Kildonan
20 May 2006, 15:10
Saints give Thomas big tick (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19192884-2722,00.html)
The Australian
Chip Le Grand
May 20, 2006
IF Grant Thomas sounds paranoid, it is only because everyone is out to get him.
When St Kilda wins, it is because the Saints are the most talented team. When it loses, it is because Thomas is a tactical troglodyte. It isn't fair but it has ever been thus. Little wonder then, that Thomas this week politely declined interview requests.
The St Kilda board is standing by its coach, who is contracted until the end of next season. "I am in no doubt that Grant is the right man to take us forward, as he has done in the past," president Rod Butterss said.
But after nearly five seasons spent swimming upstream, Thomas and his Saints have reached difficult waters.
As always, injuries tell part of the story. Neither Aaron Hamill nor Justin Koschitzke will play for the next two months and the Clarke brothers, Xavier and Raphael, have shown a disposition towards soft-tissue injuries.
"Anyone who said to me that Grant had an over-abundance of talent, I would suggest they look in the grandstand and they will see that over-abundance of talent sitting there," Butterss said.
Beyond this familiar tale of torn muscles and fractured bones, however, St Kilda can no longer ignore broader questions about Thomas's coaching.
He is the only coach who refuses to flood and one of the few who does not share Mick Malthouse's belief in a premiership clock. He believes football has not changed dramatically since Brisbane was the best team in the land and that the best way to win is still to move the ball fast and long to high-marking forwards.
In a new era of possession and tempo control, St Kilda is perhaps the last true believer of power football.
The evolution and direction of the game is an evocative debate and traditionalists will hope Thomas is right. When the St Kilda midfield is on its game and Fraser Gehrig, Koschitzke and Nick Riewoldt are ruling the skies, there are few greater spectacles in football.
But what if the Brisbane model is out of date and Thomas, like so many generals, has prepared for the last war? Is the St Kilda game plan already redundant in a fast changing game?
Nathan Burke, a 300-game player for St Kilda and an assistant coach to Thomas for two seasons, explained the fundamentals of the Thomas approach.
"He doesn't believe flooding can be effective in finals," Burke said. "You will very rarely, if ever, see the Saints flood. There is no direction for the onballers to play behind the ball. It is get the ball, move it accurately and quickly to key forwards capable of taking a mark on a lead or a pack mark or bringing the ball to ground.
"It is not the total Brisbane plan; Brisbane probably kicked the ball longer than the Saints do ... I don't think the Saints have had that consistency of key forwards yet. But with a full list of forwards, they will back themselves to win the ball on the ground.
"I am pretty sure Grant's way of thinking would be it is too early to say the Sydney way of going about things is the new face of football and everyone has to adopt that."
In the precision versus power debate, Burke sides with his old coach. "I personally believe that the way the Saints play, given the right circumstances and a full list, they will beat Sydney easily," he said.
"Once that side clicks into gear and gets things going, it is going to take a real good side to stop them. I can't see them coming up against anyone in September they can't beat."
This is also the view of Butterss and the board. "I am very cautious about issues like tactics and game plans," Butterss said.
"Probably the three most successful fellows in terms of the development of tactics and game plan over the last 20 years have been (Kevin) Sheedy, (Leigh) Matthews and (Denis) Pagan.
"It is just 10 days ago that Grant coached against the Western Bulldogs. They were the form side and the crack team and we were able to dismantle that. Everyone raves about Neil Craig's tactical approach but when it mattered under the pressure of finals football last year, we were successful against Adelaide."
Thomas has shown himself to be an effective motivator, a good list manager and, by any reasonable measure, his win-loss record over the pat two years is exceptional. At 3-4 this season, a win against Carlton tomorrow will equal St Kilda's start to 2005. On these numbers, the club is hardly in crisis. But there is one glaring flaw in Butterss' argument.
Sheedy, Pagan and Matthews are all premiership coaches but this year they are coaching three of the worst performed teams in the league. All three can reasonably claim to be victims of the football cycle. But it can never be known whether Brisbane's 2002 team would win a premiership in today's AFL playing the same game as they did four years ago.
The Lions once were kings of power football but even Matthews has conceded games are no longer won that way.
St Kilda kicked more goals than any other team last year. It took the most marks inside 50m and was the most efficient at turning forward moves into goals. It is now an average side by these measures.
The Saints are winning less of the ball than their opponents and have a scoring efficiency below Essendon and Carlton. They are beaten every week in the ruck and have slipped from being one of the competition's best clearance teams to 13th overall. Is it because they are not playing well, or playing the wrong game?
According to Butterss, any talk of a window of opportunity closing around the Saints is bunk. Where other clubs watch the clock, Butterss talks about a funnel; an application of a sales and marketing theory in which raw recruits are "processed" into elite players over three or four years.
"That is an [ad] infinitum approach," Butterss said. "If you get your clock wrong and you miss it, you are dead. We take a long-term approach and have faith in taking later picks and grow them into elite performers."
That's the theory. In practice, the clock is very much ticking on Thomas. That much in football has not changed.
The Australian
Chip Le Grand
May 20, 2006
IF Grant Thomas sounds paranoid, it is only because everyone is out to get him.
When St Kilda wins, it is because the Saints are the most talented team. When it loses, it is because Thomas is a tactical troglodyte. It isn't fair but it has ever been thus. Little wonder then, that Thomas this week politely declined interview requests.
The St Kilda board is standing by its coach, who is contracted until the end of next season. "I am in no doubt that Grant is the right man to take us forward, as he has done in the past," president Rod Butterss said.
But after nearly five seasons spent swimming upstream, Thomas and his Saints have reached difficult waters.
As always, injuries tell part of the story. Neither Aaron Hamill nor Justin Koschitzke will play for the next two months and the Clarke brothers, Xavier and Raphael, have shown a disposition towards soft-tissue injuries.
"Anyone who said to me that Grant had an over-abundance of talent, I would suggest they look in the grandstand and they will see that over-abundance of talent sitting there," Butterss said.
Beyond this familiar tale of torn muscles and fractured bones, however, St Kilda can no longer ignore broader questions about Thomas's coaching.
He is the only coach who refuses to flood and one of the few who does not share Mick Malthouse's belief in a premiership clock. He believes football has not changed dramatically since Brisbane was the best team in the land and that the best way to win is still to move the ball fast and long to high-marking forwards.
In a new era of possession and tempo control, St Kilda is perhaps the last true believer of power football.
The evolution and direction of the game is an evocative debate and traditionalists will hope Thomas is right. When the St Kilda midfield is on its game and Fraser Gehrig, Koschitzke and Nick Riewoldt are ruling the skies, there are few greater spectacles in football.
But what if the Brisbane model is out of date and Thomas, like so many generals, has prepared for the last war? Is the St Kilda game plan already redundant in a fast changing game?
Nathan Burke, a 300-game player for St Kilda and an assistant coach to Thomas for two seasons, explained the fundamentals of the Thomas approach.
"He doesn't believe flooding can be effective in finals," Burke said. "You will very rarely, if ever, see the Saints flood. There is no direction for the onballers to play behind the ball. It is get the ball, move it accurately and quickly to key forwards capable of taking a mark on a lead or a pack mark or bringing the ball to ground.
"It is not the total Brisbane plan; Brisbane probably kicked the ball longer than the Saints do ... I don't think the Saints have had that consistency of key forwards yet. But with a full list of forwards, they will back themselves to win the ball on the ground.
"I am pretty sure Grant's way of thinking would be it is too early to say the Sydney way of going about things is the new face of football and everyone has to adopt that."
In the precision versus power debate, Burke sides with his old coach. "I personally believe that the way the Saints play, given the right circumstances and a full list, they will beat Sydney easily," he said.
"Once that side clicks into gear and gets things going, it is going to take a real good side to stop them. I can't see them coming up against anyone in September they can't beat."
This is also the view of Butterss and the board. "I am very cautious about issues like tactics and game plans," Butterss said.
"Probably the three most successful fellows in terms of the development of tactics and game plan over the last 20 years have been (Kevin) Sheedy, (Leigh) Matthews and (Denis) Pagan.
"It is just 10 days ago that Grant coached against the Western Bulldogs. They were the form side and the crack team and we were able to dismantle that. Everyone raves about Neil Craig's tactical approach but when it mattered under the pressure of finals football last year, we were successful against Adelaide."
Thomas has shown himself to be an effective motivator, a good list manager and, by any reasonable measure, his win-loss record over the pat two years is exceptional. At 3-4 this season, a win against Carlton tomorrow will equal St Kilda's start to 2005. On these numbers, the club is hardly in crisis. But there is one glaring flaw in Butterss' argument.
Sheedy, Pagan and Matthews are all premiership coaches but this year they are coaching three of the worst performed teams in the league. All three can reasonably claim to be victims of the football cycle. But it can never be known whether Brisbane's 2002 team would win a premiership in today's AFL playing the same game as they did four years ago.
The Lions once were kings of power football but even Matthews has conceded games are no longer won that way.
St Kilda kicked more goals than any other team last year. It took the most marks inside 50m and was the most efficient at turning forward moves into goals. It is now an average side by these measures.
The Saints are winning less of the ball than their opponents and have a scoring efficiency below Essendon and Carlton. They are beaten every week in the ruck and have slipped from being one of the competition's best clearance teams to 13th overall. Is it because they are not playing well, or playing the wrong game?
According to Butterss, any talk of a window of opportunity closing around the Saints is bunk. Where other clubs watch the clock, Butterss talks about a funnel; an application of a sales and marketing theory in which raw recruits are "processed" into elite players over three or four years.
"That is an [ad] infinitum approach," Butterss said. "If you get your clock wrong and you miss it, you are dead. We take a long-term approach and have faith in taking later picks and grow them into elite performers."
That's the theory. In practice, the clock is very much ticking on Thomas. That much in football has not changed.