Not so confident now...

[BigMart]

I was ver upbeat pre season about our chances,

New coach, a very good choice and process.....admission of weaknesses in drafting/development, game plan problem and selection integrity.....all of these areas have measures put in place for improvement.

I saw roey and Kosi in pre season, the looked in great condition and were injury free....Lenny was back, bj could be as average again and a few 20-24 yo players will progess...

After witnessing some intra games, practice games.....really we look shonky

In a game, roo still looks like an old man, bj has been almost soft, but two things really stood out.....
Our disposal is still hideous....why Ray, Polo, Ray are left out this week.....Scott has noticed it
Our fwd structure is woeful, and we don't know the best mix yet....

Game plan is hard to judge as the skill level is so poor, players can't carry out any plans when targets are missed and turn overs are common....just like captains cannot set fields to poor bowling

I think the game missed was not ideal, and the trip to a 30 degree Perth, but I have barely seen a good passage of play.

I was smashed on the forum last year when I said our pre season was a dire warning about the season ahead, and we were 1 and 8......we fought back, but really...

This year I think will again be slow starting, and we may come good.....but I reckon shades of 2007
Only this time
Roo is Fraser
Lenny is banger
Dal is Lenny

And we don't have a shitload of high draft picks 23-25 yo this time

[SainterK]

Your post would be welcome here....

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=74820

[BigMart]

No, that is a rubbish thread, patronizing and ignorant/arrogant

This is just an observation and some concerns and my take on our fortunes from evidence

[plugger66]

No, that is a rubbish thread, patronizing and ignorant/arrogant

This is just an observation and some concerns and my take on our fortunes from evidence

How did you feel in 2009 before the season started? At least wait till we play a fair dinkum game before we right off another season.

[magnifisaint]

No, that is a rubbish thread, patronizing and ignorant/arrogant

This is just an observation and some concerns and my take on our fortunes from evidence

How did you feel in 2009 before the season started? At least wait till we play a fair dinkum game before we right off another season.

write

[Old Mate]

Agree we do look shaky but so do a lot of teams at this time of year. We've got a lot of work to do if we are to play finals. I'm sitting on the fence on this one.

[BigMart]

I can't remember my exact thoughts pre 2009..... but I do remember watching a sandy game think f*** our depth is good. I don't recall as many concerns...and we were rated a top 4 chance by most experts....do think we should have taken Ben for zero

I will say, I was disgusted by the events of the 09 post season, this is well documented, but I did say we will feel the effects further down the track.....Lovett was a predictable mess, ball was a predictable success.....some called that before they turned out as such

I haven't written off 2012, read the heading......just not so CONFIDENT now.....and I think the players might be also thinking about our chances

[Con Gorozidis]

lets wait until round 6.
we have some well doumented issues. but we still have hope i reckon.
if we arent top 6 after round 12 we should tank it up.

[BigMart]

The other argument is Geelong last year.....and they proved most wrong

[SaintPav]

Our disposal is still hideous....why Ray, Polo, Ray are left out this week.....Scott has noticed it

I think you mean Gram..Not that I would know but if Scott has decided to leave these guys out for that reason, I think it is a good sign. It means he will not stuff around and that he can make the hard decisions if needed.

BTW, you're being really really negative. Lets see where we are after round 8 or so.

[asiu]

... are u pickn port as well in run1 mart ?

[plugger66]

I can't remember my exact thoughts pre 2009..... but I do remember watching a sandy game think f*** our depth is good. I don't recall as many concerns...and we were rated a top 4 chance by most experts....do think we should have taken Ben for zero

I will say, I was disgusted by the events of the 09 post season, this is well documented, but I did say we will feel the effects further down the track.....Lovett was a predictable mess, ball was a predictable success.....some called that before they turned out as such

I haven't written off 2012, read the heading......just not so CONFIDENT now.....and I think the players might be also thinking about our chances

Funny that you knew both those decisions on Ball and Lovett were wrong and we also got smashed in the last practice match but you cant recall how you felt at the time. I will guess and you probably wrote something similar to now.

[SainterK]

No depth?

I reckon apart from perhaps fullback and ruck, our depth is OK....more so than last year anyways.

Or maybe it just seems that way to me?

[BigMart]

Yes you would guess...you often do p66....

But maybe your right, does that mean I cannot make an observation about 2009, 2012 or whatever the f*** I want to.... Are we only allowed to present opinions that spell success, because if history is to judge us, we would be incorrect to do so...

Are you denying that I posted my thoughts on those calls....because most of the opposition I experienced came from the predictable p66. Club knows best, they have their reasons blah, blah, blah.....history suggests mistakes were made....

[BigMart]

Not sure about round 1..... Not sure where it is played....

One would hope we beat 16th in 2011, but in Adelaide they will not be push overs...... At etihad we will flog them

[Bernard Shakey]

Not sure about round 1..... Not sure where it is played....

One would hope we beat 16th in 2011, but in Adelaide they will not be push overs...... At etihad we will flog them

"Not sure where it is played"?
You don't even know where we're playing in round one and yet after you're comprehensive analysis you've written us off. Give us a break. If you're going to give us your opinion at least read the AFL fixture. If you haven't got a copy check out the Saints website or at least google it.

We're looking good this year, mark my words.

[SainterK]

We're looking good this year, mark my words.

I agree.

Older boys are hungry but wise, the young kids are keen, nice combination.

[Teflon]

Mart I am happy to have the discussion because its football related and your opinion.

That aside, I too have thought this could be our 07 ..but only because we have a new coach tweaking a game style that history tells us takes players time to learn. My worry is with the age of our core.....times not a luxury we really have.

I am wrapt IF Watters has decided that poor skills can no longer be "hidden" by manic defence and decided to inject some kids to "up skill" the team. We need it to be able to attack effectively. However, unlike the Pies whose kids were played......we are asking a lot from some of these in yr 2.....thats a big ask...

My hope is that in 2012 the game plan is adopted quickly
The core return to form and are injury free
Kids play a bigger role in the side but equally the Grams/Rays of the world feel the pressure and step up to play some decent, consistent footy and that this is enough to get us back in contention.

I wont write off the year at all but gee we are hard to pick right now.....could really go either way...

[clarky449]

Not rocket science to know we are going to struggle and i dont like how some supporters are expecting your young kids to magically be awesome. Just not good.

[asiu]

We play them over there ... an early evening game on aprils fools day iirc.

[BigMart]

Of course I hope we can come together well, but what I'm saying is that I have seen little evidence to even suggest cohesion....

Which is why the remixer of 2007.

And I gave an opinion....not a comprehensive analysis....a person with more in-depth 2012 knowledge, could easily pick holes in my take on things
I have been a bit busy to focus too much on footy, outside of actual games and the odd training run in the holidays.....tonight I have had some time off and shared my thoughts, nothing more....ie/ roo is still moving like a super rules footballer

[sainter#4]

their is no reason to not be confident.

round 1 nab cup against the pussies, slick ball movement and milera caps off a great goal.
that same move was started off by tommy simpkin from full back with some ball movement that would have been outlawed under lyin.

roo from my memory takes 2-3 games to get into it so i wont judge him until then BUT....

all it takes, is one moment of genius to know we will be ok and relight that fire in your belly

and incase you forget, you still have dals laser left, and lennys trusty right or has the goal in the drawn grand final been wiped from your memory??

FFS CMON GUYS FIRE UP THEIR IS A WHOLE SEASON TO BE PLAYED SHOW SOME PASSION AND BELIEF!!

[desertsaint]

I'm confident we'll have a better than average season...

[saintly]

The other argument is Geelong last year.....and they proved most wrong

geelong were and are a better skilled team then ours. Geelong did not have 21 players that played 10 games or less.

I think Stkilda will take a number of games to 'get' how Watters wants them to play. the skills are no good by a number of players. and unfortunately, its going to take a while to get out of the 'kick it to Roo syndrome' that that developed under Ro$$.

So i never confident but we might make the 8.

[prwilkinson]

I don't think we've had the 22 or 21 whatever it is out that will be our round 1 side on the park playing at the same time really... It's been a constant rotation of 30 players coming on and off the bench. It's hard to gauge really. Perhaps with a 25 man squad to play Collingwood tomorrow, it may give us a better chance to look at a more settled line up. Looking forward to watching Saad and Millera play... Going to really try to get over to Visy tomorrow avo. If you see a short guy drilling the footy or kicking bananas from the fence with my mates after the game like an epic footy tragic... that's me.