Thomas takes parting shot at Black
10 October 2004 Sunday Herald Sun
By JACKIE EPSTEIN
ST Kilda coach Grant Thomas has taken a swipe at Heath Black, questioning whether family was the reason behind his wish to return to Western Australia.
Thomas lost patience with the indecisive midfielder, whom he said had passed up an opportunity to be part of a successful team.
"I'll be honest, my patience wasn't wearing thin, it had worn out," Thomas said yesterday on 3AW.
"You can only persevere with that situation for a period of time and he doesn't need to profess to me the importance of family because I've got a large one and I know the importance of it.
"At the end of the day, when that continues to get in the way of what we're trying to do, you've got to make a decision and Blacky was continually at odds with his situation. And whether or not (his partner) Sam wanted to go back, or Heath wanted to go back, in my mind, is questionable. He's walked away from an opportunity of being a successful player at the club."
Black was traded to Fremantle in a three-way deal in which the Saints secured Aaron Fiora from the Tigers.
Thomas said he could not be happier to land Richmond's No. 3 draft pick from 1999.
"We didn't get anywhere near the benefits out of Heath Black that we invested in him that we expected," Thomas said.
"He played well in his third year for probably half or two thirds of the season. He still finished 12th in our best and fairest, so it wasn't the year we expect from a guy that's on the contract that he was on. But nevertheless when he gets the ball he can do very good things with it.
"It's up to him now. I wish him all the best and hope he does well over there and everything else.
"But between you and me and a gatepost, we are much more satisfied with Aaron Fiora, a young 23-year-old that's determined to be a great player at St Kilda."
The plan for Fiora, who played 78 games with the Tigers, is to turn him into a tough inside player.
"Our delivery into our forward line has been a little bit haphazard and that's why we don't have as many shots at goal from the amount of entries we have, which is probably one or two in the comp, so it's an area we have to improve," Thomas said.
"He's (Fiora) a quality ball user. You get the football to him and something happens. He's very, very keen to rid the tag of being a player that's outside rather than being able to win his own football.
"At our club we demand that every player is able to do that. And we've seen improvements in contested ball area in players like Aussie Jones and Stephen Milne who'd be considered more those outside guys.
"Guys like (Nick) Dal Santo, (Luke) Ball, (Brendon) Goddard in the last half of the year, (Xavier) Clarke, they're guys who've played far more aggressive and harder at the football than they were when they started, so we expect them to drag Aaron (Fiora) along in that area as well. He's a very good runner so we think he will be a quality addition."
I want some of the drugs Thomas is taking! BWAAAAH HAAAA HAAA HAAA
10 October 2004 Sunday Herald Sun
By JACKIE EPSTEIN
ST Kilda coach Grant Thomas has taken a swipe at Heath Black, questioning whether family was the reason behind his wish to return to Western Australia.
Thomas lost patience with the indecisive midfielder, whom he said had passed up an opportunity to be part of a successful team.
"I'll be honest, my patience wasn't wearing thin, it had worn out," Thomas said yesterday on 3AW.
"You can only persevere with that situation for a period of time and he doesn't need to profess to me the importance of family because I've got a large one and I know the importance of it.
"At the end of the day, when that continues to get in the way of what we're trying to do, you've got to make a decision and Blacky was continually at odds with his situation. And whether or not (his partner) Sam wanted to go back, or Heath wanted to go back, in my mind, is questionable. He's walked away from an opportunity of being a successful player at the club."
Black was traded to Fremantle in a three-way deal in which the Saints secured Aaron Fiora from the Tigers.
Thomas said he could not be happier to land Richmond's No. 3 draft pick from 1999.
"We didn't get anywhere near the benefits out of Heath Black that we invested in him that we expected," Thomas said.
"He played well in his third year for probably half or two thirds of the season. He still finished 12th in our best and fairest, so it wasn't the year we expect from a guy that's on the contract that he was on. But nevertheless when he gets the ball he can do very good things with it.
"It's up to him now. I wish him all the best and hope he does well over there and everything else.
"But between you and me and a gatepost, we are much more satisfied with Aaron Fiora, a young 23-year-old that's determined to be a great player at St Kilda."
The plan for Fiora, who played 78 games with the Tigers, is to turn him into a tough inside player.
"Our delivery into our forward line has been a little bit haphazard and that's why we don't have as many shots at goal from the amount of entries we have, which is probably one or two in the comp, so it's an area we have to improve," Thomas said.
"He's (Fiora) a quality ball user. You get the football to him and something happens. He's very, very keen to rid the tag of being a player that's outside rather than being able to win his own football.
"At our club we demand that every player is able to do that. And we've seen improvements in contested ball area in players like Aussie Jones and Stephen Milne who'd be considered more those outside guys.
"Guys like (Nick) Dal Santo, (Luke) Ball, (Brendon) Goddard in the last half of the year, (Xavier) Clarke, they're guys who've played far more aggressive and harder at the football than they were when they started, so we expect them to drag Aaron (Fiora) along in that area as well. He's a very good runner so we think he will be a quality addition."
I want some of the drugs Thomas is taking! BWAAAAH HAAAA HAAA HAAA
