Raphael Clarke

[Squizz]

I am one of Raph's greatest critics. However, disregarding some of the opposition comments (I normally do), Raph actually had a reasonable game. 15 possessions, no obvious clangers, no frees against, 5 spoils, came off his man a number of times to help out.

If he played like that every week I'd be happy, but this is the first decent games I've seen him play in a long time. Certainly reserving judgement, but far from our worst on the night.

 

[R Man]

I agree wholeheartedly with the original poster.

He's tripe. Period.

No obvious clangers last night? christ mate get your rose-tinted glasses off. I was there on lvl 2 and had a great look at him again.. not AFL standard.. due too poor footy brain, lack of intensity, no penetration in his kick... I can go on and on..

the whole team were disgusting last night from qtr time.. good wake up call though!

Go Saints!!

 

[Squizz]

Well I'll take my rose-coloureds off if you take your sh!t-coloured ones off. Name the obvious clangers - I hope you come up with more than one. Geez I hate defending players I don't like, but when some people are in the gun they can do no right it seems. If you're going to criticise, you should be capable of praise too. He peeled off to bail others out a number of times. 15 possessions despite only 72% game time, 2 effective tackles, 5 spoils. Hardly the worst for us.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

I have completely lost faith with Raph and I think we will still be talking about his potential when he is on the veterans list.
However we cannot blame him for this loss. The Saints just don't click together as a team the way some of the other teams do, and a good team is greater than the sum of its components.

 

[Kildonan]

hey Frank why dont you go to training next week and show Raph and the others how good a player you are. There is no need for you to try to belittle someone. Hes out there trying his best for his club

at least we found out he isnt slow. He didn't outrun that guy in the wing, but the guy couldnt catch up, and raph had the footy.

Had nobody to kick too. That wasn't his fault.

holy sh!t

Raph was a long way from the worst on the ground last night. He got more possies than a lot of the "superstar" mids who totally went missing. In fact he got more or equal possies than 14 other guys.

He didn't get torched by anyone, made very few (0) errors according to the stats i can see.

Yet we see trash like this.

Where's the "our midfield went missing" thread or the "the coach has no idea thread"

seriously some of you need to watch the game, rather than irrational hatred of a player who actually was pretty good.

I am one of Raph's greatest critics. However, disregarding some of the opposition comments (I normally do), Raph actually had a reasonable game. 15 possessions, no obvious clangers, no frees against, 5 spoils, came off his man a number of times to help out.

If he played like that every week I'd be happy, but this is the first decent games I've seen him play in a long time. Certainly reserving judgement, but far from our worst on the night.

Well I'll take my rose-coloureds off if you take your sh!t-coloured ones off. Name the obvious clangers - I hope you come up with more than one. Geez I hate defending players I don't like, but when some people are in the gun they can do no right it seems. If you're going to criticise, you should be capable of praise too. He peeled off to bail others out a number of times. 15 possessions despite only 72% game time, 2 effective tackles, 5 spoils. Hardly the worst for us.

Raph Clarke is probably right on the edge of being in our best 22.
This is supported by his selection in every match so far and his being dropped for the inclusion of Goddard before being reincluded due to the late withdrawal of Gardiner.

So far this season I have done a detailed rating of the players and this includes a number of surprises to me. One is that Raph is a much bigger contributor to all the 1 %ers than I realised and other players whom I believed to be better have not proved this to be true.

At the moment I have: Jason Blake, Jarryn Geary, Stephen Milne, Justin Koschitzke, Fraser Gehrig, and Clinton Jones all ranked lower than Raph on performance and contribution. I have Sam Gilbert at almost identical scores to Raph, and he has shown a number of weaknesses in his game too.

Why all the anti-Raph stuff? I am at a loss to understand you.

I tried to highlight the posters here who are in the minority it seems, that appear to agree with me (or I with them).

 

[mailman4]

raph clarke = absolutely useless
1st off this post was about raph's whole career not just this one game, so infact yes he is crap.
2nd for all those people who said "no obvious clangers" did you miss the 20 seconds where he dropped an uncontested mark in front of mitch hahn then miss the tackle, watch hahn stroll in and kick a very game turning goal, if that wasnt a clanger then i cant help you.
raph has no pace, is poor over head, no kicking penertration and a very poor decision maker, and no his decision making wont get better with more games because he has been playing (for what i imagine) at least 10 years and still cant make a correct decision, a few extra games wont help.
he is a 2nd tier casey player at best.

 

[sauce_head]

Raph Clarke is probably right on the edge of being in our best 22.
This is supported by his selection in every match so far and his being dropped for the inclusion of Goddard before being reincluded due to the late withdrawal of Gardiner.

So far this season I have done a detailed rating of the players and this includes a number of surprises to me. One is that Raph is a much bigger contributor to all the 1 %ers than I realised and other players whom I believed to be better have not proved this to be true.

At the moment I have: Jason Blake, Jarryn Geary, Stephen Milne, Justin Koschitzke, Fraser Gehrig, and Clinton Jones all ranked lower than Raph on performance and contribution. I have Sam Gilbert at almost identical scores to Raph, and he has shown a number of weaknesses in his game too.

Why all the anti-Raph stuff? I am at a loss to understand you.

I tried to highlight the posters here who are in the minority it seems, that appear to agree with me (or I with them).

I think that the majority of people are just dissapointed that he does not use the ball well. If we do persist with him hopefully he will not continue to rush a decision or run into presure and rather consolidate the use of the ball or kick it to advantage.

 

[Squizz]

2nd for all those people who said "no obvious clangers" did you miss the 20 seconds where he dropped an uncontested mark in front of mitch hahn then miss the tackle, watch hahn stroll in and kick a very game turning goal, if that wasnt a clanger then i cant help you.

C'mon - the same "uncontested" mark where Hahn had his hand on Raph's shoulder to affect the marking contest? Not Raph's finest moment, but Hahn is very difficult to bring down in a tackle - particularly after you've been going for a mark. Did you notice anyone else in the vicinity helping out? No? Team workrate issue I'm afraid.

 

[Look2Me4Guidance]

C'mon - the same "uncontested" mark where Hahn had his hand on Raph's shoulder to affect the marking contest? Not Raph's finest moment, but Hahn is very difficult to bring down in a tackle - particularly after you've been going for a mark. Did you notice anyone else in the vicinity helping out? No? Team workrate issue I'm afraid.

That's not the point here. Raph had front position in this contest and had no idea how to go about it. You either thump the ball away or you mark it. Raph did neither. He cannot beat his man 1 on 1. That's ok....a lot of defenders struggle with that these days. However he doesn't have any weapons which counter that. His kicking is not damaging and his decision making is below par and he is not quick.

Put it this way...are you happy to have him minding Chapman or Steve Johnson or Stokes this week? He will get slaughtered. He keeps making the same mistakes, that's what the problem is. He has had his chance. He would have known Friday night was a reprieve for him and he still made the same mistakes. Time is up I'm afraid Raph.

 

[Alpha Male]

Hi all,

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I've been reading this thread with alot of interest and I think that Raph has copped alot of undue flak.

When Goddard first came to the club he played across half-forward and into the middle on occasions. He was slow, in-decisive and had a habit of stopping short when going for a mark rather than take a dive and putting his body on the line.

There was a game against the crows a couple years ago when BJ was running at full steam towards a loose ball. Andrew Mcleod coming from the other direction. BJ stopped short to let Mcleod take the footy (I assume so he could attempt to tackle him) Mcleod calmy cruised past BJ and slotted a goal.

It was not long after that he became a loose-man/sweeper and worked his way to automatic selection in our team.

Raph should be given the chance to do the same by being given half a dozen games on a wing and in the middle to see what he can do there.

Xavier was the same (half back flanker that made alot of mistakes) but look at how he is thriving under Lyon as a forward flanker (with stints in the middle)

I think we should exhaust ALL options before burning Raph because he isnt working as a defender.

A-M

 

[Frankencow]

Hi all,

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I've been reading this thread with alot of interest and I think that Raph has copped alot of undue flak.

When Goddard first came to the club he played across half-forward and into the middle on occasions. He was slow, in-decisive and had a habit of stopping short when going for a mark rather than take a dive and putting his body on the line.

There was a game against the crows a couple years ago when BJ was running at full steam towards a loose ball. Andrew Mcleod coming from the other direction. BJ stopped short to let Mcleod take the footy (I assume so he could attempt to tackle him) Mcleod calmy cruised past BJ and slotted a goal.

It was not long after that he became a loose-man/sweeper and worked his way to automatic selection in our team.

Raph should be given the chance to do the same by being given half a dozen games on a wing and in the middle to see what he can do there.

Xavier was the same (half back flanker that made alot of mistakes) but look at how he is thriving under Lyon as a forward flanker (with stints in the middle)

I think we should exhaust ALL options before burning Raph because he isnt working as a defender.

A-M

Some sensible points whilst still acknowledging he doesn't work as a defender.

 

[Disco7]

Another 1st time poster guys.

I've been reading this thread with interest and totally agree that Raph has played all his cards when it comes to being a defender. I personally don't rate him as he continues to be inconsistent. The thing with Raph is that he shows glimpes of what he can do but fails to deliver that for 4 quaters of footy, i realise that he wasn't our best last week but it's games like these that highlight players like Raph all over the AFL. It's when the train is steam rolling everyone looks aside.

I agree with Alpha maybe it's time we used him elsewhere? If that doesn't work well maybe Casey will.

What's the crack with Armitage? is it just me or was outstanding in the pre season? Any news on why he isn't even an emergency or being considered?

One last point guys the forward line seemed to work well with Charlie in there in the pre seaon. Sounds like he's playing well for Casey. Any chance of a call up against his old foes?

thanks for listening.

 

[sainter]

After the game at Livewire I had to put up with my mate criticising Raph as if it was his fault we were smashed in the final three quarters.

Frank even admitted in the opening post that we Saints fans (and it's probably the case for supporters for all clubs) must have a scapegoat. Well Raph's our man. It's as if they watch the game waiting (almost hoping) that he stuffs up so they can fire up and have another go at him. And yet there are the sacred cows who have poor games and escape criticism. I'm one of the part sponsors of Sam Gilbert on Saintsational and am a huge fan of the guy but he hasn't exactly set the world on fire this season. And yet you never hear a bad word about him.

It's clear that he'll never be a key defender. I think we can all agree on that. When we can regain Goose it will hopefully free him up to play in a more attacking role. I remember watching him during the Under 18 championships at Optus Oval and the thing that struck me was how he glided across the ground. The way he scooped the ball off the ground one handed while running at full pace really excited me and I just hoped he would still be available by our pick. I think he got himself suspended during the same carnival which may have helped him slide through to us.

Welcome to the new posters as well. If there are any lurkers feel free to contribute. If people don't like what you have to say who cares. If it's rubbish, we can introduce you to a person called Nexus Helen.

 

[Squizz]

That's not the point here. Raph had front position in this contest and had no idea how to go about it. You either thump the ball away or you mark it. Raph did neither. He cannot beat his man 1 on 1. That's ok....a lot of defenders struggle with that these days. However he doesn't have any weapons which counter that. His kicking is not damaging and his decision making is below par and he is not quick.

Put it this way...are you happy to have him minding Chapman or Steve Johnson or Stokes this week? He will get slaughtered. He keeps making the same mistakes, that's what the problem is. He has had his chance. He would have known Friday night was a reprieve for him and he still made the same mistakes. Time is up I'm afraid Raph.

He is not in my 22, let me put it that way. But the hanging squad is over the top - I would have said at least 8 players had worse games than Raph on the night, and no-one has flogged the G-String who would have run about 20m for the match. No, I don't trust him on good players but trying to apportion blame for the loss against the Dogs to him is just plain wrong.

 

[jackmac7]

WE NEED RAPH. GIVE HIM TIME TO DEVELOP PROPERLY.

He's a cool customer in defence, somtimes to calm but he can play he just hasn't had a decent season under his belt having been hampered by injuries is entire career.

 

[Look2Me4Guidance]

He is not in my 22, let me put it that way. But the hanging squad is over the top - I would have said at least 8 players had worse games than Raph on the night, and no-one has flogged the G-String who would have run about 20m for the match. No, I don't trust him on good players but trying to apportion blame for the loss against the Dogs to him is just plain wrong.

I totally agree people are putting him to the sword here which is wrong. My issue is that even on Friday night he didn't play a GOOD game. So whilst he should avoid criticism as other players also played poorly he didn't improve on his efforts from previous weeks in my opinion. I would have thought he would have been on notice after being dropped and then winning a reprieve. I realise he is trying his best but I don't think we can afford to carry players for 5 or 6 weeks in the hope that their performance increases dramatically.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

I totally agree people are putting him to the sword here which is wrong. My issue is that even on Friday night he didn't play a GOOD game. So whilst he should avoid criticism as other players also played poorly he didn't improve on his efforts from previous weeks in my opinion. I would have thought he would have been on notice after being dropped and then winning a reprieve. I realise he is trying his best but I don't think we can afford to carry players for 5 or 6 weeks in the hope that their performance increases dramatically.

If anyone has seen the old movie Chitty Chitty bang bang there is a suitable quote. Using a stiff English accent " Too late , Had your chance , Muffed it "

 

[Persevering Saint]

I simply cannot fathom why Raph is getting games and Jones isn't. I have tried - really, really hard - to defend raph's selection, but he has not honored the faith placed in him, ever. When that marking contest with Hahn occured, I turned to my wife and said, "That's it, I am now officially leaving the 'Raph has potential' bandwagon." No more chances, not when the future - Jones, Armo - is waiting in the wings, and looks a helluva lot better.

 

[Frankencow]

I simply cannot fathom why Raph is getting games and Jones isn't. I have tried - really, really hard - to defend raph's selection, but he has not honored the faith placed in him, ever. When that marking contest with Hahn occured, I turned to my wife and said, "That's it, I am now officially leaving the 'Raph has potential' bandwagon." No more chances, not when the future - Jones, Armo - is waiting in the wings, and looks a helluva lot better.

Welcome aboard to the "Let's throw Raph Clark off the back of the" bandwagon.

 

[35Harvs]

I simply cannot fathom why Raph is getting games and Jones isn't. I have tried - really, really hard - to defend raph's selection, but he has not honored the faith placed in him, ever. When that marking contest with Hahn occured, I turned to my wife and said, "That's it, I am now officially leaving the 'Raph has potential' bandwagon." No more chances, not when the future - Jones, Armo - is waiting in the wings, and looks a helluva lot better.

Ironically he wasn't the only one that didn't perform on Friday. Actually, I would say it was one of his better games.

In saying that, I thought Jones should have played anyway.

 

[35Harvs]

Does anyone else see any merit in playing Raph on the wing or the forward line instead of backline?
Although not sure what his kicking for goal is like?

 

[Monika72]

I have no doubt that he is the worst player we have picked up for a long time. The game against the Tigers, he made a mistake everytime he touched it. Fancy passing the ball to him with 20 seconds to go, he kicked it into play and Jack. R marked it.
Get rid of him and put games into J.Allen.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Does anyone else see any merit in playing Raph on the wing or the forward line instead of backline?
Although not sure what his kicking for goal is like?

As a defender Raph makes mistakes and the oppsositon score.
As a forward Raph is not a good kick for goal ( and we neeeed goal kickers). Also not a great midfielder. So that leaves.....

 

[aussie86999]

Im sorry to say i agree and dont at all understand how anyone cant see it .ive been saying for 2 years hes penalising the side . When Robert Harveys playing with a walking stick he'll still be quicker than this guy.I know we all get defensive of our own players but my hearts in my mouth every time he gets the ball. ive never seen anyone so slow and lack mobility and it surprises me that he doesnt realise this and is more aware of when hes being run down in heavy traffic as he stroles along like hes 40 metres in the clear. He'll never get any faster and someone suggested to put him on the wing!!!

 

[MilneyLoves2Snap]

If old raph doesnt come good this season, we wont see him much next season and then after that he will be back in the northern terriroty with his bruthas...

Wave him goodbye lads.. Give Allen a shot