Is the Saints' time up?

[bobmurray]

Here is an article on Sportal that asks this very question.....

Is the Saints' time up?

http://sportal.com.au/afl-opinion-displ ... e-up-47386

[True Blue Sainter]

Tough to say. At the start of the year, I honestly thought that us, Hawthorn and Adelaide could really take it to Geelong. At the moment, it looks like just Hawthorn and the Dogs are any chance of matching it with the Cats...

It seems that this year we might make up the numbers in the 8. We need to keep drafting quality young kids. That's the only way the list is going to develop over time. In about 2-3 years, I think there may come a time for a complete overhaul and rebuilding of the list...

[The_Dud]

no "experts" gave Geelong a hope in hell of winning the flag at the start of last year, so the whole "premiership clock" they always go on about doesn't mean anything, just trying to sell papers

[gooner]

no "experts" gave Geelong a hope in hell of winning the flag at the start of last year, so the whole "premiership clock" they always go on about doesn't mean anything, just trying to sell papers

Exactly. It maddens me how each year the media seem to get collective amnesia. No one gave Geelong a hope last year. Three years ago Sydney would never win a premiership playing that brand of football.
Remember it's just stuff they write to fill the spaces between the ads.

[osama milne laden]

>>>Under Thomas the Saints never missed the finals

gee, paul gough knows his footy and checks his facts, doesn't he!

what was i thinking not going to all those finals we played in during september 2001, 2002 and 2003?

[spert]

Don't write us off.. we are actually 5th on the ladder and if we stay in the 8, we play finals and it's a new ball game. Under Sheldon we got in the finals, under Alves we got into a GF and under Thomas we also got in the finals --no premiership though, and that's ultimately the measure of a club's success in this competition. The big thing which will stop us this year will be physical strength and size in the backline -we just haven't got enough.

[meher baba]

I agree with the general sentiment on this thread. Similar stories have been written about Geelong, the Dogs and Adelaide in recent years and they have all bounced back. Personally, I'm not even ready to write off the Eagles just yet.

Unless one subscribes to B4E's garbage that we could only have remained a strong list if we had made better choices with picks 17 and below in 2004-05, we have the types of players on our list who could take us to a premiership in any of the next few seasons if (and it's a big if for a team that plays so many games on the Telstra Dome surface) we have a reasonable run with injuries.

Even this season remains a chance if the coaching staff can suddenly start getting their act together.

We'll see.

[congorozides]

no "experts" gave Geelong a hope in hell of winning the flag at the start of last year, so the whole "premiership clock" they always go on about doesn't mean anything, just trying to sell papers

true - but this isnt the start of the year. after 6 rounds we have some information to base our opinoins on. after 6 rounds last year - geelong had just started to roll in to gear.

after 6 rounds - saints are hanging on by a thread.

[congorozides]

In round 6 last year - the cats pulverised the tigers by 160 points!

saints could only do them by 3 this year.

[suss]

There are too many errors in the article to give Paul Gough any credibility. We axed Gehrig?

And I'm kinda get sick of all the talk surrounding 'droughts', 'windows' and 'rebuilding'. Sydney were awful at the start of 05, as were Geelong at the start of 07 just we were at the start of 97.

Port Adelaide apparently had a premiership window for what, three years running before they made a grand final? Then they tanked and came back for another appearance a year later. That must have been against all logic and reason.

All of these comparisons are worthless because of the huge number of variables each year. I just think you should be the best you can all of the time and never write off the opportunity to win a premiership because logic and history says you can't.

[bozza1980]

>>>Under Thomas the Saints never missed the finals

gee, paul gough knows his footy and checks his facts, doesn't he!

what was i thinking not going to all those finals we played in during september 2001, 2002 and 2003?

After taking over a team that was 3 and 12 in 2001, making the finals that season was a big ask!!

However he did coach for the full seasons of 2002 and 2003, so yes Paul Gough is incorrect in his assertion that we never missed the finals under Grant Thomas. That said, what Paul Gough does know about footy could be covered on the back of a stamp.

[The_Dud]

no "experts" gave Geelong a hope in hell of winning the flag at the start of last year, so the whole "premiership clock" they always go on about doesn't mean anything, just trying to sell papers

true - but this isnt the start of the year. after 6 rounds we have some information to base our opinoins on. after 6 rounds last year - geelong had just started to roll in to gear.

after 6 rounds - saints are hanging on by a thread.

weren't Geelong 3-3 after 6 rounds last year?

but i agree, we have too many injuries, too many out of form players and too stubborn a coach to get on a roll

[osama milne laden]

>>>what Paul Gough does know about footy could be covered on the back of a stamp

obviously

[Superboot]

[quote="spert"]Don't write us off.. we are actually 5th on the ladder and if we stay in the 8, we play finals and it's a new ball game. Under Sheldon we got in the finals, under Alves we got into a GF and under Thomas we also got in the finals --no premiership though, and that's ultimately the measure of a club's success in this competition. The big thing which will stop us this year will be physical strength and size in the backline -we just haven't got enough.[/quote]

We also have a one-paced midfield and a group of forwards whose defensive work is apparently the poorest in the competition.

It doesn't really add up to a potential premiership team, but time will tell.

[Furphy]

According to this article, Alves got St kilda to the GF for the first time in 36 years? Funny, I thought Hawthorn and Footscray played in the 1961 GF. Who played in the '66 and '71 GFs?

[saintly]

In round 6 last year - the cats pulverised the tigers by 160 points!

saints could only do them by 3 this year.

and geelong beat richmond by how many points this year? it was not 160 17 or 26 i believe.

[Dan Warna]

our players are underperforming to what they are capable off, we arn't stringing together 2 or 3 quarters of football and we arne't playing as a team.

DESPITE this we have won 4 games, and probably had the best quarters for form against footscray AND geelong this year.

IMO st kilda is like badly tuned, out of warranty supercar.

what we need is the mechanic to get the pieces to work together.

or like a band where each band member is talented but and they look good, you put them together and they all play their own tune.

I'd match, given the form they'v shown, our players against their opposition numbers and we do well.

i mean the idiots compare player 22 on our list, with player 5 on geelong lists and that just silly.

our talent is so rich, we can play badly and still win.

I dont think our window is shut, our time is up or the gate close nor the horse bolted, but unless we can start progress past bludgeoning opposition down on individual performances, we wont get anywhere.

i know folks hated our shut down style against sydney, but there we showed just how disciplined we can be.

last week melbourne showed more heart that a lot of clubs in some time. without our talent if we showed that much heart every game, we'll be a genuine contender.