Xavier Clarke, is he good enough????

[GreatSaint]

Xavier Clarke is one of the most frustrating players on StKildas list. He was dynamic against the bulldogs a week ago, and tonight delivered horse droppings...
It was single handedly the worst performance of the year. For a #5 draft pick, that was atrocious..
Raf is clearly not up to AFL standard, so are we also wasting our time with Xavier. He cost us the game with very poor missus and CRUCIAL turn overs at vital moments of the game.
X Clarke - ??????

 

[saintsownthedome]

Poor game tonight. They dont hand out two year contracts to blokes who arent up to it.

200 game player for the Saints - and so much improvement still in him with a full pres-season underhis belt.

 

[grimlock]

Okay, I don't usually like to bag opposition blokes on opposition boards. But he was pretty bad tonight. That set shot he missed was very costly. Is his brother any better?

 

[Big Ted]

He looks just too unfit .

Quite a concern at this stage of the season.

 

[ShadowFax]

Is his brother any better?

In a word, no.

X had a bad game last night, no doubt about that. He's a guy though that really, desperately needs a proper pre-season under his belt. He just seems listless in the last qtr of matches. Last nights type of match underlined his weaknesses - decision making and disposal by foot - but he wasn't the only perpetrator in these areas!!

Sydney really showed us how to use the footy last night. Their disposal by foot is the best in the competition and their pressure on the opposition is as relentless as anyone. Credit to the swans.

 

[Saintaboyz]

St Kilda are struggling in general. We are not sure what to do when it is time to actually attack. Our kicking to the forwards on Saturday night was terrible. Reiwoldt and Gehrig must get very frustrated at times. Milne has to get at the feet of Gehrig - no point playing as a midfielder as he is more damaging as a forward.

X struggled badly on Saturday night - but I think he will bounce back - perhaps needs a rest though.

Sam Gilbert - STAR !!

 

[The Punter]

Xavier Clarke would be the first to admit he didn't have a great game on Saturday night, but he was having a crack. He has come along and with a good pre-season will have a great 2008.

 

[Persevering Saint]

In retrospect, I think X shoulda been dropped to make way for Ball, not Birss. Xavier just doesn't have the puffer right now to make it through a whole game - with a full pre-season he will, but not this year.

 

[lenny_27]

this guy just needs to get a pre-season in to him, he is starting to show that his injuries may be behind him. just getting through the year and doing a full pre-season would be the saints aim. his disposal wasn't the best on saturday but if he kicks 4.0 instead of 1.3, i doubt this thread would be posted

 

[NeXus_Helen]

this guy just needs to get a pre-season in to him, he is starting to show that his injuries may be behind him. just getting through the year and doing a full pre-season would be the saints aim. his disposal wasn't the best on saturday but if he kicks 4.0 instead of 1.3, i doubt this thread would be posted

But that is the point, it was 1.3. Look, don't get me wrong, I have always thought that X and Raph would be great players for us...... UP UNTIL NOW!! I have slowly changed my opinion over the last 6 to 12 months. Firstly, they are both not natural goal kickers and secondly, they are both injury prone.

Everyone agrees they have the talent, they just need to have a full pre-season and an injury free year. I agree with that too. Unfortunately for whatever reason that has never happend and is not likely to happen. I get the feeling that they will both be forever battling injuries which will prevent them from reaching anywhere near their best.

If it were up to me, I would be shopping them around at the end of the season and if we were able to get a pick in the top 20 for X and a say pick 25 - 30 for Raph, I would go for it.

 

[lenny_27]

who is going to give up a pick 20 for someone who hasn't done a pre-season, and has been inconsistent throughout his short career. The best option is to hold on to him, because if he does break the injury curse he will be a very good player

 

[NeXus_Helen]

who is going to give up a pick 20 for someone who hasn't done a pre-season, and has been inconsistent throughout his short career. The best option is to hold on to him, because if he does break the injury curse he will be a very good player

Mate......I said if they gave us....if they don't we keep them.

 

[panthers]

Okay, I don't usually like to bag opposition blokes on opposition boards. But he was pretty bad tonight. That set shot he missed was very costly. Is his brother any better?

No worse than your fat headed fullforward/captain BIG BAD BOOFHEADED BARRY HALL. Trying to soften up players off the ball like the soft c ock that he is. I always notice BBBBH never takes on anyone his own size...its called being a gutless slob. The most over rated player in the AFL

 

[Fehring]

x had an amazing start to the year before being injured. He's clearly not quite fit enough.

Nevertheless, some of this criticism is a bit one-dimensional. He was at times dynamic on Saturday and gave some really good contests at the ball but his two misses (the one on the run after 4 bounces and the set shot) were gutting. I believe that set shot was the turning point.

 

[ChrisFooty]

I think there may be a question mark over his ability to handle finals like pressure. Xavier isn't the only one in the team, as there are a few.

 

[bubblegoose]

I think there may be a question mark over his ability to handle finals like pressure. Xavier isn't the only one in the team, as there are a few.

I reckon no one else would take him for a decent trade so just focus on getting a huge grueling pre-season into him. There's no use in him having another down year. After a good start to next season he'll get that confidence back and be a valuable player either as wing or a back flanker. He can handle pressure just not when he's down on form atm.

 

[Persevering Saint]

Just out of interest, how do you think Nathan Burke feels right now? Did he make the right decision with giving his number to X?

 

[saintsownthedome]

Great game from X against Freo.

Lets just keep some balance when we pan a bloke on here when he has one bad game in a row.

He's a quality player who will be a 200 gamer for the Saints if his body allows him.

 

[Big Ted]

Just out of interest, how do you think Nathan Burke feels right now? Did he make the right decision with giving his number to X?

I was thinking exactly the same thing the other day ...

 

[The Punter]

To answer the original question of the post ...

Yes.

 

[Kildonan]

Yes he is

 

[sainter]

He's had an up and down season but importantly his body has allowed him to get through the season which I didn't think was possible in his case.

What I've liked about him this season is his willingness to throw his weight around. He's made plenty of tackles and really got stuck in. He probably hasn't got enough of the ball and for somebody of his talent he has turned it over too much but I think he'll be all the better for getting through this season.

Raph was good yesterday btw. He has a very laid-back, laconic demeanour which may suggest a lack of intensity but I think he'll turn into a very good player. His decision making can be poor at times but he'll get better.

 

[ChrisFooty]

Raph was excellent yesterday, no question. He now needs to do this more often. He also played a really good game against west Coast, but then followed this up with two poor matches against Rich and Coll.

Xavier was good yesterday too. I hope both players keep the standard for out last two games and hopefully finals (Fingers crossed)