2009 Media Thread

[Squizz]

Re: Media Thread

I wouldn't have a cracker on Monty myself. The umpires don't rate inside work which is where Monty has excelled this year. Midfielders who run and kick goals are what they remember, and Monty's had a pretty ordinary run in front of goal with 5 goals 10 behinds.

 

[Squizz]

Re: Media Thread

Who knew Ratten had a sense of humour? :

Chris Judd as a tagger? Surely Brett Ratten was kidding when he raised the prospect that Carlton's captain would be used as a stopper, even given a below-par assessment of Judd's Brownlow Medal prospects by league statisticians Champion Data.

But such is the assortment of midfield riches available to St Kilda counterpart Ross Lyon, Ratten will remind his superstar of the need to be mindful of his opponent's presence given previous rivals have, on rare occasions, inflicted damage against Judd on the scoreboard.

"We might even have Judd tagging as well, because when you look at all of their players you think, 'Gee, we need to keep an eye on him and him and him'," Ratten said.

"There's (Nick) Dal Santo, Hayes is in great form, (Brendan) Goddard, (Jason) Gram coming back these last few weeks, then you've got Ball, there's players everywhere, including Sam Fisher down back, who are in form and playing really good footy."

 

[dg102]

Re: Media Thread

Did he forget to mention Joey?

 

[Squizz]

Re: Media Thread

Did he forget to mention Joey?

He's obviously not in Ratten's Dream Team!!!

 

[Squizz]

Re: Media Thread

I wouldn't have a cracker on Monty myself. The umpires don't rate inside work which is where Monty has excelled this year. Midfielders who run and kick goals are what they remember, and Monty's had a pretty ordinary run in front of goal with 5 goals 10 behinds.

Having said that, Monty's on top in my voting system:

Montagna 68
Hayes 60
Dal Santo 59
Riewoldt 42
Goddard 41
Jones 39
Gilbert 35
Fisher S 29
Ray 29

 

[Squizz]

Re: Media Thread

I wouldn't have a cracker on Monty myself.

Hmmmm ... 36 possessions, 11 inside 50s, a goal ...

Only one tackle - Monty's trying to do it for Sainter!!!

 

[sainter]

Re: Media Thread

You can bet on anything these days. As a Dream Team and Super Coach addict I like to have a punt on the highest DT scorer. Last week I backed Lenny Hayes at $4 to be the highest scorer out of Montagna, Goddard, Murphy and Gibbs. Lenny came to the party with a massive 135 points. However that late bloody goal to Joey, of which I celebrated wildly at the time, ended up costing me $40 as he finished with 137.

Not that I really care that much because we beat the filth again.

 

[goodie23]

Re: Media Thread

You can bet on anything these days. As a Dream Team and Super Coach addict I like to have a punt on the highest DT scorer. Last week I backed Lenny Hayes at $4 to be the highest scorer out of Montagna, Goddard, Murphy and Gibbs. Lenny came to the party with a massive 135 points. However that late bloody goal to Joey, of which I celebrated wildly at the time, ended up costing me $40 as he finished with 137.

Not that I really care that much because we beat the filth again.

Now now, Collingwood's filth, Carlton's scum (or cheats). It's insulting to mix them up...

Never mind.

 

[Squizz]

Re: Media Thread

An interesting read for those who don't mind a bit of history :

Saints who have excelled in other sports – by Allan Grant
Peter Bennett 103 Games with the Saints in 1944, 1947-1954.

Peter Bennett was born 11 July 1926. In a career spanning 9 seasons he kicked 258 goals. He was about 6ft tall and played football at around 80kgs. For me he is a happy memory of the St Kilda football club in that era. I was only 5 yrs old when he retired but, his deeds on the football field remain larger than life, via my dim memories and those of my father, and his many friends who braved the windswept terraces of the junction oval in the late 40s and early fifties. Peter Bennett stories were my early favourites.

My clear memory is that as a child, I knew very little about school, but a hell of a lot about sport and I mean any sport. I apparently failed Grade 2 because of the 1956 Olympics, St Kilda Football Club, Flemington, Moonee Valley and Caulfield racecourses and of course that Mecca of cricket the MCG where even as a 5 -7 yr old I found myself at almost every cricket game whether it be Shield or Test.

There was not one player in any football club that I couldn’t converse with adults about and you could ask me anything about the great Rising Fast winner of the 1954 Melbourne Cup. Sport was my complete interest. I can’t say the nuns at St Colmans Balaclava shared my love of sport and I was a very worried little boy when my parents copped the berating about my inability to concentrate on learning the catechism, arithmetic and any other strange unimaginative work they placed before me.

I have a suspicion that my parents were not overly concerned, as I seemed to have a strange ability to read the sports pages of the dailies word for word and retain complete memory of all they contained. I could tell all who asked the number of any player in the VFL and I could work out the odds and subsequent payout of any horse racing at the time, and in my scorebooks at home I had managed to work out the batting and bowling averages of every cricketer representing Victoria, but that was of no interest to the nuns.

But let’s get back to Peter Bennett. I love Full Forwards (well Saint’s ones) and Peter Bennett was a great one. He was a lovely kick, deadly accurate. He first started at the Saints in 1944 but war service intervened and he didn’t resume until 1947. He often kicked bags of goals and he was the Saints leading goal kicker in 1947, 1948, 1950, 1951 and 1953. He represented Victoria and for years at the Junction oval in the club rooms there was a photo of Peter Bennett and Bruce Phillips together in Victorian jumpers, Full Forward and Full Back for Victoria. One hopes this historical photo has survived and is safely in a Saints collection somewhere but I haven’t been able to find it. It certainly wasn’t in the Saints Heritage museum last time I looked.

Peter Bennett was unusual in that he combined playing football at the elite level with an elite Olympic sport Water Polo. Peter is a dual Olympian representing Australia at Helsinki in 1952 and Melbourne in 1956. He captained the Australian Water Polo Team at Helsinki in 1952. Peter Bennett can be regarded as one of the fathers of Australian Water Polo and he did this while he played at the elite level of VFL Football.

In 1955 Peter Bennett retired from VFL football and the Saints to concentrate on gaining selection in the Australian water polo team for the Melbourne Olympics in 1956. He gained that selection and although not selected as Captain, I doubt he was upset being second in command to the still legendary New South Welshman Ray Smee.

The Melbourne Olympics were a success for Australia as we were now a competitive nation in water polo. We only won one game but the games were contested vigorously and the scores were reasonably close.

Peter Bennett was extraordinary in that he was one of the pioneers of water polo in Australia as well as being an elite footballer. It would seem to be impossible to combine these two sports in this day and age. There are many multi talented sportsmen but they cannot combine sports.

Peter Bennett also witnessed one of the most remarkable Water Polo matches in history. The game played between Hungary the eventual Gold Medal winners and Russia was literally a bloodbath. A quote from a publication of the era reads
“1956 Melbourne Olympic Games was shadowed by Soviet Union's invasion of Hungary and England, France and Israel's attack against Egypt. In order to protest these events, some countries did not participate in the Games. During the water-polo match between Hungary and the Soviet Union, a fight broke out between the players. When a Russian player hit his Hungarian opponent in the head, the pool became red with blood. The Russian team left the game and came third after the Hungarian and Yugoslavian teams.”

Some years ago I asked Brian Gleeson about his memories of Peter Bennett and his response was as follows:

“Peter Bennett was a delightful fellow who served St Kilda well. At his peak, he did well enough at full forward to gain interstate selection in the early 1950's (before I arrived). I recall a photo in the St Kilda rooms with Peter Bennett and Bruce Phillips in the 'big V' guernseys, as the St Kilda Representatives. I played along side Peter for two seasons, (1953 & 1954) when he was nearing the end of his football career. A mark of the man was that he remained always friendly and supportive, even though the selection choice was sometimes between him and me.”

Peter Bennett had a sporting heritage. His father was General Manager of the Australian Olympic team that went to Antwerp in 1920. He witnessed history for Australia with the first brother and sister representatives at the Olympics Aussies Lily and Frank Beaurepaire. Peter Bennett’s dad is remembered as the “Father of the Australian Swimming Association.

Peter kept sport in the family. At the 1948 Olympics the teenager Marjorie McQuade was selected to represent Australia in swimming. The youngest competitor at the 1948 Olympics in London.

Marjorie McQuade also represented Australia at the 1950 Auckland Commonwealth Games and the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. Two great sporting greats of Australia Peter Bennett and Marjorie McQuade met at those Olympics and married.

When I spoke to her some time ago Peter’s daughter Tracey described Peter, as a man of charismatic personality, who is positive about all in his life, and he still has a great interest in the Saints.

Peter Bennett is not only a great Saint, and a great sportsman, he is a great Australian. All Saints supporters should be proud to know that Peter Bennett and his extended family are all Saints supporters still true Saints for life.

 

[Look2Me4Guidance]

Re: Media Thread

Super stuff Squizz.

Where did this come from?

 

[Squizz]

Re: Media Thread

Allan Grant has written a few articles for Saints Central. Some good reads.

 

[Fehring]

Re: Media Thread

I wouldn't have a cracker on Monty myself. The umpires don't rate inside work which is where Monty has excelled this year. Midfielders who run and kick goals are what they remember, and Monty's had a pretty ordinary run in front of goal with 5 goals 10 behinds.

Simon Black anyone?

 

[Squizz]

Re: Media Thread

Great player, but he got 2 votes for 11 kicks and 12 handballs (one goal 3 behinds) in one game and 3 votes for 10 kicks and 12 handballs in the next game (no goals).

Who says nice blokes don't win anything? Monty's got a lip on him, so don't expect the "he's a nice boy" treatment.

Then again, Milney's got 3 votes before (albeit he had to kick 11 goals to convince them to give it to him!).

 

[Squizz]

Re: Media Thread

Couple of blasts from the past :

Eight goals from former St Kilda forward Allan Murray fired Balwyn to a rousing comeback victory against Noble Park at the weekend.

The Tigers trailed by six goals during the third quarter, but Daniel Harford stepped out from the coaching box to play a key role in the 13-point win.

Balwyn captain Brett Moyle, another former Saint, was best afield as Balwyn kept top spot in the Eastern Football League on percentage from Croydon, a 29-point winner against Norwood.

 

[bubblegoose]

Re: Media Thread

Balwyn captain Brett Moyle, another former Saint, was best afield as Balwyn kept top spot in the Eastern Football League on percentage from Croydon, a 29-point winner against Norwood.

Aha the snipper! I still have a Moyle fridge magnet stuck on my ... fridge.

 

[Look2Me4Guidance]

Re: Media Thread

Aha the snipper! I still have a Moyle fridge magnet stuck on my ... fridge.

Gee whiz. I won't ask for fresh produce from there then!

 

[bubblegoose]

Re: Media Thread

it's wise choices like that, that have enabled you to live so long brother

 

[Armitage2Riewoldt]

Re: Media Thread

http://www.saints.com.au/season2009/news/newsarticle/tabid/5315/newsid/79272/default.aspx

Ross Lyon: Q&A

I imagine you’d never have thought you’d be going into the break at 12-0.
It’s not common is it? We thought we had prepared really well, had a strong summer and were keen to win as many games as we could early on. The players would recognise that going back a long way, this group had started slowly, so we wanted to make it a feature to start the season well. Clearly, all the work the players did is bearing fruit. They are harvesting their hard work quite well.

What did you work on specifically over the pre-season that has stood out this year?
We continued the physical development with the work in the gym to build strong bodies and good power and durability. They worked really hard there, and that has been a two-and-a-half year program from when Peter Mulkearns took over from Craig Starcevich, and then Dave Misson came in over the top. That has been a feature of their work. Our weights coach Stephen Tingay has also worked on our primary strength and conditioning work. That started a long time ago. Then obviously we wanted to improve our ball movement and defensive mechanisms. Fundamentally we wanted to compete, but we felt that was more of a mindset; we didn’t do much competing over summer apart from trying to beat personal bests. That has really been driven by an attitude of the group, to compete well. We really ramped up our possession rate in the second half of 2008 to about 360-370 (possessions per game). We’ve ramped it up again to about 405 possessions. We’re certainly sharing the ball around and moving it quite well.

There are a lot of questions about whether the team can sustain that physical style of game. Are you confident they can?
I think it’s been blown out of proportion. There are about four or five teams averaging more tackles than us at the minute. Brisbane are up there. Carlton are up there, Geelong. I think people can speculate all they like. We’ve been challenged in a number of ways, and there are going to be people telling us we can, people telling us we can’t, people telling us what a successful season is from here. All those things. All it is for us is a trigger to refocus on what we know works for us, which is preparation and teamwork and persistence.

How much of a role has the good run with injuries played in the success so far?
You want your key personnel available. I think we are starting to move up the ladder of people played now. I look at some of the figures from other teams and I look at what we went through in '07 and '08 and I don’t think any of them are any worse. It certainly makes it more difficult when you have injuries, but I am sure we’ve started to get a few. The reality is we’ve had some injuries, but blokes have been able to play and carry them. That is a tribute to their mental toughness.

Your message all year is that Geelong is still the benchmark. What aspect of their game still puts them ahead of your team?
I’m here to talk about St Kilda. I’m not really here to talk about Geelong. I thought it was our mid-year review, to be honest.

OK, what aspects of St Kilda’s game can improve?
We got beaten in contested ball by Carlton last week, which is the first time this year. We’re no different to everyone else; we’re looking for consistency. Our contested ball has been consistent, but our attack and defence has dropped off here and there. We are continually working on our ball movement. Teams are continually evolving and changing their defences and ball movement pretty quickly. It’s going to be a combination of improving ourselves and tracking the opposition we’re coming up against so that we’re able to deal with what is put in front of us. There are that many components to the game and we evaluate them as they become problems. Then we get to work on them. In general terms, our accuracy has been an issue, but the work they did in the proceeding weeks against Carlton ... and our tackling has dropped off a little bit, so we’ll look to ramp that up. Our kicking efficiency is down and our skill level is something we can always work on. There are going to be things bobbing up along the way we need to improve on. Our stoppage work has been good, but our centre bounces in the third quarter against Carlton struggled. Within games there are facets of your game you have to address and get going again. The bigger picture stuff in broad terms is contest, attack and defence.

The last few wins haven’t been as easy and convincing as some of the early wins. Do you put that down to the opposition changing tactics against you?
I think we’re coming up against some quality teams. It’s a marathon. Our average winning margin is 46 points, which is reasonable. If you want to be specific and talk about Carlton last week, then we rate them as a top-four team. They’ve won the third-most quarters behind ourselves and Geelong. They’ve been in front for the third-most percentage of game time. We were under no illusions - it was going to be difficult. I really felt the only thing we didn’t do against Melbourne and North was put them through the sticks. We had the shots, we had the entries, we had the contested ball. I thought that was inaccurate, the perception. We dominated both North and Melbourne after quarter-time to be frank in contested ball, entries and shots. Carlton was a different issue. We got five goals up three times. They persisted and challenged us, but we found a way to win.

Is Zac Dawson’s football resurrection one of your proudest achievements as a coach?
All we’ve done is give Zac an opportunity, the resources and guidance. Zac has been the one that has been mentally strong enough to dig in and do the work and compete against his opponents. Sometimes too much is attributed to coaches and game plans. I think our job is to guide and provide resources and help prod and push and drive players. Ultimately, Zac is the one that has done the work, as has the rest of the group. All I do is navigate them along the way when they go outside the boundaries of what we want fundamentally. It is a credit to Zac. His first career was over, he had experienced footy death in a real sense, and clearly he had strong thoughts about whether to do it or not. All we did was identify his talent and give him the opportunity.

When you say ‘identify his talent’, what exactly did you see in him that made you want to give him a spot on the rookie list?
We saw his performances in the NAB Cup. We saw VFL performances. We researched him with our football network and we interviewed him. That was the path and process we took. We sifted through a lot of VFL players and listed players for what we needed. He’s got speed, power and size, and similar to Farren (Ray), we felt he had done a fair apprenticeship. Everyone talks about first-year players contributing; it is a rare first-year player that comes in and is consistent. I saw the stats on Adelaide’s young group, and a lot of them are fourth-year players. It is really not dissimilar to what Zac has experienced, and Robert Eddy and Jarryn Geary. I think people judge young players harshly, too quickly and it is all the rage at the minute. If you look at who comes in and dominates in their first year, they are very few and far between. In a nutshell, Zac had done a three or four-year apprenticeship, and my experience tells me that is when good players will start to come through unless you are an exception.

Eddy and Geary are the two youngest to have played this year. Are you conscious of trying to get more players their age and younger into the team?
Not particularly. You don’t have to be playing AFL seniors to be developing. If anything, you can expose young bodies to significant injury before they are physically ready to play. Let’s understand that AFL footy is a brutal industry, and you want to be physically and mentally right to come in. I think we’ve got 11 players 18 or under through this year, and 13 new players to the club. Just because they are not running down the race doesn’t mean they are not improving their footy and developing. We are not into gifting games away.

Justin Koschitzke has hit his straps this year. Can you identify anything that has clicked for him? Is it confidence or skills?
It’s called hard work. He didn’t miss a session over summer. He developed his speed and power, lost a couple of kilos and worked on his agility. Out of all that hard work comes confidence. It doesn’t hurt that the team is giving quality entries to the forwards.

Has Nick Riewoldt’s re-signing lifted his teammates?
I don’t think it has lifted his teammates. I don’t think the group was in any doubt Nick wouldn’t be playing at St Kilda. Again, internal versus outside expectations are markedly different. We’d like to think we’d look after all our players and give them commercial and equitable deals that will see them at St Kilda. It is certainly a fillip for the whole club, but I think it is a sign of confidence to the outside world in relation to the direction that the board and commercial operations (and) our football department in conjunction with the players is taking. It is a really good sign. There is no doubt outside clubs will pay more. There is a go and a stay price, but Nick is a very loyal person.

Where do you rank him in terms of the best AFL players?
Nick is an elite player, an elite forward in the competition. We are lucky to have him.

Michael Gardiner’s form must give you a lot of pride. Are you pleased to see him make the most of his second crack at the AFL?
It’s the same deal - opportunity, environment and hard work from the player. It didn’t come straight away, but everyone laughed when we said he played 15 games of football last year in AFL and VFL. He had good continuity and a couple of little calf tweaks. We felt that with another full summer, we saw some really good signs in Michael. He left no stone unturned in his preparation, and he is a really good influence around the club and contributing to the team.

Has the midfield depth surprised you in the first season without Robert Harvey?
'Harves' is a respected player, a very good midfielder. We’ve done a lot of things to develop a midfield that we knew was getting thin. Andrew Thompson was really hanging on in that last year, and (Stephen) Powell and (Justin) Peckett had gone the year before. (Brendon) Goddard did his knee and Lenny Hayes was coming back off a reco and then did his shoulder in the first half of ‘07. We were conscious of once (Nick) Dal Santo and (Leigh) Montagna got sat on, it became pretty thin. We’ve consciously built a number of players to go through there – Goddard, (Jason) Gram and Farren Ray. Then Montagna and Dal Santo have elevated their performances and Luke Ball has been consistent. Hayes has got going again and you’ve also got Clint Jones. We’ve purposely built a number that can go through there. It hasn’t surprised me – they played pretty solid football last year, to be honest. Everyone conveniently ignores eight wins out of 10, but that’s fine.

Whenever the Saints are up and going, there is always a lot of hype and expectation. Is the history of having one premiership a motivating factor?
AFL footy is about the business of winning premierships. There is not a club in the land that doesn’t want to win a premiership. I can tell you the past doesn’t curtail or influence anything we’re doing now. That is a long bow to draw. What we’re au fait with is the demands of AFL football and the preparation required on a weekly, daily and hourly basis. We haven’t got the luxury of looking backwards or looking ahead. We’ve got to stay in the present and do the work. To be honest, I’m not hearing the hype. I think the way the group and the club has conducted themselves, there is no hype. People who push that barrow and say that we as a club get ahead of ourselves and all those things have stopped because of the way we focus on the present and the hard work required. We understand 12-0 means absolutely nothing. All it means is that we’ve got 12 wins in the bank and we need to keep banking four points as we go, so our focus is on how to get those points.

 

[Persevering Saint]

Re: Media Thread

"I thought I was here for the Saints' midyear round up, to be honest..."

Love it.

 

[HoldenMCaulfield]

Re: Media Thread

"I thought I was here for the Saints' midyear round up, to be honest..."

Love it.

Yes, it not only shows that Lyon is not the shy coaching rookie any more that reporters can push around, but it also shows some healthy confidence in our abilities. Who cares about Geelong - we are St Kilda !

 

[Look2Me4Guidance]

Re: Media Thread

yes, it not only shows that lyon is not the shy coaching rookie any more that reporters can push around, but it also shows some healthy confidence in our abilities. Who cares about geelong - we are st kilda !

love you mighty sainters!!!!!!!!!

 

[CHBench]

Re: Media Thread

St Kilda's riches may force Maguire to move on

Jay Clark | June 25, 2009 12:00am

• MATT Maguire may be forced to weigh up his trade options at the end of the season as he remains unable to squeeze into St Kilda's best 22.

The defender is looming large on rival clubs' radars after spending the first half of the season playing in the VFL for Sandringham.
While his form and fitness have been good, Maguire, 25, is a victim of the Saints' injury-free run and much-improved defensive strength.
The popular clubman is stuck on 99 AFL games and is the subject of increasing interest from clubs wanting a quality backman.
Geelong, Sydney and Carlton could all find room for Maguire at the right price.
Negotiations on a new contract with St Kilda are yet to gather steam as the Maguire camp waits to see if he is promoted to the seniors in the run to the finals.
Maguire will be considered this morning when St Kilda's match committee gathers before Sunday's clash against Richmond.
In Maguire's absence, Zac Dawson, 23, has taken his chance and is the preferred key back to partner Sam Fisher.
St Kilda is desperate to keep Maguire as he would be almost assured of senior selection next year if, as expected, veteran full-back Max Hudghton retires.
But Maguire's patience has been tested as he has continued to show good form in the VFL for almost three months.
His uncle, 1989 Brownlow medallist Paul Couch, said the Saints would need Maguire in the finals and would risk losing him to another club if they did not play him this season.
"When it comes to the crunch in finals, you need hard players like him, because you can get found out if you go trying to take the easy way out when things go up a notch," Couch said.
"But you know you will be able to count on a bloke like Matt Maguire because he is fearless and he will be able to do a good job, especially if the opposition play a couple of tall forwards."
Couch said there were some queries about how St Kilda would handle a pair of in-form key forwards in finals.
"I don't think they have been going that well lately, St Kilda. Carlton nearly beat them and I reckon Melbourne would have beat them if they had a couple of decent forwards," he said.
"I reckon they would be silly not to pick him in the second half of the season."
Maguire has fought back from three consecutive career-threatening injuries, which have restricted him to 14 games in nearly three years.
He broke his leg in 2006, suffered stress fractures in his foot in 2007 and broke a different bone in the same foot last year, which ended his season in Round 7.
Maguire's exemplary attitude that has delighted Sandringham chiefs.
"He has really embraced the club and his teammates and been sensational," general manager John Mennie said.


http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25686146-19742,00.html

Absolutley nothing story.

But in the highly unlikely event that it would happen, i would die.
Although that being said, i would consider a 1st round pick. No less.

 

[Squizz]

Re: Media Thread

Saints fans reveal grand ambitions

Courtney Walsh – The Australian

The Saints recently announced a record membership this year now approaching 33,000, with many supporters upgrading to a social club package at an additional cost of $125 to guarantee a grand final seat as the unbeaten run continues. "Our new social club membership initiative has almost sold out," Nettlefold said.

The match between St Kilda and Geelong at Etihad Stadium is a sell-out and could threaten the AFL attendance venue at the ground of 53,459, depending on the amount of standing-room tickets distributed. Nettlefold, who said the match would provide a "benchmark" to assess whether St Kilda has closed on a rival it lost to by 58 points in a qualifying final last September, and would prove a financial boon for the club. "We will do reasonably well with a full stadium," he told Melbourne radio. "We would expect to make some money."

While midfield star Luke Ball was absent from training yesterday, there are no concerns about his availability for Sunday's match against Richmond, which is coming off a win in Jade Rawlings's first game as caretaker coach. Ball missed the session to sit a university exam, while Michael Gardiner was restricted to jogging laps ahead of what will be his 150th game.

Hayes said Gardiner, who has managed 20 games in two seasons with St Kilda after being restricted to 18 with a serious foot problem in the three preceding years at West Coast, had been an essential ingredient in the flawless start to 2009. "It is a big milestone for him," Hayes said. "He's been great for us and he is getting back to some of his best form. He has been a real plus for us."

 

[Squizz]

Re: Media Thread

Saints of 1966 to gather before Hawks game to honour Baldock

St Kilda’s 1966 premiership heroes are crossing Bass Strait to hold a reunion with their mercurial captain Darrel "Mr Magic" Baldock. The reunion will bring together the 19 living members of the premiership team and is to be held in Launceston on the eve of the Hawthorn-St Kilda match at Aurora Stadium on August 8.

The failing health of some of the St Kilda premiership players has been the catalyst for the reunion and it is being organised by Kevin "Cowboy" Neale who is president of the Saints' past players association. "We had our 40-year reunion in 2006 and considering some of them might not be around for too much longer we looked at coming down to Tassie to catch up with Darrel," he said.

Rodger Head, a back pocket player in the premiership team, has been one of the instigators of the reunion and along with John Bingley has offered to arrange airfares for their teammates. "Rodger has had a touch of prostate cancer and Darrel's been crook so we thought we would organise something down in Tassie," Neale said. "I've been in touch with all the players except Ian Stewart who is presently in London and they've all said they will come down."

Of the 1966 team, Verdun Howell and Brian Sierakowski live in Perth, Barry Breen is in Sydney and the remainder are in Victoria. Travis Payze is the only member of the team no longer living.

Neale said premiership coach Allan Jeans would be part of the reunion and following talks with Hawthorn the 1966 legends will be introduced to the crowd before the game at Aurora Stadium.

 

[Squizz]

Re: Media Thread

Anyone read the papers on the weekend? There was a good article on Woody's recovery (will get some game time towards the end of the season) but I can't locate it on the net.