Young guns

[Persevering Saint]

So following on from last night, and probably over the course of the NAB, who are the "Young Guns" in the Saints list that are showing promise.

So far, I'd suggest Rys "Kasak" Stanley and Ali "Alias" Smith have put their hands up to be considered for selection this year. I'm not saying they will be - personally, I want them to have another year of apprenticeship in the Zebs - but that they've certainly shown the potential to sneak in a few games this year.

What about Heyne, Gaertner, etc? And later on in the NAB, it'll be interesting to see players like Lynch, and possibly Walsh (although the big Irish is looking a little less likely at the moment).

 

[Plugger35]

Smith and Stanley were probably the most impressive of the young players last night. Could well see them feature in the regular season, especially Smith who looks ready made for AFL. Stanley as a big guy may take longer to develop but he showed some great signs last night, very mobile and was strong overhead, actually mistook him for Riewoldt a couple of times which is about as good a compliment as you can give.

Armitage was also good but not sure he counts as a young player anymore since he has been around for a while. Gaertner and Miles did some good things in defence, didn't see much of Heyne apart from taking that mark and missing that shot at goal early on. They are all probably a while away from regular AFL selection at this stage, given the depth we have at the moment.

 

[HoldenMCaulfield]

To be honest, I don't think that any of them (apart from McEvoy, Armitage, Steven, Geary and Eddy who, I guess, are not really part of the 'young guns' group any more) will get a game unless

(i) two of Riewoldt, Koschitzke and McEvoy are out injured (-> Stanley);

(ii) two of Baker, Dempster and Clarke are out injured (-> Miles);

(iii) we win the first say 18 games of the season and have a game away from Melbourne.

Smith was good last night, but I think that the competition for a midfield spot is too big (Hayes, Dal Santo and Gram were all out yesterday).

Gaertner got very little game time, but I don't think he did enough to be considered - I hope he'll get more than just one quarter next week (he started poorly with a kick straight to a Collingwood forward but finished well intercepting Reid's kick that led to the winning goal). I would think that Johnson and Simpkin (if a rookie is promoted anyway - in case of several injuries I would expect L Fisher to be promoted) are both ahead of him.

I don't know about Heyne. He appears to lack a bit of fire and / or self belief. I think he can be a lot better than what we saw last night. Steven, Stanley and possibly Lynch are probably ahead of him for a half forward spot and I doubt he can survive in the midfield (yet).

Lynch, Johnson, Simpkin (?), Winmar, Archer, Hutchings and possibly also McGrath and Walsh will hopefully all get a chance to present themselves during the NAB Cup. I am especially keen to see Johnson as I really did not see him coming from Sandringham (missed the second half of the season though).

 

[Persevering Saint]

Oh, I dunno, HMC, about Heyne. I don't think it's really fair to judge a player's "fire" when they're in essentially their first game in front of such a large crowd. We can judge plenty of things, but that sense of passion/ambition/whatever can easily become subdued in such an awe-filled experience. Maybe look for that in a few weeks if we're still in the NAB and he's had a bit of time. Still, I am more intrigued to see Lynchy play now.

Yeah, I'd forgotten about Miles in my OP. I was certainly impressed by his poise, as I've said in another post somewhere. I reckon he has the potential to be one of those classic shutdown backs - y'know, one of those ones where (like with taggers) his man is completely kept out of the game, and then some people only look at his stats and say, "gee, what did HE do tonight... very quiet..." (Jason Blake, anyone...?)

The only hope Alias has is if he can nab the Lovett spot off of Peake or Geary... which is precisely why I think he'll be playing in the Magoos for the year. He would have to have an astonishing NAB campaign - he should be trying to help us win every game, because once he's playing Challenge, it'll matter about as much as a hard Thursday training drill.

 

[TradeDraft]

I was Impressed with Stanley has a Good Leap and Looks like he can take a Contested Mark.

Looks like a Good Young KPP/Ruckman for you guys

 

[HoldenMCaulfield]

You're right, Percy, 'lack of fire' is the wrong expression.

What I mean is that he appears a bit shy and quiet (which, I guess, reflects his character according to Goodie's and St Zagg's reports from meeting him - nothing wrong with that btw) and thus will not force himself into the game and demand to be included (yet).

Anyway, he is still young and having seen him play a few very good games for Sandringham, I'm sure he will feel comfortable at AFL level eventually (even if it takes him a bit longer than say Stanley).

 

[StFly]

This young gun says caution pays!

 

[hayes]

I like Steven. Thought he showed a bit of toe after chasing down the magpies player (forget who it was) then taking the handball receive and going for a run. I can see Geary pushing for Raph's spot as well.

 

[SAINTsincebirth]

I like Steven. Thought he showed a bit of toe after chasing down the magpies player (forget who it was) then taking the handball receive and going for a run. I can see Geary pushing for Raph's spot as well.

like geary but weak overhead, watched drop afew, miles had a good nab the year we won it, was surprising last night aswhingingwood tried to expose hi but he stood tall. think he will replace baker as he is a straight line player as well, similar to gilbert.

 

[Squizz]

Ali Smith was a surprise. You could see he understands footy and has the skills (from his games at Sandy), but didn't think he'd have the tank for AFL this year. Seems to have proven me wrong.

Hopefully Jack's ankle is OK. Really impressed with him.

Happy for Luke Miles (although not exactly young). Gets lost sometimes, but goes in hard and has great pace (he can really thump it too, but didn't get many chances to show his long kicking).

Macca's still got some sticky fingers and Kosi now knows what happens when you don't protect the space for a teammate.

We need to stick with Wool - he's a good prospect for the future.

Kazak and Armo did not let their growing number of fans down. I guess there are a few people who now know why we raved about Kazak last year - it is sight to see him run someone down in full flight or launch one from 50m.

 

[Squizz]

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-new...-strong-signs-against-pies-20100220-omkm.html

Stanley and midfielder Alistair Smith were particularly impressive among the less-experienced Saints.

Smith is surely on the verge of an AFL debut after picking up 18 possessions against the Magpies.

"We've known he was a good ball winner and strong at the contest, that's why he was drafted," said Saints assistant coach Leigh Tudor.

Stanley had a strong basketball background before he decided to concentrate on football. The 200cm player clearly has the physical ability to succeed in the AFL and Tudor said Stanley also has the right attitude.
"He's outstanding at terrorising the coaches and trying to learn."

Jack Steven suffered a mid-foot sprain against the Magpies.

 

[Squizz]

http://sportal.com.au/AFL-news-display/tudor-praises-youth-86240

"To see Luke Miles in the last 10 seconds of the game really drive through the ball and Alastair Smith and Steven Gaertner at various stages of the game really put their bodies on the lines and show the Saints' style, I know the older boys and leaders of the club are really happy with them," Tudor said.

"Rhys is really athletic. He is learning the game and is getting stronger week by week," he said. "The quickness of footy, reading patterns, he is pretty raw and is really athletic, so he has got a lot of work to do just with his smarts."

 

[Squizz]

 

[Armitage2Riewoldt]

Smith was brilliant, hope we can see more of him on Saturday night.

Armo had me happy in the pants.

And some of those grabs Macca and Rhys took reminded me of a younger Roo and Kosi! And they both kicked straight!

 

[krusden]

I like smithy.

Thought the positives out of friday were:
- 1 - young blokes such as smithy
- 2 - we don't have to travel to alice springs.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Luke Miles is often described as a midfielder. However he only seems to be an option in the backline for the Saints.

Are we playing him in the right position? He was always rated highly for speed and agility, yet we don't seem to play him in a position to capitalise on these traits.

 

[Squizz]

Are we playing him in the right position?

Probably not, but not sure how else he'd get a gig in front of Montagna, Gram, Hayes, Armitage, Steven, Dal Santo, Jones, and Goddard.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Probably not, but not sure how else he'd get a gig in front of Montagna, Gram, Hayes, Armitage, Steven, Dal Santo, Jones, and Goddard.

I was thinking more Peake, Ray, or that guy that plays in the spot that Hammil used to fill.

 

[StFly]

Luke Miles is often described as a midfielder. However he only seems to be an option in the backline for the Saints.

Are we playing him in the right position? He was always rated highly for speed and agility, yet we don't seem to play him in a position to capitalise on these traits.

It seems to mirror Lyons philosophy actually. when he came to the club we were branded Sydney 2.0 as we were almost entirely defensive and everyone was playing as such, this eventually was wound back to what you saw in 2009.

if we take this to new midfielders or forwards, they might mirror the same "journey" in first knowing how to be accountable, the defensive aspects and how much work you need to put in (ala something like Joey last year) before you are then given free reign to branch into the position you are best suited for or desire.

Like Goddard on a HBF despite being a pretty damned awesome midfielder or HF Flanker.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

The way its panning out, its hard to work out the future of our 2008 first round pick Tom Lynch.

Would we be going too tall if he was a third forward, ( though he is shorter than Riewoldt or Kosi )? Has Stanley jumped up the pecking order to offer a genuine tall target (Though I guess he will be rucking eventually).
Then there is Walsh, and Paul Cahill.

I guess in an ideal world one of these guys would get good enough to push Kosi out of the team ( or Kosi would improve enough to stop it happening ).

 

[Squizz]

Would we be going too tall if he was a third forward.

I see him as a different type to the others on the list. Runs hard upfield to get his possessions, and I wouldn't see him getting in the way of the other talls. Despite being 192cm, he isn't damaging overhead at this stage.

Hopefully he will shrug his injury and we'll get another look at him soon.