2009 Media Thread

[Look2Me4Guidance]

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.

Yes brother I read it.

It was in the Sunday Age.

 

[Red Gum]

Re: Media Thread

LMAO @ your sig L2M4G!
Very good work. It's one of my favourite episodes.
"Wear the funky, funky eyepatch!"

 

[Darkhour]

Re: Media Thread

another badly written article..

http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/rf...-be-overpowered/2009/06/29/1246127483575.html

Which midfield will finally be overpowered?

June 30, 2009

AS MUCH as this match is a clash of midfield talent, it is also a clash of midfield style. The Saints like to take the ball wider, by the flanks and wings, than Geelong, which is a corridor team.
Both use overlapping handballs and carry the ball more than moving it by foot. As much as the Saints dislike the comparison, their game, especially in the midfield, is very Sydney-like in philosophy, predicated on full team pressure and aggressive attack on the ball and its carrier.
It is a philosophy - committed to creating suffocating pressure - that Collingwood used to unravel Geelong last year. And that begins in the midfield.
In terms of pure class, Geelong seems to have superior talent, but the gap is not wide. There is no Gary Ablett at St Kilda; Clint Jones is a good stopper but nowhere near Cameron Ling's calibre; Joel Selwood is the best inside player in the competition, but Lenny Hayes is still an A-grade player.
The Cats have more depth to their midfield with the likes of Paul Chapman swinging through and Corey Enright pushing hard up the field from half-back.
MICHAEL GLEESON
KEY MATCH-UPS
Nick Dal Santo v Cameron Ling
Ling normally takes Dal Santo, one of the Saints' most creative playmakers. Dal Santo is not blessed with explosive pace so he suits the one-paced, run-all-day Ling. There's a view that Dal Santo can be hurt by pushing hard against him the other way, and Ling will attempt to exploit that. Ling is strong overhead and can kick goals when pressing forward.
Clint Jones v Gary Ablett
While Ablett has played forward more in recent weeks he will play everywhere and Jones will go where he does. The Saint latched on to Ben Cousins last week and was able to go with him all day. He is OK as long as he doesn't need to kick. Keeping Ablett to less than 30 touches is a win.
Brendon Goddard v Joel Corey
Goddard is the Saints' everywhere man, who will start in the middle but can go forward and kick a long goal. But the Saints also like to use him behind the ball.Corey is St Kilda's equivalent of former Brisbane Lion Nigel Lappin - the forgotten man in a stellar midfield. Along with Enright off half-back, they are underrated stars. A bit like Jimmy Bartel, he will play out on a wing at times and on the ball at others. He may not go head-to-head with Goddard but he is a good match for size and ability to play defensively and offensively.
Lenny Hayes v Joel Selwood
Selwood is the ultimate inside player and goes all day in the position. Hayes is equally important to the Saints. Neither has pace but they have endurance. Hayes often rotates off the ball with Luke Ball, as Geelong does with James Kelly. Selwood is not the type to be easily shut down because he is so strong over the ball inside the pack.

 

[TassieSaint]

Re: Media Thread

pretty condescending line there 'but hayes is still an a-grader'... comfortably a better player than selwood in my book, although selwood is also a gun.

as for the midfields, geelong's is undeniably more accomplished and has us on overall performance. but as for talent, performance this year and depth? as GT said on footy classified, throw a blanket over them. the article seems to suggest geelong has the better midfield (on form we're even in my books) and will beat us out of the middle.

I reckon the midfield battle will be fairly even, I'm tipping if Geelong win it'll be due to their defence, limiting our scoring (I don't have the stats but I don't think we're the most efficient going inside 50 as it is, we'll have to make the most of our opportunities which is very hard against the cats.) and killing us on the rebound. Milburn, Enright, Scarlett and Mackie all saw a bit of it last time we played iirc (although of course we're a different team this year, so you can't read much into that game).

 

[Darkhour]

Re: Media Thread

pretty condescending line there 'but hayes is still an a-grader'... comfortably a better player than selwood in my book, although selwood is also a gun.

as for the midfields, geelong's is undeniably more accomplished and has us on overall performance. but as for talent, performance this year and depth? as GT said on footy classified, throw a blanket over them. the article seems to suggest geelong has the better midfield (on form we're even in my books) and will beat us out of the middle.

I reckon the midfield battle will be fairly even, I'm tipping if Geelong win it'll be due to their defence, limiting our scoring (I don't have the stats but I don't think we're the most efficient going inside 50 as it is, we'll have to make the most of our opportunities which is very hard against the cats.) and killing us on the rebound. Milburn, Enright, Scarlett and Mackie all saw a bit of it last time we played iirc (although of course we're a different team this year, so you can't read much into that game).

yeah.. where is the track record?? Joey?? Rucks?? All that article seemed to be was a 5min bias rush job... hardly worthy of a leading newspaper...

 

[Squizz]

Re: Media Thread

Saint Kristian Bardsley recalls Gary Ablett Sr clash

St Kilda footballer Kristian Bardsley hasn't spoken to Gary Ablett Sr since the tribunal sequel to their bloody clash at KardiniaPark in 1996.

Ablett walked away from the judiciary that night with a five-match suspension weighing heavily as the harshest of his career. Bardsley walked away nursing the total of 18 stitches in the flesh on his jaw, and if the Saint met the Cat today his words would be decisive. "I would just say to him I think what happens on the field stays on the field," Bardsley said yesterday. "No hard feelings from my point of view, it's all part of the game."

Their collision in the opening quarter of the round two clash at KardiniaPark remains frozen in time as one of the most distinctive in a century of football between the two clubs and still ranks among the biggest contemporary on-field controversies.

Bardsley was carried from the ground on a stretcher concussed with blood streaming vividly from his face after having tackled a full-tilt Ablett. He told tribunal members he couldn't remember the act of tackling. Ablett apologised for something he could only define as an accident.

The tribunal decisively ruled that the Cats' joint captain had struck the Saint with an arm to the head and the Herald Sun accompanied photos of the drama with the Easter edition heading Kristian meets God. "I've got a few of the photos up in my study and every time I walk in I just laugh," Bardsley said. "It's not something that I try to forget, it's just something that happened. If you hold grudges about these things it doesn't get you anywhere."

The gritty ballgetter returned to the Saints' team a fortnight after the clash and played on for a couple of seasons but never crossed paths with Ablett on the field again.

His career took him to premiership outfit Springvale in the VFL in 1999 but he missed most of that grand final after being knocked unconscious during the opening minutes when he hit his head on a stray knee.

Bardsley has coached Scoresby in the Eastern League for the past seven seasons, including a flag in 2006, and now also coaches Rowville under-9s and catches St Kilda games when he can.

He'll be front and centre in his lounge room with kids Nathan, 10, Jai, 8, and Elise, 3, absorbing the drama of Sunday's Cats-Saints blockbuster. "It's a massive game, a massive game," he said. "Hopefully the Saints will come through and come through well."

 

[Squizz]

Re: Media Thread

St Kilda calls in ex-Cat Leigh Tudor

"WE have to improve our forward-50 pressure - the world knows that," St Kilda coach Ross Lyon, April 13, last year. The frank admission came less than an hour after St Kilda had been thumped by you-know-who. Geelong, the Saints' opponent in Sunday's "Grand Final in July", easily carried the ball out of defence in a 42-point victory.

It was bleeding obvious that the forward line was top heavy with Nick Riewoldt, Justin Koschitzke and Fraser Gehrig roaming inside 50. But the problem ran far deeper. St Kilda, for several years, had struggled to harass and tackle rebounding defenders. The little guys, including Stephen Milne and Adam Schneider, weren't doing enough to hold up their end of the bargain.

Ross Lyon knew the problem wouldn't be fixed overnight, but he had the look of a man who was on the case. Perhaps, after spying through the binoculars, the shrewd coach began searching for answers in the opposition box 100m away. Leigh Tudor, Geelong's VFL coach, also played a match-day role and was as sharp as anyone when it came to making forwards accountable for applying pressure.

The Saints' forward pressure woes, still evident throughout last season, vanished. The transformation, led by Lyon with his hired gun Tudor, has been astounding. After 13 rounds, the Saints have laid 150 tackles in their forward-50. In 22 home-and-away matches last season, they managed the same amount. So the Saints are nine games worth of tackles ahead of schedule.

It means they have rocketed to No. 1 in the competition for tackles laid inside 50. Under Grant Thomas, the Saints were seventh for forward-50 tackles in 2005, but dropped to 15th in 2006. The first two years under Lyon were no better -- 16th in 2007 and 15th last year.

Andrew McQualter, the re-born rookie, is leading the way with 20 forward-50 tackles in 13 games, ranking him No. 3 in the competition. Schneider, embracing the defensive ethos, has laid 19 in 13 outings, leaving him equal fourth. But the biggest story is Milne, so often derided for his lack of defensive workrate. In 2007, the column exposed Milne for not laying a single forward-50 tackle in the first five rounds of the season.

This year, Milne has laid 15 in 11 games. If he did not miss a fortnight because of a knee injury, Milne could be No. 1. The change in Milne's numbers sums up the reinvention of the Saints more than any other stat with which you will be bombarded.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Re: Media Thread

I still think that if I was an opposition defender, I'd rather get clobbered by Milney or McQualter than by Gwilt .

 

[Squizz]

Re: Media Thread

Don't think too many AFL players get hurt in normal tackles anyway these days - the main pain is coughing up a goal (and maybe getting dragged afterwards).

 

[Fehring]

Re: Media Thread

another badly written article..

http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/rf...-be-overpowered/2009/06/29/1246127483575.html

Which midfield will finally be overpowered?

June 30, 2009

AS MUCH as this match is a clash of midfield talent, it is also a clash of midfield style. The Saints like to take the ball wider, by the flanks and wings, than Geelong, which is a corridor team.
Both use overlapping handballs and carry the ball more than moving it by foot. As much as the Saints dislike the comparison, their game, especially in the midfield, is very Sydney-like in philosophy, predicated on full team pressure and aggressive attack on the ball and its carrier.
It is a philosophy - committed to creating suffocating pressure - that Collingwood used to unravel Geelong last year. And that begins in the midfield.
In terms of pure class, Geelong seems to have superior talent, but the gap is not wide. There is no Gary Ablett at St Kilda; Clint Jones is a good stopper but nowhere near Cameron Ling's calibre; Joel Selwood is the best inside player in the competition, but Lenny Hayes is still an A-grade player.
The Cats have more depth to their midfield with the likes of Paul Chapman swinging through and Corey Enright pushing hard up the field from half-back.
MICHAEL GLEESON
KEY MATCH-UPS
Nick Dal Santo v Cameron Ling
Ling normally takes Dal Santo, one of the Saints' most creative playmakers. Dal Santo is not blessed with explosive pace so he suits the one-paced, run-all-day Ling. There's a view that Dal Santo can be hurt by pushing hard against him the other way, and Ling will attempt to exploit that. Ling is strong overhead and can kick goals when pressing forward.
Clint Jones v Gary Ablett
While Ablett has played forward more in recent weeks he will play everywhere and Jones will go where he does. The Saint latched on to Ben Cousins last week and was able to go with him all day. He is OK as long as he doesn't need to kick. Keeping Ablett to less than 30 touches is a win.
Brendon Goddard v Joel Corey
Goddard is the Saints' everywhere man, who will start in the middle but can go forward and kick a long goal. But the Saints also like to use him behind the ball.Corey is St Kilda's equivalent of former Brisbane Lion Nigel Lappin - the forgotten man in a stellar midfield. Along with Enright off half-back, they are underrated stars. A bit like Jimmy Bartel, he will play out on a wing at times and on the ball at others. He may not go head-to-head with Goddard but he is a good match for size and ability to play defensively and offensively.
Lenny Hayes v Joel Selwood
Selwood is the ultimate inside player and goes all day in the position. Hayes is equally important to the Saints. Neither has pace but they have endurance. Hayes often rotates off the ball with Luke Ball, as Geelong does with James Kelly. Selwood is not the type to be easily shut down because he is so strong over the ball inside the pack.

Ling has certainly been tagging longer than Jones and so has more runs on the board, and if you stopped their careers now you'd declare Ling to be far better. But I'm not so sure that their form over the first 13 rounds has been much different. One interesting stat - Ling, who is meant to be a goal kicking tagger, has kicked 4 goals at an average of .4 per game. Jones has kicked 6 at an average of .5 He loves a goal, our Clint.

 

[goodie23]

Re: Media Thread

In terms of pure class, Geelong seems to have superior talent, but the gap is not wide. There is no Gary Ablett at St Kilda; Clint Jones is a good stopper but nowhere near Cameron Ling's calibre; Joel Selwood is the best inside player in the competition, but Lenny Hayes is still an A-grade player.
The Cats have more depth to their midfield with the likes of Paul Chapman swinging through and Corey Enright pushing hard up the field from half-back.

That's just crap. Give me Lenny any day of the week

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Re: Media Thread

Ling has certainly been tagging longer than Jones and so has more runs on the board, and if you stopped their careers now you'd declare Ling to be far better. But I'm not so sure that their form over the first 13 rounds has been much different. One interesting stat - Ling, who is meant to be a goal kicking tagger, has kicked 4 goals at an average of .4 per game. Jones has kicked 6 at an average of .5 He loves a goal, our Clint.

I guess they don't count as examples of his "poor disposal".

 

[CHBench]

Re: Media Thread

U/18 National champs are on fox if anyone wants to take a peak at this years crop.
Josh Duncan playing on the ball for NSW. (He's eligible to be drafted this year, yes?)

 

[Squizz]

Re: Media Thread

Heard good things about Josh (and not just regarding his developing stubble!).

29 possessions in round 1 win over Qld.

In the best against SA on Friday (12 possessions by half time to finish with 17).

Kicked a goal in the Division 2 win over Tassie this morning.

 

[bubblegoose]

Re: Media Thread

Culture change drives St Kilda

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25715791-19772,00.html
IF IT is true that you need a full-blown crisis to bring real reform, then it probably happened for St Kilda five years ago.

Two of its budding stars, Leigh Montagna and Stephen Milne, precipitated a major scandal when they found themselves under police investigation for rape in 2004.

Even though the police found there was insufficient evidence to lay charges, the ignominious affair enhanced St Kilda's reputation as a club ready to implode at any (given) time.

Upheaval at Moorabbin rarely surprised the football community.

Whether it was the unseemly sacking of a coach (e.g. Malcolm Blight), in-fighting in the boardroom or a lack of discipline in the dressingroom, it was always seen as part of the unfortunate St Kilda culture.

It was a place with a magnetic attraction to the flawed characters of the game - on and off the field.

Certainly they had strengths, but, inevitably, these would be overwhelmed by their weaknesses.

It was not misfortune alone that had restricted the club to one premiership in more than 100 years.

The talent was often at hand but not the sustained collective discipline needed to build a premiership challenge.

So, when Montagna and Milne brought such an unwelcome focus upon their club, it was in keeping with the well-established pattern of an emerging St Kilda team lunging at the self-destruct button.

Yet, five years on, the evidence suggests that something finally clicked after that incident, and what we see today, an unbeaten team with a very real chance of winning a second premiership, is the product of a stark realisation that things had to change.

Slowly but surely St Kilda has hauled itself up by its bootstraps, and done what would have been deemed impossible not so long ago.

It has transformed its culture, to the point where the St Kilda of 2009 is unrecognisable from past incarnations.

This cannot be ascribed only to a new coach or new board, although these changes have undoubtedly helped the process.

Sacked to make way for (current coach) Ross Lyon, Grant Thomas also deserves credit, but, more than their overseers, it is the players who have provided the greatest impetus for change.

St Kilda is blessed with a combined strength of character within the team that it has probably never had before.

More than their football ability, the personal-value systems of team leaders such as Lenny Hayes, Nick Riewoldt, Nick Dal Santo and Luke Ball have left an indelible mark upon the group.

Players now prosper in the St Kilda environment rather than get dragged down by it. Look at how Michael Gardiner, seen as a bad influence and washed up not so long ago, has flourished.

Montagna's growth as a person and player and Milne's ability to remain relevant also would probably not have happened at old St Kilda.

They either would have had to go elsewhere to learn the disciplines of the game, or they would have disappeared, along with all the other victims of the infamous St Kilda culture.

It's easy to say things have changed - a lot harder to prove it.

There's no doubt St Kilda has proved it.

Indeed, when Steven Baker calmly walks away from an attacker in a country pub, as he reportedly did recently, you know things are no longer the same at Moorabbin.

 

[krusden]

Re: Media Thread

i like how grant pressed the point we have had a culture change. i believe really since that incident & investigation especially we have shown ourselves to be a professional club. finally.
as supporters of this grand club we know and feel what has happened. I don't profess to know how or why... but i think the "old" st kilda detailed by harves in his book has gone.

& i couldn't give a damn whether other clubs believe it. cos i believe it and feel it.

 

[BrianSpeaking]

Re: Media Thread

Rivalry to bring out the heat in undefeated showdown

July 01, 2009
Geelong coach Mark Thompson admits there is an edge to the intense rivalry with St Kilda ahead of their AFL blockbuster on Sunday.

Cats captain Tom Harley has tried to play it down, but Thompson says there is extra feeling when the two sides play.

Geelong and St Kilda are unbeaten after 13 rounds and this will be one of the biggest home-and-away games in the league's history.

"I don't think we like each other too much," Thompson said.

Cats fullback Matthew Scarlett is likely to receive extra attention from the Saints following his verbal confrontation with St Kilda legend Robert Harvey at the end of last year's qualifying final.

"Matty will be ready for it - he's a really blunt, direct person," Thompson said.

AAP

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[IllBeTheJudge]

Re: Media Thread

Love the first few paragraphs and the last paragraph. Onya BJ

Goddard: Living up to top billing

Goddard: Living up to top billing

EARLIER this year, Brendon Goddard burst into a manager's office at St Kilda with a head of steam. He had just read that Melbourne had more members than St Kilda.

How could this happen? Melbourne, for God's sake! It couldn't win a game and had more members than St Kilda? Something had to be done: a telethon, something, anything.

The moment revealed several things about Goddard: first, the competitive beast within that cannot stomach a rival besting him at anything; second, that he hurts for the club, not just for the team.

Several weeks ago there was a mix-up on the ground and the Saints found themselves without a ruckman at the centre bounce. So Goddard took the tap. "He is a very competitive beast and that is what has made him a good player," coach Ross Lyon said. "He is the classic modern footballer. There aren't many positions he can't play — not that we plan on playing him in the ruck — but he will do that and being a competitor he will do OK."

It is part of the emergence of Goddard as the serious player he has become over the past 12 to 18 months. A good player with obviously elite potential, given his No. 1 draft ranking, he has become an elite midfielder. Now that all players have had time to mature into careers, he is still clearly the best player of that 2002 draft.

By Lyon's reckoning, the knee reconstruction that temporarily derailed his career was ultimately the making of him. "I thought the reco, as much as it was horrendous to go through, it brought out the best in him and developed in him an appreciation of the timeframe you have got in footy. It got him moving," Lyon said.

"He came off a year before that of playing a floating half-back role but he was not winning his own ball because that was not his role. We spoke about the fact that to be a good player you have to win your own ball and he does that now.

"When I got here I think they thought he was a player without position; they bulked him up to 97 kilograms and played him centre half-back but he was a mid. He runs exceptionally well — speed endurance."

The player himself believes the difference in his football is understanding that talent alone is insufficient. "Honestly, when I first came into the AFL I wasn't mentally ready for football, not ready for the mental slog of it, and to realise how important the mental side of the game is and how big a part it plays in your consistency," he said.

"I probably did it naturally and it wasn't as structured as it is now so I was probably playing on talent and instinct and preparing as I did as a junior, but when you step up to AFL and playing against men it is a lot harder to find consistency in footy. It probably took me a couple of years to realise mental toughness and mental preparation was an important thing.

"Generally even when I first got drafted I was pretty dedicated and pretty hard but it is a step up again. We say there is training hard and there is training hard, and it took me a year or two to grasp that and learn from the guys who were the best trainers at the footy club — Aaron Hamill, Lenny Hayes, Rooey (Nick Riewoldt) at that stage was already elite, and you obviously had Robert Harvey.

"It was just understanding that when you think you are training hard you are never training as hard as you can; there is always that bit extra you can do and then it all becomes mental. You think I couldn't possibly do another 400 or go that extra 200 metres but once you get over that mental hurdle you realise you can.

"Now looking back I copped a lot of criticism for under-performing the first couple of years but you see that with young guys where they come in and they have a good first season or two but their second or third is poor and I reckon it is just mental toughness and the mental side of the game, coping with the schedule because it is quite taxing.

"Now I know I have to prepare mentally for training and for weights; each individual session you have got to put some kind of mental preparation in to get the best out of yourself. You can't just wing it.

"(Grant Thomas) did a great job and influenced me in a really big way. I was 17 at the time and coming in was pretty fragile. Thommo was really big on mental toughness and mental preparation and since Ross (Lyon) came to the club he has helped with mental preparation. You come to understand what works and you stick to it. We are creatures of habit."

Such a creature of habit in fact that Goddard must adhere to a routine that might otherwise be considered obsessive compulsive.

The night before a game the plot must always be the same. The same chicken spirelli dish has to be delivered from his local Port Melbourne Italian, washed down with litres of Powerade. He has to eat a packet of party-mix lollies and watch a quarter or two of footy before playing X-box with mates.

"We have a couple of TVs and X-boxes all linked up to the internet in the apartment and there is normally a fair few of us there and we are all really competitive. One of the X-boxes got broken when one of the boys kicked it," he laughed.

It might all sound a bit anal and superstitious, but it reflects a level of understanding of his own game and what makes it work. He has matured into being a footballer, not a talent.

It is emblematic of a lesson the entire team has learnt under Lyon. An enormously talented group of players, they have been drilled in a game plan that insists on more than talent.

"Your talent and your ability offensively comes naturally to most players but the defensive side is all about attitude and that is where we had to change our mindset and everything else would flow on from that even though it was tough, early days, changing our mentality. We have learnt that, I think, and that has been a difference in the side," he said.

Part of Goddard's own maturing came when he was a young player feeling his way through the system. His brother, Beau, was arrested and subsequently jailed on serious drug charges. His case gained additional media prominence because Goddard was an AFL footballer.

"I am fine with it. He is in a pretty good place (mentally) at the minute. I talk to him regularly, try to get up there to Castlemaine regularly to visit him," said Goddard, who earlier this year celebrated a goal with a crossed-hand gesture to support his brother.

"It was hard to deal with at the time, being so young. I was second year. It makes you grow up a lot faster and puts things in perspective but he influenced my footy career more than anyone I know."

Another similarly moulding moment in that early career came when Collingwood made a serious bid to lure him. "I was really young and financially it looked really good but I never saw myself playing for another team so at the end of the day it was never really an issue," he said. "As much as they can offer you deals and perks along the way, I could not live with myself if I was to move to another footy club." Goddard has been St Kilda's everywhere man on the field, swinging into every position on the ground. But the club is equally his everything.

 

[Armitage2Riewoldt]

Re: Media Thread

I think thats sig worthy.

I could not live with myself if I was to move to another footy club.

I don't see why you can't use it - I have tested it and it looks good - K

 

[bubblegoose]

Re: Media Thread

I think thats sig worthy.

club motto worthy even

 

[Armitage2Riewoldt]

Re: Media Thread

1. Your signature cannot be longer than 35 characters including BB code markup.
2. Your signature contains too many lines and must be shortened. You may only have up to 1 line(s). Long text may have been implicitly wrapped, causing it to be counted as multiple lines.

 

[CHBench]

Re: Media Thread

BFSC cheapskate.

 

[bubblegoose]

Re: Media Thread

No hatred, but Cats are biggest test

By Luke Ball 4:33 PM Thu 02 July, 2009

IN ALL my time I cannot remember a bigger build-up to a home and away game than our clash with Geelong this week.

Everyone in the footy world has had this one penciled in to their calendars for months and while you always focus on your opponent in any given week, we have been keeping one eye on the Cats all year long.

That’s nothing unusual though, I think every club would be paying close attention to the way they go about their business. They are the benchmark and everyone should be observing them.

I keep hearing terms like ‘finals-like’ and ‘sell-out’ and there is no doubt the game will be played at a high intensity. It will be on for sure but we have to remember that when all is said and done, it is still just a round 14 game. Despite all the hype outside the two clubs, there won’t be any cups or medals presented.

We are preparing this week like we have all year but it will be a great opportunity to test ourselves against the very best.

I can’t help but notice a few little bits and pieces in the footy media this week talking about the rivalry between the two teams.

To be honest there probably was a rivalry four or five years ago but both sides have changed a fair bit since then. I read somewhere that there is hatred from us to them but that is just ridiculous. It is certainly nothing but respect with the way they’ve performed over the last few years.

Talk of a rivalry started in 2004 after we’d beaten them in the pre-season competition. There were a few comments thrown around from both camps but the rivalry was built around both sides having a young, exciting list with some high draft picks.

People get excited about that but a bit of time has gone by and the rivalry is probably not as intense these days as people might think.

Melbourne-based footballers tend to travel in the same circles but I don’t really see the Geelong boys out all that much since they are based down the highway.

A few of them share the same management as me and there’s a few who I’ve played footy against for quite a while but that’s about the extent of it.

But I have watched enough of their games to know plenty about them. They’ve got a super midfield and when you play as well as they have for such a long period of time and won so many games they are not going to have many weaknesses. Their midfield is their strength. They have some superstar individuals and they work well as a team.

I know it’s going to be a huge task for us to come up against them and I know that wherever I look I’m going to be up against a star of the AFL.

Some have said that with both teams four games clear of the third-placed Bulldogs that a loss won’t be too damaging but both sides will be keen to do well. You always hear that you shouldn’t flirt with your form and neither team will want to concede that first game.

All year long our motto has been to try to bridge the gap between us and Geelong. We feel we’ve done that but just how far we’ve done it, we’ll know a bit more on Sunday. I can’t wait.

 

[Armitage2Riewoldt]

Re: Media Thread

I think thats sig worthy.




I don't see why you can't use it - I have tested it and it looks good - K

Haha, awesome stuff. Was gonna suggest one with membership do it.

 

[Squizz]

Re: Media Thread

That really sucks balls for you guys in Sydney :

Saints-Cats clash sets ratings records

The marks set include:

Average audience of 626,000 viewers in Melbourne, making it the highest rating ever Sunday AFL match in Melbourne.

Melbourne peak audience of 983,000.

Final quarter of the match averaged 854,000 viewers in Melbourne.

Peak audience across Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth was 1.433 million viewers.

Average national audience of 964,000 viewers watched the match on Seven.

Sunday's blockbuster between St Kilda and Geelong was not broadcast live in Sydney or Brisbane, with the Seven Network showing the Swans versus North Melbourne match instead. The Swans game attracted just 87,000 viewers in Sydney and 41,000 in Brisbane.