Where are we at?

[damienc]

So season 2012 is over for the St Kilda football club? Judging by what I have read on this forum that's certainly the opinion of some of you.

How you can you make such a bald claim on the basis of a handfull of games is stretching credibitlity IMO, but I get the feeling a lot of "supporters" have NO faith in the coach, the game plan or our current list.

Topics like "Four losses in a row coming up" ..... " The coaching" ......"How come our opponents lift against us" pretty much says it all.

No doubt this was a test of where we are at as a team. Did we fail the test? Yes and No.

I think it was a test we needed to have to expose our weaknesses and our strengths and yes there were strengths despite our loss. Before the negative nellies write this season off for the Saints can I just say there is a lot of footy to go and a lot of water to pass under the bridge.

First of all we came up against a talented team that up until last night had taken a pounding on and off the footy field. Of course the ever helpful Robert Walls had to write a newspaper column accusing the Hawks of lacking in commitment. Well if the Hawks needed motivation to lift against St Kilda, Walls gave it to them in spades. That kind of public humiliation can inspire players especially those who have a lot of professional pride.

So the Hawks were going to be fired up from the first bounce and that is exactly what happened. Unfortunately for St Kilda two of their absolute class acts in Rioli and Buddy decided it was time to remove digit. Those two were absolutely on fire. It wouldn't have mattered who played on them.

Two of the best in the business and when they are in that kind of form they are every AFL coach's nightmare and unstoppable. 11 goals between them and if Buddy's radar had been on target he would have kicked at least 11 on his own.


So where did we go wrong? Entrances into our 50 are a major problem that Watters needs to work on. Delivery to our forwards was woeful a lot of the time. You just can't afford to do that against quality opposition. BJ had an off night and that didn't help. Sam Fisher was doing a sensational job on Hodge until he got injured. When he went off Hodge got himself into the game. We are missing James Gwilt like crazy down back.

The positives? Kosi finally seems to be delivering on the potential every Saints fan knows he's got. To take some towering grabs and bag five was sensational. I can't remember the last time a St Kilda forward kicked five in a game. Maybe I have a short memory but it feels like we are talking a bloody long time.

Ahmed Saad came on and kicked a pearler. Simpkin continues to grow and impress. Jack Steven gets better with every game. But the sad reality is our list is getting old. Our stars are slowly fading. That is inevitable. The club is going through a transition of finding new blood to replace them. It is a tough, painful excercise. You only have to look at struggling clubs like the GC and GWS to see that. Kids take a season or two to get up to speed.

Don't get me wrong. I am as disappointed as anyone that we lost. I hate losing. But the season still has plenty of footy left. Let's see what happens in the next four games and before anyone jumps in, I don't think it will be four losses.

More importantly we are going to see what Watters is reeally made of. I don't think he will disappoint.