Retired Koby Stevens

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Post Intra Match Interview: http://www.saints.com.au/video/2017-02-16/koby-stevens-intraclub-1702

“It was good to get back into it really, it’s been a long pre-season. The boys were pretty scrappy early but we worked our way into it. It was hot, a bit windy but it was good,” Stevens told saints.com.au on Thursday night.

Stevens lauded the performance by Billings who won a mountain of his own ball and navigated the windy conditions with expertise to be one of the better players on the ground. He also singled out Paddy McCartin who covered the ground well and took a handful of strong marks.

“I thought Jack Billings was really good – he’s had a strong pre-season. Jack Newnes was also good and then down forward the boys were good as well; big Paddy McCartin took a few good grabs,’ he said.

With the arrival of Stevens and Steele adding more class and depth to the Saints’ midfield department, the former Bulldog believes the competition for spots is driving performance at the club.

“There were heaps of good players out there today and we’re still missing Jack Steven and Nick Riewoldt to come back in. It (competition) is a good thing, one bloke can come out and another one can stand up and it just puts pressure on everyone to perform,” he said.
 
Armitage2Riewoldt said:
Post Intra Match Interview: http://www.saints.com.au/video/2017-02-16/koby-stevens-intraclub-1702

“It was good to get back into it really, it’s been a long pre-season. The boys were pretty scrappy early but we worked our way into it. It was hot, a bit windy but it was good,” Stevens told saints.com.au on Thursday night.

Stevens lauded the performance by Billings who won a mountain of his own ball and navigated the windy conditions with expertise to be one of the better players on the ground. He also singled out Paddy McCartin who covered the ground well and took a handful of strong marks.

“I thought Jack Billings was really good – he’s had a strong pre-season. Jack Newnes was also good and then down forward the boys were good as well; big Paddy McCartin took a few good grabs,’ he said.

With the arrival of Stevens and Steele adding more class and depth to the Saints’ midfield department, the former Bulldog believes the competition for spots is driving performance at the club.

“There were heaps of good players out there today and we’re still missing Jack Steven and Nick Riewoldt to come back in. It (competition) is a good thing, one bloke can come out and another one can stand up and it just puts pressure on everyone to perform,” he said.
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I thought he played really well in the intra club match, was very impressed considering I knew very little about him before.


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“Halfway through the year, if you asked me about leaving I would have said, ‘No’. But towards the second half of the year, I was pretty disappointed with the way things had been handled.

“I had tendinitis in my groin and lost a lot of fitness and wasn’t playing at the level I wanted to and negotiations stalled and I made the decision in my best interests. At the end of the day, I was pretty happy to make the move.”

He missed five weeks with his groin issue and, despite returning for a handful of senior games, was dropped at the start of September for the elimination final against his old side.

“I was playing my best footy at the start of the year and then I got the tendinitis and couldn’t get up and going again. I didn’t run at all for five weeks and then came back into the senior side but couldn’t catch up,” he said.

“I was so far behind and, knowing where my body was, I saw the writing on the wall.

“It was pretty tough (to miss the premiership). It still hurts and it’s always going to hurt. I was happy for the boys in that team, they are some of my best mates, but it does hurt and drives me.

“It has driven me to seek a lot of different opinions on my body and the way I can keep on the field for 23 weeks and finals.”

“I had talked to St Kilda a few years ago and the communication (with the Dogs) wasn’t the greatest and at the end I was pretty happy to make the move across,” he said.

“There was a contract on the table and I was ready to take that up and it wasn’t until I got injured the negotiations stalled.

“Everyone knows what a good young side St Kilda has got, it’s a little like the Dogs’ list of a couple of years ago, and I was inclined to move.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...y/news-story/841d05d0115de29a28c333b9229f5bce
 

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But towards the second half of the year, I was pretty disappointed with the way things had been handled.

Negotiations stalled and I made the decision in my best interests. At the end of the day, I was pretty happy to make the move.

The communication (with the Dogs) wasn’t the greatest and at the end I was pretty happy to make the move across,” he said.

There was a contract on the table and I was ready to take that up and it wasn’t until I got injured the negotiations stalled."

Some interesting quotes there. I thought his move may have more been about money and opportunity, but sounds like he was pretty happy to get out of the kennel by the end of the year.
 
JLT #1 Review

In Koby's first real hit out for the Saints I thought he did enough without blowing expectations out of the water.

12 touches all up - a nice 7 tackles as well. With him and Steele rotating through the middle we certainly have a lot more grunt.

Koby started in the middle a number of times - although we seemed to rotate just about anyone who could be considered a mid through there. Had a couple nice kicks that hit their target but looked rushed a couple times, especially his two shots for goal which failed to register a score.

After coming off an injury interrupted season and a club change I'm pretty happy with how he went. He's sure to get a game in our next two JLT matches and I reckon he'll start to find his spot in the side and look more comfortable.
 
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Koby wore a GoPro at training on Friday. Features a lot of stupid faces and Koby annoying people. But hey: http://www.saints.com.au/video/2017-03-03/up-close-the-koby-show-33

JLT #2 Review

Koby once again had a reasonable game in the second JLT match against the Blues. With no real opposition to speak of he managed 7 kicks, 12 handballs and 6 tackles (3rd most) in 71% game time. This was made up of 9 contested possessions (3rd most) and 4 clearances (2nd most). Suffice to say he was proficient in the aspects of the game we expected him as a big bodied and battle hardened player to be - tackles, contested possessions and clearances. For those Fantasy minded he managed a 91 in SC which is a good return for a 19 touch game.

His kick:handball ratio is probably a little low for my liking - however it's to be expected when he usually gets his hands on the ball at the bottom of a pack. Would like to see him utilise his kick a little more often. Seems to be a little hit and miss with efficiency.

Seems the club is gearing up JLT #3 to be a proper dress rehearsal for Round 1. Albeit with 2 extra on the interchange. I see Koby stuck in the large group of players around 18-26 on the team sheets. If he gets a game on Sunday I imagine we'll see him line up against the Demons in Round 1. At the moment it's very hard to say and he's borderline best 22 on what I've seen so far.
 
Koby has been picked in the 27 for the final JLT match. Still 5 to be cut though, will be very interesting to see whether he makes it!

kobyjlt2.jpg

Koby doing a Koby thing.
 
Armitage2Riewoldt said:
Koby has been picked in the 27 for the final JLT match. Still 5 to be cut though, will be very interesting to see whether he makes it!

kobyjlt2.jpg

Koby doing a Koby thing.
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Lol , they named the squad and we are still none the wiser.
Seems we must be pretty right about it.
 
JLT #3 Review

Unfortunately Koby was "a bit crooked" and didn't play in the final pre-season match.

With 2 to be cut and potentially Joey to come back his spot in the side may well be in jeopardy. Acres knocking the door down in the VFL too with 38 touches.

Interesting couple weeks coming up in regards to selection.
 
Armitage2Riewoldt said:
JLT #3 Review

Unfortunately Koby was "a bit crooked" and didn't play in the final pre-season match.

With 2 to be cut and potentially Joey to come back his spot in the side may well be in jeopardy. Acres knocking the door down in the VFL too with 38 touches.

Interesting couple weeks coming up in regards to selection.
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The fact that Richo had him lined up to play in the third game before he got sick sounds to me like he's going to be in round 1 side.


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Round 1 Review

Unfortunately Koby was kept out of the round 1 team with a continued bout of food poisoning. There are reports of him losing up to 7kgs. If this is true he could be out for a little while. Hoping Koby can get well soon and work his way into the side!
 

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Brains Trust66 said:
He must have been really sick , with our injuries at the moment wonder if they will be tempted to rush him in for round three ?


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Apparently lost 7 kgs after eating a dodgy prawn.

So just like the prawn he would have to be a bit underdone.

If they rush him in I'll be spewing.

And if they rush him in he'll probably be spewing
 
Dr Spaceman said:
Apparently lost 7 kgs after eating a dodgy prawn.

So just like the prawn he would have to be a bit underdone.

If they rush him in I'll be spewing.

And if they rush him in he'll probably be spewing
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Yeah not much of an update lately. Guess we'll have to see come Thursday night. Could definitely use him this weekend.

Is a shame the whole food poisoning thing, apparently this was one of his first full pre-seasons. Although he didn't look in incredible touch during the JLT.
 
28 touches for Koby in the VFL yesterday. Been very solid the last two weeks and looks to be past his food poisoning concern.

Probably just needs to get the miles into his legs at this stage to really push for selection.

At the moment probably tracking about as expected. Too good for the VFL but might need to wait his turn in the AFL.
 
Unfortunately it seems Koby copped a knock to the head (and resultant concussion) in the VFL match on the weekend and ended up missing about half the game.

It's a disappointing result after a couple good games regaining touch at the lower level and with Dunstan putting in another poor performance and Armo out for an extended amount of time it seems like hes almost a certain in this week if healthy.

Hope he can get up for this weekend, at either level.
 
If he's fit he will be in the seniors this week , unfortunately a bad week to get a concussion, might miss a week due to it . He's just the sort of player we need in the ones , a ball magnet with good disposal.


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First game today and didn't he want to impress!? 28 touches and 2 goals. 12 contested possessions and 6 clearances. All that in just 68% game time too! Second lowest for the Saints.

Was at the bottom of every pack and stuck a few good tackles. Very handball happy which we saw a lot of in the pre-season games. 25:75 ration of kicks to handballs but if he's getting the ball out to Billings, Ross and Jack then I don't mind him handballing it that often.

Even got a highlights package: http://www.saints.com.au/video/2017-04-29/koby-takes-centre-stage-on-saints-debut

(Think the link is broken atm, hopefully they fix it up)
 
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