Originally posted by FIGJAM:
"Gee haven't the Saints recruited well, Gehrig, Hamil, Lawrence". What a crock! I would much rather have Molloy, A. Rocca, Tarrant and Didak in my team! To allow for these players the Saints had to delist Shane Wakelin, who granted had a suspect achillies, but now is 110% fit and looks set to take over as our regular centre half back (and we got him for nothing!).
You are right FIGJAM, I think next to Hamill, Gehrig and Lawrence, the 4 Collingwood players you have mentioned stack up quite well. Particularly Tarrant and Didak who both seem to have an enormous amount of talent. I don't think Molloy is anything special, nothing more than a good honest contributor. I do rate Anthony Rocca quite highly and could be a top line player if he ever became more consistent. Gehrig and Lawrence have both had injury problems throughout the pre-season. Lawrence is a tough defender, an area that we were severely lacking in while Gehrig is an awesome talent that has never been able to make the most of his talents. A consistent Gehrig is an exciting prospect. But best of all, Aaron Hamill is reportedly training the house down. He is the best pick-up from both clubs without a doubt.
Just don't forget to name all of our recruits when comparing the two sides. For one thing, you have mentioned your number one draft pick in Alan Didak yet have neglected to mentioned the first two picks, Nick Riewoldt and Justin Koschitzke. I have no doubt that Didak will be a much better selection in the short term as our recruits are both very raw and are coming off an injury interrupted pre-season campaign. Yet in the long term, we have two very exciting young kids who both have incredible leaps and marking ability for their ages. (Much like Tarrant)
We have also picked up quality players like Matthew Capuano, Craig Callaghan, Brett Voss who I would think stack up quite well against players such as James Clement and Brodie Holland. Throw in a guy like Jason Cripps who is nearing full fitness after not playing since 1998 and we have the makings of a good young squad with some existing champion players.
I think both our clubs have some good talented players. I'm not really sure why you felt the need to compare us to Collingwood anyway. Surely you are not threatened by the rare positive publicity that we received over the break.
Lastly, I'm certainly not losing any sleep over the loss of Shane (and Darryl) Wakelin. I did respect the two of them for making the most of their limited talents and always putting in 100%. But frankly, I couldn't see either of them becoming world beaters though I would not begrudge them any success that they achieve at Port and Collingwood.
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