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sainter
11 Aug 2001, 19:07
The boys definitely made me proud today.

Unfortunately I knew at quarter time that we wouldn't win. When you have a good side like Port on the ropes, you really just have to bury them. If the 3 goals 8 could have been 8 goals 3, we would have been a big show to win.

The umpring was disgraceful (including the boundary umpires). I think we had 6 free kicks up until three quarter time. And that's not to mention the soft frees given against us that resulted in goals when we had the momentum. Having said that, we knew that the obligatory last quarter "even up the free kick count rule" meant that we would get a few soft frees late in the game.

Brett Moyle in his first game back from a broken leg was excellent, I liked Milney's game again, Beetham continued to impress, Blake played his best game for the year (good to see Thomas is giving him a chance), Callaghan is a little champ, Gehrig beat Tredrea in the second half, Aussie's game reminded me of 97, Thommo was inspirational, Traianidis must be kept on the list at the end of the year and Knowles deserves more of a chance. I felt a little sorry for Kosi, Cornes gave him a bit of a bath but he is continuing to learn the game.

That's comprehensive enough. ;)

When you add Harvey, Burke, Hayes and Powell to the midfield, Hall, Loewe and Riewoldt to the forward line and Lawrence down back, our list isn't too bad. (The 8 or so players to be given the axe at the end of the season is not too hard to work out either)

To put in such an effort but still be 5 goals down at three quarter time, I did think that we would have been blown out of the water in the last. But the guys not only hung in there but took it right up to a very good football team. Disappointingly it was a couple of skill errors at crucial times that cost us dearly. The effort was definitely there today and I was proud of them.

I've been away from big footy all week and won't bother replying to any of the innuendo floating round about our club from now on. I will say though, that Nathan Burke when interviewed on MMM covered my thoughts exactly. He said he has grown to become very cynical about the media over the past few weeks and that sports reporting has gone from reporting facts to mostly opinion pieces based on pure speculation. And sadly, many of our supporters have taken the opinions of these journalists as fact. I won't be believing anything I read and I hope some of our supporters stop believing everything they read and take is as gospel.

With what our club has gone through over the past 100 years, we aren't going anywhere. The St Kilda spirit is alive and well. After the events of the past few years, we WILL become a force in the AFL and those of us that have stuck around will enjoy the time like no other.

Mouldy Oldie
12 Aug 2001, 08:50
A top effort from a depleted side with injuries and a lot of internal turmoil. It appeared that some of the basics skills left a lot to be desired, but full marks for guts & determination. Can't agree on the umpiring, it looked mediocre on both sides. As a TV viewer though with the benefit of multi camera angles & replays, we can pick the S**t out of the umpires. Never been one, never wanted to be one. Has to be the toughest job in the game. Even good umpires who are consistent cop a hard time from everyone, because of the constant scrutiny by commentators & other officals. I doubt there is an umpire inexistence that is liked or respected to any degree.

karnaby
14 Aug 2001, 01:44
I've been away from big footy all week and won't bother replying to any of the innuendo floating round about our club from now on. I will say though, that Nathan Burke when interviewed on MMM covered my thoughts exactly. He said he has grown to become very cynical about the media over the past few weeks and that sports reporting has gone from reporting facts to mostly opinion pieces based on pure speculation. And sadly, many of our supporters have taken the opinions of these journalists as fact. I won't be believing anything I read and I hope some of our supporters stop believing everything they read and take is as gospel.
With what our club has gone through over the past 100 years, we aren't going anywhere. The St Kilda spirit is alive and well. After the events of the past few years, we WILL become a force in the AFL and those of us that have stuck around will enjoy the time like no other.

I've got to agree Sainter.

We've certainly been in the spotlight over the last couple of weeks. Frankly when it's coming in from all sides there doesn't seem to be much option to pulling the head in & relying on faith, fortunately the faith is in good supply :D

I find it interesting that there are a few dropkicks around who are only too keen to dig the boots in while they have an opportunity. I've got my own back on the professional antagonists by not buying their product, this has been a win - win for me, I can register a protest & at the same time I increase my own quality of life by getting my head out of a paper & into other things. As far as I can tell the best way to deal with the amateur dropkicks is to completely ignore them, how many times is Fred Forkwit going to keep writing crap if nobody ever responds? It seems our existence is enough to upset some people, if that's the case then we'll continue to irritate these sods for the rest of their miserable lives just by our very existence, now thats an enjoyable thought.

Went to the debacle against the weagles but it only took a short while to realise that the best view of the game would be achieved thru the bottom of a glass. I was right!

The draw for the remainder of the season looks interesting, we should only require a tiny bit of luck to knock off all three finals contenders, of course I would only get a little bit of pleasure out of upsetting other teams plans ;) Then if that doesn't quite go to plan we'll just have to put up with the onerous task of determining who to select with that priority draft pick :D

Vaul Darkhour
14 Aug 2001, 19:29
To tell you the truth I was pretty dissapointed with St Kilda's display... We really had that game under wraps all match and should have won.. More possessions, shots at goal, etc.. but we choked again.. BUT I loved the final quarter fight back and hopefully it should give the boys a sense of confidence to fight it all the way to the end (of each quarter :)

I actually thought the umpiring was pretty fair to tell you the truth (I was there) with the exception of some early port letoffs for holding the ball.. *gag*

I'll just be satisfied in ending the season with a couple of wins and some more trading :)

sainter
16 Aug 2001, 18:37
:D

Well said Karnaby!

We definitely have an unlimited supply of faith. Can you imagine being a saints fan without it? ;)

I'm ignoring any opinion pieces from the usual suspects from now on. As for not buying their products, I don't anyway - thanks internet. :D

A couple of wins or a couple of top 5 draft picks......some good will come out of this season.

Vaul, I can't remember any specific instances of bad umpiring but I just remember being angry at the time.

The way we played, we really should have won the match. I just loved the spirit shown by the guys. Apart from the eagles blowout (sorry Karnaby ;)), the players have shown a lot more enthusiasm of late. Let's hope we can carry it into next year.