Prediction Where will Saints finish 2019? Poll added

Saints finishing position 2019?

  • First

    Votes: 6 8.0%
  • Top four

    Votes: 2 2.7%
  • Make Finals

    Votes: 22 29.3%
  • Between ninth and thirteenth

    Votes: 23 30.7%
  • Between Fourteenth and Seventeenth

    Votes: 20 26.7%
  • Dead last

    Votes: 2 2.7%

  • Total voters
    75
May 10, 2013
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We have three areas of weakness, ruck with Longer the sole experienced player.....injured.

Backline, Carlisle out for pretty much the year and Brown missing early...we will likely play Joyce as our KPD a 2 game veteran who hadn't picked up a footy 4 years ago.

Finally the midfield with Stuv, our only top line player, who is out indefinitely and Hanners who has been elite potentially not making it back to what he was before. His last 2 years have been on par with Armo at the Swans so can't really hope for improvement there. Leaves Seb and Steele to be the mainstays and hope like hell Grehsam and Billings can transition in there.

Our forward line looks our strength with multiple options and Bruce back and Paddy starting to look better, Lonie improving and Parker, Young and Kent all likely options.

With Roberton returning, I can see with the experience of Geary, Savage & Brown steering Joyce & Battle in the right direction, we just might have a pretty formidable backline.
With Pierce’s enthusiasm in the ruck could keep him well in the game for at least a half the game & hopefully Marshall can man up for the rest of the game.
As for the midfield, there is no replacing Stuv but I think we just may have a star ready to stand up in Hunter.
Admittedly the pressure is on the young guys, but I can’t see why they won’t be able to stand the test.
*fingers crossed
 

Smoke_Me_AKipper

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Really hope we can stop the blow outs where we get our pants pulled down, how we lose is very important this year 8 - 10 wins with a good percentage Happy Days

I wonder how the 6-6-6 rule will affect that though? The so-called experts say it will facilitate more blow outs...

I think it depends on the Car/GC games - beat them both twice (which we should on paper) and we can reach that 8-10 win mark
 
Very harsh on Hanners 2017 form. Would very happy if he got back to that. 2018 form doesn't help us.


That's why I have him similar to Armo, his past form is good, recent form is poor. Both have been going backwards as they get more beaten down with injury. 2017 was okay for Hanners but he was not the dominant player he had been in 2016.
 
With Roberton returning, I can see with the experience of Geary, Savage & Brown steering Joyce & Battle in the right direction, we just might have a pretty formidable backline.
With Pierce’s enthusiasm in the ruck could keep him well in the game for at least a half the game & hopefully Marshall can man up for the rest of the game.
As for the midfield, there is no replacing Stuv but I think we just may have a star ready to stand up in Hunter.
Admittedly the pressure is on the young guys, but I can’t see why they won’t be able to stand the test.
*fingers crossed


I really think Savage looks a reinvigorated player. His intra club was excellent, to me just about our best player, was again solid against north and just looks like they have given him responsibility and a bit of love. Seems like he'll be given licence to take the game on from the backline and given kick ins. I sense the new coaches have looked at the players we have and found creative ways to utilise them a bit better. If we improve it will be because the players buy in, it looks a more determined and driven team in 2019
 
I would be disappointed if we had less than 2 wins after the first 4 rounds. We have to beat GC really, if we dont then there is trouble. All Essendon, Freo and Hawthorn are missing important players and if we want a better year, are the type of teams we need to be beating. Surely we can upset against one of them.

None are easy games but if we lose them I will be hard to keep momentum. All of them are winnable if we play our best but all three of them would be favourites to win.
 

Keg on legs

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None are easy games but if we lose them I will be hard to keep momentum. All of them are winnable if we play our best but all three of them would be favourites to win.

I reckon we are a big show in all 3

Methendon missing Hooker hurts them. They have also shown in rhe JLT that they're still a pretty one way running team. If we bring the pressure against them like we did against norph and don't let them run in waves we can upset them

Freo have Fyfe and after that we are a close match across the ground IMO. It'll be hard over there and the umps will play their part but i don't fear them this year. Reckon our fwds can really do some damage against their defenders if we provide decent supply

Hawks are hawks. Titch out early will have given them time to re-jig but we tend to match up well against them. I don't think their depth is all that proven yet. Probably least confident of this one.

I honestly reckon we will be 2-2 with 3-1 not outside the realms of possibility
 
Jan 10, 2011
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That's why I have him similar to Armo, his past form is good, recent form is poor. Both have been going backwards as they get more beaten down with injury. 2017 was okay for Hanners but he was not the dominant player he had been in 2016.
No but that form makes him about second best mid. Last years form makes him just better than dunstan
 
Jan 10, 2011
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I reckon we are a big show in all 3

Methendon missing Hooker hurts them. They have also shown in rhe JLT that they're still a pretty one way running team. If we bring the pressure against them like we did against norph and don't let them run in waves we can upset them


I reckon on their bigfooty site they are saying we won’t have our best back and maybe not our best player and maybe not our potentially top 5 player
Freo have Fyfe and after that we are a close match across the ground IMO. It'll be hard over there and the umps will play their part but i don't fear them this year. Reckon our fwds can really do some damage against their defenders if we provide decent supply

Hawks are hawks. Titch out early will have given them time to re-jig but we tend to match up well against them. I don't think their depth is all that proven yet. Probably least confident of this one.

I honestly reckon we will be 2-2 with 3-1 not outside the realms of possibility
 

Keg on legs

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I don't read their site. I find it drains my already minimal IQ. Delusional bunch over there
 

St Neil

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Early wins will generate early momentum. We’ll win 11-13 games if this happens.

Early losses will will have the opposite effect. 6-8 wins would be about the range.

The unknown is the potential improvement of a number of players. Many have been around for 3-5 years and it’s time to start delivering. We could zoom, continue to wallow, or do anything in-between.

I think we are genuinely speculative. I’m betting we’ll end up we were in 2017. Winning 11 games and just missing the finals.
 

Lenny2020

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If we divide the league into three groups of six, I think we will finish in the middle group (7th to 12th).

Optimistic yes but I think realistic, too.

I think Gresham, Steele, Billings and Ross will establish themselves as elite players. That would seriously improve our midfield. Clark is poised to make a much bigger impact this year through the middle and Acres, Sinclair and Dunstan need to find consistency. Hannebery finding form will make our midfield a lot tougher to beat.

Our forwards could start to function a lot better with the general forwards like Long, Kent, Parker and Lonie providing pressure and goals in addition to our key forwards taking contested marks and bringing the ball to ground. How the 'big three' combine will be a big part of our success.

Roberton immediately improves our defence and I'm excited to see what Joyce and Battle can do along with Austin and Brown. Our crop of general defenders is looking very good but in particular Webster and McKenzie look like having big years.

The coaching group are clearly making big changes to our style and structure. They've been experimenting with players in different positions with good effect and Richardson is changing the way he coaches to better incorporate his areas of strength.

It's a tough first half of the year in terms of the fixture but if we build momentum early, who knows...
 
Jan 7, 2011
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I reckon we are a big show in all 3
Hawks are hawks. Titch out early will have given them time to re-jig but we tend to match up well against them. I don't think their depth is all that proven yet. Probably least confident of this one.

I honestly reckon we will be 2-2 with 3-1 not outside the realms of possibility
Hawks for me is the one I reckon we're the most likely to win out of those R2-4 games.

We've played well against them the last 3 years now, and were so close to beating them late last year, when they were on their way to a top 4 finish, but this year they're minus Mitchell- who is huge for them with their shallow midfield, now we could have Steele sit on JOM, and then who have they got in there?- and they seem to have other injuries adding up (Gunston, Birchall, Wingard and Howe in particular and of course Scully).

Reckon they'll drop back down out of the 8 again this year and be very beatable, especially at Marvel.

We'd want to have Stuv back by then of course tho, or we'll have a big hole in our own midfield.
 
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Saintbloke

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I think one of our big problems last season was lack of leadership. With the addition of Ratten, Hanners and Slater, we have a bit more top-level experience and expertise at the club- it may help I think, and reckon we will win a few more games than last season..up a few rungs on the ladder at least.
 
No but that form makes him about second best mid. Last years form makes him just better than dunstan

I watched him a few times last year and he was terrible. He made Dunny look like Dangerfield. He was a shell of what he used to be. His game in the finals was his best game of the year by a long way, which because of the heavy conditions levelled the field. His break away used to be his biggest asset but he was so unable to create separation he was almost a liability. If I had to make a comparison it would be Luke Ball when he got hit bad with OP, he went from a star to ordinary very quickly. I hope we don't play him if he's as bad as last year, I would rather pump games into Clark or Acres.
 
Hawks for me is the one I reckon we're the most likely to win out of those R2-4 games.

We've played well against them the last 3 years now, and were so close to beating them late last year, when they were on their way to a top 4 finish, but this year they're minus Mitchell- who is huge for them with their shallow midfield, now we could have Steele sit on JOM, and then who have they got in there?- and they seem to have other injuries adding up (Gunston, Birchall, Wingard and Howe in particular and of course Scully).

Reckon they'll drop back down out of the 8 again this year and be very beatable, especially at Marvel.

We'd want to have Stuv back by then of course tho, or we'll have a big hole in our own midfield.


I think the Hawks will come back to earth too.
 
Jan 7, 2011
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Unless we get crunched by injuries etc, our forwardline is the one area where we could very, very easily see significant improvement this year.

Two years ago we lost all our games when any of Riewoldt Bruce, or Membrey didn't play, and won something like 8 in a row when all 3 did play.

So despite the fact that Nick was well short of his best during most of that period, and Bruce was also not really firing, we clearly we were a much better team with the 3 marking targets up there. The proof was in the pudding.

We were also 2nd to just Richmond for F50 tackles.

But then last year we lost Roo obviously, and then we only had Bruce for 3 games, and Paddy only played 13, so that structure that worked so well for us the year before took a big, big hit.

Also not helping was Skunk having the yips until R10.

Battle was good for a 3 game stretch, but then he too got injured and wasn't the same on his return.

And our defensive pressure up forward also dropped off significantly, just to make matters worse.

Basically our forwardline was a hot mess and the way we moved it in there also left a lot to be desired.

So if this year we have Bruce, Paddy and Skunk up there a lot more than we did last year and going well, it could help us improve a bunch- especially now that 6-6-6 is in play, which Paddy said after the game last week he loved (as it gave him a lot more 1-on-1's, for one)- and hopefully adding the Parker/Kent types, and possibly having Long and Lonie for much more of the year, will return our forward pressure to where it was.

Then last year we also basically carried Hunter Clark up there for more than half a season, when he really wasn't contributing enough, only had a fully fit Long for about 8 weeks, had Mav up there doing just enough to not get dropped, and a down-on-form Newnes playing a big chunk of the season there, etc.

This year on the other hand it's hard to see us carrying anyone up there like we did Hunter, unless we've been crunched by injuries, and hopefully a Kent/Parker or both will be an upgrade on Mav, and we'll have good Lonie for a full season, not just a month, etc.

I reckon we could just about field two forwardlines this year that would be about the equivalent of the sort of one we had for most weeks last year, which suggests it has the scope to be significantly better overall:

Gresham Marshall Acres
Kent Membrey Long

Lonie Bruce Parker
Billings McCartin Sinclair/Clark

Other options: Battle, Newnes, Young, Paton, eventually King.

I imagine if you offered WB either of those forwardlines this week they'd just about snap your hand off.

If we're not hard hit by injuries there and the likely improvements in our front half don't equal more wins, then something will have to have gone horribly awry elsewhere.
 
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It will take some Clarko genius to not have that happen I reckon.

Their midfield is now probably just about the weakest in the league, unless Wingard plays in there most weeks. Can see some heavy tags in JOM's immediate future.

Harder draw for them too.
 
Jan 10, 2011
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The outs aren’t a concern for mine. It’s not the cattle, it’s how we go about playing as a unit, as clique as that sounds. I reckon we’ve got the cattle to win 12 but you can only go on most recent events. Par is 6, I’d be pretty happy with 8.

So when 3 of the best 6 are out that doesn’t matter. Seriously. We don’t have enough stars as it is. Cattle obviously matters otherwise gc are as good as the tigers if they play the same system and we know they aren’t.
 
Jan 10, 2011
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I watched him a few times last year and he was terrible. He made Dunny look like Dangerfield. He was a shell of what he used to be. His game in the finals was his best game of the year by a long way, which because of the heavy conditions levelled the field. His break away used to be his biggest asset but he was so unable to create separation he was almost a liability. If I had to make a comparison it would be Luke Ball when he got hit bad with OP, he went from a star to ordinary very quickly. I hope we don't play him if he's as bad as last year, I would rather pump games into Clark or Acres.


He plays however he is going form wise. He is a true leader. Something we have little of
 
Aug 30, 2017
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So when 3 of the best 6 are out that doesn’t matter. Seriously. We don’t have enough stars as it is. Cattle obviously matters otherwise gc are as good as the tigers if they play the same system and we know they aren’t.

Steven will play once he deals with his break up. We can cover Carlisle & Hanneberry is yet to play for us. * me if 2017-8 Hanneberry is in our best 6 players
 
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