SA Footy

Only caught the last 1/4, but was like watching a ship without a rudder. The Weagles were far fitter than the Saints, who may as well be coached by an ape from the zoo. St Kilda, despite having a Rolls Royce forward line, appeared to be alcking structure. Wtf are the fwds (& being delivered, albeit not exactly on the tit) leading to where the 50m line mets the boundary? & then, switchin it back to the centre of the ground, where the Weagles were spoiling, running out of defence & going long & direct. Unbelievably, the Saints were still close enough. The difference between the Saints winning & losing? Grant Thomas. Can't f**kin coach. Should be odds on to be the first coach sacked, but his marriage to Butters, has ensured he'll be on the gravy train until he pulls the plug for a nice pension & impending knighthood for services to football- personally stopping the most talented list in the AFL from winning a flag.

Since we are talking about the game, it thought that Judd and Cox for the eagles were pretty good, the saints pretty much let these blokes run round free so they did what they liked. I feel the scoreboard was lot nicer to the saints than it should have been, as the eagles burned plenty of chances in the last quater to kill the saints off. But again as punk said, the eagles looked fitter and faster and even looked like they had a structure.

Also, did anyone catch the unusual sight of Cain Ackland engaging in a heated push & shove with a team-mate? Just more evidence of things not being "right" at St Kilda. Am I alone in thinking that Thomas is a poor coaching joke?

Cripes boys, it is round ONE FFS. I think you'll find St Kilda will be right in the mix this season and the only real example of poor coaching I could see was that Wirrpunda was allowed to roam as the free man in defence and this stilted St Kilda's run out of defence (eg. The Harvey turnover which led to a Cousins goal in the second quarter).

Let's have a real look at why St Kilda lost this match. West Coast has the best midfield in the league and while St Kilda also has some gun midfielders, the class through the rotations just isn't there. This was pointed out before the ball was bounced when they mentioned Thompson as part of the B midfield. Thomspon? LMAO. As the match wore on St Kilda was visibly struggling to keep up with the fresher midfield of the Eagles. As for the scoreboard flattering the Saints, I don't see it that way. West Coast's forward line is not a potent unit and this is why they failed to put the Saints away when it was fairly obvious they had them on the mat. Also, St Kilda's defence is very average indeed. McGuire is simply not that good, Peckett is 34, Hudgton a gutsy type playing against players he shouldn't really be forced to combat at this stage of is career. Others such as Fisher and Gram just don't look like it to me. Another problem they have is in the ruck as Ackland is an honest goer at best.

Of course every time the Eagles win at home (which is almost every time they play there) it's always down to the brilliance of Judd. Now even amatuer observers on the net are starting to sound like Gary Lyon. For me the stand out Eagles were Cox, Kerr, Chick (who got on top of 'spiritual leader' Hamill), Wirrpunda and Embley. Judd took a long time to get into the game and cashed in when the Saints were puffing billys but no doubt will get the 3 Brownlow votes from the misguided maggots.

If I had the chance to snaffle an Eagle it would be Kerr, I think he is very impressive indeed and Embley is also a top player.

regards,

REB

Punk Rooster wrote:Am I alone in thinking that Thomas is a poor coaching joke?

Gee Punky, when did that earth shattering conclusion hit you?? I have it on good authority that the other 15 clubs are secretly paying St Kilda a stipend to keep Thomas in his job. Whilst he is there St Kilda will not win a flag, it is out of 15 clubs now.....

WCE should have won by about 50 pts if they had kicked straight, but a wins a win. The bad kicking could mean the difference between finishing the H&A 2nd and finishing 3rd and not having a home final.

Punk Rooster wrote:Also, did anyone catch the unusual sight of Cain Ackland engaging in a heated push & shove with a team-mate? Just more evidence of things not being "right" at St Kilda. Am I alone in thinking that Thomas is a poor coaching joke?

He is terrible

His captains rotation policy just shows how he thinks - scatter brain

The saints have maybe the best list on paper and he just doesnt know how to use it.

What he did to Blight was a discrase and if Blight was coaching them you would probably have to say they would of at least won a premiership by now.

Surely his time will come if they dont at least play in the GF this year.

1980 Tassie Medalist wrote:

Punk Rooster wrote:Am I alone in thinking that Thomas is a poor coaching joke?

Gee Punky, when did that earth shattering conclusion hit you?? I have it on good authority that the other 15 clubs are secretly paying St Kilda a stipend to keep Thomas in his job. Whilst he is there St Kilda will not win a flag, it is out of 15 clubs now.....

When he was being interviewed on TV, after white-anting Blight!

Blue Boy wrote:

Punk Rooster wrote:Also, did anyone catch the unusual sight of Cain Ackland engaging in a heated push & shove with a team-mate? Just more evidence of things not being "right" at St Kilda. Am I alone in thinking that Thomas is a poor coaching joke?

He is terrible

His captains rotation policy just shows how he thinks - scatter brain

The saints have maybe the best list on paper and he just doesnt know how to use it.

What he did to Blight was a discrase and if Blight was coaching them you would probably have to say they would of at least won a premiership by now.

Surely his time will come if they dont at least play in the GF this year.

So now the truth comes out!

regards,

REB

Punk Rooster wrote: Am I alone in thinking that Thomas is a poor coaching joke?

No, you're definitely not alone.
Would have to be one of the only examples in the history of VFL/AFL where someone who wasn't even allowed in the coaches box on match day ends up taking over when that coach is sacked.

I agree there is only one thing standing in the way of the Saints winning a flag, that is
Grant Thomas
This guy is a tragic excuse for a coach, the Saints preperation over the past few seasons has not been up to afl level, players have been rushed back from injury, he has a Plan A, but when under the pump has no alternative strategies, this was highlighted in the Crows game last year when we came back from a 5 goal deficit a 1/4 time to run out 8 goal winners...
He never accepts responsibility for losses
If you want to turn a billion dollar organisation in to a million dollar organisation, hire Thomas as your CEO

1980 Tassie Medalist wrote:

Punk Rooster wrote:Am I alone in thinking that Thomas is a poor coaching joke?

Gee Punky, when did that earth shattering conclusion hit you?? I have it on good authority that the other 15 clubs are secretly paying St Kilda a stipend to keep Thomas in his job. Whilst he is there St Kilda will not win a flag, it is out of 15 clubs now.....

15? Dont you mean 14 (Carlton would struggle to win an SANFL premiership this year).