sainter
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
It's interesting that people like Tim Watson accuse our club of celebrating wins too much. If anyone was to walk into the social club after the game on Saturday they would probably agree but that was a very emotional result for the club. Not only because it was Harvey's 250th win but also our first win in two months and only our 11th win since round 10 of 1999.
And along those lines, does anyone find it strange that the moment a team loses to us their team is suddenly under the pump and seemingly in crisis? The over-reaction to any loss to St Kilda astounds me. While it's disappointing that people view our club in this way and can't just accept the better team won on the night, it's also quite funny. On that note you have to give Danny Frawley credit. He acknowledged not only how well our guys did but that we also had something like 9 of our best 14 players out of the side. Our performance in recent years has meant we haven't warranted much praise or deserved any respect so I suppose it is understandable but I'm looking forward to seeing us return to the kind of team of 4 years ago that simply ran the opposition into the ground.
After a good performance last week, we are fortunate enough to have a game that is definitely winnable. The Eagles have been one of the surprise packets of 2002 but their form away from WA has been very suspect. They'll be keen to finally win a game in Melbourne and would expect to beat us comfortably. Our win last week means they probably won't underestimate us.
Maxie has beaten the likes of Neitz and Ottens in recent weeks, both far bigger men than himself, so I don't think he'd be overawed by playing the likes of Troy Wilson. One of their supporters on the eagles board took great delight in talking about how he ran through Riewoldt and Koschitzke in last years game. Interesting how small things amuse small minds. Brett Voss and Stevie Lawrence provided great run out of defence. Our midfield looks completely better with the return of Robert Harvey. When Spider returns, I'd back Harves, Thommo and Lenny to beat a lot of teams out of the middle. Nick Dal Santo and Xavier Clarke were excellent last week, playing like veterans. Crippa and Baker will quite possibly be looked at to tag Cousins out of the game which would go a fair way towards winning the game. In our forward line, Richmond's decision to play Darren Gaspar on Nick Riewoldt just shows how highly regarded he already is. That also freed up Stewie Loewe who I'd definitely back in against the 2nd key defender (or 3rd if Hamill plays).
All in all I think we are a huge chance to finally make it two wins in a row but that will have to depend on which St Kilda turns up to play. The aggressive and hard at it Saints line-up has often gone missing after a promising match the week before. The eagles have been win loss all season so will be determined to break their run as well. It might not be a pretty game but let's hope we can make it two in a row. I think all of us have been patient enough to deserve a bit of success,
And along those lines, does anyone find it strange that the moment a team loses to us their team is suddenly under the pump and seemingly in crisis? The over-reaction to any loss to St Kilda astounds me. While it's disappointing that people view our club in this way and can't just accept the better team won on the night, it's also quite funny. On that note you have to give Danny Frawley credit. He acknowledged not only how well our guys did but that we also had something like 9 of our best 14 players out of the side. Our performance in recent years has meant we haven't warranted much praise or deserved any respect so I suppose it is understandable but I'm looking forward to seeing us return to the kind of team of 4 years ago that simply ran the opposition into the ground.
After a good performance last week, we are fortunate enough to have a game that is definitely winnable. The Eagles have been one of the surprise packets of 2002 but their form away from WA has been very suspect. They'll be keen to finally win a game in Melbourne and would expect to beat us comfortably. Our win last week means they probably won't underestimate us.
Maxie has beaten the likes of Neitz and Ottens in recent weeks, both far bigger men than himself, so I don't think he'd be overawed by playing the likes of Troy Wilson. One of their supporters on the eagles board took great delight in talking about how he ran through Riewoldt and Koschitzke in last years game. Interesting how small things amuse small minds. Brett Voss and Stevie Lawrence provided great run out of defence. Our midfield looks completely better with the return of Robert Harvey. When Spider returns, I'd back Harves, Thommo and Lenny to beat a lot of teams out of the middle. Nick Dal Santo and Xavier Clarke were excellent last week, playing like veterans. Crippa and Baker will quite possibly be looked at to tag Cousins out of the game which would go a fair way towards winning the game. In our forward line, Richmond's decision to play Darren Gaspar on Nick Riewoldt just shows how highly regarded he already is. That also freed up Stewie Loewe who I'd definitely back in against the 2nd key defender (or 3rd if Hamill plays).
All in all I think we are a huge chance to finally make it two wins in a row but that will have to depend on which St Kilda turns up to play. The aggressive and hard at it Saints line-up has often gone missing after a promising match the week before. The eagles have been win loss all season so will be determined to break their run as well. It might not be a pretty game but let's hope we can make it two in a row. I think all of us have been patient enough to deserve a bit of success,
). West Coast are going into the match deserved favourites and considering we are so undermanned should win. I think we can win if the spirit is as good as last weekend. The chance to string consecutive wins together, let alone win a game, is something we haven't been able to do very often in the past 3.5 years. I expect us to put in a good show.
