Nick Riewoldt

[TTTT]

Now we all know that nick is a great player and leader of the side, but over the past few weeks i have been wondering if this year should be nicks last year as captain. I think that its time that someone else stood up to take the role and allow nick to concentrate on playing the game which we all know when his on fire his hard to stop.

I was dissapointed that he missed that goal in the second quarter last night which would of put st kilda a couple goals up with all the momentum. Is it possible that the rest of the group feel let down when he fails to kick important goals?

Im not blaming nick or having a go at him i just feel its time to release some pressure on the guy and let him play footy at his best

thoughts?

 

[fusion]

When he missed that goal in the second quarter the game then quickly swung the other way. He looks so awkward with his set shots. It reminds me of a young kid trying to kick at auskick but looking uncoordinated as they are thinking of too many steps. It's such a pity, as his field kicking is good.

Whether he should lose the captaincy dependson whether there is a better alternative. From the outside he appears the best candidate for the job and does take inspirational marks and acts of courage that you want from a captain.

He's a champion footballer but if he doesn't fix his kicking he won't be remembered as a truly elite player. Not sure if it's mental, related to previous injury or fatigue from running his opponent ragged. I find myself holding my breath every time he has a set shot.

 

[Plugger35]

I wouldn't mind seeing Goddard get the captaincy, with all the young guys in the side now it's a new younger side so a new younger captain would probably be appropriate.

Nothing against Riewoldt who has done a great job as captain but I agree that it might help him if he could just focus on his own game. I think all the off field stuff and constantly being the focus of attention at the club as captain and chief spokesperson has weighed him down and is affecting his game.

 

[DalSainter]

I agree, without sticking the boots into him, he really is letting the side down with his goal kicking. He gets paid the big $$$ for goals and is not delivering and that crucial miss in the 2nd is no different to the one in the 3rd qtr of the first grand final. Im starting to think he aint up to it mentally with the captaincy and maybe it is time for change.

 

[RegHickeyStand]

I was watching the game until Riewoldi's miss, and I thought "Collingwood are in real trouble here". St Kilda was really coming at them.

The Saints needed a captain's goal, and when Riewoldt missed I thought that was very bad news for the Saints. So much of competitive sport is played between the ears, and that was a jarring moment in the game.

 

[the distributer]

Wonder if ross will ever tell him to bulk up a bit and play at FF, i would.

 

[beejay]

one of my favourite players and his form slump has been very disapointing but its been very difficult of late trying to double up as a lead up chf whilst trying to get back and be a f50 target all with our current game plan. its said over and over again but we need another target up forward even if it is just to make crumbs. i am sick of us kicking to milne and peake in marking contests or something like that.

he used to be such a good goalkicker he needs to work on his dropping of the ball because you guys are spot on, its letting our team down. i still think he should be captain he is one of our best leaders at the club

 

[CHBench]

Get Sippa on to him.

 

[Plugger35]

Combine Rooey's running and overhead marking ability with Sippa's goal kicking and we will be unstoppable.

 

[TTTT]

at this stage the only person that can help riewoldt out up forward is mcvoy. good at contested marks would be good sitting him in the square when his being rested from ruck duties.

 

[ChrisFooty]

at this stage the only person that can help riewoldt out up forward is mcvoy. good at contested marks would be good sitting him in the square when his being rested from ruck duties.

It has not helped that Gamble has been a major flop in the forward line thus far. He was supposed to be that meduim size forward that St.kilda were missing. Looks like the man can not play. Siposs has well and truly taken over his position in the senior team. Siposs is only 18 however, and did struggle against the bigger opponents.

 

[SA1NTER]

I don't want to sound like a bit of a trouble sturrer but Goddard needs to be given the captaincy ASAP. I say this because after watching the full Collingwood match (I actually did it incredibly) Roo had zero impact on really anything, whereas BJ was telling people where to stand, what to do, he looked in control really.

Nick has served our club fantastically since 2008, but we need to take all of that weight off of his shoulders, and I hope RL sees this too.

 

[thomas_m18]

A few weeks ago, BJ was the one that needed to focus on his footy and start playing well again. How times change...

I don't know what goes on in the inner sanctum, so I'm not sure how good a captain Rooey really is. Maybe it might be worth giving it to someone else, but I trust our players to be leaders regardless of their title, and I don't think giving the captaincy to Goddard will change how either of them play. Hayes, Goddard, Fisher and co. lead, regardless of their title, and I would expect that having the captaincy wouldn't affect Rooey's performance in a big way.

Leave it until the end of the year, at least, before we make a decision IMO.

 

[Squizz]

I'm not seeing the "problem".

His ball drop has always been flawed, and is accentuated when he's had to run his balls off to get the thing.

He kicks 3.2 and 3.0 against Hawthorn and Melbourne and no-one says anything.

The conditions were good on the night, and we went with the wrong forward set-up.

Riewoldt playing further up the ground is something that we have gone with of late, but Sippa was our only tallish target at 189cm - and he looked sore against Melbourne, didn't impact against Freo and was totally up against it on Saturday with a number of mobile tall opponents (including Maxwell and Tarrant).

 

[One 2 Roo]

Roo's form and confidence is down, no doubt. He looks completely shattered everytime he has a shot for goal. I like the theory of him being completed blown up by the time he has a shot for goal, and whilst I beleive parts of it, we cannot let that overshadow the fact that this bloke is becoming a complete failure when shooting at goal. Every miss has a compounding factor on the rest of the team, and as skipper, it is his duty to install confidence in the group by setting the standard, that includes kicking it straight between the big ones.

The pressure, percieved or real, is there everytime he has a shot and he simply can not handle it, even the weeks where he has kicked relatively straight (in terms of accuracy) he has wobbled a couple through.

"The Problem" is that we don't have another target inside 50 that can take a ****ing contested mark. This allows all of the defenders to zone off and attack the space that Roo leads into as they know that's where we are going to kick the ball. We need to draft, trade, develop and do whatever it takes to get some help for the great man.

We need a KPF capable of taking games apart with the ability to kick big bags that warrants the attention of one or maybe two of the opposition's best defenders. Either we go for a FF and keep Roo at CHF, or a CHF and move Roo to FF.

 

[sunshine_saint]

Wonder if ross will ever tell him to bulk up a bit and play at FF, i would.

Agree - hes not a midfielder and playing the roaming HF role just doeasnt hurt opposition enough or do scoreboard damage. Hes on the big bucks and needs to hurt teams and the only real way to put pressure on the opposition and counter punch is via the scoreboard. At this stage of his career id get him on the protein shakes (HGH if we have to) and the weights and get him to try to take more marks within 30 of goal and be doing more damage.

If not saints will just become like the tigers of old with richo roaming around taking a million marks and impressing the little kids and the grandmas but not hurting teams or worrying defences. If you want the big bucks you need to do damage inside 50.

 

[sunshine_saint]

Combine Rooey's running and overhead marking ability with Sippa's goal kicking and we will be unstoppable.

dont we already have that combination? and we are clearly stoppable.
sippa is a clever 3rd fwd (stevie j type). we still lack a big bodied fwd. pies have 2 gorrilas inside 50.

 

[OhMyGoddard]

It has not helped that Gamble has been a major flop in the forward line thus far. He was supposed to be that meduim size forward that St.kilda were missing. Looks like the man can not play.

I totally disagree with this. You're surprised Gamble wasn't the perfect puzzle piece to slot in and 'fix' a dogs leg forward line? We haven't seen his best in the 3 games he's played.

Siposs has well and truly taken over his position in the senior team.

Agree with this part though. Sippah's been a real shining light in all this. Not really impacting games all that much just yet, but definitely shows the potential to.

I fear that getting Gamble was a clever bit of recruiting that hasn't revealed itself yet because the team's not going all that well. If we were 5-5 would you still want to throw him out with the bath water? We're giving Polo the opportunity, but not Gamble?

Gamble is smaller, but could be another aerial target, drawing the extra defender away from Roo, in Kosi's absence. But only Roo can clean up his goal kicking unfortunately.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

I totally disagree with this. You're surprised Gamble wasn't the perfect puzzle piece to slot in and 'fix' a dogs leg forward line? We haven't seen his best in the 3 games he's played.



Agree with this part though. Sippah's been a real shining light in all this. Not really impacting games all that much just yet, but definitely shows the potential to.

I fear that getting Gamble was a clever bit of recruiting that hasn't revealed itself yet because the team's not going all that well. If we were 5-5 would you still want to throw him out with the bath water? We're giving Polo the opportunity, but not Gamble?

Gamble is smaller, but could be another aerial target, drawing the extra defender away from Roo, in Kosi's absence. But only Roo can clean up his goal kicking unfortunately.

Gamble would be getting games except for the unexpected emergence of Arryn as a better option. More a win by our recruiting than a fail by Gamble.

I really think we need to bring in Archer as a strong marking forward, and make sure the players are sending a few his way. He wont be the messiah, but he's the biggest heaviest forward we have and I just think he would demand more respect than Kosi.