AFLNewsSport
Ray shines as Saint
Fri, 24 July 2009 12:08PM
St Kilda football manager Matthew Drain's inside knowledge on Western Bulldogs midfielder Farren Ray meant that the Saints did not have to look for long at the end of last year to identify a replacement for retired running machine Robert Harvey.
Traded by his club of five seasons for national draft pick No. 31, Ray has joined teammates and fellow WA recruits Michael Gardiner and Clint Jones to play a key role in the Saints' unbeaten run of 16 wins this season.
The 23-year-old spelt out his new-found maturity at his second AFL club with 31 possessions against the Bulldogs in a 28-point win in round six.
The two teams will square off in another blockbuster at Etihad Stadium tomorrow night.
Saints coach Ross Lyon told _The West Australian _ that the experience of Drain, previously a high performance manager with the Bulldogs, had played a big role in recruiting Ray. "We researched him and Matthew Drain obviously knew him really well, so the character reference came from him," Lyon said.
"Farren was a really good runner and a talented player who had played 80-odd (75 games) out of a possible 110 and played in their finals team.
"We thought he'd done his apprenticeship and had all the experience and preparation and was ready to take that classic next step.
"We felt that with the retirement of Harvey, we needed to build on our midfield and thought it was a win-win trade because they (Dogs) certainly got the pick they wanted to get young Jordan Roughead as a ruckman.
"You do all your research and your planning, but it's still up to the player to come here and do the work and buy in and play how you want him to."
Ray has averaged 22.5 possessions playing in all 16 of St Kilda's matches this season, but he told _The West Australian _ after a round three belting of West Coast at Etihad Stadium that he felt far from established in the vastly improved team.
"It's not just slotting in (the team), that's for sure," Ray said.
"It's been tough trying to gain the respect of the group after a change of clubs. The main thing for me is trying to gain that respect, that's still going and it's going to take the whole year and even longer.
"Who said AFL footy was easy? It's the hardest thing I've done, but I love the challenge."
Lyon agreed that improvement was rarely final at the elite level of the game and believed the Mandurah product's journey in exploring his capabilities had barely begun.
"You never really make it, you're always in transition," he said.
"Certainly his effort and his run has been fantastic and we've used him in a number of roles from half-back to free-running wing, inside mid and a go-with player.
"I didn't put any limitations on him and thought his best football was in front of him.
"He was drafted early but he's still only young, so let's see where it takes him and watch the evolution of his game. He can still build on his marking and his kicking and all those sort of things.
"Is he rock-solid down back? I think we can give him some more challenges there and we can challenge him more with go-with type roles."
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