Game Day Intra Club Practice Match @ Trevor Barker Beach Oval 5pm

[Jade Buddha]

Most has been covered but I find it extraordinary how vastly different peoples perpective of games are. My first message would be dont expect significant improvement this year!

Secondly I thought Hickey was very poor and showed nothing to suggest he will
sucessfully fill the 2nd ruck role. I have seen mentioned his towering marks up forward both were 2 or 3 touch grabs against much smaller opponents. Very non convincing IMO.

I would update Holmes tomorrow and play him in front of Hickey as his rucking is far superior and he offers more energy to the team shows more effort around the ground.

An early call but I doubt Hickey will be with the Saints next year! They will trade him and chase a 2nd rounder to fill the hole.

Other major list concerns were Leiws Pierce he simply wont make it, he gives nothing in the ruck snd is hopeless around the ground. His last year I hope. Murdoch, Saunders and Delaney are another 3 who wont be at the club next year.

I cant believe how much Delaney has regressed, he doesnt look interested, has lost his aggressive edge and Paddy and Bruce made him look very ordinary.

Payne & Coughlan very thin and I have concerns they have the frames to become big enough to have an impact?

I reckon Murdoch doesnt have the ticker or the drive to make it. Plays lazy and allows his opponent to be first to the ball always.

Saunders tries hard but absolutely no where near AFL standard.

Our defenders will be slaughtered again this year against the bigger forward lines.

My biggest downer was the whole squads inability to hit a forward target after winning a centre clearance. Some of the decision making and execution moving free of traffic through the centre by Ross, Curren, Acres and Gilbert was second rate, still a major weakness in our gamea.

But there were lots of posiitives - Paddy, Billings, Lonie, Sinclair, Gresham, White will all be a stars.
Paddy & Bruce already have a nice understanding and will become a force.,
Holmes will make it and forge ahead of Hickey this year.
Lee showed plenty down back if he can stay on the park will be a better option down back than Goddard this year.
Weller is our modern day Stevie Baker as hard as nails.
The support crews of Templeton, Micnhington, Acres are solid and will continue to improve.

The running link plays through the centre have improved but still not top standard.

No noticeable changes in game style but went backwards/sideways a couple of times when they had momentum and should have taken
the game on through the centre/wing.

Well that certainly cheered me up...keep up the ahhhh..good work

 

[George]

Apart from the opinion to reshuffle our ruck stocks I feel the post in question actually managed to hit the nail on the head in terms of an honest list appraisal.
Granted the players that were put under the microscope were nobody we hadn't read or written about being in that position before this evenings game.

C'mon mate. Lewis Pierce not good enough? We know rucks take time to develop. Hickey traded? Coughlan a bit thin...given the fact he's a rookie...

Just absolute tripe. If you're going to comment on the state of our list at least have some supporting evidence. Sure Delaney and Murdoch may be sub par but the other part of the post was nonsense.

 

[Adlikts]

Let's not get too carried away with judgements on any player. The opposition is always "interesting" especially if playing possibles vs probables. If Tom Lee can play a role this year in the 1sts and perform adequately that would be a huge bonus. For those who have watched similar games in the last three years do we look any better by foot or leg speed?

 

[Saint believer]

Cheers for the updates and reports guys. Good to hear Ross and Acres are doing well. I hope Ross has a big break-out year and proves the doubters who wanted him traded wrong.

Just a random observation, but looking at Dave's photos it's interesting to see natural left-footers in Armo, Billings and Hickey are all right-handed. I only noticed because it's the same deal for me.

+1

 

[aussierulesrules]

Significantly pleasing:

The work of Ross, Acres and Gilbo in the middle. They just kept getting clearance after clearance.

Billings general work all over the place (albeit with a couple of fumbles).

Lonie snagging 3 goals while I was there (got there about half way through the 2nd).

Eli looking like he had his spark and sharpness back (albeit being a bit quiet later in the game).

Hickey's game, especially the two big pack marks he took- that weren't paid (the first one could have easily been paid, but you could also argue he didn't quite hold it for long enough all the way to the ground, but he was still stiff, would normally be paid. The other one was touched off the boot, but he didn't hear the call and clunked the big grab). Kicking for goal still leaves a lot to be desired though and will probably never be consistently good. Could easily play in R1 off the back of that game IMO.

Acres leading the way in a lot of the 50m+ run through's they did for several minutes after the game. He is fit and looking stronger, especially in the legs.

Gilbo spending as much time as he did in the guts and doing really well there and also slotting a long range goal that went straight through the middle from a set shot (like the ones he kicked against Geelong late in the year). He was also one of the first I noticed when I got there and the most noticeable thing about him was that he has clearly slimmed down. Is looking very, very streamlined and the short hairdo accentuates it. Has always been relatively thinly built, but probably hasn't looked this thin for about 8-10 years! Was very very happy with what I saw of him. Looked super-fit. As I said recently, with a full preseason under his belt there is no reason he couldn't turn those 20-23 possie games of last season into 25+ possie games this year.

The way Billings looked physically. Tanned, very fit and now with good bulk, as you can see in this pic posted earlier:

Tom Lee's ball use coming out of defence when playing for the main team in the last quarter. Hadn't really noticed him before that though (did see him hobbling badly at one stage, so perhaps he went off for a spell after that) and he is a favourite of mine, so not trying to talk him down. Very happy to hear some say he did well earlier too. Was one of the best to talk to after the game. Had big ice-packs on his knee and hip, but joked that he just had them on to avoid the pretty gruelling run-throughs a lot of the others were doing behind him for a fair while after the game.

Dylan Roberton smiling and laughing while crossing the ground on crutches after the game, which allayed my fears a bit that he might have been badly injured.

Sam Fisher's game. Didn't notice any particularly bad ball use and thought it was just business as usual from him, getting possessions at will. Looked as good to me as he has in any of the recent years intra's, which I was very relieved and happy to see, given his age. Still looked to be the "general" back there, AFIC.

Hearing a lot of good reports of Gresham, both from those nearby and on here. Took me a while to really get a grip on who was who in the yellow team and by the time I did it was in the 2nd half, so I didn't really notice him a lot, unfortunately. Has a really unique build though, with really big upper legs and bum and is pretty solid up top as well. Is certainly very differently built to his mate NOK, who needs to add a kilo or 5!

The amount of genuinely AFL quality inside midfield options we look like having this year after seeing the work of Seb, Blacres and Gilbo in particular today, to add to Armo, Steven, Lukey-D, Mav and Joey, plus all the others who could rotate through there, like Billings, Sinclair and Lonie. Our midfield is looking like batting so much deeper than it did last season it won't be funny.

Significantly displeasing:

Not a lot coming to mind now that I've heard that Robbo's injury isn't a big deal, to go with seeing him smiling and laughing while on the crutches.

Was disappointed with Brodie Murdoch's game though, he hardly got near it while I was there and would have liked to have seen Minch more involved in the play.

Will post more thoughts, observations and so on at a later time.

#BeStKilda

 

[Nutsngum]

Was sitting right behind the goals and paid a lot of attention to Lee. Played a great game, his kicking is very very good and nails those high risk high reward kick outs.

Meanwhile I hope this also starts to put to bed the idea we can trade Hickey and get by on just Holmes and Pierce. Hickey is far and away better then both of them at the moment I dont doubt his NAB performances will show this as well.

#BeStKilda

 

[DarkSaint]

Split it 33-33-33 with me and Ghost?

Done if you and ghost can get me a framed saints top

 

[AuntieBarrels]

This is my two cents worth on what I saw today (In order of who caught my eye)

Billings honestly looked a class above everyone else on the field today. He really didn't put a foot wrong. He looked really impressive in the midfield. He went in really hard in some tackles and surprisingly he's a lot more vocal than I initially thought.

Newnsey is a gun. I honestly think he is our next long term captain after Armitage/Geary have their stints. He honestly does everything right, always does the team thing. Kicked a couple of goals from what I remember too.

Gresh was very noticeable in patches in the game. I wouldn't say he was consistent throughout the entire hit-out, but he had some really nice passages of play. His spacial awareness is second to none, and he doesn't know how to fall over. Very agile. Very smart player. He will be a freak once he beefs up a little, but I honestly think he would be fine to play round 1. He changed over to the red team later on in the game, and still did some really nice things.

Sinclair was awesome, this guy definitely needs to play heaps more through the midfield. He's class, he's quick, he runs hards, and his disposal is MINT. He runs into the right spaces and he can't miss a target once he gets it. Carried the Yellow team along with Curren, and Sincs also moved over to the red team and looked even better there. I love the way Sincs moves. What. A. Steal.

Curren was impressive too, seems to have really worked on his game over the summer. I really hope he can get a run through the midfield for us this season, I feel like he's always played out of position when he comes and plays the forward tag role. He looks to have tidied up his disposal and has definitely improved game sense.

I really like what I saw of Acres in the guts today. He looks like he's gotten a lot stronger through the hips, and he honestly looks like a presence through the centre square. Him and Seb were racking it up in the centre, almost looked too easy for them at times to get it in the forward 50. He changed over to the weaker side later in the game, and still racked it up. His kicking remains an issue however, but I think it will come, hopefully very soon. Will be a gun. #risingstar2016

Seb was solid. Exactly what I expected of him today, I really hope he doesn't get another interruption this season, he will have a big impact for us this season in my opinion. Strong through the guts, and his disposal looks a lot better and more direct from what I saw today. Seems to be running a lot more in game now.

Paddy Mac was very good in patches during the game, took a couple of nice grabs and boy oh boy, he looks better up close. I love the way he tries to get to every contest, and he always crashes the pack. Can't wait until he proves the campaigner Dermie wrong, so he looks like the biggest dumbarse in AFL media.

Templeton was being the Templeton before he broke his arm. Looks more explosive now. Loved his work today. Seemed to have faded out however. I think he may have re-gained his confidence.

I thought Brandon White was good today also. Looks like he will be a player. I think his school mates were behind me, and they kept yelling out his name whenever he got near the ball, so it was easy to pick him out. Good athlete, and I think he's a very smart player.

Disappointing aspects:
I don't know if it was because where I was standing, but I didn't really see D-Mac, Webster, and Minchington have a solid impact today.

Saunders and Murdoch :/

Lee was better... but true quality still remains to be seen imo..

Hugh wasn't very impressive, but I think he simply had an "off-day", because he's a beast. <3

I spoke to Dunstan as he was signing autographs today, he said there was nothing wrong with his body, but just sat out the game.

Membrey still hasn't fully recovered from his shoulder injury, Gears still has a sore quad, Freeman and Rice for obvious reasons, Riewoldt cos he does what he wants (God), Armo and Steven; I have no idea why.

#BeStKilda

 

[Nutsngum]

Disappointing aspects:
I don't know if it was because where I was standing, but I didn't really see D-Mac, Webster, and Minchington have a solid impact today.

Hugh wasn't very impressive, but I think he simply had an "off-day", because he's a beast. <3

I spoke to Dunstan as he was signing autographs today, he said there was nothing wrong with his body, but just sat out the game.

Membrey still hasn't fully recovered from his shoulder injury, Gears still has a sore quad, Freeman and Rice for obvious reasons, Riewoldt cos he does what he wants (God), Armo and Steven; I have no idea why.

Webster was his usual self, i saw a bunch of him on the eastern side of the field. Still A grade kicking.

Goddard was alright from where I was. Honestly it wasnt a day that any of the talls had a great outing at to be honest so not really the best of judges. Saw Dmac do a few good things but it was hard to tell as the yellows always seemed to be at the other end of the field

 

[sverik25]

Fantastic stuff guys! Godsend for me getting home on my Friday afternoon in Germany and sitting back reading through all of this with a grin on my face.

Bring on the NAB Challenge and Round 1!

 

[Gangnam Saint]

Have certainly worn out the refresh button on this thread today and loved every minute of it.
But some on here need to remember it is only an intra-club match and not write players off too early.
Can't wait for the real stuff.

 

[stfan]

I reckon they upgraded Ceglar with our pick, which I think was 59?

That is correct, and that means that Ceglar should not be factored in as being an upgradedd rookie they just use whatever their last two picks were (they had 2 rookies). So in effect the Hawks did not use the 58/59pick we traded to them.

 

[stfan]

.

Gilbo spending as much time as he did in the guts and doing really well there and also slotting a long range goal that went straight through the middle from a set shot (like the ones he kicked against Geelong late in the year). He was also one of the first I noticed when I got there and the most noticeable thing about him was that he has clearly slimmed down. Is looking very, very streamlined and the short hairdo accentuates it. Has always been relatively thinly built, but probably hasn't looked this thin for about 8-10 years! Was very very happy with what I saw of him. Looked super-fit. As I said recently, with a full preseason under his belt there is no reason he couldn't turn those 20-23 possie games of last season into 25+ possie games this year.

Fully agree and yes how thin Gilbo now is is also one of the first things I noticed at the intraclub.

I am taking this as a sign that he will be spending a lot of time on the ball this year as a midfielder. If Acres transitions to our first 22 midfield group this year as well then our midfield will suddely become a lot taller.

 

[RoundCubic]

This is my two cents worth on what I saw today (In order of who caught my eye)

Billings honestly looked a class above everyone else on the field today. He really didn't put a foot wrong. He looked really impressive in the midfield. He went in really hard in some tackles and surprisingly he's a lot more vocal than I initially thought.

Newnsey is a gun. I honestly think he is our next long term captain after Armitage/Geary have their stints. He honestly does everything right, always does the team thing. Kicked a couple of goals from what I remember too.

Gresh was very noticeable in patches in the game. I wouldn't say he was consistent throughout the entire hit-out, but he had some really nice passages of play. His spacial awareness is second to none, and he doesn't know how to fall over. Very agile. Very smart player. He will be a freak once he beefs up a little, but I honestly think he would be fine to play round 1. He changed over to the red team later on in the game, and still did some really nice things.

Sinclair was awesome, this guy definitely needs to play heaps more through the midfield. He's class, he's quick, he runs hards, and his disposal is MINT. He runs into the right spaces and he can't miss a target once he gets it. Carried the Yellow team along with Curren, and Sincs also moved over to the red team and looked even better there. I love the way Sincs moves. What. A. Steal.

Curren was impressive too, seems to have really worked on his game over the summer. I really hope he can get a run through the midfield for us this season, I feel like he's always played out of position when he comes and plays the forward tag role. He looks to have tidied up his disposal and has definitely improved game sense.

I really like what I saw of Acres in the guts today. He looks like he's gotten a lot stronger through the hips, and he honestly looks like a presence through the centre square. Him and Seb were racking it up in the centre, almost looked too easy for them at times to get it in the forward 50. He changed over to the weaker side later in the game, and still racked it up. His kicking remains an issue however, but I think it will come, hopefully very soon. Will be a gun. #risingstar2016

Seb was solid. Exactly what I expected of him today, I really hope he doesn't get another interruption this season, he will have a big impact for us this season in my opinion. Strong through the guts, and his disposal looks a lot better and more direct from what I saw today. Seems to be running a lot more in game now.

Paddy Mac was very good in patches during the game, took a couple of nice grabs and boy oh boy, he looks better up close. I love the way he tries to get to every contest, and he always crashes the pack. Can't wait until he proves the campaigner Dermie wrong, so he looks like the biggest dumbarse in AFL media.

Templeton was being the Templeton before he broke his arm. Looks more explosive now. Loved his work today. Seemed to have faded out however. I think he may have re-gained his confidence.

I thought Brandon White was good today also. Looks like he will be a player. I think his school mates were behind me, and they kept yelling out his name whenever he got near the ball, so it was easy to pick him out. Good athlete, and I think he's a very smart player.

Disappointing aspects:
I don't know if it was because where I was standing, but I didn't really see D-Mac, Webster, and Minchington have a solid impact today.

Saunders and Murdoch :/

Lee was better... but true quality still remains to be seen imo..

Hugh wasn't very impressive, but I think he simply had an "off-day", because he's a beast. <3

I spoke to Dunstan as he was signing autographs today, he said there was nothing wrong with his body, but just sat out the game.

Membrey still hasn't fully recovered from his shoulder injury, Gears still has a sore quad, Freeman and Rice for obvious reasons, Riewoldt cos he does what he wants (God), Armo and Steven; I have no idea why.

#BeStKilda

Sounds like they left Dunstan, Armo and Steven out just to give the other mids more of a chance to stand out.
Cheers to everyone who posted their thoughts

 

[Nutsngum]

Lee also managed to nail the female umpire in the final quarter. Cant say I blame him

 

[NarrowMind]

C'mon mate. Lewis Pierce not good enough? We know rucks take time to develop. Hickey traded? Coughlan a bit thin...given the fact he's a rookie...

Just absolute tripe. If you're going to comment on the state of our list at least have some supporting evidence. Sure Delaney and Murdoch may be sub par but the other part of the post was nonsense.

The Pierce portion of the post fell into where our rucks were mentioned. I've said I didn't agree with that already.

I also wouldn't want Hickey to be traded, but it may have to be something that has to be considered down the track.

 

[dct66]

I was only able to be there for the first two and a half quarters ... left during the drinks break in the third.

Tom Lee on the yellow team played the Sam Fisher loose man in defence for the yellow team (I read that he swapped to the red team later). Looked good and moved well IMO.

Crashed heavily and came up lame at one point but waved off the trainers, stayed on the ground and 'ran it off'.

Spend some time on the stationary bicycle outside the dressing room at half-time.

In the 3rd he paid some close attention to Paddy in the goal square. Giving him a few jabs in the small of the back. Paddy shook him off and threw elbow back to break the contact. Interesting to see in an intraclub match. Paddy will cop much worse when the real game starts and Tom showed a bit of mongrel he'll need if he's going to make it on the backline.

I don't reckon he's first choice for the defence but if Dempster or Fish cop an injury or Goddard needs a spell in the VFL he will get his chance and if he can stay fit, who knows.

 

[Winners Only]

I'm sorry and I don't mean to be rude but what the hell were you watching?
Hickey dominated the ruck. Gave Ross & Acres first use of the ball far more often than Holmes/Pierce did.
He kicked a goal and I don't know where you get he took marks against 'much smaller' opponents when he took those marks against Goddard, Bruce, Paddy & Lee (see photos for evidence). Not to mention he got away from his opponents and took some nice marks on the lead.
Pierce was ruck for the whole 2nd quarter and didn't do much, and Holmes was forward and did literally nothing. To be honest Holmes laid one tackle and was sitting out the back by himself and took an uncontested mark in the 3rd and that was it. To suggest he offers more around the ground is ludicrous.
I'd suggest you have a look at the replay on Monday.

Joop thats the beauy of footy there is a million ways to look at a game, but I maintain.Hickey was poor and wouldnt be in my starting 22. He mainly rucked aginst Peirce who is useless, but when against Holmes, Holmes killed him. i dont need to watch a replay that know that Hickey is another trade Pechen got wrong, he moves like a lazy 'baby giraffe'. He wont be playing with the Saints when we next contend.

 

[plugger66]

Most has been covered but I find it extraordinary how vastly different peoples perpective of games are. My first message would be dont expect significant improvement this year!

Secondly I thought Hickey was very poor and showed nothing to suggest he will
sucessfully fill the 2nd ruck role. I have seen mentioned his towering marks up forward both were 2 or 3 touch grabs against much smaller opponents. Very non convincing IMO.

I would update Holmes tomorrow and play him in front of Hickey as his rucking is far superior and he offers more energy to the team shows more effort around the ground.

An early call but I doubt Hickey will be with the Saints next year! They will trade him and chase a 2nd rounder to fill the hole.

Other major list concerns were Leiws Pierce he simply wont make it, he gives nothing in the ruck snd is hopeless around the ground. His last year I hope. Murdoch, Saunders and Delaney are another 3 who wont be at the club next year.

I cant believe how much Delaney has regressed, he doesnt look interested, has lost his aggressive edge and Paddy and Bruce made him look very ordinary.

Payne & Coughlan very thin and I have concerns they have the frames to become big enough to have an impact?

I reckon Murdoch doesnt have the ticker or the drive to make it. Plays lazy and allows his opponent to be first to the ball always.

Saunders tries hard but absolutely no where near AFL standard.

Our defenders will be slaughtered again this year against the bigger forward lines.

My biggest downer was the whole squads inability to hit a forward target after winning a centre clearance. Some of the decision making and execution moving free of traffic through the centre by Ross, Curren, Acres and Gilbert was second rate, still a major weakness in our gamea.

But there were lots of posiitives - Paddy, Billings, Lonie, Sinclair, Gresham, White will all be a stars.
Paddy & Bruce already have a nice understanding and will become a force.,
Holmes will make it and forge ahead of Hickey this year.
Lee showed plenty down back if he can stay on the park will be a better option down back than Goddard this year.
Weller is our modern day Stevie Baker as hard as nails.
The support crews of Templeton, Micnhington, Acres are solid and will continue to improve.

The running link plays through the centre have improved but still not top standard.

No noticeable changes in game style but went backwards/sideways a couple of times when they had momentum and should have taken
the game on through the centre/wing.

I surprised either side scored. If you think Hickey struggled then I have news for you on Holmes, he was awful unfortunately. He is that far off the pace. Hickey was very good and clearly the best ruckman out there. As for you comments on the mids I was wondering if you went to the same game as me. Granted we played each other but most of the mids seemed to do well yesterday. From what you write I think you have preconceived ideas on players and watch it that way.

 

[#gosaintas]

I thought Seb Ross looked like an absolute bull and will be a force in the afl at some stage.
Lee was a real general down back and is AFL standard.
Hickey was far and away the best ruck.

 

[felsty]

I surprised either side scored. If you think Hickey struggled then I have news for you on Holmes, he was awful unfortunately. He is that far off the pace. Hickey was very good and clearly the best ruckman out there. As for you comments on the mids I was wondering if you went to the same game as me. Granted we played each other but most of the mids seemed to do well yesterday. From what you write I think you have preconceived ideas on players and watch it that way.

An unstoppable object meets an unmoveable force...

 

[Rors]

Yep. Net result was McEvoy, 24 (Hartung), and 58(?), for 18 (Dunstan), 19 (Acres), and Savage.

The pick 58 was used to upgrade Jono Ceglar

 

[karaoke]

No mention - but why did Longer miss? Just rested?

 

[karaoke]

http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/tea...e/news-story/6d21580b02e58d3b45d07fc6eb91580f

St Kilda intra-club: Jack Billings stars in Saints scratch match, while Roberton injures left ankle

(By Tom Morris)

THE 1000 or so loyal Saints fans that made their way to Trevor Barker Oval in Sandringham on Friday evening will be buoyed by a number of players’ efforts, but none more so than Jack Billings.

The polished left footer shook off any lingering injury concerns to dominate St Kilda’s intra-club, frankly looking like a Rolls-Royce in a carpark full of Toyotas.

That may seem a little harsh on the 20-year-old’s teammates, some of whom are now younger than he is and also showed significant promise — without the Billings grace. In reality, the distinction is more a reflection of his mouth-watering talent than it is of his teammates lack there of.

Starting on the wing, Billings seemingly had his own football for the first of four terms — with a two-minute break halfway through each quarter effectively splitting the match into eight 10-minute periods.

He booted two goals and, not unlike Scott Pendlebury, appeared to be playing the game in slow motion regardless of the surrounding traffic.

 

[dsav]

Photo album now up.
http://www.davesavell.com/p681381903

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Cheers,
Dave.

Welcome back for the year, Dave!

Thanks mate - looking forward to it.

Dave.