Was St Kilda really trying?

[Sekaj]

Don't mean to put a dampener on a nice little win to end the season for us but let's face it, St Kilda had much bigger fish to fry.

You can't tell me that if this was a game that actually meant something to them, they would still be chipping around back and forth meaninglessly in the backlines rather than actually trying to win the game.

Having said that, Martin and Jaensch certainly showed some exciting glimpses of ability that we can all hopefully look forward to seeing on a more consistent basis in 2011.

 

[Allbetsroff]

We'll see when they go out in straight sets.

 

[spexau]

Were*

They definately gave up in the last quarter when we got more than 2 kicks infront. Was pretty patchetic to watch really. Ah well, we'll have to see how they go the next couple of weeks to see if the decision to pack up the game was a good one or not.

 

[footy4ever]

They hoisted the white flag a few minutes into the last when they saw the writing on the wall. It was going to be all too hard for them and not worth the injury risks. Fair enough I say.

 

[taylor_walker_13]

Can only play at your best and I think the AFC did that yesterday, winning ofrm is good form and we beat a top four side, I dont think anything should be taken away from those facts, it wasnt our choice that St Kilda took their foot off the gas.

 

[AP Erebus]

What did we really have to gain?

A win's always good for morale but the worst thing would have been an injury (see the Bulldogs last night).

We didn't play well either, but personally I agree with the mentality they took into the last qtr.

 

[iamjason]

Saints supporters seem to be in denial. Yeah, the Saints gave up, but they gave up because they weren't going to win. We pushed them to that point, and we deserve credit for it.

I know a guy... He's hyper competitive, but when he starts losing and he knows he's going to lose, he just throws the game. If you try and claim victory, he'll say "I wasn't even trying, I just let you have it, I didn't care about the game." He'll give you no credit for the way you played because his ego is the size of the universe.

It's kind of pathetic, I hate hearing it.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Neil summed it up perfectly in his press conference. Said that he wished we were in a position to rest up for finals the following week. But we aren't. St Kilda are. They can do what they want, they've earned the right.

Did make for an awkward last 15 minutes though. Just blow the damn siren

 

[skywalker1977]

Neil summed it up perfectly in his press conference. Said that he wished we were in a position to rest up for finals the following week. But we aren't. St Kilda are. They can do what they want, they've earned the right.

Did make for an awkward last 15 minutes though. Just blow the damn siren

We would have beat the pies too if the game was played at aami stadium the week before last, and the saints wont go out in straight sets because no team in this from of finals system has as of yet.
so the current prediction is as follows the team that loses the first qualifying final always bounces back the next week.
has now since it started.
we played well and gives us a kickstart and some idea of what we are capable of next year.

 

[cmndstab]

Whether they were in the first three quarters or not, I don't know, but they definitely weren't by that last quarter. It was embarrassing to watch just how poor and directionless they were in that last quarter.

I think they came to the ground with the mentality of "let's just get through this game boys, no unnecessary risks, no injuries, if it falls our way then it does, but it's not vital".

Saints supporters seem to be in denial. Yeah, the Saints gave up, but they gave up because they weren't going to win. We pushed them to that point, and we deserve credit for it.

I know a guy... He's hyper competitive, but when he starts losing and he knows he's going to lose, he just throws the game. If you try and claim victory, he'll say "I wasn't even trying, I just let you have it, I didn't care about the game." He'll give you no credit for the way you played because his ego is the size of the universe.

It's kind of pathetic, I hate hearing it.

Yeah, I know a couple of people like this as well. Or they'll specifically choose to try to achieve victory through the most unlikely "all or nothing" fashion possible, and if they lose then they claim it was because the deck was stacked against them. Of course, if they win.......

 

[alex_is_on_fire]

We'll see next year.

If that was a true indication of where we are at (a top 6 side), we will demonstrate that form from the beginning of the season, if not, we'll understand that St Kilda were just waiting for the finals to roll around and it meant nothing to them.

At the moment, I'm leaning towards the 'meaning nothing to them' category as we are not as good as some want (or hope) us to be. We will have a long way to go before we can say we are a good side again.

 

[Allefgib]

My brother and I had a hilarious discussion with our old man because we could not convince him they were just chipping it around to practice holding onto the ball or avoid contests. I hope after see Lyon's press conference he can admit his naivety.

 

[aneale]

Turned to my mate when Tipp kicked his first and said 'that's it', no motivation for the Saints to bust a boiler and risk injury to win a rather pointless game for them.

Having said that, I didn't think they were playing well enough anyway given they had got themselves into such a rut in their own back half and then looked like they were practising taking time off .... poorly it must be said. I don't think Lyon would have been impressed by their decision making or skills under that sort of pressure.

 

[BACCS]

They were trying in the 1st 3.5 quarters when the game was there to be won, and only stopped trying once we had it as good as won. Nothing should be taken away from the way we performed yesterday, we won that fair and square when the pressure was still on.

 

[KUNG FU]

Is everyone forgetting the fact that we controlled and dominated the game for all four quarters? A lot of rough edges, but we played some damn good football. Who cares if St Kilda threw in the towel early.

 

[footy4ever]

Saints supporters seem to be in denial. Yeah, the Saints gave up, but they gave up because they weren't going to win. We pushed them to that point, and we deserve credit for it.

I know a guy... He's hyper competitive, but when he starts losing and he knows he's going to lose, he just throws the game. If you try and claim victory, he'll say "I wasn't even trying, I just let you have it, I didn't care about the game." He'll give you no credit for the way you played because his ego is the size of the universe.

It's kind of pathetic, I hate hearing it.

Ha ha ha He must be the same guy I used to belt at tennis some years ago. Always the capitulation to make it look like he wasn't trying.

But would Saints have tapered off if they were 2-3 goals up in the last? Perhaps.

 

[dplggr47]

Ha ha ha He must be the same guy I used to belt at tennis some years ago. Always the capitulation to make it look like he wasn't trying.

But would Saints have tapered off if they were 2-3 goals up in the last? Perhaps.

of course they would. they would've started chipping it around if they had any sort of lead in the last quarter, but the real question is, if they were in a position to win it (i.e. trailing by less than a goal in the last quarter), would they try to win it or start chipping it around?

 

[OldCrowBloke]

We would have beat the pies too if the game was played at aami stadium the week before last, and the saints wont go out in straight sets because no team in this from of finals system has as of yet.
so the current prediction is as follows the team that loses the first qualifying final always bounces back the next week.
has now since it started.
we played well and gives us a kickstart and some idea of what we are capable of next year.

Unfortunately not true - Adelaide did it!

However, I thought it was a gutsy win on Saturday by a young and promising squad. The SAints only turned up their toes once the game was effectively out of reach...

 

[Vader]

Unfortunately not true - Adelaide did it!

However, I thought it was a gutsy win on Saturday by a young and promising squad. The SAints only turned up their toes once the game was effectively out of reach...

Adelaide have never gone out in straight sets.

Port achieved it in 2001 and West Coast achieved it in 2007.

 

[OldCrowBloke]

Adelaide have never gone out in straight sets.

Port achieved it in 2001 and West Coast achieved it in 2007.

Yes, I was thinking of '05 when we lost to the Saints at home and finally WC at Subi. Should have remembered we knocked over the Power(less) in between...