Pre-Season 2015/16

[shielberight]

Oh my. I'm blushing.

Don't blush baby.

 

[Joffaboy]

Really appreciate your thoughts MG.

Really hope Sen Ross comes on. I have been a critic of him and really want him to prove me wrong.

 

[jslats]

whats this about billings boozing to much? though he didnt drink??

 

[felsty]

whats this about billings boozing to much? though he didnt drink??

The bad influences of JWeb, Skunk and their rogue housemate are rubbing off on the young group

 

[jslats]

The bad influences of JWeb, Skunk and their rogue housemate are rubbing off on the young group

rouge housemate? also the other 2 need to pull there heads in if they dont want to be just rouge housemates them selfs next year

 

[Joffaboy]

rouge housemate? also the other 2 need to pull there heads in if they dont want to be just rouge housemates them selfs next year

So a twenty something bloke can't have a beer nowdays.

They aren't Trappist Monks.

 

[jslats]

So a twenty something bloke can't have a beer nowdays.

They aren't Trappist Monks.

clearly the bloke who wrote about jb heading down the wrong path said it cause of concern... and the fact he has only just started drinking as he had never drunk before getting drafted

 

[Persevering Saint]

So a twenty something bloke can't have a beer nowdays.

They aren't Trappist Monks.

Uh, sorry to get technical, but Trappists are famous for their beers. http://www.trappist.be/en/pages/trappist-beers

 

[saint66au]

The hope is for Hickey to cement a role as a KPF/second ruck. If not then it's Bruce backing up Billy (which I personally hate).
As I've said previously I believe the second ruck role is the most important answer we need between now and end of season.

Can we afford to play he, Paddy, Roo, Josh and Skunk in the one forward line?

 

[felsty]

rouge housemate? also the other 2 need to pull there heads in if they dont want to be just rouge housemates them selfs next year

notice the pokey-tongue out emoticon.... their housemate is Paddy!

 

[Phoenix_9]

Can we afford to play he, Paddy, Roo, Josh and Skunk in the one forward line?

All 5 would be close to impossible. Would rely on Roo to play permanent wing AND Membrey to be able to rotate through the midfield.
4 would be tough, again Roo would have to play majority wing OR Membrey rotate through the midfield.
3 is most likely, unfortunately.
Of course, MG could have another insight/opinion

 

[joop]

Losing Carlisle hurts us immeasurably for this season but I sat down today and had a look at our list and tried to work out which individuals I believe will make big improvements to their game this season and help us improve.

7. LUKE DUNSTAN
For those that have seen Spook this off season it's quite evident that he's really slimmed down and is looking extremely ripped and fit. The club liked what Armo was able to achieve by losing bulk with his running and spread so have gone down same path with Luke. I think also that with our over abundance of insiders we really need Dunstan, Ross, Weller, Armitage to improve their outside games. Dunstan was bothered by a shoulder and a couple of other issues last year and was nowhere near his best. Ready to go.

8. BLAKE ACRES
It's no secret than when Blake arrived he didn't have any awareness of what would be required physically to be an AFL player. Probably a result of his laid back character and being a big fish in a small pond in WA. It took him all of 2014 and some of 2015 to really get into rhythm of training and recovery. This off season it has all clicked and like Dunstan, his niggles have gone. Has been unbelievably impressive this pre season and has everybody excited. I'm expecting he plays his footy between a wing and inside mid role.

13. JACK LONIE
Jack has added considerable size to his previously pathetic frame! I know everybody joked he was Adam Schneider's son and he has inherited his jumper number but I believe Jack develops into exactly the player Schneider was when at his best, a class above skill wise and reading the game through the midfield and extremely dangerous around goal. I think his defensive and tackling game is already first class and with more pre seasons under his belt will be a very, very important player for us. My jaw is still on the ground from that no look, across the body pass to Skunk against Essendon.

15. JACK BILLINGS
I really don't like putting pressure on kids but Jack is something else. The fitness staff have handled his injury very well and his body transformation has been unbelievable. The one worry I had on Jack in his draft year was that he may struggle to add upper body size. There's no worries about that anymore!
Since he's joined back into training he has been just sublime, his work in stoppage drills and other simulation drills has been better than first class. Nobody can get near him and he's made every one of our other mids look second rate. Barring injury I'd be expecting a 60/40 fwd/mid split for Jack this season.
The only concern I have with JB is that anytime he's around Webster and Membrey he has a beer in front of him!

32. PADDY MCCARTIN
I think during Paddy's draft year we all had queries on his fitness and how diabetes would affect him in an elite sport. He deserves so much credit since his arrival but particularly since the end of last season, as nobody at the club has worked as hard. He still has a way to go physically like every second year player but all the doubts have gone. He has put all of our defenders through hell this pre season, in match simulation it's been interesting to see how much confidence our team has in Paddy already, so much that even Josh Bruce has been a secondary option on a lot of occasions. The big fella will be a better player than we all could have expected, his hunger and drive is almost Riewoldt-like. Funny that.

Others have also been impressive such as Ross, Longer, Pierce, O'Kearney, Gresham, Weller. I've really looked at our youngsters because that's where our real improvement needs to come from, and in my opinion those boys I've named will make the biggest strides.

Just out of curiosity do you work at the club? Seems you've spent a lot of time at Seaford this preseason. Good to hear about billings, hopefully he can stay injury free.

 

[Persevering Saint]

All 5 would be close to impossible. Would rely on Roo to play permanent wing AND Membrey to be able to rotate through the midfield.
4 would be tough, again Roo would have to play majority wing OR Membrey rotate through the midfield.
3 is most likely, unfortunately.
Of course, MG could have another insight/opinion

Having said that, IF Members can play some time in the midfield, and so can Roo, Billings, Lonie, with Hickey going in to ruck... Holy crap, that makes things hard for opposition matchups.

 

[Moorabbin Ghost]

clearly the bloke who wrote about jb heading down the wrong path said it cause of concern... and the fact he has only just started drinking as he had never drunk before getting drafted

Not concern mate, just more of a laugh at the other lads as they're real characters. Nobody has to worry about Billings, he's extremely professional.
I think it's terrific that Richo allows our boys to have a beer and be in control of their own actions, the players definitely enjoy the freedom to be early twenty-somethings occasionally. Some boys at other clubs are forced to do it on the sly.

 

[gringo2011]

All 5 would be close to impossible. Would rely on Roo to play permanent wing AND Membrey to be able to rotate through the midfield.
4 would be tough, again Roo would have to play majority wing OR Membrey rotate through the midfield.
3 is most likely, unfortunately.
Of course, MG could have another insight/opinion

It will be another good year injury wise if we get all of them on the park at full fitness and all demanding a spot through form. If you have multidimensional forward line you can have a large spread of goal kickers I reckon. West Coast and Adelaide and Sydney to some degree all have a large spread of guys who can all kick bags on their day. Adelaide had Jenkins, Tex Walker, Cameron, Betts, Tom Lynch and have added Menzel. They have a lot of goal scoring mids too. I guess it allows for a very hard to match up on team. WCE too have a big spread.

I see Membery more as a mid sized forward like Tom Lynch than a tall KP so really it's bruce probably as FF then the rest of the forward line really revolves around where we put Rooey and how many games Paddy plays. I can see them playing Riewoldt on a flank so he has access to the forward line but can get around the ground without sacrificing a mid or losing his run or forward work. Paddy is probably a year off taking a permanent KPF position and Rooey might be getting near the end by the time Paddy is ready to take over.

 

[gringo2011]

Not concern mate, just more of a laugh at the other lads as they're real characters. Nobody has to worry about Billings, he's extremely professional.
I think it's terrific that Richo allows our boys to have a beer and be in control of their own actions, the players definitely enjoy the freedom to be early twenty-somethings occasionally. Some boys at other clubs are forced to do it on the sly.

I have heard from people who have met him out and about at clubs that he's a nice boy and doesn't sound like he's any trouble what so ever. He's not out getting written off by the sound of it.

 

[Rors]

Moorabbin Ghost , how is Joe Baker-Thomas coming along? Is there any chance he'll be pushing for selection in the Sandy seniors this year?

(I'm his advocate & its very difficult to find any info on him)

Cheers in advance

 

[Ian Dunross]

Any chance Goddard could become that 2nd ruck, either from defence or attack?

 

[hayes]

Any chance Goddard could become that 2nd ruck, either from defence or attack?

I'd say no for similar reasons to why we don't want Bruce in there. Not exactly sure what the saying is but it's something like you don't put your Rolls Royce in the demolition derby!

 

[George]

Any chance Goddard could become that 2nd ruck, either from defence or attack?

Nah we can't risk losing a thoroughbred!

 

[The Jack Pack]

Our first injury report for the year.

http://www.saints.com.au/video/2016-01-27/weekly-injury-report-preseason

 

[DarkSaint]

Our first injury report for the year.

http://www.saints.com.au/video/2016-01-27/weekly-injury-report-preseason

Lol got to love how the club reports on injuries!

Last report which was about a week ago stated that Freeman was a week away from joining the main group and now according to this, he is a couple of weeks away.

Can they just say he is indefinite instead of getting everyone's hopes up to only find out that the kid is half a month away from returning every time we do a new injury report.

 

[stavro#4]

Lol got to love how the club reports on injuries!

Last report which was about a week ago stated that Freeman was a week away from joining the main group and now according to this, he is a couple of weeks away.

Can they just say he is indefinite instead of getting everyone's hopes up to only find out that the kid is half a month away from returning every time we do a new injury report.

they are not saying he isn't fit or his injury is still lingering. We are literally rebuilding that entire troubled area. So we are being super cautious right now. He is doing a lot of strength work on the hammies,quads and back aswell as agility and sprint work on the track.

it will be a slow process but we will get it right!

 

[VDS66]

Any chance we play Paddy at CHB and get him a Rising Star award?

 

[DarkSaint]

they are not saying he isn't fit or his injury is still lingering. We are literally rebuilding that entire troubled area. So we are being super cautious right now. He is doing a lot of strength work on the hammies,quads and back aswell as agility and sprint work on the track.

it will be a slow process but we will get it right!

I totally understand that he is pretty much learning how to walk when it comes to the injuries that he has had and the way we are going about it.

What I do question is when the club announces each week that he is only 1 week away from full training (which to me means what everyone else does) but only for the next report a week later to say 2 or so weeks away.

It just comes off bad to us interstate members that can't see trainings etc and we believe what the clubs says. It makes you lose faith in what the club says when everytime they say one thing but another happens.