Seems to be a lot of fantasy about Collingwood's list management and selection in recent years. 1) If anybody has managed to implement a working revolving door policy, it's got to be the Pies. *Macaffer started out of the 2010 side, was selected, dropped, selected, and became a premiership player. H...

Things can change quite quickly. At the end of 2008, and in the practice matches of 2009, we appeared to be a fair bit off the pace. Months later we were in with a real shot at a flag. So until such time as we revise our list, complete any trades, select whatever draft picks we have, adjust our gam...

5 year rebuilds just don't work. How about 7 years? The pies were in 2 GF's 02, 03, bottomed out, got priority picks - Thomas & Pendlebury… The rest is painful history. If we aren't going to win a flag in the next couple of years, maybe we should get something for our older 'stars' who won't ...

Surprised Baker's copping it after that. He was (unfortunately) one of the guys who was getting involved for both hard and running for received ball yesterday. Less suprised to see people criticising Dal Santo for being unable to do it all himself. Dal wins his share of contested ball, and his share...

I think we're a decent chance for 2012, and very littel for 2015-16. 5 year rebuilds just don't work. The teams I've seen attempt full rebuilds have been: The Saints through 2000-01 drafts: The thing St Kilda did right that few have since is hold on to a few veterans to communicate the hunger. Proba...

I think we may have found our FF in Siposs. ... Forward yes. FF..well not yet anyway. He is still light and the parts of the game he struggled with was when his more mature bodied opponent got him one on one in marking contests. So HFF for mine, who can drift around in the forward half is where he ...

This year despite our poor form our gameplan has changed...though poor form and low workrate masks this. (sorry to cherrypick, but this is one of my sore points...) I agree the game plan has changed. Our forward zone is horrible. We seem to have 14 men out wide either side, 2 up the middle, and 2 b...

I think we may have found our FF in Siposs.

What we need from Goddard is the old determination to win the ball himself, beat the opposition himself, and kick the goal himself.

The regression of Goddard has to be the most confusing part of the regression of the Saints...

I only saw the last couple of minutes of the match, so I am going from the write-ups and the stats and the SC points alotted in the Hun. There they gave 16 points to McQualter for 4 possessions and 1 tackle, and 21 points to Cripps for 6 possessions 2 tackles, and 2 goals. Both of these were Subs o...

No way in hell would Malthouse have played it the same way as Ross. I mean even after they won the GF Malthouse was saying that they (Collingwood) would need to have a turnover of personnel in their starting 22 for this year, that they wouldn't be able to just keep the same team, yet we, on losing ...

As good a place as any to post it. I bet the Saints make finals if not top 4 in 2012, and will do it with a number of new/redefined players we'll find over the course of 2011. It's going to be a tough year, but once it's done it will leave the Saints in a pretty good position. In the Saints system o...

Obviously Dal didn't play a blinder, but a bit harsh to call it a shocker on the basis of failing to carry the entire team. Of the Saints midfielders, he's the only one who could conceivably be given a pass.

I suspect that part of what we're seeing in the middle right now is the price of not running high-rotations. In the Ross Lyon model, instead of having a large number of mids, you have a very structured approach to on-ball. i.e. if you're up forward, McQualter and Schneider join the on-ballers, and i...

Who'd want to be a recruiter? You're asked to see the future, with no guarentees from the development staff, and plenty willing to call you out for stupidity at any time regardless of context. for example, Kosi for Didak... for 5 years, most of the AFL would have happily taken Kosi over Didak. It wa...

Without having ever seen him before, what I like about the Siposs story to this point is that he's a talented kid who's reaction to not getting his chance at TAC was to work his butt off. That upon getting his chance, his talent shone - and he kept working his butt off. AFL in 2011 has become an end...

A win tonight and they're delivering something very different to what's been seen so far in 2011. Carlton are tough at the clearances, and are tackling with real hunger. The latter was a key to the Saints as recently as October. The former hasn't really been a strength since 2009. With the season st...

Every year we hear the mythology that defensive gameplans are about to become obsolete. Guess where the #1 and #2 defenses sit on the ladder (undefeated). Their offenses are also build off transition (read defense) and stoppage work. The only team in the top 4 to have given up more than 500 pts (Ess...

Really worries me that RL is still in denial and living in the past. Yes Lenny is a big loss. But Lenny is 31 and we should not be that heavily dependent on a 31 yo. No team should. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/st-kildas-fall-similar-to-that-of-hawthorn/story-e6frf9jf-1226047982520 Lenny i...

Technically, it's the other way around. A contested possession is simply where the ball is deemed to be won "in contest". If you're at the game, when they're flashing up the qtr time stats, add together free kicks, contested marks, loose ball gets and hardball gets, and you've got the cont...

If you're good enough that the opposition thinks about tagging you, you're not the problem... As others have observed, Montagna doesn't often get tagged ahead of Dal and Hayes (and in an otherwise very poor midfield showing, Dal Santo demonstrated why he's the most tagged midfielder on the Saints), ...

Similarly, the idea a head coach can enact a swift turnaround is outdated. You can yell, you can drop a couple of guys ala 2008, but at the end of it all, much as footy may not be as entirely simple as it once was, it's certainly simple enough that if your players don't execute, you're screwed. But...

IMO, talk of "the pack" passing teams by wholesale is a myth. St Kilda as running around right now would get hammered by the '09 and soundly beaten by the 2010 model. They're simply not playing the same quality of footy. They haven't been passed by the pack, they're just not as good. Simil...

I think people believe that in order to win the flag, as recent history suggests, you need a young guy to burst onto the scene and have a genuinely good season. It can take a good team to the next level. Selwood, Rioli, Beams/Sidebottom etc. So I think that's why Saints fans are excited/clutching a...

Can we wind this thread up? Seems about 90% strongly in favour of Zac. 10% against. You have to see a game live to really appreciate how good Zac really is. Which is ironic b/c didn't the OP say he was at the game? The rest of us probably weren't As someone who was there, first sighting of Dawson v...

"Gun", "A grade", "elite". These are all phrases which mean different things to different people - I called Lovett a gun meaning talent (and the price of the 1st rounder, and possible impact on the side in 2010), and got (rightly) pulled up as Lovett has often been talk...