2019 but doesnt matter as we will win flags yes FLAGS from 2017 to 2027

Get excited. Seb Ross, Mackenzie, Dunstan, Gresham, Billings, Battle will be elite. Everyone is ripping on them but THEY are the elites. We have amazing depth and balance.
Dogs won 2016. I gaurantee we'll have more flags than dogs by 2027. Watch. this. space.

Battle ??????? Has not played a game yet. Way to early to crow. Fyfe???? No chance ACRES aint going anywhere .

Oh my stars. One practice game and now we're trading Acres and Battle is going to win us the premiership off his own boot. Get a grip people. Such short memories on here. Acres form at the end of the year had everyone excited and he has one lacklustre PRACTICE game and suddenly he's a dud. FFS.

[samoht]

Battle doesn't have to win us the premiership off his own boot - that's the point.
Who do you stop in our forward line?

Same with our midfield - we don't need to have one or two midfielders stand out and get 30 plus possessions per game. It's best if 8 share the load and get 20 possessions each.

Weight of numbers. That's what we're aiming for - an overall team effort to get the job done - without the need of 6 elite or x number of elite superstars. I think our recruiting would have succeeded if we end up being that team.

[DJ Higgins]

I watched the game and to be honest the hard hits and huge tackles were missing so most players seemed to play better than usual knowing that they weren't going to get hit hard.

a few quick points

Hickey didn't have a great game but he was still good especially around the ground.
Billings looked good and had a lot of ball but still worried about hi size. I was hoping he would have been a little bigger especially around the legs.
GIlbo played really well and actaully kicked well. Amazing what pressure for your spot will do
Gresh was good as per usual but am I the only one worried about the second year slump
Battle. Holy crap he is good. And not for a boy he is just good.He can kick straight and has a tank. Can't wait to get games into him
Paddy will be great if he can keep from being hit in the head
Acres. Not great but still it was only a practice game
Carlisle - Rusty for obvious reason but I am neither sold on him nor disappointed. Give him a chance to get match fitness and learn how our back sick work
Steele - didn't overly impress but give him time

Over all Im happy we how we went but not buying final tickets just yet

[st.byron]

I watched the game and to be honest the hard hits and huge tackles were missing so most players seemed to play better than usual knowing that they weren't going to get hit hard.

a few quick points

Hickey didn't have a great game but he was still good especially around the ground.
Billings looked good and had a lot of ball but still worried about hi size. I was hoping he would have been a little bigger especially around the legs.
GIlbo played really well and actaully kicked well. Amazing what pressure for your spot will do
Gresh was good as per usual but am I the only one worried about the second year slump
Battle. Holy crap he is good. And not for a boy he is just good.He can kick straight and has a tank. Can't wait to get games into him
Paddy will be great if he can keep from being hit in the head
Acres. Not great but still it was only a practice game
Carlisle - Rusty for obvious reason but I am neither sold on him nor disappointed. Give him a chance to get match fitness and learn how our back sick work
Steele - didn't overly impress but give him time

Over all Im happy we how we went but not buying final tickets just yet

Am also not 'expecting' finals this year. Optimism is boundless at this time of year and finals would be great but we may have another year of development required before we're there. We have a much much harder draw this year - 3rd hardest according to Champion Data. Am not necessarily looking for finals but for more development of our younger guys.

Regarding some who are being talked about as not being up to it or needing to step up, patience :

Acres - 21 y.o 26 games.
Lonie - 20 y.o 27 games
Gresham - 19 y.o 18 games
Billings 21 y.o 42 games - time for him to take another step but don't expect dominance
Membrey - awesome year last year but still only 30 games under his belt. Wont be surprised if he plateaus a bit.
Paddy - nearly 21. 17 games. Another development year for him. Don't expect him to rip games apart and dominate. More glimpses of elite potential and some solid games would be great.
Sinclair - just turned 22 y.o but still only 27 games.
D-Mac - being touted as the bolter for the year. Awesome if it happens, but still - 20 y.o 16 games.
Minch - is 23 y.o but still only 23 games.
Wright - 23 y.o 30 games.

With all of these guys, most of them 30 games or less, I want to see consistency rather than expecting them to dominate or become elite this year.
I want to especially see increased midfield depth and multiple options develop in most positions apart from key forwards and key defenders.

[saynta]

Impressed mainly

Gilbert and Roberton excellent

Ross, Newnes, Armitage, Sav, Webster, Weller and a few other mid range players were as they are expected to be every week now - Solid or better

Koby Stevens was excellent

Steele was ok but a bit rusty

Acres a mixed bag ... a lot to like, lot of mistakes

Disagree about Lonie thought he was very good indeed and creative

Sinclair, Bailey, Phillips, Minch, Rice all had good moments and

Dunstan was very good around the footy, used it well

Longer was clearly the most dominant ruckman... the others were ok

Bruce and Carlisle were possibly the least impressive players on the field

McCartin was very dangerous... a smart and strong player. Kicking is mixed.

Battle was really dangerous, and is a natural forward with goal sense

Wright and Geary are as mad as meat axes in their attack... along with DMac

DMac and Billings outstanding ... the latter BOG

White was quiet, obviously the Irish boys were learning and Coughlin battled hard against better opponents.


But even though Battle kicked 5 I was most impressed by Marshall... he did 4 things that made my sit up and take notice... for a big man he is a natural footballer, kicks it beautifully and moves well. He is a KF, KD, Ruck... how's that for versatility

Overall
Standard good, intensity and defensive pressure a bit low - didn't seem too hard to get a kick

Nick Riewoldt looks like a machine

Jake Carlisle is as tall as a ruckman, but fairly lean... Hugh has lost heaps of weight... as has Rice

So we have a Bailey and a Rice?

Cool.

[George27]

Hickey: (played for Sandy) he dominated around the ground and smashed Longer.

I saw it differently. Sandy had the better of the Saints in the first quarter, when Longer was their ruckman and giving them drive from the ruck contests. So at quarter time they swapped Longer and Hickey around, and then St.Kilda started to dominate. As I have posted previously, if they had of given Pearce and Holmes a go in the ruck against the other two it would have been interesting.

Wait. What?

You're saying Hickey and Longer swapped teams at quarter time. I didn't see that.

Can anyone confirm?

Kos - I just watched the whole game on Saints website , and Longer played for Sandy - and Hickey for the Saints - the whole game.

I agree Billings BOG. Got it a lot ,ran a lot and used it very well. Yes only a practice game , and he had no tag , BUT he impressed. Does it mean he will have a breakout year ? Not necessarily of course..However before the game I hoped he would play well. He did. So good signs.

As to Josh Battle , not it was not a debut to match Big Carl v Dees in 63 or George Young v Dees in 73 ( or even John Georgiadis for the Dogs , who kicked 8 on debut and stuff all thereafter ), BUT he is the youngest player on the list, he moved well , tackled well and slotted 5. It entitles him to be in the conversation . It entitles us to say ( albeit still in hope ) that we may one here. It certainly entitles us also to think that, at the very least , we have not wasted his pick.

[George27]

Sorry - got that round the wrong way. Hickey for Sandy, and Longer for Saints - all day! I think. I need a rest !

[BigMart]

What is this fascination with 'size'

In the modern game most players have shed wall unecessary size to help with running ability

Tom Hickey has the skinniest legs I've seen on a bi bloke ever, Geary is fairly skinny, Roo is lean as...

Hardness and competitiveness is far more important than a big bloke who is soft and/or cannot spread. Do people actually believe bigger= better

Check out the size of Leigh Montagna in real life these days