My biggest disappointment so far this year

[Saint wagga]

Jack Lonie! Not that I don't think he's still going to be in our next tilt best 22, but I just thought and hoped I guess that's he be good enough to be an exception from the 'second year' blues that hit so many young players...every now and then, some players are just good enough to avoid it, recently guys like Dyson Heppell, Zach Merrett, Patrick Cripps all come to mind. It's genuinely a sign that the player will be out and out a grader, although it's not a pre requisite, it seems almost a guarantee!!

So, yep, I'm disappointed Lonie hasn't carried on his absolutely stellar form, because it would help us be a better team. I personally think he's the second most talented small forward behind jack B! I'm looking forward to him recapturing his best and tearing it up in the afl again soon!

[bigcarl]

Biggest for me is that Acres hasn't been able to back up his form of the Demons game, for which he earned a Rising Star nomination.

If you are going to announce your arrival, Blake, make it this week and wipe the smug smiles off a few Carlton supporters

[perfectionist]

Jack Lonie! Not that I don't think he's still going to be in our next tilt best 22, but I just thought and hoped I guess that's he be good enough to be an exception from the 'second year' blues that hit so many young players...every now and then, some players are just good enough to avoid it, recently guys like Dyson Heppell, Zach Merrett, Patrick Cripps all come to mind. It's genuinely a sign that the player will be out and out a grader, although it's not a pre requisite, it seems almost a guarantee!!

So, yep, I'm disappointed Lonie hasn't carried on his absolutely stellar form, because it would help us be a better team. I personally think he's the second most talented small forward behind jack B! I'm looking forward to him recapturing his best and tearing it up in the afl again soon!

Yep. Unfortunately, he is literally a pushover. Other sides have exploited his lack of physical strength and he doesn't have the skills that, say, Stephen Milne had, to compensate.

I ma hopeful that Blake will be the type of player who has three or four very good seasons even though they may be sandwiched between disappointing bookends.

[skeptic]

Biggest for me is that Acres hasn't been able to back up his form of the Demons game, for which he earned a Rising Star nomination.

If you are going to announce your arrival, Blake, make it this week and wipe the smug smiles off a few Carlton supporters

I reckon the problem with Acres is that he's not fit enough to back up the following week.

Notice that his first game is always markedly better then the second.

With the level of run in today's game for a mid... I Reckon most young mids simply don't have the capacity to play games out like they used to.

Lonie is trying to move more up the ground too... You see the gap btw AFL and VFL.

I reckon all of these guys that are blitzing it consistently in the VFL: Lonie, Acres, Templeton... Maybe even Minch will be around for the long term

[8856brother]

Yeah he nearly 20 now. Pick 40 odd. Surely he should be showing more. Trade.

[Viking3]

Milne was an absolute star in his second season! Not!!
Give the kid a chance.

[Sainternist]

Thus far, biggest disappointment is going into this round against Carlton with a depleted team. After that demoralising defeat last weekend, things went from bad to worse. Such an important game this Sunday to prove a point. Now it looks like we have a snowflake's chance in hell of winning, or even getting close. Adding further insult to injury: it looks like Carlton will be touted as being the biggest improvers and having the most efficient rebuild by the time this season is out. Sheesh!

[Griggsy]

Struggling now he doesn't have Schneider coaching him on and off field. Not really a surprise.

[bigcarl]

. Adding further insult to injury: it looks like Carlton will be touted as being the biggest improvers and having the most efficient rebuild by the time this season is out. Sheesh

We can only hope it is a false dawn for them. But they are not really such a young team and are getting good service out of high draft picks such as Gibbs, Murphy and Kreuzer.

[skeptic]

Struggling now he doesn't have Schneider coaching him on and off field. Not really a surprise.

Jest?

[St Chris]

. Adding further insult to injury: it looks like Carlton will be touted as being the biggest improvers and having the most efficient rebuild by the time this season is out. Sheesh

We can only hope it is a false dawn for them. But they are not really such a young team and are getting good service out of high draft picks such as Gibbs, Murphy and Kreuzer.

It's a false dawn - their improvement is massively overrated. Sure, they were predicted to struggle in 2016, but experts "tipping" wooden spooners is a mug's game.

With the exception of the Geelong game, they've only beaten other cellar dwellers - Freo, Essendon, Collingwood, Port Adelaide & Brisbane.

They've played teams in the Top 8, 4 times. Once was Geelong, the other 3 were Sydney (10 goals vs 20), Bulldogs (7 goals to 13) and Nth Melb (6 goals to 17). All in Melbourne.

Compared to us, we've had 6 games against the Top 8, with only WCE in Perth and the Crows in Adelaide being really poor results. The GWS game blew out but we got within a goal just before 3/4 time, and although we were no good, we kept the Dogs to less than 100 points, which other teams struggle to do.

Anyway, I digress.

My biggest disappointment this year has been us. The atmosphere at Etihad is terrible, and if you take out Roo's 300th and the 1966 50th anniversary, out home average crowd is 23k. We are in a constant battle for relevancy, nobody cares what St Kilda are doing, and the AFL world wouldnt really miss us if we were wound up. The only way to fight that is to get bums on seats and do what we can to get the Saints back towards being relevant again.

[MC Gusto]

Mine is acres. Hope he has a belter against Carlton and cements his place for the second half of the season

[Moods]

My biggest disappointment this year has been us. The atmosphere at Etihad is terrible, and if you take out Roo's 300th and the 1966 50th anniversary, out home average crowd is 23k. We are in a constant battle for relevancy, nobody cares what St Kilda are doing, and the AFL world wouldnt really miss us if we were wound up. The only way to fight that is to get bums on seats and do what we can to get the Saints back towards being relevant again.

Fair call - but the only way to do that is to start winning, consistently. Or at the very least being competitive every week. No-one is going to turn up to watch the rubbish we dished up last week.

I have to admit in 09/10 I would move heaven and earth to get to games, this year if I have something on like work or a family function, I don't find myself making arrangements to get there. I don't say that with any pride, but I won't re arrange my weekend, drive 50 minutes each way, and sit through a rubbish game of footy. I will still get to at least half the games, but after last week's pathetic effort it's hard to get excited. Sure I run the risk of missing a superb win but that's the risk. Is there anything more depressing than sitting through an entire game of footy and the only time you raise your voice is to show displeasure at the umpires??

[lintonstreet]

Lonie 's pressure is great but unfortunately his tackles are not sticking and his goal kicking has let him down.
Fortunately for him, I'm sure the club will give him some time.

As for Acres, I have real doubt he might not make it. he is let down by his lack of pace and decision making.

[Bruce G McAbee]

Actually mine has been Jack Billings, he tore Footscray apart in that 2nd half comeback last year, but we haven't seen much of that form this year and his he seems to have lost hi saccuracy with set shots.
Also Josh Bruce has not had the same year as last year, though he's probably getting more attention now.

[freely]

I hoped Eli would have his breakout game this season - well, he still might! - but I'm disappointed it hasn't happened yet.

[Myron Gaines]

The coach

[samuraisaint]

Thus far, biggest disappointment is going into this round against Carlton with a depleted team. After that demoralising defeat last weekend, things went from bad to worse. Such an important game this Sunday to prove a point. Now it looks like we have a snowflake's chance in hell of winning, or even getting close. Adding further insult to injury: it looks like Carlton will be touted as being the biggest improvers and having the most efficient rebuild by the time this season is out. Sheesh!

Yeah, but it's hardly surprising - we desperately needed Carlisle after all the floggings we got last year - and we really needed to get a full season out of Freeman after being run off our legs most weeks by opposition midfields. But neither of them were ever going to play for us this year, and we are having a development year. Many supporters thought that we would struggle to tread water this year and I was one of them. If we have to finish bottom four or five because we have no depth and can't match it with the favourites for the wooden spoon on our own home ground, then we need to finish bottom four or five, and we need to really nail that first selection because we gave our second one to Collingwood for Freeman. But we also need to play with a depleted side so that guys like Pierce and Wright, Acres, Lee and Delaney, can show us if they are worth keeping on the list. They deserve a chance and this week they get it, and if they can't produce against a fellow bottom team, then they never will. But they deserve the chance to have a go and show Richo what they can do. I'm excited about Sunday. I hope we can get up and then all of this talk about us not being able to win without our 33 year olds will be put to bed for good. If we lose by 30 points and have a go, well, that's fine too. We are where are because of the poor recruiting for six years and bad luck arising after last years draft/trade period. There is no quick fix except play the kids and reward those at Sandy who are winning very good games for the Zebs with senior appearances. That and nail our first selection at this year's draft and the rest will take care of itself.

[WellardSaint]

The coach

I hate how he stays with the Saints tradition of keeping guys with crap skills.
Gilbo, Geary.
Before it was CJ, and numerous others in the past

[Bluthy]

I don't know how intelligently and creatively we've really used the full list under Richo. Lonie looked burnt out to me. From memory Lonie played almost every game in his first year - might have missed a game after being concussed in a tackle. At 174cm he's been crunched in tackles and play from day 1. More rotation could have eased him into the AFL better as he built his body. Minch and Curren could have come into to get a regular tase of AFL

Likewise Dunstan has been played in the fiercest heat of the kitchen with only Armo as a big body next to him. Seeing him break down in the tears worried me that he's been pushed to hard in his first couple of years because he had a bigger body.

More rotration would have eased these players into the AFL better plus give guys like Curren, Minch and Lee more of a shot of it at AFL to improve themselves and our squads depth. Doggies used 40 players last year and you can see how much its benefited their team this year covering injuries. Why couldn't Demps or Fish have a week off and throw Lee in or Goddard? Give Maybe it would have saved Demps or Fish from injury as older players. At this point Curren must feel like a Sandy player who trains with St Kilda despite racking up 30 plus touch game.

I'm worried Richo is now doing the same to Gresh a small player getting played in game after game in his first year. He even played against Port in Port - one of the toughest road trips - despite not playing a single VFL game. It was weird to me.

I feel like Richo went into best 22 mode way too early. We should still be experimenting and trying out players to develop and run the rule over them for tough delisting decisions. Its taken injuries to open up some spots and rotate and refresh the squad that he should have been doing anyway.

[Scollop]

Good posts. The trouble with recruiting ready made players like Carlisle is that it triggers hopes of finals and perhaps the expectations at the start of this year gave the team and the coaches the wrong idea about where we are in our development. A winning culture is good but developing a future team to compete for a top 4 spot is better.

Maybe we got ahead of ourselves and believed we could challenge for a final 8 position even before our results showed we were worthy

[Jacks Back]

I don't know how intelligently and creatively we've really used the full list under Richo. Lonie looked burnt out to me. From memory Lonie played almost every game in his first year - might have missed a game after being concussed in a tackle. At 174cm he's been crunched in tackles and play from day 1. More rotation could have eased him into the AFL better as he built his body. Minch and Curren could have come into to get a regular tase of AFL

Likewise Dunstan has been played in the fiercest heat of the kitchen with only Armo as a big body next to him. Seeing him break down in the tears worried me that he's been pushed to hard in his first couple of years because he had a bigger body.

More rotration would have eased these players into the AFL better plus give guys like Curren, Minch and Lee more of a shot of it at AFL to improve themselves and our squads depth. Doggies used 40 players last year and you can see how much its benefited their team this year covering injuries. Why couldn't Demps or Fish have a week off and throw Lee in or Goddard? Give Maybe it would have saved Demps or Fish from injury as older players. At this point Curren must feel like a Sandy player who trains with St Kilda despite racking up 30 plus touch game.

I'm worried Richo is now doing the same to Gresh a small player getting played in game after game in his first year. He even played against Port in Port - one of the toughest road trips - despite not playing a single VFL game. It was weird to me.

I feel like Richo went into best 22 mode way too early. We should still be experimenting and trying out players to develop and run the rule over them for tough delisting decisions. Its taken injuries to open up some spots and rotate and refresh the squad that he should have been doing anyway.

+1

[SydneySainter]

Thus far, biggest disappointment is going into this round against Carlton with a depleted team. After that demoralising defeat last weekend, things went from bad to worse. Such an important game this Sunday to prove a point. Now it looks like we have a snowflake's chance in hell of winning, or even getting close. Adding further insult to injury: it looks like Carlton will be touted as being the biggest improvers and having the most efficient rebuild by the time this season is out. Sheesh!

Yeah, but it's hardly surprising - we desperately needed Carlisle after all the floggings we got last year - and we really needed to get a full season out of Freeman after being run off our legs most weeks by opposition midfields. But neither of them were ever going to play for us this year, and we are having a development year. Many supporters thought that we would struggle to tread water this year and I was one of them. If we have to finish bottom four or five because we have no depth and can't match it with the favourites for the wooden spoon on our own home ground, then we need to finish bottom four or five, and we need to really nail that first selection because we gave our second one to Collingwood for Freeman. But we also need to play with a depleted side so that guys like Pierce and Wright, Acres, Lee and Delaney, can show us if they are worth keeping on the list. They deserve a chance and this week they get it, and if they can't produce against a fellow bottom team, then they never will. But they deserve the chance to have a go and show Richo what they can do. I'm excited about Sunday. I hope we can get up and then all of this talk about us not being able to win without our 33 year olds will be put to bed for good. If we lose by 30 points and have a go, well, that's fine too. We are where are because of the poor recruiting for six years and bad luck arising after last years draft/trade period. There is no quick fix except play the kids and reward those at Sandy who are winning very good games for the Zebs with senior appearances. That and nail our first selection at this year's draft and the rest will take care of itself.

Our recruiting has been pretty poor since 2004, arguably as far back as 2002 if you count the Brooks trade.

As for our recruiting over the past four to five season, I would upgrade the classification from poor to just okay, but still far from great.

[bigred]

Whole club is rooted.

We are a long way back IMO. Especially once the old guard pull the pin.

[samuraisaint]

Thus far, biggest disappointment is going into this round against Carlton with a depleted team. After that demoralising defeat last weekend, things went from bad to worse. Such an important game this Sunday to prove a point. Now it looks like we have a snowflake's chance in hell of winning, or even getting close. Adding further insult to injury: it looks like Carlton will be touted as being the biggest improvers and having the most efficient rebuild by the time this season is out. Sheesh!

I'm excited about Sunday. I hope we can get up and then all of this talk about us not being able to win without our 33 year olds will be put to bed for good. [/b]If we lose by 30 points and have a go, well, that's fine too. We are where are because of the poor recruiting for six years and bad luck arising after last years draft/trade period. There is no quick fix except play the kids and reward those at Sandy who are winning very good games for the Zebs with senior appearances. That and nail our first selection at this year's draft and the rest will take care of itself.

Just sayin'. Great to be there too. The crowd took me back to 2011 when we were still a decent side. Loved the game of Steven today, and congratulations Lewis on a very good first game. Very good team effort today and great to see us win easily without Roo, Chips and Dempster. Apart from one miskick I thought Savage was fantatsic today also. Playing two rucks could give us an edge like Geelong had last night.