Saints as a serious premiership threat

[Juggalo Balla]

I have really started to give this thought after we got up over a strong Kangaroos last round. Did it without Hayes too :eek:

I think we can do it. We have been competitive against the Pies and Cats and I rate them as the 2 best.

I don't think we really cared against the Dogs with their running style. We have them an almighty whollip in the opening quarter the first time around so I can't be too worried about them. When we are ready to play 4 quarters we will wipe them off the turf.

Now the form I'm going to be looking at is the Round 4 game against the Cats. We already beat them in the NAB Cup but they had Bartel and Ablett rested so still a bit iffy.

4.7 7.8 10.11 13.16 94

4.0 10.6 17.9 21.10

What's with all the waste in the first quarter? Come on guys you gotta get the ball between the big sticks. Fair enough 3 rushed ones but that indicates we can put the pressure on.

We then let them kick 3 in 5 minutes before Kozzie levels the score at 43 all. I can remember still being hopeful at this point. :o

The score at half time was not too bad and we got a goal from the G-train at the start of the 3rd quarter.

The Cats then went and kicked 6 goals in 10 minutes and the Saints did nothing.

3-4 goals per quarter is not going to cut it :thumbsd:

Where is our scoring power? I hope we get better infront of goal.

Getting the team to perform has been like getting blood from a stone. I think with Lyon calling them all soft and dropping key players might have done the trick for now but still more needs to be done.

I would love to see us win the night/day double. :p

Can we do it for Harves? :D

[Otiman]

Not a realistic chance, but there is always hope!

[seanoff]

NO


Whatever you are smoking, please give it away.

If Geelong decide to be serious about it (see Adelaide last week) then anything inside Geelong by 100 points would be a good result.

Not enuff run to get the Bulldogs, and Hawthorn at full power are just a little too complete esp up forward and through the mid field.

Then there's Adelaide, Sydney, Carlton, North all at the same level.

St Kilda might make the 8. anything after that is a bonus.

[Squizzy1970]

Great sentiments, but the North game again highlighted real problems. Quarters where we scored two goals or less:
Syd 3
Carl 1
WB 2
Geel -
Ess 1
Port 2
Rich -
Coll 1
Bris 2
Melb 1 (despite thrashing them)
WB 2
Syd 3 (notice the theme?)
Freo 2
North 2

If we were going to do it for Harvs, we would have shown more already - particularly the Collingwood game where Harvs and Gardi were on fire in the last quarter and the others had shut up shop for the night.

[Juggalo Balla]

This is not the kind of negative responses I was looking for.

This is more a why we can win thread, not a why we can lose thread like all the others.

I want to look at the other side.

What was wrong with our win over Geelong in the NAB Cup? Corey got 35 touches and Ling and Selwood worked hard. We held our own and we are improving.

I think we can win. Go support another club if you don't.

[Kildonan]

People don't want to get their hopes up just yet (as they have been let down far too often) so the conservative "I'll wait and reassess after a few more games" approach is the most likely one here.

Mind you, if we can't believe that our team can win - how can we expect our players to ?

Alright, a keeping a lid on it approach with secret confidence might be the way to go :)

[Juggalo Balla]

Ok that sounds good enough for me.

I'll put the lid back on. We can win but Lyon is going to have to push this group to their maximum potential. It really is blind faith at the moment.

[SaintsSeptember]

I got very depressed watching Cats vs Crows. I kept thinking that the Crows really were not playing badly, about as good as the Saints on a good week. The Cats were just awsome.

[beejay]

i think the youngsters have to keep getting game time because its not a coincidence that we were winning in nab cup and recently because both times the youngsters have been playing - i feel like they provide the enthusiasm and spark we need. Now you can go ahead and say oh it was the nab cup or it was against freo and north etc but before last 2 wins we looked flat and werent interested but rossy gave them a rev up and threw in theyoungsters and i think it has worked. Unfortuatenly i think those top 3 are quite a bit ahead of the comp atm but i think we could push the doggies and hawks on our day. The rest of the 8 i think are fair game in a way it all just depends on form and injuries.

I have at times gone off at RL due to game plan/style etc but i just think back to 2nd half of last yr - it all clicked and the players understood the gameplan perfectly and executed it and hence we saw plenty of wins so rather then stay negative for the 2nd half like i was the 1st half of this yr im going to look at the positives and what needs to improve. I think we are a bit off challenging at the moment but the whole rebuilding issue is nonsense we still have riewoldt/hayes/ball/kozi/gardiner/king/schenider etc and if we can pick up some good youngsters and stay injury free think we can push into the finals this yr and def look to improve past the first round of finals as well. Just need to win games like this fri v carlton! good luck boys!

[Squizzy1970]

People don't want to get their hopes up just yet (as they have been let down far too often) so the conservative "I'll wait and reassess after a few more games" approach is the most likely one here.

Mind you, if we can't believe that our team can win - how can we expect our players to ?

Alright, a keeping a lid on it approach with secret confidence might be the way to go :)

Aaahhh .... nice work Kildonan, nice work.

[Shangalang]

I have really started to give this thought after we got up over a strong Kangaroos last round. Did it without Hayes too :eek:

I think we can do it. We have been competitive against the Pies and Cats and I rate them as the 2 best.

I don't think we really cared against the Dogs with their running style. We have them an almighty whollip in the opening quarter the first time around so I can't be too worried about them. When we are ready to play 4 quarters we will wipe them off the turf.

Now the form I'm going to be looking at is the Round 4 game against the Cats. We already beat them in the NAB Cup but they had Bartel and Ablett rested so still a bit iffy.

4.7 7.8 10.11 13.16 94

4.0 10.6 17.9 21.10

What's with all the waste in the first quarter? Come on guys you gotta get the ball between the big sticks. Fair enough 3 rushed ones but that indicates we can put the pressure on.

We then let them kick 3 in 5 minutes before Kozzie levels the score at 43 all. I can remember still being hopeful at this point. :o

The score at half time was not too bad and we got a goal from the G-train at the start of the 3rd quarter.

The Cats then went and kicked 6 goals in 10 minutes and the Saints did nothing.

3-4 goals per quarter is not going to cut it :thumbsd:

Where is our scoring power? I hope we get better infront of goal.

Getting the team to perform has been like getting blood from a stone. I think with Lyon calling them all soft and dropping key players might have done the trick for now but still more needs to be done.

I would love to see us win the night/day double. :p

Can we do it for Harves? :D

Wake up to yourself you goat - St.Kilda beat an extremely understrength Kangaroos... It is a fact that St.Kilda play the most uninspiring and unattractive brand of football in the AFL... It must be painful to watch them as a supporter sometimes - eventhe players don't seemto enjoy playing.....

St.Kilda a serious premeriship threat LOL...
I would be more worried about trying to scrape ionto the 8, the Saints premiership window with tis group is slammed shut.. It is a shame that a true Cahmpion and gentleman such as Harvey will not get a chance toplay ina flag - what is ore dissapointng is the fat despite being 65 he has had to carry younger teamamtes this year....

Blues will get the points Friday night, just hope R Lyons coaching doesn't ruin the specatcle for all - Why doesn't he justl et the boys play and showcase their talent the Saints have plenty off it but are forced to dish up rubbish that doesn't do AFL footabll justice.......

[Juggalo Balla]

Yeah we must be a rubbish team. Only beaten Carlton in every game since 2001.

[TassieSaint]

Wins against the Kangaroos and Nab Cup Geelong mean nothing. We are miles off the top 3 clubs (Cats, Dogs, Hawks) and almost certainly won't have any impact on the finals (other than maybe knocking Collingwood out thus securing Geelong the cup)

That said, of course we'll win the premiership :p I can see it now, 11 straight wins to finish off the season. Riewoldt will beat his pb and kick 10 against Carlton in a 300 point thrashing that causes the AFL to deregister them, promising to replace them with a Tasmanian team, Hudghton will keep Buddy kickless and send him spiraling in to depression and drug abuse, Bakes will return against the Pies and show Dale and Pendles for the soft bastards they are whilst Kosi kicks 19 on Nick Maxwell, Harves will exact revenge on Adelaide by kicking 19 goals on that old hack McLeod (not to mention decking Darren Jarman and Shane Ellen for old times sake in the pub after the match), Lenny will hip and shoulder that little shit Riemers right in the face and gather 64 touches as we smash the Bombers in round 22 thus securing a top 4 spot ahead of Sydney (much to Demetriou's horror).

We'll cruise into a into the GF before running into a hurdle against the 'invincible' Cats. With 5 seconds to go Geelong are 1 point ahead with the ball in their forward pocket before the mercurial Rob Harvey gathers the ball, goes out of his way to baulk all 22 Geelong players and Bomber Thompson before torping from 90 to seal the premiership for the Saints. The next day I win the lottery and run into an extremely 'friendly' Scarlett Johansen at the pub whilst elsewhere Andrew Demetriou, Adrian Anderson, Ray Chamberlain, Robert Mugabe, Souljia Boi, Kyle Sandilands and the entire Indian Cricket team (minus VVS Laxman) die in the same inexplicable plane crash.

[SaintsSeptember]

Wake up to yourself you goat - St.Kilda beat an extremely understrength Kangaroos... It is a fact that St.Kilda play the most uninspiring and unattractive brand of football in the AFL... It must be painful to watch them as a supporter sometimes - eventhe players don't seemto enjoy playing.....

St.Kilda a serious premeriship threat LOL...
I would be more worried about trying to scrape ionto the 8, the Saints premiership window with tis group is slammed shut.. It is a shame that a true Cahmpion and gentleman such as Harvey will not get a chance toplay ina flag - what is ore dissapointng is the fat despite being 65 he has had to carry younger teamamtes this year....

Blues will get the points Friday night, just hope R Lyons coaching doesn't ruin the specatcle for all - Why doesn't he justl et the boys play and showcase their talent the Saints have plenty off it but are forced to dish up rubbish that doesn't do AFL footabll justice.......

Blues have the most unispiring and unattractive supporters in the AFL.
Saints will be there in September. Helping us get there will be the easy defeat of the Blues.

[St Specky]

To be honest, premiership is out of the question until we really hit form. At the current time, I reckon we can sneak into the eight and maybe knock a decent side or two off. I would just like to become a side who other teams would prefer not to play in the finals. Much like we're shitting ourselves that we may have to play Brisbane up there.

[biscay]

2 old sayings-Got to be in it to win it--Finals are funny games.Love your optimism

[Kildonan]

Wake up to yourself you goat - St.Kilda beat an extremely understrength Kangaroos... It is a fact that St.Kilda play the most uninspiring and unattractive brand of football in the AFL... It must be painful to watch them as a supporter sometimes - eventhe players don't seemto enjoy playing.....

St.Kilda a serious premeriship threat LOL...
I would be more worried about trying to scrape ionto the 8, the Saints premiership window with tis group is slammed shut.. It is a shame that a true Cahmpion and gentleman such as Harvey will not get a chance toplay ina flag - what is ore dissapointng is the fat despite being 65 he has had to carry younger teamamtes this year....

Blues will get the points Friday night, just hope R Lyons coaching doesn't ruin the specatcle for all - Why doesn't he justl et the boys play and showcase their talent the Saints have plenty off it but are forced to dish up rubbish that doesn't do AFL footabll justice.......

Your one-handed typing is getting better.

[ChrisFooty]

I would just be very happy for St.kilda to play finals.

[kitchendweller]

This time Friday night I will be saying one of two things . . . .

1> We're stuffed , ge rid of RL

2> Bugger it, we'll give these finals a shake!

Really, really, really can't wait for it to be 2!:D

[Joffa 5]

That said, of course we'll win the premiership :p I can see it now, 11 straight wins to finish off the season. Riewoldt will beat his pb and kick 10 against Carlton in a 300 point thrashing that causes the AFL to deregister them, promising to replace them with a Tasmanian team, Hudghton will keep Buddy kickless and send him spiraling in to depression and drug abuse, Bakes will return against the Pies and show Dale and Pendles for the soft bastards they are whilst Kosi kicks 19 on Nick Maxwell, Harves will exact revenge on Adelaide by kicking 19 goals on that old hack McLeod (not to mention decking Darren Jarman and Shane Ellen for old times sake in the pub after the match), Lenny will hip and shoulder that little shit Riemers right in the face and gather 64 touches as we smash the Bombers in round 22 thus securing a top 4 spot ahead of Sydney (much to Demetriou's horror).

We'll cruise into a into the GF before running into a hurdle against the 'invincible' Cats. With 5 seconds to go Geelong are 1 point ahead with the ball in their forward pocket before the mercurial Rob Harvey gathers the ball, goes out of his way to baulk all 22 Geelong players and Bomber Thompson before torping from 90 to seal the premiership for the Saints. The next day I win the lottery and run into an extremely 'friendly' Scarlett Johansen at the pub whilst elsewhere Andrew Demetriou, Adrian Anderson, Ray Chamberlain, Robert Mugabe, Souljia Boi, Kyle Sandilands and the entire Indian Cricket team (minus VVS Laxman) die in the same inexplicable plane crash.

Love it! This is entirley plausible :thumbsu: Well except the Scarlett Johansen part of course :D

[Axcellence]

Premiership threat just before playing carlton / richmond / essendon / fremantle / north melbourne .

Premiership pretender just after playing geelong / port adelaide / western bulldogs / brisbane lions / sydney.

Also, a premiership threat coz lost to collingwood by 11 points only.

The gall of some people....

[Squizzy1970]

One thing I've liked about St. Kilda supporters is that most of us are realists - particularly those who followed the team thru the 80s!

Yeah we sook and whinge a bit, and get a little tragic at times, but no-one has the right to demand that we all get out our rose-coloureds. Some supporters of other teams (particularly Essendon & Carlton fans) get a serious case of the South Park "smugs" :D - I laugh when I think of that episode - whenever they beat another team. It's just pathetic.

If the players reckon that they are good enough, and we turn up to watch and support, then they could care less what we say on the blogs (except unnecessarily personal snipes).

[NeXus_Helen]

Ok that sounds good enough for me.

I'll put the lid back on. We can win but Lyon is going to have to push this group to their maximum potential. It really is blind faith at the moment.
It's not blind faith it's ROSE-COLOURED-GLASSES. This is why St kilda are histrically the worst team in the AFL/VFL by a country mile and it is because of people like you Juggalo Balla. People like you have destroyed our club. St kilda will always be down trodden while we have supporters like you.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Squizzy1970]

You'll notice I did say most of us :D

[Sir Robert]

Not agreeing with the half-wit, but unless we win all bar maybe one of our remaining games (must beat Hawks and Pies) then I say no. Last year and this year have shown that we struggle with the competition front runners... Beating none of them except an understrength West Coast if my memory serves me correctly.

[HoldenMCaulfield]

you'll Notice I Did Say Most Of Us :d

rose coloured glasses, wouldn't you think ?

[Look2Me4Guidance]

It's not blind faith it's ROSE-COLOURED-GLASSES. This is why St kilda are histrically the worst team in the AFL/VFL by a country mile and it is because of people like you Juggalo Balla. People like you have destroyed our club. St kilda will always be down trodden while we have supporters like you.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I thought you said Rod Butterss destroyed our club.

[Juggalo Balla]

Now I'm the immediate target of Nexus_Helen?

I feel warm and fuzzy now.

I love my club without expectation. My bad.

[Armitage2Riewoldt]

I don't think I can better what Tassie said.

*golf claps*

[Signd Sealed Saint]

Love ya tassie saint, we love a little opticism. even its just a smidge too optimistic :P
Anyway Saints are a very outside chance imo, our main problem is the lack of depth in the midfield. This problem can be solved i think, Gram is capable of being a fast goal kicking midfielder as shown last night. Goddard is a gorgeous kick and is a tough player. These guys are being wasted in the backline and would do wonders for the midfield. The likes of Dal and Montagna need to get in and under more and win the hard ball. This is another area where we are lacking, but this can be turned around like the Dogs have done.
Also i think a decent lead up forward would be nice since riewoldt often gets the ball up the ground and needs to kick to himself in that situation which is obviously impossible. Kosi if he remains injury free could solve the problem leaving riewoldt to roam like Richo while he stays deep, but if Ross Lyon decides to play him as second stringer ruck and leaves Gardiner out of the side a good lead up forward would be handy so riewoldt can play deep and be a match winning forward. So I dont think we'll win the flag but we're a dangerous team at our best. Hopefully we some September action, that should be the No.1 priority on the list of things to do.

[ChrisFooty]

Hopefully if St.kilda keep winning it will keep Nexus away.

[wheels4]

It's not blind faith it's ROSE-COLOURED-GLASSES. This is why St kilda are histrically the worst team in the AFL/VFL by a country mile and it is because of people like you Juggalo Balla. People like you have destroyed our club. St kilda will always be down trodden while we have supporters like you.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:eek::eek::eek::eek:
weren't u the one that said trade hayes for any draft pick under 25
and trade rob harvey or retire him
your a f*****n hypocrite u dog

[pete_21]

Blues will get the points Friday night
Interesting...I swear we romped it home...Maybe our boring brand of footy sent me to sleep, and I dreamt we kicked yo ass...

[Juggalo Balla]

I've $51 the flag. That should be coming down now.

Judd got 30 touches and could not stop us.

What a machine. Still not gonna beat Cats if they win by 70+ every week.

[Persevering Saint]

Ah, but it doesn't matter if they win by 700 every week, if they only lose by 1 in that great September day... to US!

I know, I know... dreaming... fleuro-fucia glasses... yes, yes...

[Pred_ator]

Interesting...I swear we romped it home...Maybe our boring brand of footy sent me to sleep, and I dreamt we kicked yo ass...


Sent me to sleep, Lyon is a dud.:D

[Signd Sealed Saint]

Ross Lyon is a fantastic coach with a great game plan. Give him time

[makemytime]

Hawthorn game is the time to test how far we've come. GOING TO THE GAME!

[subanwallan]

Sent me to sleep, Lyon is a dud.:D
soo kicking 119 isnt exciting last time i checked we played attacking and we beat ur ass yer we play lil patches of that defense crap but we still won

[stfan]

We will know where we stand after the Hawks match.

Not necissarily whether we win or not....but how competitive we are.

To be a threat in the finals we need to defeat at least either the Hawks or the Pies, otherwise we will only be making up the numbers and will not bea serious threat.

[beejay]

well id still prefer us makingnumbers then not making it at all like last yr cos theres always a chance! Im actually quite surprised we could actually realistically win 13 games which i feel is a good season tally. A win over hawks will be huge and release some pressure on the easy games but we need to be competitive and continue our form. Really looking forward to see how it pans out but unfortuatnely because i live in perth i have to watch the stupid eagles play brisbane on the tv how scintilating lol.

[BigManFromMiniTown]

we are hitting some form, our big guys, rewolt, kossy, kingy are playing great, the midfield especially lenny are htting their straps and our young guys jones, mcqualter, eddy are all showing great prmoise... lets not get ahead of ourselves yet.. but signs are good if not this year maybe next if we can keep it up.

[Signd Sealed Saint]

Aren't we moving a bit too quickly? We're still scrapping for a spot in the 8, maybe if we beat Hawthorn then the lid can go off :P but for now we're still top 8 contenders.

[tim_saints]

Aren't we moving a bit too quickly? We're still scrapping for a spot in the 8, maybe if we beat Hawthorn then the lid can go off :P but for now we're still top 8 contenders.
agreed if we can beat hawthorn i think that our confidene wil be sky high but to beat the hawks it needs to a b a team effort similar to carlton last week :thumbsu:

[bubblegoose]

agreed if we can beat hawthorn i think that our confidene wil be sky high but to beat the hawks it needs to a b a team effort similar to carlton last week :thumbsu:

Agree Timyyyyyyyy, but needs to be for 4 quarters

[dg102]

I cant see us contending for a GF this year. But I also think that Lyon should and most likely will stay at the club for the next 3 years. Coaches take time to make a team successful. Lyon is making a solid defensive side out of us. You never know whats around the corner.

[Red Gum]

It's not blind faith it's ROSE-COLOURED-GLASSES. This is why St kilda are histrically the worst team in the AFL/VFL by a country mile and it is because of people like you Juggalo Balla. People like you have destroyed our club. St kilda will always be down trodden while we have supporters like you.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Historically or Hysterically?

That country mile can't be too far:
- Dogs haven't won a premiership since 54. We've got 12 years on them.
- Fremantle have never been in a grandfinal (granted much less time in the comp.)
- Saints are ahead of most in the past 5 years at least.

JuggaloBalla is wrong. We are not a serious premiership threat. Realistically only three teams are and two of those are probably pretty slim (we'll find out in the next 2 weeks), but that doesn't mean we can't have optimism.
I saw my other team (Liverpool) down by 3 goals at half-time in a ChampionsLeague final against AC Milan. They won. Sport makes strange things happen.

For NeXus to suggest that fans who want their club to do well and are optimistic have destroyed the club is insulting and irrational.:confused:
To claim within the space of a paragraph that StKilda are the worst team in the league by a country mile, and that we'll always be down-trodden if we hope for success, while claiming JuggaBalla is at fault and she's the true supporter is moronic and hypocritical.:mad:

I should ignore you Helen, but I do hate your posts so very much!:cool:

[Signd Sealed Saint]

Personally i think Ross Lyon has had the best game plan at St Kilda for years. Not saying he's been our best coach, that is yet to be seen but i really do like his game plan. Give the bloke some time and maybe we'll be trying for the holy grail in three or four years time.

[Juggalo Balla]

Still making a run at the flag. Still improvement needed to beat Cats but this was a massive boost for the team.

The most touches in the history of the club up against one of the best teams. Good to see.

[HoldenMCaulfield]

The most touches in the history of the club up against one of the best teams. Good to see.

Yes - and these touches were not the result of 'basketball style' chipping around.

We were lucky to remain in touch in the first half, but just blew them away thereafter with smart yet fast football - this was not just blind attack football (albeit there were still a few of the old panic torps). I am starting to become a real fan of Ross Lyon, this is what he always wanted and boy, do I love it. One could say that he is a bit of a "Bomber Roos" taking the best from the Sydney and Geelong styles. Dropping Dal Santo and Milne may have been his best decision ever (even though he himself must have felt scared and desperate at the time) - that was the turning point of the season.

But let's not get carried away - Hawthorn were inaccurate in the first quarter and could have put us away. I am certain that Lyon will remind the players of both halfs to both keep a lid on, but also to keep the confidence up.

In a week spoiled by unfortunate matters of the past (Butterss' silly cry for attention / settlement of the Grant Thomas mess, finally / Malcolm Blight apparently having his say tonight during the Ch 10 coverage), Lyon will now well and truly have emerged as our head coach - our future looks bright !

[mad-saint-guy]

I think we're now a serious semi final threat. Perhaps a glimmer of hope for a prelim appearance, but we're not going to get a premiership playing one good half of footy every week.