Cream of the crop...

Stoney

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You guys were always the AFL's cream of the crop so to speak in regards to ur young list. Back in 2004 a good rivalry was developed between Geelong and St.Kilda when both teams seemingly "come of age".

However 3 years on, you have obviously got a better list of individuals, but we have a better team. (if that makes sense).

Just wondering how you guys would rate the performances of these players so far this season compared to what they are capable of playing.

1.) Nick Dal Santo (is he getting tagged out of games too easily?)
2.) Lenny Hayes
3.) Luke Ball

They are 3 of the best midfielders in the competition - yet they are not getting the job done in the middle for whatever reason I am unsure.
 

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mad-saint-guy

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#2
2005 ratings

1. Ball - Best midfielder at St Kilda and approaching the top 5 at in the AFL. The complete package. Has skill, pace, strength, gets lots of the ball, runs all day, kicks goals and is a natural leader
2. Hayes - Gun player. He just keeps on working away, is super-consistent and has no real flaw in his game. Gets a shyteload of the footy and burns off taggers with ease
3. Dal Santo - The finisher. His consistency can be a worry but overall he is a very good player. Awsome skills and vision, on the way to being an elite midfielder

2007 ratings
1. Dal Santo - Consistency is a major worry and he struggles big-time against quality taggers, but he is durable and he has the best skills in the team
2. Hayes - Floats in and out of games, struggles to get away from opponents to run with the footy after losing a fair bit of pace and agility. Still a good player, but a long way from being elite. Gets most of his possessions uncontested
3. Ball - He battles hard, tackles well and gets plenty of clearances but he can't hurt the opposition with the footy. Too slow to break away from a pack, struggles to hit a target 30m away and can't kick more than 40m.


The big problems started when Hayes did his knee. It left Ball as the number one midfielder which meant he had to lift his workload. This (imo) caused his OP which has turned him into half the player he used to be. Then with Ball struggling, Dal Santo gets the number one tagger which he can't break. Thank god for Harvs.
 

Stoney

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Thread starter #3
Great sum up... similar to what I was thinking. Especially Bally, definitly knocking on the door in 2005 to be in the top 3-5 midfielders in the comp - such a shame to see how injuries have hampered this champion.
 
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#4
is it a case of the st kilda young guns coming into the afl as "superstars" that they have never had to experience the defensive side of a game, and the team play, or working together to be successful...

if u look at sydney, no superstars, they had to work hard together to be succesful

u can also see that joey came in to the side as a hard working midfielder and is it any wonder why he has excelled at current....
 

MightySaint

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#5
The Ball situation is just insane IMO. Just give him the rest of the year off. He isn't right. We've all seen him in 2005, healthy he is one of the best in the comp. Brilliant defensively, gets the ball, good disposal. He is a shadow of that now, can barely kick. Playing him now gives us no benefit, rest him now so that we can see the real ball next year.
 

smelly cat

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#6
Luke Ball is my favourite player outside of Geelong and I totally agree. Give that guy the year off, let him get his groin back, and then let me watch him carve up the cats again.
 

pol06

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i couldnt agree more with resting luke ball. problem is i heard on the radio on the way home after the collingwood match in ross lyons press conference he was asked about luke ball and lyon 'said he didnt no what was wrong with him but that he wasn't injured' something along those lines.. i wasnt to sure what to think.

madsaintguy wrapped it up perfectly, 2005 they had the world at there feet but since and due to injury they have lost there edge. I remember when luke ball rarely missed targets and could blast out from packs. We need this luke ball back if we are to be a contender in coming years
 

Fehring

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#8
However 3 years on, you have obviously got a better list of individuals, but we have a better team. (if that makes sense).
God I hate Geelong.

Anyway, I know I can hear St Kilda posters groaning already but we haven't had a team for two years. Teams play together week in week out. We have three, four, five changes most week. That's no way to mould a team. But with our best players coming back, you can see the improvement coming. Don't write us off yet (write us off if we lose to Adelaide).
 
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#9
The Ball situation is just insane IMO. Just give him the rest of the year off. He isn't right. We've all seen him in 2005, healthy he is one of the best in the comp. Brilliant defensively, gets the ball, good disposal. He is a shadow of that now, can barely kick. Playing him now gives us no benefit, rest him now so that we can see the real ball next year.
Spot on. Just give him some time to fully prepare him self for the 2008 pre-season and beyond.

Hayes has had a really injury interupted year on top of the fact that he didn't have a proper pre-season. So he's been behind the eight-ball all year in terms of fitness. He's battled valiantly but like our team in general has struggled to put together 4 qtr's consistently.

I reckon Dal has been pretty good for us this year. Yeah he's been tagged-out of games on 2 or 3 occasions but apart from that i reckon he's been pretty solid. He was one of our best on the weekend again..unfortunately, his performance was tainted by the fact that uncharacteristically made a few horrible clangers and gave away a 50m that lead directly to a goal.

I think these 3 guys (hayes, ball, dal) aren't helped by the fact that they don't have much support, besides Joey. Guys like Fiora, Gram, L.Fisher, Baker need to step-up and do their bit in the midfield consistently - this would help eliminate our top midfielders getting tagged-out of games. We really need to increase our depth in the midfield either through development and/or the draft.
 
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