Preview Round 20, 2023: Hawthorn v St.Kilda - Marvel Stadium, Sunday 30th July, 1:10PM AEST

[George]

Im not saying keep him , all im saying is there is no need for the sh1t comments towards him , he may have stuff going on in his private life that we don't know about , who knows

Haven't seen anything out of order personally, just a bunch of people who reckon he's an average footballer and that we could do better. Personally hope it's the last time we see him play for us. Howard too.

 

[The Slug]

I haven't been a Gresh fan for a while and not trying to make excuses for him, but I think there is definitely something to be said for his achilles rupture a couple years back. It's a pretty devasting injury and it's not uncommon for pro athletes to never reach the same level of performance they could prior to the injury. Have only browsed, but there is a bit of research into it's effects on athletes particularly in the NBA.

 

[kernelT]

I think Dard prefers to be the master.

I was thinking about Gresham tomorrow but whatever gets you up and about mate.

 

[bergholt]

GWS and GC have proven that youth model still needs a group of older guides and the better that older group is the better and quicker your kids come on.

Right. But our older group isn't that great, and in fact there's evidence to suggest that they're actually a negative influence on the kids because they're not setting any sort of professional standards.

I know it doesn't feel great to be setting out on another rebuild but if your mid-age and older guys are mediocre then there's no sensible option to hang onto them en masse. The conservative option of "let's try and stay competitive while we draft" just seems to lead to turning promising draft picks into mediocre footballers, because that's the environment you're bringing them into.

Yeah there's no guarantees with a rebuild, but imo there's a guarantee that if we persist with the current mediocre group then we won't make any progress, and in fact we'll lose the good kids we have.

 

[stfan]

Just having a look at their ins, they are in full exploration mode. Meek killed us in the ruck last time so he's a big loss for them. The worry is still the forward line and how we kick a winning score.

I think you may mean Reeves who is their No1 ruck and who is 210cm.

Though they had both Reeves and Meek last time and the two of them. Were way too much for an out of sorts Marshall.

This time it is Meeks alone against an in form Marshall.

 

[Tommy Wigs]

Right. But our older group isn't that great, and in fact there's evidence to suggest that they're actually a negative influence on the kids because they're not setting any sort of professional standards.

I know it doesn't feel great to be setting out on another rebuild but if your mid-age and older guys are mediocre then there's no sensible option to hang onto them en masse. The conservative option of "let's try and stay competitive while we draft" just seems to lead to turning promising draft picks into mediocre footballers, because that's the environment you're bringing them into.

Yeah there's no guarantees with a rebuild, but imo there's a guarantee that if we persist with the current mediocre group then we won't make any progress, and in fact we'll lose the good kids we have.

Yep, if we keep following this path then my worry is that we just push out a period of contention even longer. Anyway, let’s see what happens in Trade period.

 

[NoisyMinor]

You make it sound like he has eternal credits in the bank, how long can one player trade off a few highlights in only a few games?

We sacked a man in brutal style, it’s the players turn next. Time for players to put deliver ir move on. It’s not the country league where you play for mateship.

 

[Saintpav]

Had those as wins and losing the rest.

With the other games, I just went on form and HGA.

An exercise in futility!

 

[MickG88]

There is more excuses flying around for Bytel than he has good games at the level

He hasn't shown enough to warrant a stretch of games in our weak midfield. That speaks louder than anything.

No excuses, reality is that Brad Crouch has been so good since coming to Saints that Bytel hasn't had the opportunities to get consecutive games. Would I rather Crouch or Bytel? Crouch for sure but what happens when Crouch gets injured? Who replaces him when we get rid of Bytel? We need depth and people on the Saints board want to get rid of that. He cost nothing and if he leaves what do we get for him and can we replace Bytel with a better player from the pick we get? I don't think so, why not give a year contract, give him a new role and see if he can thrive and even flourish under Ross. What's the worse that happens? Nothing.

 

[Dr Spaceman]

You make it sound like he has eternal credits in the bank, how long can one player trade off a few highlights in only a few games?

We sacked a man in brutal style, it’s the players turn next. Time for players to put deliver ir move on. It’s not the country league where you play for mateship.

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[beside the seaside]

I think you may mean Reeves who is their No1 ruck and who is 210cm.

Though they had both Reeves and Meek last time and the two of them. Were way too much for an out of sorts Marshall.

This time it is Meeks alone against an in form Marshall.

Apologies mate yep that's what I meant. Marshall should be out for revenge

 

[StFly]

No excuses, reality is that Brad Crouch has been so good since coming to Saints that Bytel hasn't had the opportunities to get consecutive games. Would I rather Crouch or Bytel? Crouch for sure but what happens when Crouch gets injured? Who replaces him when we get rid of Bytel? We need depth and people on the Saints board want to get rid of that. He cost nothing and if he leaves what do we get for him and can we replace Bytel with a better player from the pick we get? I don't think so, why not give a year contract, give him a new role and see if he can thrive and even flourish under Ross. What's the worse that happens? Nothing.

Needed to replace Ross IMO, just Bytel doesn't work hard enough for it, Crouch was the "Hanners didn't work out, lets get that guy" option.

 

[MickG88]

Needed to replace Ross IMO, just Bytel doesn't work hard enough for it, Crouch was the "Hanners didn't work out, lets get that guy" option.

I always though that Windhager was the Ross replacement.

 

[beside the seaside]

Imagine if we lose and stay in the eight. It's like some sick joke.

Win and we could be a game and a half clear in the eight in fifth.

 

[StFly]

I always though that Windhager was the Ross replacement.

Pegged him as Billings/Gresh replacement myself, NWM released Hill and Sincs for mid transition, Windy would do similar if Coffield was around but I also don't think Coff will go back to what he was so remains to be seen. Is why I see Bytel as Ross repalcement as sometime inside mid, most time plug and linkage, only Bytel doesn't have the workrate to do it.

 

[Tommy Wigs]

I couldn’t watch the VFL. Amy views? Light on for stats, shows our lack of mid cover. Couple of goals for Allison and Keeler at least and Max looks like he’s had a good statistical game at least.

 

[SaintersUnite]

This is such a strange match preview thread, 87 pages and maybe 4 of them are game related lmao.


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[MickG88]

Pegged him as Billings/Gresh replacement myself, NWM released Hill and Sincs for mid transition, Windy would do similar if Coffield was around but I also don't think Coff will go back to what he was so remains to be seen. Is why I see Bytel as Ross repalcement as sometime inside mid, most time plug and linkage, only Bytel doesn't have the workrate to do it.

Main reason why I saw him as the Crouch replacement, centre clearance to a quicker mid who can kick ie Philipou or Owens.

 

[gringo2011]

Main reason why I saw him as the Crouch replacement, centre clearance to a quicker mid who can kick ie Philipou or Owens.

I think he looks more true full time inside midfielder than Billings particularly.

 

[Otiman]

This is such a strange match preview thread, 87 pages and maybe 4 of them are game related lmao.

If you want a game comment, we will definitely up for the challenge this time, we underestimated Hawthorn last time and took the W before the game started.

We know where they're good and can easily cover their strengths.

 

[malevu]

The negativity on here is overwhelming. That includes the Gresham, Howard and Clark continual bashing. I'm giving the place a rest for a couple of weeks and will return if and when the sun comes back out for you.

And those of you who bag Gringo for being negative. FFS.

 

[EddieMurphy]

Can we have Flanders please?

 

[Mowman]

Can we have Flanders please?

Would be our best mid

 

[Saint Shags]

Tomorrow becomes so damn important with the results so far.
Win and it potentially means we only need 1 more win.
Lose and we hand back any form of momentum and break we could have gotten on that chasing pack.

 

[Premium]

We haven't got any one we could afford to lose that would get that kind of pick IMO. Marshall is probably the only one you could potentially replace with a cheaper lesser quality type and hp to use that capital on a kid but then if they take 4 years to develop we are worse off for a while. Massive risk.

This lot of kids is coming on a lot faster than a lot of our past kids due to a better pool of older guys carrying the load...well that and they are better talents too. Usually kids don't peak until their mid 20s.

To me we keep drafting well, try to pick the eyes out of free agency and try to get some ready made talent out of sides dropping down or interstate sides getting drained.

Hopefully that is what we are doing , the last couple years we have brought in some elite talent and they are the kids that will take us to a flag - Milera , Owens , Windhager , Phillipou and kids like Keller , Hotton and Heath are kids that will be playing at top level when they are seasoned enough.
People and the media don't realize the depth of talent we now have at the club - would we be talking about offloading Billings , Gresham , Membery , Ross a couple seasons ago - they were rated in our best 10 players.