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

[joop]

I didn't realise Seb was still only 22. 23 in May.
After being dropped last year he came back and averaged over 20 possessions in his last 5 games.
Strong preseason and from what I saw yesterday it looks like he's going to continue to improve.

 

[gringo2011]

Looking deeper, you can add depth players Shenton & Minchington who've both achieved upgrades off being rookie drafted that year. While these guys don't exactly set the world on fire, with our draft history from around that time, this crop looks to be a huge win!

Interesting that they played Shents forward and was starting in the Saints jumper. Does that mean Weller moves out of that role or does it pressure Members more?

 

[Saintbloke]

Saw the middle part of the game but needed go before the end, but it just looked like a typical in-house club game to me, where some guys are holding back for heavy contests, others having a crack, and others going through the motions. I was more interested in the style of play that Richo is trying to get us to use, and it looks pretty attacking. Billings and Sinclair look great, Hickey did a good job in the ruck and is the clearly the best ruck option for us, Ross and Acres look solid, but I can't really get much out of a game like this, so lets look to the NAB cup for a bit more of a structured team effort.

 

[dewah07]

didn't catch or know anything about the game. is their a replay out their?

 

[Barrels]

"I believe that ball is Mr Gilmore's!"

 

[King_Steele]

"I believe that ball is Mr Gilmore's!"

View attachment 215274

Quadzilla

 

[SK_MD_#7]

For those who attended;

Do we all think Eli Templeton can recapture early career form and have a good 2016 seasons on the wing?

 

[Ekomaira]

didn't catch or know anything about the game. is their a replay out their?

pretty sure a replay is up on the Saints website on Monday

 

[Barrels]

For those who attended;

Do we all think Eli Templeton can recapture early career form and have a good 2016 seasons on the wing?

Yes.

You knob.

 

[dewah07]

Of the fringe types; Lee, Gresham and Acres should be very very close to the Round 1 side on today's efforts...

I'd have (assuming fitness):

FB: Dempster - Goddard - Geary
HB: Savage - Lee - Roberton
RK: Hickey - Armitage - Ross
CR: Steven - Acres - Billings
HF: Sinclair - Riewoldt - Montagna
FF: McCartin - Bruce - Lonie
IC: Longer - Gresham - Gilbert - Newnes

EDIT: Shenton probably should be in there too, and a few others.

Paddy probably a little lucky to make the cut.

dunstan?

 

[dewah07]

So going from what I saw today (obviously just my opinion) this is what I came away with:

GRESHAM: super impressive, could play round 1. Took a little bit to get into it but nothing negative about his game at all.

ROSS: got heaps of the ball, seems to find space and used it well 95% of time.

ACRES: I'd be surprised if he didn't have it the most out of anyone on the ground. Good in tight, heaps of clearances and a goal. Kicking still not great. Good to see him run the game out well when he went on the yellow side.

BILLINGS: all class. Had a lot of it and had it everywhere. Massive difference between him and Acres in terms of disposal.

WELLER: had plenty of the ball. He's super quick and goes in extremely hard. Couple of goals too. Started in the middle ended up forward.

CURREN: though he was excellent for the yellow side. Heaps of clearances and used it very well.

SINCLAIR: again very good for the yellow team. Only fumbled a couple of times but recovered and used it well.

LONIE: typical Jack. Quick, hard and finished with 4 goals.

GILBERT: played mostly through the middle and found plenty of it, used it really well too. Would be such a bonus if he could play through the middle and play well.

RUCKS: Hickey easily played the best, took 2 towering marks inside 50 but for the life of me can't work out why they weren't paid. Pierce actually beat Holmes in the centre hit outs. Neither had any influence around the ground though.

PADDY: slow to start, but worked into it. Seems to be running a lot more this year. Gets into great areas and is very smart (brilliant play when boxed into he pocket and snapped it to Bruce). Needs to one grab his marks more. Huge kid.

BRUCE: works so hard, just runs and runs. Kicked a couple and got more of the ball when playing CHF. Generally pretty quite though.

ELI: really liked from what I saw, got a lot more of the ball than he normally does. Kept running, went in hard and generally used it really well. Was lined up on Saunders most of the game and had him covered quite easily.

NEWNES: really strong game. Didn't stand out because this is what ive come to expect now. Used it well, covered distance and ran fast. Kicked a goal and also played off half back.

MCKENZIE: had put on zero weight, but that doesn't stop him. Goes really hard at the ball and man and my God is he quick. Kicked a couple nice goals.

SAUNDERS: tried hard, that's about it.

MURDOCH: not up to it really.

WHITE: couple of nice things. Didn't shy away from any contests. VFL year for him though.

SAVAGE: typical Sav, huge goal from outside 50 and heaps of run off the half back line.

WEBSTER: really throws himself into it. Used it well. Love his style.

O'KEARNEY: saw a few posters say they didn't notice him but I did. Had to keep checking the team sheet to see who it was. Thought he was very composed and didn't miss a target. Very slight but once he builds his frame he'll be a good one.

COUGHLAN: played really well. Tried to run with Bruce most of the game and had the better of him most contests. Pretty calm disposal coming out of defence a couple times too. I was pretty impressed.

GODDARD: competed well, didn't find much of the ball at all though. Was directing the youngsters when Lee went to the red team which was good to see.

MINCH: had a bit of it. Didn't do a lot I thought without having a bad game.

JBT: if he learns to read the ball he could actually play. Is a really good size, hard, courageous and uses it well if under no pressure. A long way to go.

DEMPSTER: typical Dempster. Very solid.

Think I covered most players. I positioned myself at various spots to try get a good look at everyone. Other people would have different views but this is how I saw it.
Overall I was pretty impressed. They all looked very hungry and after the 1st part of the match the skills improved dramatically.
Standouts were quite comfortably Gresham, Acres & Ross.

#BeStKilda

amazing!!! legend!!

 

[aussierulesrules]

A few more physical observations, in numerical order:

Eli looks to have bulked up a bit.

Dunstan is noticeably slimmer, especially in the upper body. No-where near as big a chest on him this year (shirt just hanging off him, rather than his chest sort of filling it up) and legs not as chunky.

Acres looking more solid.

Freeman and Armo were walking side by side and Armo was clearly taller than Freo, so either Dave is taller than he is listed at (more likely, IMO), or Nathan isn't as tall as listed (both listed at 183cm). Both were wearing runners.

Lonie looking stronger in the upper body.

Bruce noticeably stronger looking.

White a good height, but straight up and down skinny.

Pierce is finally looking more solid in the upper body and was looking a fair bit less of a "stringbean" than previously. Was standing right next to Holmes at one stage and I reckon Lewie (listed at 202cm) looked a touch taller than Jason (listed at 203cm), so I wouldn't be surprised if he's grown since first drafted.

Payne has definitely bulked up.

 

[CHBench]

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.

That started off pretty savage, nice save Tom.

 

[Ducky Tie]

Reckon goal kicking will click for Lonie after his wobbles in front of the sticks last year. Wouldn't be surprised if he bags 35 plus.

 

[aussierulesrules]

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

I think it's pretty safe to say Armo has an injury issue of some kind. No-one seems to have seen him training for weeks, there have been no pics of him training for weeks and someone posted on here yesterday that he said he was "managing some things", or whatever, which is player-speak for "I'm injured". I guess we'll see over the next couple of weeks when the NAB games start.

Reckon goal kicking will click for Lonie after his wobbles in front of the sticks last year. Wouldn't be surprised if he bags 35 plus.

I was told a couple of months ago that the club are hopeful/confident he'll kick 30 this year. A couple of his set shot goals yesterday were impeccable. Kept them very low and they went straight through the middle, including one from at least 45m out.

For someone with such good skills, his disposal efficiency last year was actually terrible (less than 60%) and his goalkicking accuracy also poor, so there is a lot of scope for improvement there for sure, which is a really good thing, as we know what he's capable of.

 

[Saintos The ITK]

Thanks for all the updates boys and girls. Just finished going through backwards. Say what you will.

 

[Winners Only]

For those who attended;

Do we all think Eli Templeton can recapture early career form and have a good 2016 seasons on the wing?

Played well but looks to have lost some of his zip...with his extra size. Think he had done a Billings and put on too much size too quickly.

 

[Patty_vanda]

A few more physical observations, in numerical order:

Eli looks to have bulked up a bit.

Dunstan is noticeably slimmer, especially in the upper body. No-where near as big a chest on him this year (shirt just hanging off him, rather than his chest sort of filling it up) and legs not as chunky.

Acres looking more solid.

Freeman and Armo were walking side by side and Armo was clearly taller than Freo, so either Dave is taller than he is listed at (more likely, IMO), or Nathan isn't as tall as listed (both listed at 183cm). Both were wearing runners.

Lonie looking stronger in the upper body.

Bruce noticeably stronger looking.

White a good height, but straight up and down skinny.

Pierce is finally looking more solid in the upper body and was looking a fair bit less of a "stringbean" than previously. Was standing right next to Holmes at one stage and I reckon Lewie (listed at 202cm) looked a touch taller than Jason (listed at 203cm), so I wouldn't be surprised if he's grown since first drafted.

Payne has definitely bulked up.

I noticed that too.

Something tells me Freeman is around the 180cm mark. Never the less looks ripped/fit and ready to run.

The big stand out for me was billings. His body has matured and looks a lot bigger and stronger in all the legs, bum & upper body which he will need to run around in the midfield and have an impact.

Mav Weller is looking fit, strong and ripped. I think you'll see him improve again this year & go up a level.

Young Greshem is short but can play .. Has big legs and bum for a kid his age.
Now i know why he never goes to ground! Good core strength

Definitely looking forward to the improvement and outside leg speed from our younger guys cruising through the midfield this year

 

[Barrels]

If Armo's out, perhaps that opens the door for Ross, Dunstan and Acres to be the three inside types.

On yesterday's example that's not a bad thing.

 

[Winners Only]

One again you're incorrect.

Q1: Hickey vs Holmes
Q2: Hickey vs Pierce
Q3: Hickey vs Holmes
Q4: Holmes vs Pierce

Can you tell specifics in what Holmes did that was better than Hickey? What marks did he take? Kicks? No doubt you'll say hit outs but you said he was better around the ground.

I never quoted who played in the ruck in which quarter. Holmes plays with energy, aggression and creates space for his team mates. Hickey plays like a slow moving light pole that avoids contact at all costs, amost like he is still playing Volleyball.

The single thing you have correct is that Holmes destroyed Hickey in hit outs and effective centre clearances. Hickey is a better forward option than Holmes, but I would suggest what extra Holmes provides in the ruck surpasses Hickeys lame forward efforts. Hickey did f-all considering he was playing for the dominant side!

Joop you need to change those glasses of hope and replace them with some reality.

 

[Studbuddy]

The 2013 and 2014 drafts are much vaunted by Saints fans but 2011 will be just as important. (Longer), Ross, Newnes and Webster. Didn't have great picks but really maximised what we did have.

Agreed, and considering the pre-selections GWS had which forced a lot of high end talent out of the draft so it meant our picks were not their true value.

 

[aussierulesrules]

If Armo's out, perhaps that opens the door for Ross, Dunstan and Acres to be the three inside types.

On yesterday's example that's not a bad thing.

That would be awfully inexperienced for the season-proper though. Given that he spent a chunk of time playing in there at the end of last year, did well there again yesterday and would be twice as fit this year, I would expect Gilbo to be played there for sure (all things being equal) if Armo was out and of course Steven would also spend a lot of time there.

 

[George]

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.

Don't worry about me, I had one too many beers last night lol. I still stand by my statement but in nicer terms lol

 

[holllywood]

Couldn't make the game so really appreciate all the comments about the game from everyone.

Sounds like there is a lot to looking forward to this year especially from the young blokes and now Joey playing off the HBF.

 

[Barrels]

#MyBoy