Discussion Is this the worst St Kilda side in living memory?

[Murraj1966]

Now people might think I'm going off my tree here, but I was just thinking about how utterly deplorable we are and that damning stat from tonight's game that we're the only club with no All Australians.

Over the years we've had teams that have done badly, and had bad individual seasons (2013, 2014, 2007, 2000-2002) but all of these teams in my memory of watching football had starts in them that made the football worth going to see, players like Harvey, Burke, Loewe in the early years and then later on Riewoldt, Montagna etc.

Season 2018 is on track to be a bad one, with a probable 4.5 win season just eclipsing 2014 when we won the spoon, but looking beyond that at this list there's nobody on it besides Jade Gresham who I really get excited about watching, who makes me think we've got a star of the game here.

Even in the 1980's we had Trevor Barker and Tony Lockett keeping St Kilda interesting (from what my dad used to tell me) but now it seems like we're this soulless mess of nothing with no stars, no hope and no direction.

Does anyone else think any of the teams I mentioned above or in the past are worse than where we're at now?

 

[mr bagcroft]

The club stands for nothing.
It needs talent no doubt.
Also needs a bit of campaigner about it.
It’s SO vanilla.
Literally irrelevant.
Yeah.
Just about as bad as it’s ever been in my eyes.
I was around in the 80’s,but we had Barks,Plugger,Harvey,Joffa, Greg Burns etc.
this team -nobody.

 

[Saintos The ITK]

Yes it is.

 

[luca77]

When we're not even the worst team in the comp it's hard to agree, since we've been the worst team in the comp a lot in my lifetime. But I think it's easily the worst Saints team to watch that I've ever seen. There are players I like watching like Gresh, Billings, Acres, Carlisle, Steele, Long e.t.c. But the team is built around players that are just horrible to watch. I feel like I should be paid to watch Geary (despite that good kick he pulled off tonight). I definitely should be paid to watch the message from the coach videos on Bigfooty. It's the hardest work I do all week.

 

[George]

No.

 

[Cornish]

Not the worst i have witnessed, but the players back in the day would make up for lack of talent by at least getting in and having a red hot go.

 

[Keg on legs]

No. Late 70s and early 80s worse by a long shot. We used to win one game and celebrate like we had won the flag


Is this the worst St Kilda coach in living memory? Now that may elicit a different response from me.

 

[Hugh Jars]

On a par with 2000 for mine. (Too young to recall/comment on the 80s though). Thank god for the blues & suns otherwise another spoon would be coming our way.

 

[CHBench]

It is without a doubt for the supporters in their 20s.


Clearly we have been spoilt though compared to other generations of Saints supporters.

 

[Saintbloke]

I've seen all the bad years of the 70s and 80s and early 2000s.. we were really really bad in some of those years, but this current mob is very ordinary. The biggest disappointment for me at the moment is the steady decline since we made the last GF. We have again been let down by weak leadership- a chronic problem at our club.

 

[Joffaboy]

Not by a long shot. Terrible thread, unless you weren't alive in the 80's. A diabolacle team

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[PoppedCorn]

Yeah agree
No way this is the worse side talent wise
I came in around 85 as a casual watcher, and it wasnt great
160 plus losses from 80 to 89

 

[GodSziller]

We’ve won 27 spoons so hard to say this is the worst.

As others have said, it’s nearly the worst to watch. They seem to fold like a deck of cards when we don’t have momentum.

We keep getting teased by this group. That Melbourne game was great but there is just no consistency. Whether that’s a talent or a coaching issue, we will find out soon.

Those blokes in the 80s might’ve got flogged most weeks but they always had a crack.

 

[Savage Kent]

I feel to an extent it is a case of the sum of parts greater than the whole. We have some good talent spread throughout our list, however we lack the ability to put it all together through a combination of bad coaching, development, leadership and selections being built around ordinary plodders.

Gresham has been a shining light in an otherwise disappointing season. 34 goals for a team struggling to kick a score is nothing to sneeze at. Think he could be that beacon that Barks and Plugger were for us in the past. Billings is exciting to watch when he's on. Long, Steven, Carlisle, Membrey, Webster, Acres, Steele and Battle I really rate highly when they are on.

In my opinion, during my time supporting the saints it would have to be the worst captain and coach combination. I believe this has contributed to the sentiment that this is the worst St Kilda in living memory.

 

[Ricmel]

It is certainly the worst since 1986, absolutely no question of that. And even then, when you consider that the 1986 list had a young Lockett and Loewe, you probably really have to go back to 1983- 1985.

If you could completely turn this list over (and of course you cannot) the only players I would retain are Membrey, Carlisle, Roberton, Gresham, Steven, Coffield, Clark, Battle, Bruce, Paton and Ross. That is about 25% of the entire list.

 

[BigPowerForward]

No. In my early years I would go to watch the Saints with 3 expectations:
1. Barker would take a hanger
2. Robby Muir would go ape droppings
3. The guys bringing in the Eskys full of beer would eventually start trying to punch the suitcase out of each other.
Not even close to the worst team.

 

[Ricmel]

Not by a long shot. Terrible thread, unless you weren't alive in the 80's. A diabolacle team

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I think 83 - 85 is the only team that can challenge this list. From 86 onwards we had Locketts, Loewes and Harveys in the team. Then came Everitts, Jones etc then Roo, Kosi, Hayes etc. In fact, despite our very unsuccessful history, we have nearly always had a couple of absolute standouts on the list. Even 75 - 83 we had Barks (who I regard as comfortably in the top 10 Saints players of all time). In fact if this team had half of Barks courage and will to compete then it would be watchable.

I've never seen a Saints team give less of a sh#t than this one.

 

[JimmyMann]

Keep the faith lads, our talented players are still young.
Our best 22 from 23 and under is:
B: Rice, Clavarino, White
HB: McKenzie, Austin, Coffield
C: Clark, Steele, Freeman
HF: Billings, Marshall, Gresham
F: Long, McCartin, Battle
R: Pierce, Acres, Dunstan
I/C: Lonie, Sinclair, Phillips, Paton
E: Goddard, Langlands, Joyce

That's 25/45 players 23 or younger at this point in time. The problem does not lay with these blokes; it's those older players who were brought in as cheapies and are nothing more than workmanlike.

These are the only 24+ blokes I would want to see in the side next year:
Steven, Savage, Roberton, Carlisle, Bruce, Ross, Webster, Membrey (and Longer maybe if he can recapture his 2017 form)

This leaves us with
B: Savage, Carlisle (vc), Webster
HB: Roberton, Austin, McKenzie
C: Clark, Steele, Freeman
HF: Billings, Marshall, Gresham
F: Long, Bruce, Membrey
R: Pierce, Ross (c), Steven
I/C: Lonie, Acres, Sinclair, Battle
E: Paton, Coffield, Dunstan, McCartin

Which isn't a terrible team on paper by any stretch. Just hoping that we remove the duds from our starting line-up and can get both some good players back plus hopefully Hannebery to strengthen the midfield.

Also how sad is it for Hickey and Longer that Pierce plays 1 game for us this year and I'm already putting him as our starting ruck next year.

 

[Joffaboy]

I think 83 - 85 is the only team that can challenge this list. From 86 onwards we had Locketts, Loewes and Harveys in the team. Then came Everitts, Jones etc then Roo, Kosi, Hayes etc. In fact, despite our very unsuccessful history, we have nearly always had a couple of absolute standouts on the list. Even 75 - 83 we had Barks (who I regard as comfortably in the top 10 Saints players of all time). In fact if this team had half of Barks courage and will to compete then it would be watchable.

I've never seen a Saints team give less of a sh#t than this one.

Unless you are 180 years old you can't say that.
Original team didn't win a game in the first 40.

The 80's were appalling, 2000-2002 not
much better, 2014 was worse than this.

I think people are being seduced by those sides having names.

This current team would wipe the floor with any of those teams.

I also Saw a team with Frawley, Harvey Burke and Winner get beaten by more tha n a 100 points by Essendon and Hawthorn, and a team with Riewoldt, Kosi, Lenny, Jones, and Hamill get beaten by 120 at Kardinia park.

This team is getting beaten by 7, those by 15 to 20.

Who didn't give a s**t?
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[Ricmel]

Unless you are 180 years old you can't say that.
Original team didn't win a game in the first 40.

T
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The thread title is "Living memory". Don't think anyone is left from 1897.

 

[Saintos The ITK]

There have been worse because they've been full of spuds.
This team is full of high draft picks that were supposed to be the culmination of a rebuild and winning finals.
Instead they're a mob of unskilled and soft little boys who are clearly out of their depth at this level.
JB looks like he's about to burst into tears at any moment and Sinclair just stands around looking like an owl caught in a bushfire. Our captain is unable to influence a game and is trying to call the shots from the back pocket, we've got a ruckman in Longer who isn't allowed to kick, our game plan is to long bomb forward without looking up, when we switch play we do it so slowly that the entire opposition is able to switch play with us.
Our coach, * me dead, he's got his own thread.

 

[CALL ME SNAKE]

NO
Anybody who thinks this team is our worst is obviously very young.

 

[Ricmel]

NO
Anybody who thinks this team is our worst is obviously very young.

That's heartening. How old do you have to be to remember a worst Saints list?

 

[CALL ME SNAKE]

That's heartening. How old do you have to be to remember a worst Saints list?

I started going to games in 78.
Seen quite a few worse teams than this in that time IMO.

 

[Jade Buddha]

No we look competitively bad due to the last era of players Roo, Harves, Dal Lenny etc