Training Saints preseason 2026

[gringo2011]

Whilst that is true. SOS from his time at Carlton and Saints picks up crap from previous clubs to the clubs detriment imo to feed his own ego. Instead of just treating players on their own merit.

I'm first to sharpen the knife for anyone that isn't doing their job to a high standard at the club but....

he's just re-signed all our key pieces and added an incredible haul of players to give us a real chance at sustained finals. I'm willing to give him another year to see what his list looks like on the park.

Remember when we'd have to pay a fortune to get Sydney's scraps. We are so far ahead of that now. A few cheap Carlton scraps is acceptable if he gets other stuff right.

 

[gringo2011]

Nah gringo2011 just told me about a 30 year old dominating the upper kilcunda leagues.

Dustin Lockett-Winmar.

Sure thing he reckons

Jobe Shanahan is going to be a star. Derksen is a good gap filler. Trade for Jobe and we'll not even want King anymore.

 

[Saintscomemarchingin]

Plenty of options for us

Viking - Hammer - Sharman - Owens - Marshall - Dodson as tall options. Chuck in Wood as well

Plan the year without thinking about Max

Thanks for adding a positive spin on it.
The Max & Jsos injuries causing me too much nervous tension tbh.

 

[phantom13]

You’d have to think sos isn’t long for the halls of Linton street anyway.

 

[Leap of Faith]

WTF? Max King has had more knee surgery and “will be back in full training at the end of January”. F*** off. They’re taking the piss. In the injury report. “Max King - Knee- return date tbc”. We heard that half of last year. “He’ll be good to go blah blah blah”. Farkin joke. Move on. Enough already.

 

[austinnn]

It reminds me of Luke Penny. He had the option of more surgery but chose to retire at 25 because of the potential post football quality of life.

Well then I'd say it looks to me like the Penny dropped yeeeeaaaaAAAAHHHH

 

[Ads734]

I’ll say it untill we do it. Viking would wil be a generational forward if only we persist with it.

 

[hayes]

is that what just happened? if so that doesn't sound too bad?

Knee surgery, quote from Ross saying everything’s going to be ok, knee surgery, another quote, rinse and repeat. What’s the definition of insanity again?

We’re making the Clayton Oliver deal look good.

 

[Sully111]

I'm first to sharpen the knife for anyone that isn't doing their job to a high standard at the club but....

he's just re-signed all our key pieces and added an incredible haul of players to give us a real chance at sustained finals. I'm willing to give him another year to see what his list looks like on the park.

Remember when we'd have to pay a fortune to get Sydney's scraps. We are so far ahead of that now. A few cheap Carlton scraps is acceptable if he gets other stuff right.

I don't like Sos. Never have. I agree with what you're saying though.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Carrol, Dow and Stocker are picking up someone's hard rubbish furniture.They are like a milk crate bookshelf and a cinder block and plank coffee-table. They'll do until we can move up to some used Ikea crap off marketplace.

Still think Carrol may be a bit better than ordinary, but he keeps getting injured.
Like buying a bloody Alfa Romeo.

 

[Diehard Saint]

Great to see Butler and Howard fit. Even though they're fringe guys, they can absolutely contribute this year and can add something, even if it's just high quality depth.

Saw a few things from Ryan that make me think he is going to add a LOT to this side.

Keeler looking strong and taking some grabs too.

Looks like Hammer's in defence.

A whole season of elite level midfield Nas is going to be pretty, pretty good.

Not sure I’d be calling Howard fringe or depth.
We really missed him last year. He’ll be a lock if fit.

 

[SG34]

....
Keeler can do things with ball in hand that shanahan could only dream of ...

Hardly seen him, but when you see a new player do something deft and slick, you notice, and I certainly noticed the way he kicked a goal from the pocket this year and I thought, 'wait a minute', that's class.

 

[phantom13]

I’m not sure why we glamourise players from other clubs instead of backing in our own players. Shanahan averaged 7 disposals and a goal a game, Keeler averaged 7 disposals and a goal a game. Whitlock? 7 disposals and a goal a game.
Keeler can do things with ball in hand that shanahan could only dream of tbh, go and watch yesterdays saints tv clip of training, he looks in great touch.

We have two young promising 21 year old KPP in Keeler and Caminiti who I would rather back in over any of Shanahan, Whitlock or Ludowyck.
Our list is in a good spot regardless of if King ever plays again or not.

Couldn’t agree more on Keeler.

Just has something about him, absolutely ****ing mercurial, if it clicks for him and Collard that’s an insanely dangerous combination in the F50

 

[phantom13]

As much as I thought we should have traded Roma it’s ****ing lucky we didn’t.

Am warming to Roma, TDK swapping at FF with Keeler and Sharman 2 and 3 and Owens the hybrid.

Now s&c staff let’s try to keep all of them fit and ****ing healthy please

 

[CursingFijian]

I’ll say it untill we do it. Viking would wil be a generational forward if only we persist with it.

He has got a little bit of Aaron Naughton about him.

 

[gringo2011]

I don't like Sos. Never have. I agree with what you're saying though.

We sing from the same hymnbook. I don't need to like them though. I just want the best staff and at this point in time him and Gubby have steered the ship through some pretty rough seas and come home with a ship full of gold.

Keeping Nas, Wilkie and Windhager shouldn't be something to celebrate because signing your own is a basic function but there was the real chance that those guys are all at other clubs. Even being able to retrieve the situation at a point near no return is a skill.

I know no-one liked Dunstan but the extraordinary way he left the club with genuine bad blood and zero return was probably the most unprofessional exit from a club I can think of. This is the opposite. He stared down managers, played hard then got the deals done.

Getting one decent player through the doors is an achievement and some clubs struggled to get one done this year. He's done it through extreme personally distress and got everything promised done.

We might have paid too much money out, we might have taken the wrong players, we might have mortgaged the future but at least we aren't sitting quietly in the corner. We've got real momentum and energy back into the club.

These guys deserve some of the credit if not quite a bit of it. He could have easily walked out and understandably with what was going on in his personal life but he stayed and finished the job.

 

[gringo2011]

Not sure I’d be calling Howard fringe or depth.
We really missed him last year. He’ll be a lock if fit.

I'm not so sure. Lyon has always rated continuity and if you can't guarantee him long stretches of form he'll play the lesser talent with a more solid body. Same goes for Butler. If he's fragile he could easily be fringe even though he's an asset when fit. If Caminiti can lift even 25% and be consistent he could push Howard out permanently. HE's getting to that level experience now.

 

[Sully111]

We sing from the same hymnbook. I don't need to like them though. I just want the best staff and at this point in time him and Gubby have steered the ship through some pretty rough seas and come home with a ship full of gold.

Keeping Nas, Wilkie and Windhager shouldn't be something to celebrate because signing your own is a basic function but there was the real chance that those guys are all at other clubs. Even being able to retrieve the situation at a point near no return is a skill.

I know no-one liked Dunstan but the extraordinary way he left the club with genuine bad blood and zero return was probably the most unprofessional exit from a club I can think of. This is the opposite. He stared down managers, played hard then got the deals done.

Getting one decent player through the doors is an achievement and some clubs struggled to get one done this year. He's done it through extreme personally distress and got everything promised done.

We might have paid too much money out, we might have taken the wrong players, we might have mortgaged the future but at least we aren't sitting quietly in the corner. We've got real momentum and energy back into the club.

These guys deserve some of the credit if not quite a bit of it. He could have easily walked out and understandably with what was going on in his personal life but he stayed and finished the job.

Yeah, agreed. There was quite a bit to juggle with us knowing we had to make large offers to bring players in while balancing the contracts of the players we have.
It all got done, apart from Aleer which I think is fine anyway.

I don't know what it will all look like in a few years time, but I'd rather we have a swing at it.

 

[CaptainRisky]

I’ll say it untill we do it. Viking would wil be a generational forward if only we persist with it.

F Me , well that's the first time i have heard that on here , the Bloke who's spot he would be taking comes to mind

 

[Xxxx66]

I'm not so sure. Lyon has always rated continuity and if you can't guarantee him long stretches of form he'll play the lesser talent with a more solid body. Same goes for Butler. If he's fragile he could easily be fringe even though he's an asset when fit. If Caminiti can lift even 25% and be consistent he could push Howard out permanently. HE's getting to that level experience now.

Agree with this. Looking at next season, the big defender role is one of our problem spots. i dont think doug has ever been great one on one and i expect with age he will drop off a bit. Hammer not quite there yet but teacking ok. Other major concerns for me is our goal kicking and s&c.Fix those and anything is possible.

 

[stavro#4]

We sing from the same hymnbook. I don't need to like them though. I just want the best staff and at this point in time him and Gubby have steered the ship through some pretty rough seas and come home with a ship full of gold.

Keeping Nas, Wilkie and Windhager shouldn't be something to celebrate because signing your own is a basic function but there was the real chance that those guys are all at other clubs. Even being able to retrieve the situation at a point near no return is a skill.

I know no-one liked Dunstan but the extraordinary way he left the club with genuine bad blood and zero return was probably the most unprofessional exit from a club I can think of. This is the opposite. He stared down managers, played hard then got the deals done.

Getting one decent player through the doors is an achievement and some clubs struggled to get one done this year. He's done it through extreme personally distress and got everything promised done.

We might have paid too much money out, we might have taken the wrong players, we might have mortgaged the future but at least we aren't sitting quietly in the corner. We've got real momentum and energy back into the club.

These guys deserve some of the credit if not quite a bit of it. He could have easily walked out and understandably with what was going on in his personal life but he stayed and finished the job.

RTB makes some interesting comments on Gubby & SOS and how highly he rates them but how he needs to rein them in on that podcast yesterday.

Effectively said that when SOS took the job we were $1m over the cap and 2 years later $4m below which enabled the spending spree.

Said he managed to turn the list from 2nd or 5th oldest into 5th youngest and then repeated the games played by under 21s stat again.

Said Gubby is highly rated in the afl world and he can get you into any agents room to discuss the players we want and how he deals with a lot of that GM of footy stuff with Ross which is why they are working on a new structure with AB.

But said you need both to be successful and you need Ross himself to rein them in as they can come up with a lot of crazy stuff.

(Paraphrasing this)

 

[Ads734]

He has got a little bit of Aaron Naughton about him.

Better bloke.
Naughton/curnow is my comp.

 

[Ads734]

F Me , well that's the first time i have heard that on here , the Bloke who's spot he would be taking comes to mind

I see him as a way more advanced bigger Cooper. I just think defenders will really struggle with him. His courage and natural marking combined with his athleticism is off the charts.

 

[MordySaint]

I'm really excited now with seeing Ro and TDK work in tandem. Up to now I didn't know how it could work with King in the side too.

The latest events could benefit our team structure.

 

[SainterinSydney]

Thanks for this as now I actually understand the knee surgery and what happened last year. I actually feel better about it now. Let's wait and see.

Our favourite interloper WillHayward is back to provide his wisdom and grace, I see.