Speedy Saints

[leighsaintsince66]

Have heard a lot in the last year or two about the importance of speedy outside players...
Players who can break the lines.

Upon reflection we have of course, had a fair share of pacy players over the years.

Here is a compilation of some Speedy Saints over the years.

This is by means an exhaustive list. A number of other speedsters probably deserved a mention.

In no particular order:

Besanko, Cox, Foschini, Stanley, Jones, Peake, Bond, Trott, Muir.

From today's players, maybe Steven? Possibly one of our new recruits?

All of the above players IMO, have been incredibly quick over 40-100 metres.

How about over other distances?

Over 20 metres: Plugger? Don't get in his way please!

Over 100 - 400 metres: Roo? Has there ever been a forward who covered as much ground? I suspect not!

Over 400 metres - 10 - 15 plus kilometres: Banger? Has there ever been an on-baller with as much stamina? Maybe Crawford in 1999? Over the journey however I suspect not!
An absolute running machine...

Thoughts?

[jays]

more important is skill and how fast you move the ball without turning it over not leg speed

[leighsaintsince66]

Thank you very much for your insightful feedback.
Should have realised about the importance of those factors!
Go Sainters!

[Grrrrr]

Jason Gram had some good pace on him...Was a line breaker.

[Con Gorozidis]

Interesting.

If you had asked me 6 months ago what was the main weakness with our list the answer was simple. Lack of pace.

6 months later I feel the club has really tried hard to address this. Clark, Coffield, Langlands & Paton look quick. Coffield, Langlands and Paton in particular.

Throw in Freeman and Ray Connellan and we might actually look speedy in 2018.

[Wrote for Luck]

Luke Miles was pretty quick.

[Con Gorozidis]

Luke Miles was pretty quick.

Joffa Cunningham.
Brett Moyle.
G Train.
Winmar.
Aussie Jones.

[bigcarl]

more important is skill and how fast you move the ball without turning it over not leg speed

Correct. Can't beat moving it quickly to advantage. No one can run that fast.

That's why I'm excited about Sinclair, who never wastes a ball and always seems to find a player in a good position to use it.

[samoht]

The key word here is "also".

Breaking lines is also important; chasing down opponents and applying pressure that way is also important (making opponents rush their kicks or handballs to create turnovers); getting to contests first is also important.

You need to get the overall team balance right - and a slow side will be found out - as we were when lowly Essendon ran rings around us in 2009 and 2010, and beat us with leg speed.

At the individual player level, if you're looking for an overall thing you want a player to have (I think anway), it's the ability to create time and space and never be rushed; to hang on to the ball and use it effectively at all times, even under extreme pressure.
Leg speed (to get clear/run past), evasiveness (to get around) and lower/upper body strength helps (to fend off would-be tacklers or break tackles); it all helps. It's never one thing.

[cwrcyn]

Justin Peckett.....looked like he was cruising but was as quick as Aussie Jones

[Con Gorozidis]

more important is skill and how fast you move the ball without turning it over not leg speed

Correct. Can't beat moving it quickly to advantage. No one can run that fast.

That's why I'm excited about Sinclair, who never wastes a ball and always seems to find a player in a good position to use it.

Hard to do against teams that zone. Also what if you can kick well AND run fast?

They dont need be mutually exclusive - you can have a player who does both - think Dustin Martin* (rather than Nate Wright...).

*Note: Dustin Martin did a 2.89 sprint at the draft camp - http://www.theage.com.au/news/rfnews/pi ... 70433.html

[leighsaintsince66]

Agree Con..."What if you can kick well AND run fast"?

Here is one example:

Plugger - 1,360 goals in his career, including 898 for the Saints.

Not a bad effort

Q.How fast was he on the lead over 20 - 30 metres or so?
A. IMO, just about the fastest full forward ever

Q. How well did he kick?
A. IMO, just about the best kick for goal ever

Q. How many goals would he have kicked if he wasn't fast, especially on the lead?
A: No-one knows. Maybe 650?

Quite an exciting player indeed.. with both leg speed and skill!

[CQ SAINT]

Agree Con..."What if you can kick well AND run fast"?

Here is one example:

Plugger - 1,360 goals in his career, including 898 for the Saints.

Not a bad effort

Q.How fast was he on the lead over 20 - 30 metres or so?
A. IMO, just about the fastest full forward ever

Q. How well did he kick?
A. IMO, just about the best kick for goal ever

Q. How many goals would he have kicked if he wasn't fast, especially on the lead?
A: No-one knows. Maybe 650?

Quite an exciting player indeed.. with both leg speed and skill!

Not to forget the skill with which the ball was being delivered to him. Harvey and Winmar knew where to put the ball and knew what Plugger was capable of. Many a diving mark taken at the end of a quick 20 metre lead from a short pass threaded through traffic.

Riewoldt seemed to make the miraculous happen due to poor kicking alot of the time but the trademark fainted change of direction from Plagger before the lead seemed so well drilled. He was pretty awesome one on the one and in a pack and, for a big boy, he could leap too. Then there was the turnaround hook kick on the left or right foot from 50.

He was a freak.

[samoht]

Plugger may have been fast, and probably was, but Brendon Fevola won the 100 metre sprint in 2006.

I found this interesting about Richmond ...Note: there are only 17 of these highlighted AFL players who have hit max speeds of 34.6km/hr or higher (which should average say 1 per team, if there were an even spread across all AFL teams) - but Richmond has 5 of them (or 30% roughly).

Including Menadue, Richmond has five representatives among the 17 players to hit maximum speeds of 34.6kmh or more this season, with Shai Bolton (34.8kmh), Jason Castagna (34.8kmh), Daniel Rioli (34.6kmh) and Alex Rance (34.6kmh) also featuring.

Speed has been a key to Richmond’s resurgence this season, with the small forward ‘mosquito fleet’ — made up of Castagna, Rioli, Dan Butler and at times Bolton — well known for their quick feet and the pressure they apply on opposition defences.

“We have a nice complement of inside players …. and some really classy outside young players that are starting to (blossom),” Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said in June.

“When you’ve got guys like (Daniel) Rioli, (Shai) Bolton, (Jason) Castagna and (Dan) Butler; knowing they’re coming, sometimes it puts a bit of pressure on the opposition, so they probably get rid of it half a step earlier.”

[Con Gorozidis]

One interestnig thing is using pace when you dont have the ball and are defending or trying to rush opposition defenders.

Tigers players like Rioli, Castagna, Rance and Butler did that well in the finals series. They created panic and cause turnovers.

Remember no side got within 30 points of the Tiges during the finals. The winning margins were 51, 36, 48.

I'd also include Houli in the category of players with pace who also kick it well.