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james rose wrote:good to see you have learned the party line from the Carlton supporters fireman. we should all aspire to be more like you!
good for you, then you would expect more from the club, well done.
Because as it stands we don't look like winning a flag atm so it is a good thing you have changed your aspirations for the better.
I agree with your views james rose.....last night the Saints did play in a style that makes me more optimistic about season 2008 than I was before the game.
They did show more spirit.
They were more attacking.
They did dispose of the ball better.
They were more accountable.
Richmond appeared to me to play with greater confidence than the Saints, and for good reason because they have been in better form in the first 6 rounds, and reputations apart should have been pre-match favourites.
And yes, the Tigers played better than the Saints on the night and probably should have won. On the basis of centre clearances alone St Kilda was likely to get beaten.
But they didn't and that is all that matters.
To paraphrase an old political slogan: "Its about the 4 Points, stupid!"
The fact that they have won 4 from 7 playing poorly proves that they can still play finals this year
There is an incredible amount of improvement still to come from the Saints, and it will.
Delivery into the forward line so far this year has been far too predictable with Roo as the main target. so losing Riewoldt will force St Kilda to restructure and adopt a far more varied and attacking brand of football going into goal. This should make the midfielders take greater responsibility to kick more goals.
Having said all that, I envy Hawks supporters because Hawthorn have set the benchmark - their goalkicking trio of Franklin/Roughead?Williams is far superior to the Saints heralded (but unsuccessful) 3 Towers.
It's early days and there's a "wall of water" still to flow under the bridge before the September deadlines.
Richmond played almost as well as they can - although I am not sure where they will end up this year they did not look like a bottom two side.
To win with so many *indicators* against us suggests that we can weather the storm that some sides put up.
When it mattered - Harvey and Milne nailed a few gems and we got three clearances in a row in the last - when we needed to catch up and we did.
It was a good win despite the Tiges bad luck. If we had have lost narrowly then we could have a big whinge but guess what?
WE WON!
Coming on here last night you would not have known.
I am with the Roses on this one!
This is a team game and there is no room for individuals who think they are above walking through the fire.
It was a brave effort for the team to win against the odds after Goose, Riewoldt and X all got injured. And IMO Milne had his best game since 2005 vs Brisbane.
But the sad bit is that we looked far, far better in the last quarter when we were fighting our way to a close (and perhaps lucky) victory than we did during the first half when we had a fit 22 players with only a couple of our best missing (Max and Gilbert), yet underperfomed the Tigers.
Over the past 18 months, we seem to perform at our best only when we are under the pump and have to dig deep: the 2007 game against the Swans when BJ got injured, the game against the Eagles at Subi, the second 2007 game against the Hawks and the Essendon and Richmond games this year.
IMO this says a lot for the character of the players, but very little for the abilities of the coaching staff to fire up the team in normal circumstances.
So, I'm sorry, I can't see too much to get excited about ATM. I see the Geelongs, Hawks and Bulldogs going around and think "that should be us: we've got at least as much talent as those clubs do".
For me, we are a Rolls Royce team driven by an adolescent, P plate coaching staff. I'm getting sick and tired of it and want it to change.
"It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into."
- Jonathan Swift
meher baba wrote:It was a brave effort for the team to win against the odds after Goose, Riewoldt and X all got injured. And IMO Milne had his best game since 2005 vs Brisbane.
But the sad bit is that we looked far, far better in the last quarter when we were fighting our way to a close (and perhaps lucky) victory than we did during the first half when we had a fit 22 players with only a couple of our best missing (Max and Gilbert), yet underperfomed the Tigers.
Over the past 18 months, we seem to perform at our best only when we are under the pump and have to dig deep: the 2007 game against the Swans when BJ got injured, the game against the Eagles at Subi, the second 2007 game against the Hawks and the Essendon and Richmond games this year.
IMO this says a lot for the character of the players, but very little for the abilities of the coaching staff to fire up the team in normal circumstances.
So, I'm sorry, I can't see too much to get excited about ATM. I see the Geelongs, Hawks and Bulldogs going around and think "that should be us: we've got at least as much talent as those clubs do".
For me, we are a Rolls Royce team driven by an adolescent, P plate coaching staff. I'm getting sick and tired of it and want it to change.
ahh....wheel in another coach when this one has coached what....30 games?
Theres some inspirational NEW AGE thinking for a St Kilda supporter...
Why not drop the agenda and try and look at the WHOLE picture and just the NEW coaching box for some answers?
You reckon Gehrig is the Gehrig of 2004 right now?
Ball the Ball of 2005?
Harvey the Harvey of 2004?
ok... positive signs...
we're playing crap and winning every second game
L Ball, i'm sure all will agree, was as good as he's been in a while
Milne played with responsibility and played well
we won without our full back and Roo for half the game
Maguire and Gram continue to lack effectiveness
we played a lot more positively with Blake and Fisher out of the list
Gardiner didn't get injured, nor did Kosi
Goddard I thought showed real leadership
G kicked a tough goal from the wrong pocket after a strong lead and a nice kick from Dal to him
our challenge now is to find some form fast, some midfield effectiveness, and be sufficiently prepared for an assault when we get Gilbert, X, Roo, King, Max back in.
always a good sign when we still win - and Richmond is NOT that bad of a side - with 20 fit players and playing basically poor football
To my surprise, I actually think there's plenty to be optomistic about from that game... and I would have thought I couldn't be content from a game against the Tigs that wasn't a 40 pt victory.
1) We got SMASHED in hard ball and clearances... and why is that a good thing? Because the only time we've been truly smashed here previously was the dogs game. We beat Geelong at that... we can generally count on breaking even. If we can win while get thouroughly smashed in such a key area, that actually bodes really, really well.
2) Kicking. Oh. My. God. We hit our targets! 'Allelujah! We kicked goals instead of points! 'Allelujah!
3) Rebounding. We rebounded with purpose, something we have not done in any other game in '08. Only way the Saints normally have looked ood is when we're on top in the middle.
4) Nick Dal Santo. With Montagna being tagged out of it, and Hayes having a middling game, Dal got his hands on the footy. In the middle of the ground. Good things happen when Dal gets it in the middle of the ground.
5) Luke Ball. Kicked it 50 metres to hit his target on the chest. Can't even remember who the target was (they kicked a goal though) I was so stunned. He's running better every week, if he gets penetration back in his kicking, that is HUGE!
Get Gardiner and King healthy. Do better in the middle, but otherwise, keep playing like that!
"Everything comes to he who hustles while he waits"
- Henry Ford
BAM! (shhhh) wrote:To my surprise, I actually think there's plenty to be optomistic about from that game... and I would have thought I couldn't be content from a game against the Tigs that wasn't a 40 pt victory.
1) We got SMASHED in hard ball and clearances... and why is that a good thing? Because the only time we've been truly smashed here previously was the dogs game. We beat Geelong at that... we can generally count on breaking even. If we can win while get thouroughly smashed in such a key area, that actually bodes really, really well.
2) Kicking. Oh. My. God. We hit our targets! 'Allelujah! We kicked goals instead of points! 'Allelujah!
3) Rebounding. We rebounded with purpose, something we have not done in any other game in '08. Only way the Saints normally have looked ood is when we're on top in the middle.
4) Nick Dal Santo. With Montagna being tagged out of it, and Hayes having a middling game, Dal got his hands on the footy. In the middle of the ground. Good things happen when Dal gets it in the middle of the ground.
5) Luke Ball. Kicked it 50 metres to hit his target on the chest. Can't even remember who the target was (they kicked a goal though) I was so stunned. He's running better every week, if he gets penetration back in his kicking, that is HUGE!
Get Gardiner and King healthy. Do better in the middle, but otherwise, keep playing like that!
Agree.....
Flying the World in comfort thanks to FF Points....
