J. Heatley wasn't bad was he..Josh Kennedy West Coast as the second forward, we've had luck with forwards from West Coast
Strategy "We'll be going very, very aggressively at free agency from 2016."
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Bloody awesome first yr with us
2nd yr had a good yr
3rd yr he was OKish
4th yr meh
Unfortunately he just seemed to tail off a little bit more each season.
But that first yr was exeptional. He was a big reason we challenged so strongly in 97.
Bloody awesome first yr with us
2nd yr had a good yr
3rd yr he was OKish
4th yr meh
Unfortunately he just seemed to tail off a little bit more each season.
But that first yr was exeptional. He was a big reason we challenged so strongly in 97.
I was only 9yo at the time but I've watched many games from that season and read a lot about our winning streak going in to the GF, we lost Joel Smith who was having one of the best years of his career, spider who kicked 40+ goals, I heard another bloke who was starting 22 was injured before the big dance? Keogh? With Smith, Spider, Lowe, Heatley, Hall & Winmar rotating forward, you dont lose games of football. What the * happened...
PoppedCorn
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- Dec 29, 2009
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Stewie and Nicky wouldve had a fair bit on their minds
Everitt and vidovic....
Andrew McCloud the bastard
And to think they did it without the guy in your avatar
Everitt and vidovic....
Andrew McCloud the bastard
And to think they did it without the guy in your avatar
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- Nov 7, 2012
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Blighty pulled a nice little trick putting unheralded full back Shane Ellen up forward, caught his old mate Stan unawares. He kicked 5 IIRC.
Then there was Darren Jarman and Andrew McCloud. Argh.
Luckily I wasn't there, watching it at St Kilda bowlo was bad enough.
I was privileged enough to attend the prelim where Burkey and Cookie gangtackled the Max Gawn of 1997, Corey MacKernen and dislocated his shoulder. That was a great game.
Was also at the match where Joel Smith got injured. Pretty sickening. His last game for us, though no one knew it then.
My god that was a great year, and yes Heaters was the original Dead Eye Dick. Shame it ended the way it did but what a ride!
Then there was Darren Jarman and Andrew McCloud. Argh.
Luckily I wasn't there, watching it at St Kilda bowlo was bad enough.
I was privileged enough to attend the prelim where Burkey and Cookie gangtackled the Max Gawn of 1997, Corey MacKernen and dislocated his shoulder. That was a great game.
Was also at the match where Joel Smith got injured. Pretty sickening. His last game for us, though no one knew it then.
My god that was a great year, and yes Heaters was the original Dead Eye Dick. Shame it ended the way it did but what a ride!
As mentioned before both Winmar and Loewe had very unfortunate family tragedys just before that day. Amazing effort that both played.
Spider and Lazer two HUGE outs. Smith to a bit of a lesser extent , yes he was a good player but was just a kid at the time.
I thought Matty Youngs injury hurt us as well.
He was having a very good yr. We played many games with him and Frankie Peckett both providing great run n carry from the half back line. Those two were underated in their importance that yr IMO.
Bit of a perfect storm with s**t going wrong for us unfortunately.
But in saying that Adelaide did have a few players missing as well and just seemed to be much better coached in the 2nd half.
I liked Alves and he got us very close to tbe summit but i always thought he was a little old fashioned in his coaching. Relied more on emotion and trying to fire up the players more so than being a great tactical coach.
He was beaten by his old mate Blight on the day.
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The Coleman Medallist, Modra, for example! And Mark Ricciuto got 18 Brownlow votes that year, but didn't play a final. Peter Vardy had a decent year too and wasn't out there.
There was really no excuse except as you said, outcoached.
Superduperouzel
Premiership Player
Made me sick watching that game. Barry Hall was brilliant in the first half but all through that match I had a feeling something was just not right and we were not on our game. Then came that last quarter where it felt like we were in dream land stuck in treacle and Adelaide just out played us.
Shane Ellen ffs. That one hurt bad..
Shane Ellen ffs. That one hurt bad..
Any of you young peeps who didnt get to see Modra play and only know him as a tubby bloke who occasionally plays in the EJ Whitten game.
Watch his highlights packages on youtube. He was a high flying freakishly good player.
Many a story from that game. Namely that Buckets wasn't allowed to put himself in the ruck. Stan sat like a frozen zombie in the last. Can't believe that no one cleaned up McCloud like they cleaned up Harvey.
Craig and as ahead of his timeline introduced the heavy load and tapering concept. They were able to just out run teams and finish strong in all their finals.
Craig and as ahead of his timeline introduced the heavy load and tapering concept. They were able to just out run teams and finish strong in all their finals.
- Apr 26, 2015
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One of the reasons we got to the finals in '97 was the work of Spider, Vidovic and Smith during the year, and missing those three for starters was going to hit us hard come a GF. We lost tough physical presence in Vidovic, size, mobility and smarts in Spider, and polish on the outside with Smith. I think Stan just didn't want to take any risks on the day, and Blight was the opposite.
Also how do we lose Smith after his best year in his career as a 20yo to the pre-season draft? we'd get a late 1st rounder these days minimum. our full back just left as well?
What I want to know is how did we get rid of all of: Smith, Lappin & Wakelin brothers? :/
Simple.
His ability to come back from a terrible knee injury was in doubt.
We offered him a 1 yr basic contract the Hawks offered him a long term deal.
They took a risk.
It paid off for them.
Was a favourite player of mine, in hindsight it was a crap decision by us.
- Nov 7, 2012
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From what I remember, Lappin was so skinny and easily bullied the brains trust thought he'd never amount to much on-field, I always thought the kid was good, but he was seen as the more expendable of the fab 4 - Jones Smith Brown Lappin. Shane Wakelin was out of favour, no idea why, but iirc related to his injuries. Likewise can't remember why we let his brother Daryl go. Smith was the one we really wanted to keep, but he bailed on us while he was in rehab - can't remember why (felt betrayed or something) or what we got for him. Probably squat.
It's safe to say that if we'd had guys as sharp as Pelchen, Bains and Finnis running the joint back then then 98-2001 would have been very different, and we'd have kept a decent list, or got a decent trade!
It's safe to say that if we'd had guys as sharp as Pelchen, Bains and Finnis running the joint back then then 98-2001 would have been very different, and we'd have kept a decent list, or got a decent trade!
- Nov 7, 2012
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My god, 1 year! Just such poor management back then. I have to say I was pretty bemused that Andrew Plympton was so offended by Scott Waters' assessment of the Saints historically. The dwarf had it right, Plympton and gang were awful for our club.
Even though he was a very good player for the Hawks, in our defense Smiths knee was worse than the average knee injury apparently.
I remember a medical report in the paper at the time where the Doc said it was one of the worst knees he has ever seen. It was a gamble to see if he would be back to his best ever again. We obviously werent confident enough.
Took Smith 2 yrs to come good again. But he did come good, very good.
- Aug 24, 2006
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I remember talking to him briefly at the family day after the 97 GF loss. He didn't seem happy. Did not surprise me when he left. Disappointing all the same. Aussie Jones was the next of the bunch by a mile. Lappin was also electric. Was upset when he left.
- May 6, 2009
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I think the club need to forget about ASSUMING we can use free agency to fill the A grade midfielder gap we desperately need fixed.
Sure we could land a big free agent fish so I'm not saying don't try.... But the club need to read the writing on the wall that the chances of it happening are tiny.
So we need a decent plan B or else we'll just be stuck with a pile of money and a bog average midfield.
I think we'll need to follow collingwoods lead and trade aggressively for a Treloar type deal this year or next year.
Next year is probably better, because it keeps the tiny chance of getting fyfe afloat- and we don't really need an imported A grade mid (or 2?!) until 2018+
But the main strategic thing to consider is that our otherwise excellent 5 year plan assumes (and largely hinges on):
money = free agent.
The way that free agency is being used by A grade guns (or more accurately NOT used by guns) suggests that our plan needs a serious review.
Sure we could land a big free agent fish so I'm not saying don't try.... But the club need to read the writing on the wall that the chances of it happening are tiny.
So we need a decent plan B or else we'll just be stuck with a pile of money and a bog average midfield.
I think we'll need to follow collingwoods lead and trade aggressively for a Treloar type deal this year or next year.
Next year is probably better, because it keeps the tiny chance of getting fyfe afloat- and we don't really need an imported A grade mid (or 2?!) until 2018+
But the main strategic thing to consider is that our otherwise excellent 5 year plan assumes (and largely hinges on):
money = free agent.
The way that free agency is being used by A grade guns (or more accurately NOT used by guns) suggests that our plan needs a serious review.
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- #195
The updated list of 2017 free agents reveals that St Kilda could chase many high quality players next year. The likes of Nat Fyfe, Dustin Martin, Josh Kennedy (Swans), Tom Rockliff, David Zaharakis and Luke Breust will all become free agents.
- Jul 30, 2015
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- #196
hope we go nowhere near bruest and zaharakis downhill skiing crabs
- Apr 26, 2015
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I'll tell you this, that if the club trade and recruit aggressively, then we will be playing finals next season, and our next premiership will be the sweetest ever- better than anything the bloody Dogs can pull out of their collective backsides!
Ill take Fyfe, Rockliff and Martin.
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- #199
All three are seemingly gettable at some point over the next 12 months.
- Feb 21, 2004
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Ive now got a suspicion were holding that FA raid for 12 months..in fact I'm not sure if you'll see us being very busy during trade time. Do a good deal for Steele and take 10 to the draft might be about it I reckon.
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