lots going on with 40 odd saints on the field at once, so hard to track everyone, especially unfamiliar newbies, my apologies
Jack Steven - attack on and desire for the footy outstanding
Gresh - very lively, playing mostly mid and taking the game on. disposal and decisions a bit off at times but looking to create. solid unit. very high pitched voice when calling for the ball, funny
Billings - got a bit of it, not as much as the other match sim I saw a couple of weeks ago
Paddy - got a few quality grabs and kicked one or two. out-bodied and positioned a few times by defenders. good hands and decisions with ball in close. opposed to Darragh mostly. still with the bent leg kicking and led with his head for a ground ball....wearing helmet. looks very fit, actually has some muscle definition in calves now
Bruce - played forward and in ruck, trounced in ruck, did ok
Roberton - back into it, intercepting etc, did well
Dunstan - looks very fit prob slimmer too, still iffy decisions and too cute with kicks at times
Acres - got caught a lot (same as a couple of weeks ago). overthinking it and trying to do too much. decision making not great. one nice clearance when played in centre.
reckon this is his go, less time to think, see ball, get ball, dispose.
Sinclair - got a fair bit of it in game
Coffield - a couple of his trademark runs through HB-Centre, nice attacking footy, needs to sharpen up kicks/decisions inside 50
Steele - solid game
Darragh - did pretty well
Kent - got a bit of it, loves a dash, one sided
Hannebery - not sure he played all the game, mentioned on saints site he played but didn't really notice him sorry
Sam Abalaskis - miles off it at the moment. is tall and pretty agile. that's all so far. weak in running drills (not surprising)
Billy - didn't notice any touches but smashed a few packs. timing into packs seemed better. very physical in ruck
Lewis Pierce - like this kid, wants the footy, gets it in close. seems pretty agile, can mark. prob beaten in ruck but didn't pay close attention.
Paton and Dmac - fan of both, both look very fit. Dmac not getting to right spots a few times - corrected by coaches - played around wing
Battle - didn't notice him too much - played back so didn't notice him at first
Clavarino - like this kid, gets very involved, intercepting and distributing. reckon he'll get a run this year. still light though, out bodied by stronger types
Hunter - didn't seem to get heaps of it in match but did some really nice things, very slippery customer. will be a gun, mark my unsubstantiated words!
outstanding in later drill with mass numbers in tight space. his dual sidedness, clean hands, evasion and decision making exceptional
others to stand out in tight space drill were billings (vision, composure), bruce (good for a big guy), steele, roberton (evasion)
fwd group marking practice later on was kinda interesting, Parker nice leap but kept spilling them. Paddy the standout, timed his leaps well and marked most of them
overall game was pretty scrappy, bad decisions and F50 entries, probably more points than goals too. some decent ball movement at times. decision making still a worry. 1st choice defensive group worked well
it was fairly breezy for goal kicking, so some excuse there
new guys (Parker, Hind, Young, Wilkie) didn't jump out at me - although heaps going on with two teams full of saints, might have missed them a bit
Robbie Young got hit or tackled by Paddy and injured shoulder region - was not a happy camper!! seemed pretty serious - went off with Doc, unable to move right? arm - shoulder was taped - pre-existing prob?
Phillips - rolled ankle but seemed not too bad
Carlisle - running laps - BIG UNIT
Langlands, Long, Armo, Bytel, Rice - not sighted training
and despise the Pies, the Blues, and the Injectors.
