SportsNut2017
Rookie
- Jun 11, 2017
- 37
- 94
- AFL Club
- Essendon
https://downtheguts.com/2018/04/03/...seem-further-away-from-the-st-kilda-faithful/
That elusive Saints’ flag couldn’t seem further away
Iʼve followed St Kilda for all my 37 years of life and have been a paid up member for the past 24. Iʼve been to all our modern day grand finals, never missed a Victorian final and go to the footy week in, week out. But the last 12 – 18 months I have seen many extremely worrying signs that unfortunately tell me, that seeing that elusive premiership I (and so many others) so desperately crave, is sooooooo far out of sight.
What we all witnessed on Good Friday was insipid, inept, incompetent, ineffective, unorganised, disheveled and quite simply putrid. Yes, itʼs only round 2, but many who know me will attest to the fact that I have been constantly saying for 12 months, that despite the unwarranted confidence from others, we’re simply not good enough. A lot of the above comes from the players, but even more so from Richo in my humble opinion.
Iʼll start with Richo…
His inability to make a change “in the run” in games is so blatantly obvious that itʼs hard to bare as a passionate supporter on the side lines. His predictability in terms of structure and supposed “game plan” is amateurish, to put it politely.
We have a “style”, and thatʼs pressure. But when our pressure lapses in games, then the flood-gates open and we get belted.
He is FARRRR from a tactical coach, as I can count on one hand, the number of unconventional moves he’s made to ‘surprise’ the opposition.
I keep hearing about “Saints’ Footy”….WTF is Saints’ Footy?!?
We havenʼt had any bloody sustained success with it. Itʼs just bullshit terminology used to fool our members. Stop taking us for fools with shallow words and unjustified sayings, that are blatant crap. Because that’s what they are and the majority of fans know it. Seriously, *ing stop it!
Our skills are atrocious!
They were diabolical on Friday, but they have been disgusting for the past 2 years. So saying that we butchered the ball as bad as ever this week, might be true as we have hopefully now seen rock bottom, but we are an absolute shambles every week. You canʼt improve this either. This stems from poor recruiting and unfortunately there’s no switch to simply turn back the clock and correct bad decisions. In 2009 we played a Grand Final against Geelong. The Cats were roughly the same age as us that year, since then we finished 16th in 2013, stone motherless last in 2014 and we haven’t played finals since 2011. Since that heartbreaking Scarlett toe-poke Geelong have gone 2, 2, 6, 2, 3, 10, 2 and 2, which speaks volumes for our recruiting since. In saying that, who would want to come to St Kilda when their home base was in bloody SEAFORD!!! That’s another issue in itself, but let’s return to our skill level…
I watch Geelong and Hawthorn and they go coast to coast with ease, hitting blokes lace out, time and time again, regardless of the pressure around them. Being able to hit a target is what separates the good and the bad teams and this is already extremely evident after two rounds of footy. Once we gain possession froward of centre we just BOMB the ball to massive contests like an under 10ʼs team. This is because we have lazy players who donʼt lead up, block for a teammate and/or simply demand the ball.
Then, there’s our forwards.
Our forwards need to watch replays of Lockett and Dunstall…and more recently Lynch and JK. Blokes who LEAD at the bloke with the ball. I mean a bloody HARD LEAD, arms out, taking grabs, wanting the *ing thing!!! But no, ALL our tall forwards “demand” the footy by waving their hands around and running away from the player with the ball. You can only see this when at the game, not on TV. They ALL do it. Bruce & Membrey every week without fail. On the flip side, when a player DOES lead, itʼs hardly EVER honoured because they donʼt trust their ability to hit a target by foot. So frustrating seeing this at the ground.
Why does Richo continue with blokes who are just not up to it? BRUCE & NEWNES are classic examples. Yes, Newnes tries his guts out, but he turns the ball over like no other. He does not make us a better team and will NEVER be the A grade player we crave from him. Then thereʼs Josh Bruce. When Bruce gets the ball, heʼs like a deer in head lights. Panics. Throws it on his boot/hand with absolute no composure. He is a liability and should NOT be in the team. Seb Ross is another. A good ordinary player, despite the fanfare about him due to decent numbers accumulated in 2017. Another one who turns it over, time and time again. Roberton, Brown, Webster. All blokes in DEFENSE who cough it up. THAT’S JUST INEXCUSABLE!!…and we pay for it on most occasions.
I just want to reiterate, that this is not a knee-jerk reaction to what happened on Friday. This has been building for 12+ months, and finally back on a bigger stage with many eyes on us given the public holiday, everyone could see for themselves. I would love nothing more than to churn out some positives, but I just honesty cannot see any, as painful as it is to admit it.
Richo seems too nice. I donʼt think any of the players from Friday walked off, even remotely worried about getting a bake from Richo. He needs to be ruthless. Get mad. The days of cuddling these young men is over!!! There is no doubt weʼll come out breathing fire this week, but itʼs been a natural reaction every time we get a belting the week before.
We need our new leaders to drag the club we love and demand and drive success like Riewoldt did. Because at the moment, all I can see is it being dragged through the dirt with years of pain to continue!
Rob
https://downtheguts.com/2018/04/03/...seem-further-away-from-the-st-kilda-faithful/
That elusive Saints’ flag couldn’t seem further away
Iʼve followed St Kilda for all my 37 years of life and have been a paid up member for the past 24. Iʼve been to all our modern day grand finals, never missed a Victorian final and go to the footy week in, week out. But the last 12 – 18 months I have seen many extremely worrying signs that unfortunately tell me, that seeing that elusive premiership I (and so many others) so desperately crave, is sooooooo far out of sight.
What we all witnessed on Good Friday was insipid, inept, incompetent, ineffective, unorganised, disheveled and quite simply putrid. Yes, itʼs only round 2, but many who know me will attest to the fact that I have been constantly saying for 12 months, that despite the unwarranted confidence from others, we’re simply not good enough. A lot of the above comes from the players, but even more so from Richo in my humble opinion.
Iʼll start with Richo…
His inability to make a change “in the run” in games is so blatantly obvious that itʼs hard to bare as a passionate supporter on the side lines. His predictability in terms of structure and supposed “game plan” is amateurish, to put it politely.
We have a “style”, and thatʼs pressure. But when our pressure lapses in games, then the flood-gates open and we get belted.
He is FARRRR from a tactical coach, as I can count on one hand, the number of unconventional moves he’s made to ‘surprise’ the opposition.
I keep hearing about “Saints’ Footy”….WTF is Saints’ Footy?!?
We havenʼt had any bloody sustained success with it. Itʼs just bullshit terminology used to fool our members. Stop taking us for fools with shallow words and unjustified sayings, that are blatant crap. Because that’s what they are and the majority of fans know it. Seriously, *ing stop it!
Our skills are atrocious!
They were diabolical on Friday, but they have been disgusting for the past 2 years. So saying that we butchered the ball as bad as ever this week, might be true as we have hopefully now seen rock bottom, but we are an absolute shambles every week. You canʼt improve this either. This stems from poor recruiting and unfortunately there’s no switch to simply turn back the clock and correct bad decisions. In 2009 we played a Grand Final against Geelong. The Cats were roughly the same age as us that year, since then we finished 16th in 2013, stone motherless last in 2014 and we haven’t played finals since 2011. Since that heartbreaking Scarlett toe-poke Geelong have gone 2, 2, 6, 2, 3, 10, 2 and 2, which speaks volumes for our recruiting since. In saying that, who would want to come to St Kilda when their home base was in bloody SEAFORD!!! That’s another issue in itself, but let’s return to our skill level…
I watch Geelong and Hawthorn and they go coast to coast with ease, hitting blokes lace out, time and time again, regardless of the pressure around them. Being able to hit a target is what separates the good and the bad teams and this is already extremely evident after two rounds of footy. Once we gain possession froward of centre we just BOMB the ball to massive contests like an under 10ʼs team. This is because we have lazy players who donʼt lead up, block for a teammate and/or simply demand the ball.
Then, there’s our forwards.
Our forwards need to watch replays of Lockett and Dunstall…and more recently Lynch and JK. Blokes who LEAD at the bloke with the ball. I mean a bloody HARD LEAD, arms out, taking grabs, wanting the *ing thing!!! But no, ALL our tall forwards “demand” the footy by waving their hands around and running away from the player with the ball. You can only see this when at the game, not on TV. They ALL do it. Bruce & Membrey every week without fail. On the flip side, when a player DOES lead, itʼs hardly EVER honoured because they donʼt trust their ability to hit a target by foot. So frustrating seeing this at the ground.
Why does Richo continue with blokes who are just not up to it? BRUCE & NEWNES are classic examples. Yes, Newnes tries his guts out, but he turns the ball over like no other. He does not make us a better team and will NEVER be the A grade player we crave from him. Then thereʼs Josh Bruce. When Bruce gets the ball, heʼs like a deer in head lights. Panics. Throws it on his boot/hand with absolute no composure. He is a liability and should NOT be in the team. Seb Ross is another. A good ordinary player, despite the fanfare about him due to decent numbers accumulated in 2017. Another one who turns it over, time and time again. Roberton, Brown, Webster. All blokes in DEFENSE who cough it up. THAT’S JUST INEXCUSABLE!!…and we pay for it on most occasions.
I just want to reiterate, that this is not a knee-jerk reaction to what happened on Friday. This has been building for 12+ months, and finally back on a bigger stage with many eyes on us given the public holiday, everyone could see for themselves. I would love nothing more than to churn out some positives, but I just honesty cannot see any, as painful as it is to admit it.
Richo seems too nice. I donʼt think any of the players from Friday walked off, even remotely worried about getting a bake from Richo. He needs to be ruthless. Get mad. The days of cuddling these young men is over!!! There is no doubt weʼll come out breathing fire this week, but itʼs been a natural reaction every time we get a belting the week before.
We need our new leaders to drag the club we love and demand and drive success like Riewoldt did. Because at the moment, all I can see is it being dragged through the dirt with years of pain to continue!
Rob
https://downtheguts.com/2018/04/03/...seem-further-away-from-the-st-kilda-faithful/
