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Grant Thomas
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Kildonan
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St Kilda's record stands to show how good our defence is.
We have the second lowest points against in the league - only Adelaide has allowed fewer points scored against them.
Last year was a similar result, despite many not recognising the excellence of their performance.
Geelong prides themselves on their excellent defence yet St Kilda's defence has outperformed Geelong's defence for years.
As for Grant Thomas. He is an excellent coach. Together with Rod Butterss, GT has turned this club around to be a consistent finals contender and hopefully in the fullness of time, a multiple premiership winner.
This is something that I believe Bomber Thompson to be incapable of achieving.
We have the second lowest points against in the league - only Adelaide has allowed fewer points scored against them.
Last year was a similar result, despite many not recognising the excellence of their performance.
Geelong prides themselves on their excellent defence yet St Kilda's defence has outperformed Geelong's defence for years.
As for Grant Thomas. He is an excellent coach. Together with Rod Butterss, GT has turned this club around to be a consistent finals contender and hopefully in the fullness of time, a multiple premiership winner.
This is something that I believe Bomber Thompson to be incapable of achieving.
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Kildonan
Premium Platinum
Saint for life
Rohan Connolly
July 29, 2006
St Kilda coach Grant Thomas at Moorabbin, where he arrives each day at 6.30am. "This club is what I'm about."
GRANT Thomas has a message for those in the football world who believe St Kilda's chance to win a premiership might already have come and gone.
"We're not a 'time clock' club, much to people's chagrin," he said. "If people think our window of opportunity is closing … well, we haven't even actually in our minds opened the window to close yet. We're still looking to be better and better and better."
And so is the St Kilda coach. For what began as a seemingly stop-gap appointment to stem the bleeding when the Saints' short-lived association with Malcolm Blight ended in disaster mid-2001, has evolved into a long-term partnership. And one that Thomas believes for both parties has plenty of life left in it.
"I think I can get better in understanding the correlation between preparation and performance," he said.
"I think I can get better with researching and implementing more scientific and qualified people to have a bigger input into players' performance. I think the biggest leap in football into the future is going to be buying more time, buying more space, and making better decisions.
"They're the areas I'd like to get better in and provide more resources. I've spent a lot of time providing research and development for the playing group to develop their experience and worldliness, but I think I'm ready this year to perhaps get overseas and spend two or three weeks looking at areas I can implement into our game."
In his sixth season in the job, Thomas last week became the club's second longest-serving senior coach, behind only the legendary Allan Jeans. With 116 games in charge of the Saints under his belt, there's still an almighty gap to St Kilda's sole premiership coach's 332. But asked if he could conceivably "do a Kevin Sheedy", Thomas doesn't demur.
"Oh, I'd love to," he said without hesitation, leaning across the table in a small office at Moorabbin, his enthusiasm for the task at hand palpable as the noise of the St Kilda playing group getting ready for another training session under his command filters through the walls.
"I didn't realise this role could be as good as it is. What better opportunity do you have than waking up in the morning and coming in with 40-odd young men, and basically plotting war?
"There's nothing better than having young men that are wide-eyed and looking to fulfil their dreams, and they've got a special talent and a special gift, and you're empowered to try to get the most out of them. It's an incredible experience to wake up to every day."
And for Thomas these days, at least one confined mainly to fighting "wars" on the field rather than off it.
St Kilda in 2006 has not been flying. Unlike each of the past two seasons, there's been no sustained string of barnstorming victories, the Saints' past four wins as good as things have been, and even the last two of those by less than a kick. For a third year in a row, injuries to key players such as Lenny Hayes, Aaron Hamill, Xavier Clarke and the continuing saga surrounding Justin Koschitzke's battles to return from a fractured skull have bitten hard.
But St Kilda continues to hang tough. Its once criticised defence has become, behind only Adelaide, the AFL's steeliest. The Saints have tinkered with their game plan, more capable of adjusting to the different circumstances presented each week. And one of coaching's most-maligned figures has actually had the odd critical pat on the back.
Thomas is quick to praise the work and contribution of his assistants Matt Rendell, Jason Cripps, Mick McGuane and Jason Mifsud. But he, too, thinks there's perhaps fewer questions being asked now about his own capabilities. And that he's a much better coach than when he took over a once-pilloried club now earning some respect.
"Yeah, I think I am. I wish I didn't have to go through what I've been through, but I'm proud of how I've been able come through it," he said.
"I'm a different person now, because I think I'm far more engaging, not as defensive, and I don't have to be as ruthless as I felt I probably needed to be early days. The staff here are enormously supportive, which allows me to have the confidence to do what I do.
"If you don't have that support, you tend to conduct yourself differently. You tend to become a bit more cynical, you tend to be a bit more negative, more edgy. I think I had to bullet-proof myself through a pretty ugly period of time.
"'I think that has an effect on your personality, and I've got a whole host of learning experiences that have probably taught me to be a better person and to handle those things differently."
Much of that need for bullet-proofing came from the constant attacks on Thomas' legitimacy as a senior coach, the bad-mouthing about how he inherited the position and his relationships with his senior colleagues in coaching boxes at North Melbourne and with the Saints.
"This whole perception that I knifed Malcolm Blight for my own sake and tried to position myself as coach, then all these other things that came out about the sacking of Stan Alves, Wayne Schimmelbusch, Tim Watson that was all very hurtful, because it wasn't true," he said.
"The reason I was able to deal with it was because I made a decision early that if something wasn't the truth, you don't let it affect you. But it always affects you, it affects your family.
"The thing that really affects any individual the most is just the passionate, vehement aggro against you. It's as though there is a band of people out there that are very, very determined for you to fail, and I suppose that's the disappointing part."
Thomas doesn't expect to ever win over those arch-critics, despite a win-loss ratio that for three seasons now has hovered about 65 per cent, the "people who just don't like me very much, that are disappointed that the facts aren't supporting their argument".
He speaks of the undecided, those "that are probably thinking: 'I'm not sure about this guy yet, but I'll leave it to see how it pans out'."
Then, he says, there are those who think "at least he's had the courage and conviction to follow through with what he's said, and he's passionate about the St Kilda Football Club and he has its best interests at heart, so we'll back him".
Thomas says he doesn't believe he will ever coach another AFL club, "because this club is what I'm about". He generally arrives at Moorabbin each day by 6.30am, and spends much of his time away from the club working from his home office.
"Without any doubt, I do a lot of my best work at home. It's where I do all my planning and preparation, my themeing," he said.
It's also a chance to spend what time he can with his wife Kerry and their eight children. "To now and again once or twice a week go and pick the kids up from school at 4pm is healthy for me."
So is the "rest day" the Saints have recently reincorporated into their schedule. But it's a loose term.
"For one reason or another there's always four or five meetings you end up having, or it's a good time to catch up with Rocket (president Rod Butterss) and Archie Fraser (chief executive). I've been threatening to have a game of golf for months, but I never seem to do that, either.
"I don't spend anywhere near enough time with my kids, because I've left before they get up, and when I get home I'm upstairs in my office, then next thing you're in bed.
"I am getting a bit more serenity about me, which is allowing me to have a different perspective on my whole life, and I'm actually looking at ways to have more calmness so I can be a more highly effective person, because a lot of it to this point has been just on my knowledge, my learnings and experiences and grunt. I want to be a bit more effective."
But for now, that's about coaxing the very best out of a St Kilda playing group that hasn't delivered it consistently all season. It's about getting those injured stars back in harness, and with sufficient match fitness to be able to make an effective contribution in September.
And ultimately, of course, about getting a perennially unsuccessful club's hands on only a second premiership in 110 years.
"I think this group is looking forward to moving up another gear now, which is good," he said. "Hopefully, our timing's right. It's all about precision, and we're not there yet, but hopefully moving towards it."
After two successive preliminary final losses, there's only one result in 2006 that will satisfy not only St Kilda supporters, but a demanding football cognoscente. Deliver anything less, and the Saints and Thomas can expect a critical open season.
But even then, it won't be able to count on a coach sure not only of his team's future but his own, simply bowing to popular opinion. What began perhaps as a marriage of convenience is a union that Thomas, contracted until the end of next season, believes will be leaving its imprint for some years yet.
"(Adelaide coach) Neil Craig's giving us all something to think about," Thomas said. "I have to definitely move myself and my men to the next level of science and strategic thinking and planning.
"If I stay where I am at the moment, there will be people more appropriate to have this job than me in 12 months or two years' time.
"But if I keep growing and developing and keep the pressure on both myself and the organisation from a football perspective, I'm really confident that I'm the person to take them into the future."
Rohan Connolly
July 29, 2006
St Kilda coach Grant Thomas at Moorabbin, where he arrives each day at 6.30am. "This club is what I'm about."
GRANT Thomas has a message for those in the football world who believe St Kilda's chance to win a premiership might already have come and gone.
"We're not a 'time clock' club, much to people's chagrin," he said. "If people think our window of opportunity is closing … well, we haven't even actually in our minds opened the window to close yet. We're still looking to be better and better and better."
And so is the St Kilda coach. For what began as a seemingly stop-gap appointment to stem the bleeding when the Saints' short-lived association with Malcolm Blight ended in disaster mid-2001, has evolved into a long-term partnership. And one that Thomas believes for both parties has plenty of life left in it.
"I think I can get better in understanding the correlation between preparation and performance," he said.
"I think I can get better with researching and implementing more scientific and qualified people to have a bigger input into players' performance. I think the biggest leap in football into the future is going to be buying more time, buying more space, and making better decisions.
"They're the areas I'd like to get better in and provide more resources. I've spent a lot of time providing research and development for the playing group to develop their experience and worldliness, but I think I'm ready this year to perhaps get overseas and spend two or three weeks looking at areas I can implement into our game."
In his sixth season in the job, Thomas last week became the club's second longest-serving senior coach, behind only the legendary Allan Jeans. With 116 games in charge of the Saints under his belt, there's still an almighty gap to St Kilda's sole premiership coach's 332. But asked if he could conceivably "do a Kevin Sheedy", Thomas doesn't demur.
"Oh, I'd love to," he said without hesitation, leaning across the table in a small office at Moorabbin, his enthusiasm for the task at hand palpable as the noise of the St Kilda playing group getting ready for another training session under his command filters through the walls.
"I didn't realise this role could be as good as it is. What better opportunity do you have than waking up in the morning and coming in with 40-odd young men, and basically plotting war?
"There's nothing better than having young men that are wide-eyed and looking to fulfil their dreams, and they've got a special talent and a special gift, and you're empowered to try to get the most out of them. It's an incredible experience to wake up to every day."
And for Thomas these days, at least one confined mainly to fighting "wars" on the field rather than off it.
St Kilda in 2006 has not been flying. Unlike each of the past two seasons, there's been no sustained string of barnstorming victories, the Saints' past four wins as good as things have been, and even the last two of those by less than a kick. For a third year in a row, injuries to key players such as Lenny Hayes, Aaron Hamill, Xavier Clarke and the continuing saga surrounding Justin Koschitzke's battles to return from a fractured skull have bitten hard.
But St Kilda continues to hang tough. Its once criticised defence has become, behind only Adelaide, the AFL's steeliest. The Saints have tinkered with their game plan, more capable of adjusting to the different circumstances presented each week. And one of coaching's most-maligned figures has actually had the odd critical pat on the back.
Thomas is quick to praise the work and contribution of his assistants Matt Rendell, Jason Cripps, Mick McGuane and Jason Mifsud. But he, too, thinks there's perhaps fewer questions being asked now about his own capabilities. And that he's a much better coach than when he took over a once-pilloried club now earning some respect.
"Yeah, I think I am. I wish I didn't have to go through what I've been through, but I'm proud of how I've been able come through it," he said.
"I'm a different person now, because I think I'm far more engaging, not as defensive, and I don't have to be as ruthless as I felt I probably needed to be early days. The staff here are enormously supportive, which allows me to have the confidence to do what I do.
"If you don't have that support, you tend to conduct yourself differently. You tend to become a bit more cynical, you tend to be a bit more negative, more edgy. I think I had to bullet-proof myself through a pretty ugly period of time.
"'I think that has an effect on your personality, and I've got a whole host of learning experiences that have probably taught me to be a better person and to handle those things differently."
Much of that need for bullet-proofing came from the constant attacks on Thomas' legitimacy as a senior coach, the bad-mouthing about how he inherited the position and his relationships with his senior colleagues in coaching boxes at North Melbourne and with the Saints.
"This whole perception that I knifed Malcolm Blight for my own sake and tried to position myself as coach, then all these other things that came out about the sacking of Stan Alves, Wayne Schimmelbusch, Tim Watson that was all very hurtful, because it wasn't true," he said.
"The reason I was able to deal with it was because I made a decision early that if something wasn't the truth, you don't let it affect you. But it always affects you, it affects your family.
"The thing that really affects any individual the most is just the passionate, vehement aggro against you. It's as though there is a band of people out there that are very, very determined for you to fail, and I suppose that's the disappointing part."
Thomas doesn't expect to ever win over those arch-critics, despite a win-loss ratio that for three seasons now has hovered about 65 per cent, the "people who just don't like me very much, that are disappointed that the facts aren't supporting their argument".
He speaks of the undecided, those "that are probably thinking: 'I'm not sure about this guy yet, but I'll leave it to see how it pans out'."
Then, he says, there are those who think "at least he's had the courage and conviction to follow through with what he's said, and he's passionate about the St Kilda Football Club and he has its best interests at heart, so we'll back him".
Thomas says he doesn't believe he will ever coach another AFL club, "because this club is what I'm about". He generally arrives at Moorabbin each day by 6.30am, and spends much of his time away from the club working from his home office.
"Without any doubt, I do a lot of my best work at home. It's where I do all my planning and preparation, my themeing," he said.
It's also a chance to spend what time he can with his wife Kerry and their eight children. "To now and again once or twice a week go and pick the kids up from school at 4pm is healthy for me."
So is the "rest day" the Saints have recently reincorporated into their schedule. But it's a loose term.
"For one reason or another there's always four or five meetings you end up having, or it's a good time to catch up with Rocket (president Rod Butterss) and Archie Fraser (chief executive). I've been threatening to have a game of golf for months, but I never seem to do that, either.
"I don't spend anywhere near enough time with my kids, because I've left before they get up, and when I get home I'm upstairs in my office, then next thing you're in bed.
"I am getting a bit more serenity about me, which is allowing me to have a different perspective on my whole life, and I'm actually looking at ways to have more calmness so I can be a more highly effective person, because a lot of it to this point has been just on my knowledge, my learnings and experiences and grunt. I want to be a bit more effective."
But for now, that's about coaxing the very best out of a St Kilda playing group that hasn't delivered it consistently all season. It's about getting those injured stars back in harness, and with sufficient match fitness to be able to make an effective contribution in September.
And ultimately, of course, about getting a perennially unsuccessful club's hands on only a second premiership in 110 years.
"I think this group is looking forward to moving up another gear now, which is good," he said. "Hopefully, our timing's right. It's all about precision, and we're not there yet, but hopefully moving towards it."
After two successive preliminary final losses, there's only one result in 2006 that will satisfy not only St Kilda supporters, but a demanding football cognoscente. Deliver anything less, and the Saints and Thomas can expect a critical open season.
But even then, it won't be able to count on a coach sure not only of his team's future but his own, simply bowing to popular opinion. What began perhaps as a marriage of convenience is a union that Thomas, contracted until the end of next season, believes will be leaving its imprint for some years yet.
"(Adelaide coach) Neil Craig's giving us all something to think about," Thomas said. "I have to definitely move myself and my men to the next level of science and strategic thinking and planning.
"If I stay where I am at the moment, there will be people more appropriate to have this job than me in 12 months or two years' time.
"But if I keep growing and developing and keep the pressure on both myself and the organisation from a football perspective, I'm really confident that I'm the person to take them into the future."
Kildonan
Premium Platinum
Back before the break, St Kilda were sitting 6 wins 6 losses. (After the loss to the Crows)
There was a lot of dissatisfaction with the way the Saints were playing and apparently it was all Grant Thomas's coaching that was at fault. There were numerous supporters who were willing to slip the knife in and give it a twist.
Very few if any have returned and been big enough to say that they may have been wrong. In fact, I think many of these posters are biding their time just waiting for the team to fail again so that they can claim that they were right all along.
I like Grant Thomas. This is not a pure faith thing. Nor is it purely because he has been instrumental in changing the culture of the club and the level of professionalism and pride. The main reason I have faith in him is simply because the players do.
I am remote here in Mackay. The local newspapers mention AFL in passing, although they do give some effort in reporting the local clubs. I get most of my news through the net. Sometimes I get to Melbourne and when I do it is a real treat for me. I go to training and I get to speak to a few players sometimes. My impression is that they would collectively walk through walls for him. I might preface that by saying that in any organisation there is some variation - maybe there has been some dissention but it seems to have been ironed out. Everyone is on-board and the team seems to be going great.
We are in the top 4 now, but we can still be knocked out of the finals altogether if we don't win another match. With 5 games to go against: West Coast, Geelong, Western Bulldogs, Freo and Brisbane it is a possibility that we could lose all our matches. I don't think we will mind you, I am just saying that the hard work isn't over yet. The bulk of the season has passed but the hard work has only just begun. Once those five matches have been dealt with, I expect we'll be in the finals and the intensity steps up even further.
This sort of task takes a master of motivation. Grant Thomas is the man to be doing the job, he knows what it takes and he has learned from the mistakes of the past. He has the interest of this group of young men foremost in his heart.
The Grant Thomas era will be remembered as St Kilda's most successful era.
I believe we will win more than one premiership with him at the helm.
I don't think the neighsayers I mentioned earlier were fully comprehending the enormous change that has been wrought at our club, nor how desperately difficult it is to win an AFL premiership.
Historically, most clubs have to be contenders for several years before they actually win a premiership. There is a steep learning curve. Not just for the players and the coach, but at all levels of the club. GT has been instrumental in bringing about these changes. He has been ably supported by Rod Butterss and Butterss' work was built on the shoulders of an excellent effort by Plympton.
I haven't needed to ban anyone. I have never banned a Saint supporter, and never called for one to be banned. I haven't needed to. The neighsayers seem to go quiet when we are doing well. I have sent a few non-Saints on a holiday though.
There was a lot of dissatisfaction with the way the Saints were playing and apparently it was all Grant Thomas's coaching that was at fault. There were numerous supporters who were willing to slip the knife in and give it a twist.
Very few if any have returned and been big enough to say that they may have been wrong. In fact, I think many of these posters are biding their time just waiting for the team to fail again so that they can claim that they were right all along.
I like Grant Thomas. This is not a pure faith thing. Nor is it purely because he has been instrumental in changing the culture of the club and the level of professionalism and pride. The main reason I have faith in him is simply because the players do.
I am remote here in Mackay. The local newspapers mention AFL in passing, although they do give some effort in reporting the local clubs. I get most of my news through the net. Sometimes I get to Melbourne and when I do it is a real treat for me. I go to training and I get to speak to a few players sometimes. My impression is that they would collectively walk through walls for him. I might preface that by saying that in any organisation there is some variation - maybe there has been some dissention but it seems to have been ironed out. Everyone is on-board and the team seems to be going great.
We are in the top 4 now, but we can still be knocked out of the finals altogether if we don't win another match. With 5 games to go against: West Coast, Geelong, Western Bulldogs, Freo and Brisbane it is a possibility that we could lose all our matches. I don't think we will mind you, I am just saying that the hard work isn't over yet. The bulk of the season has passed but the hard work has only just begun. Once those five matches have been dealt with, I expect we'll be in the finals and the intensity steps up even further.
This sort of task takes a master of motivation. Grant Thomas is the man to be doing the job, he knows what it takes and he has learned from the mistakes of the past. He has the interest of this group of young men foremost in his heart.
The Grant Thomas era will be remembered as St Kilda's most successful era.
I believe we will win more than one premiership with him at the helm.
I don't think the neighsayers I mentioned earlier were fully comprehending the enormous change that has been wrought at our club, nor how desperately difficult it is to win an AFL premiership.
Historically, most clubs have to be contenders for several years before they actually win a premiership. There is a steep learning curve. Not just for the players and the coach, but at all levels of the club. GT has been instrumental in bringing about these changes. He has been ably supported by Rod Butterss and Butterss' work was built on the shoulders of an excellent effort by Plympton.
I haven't needed to ban anyone. I have never banned a Saint supporter, and never called for one to be banned. I haven't needed to. The neighsayers seem to go quiet when we are doing well. I have sent a few non-Saints on a holiday though.
Ms Pikey
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i think hudghton and maguire do well enough, and the improvement in the fisher boys has just been unbelieveable. As for Gram, well, he got for goalsgeelong_crazy26 said:
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GT = Good Times.
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2nd best defence in the league.Ms Pikey said:i think hudghton and maguire do well enough, and the improvement in the fisher boys has just been unbelieveable. As for Gram, well, he got for goals
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Geelong's bad defence this year is because our midfield has under performed and put a lot more presure on the defence. Last year was injuries in the midfield (without them we probaly would of been around the 1800 mark). 2004 we had the best defence in the league (1741 points against) and we had over 150 less points against.StKildonan said:
And yes Bomber is probaly incapable of getting us a premiership unless we can get back to the way we played 2 years ago with a "nothing to lose" attitude.
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I'll stand by my previous comments about GT not being able to deliver us a premiership.
He seems like a great guy, the players love him, he really knows how to rally the troops etc
BUT
As Ive said, strategically, he isn't a very smart coach.
We have witnessed whilt under the pressure of a flood where our midfield looks completely lost.
Post showed it last week, teams have been doing it to us all year. When the opposition drops a spare man or 3 in defense, we normally go to pieces. It's nice to be able to bang the ball to 'Roo and Fraser time after time, but when sides drop those spare men back, we are usually clueless.
I'm sure ALL of us have witnessed this at some parts of the season. Us making room from across CHB, and then bombing to a contest at CHF, where Nick Reiwoldt is being clobbered by 3 defenders. Time after time.
We were extremly lucky to beat Port, we were extremly lucky to beat Essendon the week before. Both team playing negative and spoiling tactics. We looked fantastic against the 'Pies, Hawks and Tigers yesterday when we are able to get out and run, but when a team tightens the screws and goes unltra defensive, we still can't come to grips with it.
He is getting better, but I think stratergically thinking, he is under done.
He seems like a great guy, the players love him, he really knows how to rally the troops etc
BUT
As Ive said, strategically, he isn't a very smart coach.
We have witnessed whilt under the pressure of a flood where our midfield looks completely lost.
Post showed it last week, teams have been doing it to us all year. When the opposition drops a spare man or 3 in defense, we normally go to pieces. It's nice to be able to bang the ball to 'Roo and Fraser time after time, but when sides drop those spare men back, we are usually clueless.
I'm sure ALL of us have witnessed this at some parts of the season. Us making room from across CHB, and then bombing to a contest at CHF, where Nick Reiwoldt is being clobbered by 3 defenders. Time after time.
We were extremly lucky to beat Port, we were extremly lucky to beat Essendon the week before. Both team playing negative and spoiling tactics. We looked fantastic against the 'Pies, Hawks and Tigers yesterday when we are able to get out and run, but when a team tightens the screws and goes unltra defensive, we still can't come to grips with it.
He is getting better, but I think stratergically thinking, he is under done.
Ms Pikey said:i think hudghton and maguire do well enough, and the improvement in the fisher boys has just been unbelieveable. As for Gram, well, he got for goals
Our defence is a strong point, there are not too many better than Hudghton and Maguire is one of the few gorilla type defenders with Scarlet and Mal Michael left. Baker as a stopper and either gram/goddard as the link player
Kildonan
Premium Platinum
St Kilda's planning starts a late-season surge
Rohan Connolly
The Age
July 30, 2006
WHEN St Kilda coach Grant Thomas spoke at length to The Age this week about his team's prospects for the rest of this season, he made much of the Saints' bigger scope for improvement than its top-eight rivals. And if there was any doubt about one area in particular to which he was referring, yesterday's 103-point spanking of Richmond spelt in out in big, bold capital letters.
Scoring power was synonymous with St Kilda in each of its past two seasons, the Saints just four points shy of being the AFL's highest-scoring team in 2004, and a clear No. 1 last year. But it was firepower which seemed to have dried up for much of this season, St Kilda ranked just eighth for points scored before yesterday's game, averaging more than three goals per game less than in 2005.
It's been St Kilda's defence instead which has been winning the plaudits. But as the Saints chalked up their fifth straight win yesterday, easily their most emphatic of the season, the potency returned. And how.
After some early inaccuracy, nine goals in each of the second and third quarters blew Richmond completely out of the water. They came from everywhere, Jason Gram managing four from a half-back flank, Leigh Montagna three from a wing. Back in the goalsquare, Fraser Gehrig was unstoppable, his 10 goals, the first double-figure haul by any player this season, bumping him from equal ninth on the AFL goalkicking table, to, at least temporarily, outright second.
Richmond's pre-game loss of key defenders Darren Gaspar and Andrew Kellaway would have made the G-Train's eyes light up, the powerful big man simply too strong for first Ray Hall then Joel Bowden, then Hall again. He had seven by half-time, and had kicked 10 straight before blemishing his record with a solitary behind in the last quarter.
It was the proverbial day out, but one he'd well and truly earned, having this season regularly sacrificed his own scoring potential to assist the team plan. That's helped key forward colleague Nick Riewoldt no end, and Riewoldt, who provided two of his teammate's goals with beautiful passes to Gehrig leads, was more than happy for return the favour yesterday.
"Frase has definitely played a different role this year, almost a sacrificial role at times," Riewoldt said.
"He always gets the most dour defender, so he's been making sure he drags them away from the area they're most comfortable in, which is deep, and that's allowed myself and even (Brett) 'Vossy' lately to drift forward and start to get a little bit more dangerous.
"When Gaspar was out today, they didn't really have a match-up for Fraser, so I suppose it was a bit of a role reversal, and he took advantage of it pretty well."
Thomas was clearly also happy to see a more team-oriented spearhead have his afternoon in the sun. "Both he and (Stephen) 'Milney' have been much better players for us this year," Thomas said. "They haven't kicked the goals, but they've been much more assertive in how we want our structure to be. Today was his day and he did it very, very well, but I wouldn't expect him to be kicking six or eight or 10 next week. I just expect him to be able to kick a couple and create a couple and put enormous pressure on and give a valuable effort every single time the footy gets delivered to him."
Which it was, expertly, by a St Kilda line-up clearly on song, Riewoldt as important a part of the structure despite only kicking two goals himself.
"Generally, our forward line worked really well together today, and we obviously had a great individual performance from Fraser, but we had some good contributors everywhere," he said. "They were pushing numbers behind the ball, so to get a few running goals from the likes of Montagna and Gram just added another dimension to the way we played."
One to which we became accustomed during those big strings of victories which marked St Kilda's 2004 and 2005 campaigns, but one which hadn't been the norm so far this season, the Saints' final tally of 27.12 (174) eight goals better than its previous best this season, the 92-point flogging of Carlton on the same ground back in round eight.
"I think the style of football being played across the whole competition has changed a little bit," Riewoldt observed. "Obviously, sides are putting numbers behind the ball, and there's been a very heavy focus on defence, especially coming up against our forward line, because in previous years we have been able to put big scores on the board, so I think it's been a matter of adjusting to the way other sides are playing against us, and trying to get on top of that."
And after yesterday's goal bombardment, and with an at-times difficult season now clearly on the up, St Kilda's top-four prospects looking very healthy, you'd have to think the Saints have succeeded in doing so.
Rohan Connolly
The Age
July 30, 2006
WHEN St Kilda coach Grant Thomas spoke at length to The Age this week about his team's prospects for the rest of this season, he made much of the Saints' bigger scope for improvement than its top-eight rivals. And if there was any doubt about one area in particular to which he was referring, yesterday's 103-point spanking of Richmond spelt in out in big, bold capital letters.
Scoring power was synonymous with St Kilda in each of its past two seasons, the Saints just four points shy of being the AFL's highest-scoring team in 2004, and a clear No. 1 last year. But it was firepower which seemed to have dried up for much of this season, St Kilda ranked just eighth for points scored before yesterday's game, averaging more than three goals per game less than in 2005.
It's been St Kilda's defence instead which has been winning the plaudits. But as the Saints chalked up their fifth straight win yesterday, easily their most emphatic of the season, the potency returned. And how.
After some early inaccuracy, nine goals in each of the second and third quarters blew Richmond completely out of the water. They came from everywhere, Jason Gram managing four from a half-back flank, Leigh Montagna three from a wing. Back in the goalsquare, Fraser Gehrig was unstoppable, his 10 goals, the first double-figure haul by any player this season, bumping him from equal ninth on the AFL goalkicking table, to, at least temporarily, outright second.
Richmond's pre-game loss of key defenders Darren Gaspar and Andrew Kellaway would have made the G-Train's eyes light up, the powerful big man simply too strong for first Ray Hall then Joel Bowden, then Hall again. He had seven by half-time, and had kicked 10 straight before blemishing his record with a solitary behind in the last quarter.
It was the proverbial day out, but one he'd well and truly earned, having this season regularly sacrificed his own scoring potential to assist the team plan. That's helped key forward colleague Nick Riewoldt no end, and Riewoldt, who provided two of his teammate's goals with beautiful passes to Gehrig leads, was more than happy for return the favour yesterday.
"Frase has definitely played a different role this year, almost a sacrificial role at times," Riewoldt said.
"He always gets the most dour defender, so he's been making sure he drags them away from the area they're most comfortable in, which is deep, and that's allowed myself and even (Brett) 'Vossy' lately to drift forward and start to get a little bit more dangerous.
"When Gaspar was out today, they didn't really have a match-up for Fraser, so I suppose it was a bit of a role reversal, and he took advantage of it pretty well."
Thomas was clearly also happy to see a more team-oriented spearhead have his afternoon in the sun. "Both he and (Stephen) 'Milney' have been much better players for us this year," Thomas said. "They haven't kicked the goals, but they've been much more assertive in how we want our structure to be. Today was his day and he did it very, very well, but I wouldn't expect him to be kicking six or eight or 10 next week. I just expect him to be able to kick a couple and create a couple and put enormous pressure on and give a valuable effort every single time the footy gets delivered to him."
Which it was, expertly, by a St Kilda line-up clearly on song, Riewoldt as important a part of the structure despite only kicking two goals himself.
"Generally, our forward line worked really well together today, and we obviously had a great individual performance from Fraser, but we had some good contributors everywhere," he said. "They were pushing numbers behind the ball, so to get a few running goals from the likes of Montagna and Gram just added another dimension to the way we played."
One to which we became accustomed during those big strings of victories which marked St Kilda's 2004 and 2005 campaigns, but one which hadn't been the norm so far this season, the Saints' final tally of 27.12 (174) eight goals better than its previous best this season, the 92-point flogging of Carlton on the same ground back in round eight.
"I think the style of football being played across the whole competition has changed a little bit," Riewoldt observed. "Obviously, sides are putting numbers behind the ball, and there's been a very heavy focus on defence, especially coming up against our forward line, because in previous years we have been able to put big scores on the board, so I think it's been a matter of adjusting to the way other sides are playing against us, and trying to get on top of that."
And after yesterday's goal bombardment, and with an at-times difficult season now clearly on the up, St Kilda's top-four prospects looking very healthy, you'd have to think the Saints have succeeded in doing so.