Where will St. Kilda finish this year?

[Rough_Edges]

Pretty simple question, be interesting to bring it back up at the end of the year i'd say.

I pick 3-4


poll closes in 25 days!

 

[TassieSaint]

Yeah agreed. I'd like to say 1-2 but that's without a doubt overconfidence considering how good Geelong and Hawthorn have been.

Could easily go wrong but I can't see us finishing below 9-10 tbh.

 

[Persevering Saint]

I want to say 3-4, but I'm a little hesitant about that, so I've gone with 5-6. There are plenty of good teams out there who will be pushing hard for that 4th spot - Collingwood being the one that immediately comes to mind. I don't think we'd struggle to get to the eight - the main difference I see in terms of the 8 top sides this year are Adelaide and North leaving, and Richmond and Carlton (uuggghhh...) coming in instead. Brisbane will push, but not quite make it.

 

[krusden]

I think 4-6 would be okay for us. 5th even.

1 and 2 are geelong or the hawkers say.

Say, dogs or pies at 3/4.

Us at 5 is not such a bad thing. No double chance but a home final in the first week.

I would like top 4, but would be happy with 5.

Agree with PS - adelaide/north to go from 8. Add in sydney to go.

replace with Carlton, tigers and a smoky.

 

[HoldenMCaulfield]

I'm optimistic !

Geelong will have a point to prove and should easily win the h/a season.

But I think that Hawthorn will struggle this year (injuries, lack of commitment, other distractions), the Bulldogs will not have such a run again and Carlton and Richmond are not quite there yet.

Frankly I see no reason why we should not finish in the Top 2. Other than possibly Geelong, I don't think that any team is better than St Kilda.

Then again, injuries to all of say Riewoldt, Goddard, R Clarke, Hudghton and Hayes can easily make us spectators in September, of course - you need a bit of luck...

 

[dan0z]

why do u guys rate collingwood??
i dont get it, i think they will struggle this year..

 

[StFly]

3-4 with a push for 1-2.

Geelong have been the dominant H&A team over the past 2 years, and while we seem to be able to match up to them for 2 quarters they always seem to find an extra gear to pull clear of us, and the Hawks, well liek it or not they are the reigning premiers.

While I would like us to finish in the top 2, and we can if things go our way, 3-4 is realistic since it'd consolidate our place in the 8 and we wouldn't have dropped off from last season.

 

[TassieSaint]

why do u guys rate collingwood??
i dont get it, i think they will struggle this year..

5-8 for me, don't see what they've done to be rated up there with Cats and Hawks or even the Doggies. Not the nab cup surely?

 

[Plugger35]

I'm optimistic !

Geelong will have a point to prove and should easily win the h/a season.

But I think that Hawthorn will struggle this year (injuries, lack of commitment, other distractions), the Bulldogs will not have such a run again and Carlton and Richmond are not quite there yet.

Frankly I see no reason why we should not finish in the Top 2. Other than possibly Geelong, I don't think that any team is better than St Kilda.

Then again, injuries to all of say Riewoldt, Goddard, R Clarke, Hudghton and Hayes can easily make us spectators in September, of course - you need a bit of luck...

I agree pretty much 100% with this. I think Geelong will be odds on to finish in top spot, they still have all the same players that have dominated the last couple of years and will be keen to make up for losing the GF. The Hawks should finish top 4 too but they look to be struggling at the moment with injuries, so they may have a slow start to the season.

Realistically we could finish anywhere between 2nd and around 10th depending on form, injuries and luck. There's probably about 7 or 8 teams in the same boat as us who could finish anywhere in that range too. Providing we stay relatively injury free though, I reckon we should finish top 8 with a reasonable chance of making the top 4 again.

 

[Rough_Edges]

Hawthorn are a 5-6 goal better team than us IMO

But with a lot of players out early in the season for them, hopefully they lose 3 or 4 out of their first 6 or 7 and hopefully we get off to a flyer.

 

[Persevering Saint]

Don't you just love people from other teams who come on our board to tell us we're going to finish last or whatever...?

I think Hawks WERE definitely a 5-6 goal better side than us last year, Roughy, but I do have hopes that this might change. Kosi will hopefully have a better year. Having a decent third tall would be great (if the Gilbert experiment pays off) after years of trying to find some half-arsed option like Gwilt. The midfield now has Gram and Goddard, which will hopefully find the sticks. Armitage was really good as a goal-kicking midfielder last year, and will probably play heaps more games.

There's hope there.

 

[poorpunter]

Don't you just love people from other teams who come on our board to tell us we're going to finish last or whatever...?

I think Hawks WERE definitely a 5-6 goal better side than us last year, Roughy, but I do have hopes that this might change. Kosi will hopefully have a better year. Having a decent third tall would be great (if the Gilbert experiment pays off) after years of trying to find some half-arsed option like Gwilt. The midfield now has Gram and Goddard, which will hopefully find the sticks. Armitage was really good as a goal-kicking midfielder last year, and will probably play heaps more games.

There's hope there.

I would like to think there is hope but where are the goals gonna come from...all the good sides have gotta a gun forward or two to kick bags of goals and we seem to struggle ...rooey and milney but the rest struggle to conistently kick goals...gilly's not the answer , stay down back as he doesnt really have the footy know how and is very one sided but just got a feeling we need a lot of breaks to go our way to be successful.

hope im wrong.

 

[krusden]

I would like to think there is hope but where are the goals gonna come from...all the good sides have gotta a gun forward or two to kick bags of goals and we seem to struggle ...rooey and milney but the rest struggle to conistently kick goals...gilly's not the answer , stay down back as he doesnt really have the footy know how and is very one sided but just got a feeling we need a lot of breaks to go our way to be successful.

hope im wrong.

If we have kosi as a forward option then we may be better placed than you think.
If the clarko-led zoning dominates the year then we may NOT have to worry about goals as much as defence. which IMO is not looking too bad

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Goal scoring.

Forward line.
Apart from Schneider , Roo, and Kosi and Milne, I expect that Gilbert can get a few more through than Allen/Gwilt/Ferguson did last year.

Midfield - Harvey Fiora Jones Hayes McQualter - Not big goal kickers ( Fiora probably the best of them )
Goddard and Armitage are able to kick them. Gram tends to spray a bit but is a big kick.
Eddy looks better all the time.

I think we are looking much better than last year if we can get the ball forward.

 

[Rough_Edges]

For mine the team doesn't look a whole lot better/different.

Ray adds something and the fact that Steven and Geary look to of improved a bit is good.


The team may be better if the players perform to a higher standard, but the players we have bought in are not going to make a whole lot of differnce.

 

[Sainters66]

I think we're a good chance to make top 4. Geelong should be strong again and not sure about the rest including the Hawks. Hopefully we go into the finals with no injuries and some decent form/momentum. Hopefully they have adddressed our lack of speed, we get a good run with injuries and we win multiple consecutive games which gives everyone, including the die hards some confidence. I'm just hoping we play some decent and attractive football......

 

[CHBench]

I would like to think there is hope but where are the goals gonna come from...all the good sides have gotta a gun forward or two to kick bags of goals and we seem to struggle ...rooey and milney but the rest struggle to conistently kick goals...gilly's not the answer , stay down back as he doesnt really have the footy know how and is very one sided but just got a feeling we need a lot of breaks to go our way to be successful.

hope im wrong.

I concur with the above statement and/or endorsement.

*facepalm**faceplam**facepalm*
Guys seriously time to get real about Kosi, he is absoutley useless in the forward line. Is it that hard to see? It was only a shitty prac match but his game on friday did not give me much confidence in him producing what many rose coloured Saints believe he will. (Unbelievable some of the stuff i've read here and on Saintsational)
Pinning our hopes on him to bridge the gap between us and the likes of the Cats/Hawks, which is imo 10 goals....setting up for a epic fail.
Team his lack of forward line niché, deplorable goal kicking skillzzz and awareness with a horribly slow game plan that allows the opposition to flood and drop back 22 men on him, does not equal goal bonanza.

Just my opinion. Shoot it down, i dont care. Still wont turn Kosi into a star forward over night. And it wont get us any closer to the top teams.

Oh and btw, Heyne or Lynch will not make any impact at senior level this year on the contrary to Rioli & Selwood who starred in their debut years which hugely boosted them towards their respective premiership medallions.

It's preason yes, time for extreme optimism...see Carlton/Richmond board for more detail. But no need to go nuts.
&that is my 2c.
//rant.

Although id be happy if i was proved wrong.
Hopefully someone will bump this thread in 6months and pick me apart raw.

Time to cool my jets in the Melbourne board, i need a boost in confidence.

Edit - And in answer to your question. 5-6. We're not going to score enough goals until we sort out the rubbish we call an attacking gameplan.

 

[Joffa 5]

Ever the optimist, I picked 1-2. Now for this to come into fruition, we'd need luck with injuries on our side. But if we do get lucky with injuries (and Misson works his charms again), the draw sees us playing mostly bottom 8 sides twice this year, we will have more run and carry with BJ, Sam and Ray and as has also been mentioned, this year may be the most defensive yet. So why the hell not? Top 2 I say!

 

[The Punter]

The question about our forward line is "If not Kosi, then who?" Some have advocated Sam Fisher, but considering his success over the past three years as a evolutionary Sean Wellman third-man-up creating tall defender, then to mess with our Top 4 defence would be silly. We're already sending Sam Gilbert forward, which I don't necessarily advocate, but am willing to see how it works when Kosi and Roo are both in the side. The only times we didn't look good last year after the Freo match was when we lacked that third forward, with the possible exception of the Geelong final.

Goddard will play in the guts, and will kick more goals, along with greater contributions from Armitage and Steven.

The things I took out of what was a pretty average spectacle last Friday were:

1. Gilbert can kick goals and take a grab, but he won't dominate
2. Michael Gardiner is fit and really pumped
3. Don't expect Matt Maguire in the ones before Round 4
4. Nick Heyne will play some senior footy this year
5. Luke Ball is really fit, but he should try to be more Sam Mitchell than Nick Dal Santo

I think we'll finish top 4 behind a great backline. Cats, Hawks and Blues to complete the top 4.

 

[Armitage2Riewoldt]

Shite Punter, I think I've agreed with everything you've ever posted up until those last 6 words...

Honestly, a good midfield and one great forward isn't going to get you into the top 4.

Sure, finals. But I think the Tigers are a lot more likely to be top 4.

 

[The Punter]

A2R, I'm not entirely convinced on either. My gut tells me Collingwood rather than Carlton OR Richmond, but the Tigers looked a little ordinary against Collingwood, and I don't trust Wallace any more, and I was once one of his biggest fans. Although I like some of Richmond's pick ups (Cousins, Nahas, Thomson, the bloke from Essendon). I just think Judd and Fevola are going to have big years, they have a really good collection of small and medium sized defenders, and they remind me a bit of us in 2004.

 

[Persevering Saint]

It's just that none of us WANT Carlton to do well...

 

[StFly]

It's just that none of us WANT Carlton to do well...

Speak for yourself, I'd love for them to play finals, be all happy and them come up against us and get booted out of finals contention. Poetry right there.

 

[bubblegoose]

Speak for yourself, I'd love for them to play finals, be all happy and them come up against us and get booted out of finals contention. Poetry right there.

So they'll start 'tanking' in the finals this year then?

 

[TassieSaint]

Speak for yourself, I'd love for them to play finals, be all happy and them come up against us and get booted out of finals contention. Poetry right there.

Great point, if we come up against them or the Tiges in a prelim we might actually make it through to the big one this time