Port vs Saints

[Thiele]

Only just turned it what awful conditions. Normal Crowd

Saints aren't even in the game

[Dutchy]

have to feel sorry for the Saints, its not there fault there previous 2 games have been at the Telstra Doom!!!!

[Mr66]

What does playing at the Telstra Dome have to do with it?
STK have never won anywhere.

[Hondo]

Port have surprised me so far this season - all of a sudden they are 4-1

[Dutchy]

What does playing at the Telstra Dome have to do with it?
STK have never won anywhere.

http://safootycentral.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=6742

[Mr66]

Dutchy, here is a stat which is a little bit more relevant.
1 fluke premiership in 130+ years.
STK have done nothing,achieved nothing, are still doing nothing and are nothing.
History & culture play an important part in football eg.Port Adelaide.
STK don't have a history OR culture.

[Hondo]

have to feel sorry for the Saints, its not there fault there previous 2 games have been at the Telstra Doom!!!!

Tredrea on 5AA the other night said that he would much prefer coming off a water-logged MCG than playing indoors at the Doom. Then commented on how hard the "30cm deep" surface is.

[Jimmy]

so im guessing the saints got flogged...great!

[Thiele]

Port won by 53 points

[mal]

New coach to improve the Saints my arse, no way
Same players
Same home ground
Same injuries
Same culture

Need a high profile coach
Need to make the MCG thier home ground
They are DOOMED

[mal]

have to feel sorry for the Saints, its not there fault there previous 2 games have been at the Telstra Doom!!!!

Tredrea on 5AA the other night said that he would much prefer coming off a water-logged MCG than playing indoors at the Doom. Then commented on how hard the "30cm deep" surface is.

Tredrea, Mal , Dutchy and many many many many AFL players
all knew playing on a wet ground is better than playing on concrete

[Mr66]

New coach to improve the Saints my arse, no way
Same players
Same home ground
Same injuries
Same culture

Need a high profile coach
Need to make the MCG thier home ground
They are DOOMED

Don't get carried away Port, you didn't beat an opponent of any significance.
And that goes for the other 14 clubs that will beat them as well.

[smithy]

Same players
Same home ground
Same injuries
Same culture

Also sounds like Richmond, Melbourne, kangaroos & West Bulldogs.

[McAlmanac]

The Saints should perform well enough in their home matches to secure a top 8 place.

[Sojourner]

Need a high profile coach
Need to make the MCG thier home ground
They are DOOMED

The Saints had a high profile coach until the board of the club which included Grant Thomas gave him the sack in order that Thomas could be appointed coach. It would appear that the Karma of the Football Gods bit deeply over that one.

St Kilda have no chance of making the MCG their own home ground when at their "home" matches they are consistantly outnumbered by the opposition supporters.

St Kilda are a casualty of the fact of their being too many clubs in Melbourne, to make the climb up the ladder they need a signficant increase in cash flow to get the right staff, equipment and training facilities. Any current AFL club that cannot maintain the standard of the personel and facilities of either the West Coast Eagles or the Adelaide Crows is going to struggle to make the climb into the Eight. Melbourne, Richmond, North Melbourne, Hawthorn and the former member of the big three Carlton, are all facing the same problems in various forms, the key is to hang in their long enough until a competitor folds allowing you to access their supporter base and corporate funding.

[sydney-dog]

Mal

In all seriousness, I think the main issue is the footy world has over-rated the Saints list

The Saints had the opportunity to Stock Pile some of the best talent through the draft system, Reiwoldt, Kosi, Ball, Dal Santo, Goddard and Hayes are examples.

The players mentioned all have shown during stages of their careers that they have the potentially the cability to be in the top elite players of the competition, but for one reason or another none of these players can yet be considered to be in that elite group of players in the competition.

Let’s be honest, when we talk about the elite group of the comp, we should define it as players that play at that high level, week in week out, no matter the venue, opposition or conditions

The real issue of the saints is the depth in their list

Their senior players (with the exception of Harvey) is not as strong as other clubs, Hamill Gardner, and Hudghton can't get on the park, while the G Train was a disgrace last night, played from behind, lazy, did not chase and did not look interested

The Rucks, pre-season, everyone pointed the finger at Adelaide's ruck stocks, at least I am confident we have young guy's coming through. This is a real concern for the Saints, this will be Clarke's last year, Gardner still needs to prove to himself and the footy world that he is still an AFL ruckman, while Brooks and Rix, well they have not fired a shot

Most importantly, the saints have too many players that are too inconsistent or have not developed, players like, Watts, Clarke brothers, Milne, Fiora, Bris, Brooks, Rix, L Fisher, Gram, Gilbert and Gwilt, while the jury is till out on recent draftees such as Jones, Attard, Armitage ans Allen

Pre-season, I raised the issue, how could the Saints be on the edge of the salary cap when the depth of the list is so poor, the impact of this, the Saints are the only club that do not have positions filled on their list due to salary cap constraints (two positions), now the club has injury and form issues, this is really hurting them

The other concern I raised was around the team's capability, too slow in the midfield and too thin down back, these are issues that cannot be fixed this year as the club does not have the cattle, and due to the timing of Lyon's appointment he did not have the opportunity to sufficiently review the list and develop a recruiting strategy for 200

[McAlmanac]

Of the "stockpile" group, how many games have they played together as a whole? I suspect not too many and this is the biggest key to success in AFL today - getting your best side on the park. Hudghton and Maguire - as an exercise, take full back and centre half back out of all sides in the comp, fill them up with the available "depth" players and see what you finish up with. When Riewoldt can get a solid block of footy in him, he is in the best 5 players in the comp.

Gram is a very good ball carrier - does get exposed defensively sometimes, but in a match such as last night's that's bound to happen. The two Fishers are excellent players. Blake is a good depth player who has performed excellent jobs in the past (I remember him stitching up the Swans in a final at the G a few years ago). Strangely enough, Fiora is having one of his better seasons.

The Clarke brothers are definitely a liability, injury-wise. Guys you mention like Gwilt, Gilbert, Watts are nowhere near St Kilda's best 22. Forget Hamill, he will play no further part.

[Magpiespower]

Second time this season I saw the Saints play last night (other was v Brisbane).

Both times they've been very ordinary.

Starting to doubt if they'll even make the eight...

[Rik E Boy]

The Saints should perform well enough in their home matches to secure a top 8 place.

I don't think so Mac.

regards,

REB

[mal]

SYD-DOG cant disagree with your comments.
Just want to emphasise the fact that many people took great delight
in castergating the previous coach Mr Grant Thomas for the woes of the club
Thomas as i will always re-iterate was the sacpegoat for more realistic pertinent issues.
THEY HAVE TOO MANY CRIPPLES
THEY PLAY ON THE CONCRETE CATASTROPHE
THEY HAVE A DODGY CULTURE AT THE CLUB
I feel for LYON as he will be in the THOMAS junkheep as well
____________________________________________________________________

And I had to to read Mr Michelangelo RUCCIs article today

QUOTES:

POWER MAINTAINS HOLD OVER HAPLESS SAINTS

EXTRAORDINARY RECORD AGAINST ST KILDA CONTINUES TO SURPRISE

WAKELIN,WHO EMBARRASED KEY FORWARD GEHRIG HOLDING THE 2004-2005 COLEMAN MEDALIST SCORELESS

My turn to comment and teach Mr Rucci how to report the TRUTH
The reason why PP has won 10 of last 11 matches is not a surprise [YOU IDIOT]
If you play nearly all or all the games at AAMI and in TASMANIA that means SK
do not get a home ground advantage and have to travel every game
PP travels half the time
PLAY HALF THE GAMES AT TELSTRA DOOM AND I WONDER WHAT THE RATIO WOULD BE.
Yeah PP has a great record but have been helped immensely by the programming.


As for WAKELIN embarrasing GEHRIG what would you expect on a wet night for forwards
in a losing team
Once again play these games at TELSTRA DOOM and I reckon GEHRIG might just turn the tables.

RUCCI enjoy the lesson.....