Did anyone envisage this season when RL was appointed

[Winmarvellous]

I know I was looking forward to a St Kilda team that remained free flowing and high scoring, yet played hard, tough football when the pressure was on. The dream is slowly fading...

[Saints Premiers 2008]

yes i did

how can anyone think we would waltz in and take the flag with a new coach and a few modifications to our game style and play??

its a bit rich to suggest so imo

[Winmarvellous]

I didn't REALLY expect a flag, but thought we'd at least be challenging. Thought we needed a bit of finetuning rather than being sent off to the wreckers for a new one.

[rogerwa]

my main concern was he never wanted the job or applied for it & imo never really embrassed the roll early on...only things that came out of his mouth was syd this,syd that,my mate in syd etc etc

[The_Dud]

my main concern is exactly what has happened, adopting the crap sydney style of football that is making it harder and harder to watch us play

[iwantmeseats]

my main concern is exactly what has happened, adopting the crap sydney style of football that is making it harder and harder to watch us play

me too. It was a disaster I hoped wouldnt happen, and didnt think it really would. It is now worse than I could have imagined. My god this will hurt us next year in many ways, watch our TV exposure go to hell with a bullett.

RL, hmmm, could well be a major najor mistake, big time.

[bigcarl]

i genuinely thought we'd be a contender, especially given what i now know to be our very good run with injury in the second part of the season

after all, we were told that GT couldn't coach a pig to be dirty and anyone could coach our list to the finals etc, etc.

i'm very disappointed by what i've seen. a wasted opportunity IMO. we should be challenging for the flag with geelong rather than hoping for a miracle to somehow fall into the eight

[Rickabee]

Sorry to say this but I don't enjoy watching us play anymore with this u/12 game plan where everyone follows the ball around and there are no forwards to kick to.

I was hoping for "accountable" football where players tackled their oppenents if they had the ball and they knew how to stop another team if they got a "run" on. We haven't seen any of this and we don't have any goals to cheer.

We seem more interested in trying to "hang on" for a win instead of wanting to win and enjoying it when we do. It's just gotten too depressing to watch at times. Forwards get paid the "big bucks" because they score goals to WIN matches. That doesn't appear to be the function our forwards are expected to execute.

I am very dissappointed at what we are seeing and will hope the RL changes next year and we see how he recruits over the summer. My feeling is one of exasperation as I watch and I just want to see the team play like it wants to win a match for a change.

[mad saint guy]

If we were serious about having a crack at a flag this year Thomas should not have been sacked. He obviously wasn't a master-coach on match-day, but towards the end of 2006 we were playing a very impressive brand of footy. We were running with the footy, kicking long to multiple optons, going hard at the ball and the man and we went into shut-down mode when needed. Until late 2006 GT refused to flood, but started to utilize it well just before he was sacked.

If Thomas was still coach, I have no doubt that we would comfortably be in the top 6, and possibly right up there with Geelong. We wouldn't have dropped those easy games against Brisbane, Essendon, Hawthorn and Collingwood. We probably wouldn't have Milne, Birss, Gardiner, M.Clarke or Ferguson, but we'd replace them with either more kids or other free players like Rodan, Skipworth, Bryan or Makepeace.

[st_Trav_ofWA]

I know I was looking forward to a St Kilda team that remained free flowing and high scoring, yet played hard, tough football when the pressure was on. The dream is slowly fading...

still only the first year i had high expectations but the fact is it was always going to take some time to master a new plan as for the accountabillity i can see where ppl are annoyed with the brand of footy we are playing cause it is ugly but at the same time im not sure that its not from the case of the boys not knowing what they are doing rather then RL telling them tto chip the ball backwards time will tell what RL real game plan is and if the boys can implement it

[iwantmeseats]

I know I was looking forward to a St Kilda team that remained free flowing and high scoring, yet played hard, tough football when the pressure was on. The dream is slowly fading...

still only the first year i had high expectations but the fact is it was always going to take some time to master a new plan as for the accountabillity i can see where ppl are annoyed with the brand of footy we are playing cause it is ugly but at the same time im not sure that its not from the case of the boys not knowing what they are doing rather then RL telling them tto chip the ball backwards time will tell what RL real game plan is and if the boys can implement it

I tell ya another thing I hate! This "it will take time" thing that you keep seeing round here. WTF!! So GREAT! It will take time to completely master boring everyone to death and flooding! All while kicking a average of 8 goals a game.

Can anyone honestly tell me they think after some "time" things will be better cause we play a shithouse brand of footy "better"? It is still shithouse people!

[Oh When the Saints]

But if playing the sh|thouse brand of footy "well" wins you a premiership, would you complain?

I am yet to meet a Swans supporter who didn't love their '05 season.

And BTW, we have been averaging 14 goals per game since the break when we have had most of our players back ... we averaged 15 goals a game last year.

[bigcarl]

what about playing a sh|thouse brand of footy badly?

[battye]

Haha bigcarl.

In answer to the original question, I honestly thought we would make the 8.

[iwantmeseats]

But if playing the sh|thouse brand of footy "well" wins you a premiership, would you complain?

I am yet to meet a Swans supporter who didn't love their '05 season.

And BTW, we have been averaging 14 goals per game since the break when we have had most of our players back ... we averaged 15 goals a game last year.

Um,well to be honest...you know what, Id still lose interest. I know this cause even alot of the games we have won this year, I have got next to zero enjoyment from. Its been boring largely for the most part of the game, and very very frustrating.

As for the premiership question, I dont know, we havent got a chance in hell with this game plan, well executed or not. Hawks, cats , roos, eagles etc...ALL play fast attacking footy! They shut down the opp. when needed, but its NOT their modus operandi. We have taken the "shut down" aspect and taken to ridiculous poportions.

For other teams its a small part of the gameplan, and the art is choosing when to implement in the context of a game/quarter.

For US, it IS the gameplan, and when it dosent work (most times), we go to s*** and look stupid.

Without a drastic change in the way we play, I see no premiership.

[milney044]

personally i didnt like the way we were playing much in 2006 either, its not what i would have called hard attacking footy then and to be honest i thought we were quite boring then. however that might have been because i was comparing it to the previous 2 years when we had been unbelievably exciting to watch. i will agree that ross is far too defensive, it would be nice if we actually worked with our strengths instead of such a focus on covering our weaknesses.

[rodgerfox]

But if playing the sh|thouse brand of footy "well" wins you a premiership, would you complain?

I am yet to meet a Swans supporter who didn't love their '05 season.

Most would argue that their game plan had nothing to do with their flag, but the 10 weeks with and unchanged lineup against other teams decimated was what got them over the line - and they did just fall over the line.

My biggest fear was that we would get sucked in to following the 'Sydney style' based on that above fact.

It seems like we did.

[Carl Mynott]

I don't expect a flag with such a flawed list,RL already knew it was flawed and needs more time to tweak it as he sees fit..........

It's not always the coaches fault,he's just the scapegoat....

[supersaints]

Did I miss something ?????- Is the seaqson over????
Never give up until the maths say its impossible, anything can happen!!

[SaintDippa]

Unfortunately the Sydney style of stop/start, out-of-bounds, numbers behing the footy works because they have (had) always ruckman to hit to advantage and players who make spaceand can hit targets 30m away 100% of the time.

We do not possess a reliable hand on the ball ruckman and are carrying too many who cannot chip/chip/hit targets. In 2009 we should get this style right.

[meher baba]

The best prophecy about where we are at right now was made by Terry Wallace on the late, lamented White Line Fever on the night of GT's sacking.

"If you go for a previously untried coach, and you don't do any better next year than you did this year, how will you know whether you are going forward or backwards".

Mr Wallace is clearly not much of a coach, but he's a pretty reasonable sort of footy analyst IMO.

[Brewer]

We have taken the "shut down" aspect and taken to ridiculous poportions.

For other teams its a small part of the gameplan, and the art is choosing when to implement in the context of a game/quarter.

For US, it IS the gameplan, and when it dosent work (most times), we go to s*** and look stupid.

Beautifully put. That sums up exactly what I'm beginning to think too.

I don't want us to be another Sydney, even if there's a flag in it.

[TimeToShineFellas]

Did I miss something ?????- Is the seaqson over????
Never give up until the maths say its impossible, anything can happen!!

Unlike Richmond, who will need to win their last 9 games out of 3 to make the finals!

[saintsRrising]

If we were serious about having a crack at a flag this year Thomas should not have been sacked. He obviously wasn't a master-coach on match-day, but towards the end of 2006 we were playing a very impressive brand of footy. We were running with the footy, kicking long to multiple optons, going hard at the ball and the man and we went into shut-down mode when needed. Until late 2006 GT refused to flood, but started to utilize it well just before he was sacked.

If Thomas was still coach, I have no doubt that we would comfortably be in the top 6, and possibly right up there with Geelong. We wouldn't have dropped those easy games against Brisbane, Essendon, Hawthorn and Collingwood. We probably wouldn't have Milne, Birss, Gardiner, M.Clarke or Ferguson, but we'd replace them with either more kids or other free players like Rodan, Skipworth, Bryan or Makepeace.

More likely he would have continued to have destroyed our list...

Milne would have been swapped for some older player from the Dons..

Sugar would possibly be our ruck....

Fiora would have done little.....still on the outer and not one of the chosen



.....and hamstrings would still be of out of control.......

Even Blake is playing better under RL than he did under GT!!!!!!!!!!

[meher baba]

More likely he would have continued to have destroyed our list...
Milne would have been swapped for some older player from the Dons..

Hardly destruction of the list in my book: surely more of a 50/50 call.

Sugar would possibly be our ruck....

I'm not mad on him either, but at least he gets out on the field sometimes, unlike a certain ruckman who shares his initials with mad saint guy.

Fiora would have done little

Some of the more harsh posters on this forum (but not me) would be tempted to write "so what has changed?"

Even Blake is playing better under RL than he did under GT!!!!!!!!!!

Or is just that the others aren't playing as well??