future saints direction

[cong8]

just curious as to what direction saints fans think the board (and any new coach) will take into the next couple of seasons.

There are a few significant players approaching the end over the next year or so that will be difficult to replace - harvey (i think he should go on next season), gehrig, hamill, powell has retired, thompson and peckett are a chance to go - perhaps there are others that I have missed.

So a few points/questions

1. Would you prefer a young (hence inexperienced coach) or one that has shown they can do it ie pagan (please take him! ), malthouse (cant see that happening), blight?

2. Given that most 'draftees' wont make a significant impact on a team for the first couple of seasons, could you see the board trading away picks to pick up specific players for a genuine tilt before the necessary 'minor' rebuild when gehrig et al give it away?

Players that you could pick up reasonably cheap might include - everitt, mal michael, gardiner (imagine you wont want him) - add to that 1-2 'good-very good' players gathered from trading away early picks this season you could almost custom build your team to cover deficiencies/improve depth

 

[panthers]

To answer your last part first I would doubt very much that we would go for everitt, gardiner or mal michael.
Not sure how they will go with the new coach. As has been said in lots of posts there are a fair number of "new" coaches waiting for their chance. They being O donnell, longmire, creswell, mcguane , matt rendell. There are numerous others as well. It will be very interesting to see which way the club decides to go.
Myself personally am very dissapointed in the decision the club has taken because i believed that Grant had taken the club to a new level

 

[cong8]

To answer your last part first I would doubt very much that we would go for everitt, gardiner or mal michael.
Not sure how they will go with the new coach. As has been said in lots of posts there are a fair number of "new" coaches waiting for their chance. They being O donnell, longmire, creswell, mcguane , matt rendell. There are numerous others as well. It will be very interesting to see which way the club decides to go.
Myself personally am very dissapointed in the decision the club has taken because i believed that Grant had taken the club to a new level

To respond to your last part first - If I were a saints fan I would also be disappointed in his sacking given that it leaves the club in a difficult position to pick up a replacement coach - ie a young, basically untried/unproven coach (risky given the window for several club stalwarts), or someone who is experienced and shown a lot (most seem to feel pagan/malthouse etc are over the hill)

On everitt/michael (gardiner wouldnt be in the picture) I certainly wouldnt chase them hard. Given the falling out between spider and hawks he could spite them and go into the PSD - ie saints get him for nothing given that swans pick later). Similarly michael if he is leaving brisbane anyway (due to differnces on training schedule/time required at club) and his limited lifespan, he might come very cheap (3rd round pick?). That would leave the saints 1st and 2nd round picks to trade for a gun player - blues, hawks, richmond, essendon, brisbane, port, north would all 'want' an extra early picks given that they are rebuilding. From those respective clubs you could chase
carlton - stevens/fev (fev unlikely as we would want more than just your 1st 2 picks),
hawks - couldnt suggest anyone worth your while
richmond - simmonds (very unlikely), tambling (possible?)
essendon - mcphee?
brisbane - bradshaw?
north - laidley might give u his entire list for a 2nd rounder

 

[SpInNeR]

To answer your last part first I would doubt very much that we would go for everitt, gardiner or mal michael.
Not sure how they will go with the new coach. As has been said in lots of posts there are a fair number of "new" coaches waiting for their chance. They being O donnell, longmire, creswell, mcguane , matt rendell. There are numerous others as well. It will be very interesting to see which way the club decides to go.
Myself personally am very dissapointed in the decision the club has taken because i believed that Grant had taken the club to a new level

agreed about that level....he has taken us to that...but its the levels above that we now need to move on to. Stkilda have shown that we mean business now.

Dont lie down to the bul****..."yous should have won a flag by now" utter bul****....

2004 we overachieved....it was a season well done
2005 injuries killed us more that this year. (people have bad memories)
2006 - well bit of a tough one...could go eigther way.

 

[Kildonan]

Saints revamp footy department
11 October 2006
Sportal for afl.com.au

St Kilda's football department will take on a different look in terms of both personnel and structure with the arrival of new coach Ross Lyon and the departures of assistants Matt Rendell and Mick McGuane, club president Rod Butterss confirmed on Wednesday.

Butterss described the commonly-held belief that former boss Grant Thomas held sway in all football matters at the club during his reign as a "myth", but did foreshadow alterations to the club's approach in the future.

"We will put in place a structure that has come about by observing high-performing teams. We'll adopt a fairly traditional model I think from that perspective," he said from Moorabbin.

"I think the important thing from the board and the administration's perspective is that we believe we've made a very strong decision and it's now our job to be very supportive of both Ross and the football department and the wider club.

"We see our job as to take down the hurdles, not put them up, so we're confident that we'll have a very effective structure."

He said that part of that restructure would involve the appointment of an "operational person" to oversee the department.

In confirming the departures of Rendell and McGuane, Butterss took the opportunity to thank them for their endeavours.

"I can confirm that Matthew Rendell has resigned from the St Kilda footy club and Micky has crossed the line - he's a member of the media now and I'll leave it with Mick to share with you his new employer," Butterss said.

"But we wish Micky all the best, he had a real impact and he's got a great nature and the same with Matthew - he made a real contribution and he goes with our best wishes."

Butterss would not speculate on the reason for Rendell's resignation, but did reveal that he had "declined the opportunity to participate in the interview (process)" for the senior coaching role.

 

[Kildonan]

Saints' next wave begins
12 October 2006 Herald-Sun
Mark Stevens

Hours into his new job, Ross Lyon shares his vision for the Saints with Mark Stevens. And no, they won't be a new version of the Swans ... they'll be their own team making their own mark.

MS: Have you spoken to John Longmire yet?

RL: No, not as yet, but there has been a lot going on. We worked together for three years, so it's fine. He left me a message congratulating me. He said, 'Get back to me when the dust settles'. There's no issue there.

You talk about the need for another ruckman who can win 200-plus hitouts next year. Where do you see Justin Koschitzke fitting in?

He can ruck. We think he's capable of 10 hitouts a week over 20 games, yeah. We just want to get a good pre-season under his belt and then start worrying about position and hitouts.

The Saints have only had four debutants in the past two years. Is there a need for the next wave?

You're always going to have organic growth long-term. You've got Raph Clarke and those kids and Leigh Fisher has come back this year. You need to develop those kids.

In recent years, early picks have been traded away. Is it time to take the kids in the early rounds?

I don't know whether they have done that. I haven't really looked at it. I know they've kept a lot of early picks and kept a good list.

Looking ahead to the trade, will you be hanging on to picks in the first two rounds?

We're going through that at the moment. It's a needs basis. If West Coast want to give us Dean Cox we'll give them pick nine (laughs). It's case by case.

Do you need more depth through the midfield?

Depth is runners and numbers. Clearly Lenny Hayes is rehabilitating and we've got to get Lukey Ball right to share the load a little bit more. Every team loves more run and carry so we're going to try to get that. We've got to manage Robert Harvey. I mean he's an out-and-out champion, but a few others have got to step up.

Most first-up coaches get a side low on the ladder ready to rebuild. Getting a job with a premiership challenger usually doesn't happen.

I haven't looked at the history of it. Talent on lists is subjective, isn't it? When Roosy (Paul Roos) took on Sydney, 14 experts tipped them to finish last. Who's analysing the talent? But the reality is, St Kilda has won a fair amount of games over the last couple of years.

Does that add pressure? If you were taking over a lower club there may be more time to build results.

I haven't been at a footy club that doesn't like to win on a weekly basis.

Sydney has had such a good run with injuries. Is there any magic you can bring with you to Moorabbin?

Not really. It was just a congruency between all the departments -- management and conditioning -- to get a good program. And clearly the players were involved in that. Those three areas came together and it seemed to work well.

You've spoken about empowering players and we've all heard about the "Bloods culture" at Sydney. There's obviously something special going on up there -- are you going to attempt to replicate it?

I don't want to replicate what they've got. There's some broad principles you can apply, but St Kilda is going to be St Kilda. They've got strong respect in the competition now. It's just about bridging the gap.

It is perceived that the Swans' success is based around hardness, winning at stoppages and making it a real battle. Is that your philosophy?

That's an opinion. In Sydney, I don't think we saw it as a hard battle and the numbers changed a bit this year. The (late) running (Michael O'Loughlin) goal out of defence against West Coast in the qualifying final was bold and attacking -- I don't think it was all about stoppages.