Training 2021 Pre-Season

Sep 12, 2007
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What do you mean by we know what they are ? Not getting what your saying and not sure Byrnes is an Unknown just because his first game wasn't a blinder , in the end they chose to play him in front of Bytel so the club obviously rates him

Coff, King, Clark and Paton are all best 22 players, unless they somehow go backwards at stupid rate we know they will be good/elite. Bytel and Byrnes to me are pretty similar in that we have expectations and hopefully they are both the Clark/Coff of this year but if they arent in our best side its not the end of the world.

My original post was more referring to Crouch, Hill, Steele, Membs, Howard, Marsh etc. but the above 4 are in a pretty similar boat, if we get this years production from them then we would all be happy, if they improve, even better (one could argue Dusty isnt a known quantity because he might fall off cliff this year but its unlikely).

Higgins could be a complete match winner or could be a total bust. Essentially most of us would have a pretty similar best 22 with Higgins as the exception.

Thats all.
 

st_trav_ofWA

Norm Smith Medallist
Aug 17, 2015
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couldnt agree more

i never got to see polly play but for some reason he reminds me of polly. for the hype nic nat gets, Ryder should be a much bigger name than he is. just a quiality player!!!
he dosnt have a marketable hircut .... also Paddy is fairly reserved in media performances wher NicNatis always in the limelite (even when not playing) pound for pound on ability Paddy at his peak is the better of NicNat at his
 

snails13

Club Legend
Sep 20, 2015
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Richmond are generally really good to deal with at the trade table,and they off loaded Butler for a packet of peanuts (P56) so he could get opportunity elsewhere.
Great get for us at that price and a Premiership player,and as we have seen in his 1st year with us is a very talented forward.
Higgins wanted more opportunity as well but Richmond obviously had seen enough of Jack to fight for a 1st round pick for him.
To me that's a good sign that we have obtained another very talented player.
 
Sep 12, 2007
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he dosnt have a marketable hircut .... also Paddy is fairly reserved in media performances wher NicNatis always in the limelite (even when not playing) pound for pound on ability Paddy at his peak is the better of NicNat at his
Personally (and its all subjective) Nicnats absolute peak was pretty bloody dominant it just lasted for like 5 games.
 

st_trav_ofWA

Norm Smith Medallist
Aug 17, 2015
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We do ....asked about under 18 players rumoured to be training with us in the future was told that we
are not doing that , we appear to be going down the track of looking at players later in year when other
leagues commence .
fair enough and without wanting to sound like a disgruntled fanboi here but if the plan is to pick up players from the stae comps during the year is there any indication that what we are goingto find is going to be any better than what we just delisted ? i mean theres every chance Parker gets going at South Fremantle and becomes a revelation and the best player in the land .. Marsh not that long ago was seen by our recruiters as the best option in the land... i kinda hope we havent thrown players away in the "HOPE" that something better than them stands up .. especially when we have 4 list spots to fill
 

st_trav_ofWA

Norm Smith Medallist
Aug 17, 2015
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Personally (and its all subjective) Nicnats absolute peak was pretty bloody dominant it just lasted for like 5 games.
but even in those 5 games it was more of a flash in the pan 10 mins of Wow rather than a whole game domination ... hes a bit like a small forward who get a 1/4 opportunity and makes the opposition pay... NicNat just does that as the biggest man on the ground ...
i rate him as a player and he is certainly a player that you need to be mindful of but i dont see him anywhere near as troublesome as some other players
 
fair enough and without wanting to sound like a disgruntled fanboi here but if the plan is to pick up players from the stae comps during the year is there any indication that what we are goingto find is going to be any better than what we just delisted ? i mean theres every chance Parker gets going at South Fremantle and becomes a revelation and the best player in the land .. Marsh not that long ago was seen by our recruiters as the best option in the land... i kinda hope we havent thrown players away in the "HOPE" that something better than them stands up .. especially when we have 4 list spots to fill
I wouldn't hold your breath about either of those Two
 

borderbarry

Premiership Player
Sep 10, 2006
4,056
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We wait for the junior comps to start before getting any kids. That makes sense. But how do we pick them up? In the upcoming rookie draft? When is that?
 
We wait for the junior comps to start before getting any kids. That makes sense. But how do we pick them up? In the upcoming rookie draft? When is that?

There will be a mid-season draft, not sure if the exact dates though.
 

Stewart66

Premiership Player
Saints Pledge Contributor
Jul 27, 2014
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fair enough and without wanting to sound like a disgruntled fanboi here but if the plan is to pick up players from the stae comps during the year is there any indication that what we are goingto find is going to be any better than what we just delisted ? i mean theres every chance Parker gets going at South Fremantle and becomes a revelation and the best player in the land .. Marsh not that long ago was seen by our recruiters as the best option in the land... i kinda hope we havent thrown players away in the "HOPE" that something better than them stands up .. especially when we have 4 list spots to fill



Was talking about it yesterday with former recruiter at club he commented about the direction in recent
years of recruiting where it was so focused on U/ 18 then switched to having guys from SANFL, WAFL
& VFL that had matured late or were simply missed or trading targeted players from other clubs is now
important part of the recruiting mix.

TAC cup going to be very interesting this year as a number of players played little or no football
in 18 months most teams regard draft depth next year stronger & private school level football is
extremely powerful these days in Victoria.
 

st_trav_ofWA

Norm Smith Medallist
Aug 17, 2015
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I wouldn't hold your breath about either of those Two
oh im not .... but i guess the point is moving players on when their replacments are upgrades is smart list managment ... but im not a huge fan of replacing average with average ... im all for the movment of players who are not going to make it but with 4 spots to fill i dont know if we are going to find 4 players that are going to be upgrades on what we delisted in Sav, Parker and Marsh ... maybe we will but logic will say we are goingto downgrade on at least one of them
 

Palantine

All Australian
Mar 30, 2016
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I think I'm permanently outside the box.....I was thinking CHB and wrote CHF. I think I'm getting alzheimers early. Who cares, I like it, make him play where he doesn't want too anyway.:drunk:

Funnily enough I completely read it as CHB. Like one of those psychological tricks where I couldn’t see what was right in front of me.

I’m clearly not one to accept change.


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app
 
oh im not .... but i guess the point is moving players on when their replacments are upgrades is smart list managment ... but im not a huge fan of replacing average with average ... im all for the movment of players who are not going to make it but with 4 spots to fill i dont know if we are going to find 4 players that are going to be upgrades on what we delisted in Sav, Parker and Marsh ... maybe we will but logic will say we are goingto downgrade on at least one of them

worth factoring in reduced payments. i think we need to sit back, wait for the comps start up and see where our list is at. in the mean time we save $$$ and resources
 
Jun 23, 2015
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To me the biggest improvement will come from Coffield, Paton, Wilkie, Long, Clark, Battle and Marshall. If a couple of those go up a notch we are really starting to move forward pace. Our defence was still statistically pretty leaky. As those guys start to gel and get individual improvement we are going to be hard to beat. I think Ratts will give Frawley first go at the FB role and send Dougal to CHF where both he and Carlisle are more suited.
I saw the stats on the defence and was quite surprised.I think the stats this season will show a big improvement, not because of anything special they undertake, but because of an improved midfield pressuring the opposition ball carrier.
 
Jun 23, 2015
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He probably had his statistically best year in 2018 but never really had a spot, 2020 saw him play a bits and pieces player again but his disposal count was consistently low, that said he doesn't waste anything he touches. If he could keep playing the running utility role he did but push back up to regular low 20s possession counts he could be a very damaging player.

I think he's very suited to Ratten's game plan due to his cleanliness with the ball and his ability to run all day, if he could just push up the possession counts he'd be one of our most valuable contributors. He's unlikely to be a superstar overnight but I could see him being a Hugh Greenwood at Adelaide type. Even probably comparable to the Rory Atkins type of not in your first lot of rotations type of mid. If he even cements a best 22 spot he'll have done well.
Or another Jack Newnes ?
 

st_trav_ofWA

Norm Smith Medallist
Aug 17, 2015
5,810
15,541
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worth factoring in reduced payments. i think we need to sit back, wait for the comps start up and see where our list is at. in the mean time we save $$$ and resources
i get that but again 4 spots is a fair chunk to have not in the team compared to our competitiors ... i do wonder if knowing now Robbo was going to not come up if perhaps we would have wanted to have kept at least one of the delisted group
 

saintkildaman

Brownlow Medallist
Jun 1, 2010
10,142
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JB needs a big year, hopefully having a good pre-season
JB is the one to watch next year IMO. His best is arguable the best in our team, had some massive individual performances even in some of our really average sides in the years gone by. Hopefully with our increased midfield depth we see JB play predominantly in the front half, can easily see him kicking 35+ goals as a half forward. Expect big things.
 

#gosaintas

Cancelled
Veteran Reimagine Moorabbin
Nov 11, 2013
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JB is the one to watch next year IMO. His best is arguable the best in our team, had some massive individual performances even in some of our really average sides in the years gone by. Hopefully with our increased midfield depth we see JB play predominantly in the front half, can easily see him kicking 35+ goals as a half forward. Expect big things.
Something happened to him last year. Lost his energy about halfway through the year and plodded his way to the end. Looked injury related to me unless the hub drained him.
 

Monika72

Team Captain
Apr 30, 2007
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Other Teams
Tottenham Hot Spurs
Interesting article on Fox Sports website today regarding the re emergence of Manchester United,with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer,using the same system as what the Saints are doing this season,providing our Stars with depth.
That depth has enabled the Reds to surge to the top of the Table.
Also mentions that since Alex Ferguson,they had not recruited a Manager that could get the best out of the players.
Solskjaer is doing that and is another reason why Man U are a Threat again
I've seen a number of games and United have had a lot of luck, that's what saints need, a good team and a little luck.
 
i get that but again 4 spots is a fair chunk to have not in the team compared to our competitiors ... i do wonder if knowing now Robbo was going to not come up if perhaps we would have wanted to have kept at least one of the delisted group

i think if we knew robbos outcome before list lodgement, 100% agree with you. hence why i disagreed with the other poster who claimed he was last in line and just pulled the pin

but as it stands i dont think its a massive loss either way, the talent we are talking about is extremely speculative.
 

KingsRansom

Club Legend
Aug 23, 2020
2,099
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AFL Club
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Does anyone know if saints have scheduled a family day this year? Can't seem to find one yet. I'm imagining that Covid is making it tough
 

Ads734

Premiership Player
Jan 24, 2013
4,409
13,717
AFL Club
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W
Yes attended training today....Roberton is in good head space , as much that it is disappointing from
playing perspective was assisting in training drills , pretty clear direction in coaching future .


Observations.


Sinclair in fantastic shape Very impressed might suprise a few supporters.

Billings really starting to develop his body done a lot of work over summer .

Battle in awesome shape , building to be something special.

Webster & Ross in significantly better shape this year , going to be lots of pressure for spots.

Really impressed with Frawley & Ryder .....Paddy in fantastic shape better than even last year.
and Chip could suprise a few because he ain’t making up the numbers the way he appears definitely
in great shape.
Hannebery in better shape also lost a few Kgs, very happy with Bytel & Byrnes

Boys trained for 2 hours today ....main focus was handball drills & kicking the footy.



Of the new boys Highmore impressive with his marking & courage ...Allison nice mover can see
the attraction of his size & mobility.
hat time/day are they training Stewart
 
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