Prediction Starting Best 22 2017

[#gosaintas]

Big William training like he lost his spot last year.
I'm honestly surprised supporters have written him off.

Maybe because he can't mark and can't get the ball

 

[Periphery]

Maybe because he can't mark and can't get the ball

That probably has more to with a lack of tank than a lack of ability.

 

[Kilroy]

Big William training like he lost his spot last year.
I'm honestly surprised supporteors have written him off.

You might just be his biggest fan but I dare you to call him Willy (no matter how tempting it must be)

 

[gringo2011]

Big William training like he lost his spot last year.
I'm honestly surprised supporters have written him off.

Na most write off anyone not playing. Big louie and Holmes both played seniors so are considered closer to the mark right now. Most wrote off Minch before he won a place in the seniors, Lonie is seen as shot by plenty now. As soon as they play again they are back.

 

[stavro#4]

We'll be playing two Key defenders in Round 1. Roberton is not and will never be a KPD. Ask Bruce and Paddy who is giving them the most trouble in the match sim drills and they'll both tell you Brown. If fit he's a lock.
Also I wouldn't necessarily say that Gresham is a lock as most seem to think here. If he's picked early it's as a small forward and right now I have Lonie ahead of him.
When you try and put together a 22 it's becoming very difficult, and that's a sign that we are putting together a very nice list.
This is how I think it may look in Round 1, not necessarily the team I would select:


B: Geary. Brown. Dempster.
HB: Savage. Carlisle. Montagna
C: Riewoldt. Acres. Newnes
HF: Billings. Bruce. Weller
F: Lonie. Mccartin. Membrey
FOLL: Hickey. Ross. Steven.
INT: Gilbert. Roberton. Armitage. Stevens

I would say that team is close to spot on with Koby Stevens spot being the one that could go to 4-5 players.

Lonie will be on a short leash. If he doesn't preform, he wont be playing. There will not be any passengers in 2017. The other one i have a sneaky feeling on is Dmac for Gilbert. But thats dependent on which Gilbert turns up, he has looked good in the instances i saw him late last year.

 

[bergholt]

Big William training like he lost his spot last year.
I'm honestly surprised supporters have written him off.

Marge that's because we have six guys who can play in the ruck and none of them can also play forward? I still think that's a dumb list management decision.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

So given the depth of the team, which players would we "NOT" want to see get a couple of weeks for being slightly too aggressive on the tackles?
I'd go with:
Brown, Carlisle,Riewoldt,Bruce, McCartin, Membrey, Armitage, Steven..

 

[cooperrules]

had an interesting conversation with someone from the oakliegh u18 inner sanctum. the past 5 years there he had toby mclean no 1 and dmac no 2 as the best footballers hes seen from oakleigh. he was surprised billings went no 3.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

had an interesting conversation with someone from the oakliegh u18 inner sanctum. the past 5 years there he had toby mclean no 1 and dmac no 2 as the best footballers hes seen from oakleigh. he was surprised billings went no 3.

You'd think he would have mentioned it to some of the experts in the lead up to the draft that year.
StKilda selecting Billings was not considered a stretch.

 

[hayes]

had an interesting conversation with someone from the oakliegh u18 inner sanctum. the past 5 years there he had toby mclean no 1 and dmac no 2 as the best footballers hes seen from oakleigh. he was surprised billings went no 3.

That made for some good reading until the last sentence which shows this persons judgement is....questionable.

 

[Joffaboy]

Back on topic guys.

I think Holmes is a better ruckman than Longer.....




.....whose with me?

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Back on topic guys.

I think Holmes is a better ruckman than Longer.....




.....whose with me?

I think Holmes is a longer ruckman than Billy.

 

[Armoooo]

Had no doubts it would be an unpopular opinion, but from what Ive seen I think so.
Both look to average a similar number of hit-outs, but its more to do with the effectiveness of those hitouts; far more of Holmes' hitouts seem to be to advantage.

Both offer little else in disposal or scoring; Longer slightly ahead but near enough to no difference.
Holmes' defensive work seems good enough for a big guy and the selectors have enough confidence to play him (even if it is only as a 'test').

Also Holmes' figures are from a pool of 5 games and probably has room for improvement as he continues to learn and develop, whereas Billy could well be at his ceiling.

Thats just my (admittedly very much uninformed) take on it.
What would you say are the pros/cons of each?

Holmes does not have a future in the AFL. He is fine for back up this year, but I would be surprised if he was still on our list in 2018, 2019 etc.

Longer will make it as a very good ruck in the AFL. The only question is whether he will still be playing at St Kilda by the time he reaches that level. To suggest that a 22/23 year old ruck has hit his ceiling is a pretty big call.

 

[StCicatriz]

Back on topic guys.

I think Holmes is a better ruckman than Longer.....




.....whose with me?

I think Billy ate someone called Holmes...

Looks to have really enjoyed the off season so far

 

[cooperrules]

That made for some good reading until the last sentence which shows this persons judgement is....questionable.

he just says it how he saw it. its a huge year for jack if he doesnt improve he will struggle to get a game.

 

[Joffaboy]

he just says it how he saw it. its a huge year for jack if he doesnt improve he will struggle to get a game.

Lol. Really? Struggle to get a game? Even injured he was getting 20 a game.

Some statements.

 

[cooperrules]

Lol. Really? Struggle to get a game? Even injured he was getting 20 a game.

Some statements.

he got dropped last year so lets hope he cements his spot. theres a lot of players going for his spot. if he gets dropped at any stage getting back in wont be easy.

 

[Periphery]

he got dropped last year so lets hope he cements his spot. theres a lot of players going for his spot. if he gets dropped at any stage getting back in wont be easy.

Wasn't he only dropped because of an ankle injury that he'd been playing with?

 

[12Chill]

Wasn't he only dropped because of an ankle injury that he'd been playing with?

Yep happened vs Essendon in round 9.
Shame too because he had a great first quarter up until that point.

 

[Joffaboy]

Wasn't he only dropped because of an ankle injury that he'd been playing with?

Exactly. Played all year with an injury and still often got 20 + possessions.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Here's the players in order of the average possessions per game they got last year / average in the last 5 games / previous best season average.
I could be a simpleton and largely select a team from it and won't go too wrong.
1.Steven 28 ( 24, 26 )
2. Montagna 27, ( 27, 29 )
3. Ross 27, ( 28, 18 )
4. Newnes 23, ( 24, 20 )
5. Armitage 22, ( 22, 28)
6. Stevens 22, ( 20, 18 )
7. Riewoldt 21 ( 22, 19 )
8. Billings 20 ( 20, 20 )
9. Savage 20 ( 17, 18 )
10. Roberton 19 ( 21, 21 )
_________________
To me these guys are above the magic line. It means they get more of the ball than Nick Graham, or Daisy Thomas, or Lee Spurr or Jon Simkin.
What's more none of them are particularly bad users of the ball ( though some shots have been fired at Joey ).
_________________
11. Acres 18, ( 22 , 12 ) - his string of 5 games at the end of season really puts him in the right place if he can keep it up.
12. Dunstan 17, ( 16, 19) - under the pump with our new recruits and trades.
13. Weller 16, ( 17, 17 ) - playing the role, and kicking 24 handy goals, but there is only so much room in the team for this sort of role.
14. Steele 16, ( 14, 14 ) - Will a new role with a new club result in him getting his hands on it a lot more?
15. Gresham 15, ( 19, --) Looked lost for the first few games but we saw massive improvement through the season.
16. Geary 15, ( 16, 19 ) Playing his lockdown roll, who's going to push him out.

Gilbert 15, ( 15, 22 ) 30 years old and looking far from his best
Webster 15, ( 14, 15 ) will turn 20 soon, still looking like a good player ,will he fit in the side?
Fisher 14 - Retired
17. Dempster 14 (14, 17) - 32, still performs a lockdown roll well
18. Hickey 13 ( 15, 11 ) Unless Billy takes him down.
White 13 Good signs from first game. But behind Webster, and maybe Dempster and Gilbert for now.
19. Membrey 13 ( 12, 11 ) Gets a good bit of the ball for a forward , better than some of our mids.
McKenzie 13, ( 14, 11) Give him time.
Sinclair 13, ( 11, 11 ). 3 disposal games are not going to cut it. 2nd year blues i hope.
20. Carlisle 13-2015 ( 15, 14 )
21. Bruce 11, ( 10, 11 ). Was never about disposals.
Lonie 11 ( 11, 12 ) . Not kicking enough goals for a small forward.
Murdoch 11. If you are on the list for four years and still struggle to get more than 10 disposals ............
Minchington 11. ( 10, 10 ) needs to do .....something more.
Lee. 11. it was never about the disposals.
Brown 11 Its about his ability to stop goals.
Templeton 10. See Murdoch.
Wright 9 ( 9, 12 ) outside of key position players and specialists there are not many AFL players who get regular games averaging 9 disposals or less.
Delaney 8 . Just not quite at the level Brown is at.
22. Paddy 7. ( 5 9 ). If he gets more of the ball he'll get more goals. Otherwise he might have a "Battle" on his hands.
Pierce 6
Holmes 4
Goddard 2

 

[cooperrules]

Wasn't he only dropped because of an ankle injury that he'd been playing with?

if he had an ankle injury wtf was he doing playing in the twos. i think the club has got better at not butchering injured players. if he played while injured thats terrible management. either way his spot in the team in not gauranteed.

 

[DarkSaint]

For us to give the flag a serious shake this year, Billings needs to hit the heights of Bont, Merrett and even Josh Kelly. The kid has talent to burn, injuries and then confidence have hindered him thus far.

 

[Ian Dunross]

I tell myself that Billings is following the Seb Ross path of development, as his fitness improves, his output improves exponentially

Mind you Billings has shown far more at a young age than Ross did

It's impossible to tell without knowing what role he is being asked to play, but... The concern with Billings is that he appeared to regress in his third year looking at it superficially

 

[Periphery]

if he had an ankle injury wtf was he doing playing in the twos. i think the club has got better at not butchering injured players. if he played while injured thats terrible management. either way his spot in the team in not gauranteed.

So you think every player is 100% fit every time they step out on the field?

There are plenty of injuries where re-damage or additional damage is unlikely but still cause discomfort. It has nothing to do with mismanagement. From memory Billings was playing with discomfort (but insisted he could play), then took time off over the bye before playing a few games in the VFL to get back some fitness.

No players spot is guaranteed. Saying that specifically about one player is pointless imo.