NAB Cup Round 1 vs Geelong & Sydney Discussion

[mysainters]

Hey, don't get me wrong, I have been annoyed when Gram hasn't gone hard or not picked up much contested ball....

However people are forgetting how good this guy is, and that he probably suffered as a result of the style.

(Now that's not a direct criticism to how the Saints played, just that it suited some, and worked against others)

He is such a big game player, and you saw last night again what he is capable of when there is some freedom to go for it a bit more. Credit where its due, he is also looking the fittest I've seen him for years (I realise he struggled with OP and groin issues in recent years)

I think Gram needs to be in there, with some consistency back in his game, for Saints to be amongst it in 2012.

(thought his pressure was good last night too)

 

[Falchoon]

A rough guess at a round one team just on the signs from the pre season and last night:

B: Gilbert, Simpkin, Dempster
HB: Fisher, Blake, Gram
C: Ledger, Steven, Goddard
HF: Schneider, Riewoldt, Siposs
F: Milne, Koschitzke, Saad

Foll: McEvoy, Dal Santo, Montagna
Int: Armitage, Hayes, Stanley
Sub: Cripps

Fringe: Ray, Wilkes, Geary, Peake, Winmar, Jones, Polo

At the moment I've got


FB Cripps, 4 Simpkin, 2 Gwilt, 82
HB Gilbert, 110 Fisher, 167 Goddard, 185
C Armitage, 50 Hayes, 241 Steven, 30
HF Siposs, 5 Riewoldt, 219 Schneider, 187
F Saad, 0 Koschitzke, 176 Milne, 236
R McEvoy, 53 Dal Santo 216 Montagna, 169
I Dempster, 119 Stanley, 9 Jones, 97 Ledger, 2

E Gram, 139 Ray, 146 Geary, 52 Wilkes, 23




obviously Gwilt out to start with being replaced by Wilkes or Blake

others

O Clarke, 82 Crocker, 0 Milera, 0 Blake, 199
O Newnes, 0 Peake, 117 Polo, 71 Ross, 0
O Winmar, 2 Lever, 0 Markworth, 0 Webster, 0

 

[Sheeza69]

Milera will be the surprise, beautifully skilled on both sides & a very intelligent footballer..

Make a stand from Rd 1, no more freebies to the regulars & play a third of the squad aged 23 & younger..!!

Look at the Cats & Pies the last two years as reference..

Barring injury, this is my side come Rd 1

B: Ray, Simpkin/Gwilt, Dempster,
HB: Goddard, Fisher, Gilbert,
C: Montagna, Dal Santo,Gram ,
HF:Schneider, Riewoldt, Steven,
F: Milne, Wilkes, Saad,
R: McEvoy, Hayes, C.Jones,
Int: Armitage, Stanley, Cripps, Ledger

Look at our depth, next in line..:

Peake,, Koschitzke, Ross, Siposs, Milera, Blake, Geary, R.Clarke, Polo,
Winmar, Marksworth,

Cheers

 

[Defacto]

so far mine is:
B Dempster Wilkes/Simpkin Cripps
HB Gilbert Fisher Goddard
C Peake Hayes Montagna
HF Siposs/Wilkes/Stanley Roo Schneider
F Milne Kozi Saad
R McEvoy Dal Santo Steven

I/C Ledger Jones Ray/Gram
SUB Ray/Gram/Milera

obviously it would be awesome if more of the kids could push up to force the older players out.

 

[L_W_P]

B - Dempster - Simpkin - Gilbert
HB - Fisher - Blake/Gwilt - Goddard
C - Montagna - Armitage - Schneider
HF - Wilkes - Koschitzke - Siposs
F - Milne - Riewoldt - Saad
Foll - McEvoy - Steven - Dal Santo
B - Hayes - Ray - Ledger/Cripps
S - Milera/Gram/Peake

 

[SaintsManMat]

Some photos of our Round 1 NAB Cup with St Kilda/Geelong/Sydney

http://www.pbase.com/mattyjsmith/nabcup

 

[Look2Me4Guidance]

I felt like in the first game, they were trying to bomb it to 25m out and it was not working?

Then in the second game, probably due to the fact Kosi and Roo were rested, they were more willing to have a ping at the goals.

Much more dangerous.

Also more of a tendency to kick it very deep in the pockets in game 2, Collingwood like, and going to take some good kicks to make that effective.

Far too Riewoldt focused in the 1st game. Especially when he leads to the boundary. Opposition peel of their men because they know where the ball is going.
I think the boys were a tad excited for Game 1. Playing on 60% of the time! World record pace!!!! Once they controlled possession in Game 2, they were far better.
Very impressed with Saad, Ledger. Also so quietly content with the improvment in clearances and contested ball.
Skills need work but the longer kicking will help to alleviate some of that.

 

[MCG-Unit]

B: Ray, Wilkes, Dempster
HB: Goddard, Fisher, Gilbert
C: Ledger, Hayes, Montagna
HF: Schneider, Riewoldt, Dal Santo
F: Milne, Koschitzke, Steven

FOLL: McEvoy, Armitage, Jones
Int From: Peake, Stanley, Cripps, Simpkin, Siposs

Emg From: Saad, Ross, Geary, Gram, Clarke, Blake

Against Geelong, they didn't seem to play on as much as V Swans....

 

[Papa Juggs]

Just watching the game 2 replay now.

Impressed by Ross, Ledger, Milera.

Saad... not so sure about. Seemed a bit lost whenever the ball was coming in long and high. Good chest mark early but everything else that came at him was picked off.

 

[Falchoon]

Some photos of our Round 1 NAB Cup with St Kilda/Geelong/Sydney

http://www.pbase.com/mattyjsmith/nabcup

Some nice pics there dude e.g #35/48

Any reason you don't go portrait with the single player shots? e.g #42/43/44

 

[lewdogs]

Watched the game vs the Cats. Was really impressed by Simpkin and Ledger, both ready to step into the 22. Also like the look of Saad and Milera, both have class (especially Milera). Good pressure all over the ground, it looked hard for the Cats to score which is a great sign.

Good things happening. Quite like Wilkes up forward too, strong lad.

Jones's kicking is a real worry (has been for years).

 

[AFLOnline]

anyone know of any place I can watch a replay for this?

 

[lewdogs]

you can watch them on the afl website

 

[SaintsManMat]

Some nice pics there dude e.g #35/48

Any reason you don't go portrait with the single player shots? e.g #42/43/44

probably coz im anal and like things square and neat so i like all my thumbnails to be the same size lol

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Watched the game vs the Cats. Was really impressed by Simpkin and Ledger, both ready to step into the 22. Also like the look of Saad and Milera, both have class (especially Milera). Good pressure all over the ground, it looked hard for the Cats to score which is a great sign.

Good things happening. Quite like Wilkes up forward too, strong lad.

Jones's kicking is a real worry (has been for years).

The more I think about Jones the more I think we are best to leave him in the team in his most accomplished role as mid field tagger.
Even though he's good in clearances, we are better off using Lenny, Jack, Dave or Tom.

 

[A balanced view]

Quick summary:
The two best young players for mine were, Ledger and Cripps.
I really like Steven but I think Ledger will be better.
Simpkin was promising looked a more natural backmen than Wilkes.
Stanley promising. Still think he is a ruck/forward not the other way round.
Winmar(jury is still out) showed signs of improvement. Took a good overhead mark under pressure and had good attack on the ball.
Siposs very promising.
Thought our forward set up was better without the three talls. Kossi, Roo and Stanley won't work. Sydney ran the ball out too easily.
Ross will be a better mid the Armitage.
Jones, Peake and Polo need to be replaced by the younger brigade.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

I thought Cripps running out of the backline looked incredibly natural.
Like he was meant to be there.

 

[saintsrfreak]

Well he did play there in the juniors.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Well he did play there in the juniors.

I know and he looked pretty good there with the Saints.
Sort of like he belonged there.

 

[Falchoon]

I know and he looked pretty good there with the Saints.
Sort of like he belonged there.

I thought Siposs looked good up on the wing too

 

[saintsrfreak]

I thought Siposs looked good up on the wing too

If he can get 10-15 touches in the midfield pinpointing the ball onto Roo's chest....

 

[aussierulesrules]

Man am I excited about Siposs. Reminds me a bit physically of a slightly taller and stronger version of Joel Smith. Just oozes class and moves a bit like Smith did when he first burst onto the scene (maybe without the great sidestep). Like Smith, has an exceptional and penetrating kicking technique and can kick well on both feet, although he certainly kicks it longer than Smithy did.

The other thing I learned about him the other night is that he has some serious acceleration on him. A couple of times he burst clear of the pack with the footy and it was really impressive. I didn't realise he had that sort of speed. He also has a very good footy brain, by the looks of it, as well as poise. Had 10 possies for the second game, which was second only to CJ, I think, who had 14. Seeing him live at the ground up close you realise he just has "it".

Ever since Aaron Hamill started missing lots of footy we've been looking for someone to fill that HFF role and Siposs looks very likely to be able to do it, maybe even better (albeit without the amazing tackling). Having Sammy there to teach him will also help considerably, I imagine. Physically and footy wise, he looks to have all the tools. Being able to hit a target 60m away over the top is also a huge asset.

Also really happy with CJ's game against Geelong (except for some of his kicking, especially when he tried to kick it really long- for him). Hard as nails and gave 120%, as per usual. Apparently he had an interrupted pre-season last year, but has had a much better one this year and reckons he's feeling the best he has in a while. His game reflected that.

Was also really impressed with Ledger, who is almost like a physical clone of Joey. Love that he can kick it well and pretty long with both feet and that he can get the clearances.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Man am I excited about Siposs. Reminds me a bit physically of a slightly taller and stronger version of Joel Smith. Just oozes class and moves a bit like Smith did when he first burst onto the scene (maybe without the great sidestep). Like Smith, has an exceptional and penetrating kicking technique and can kick well on both feet, although he certainly kicks it longer than Smithy did.

The other thing I learned about him the other night is that he has some serious acceleration on him. A couple of times he burst clear of the pack with the footy and it was really impressive. I didn't realise he had that sort of speed. He also has a very good footy brain, by the looks of it, as well as poise. Had 10 possies for the second game, which was second only to CJ, I think, who had 14. Seeing him live at the ground up close you realise he just has "it".

Ever since Aaron Hamill started missing lots of footy we've been looking for someone to fill that HFF role and Siposs looks very likely to be able to do it, maybe even better (albeit without the amazing tackling). Having Sammy there to teach him will also help considerably, I imagine. Physically and footy wise, he looks to have all the tools. Being able to hit a target 60m away over the top is also a huge asset.

Also really happy with CJ's game against Geelong (except for some of his kicking, especially when he tried to kick it really long- for him). Hard as nails and gave 120%, as per usual. Apparently he had an interrupted pre-season last year, but has had a much better one this year and reckons he's feeling the best he has in a while. His game reflected that.

Was also really impressed with Ledger, who is almost like a physical clone of Joey. Love that he can kick it well and pretty long with both feet and that he can get the clearances.

I thought Sippa was showing a much better defensive side than he did last year, as well as getting a lot more of the ball.
If the other players start looking for him instead of Riewoldt ( or as well as ) watch out.

 

[Papa Juggs]

If our midfield starts looking for anything outside Riewoldt it would be some kind of minor miracle.

I'll believe it when it happens.

First game - Riewoldt centric gameplan = suck

Second game - More free flowing style = win

 

[Sir Robert]

Liking what I'm hearing re quick players with good disposal on both feet. Very tough combination to draft. Sippa having pace is something I didn't notice last year. I thought it might have been his Achilles heel actually.

IIRC last year we had the shortened pre-season and took forever to get going. Hopefully the extended break but normal start will pay dividends!!!