Blight - last night on 3AW

[samm]

did anyone hear Blight on 3AW last night? and what did you all think of it?

It seemed to me that it was usefule stuff, but nothing that we had not heard this season.

I would've like to ask how st kilda is supposed to get better this season. with their lack of decision making, and their lack of skills, and their injuries?

[StrengthThroughLoyalty]

samm, i heard blight on the radio last night and once again my spirits have been lifted. for those that missed the interview he said he is still upbeat about the club getting better on and off the field, and that there was still a bubble about the place and he found it a really enjoyable place to be. when questioned whether he had any doubts about his ability to lift the saints after a 2-9 start he replied with a 'none what so ever', music to my ears.

he acknowledged that we had difficiencies as a team but didn't dwell on it. instead he kept mentioning the positives that have happened this year saying that we had won a lot of quarters of footy and with the long injury list a lot of youngsters had been blooded and they would go on to be the future of the club. he believes that as a team we had improved from last year and would continue to improve in the second half of this season.

when asked about kosi he said that he had been thrown in the deep end as an 18 year old but could not hide his admiration in the way he plays footy. he tried to play down that he was going to be a superstar but it was clear that he believes he will be. he also said that when reiwoldt is ready to play seniors he will go straight to chf, that is big raps for a kid that hasn't played a game yet.

after a few weeks where i have been a bit negative and down in the dumps about the fortunes of our great club, i have taken a step back and looked at the big picture. we are going in the right direction on and off the field and it is only a matter of time before our fortunes will change for the better. if you've heard it all before stay tuned because this time it's not a matter of 'i hope we have some success' it is a matter of 'we will be successful'.

i have copied the inner saintum news below.



Inner Saintum News
Volume 4, Issue 1 12th June, 2001

The Official Newsletter to St Kilda Football Club Sponsors & Coterie Members



St Kilda Football Club Review - Round 11 2001

St Kilda 13.8.86 v Essendon 19.14.128

A disappointing performance considering the amount of talent missing from the Essendon line up. The effort in the second half to outscore the Bombers proved that we were able to match it with a top side when we apply ourselves to the team rules. It was the four goals in 9 minutes by Essendon late in the second quarter that proved to be the teams downfall. The coaching staff was naturally disappointed with the area of disposal at critical stages in the match. We actually had 298 possessions to 301, but our efficiency was only 82.2% compared with 85.7% for the Bombers. This figure included 11 direct clanger kicks many of which resulted in Essendon goals.

The coaching staff were keen to stop Essendon's strong marking forwards by getting players back in defence to help out, a tactic successfully employed by many clubs against the Bombers. This was carried out reasonably effectively with Matthew Lloyd held to just 2 goals. However, the Bombers kicked 13 of their 19 goals from general play, rather than marking situations, with 9 of those goals coming from 40 metres plus. Dean Rioli was also able to make something out of nothing on 4 occasions for critical goals. Our team needs to learn to maintain possession of the ball rather than turning the ball over, resulting in getting "hurt on the rebound", which resulted in goals to Jonathon Robran twice.

There certainly were some positives which can be taken into this weeks game against Fremantle at Subiaco. The decision to play Robert Harvey across the half back line in the second half provided an opportunity for some clever ball use out of defence. Harvey had twelve possessions in the third quarter ( following his 14 last week ), whilst Steven Baker ( 20 possessions ) performed admirably against Bomber midfielder Jason Johnson. Peter Everitt is starting to string some consistent performances together with another strong display in the ruck, pushing forward to kick 4 goals. Barry Hall was also a strong contributor with 4 goals and 11 marks across the forward line.

Although injuries to Robert Powell & Brett Moyle will rob the side of some running power, we are beginning to get a stronger side on the paddock. The addition of Hudghton & Gehrig has stabilised the back line, whilst Hamill & Hall are finding form in the front half. It is the peripheral players, the flankers & the wingers, that need to step up a level against Fremantle. Matthew Capuano will be available to return from injury, whilst several players from the Springvale team will come under consideration.

Brian Waldron
General Manager, Football Operations


St Kilda Update - week beginning Monday 28 May


NEXT GAME
AFL: Rd 12. - Fremantle v St Kilda

Saturday 16 June - 7.40pm Eastern Standard Time (Subiaco Oval)

VFL: Rd 11. - Bendigo v Springvale

Sunday 17 June - 2.10pm (QE Oval, Bendigo)


TRAINING

4pm Wednesday - Moorabbin Oval
6pm (WST) Friday - WACA
INJURIES

Nathan Burke is opting for surgery and is expected to miss the rest of the year.

Burke (knee) season

Moyle (fractured fibula) 8 weeks

Powell (hamstring) 3 weeks

Loewe (knee) 6-8 weeks

Lawrence (hamstring) 3 weeks

Jones (hamstring) 2-3 weeks

Capuano (knee) test

Traianidis (ankle) test

Riewoldt (knee) indefinite



UPCOMING EVENTS

HALO'S NEIL ROBERTS CLUB LUNCHEON

Special Guest Speaker – Malcolm Blight

When: Thursday 21 June

Where: Ballroom, Hilton Hotel

192 Wellington Parade, Melbourne

Time: 12.30pm – 2.30pm

Cost: $70 per head

$650 table of ten
(includes 2 course lunch & beverages)

For bookings, contact Cheryl Mason on 9509 4738 or at the Club with Lachlan Ford on 9559 6662.

Opposing Coaches Luncheon

When: Thursday 28 July

Where: Palladium at Crown

Time: 12.00pm Sharp

Cost: $66 per head



For bookings, contact Cris Massis on 9559 6624 or by email at crism@saints.com.au



St Kilda Membership Update


After nine rounds, St Kilda membership total: 22,189
2000 membership total: 17,800



VFL REPORT


Essendon 19. 15. 129



Springvale 15. 13. 103

Goals: Carmody 2 Davis 2 Harrison 2 Pitt 2 Robbins 2 Smith 2 Berry Schwarze Walton

Best: Harrison, Carmody, Schwarze, Trollope, Oliver



In perfect conditions at Shepley Oval in Dandenong, the Scorpions suffered their 3rd loss in the past four games to an Essendon side made up predominately from supplementary players. The Springvale side is currently struggling with their situation whereby the game plan employed by the Scorpions is often different to that of the St Kilda team. Set plays such as kickin drills & centre bounce setups are different from those of the senior St Kilda side, and it is up to the individual player to adjust their game to suit the needs of the Springvale combination. This will certainly take time to manage & will need the full support of all Springvale & St Kilda players to ensure that the side begins to play as a team for the remainder of the season.

The form of the listed St Kilda players is often hard to assess as many players have been used in an onball rotation whereby they may spend considerable time on the interchange bench throughout the game. Ben Walton, Chad Davis, Caydn Beetham, Brett Knowles & to a lesser degree Daniel Wulf all predominately played in the midfield, and had a rest at half forward. Brett Knowles and Chad Davis gathered 20 and 19 possessions respectively, but the others spent considerable time on the interchange bench & also didn't find the football when they were given their chance.

Jason Blake ( 15 poss'ns ) & Troy Schwarze ( 13 poss'n & 7 marks ) were good contributors in the key defensive posts, whilst Chris Oliver continued his good form in the ruck. He is getting his hand to the football very well in a hit out situation, but needs to learn to use his body to take more marks around the ground. Jason Cripps played his first senior Springvale game for 2001. He started on the interchange bench but came on in the 2nd quarter to the half back flank. Although he only gathered 8 possessions for the afternoon he managed to quell one of the dangerous Essendon forwards.

The Scorpions now play the winless Bendigo Diggers in Bendigo on Saturday.

Cam Roberts
Football Administration Manager


TEAM OF THE CENTURY

Refer to the attachment for a copy of the Team of The Century Print. Don't miss out on the opportunity to own a piece of

St Kilda Football Club History. The two (2) prints available are:

Team of The Century Print, personally signed by Captain & Coach, $795
Team of The Century Print, personally signed by Robert Harvey, $495
To make your order please phone Alex Crawford on 9559 6671 or by email on alexc@saints.com.au.

[Hit The Boundary Saints]

STL, thanks for the Inner Sanctum posting

I heard the last 5 minutes or so of Blight, and he definitely sounded upbeat, although you can sometimes take that with a grain of salt, as if a coach will be playing down his ability to lift the side.

I too am happy with the direction of the club, although the fact we have had to change direction less than 4 years after being in a grand final is disappointing. The fact that we can get to the lead against other sides such as Collingwood, Melb & Hawthorn means that we are not as far off as our ladder position may indicate. Unfortunately at the moment the perception (and the ladder) is that we are down with West Coast and Fremantle, which we have to cop. This will be all the worse if we lose to Fremantle this weekend, then we have no defence against this perception.

Look on the bright side, nobody will beat Essendon for the flag, so you may as well be in a rebuilding phase. The experience in 97 has left me with the philiosophy that it is all or nothing, a final eight placing without a flag is pretty hollow, and making the finals is no guarantee that it will happen again the next year.

[samm]

Thanks for your note re the inner sanctum. it gives me more of a feel of what st kilda is trying to do, and what they try do with the springvale team. I wonder whether they feel frustated about the lalack of time the players get on the field??? what do you think?

[Savatage]

The situation with Springvale is f**king outrageous.

The disturbing thing is that we currently NEED to look to the VFL to find players to cover our injuries/out of form players.

How can we replace them with players from Springvale when they're always on the bench? No doubt the fitness of players will suffer as well.

Springvale is f**king up the development of our youngsters.

Take Daniel Wulf, a bloke I am a HUGE rap for. He is not being given any kind of go at all. When he's on he does good things, but more often that not he's pulled straight off the ground. How good is this for a youngsters self confidence? or the confidence of the St.Kilda match committee?

Now the reality is, that it's halfway through the year. Wulf could be playing seniors if he was playing for the St.Kilda reserves, but the St.Kilda match committee have no idea what to do with him, who knows what happens next year? He gets delisted, without been given a chance.

Springvale can eat my shorts.

[Hit The Boundary Saints]

Just in case you hadn't seen it, there is a transcript of the Blight interview on the official club fan forum.

Very big effort by the person involved!

[karnaby]

Thanks STL

Wrapped with your optimism too

Onward & upward

[sainter]

From reading the transcript of the interview, I thought it put our disappointing season in perspective. It may be a long way away, but there is a some light at end of the seemingly never ending tunnel.

As a defender, Blighty is allowing Koschitzke to read the play and let some top-class forwards to show him to the ball. To hear that he is going to be left as a defender for the time being and then send him to CHF is exciting. The way people are talking about Nick Riewoldt, it's hard not to be excited.

On Springvale, I am 100% in agreement with Savatage.

What a farcical situation it is.

As if it is not bad enough that we have had so many injuries this year, the players that are fit and not selected in our senior side are being left on the bloody bench, in some cases for the majority of the match.

In the Inner Saintum news (Thanks again STL), Cam Roberts politely refered to the situation as being because of the onball rotation. I call it a load of crap.

I will not be attending any Springvale games at all until our youngsters and out of form players are given every opportunity to prove themselves.

[StrengthThroughLoyalty]

Originally posted by Savatage
The situation with Springvale is f**king outrageous.

The disturbing thing is that we currently NEED to look to the VFL to find players to cover our injuries/out of form players.

How can we replace them with players from Springvale when they're always on the bench? No doubt the fitness of players will suffer as well.

Springvale is f**king up the development of our youngsters.


spot on savatage, i was prepared to see how the springvale alliance would work out over a period of time and after 1/2 a season the system seems flawed. the philosophy at springvale as a club would be to win vfl games which is all well and good for them, but the only reason we need a seconds team is to develop afl footballers, regardless of team success. how can a player down on form regain any confidence sitting on the bench? how does a player who has been sitting on the bench for long periods of time in the seniors get a decent 4 quarter hit out in the 2's if he's on the bench in the 2's? how does a player returning from injury regain form if he's sitting on the bench in the 2's?

it seems the saints players are being treated as 2nd class citizens by springvale simply because they are not permanent members of the team. we must assert ourselves as the dominant partner in this alliance and demand that the saints players are the first priority and winning vfl games is just a bonus. hopefully we will be putting in our own people in the coaching and administration of the scorpions to address these problems. what cocessions have they made anyway they don't even wear our jumpers when playing at moorabbin. :mad:

[Savatage]

Spot on mate.

You know the sad part?

Let's say you have a player dreadfully out of form (ala McKernan this year), normally you would drop them to the 2nds so they can regain confidence & get more ground time. In our situation it would be easier leaving them to get flogged in the seniors, because at least they'll get a run at some stage.

Springvale haven't compromised anything, they don't seem to realise that it's potential supporters (ie us) that they're going to loose by f**king our club around. I'm glad I didn't buy the Springvale membership offered to me this year, and I hope a lot of St.Kilda supporters also told them to get stuffed. Morons.

[Vaul Darkhour]

It's hard to figure out what exactly is going on here and it would be good to find out... what I want to know is whether or not some senior players are going to the VFL next week?... And if they would get a run...