Will we really be that bad?

[Zed]

I think we are in for a similar year results wise. Just outside the top 4.

Pro's:
- no longer playing under a seige mentality, guys will enjoy their footy a bit more
- Watters more likely to try some of the kids / non-established players
- expect bigger contributions from Lenny & Gilbert

Cons
- game plan is no longer a differentiator - everyone plays a version of the same game plan now
- players need to adapt to a revised game plan (remember the trouble the players had adapting in Lyon's first year ?).
- I cant see anyone rising from B or C grade player to A grade
- Reiwoldt's best is behind him

I think there is some real talent in some of the boys that have joined the club in the last 2 years - Cripps, Ledger, etc, and in some ways I see this year a bit like 1996 - where we got games into guys like Jones, Smith etc and they emerged as superstars the following year.

Curiously, I think 2013 could be our year to win it.

[Dr Spaceman]

Curiously, I think 2013 could be our year to win it.

Not if those Mayan's have anything to do with it

[degruch]

Hard to see how anyone could think we'd be worse than last year...who have we lost, who have we gained? Incoming and outgoing coaches both have finals experience, core champs are still there, pressure's off and so far, touch wood, no off field screw ups. Barring something outstandingly evil, how would an educated footy punter have us out of finals contention?

Below us:
Port
GC
GWS
North
Richmond
Melbourne
Brisbane

Line ball:
Essendon
Bulldogs

Possibly ahead:
Adelaide
Weagles
Freo

[gringo]

Why is Kosi now being labelled a leader?

How has he changed?

Why has it taken this long?

Love the Kos!

He is hard to judge too harshly because he has been a fairly injury prone player. if he gets his body right i think it is fair to assume his role could be more prominent.

He was injured at the start of the year missing preseason and the first chunk of the season proper.

He is considered a leader because he is a great bloke around the club and a genuine club man. Nathan Buckley was a great player but a s*** bloke around the club. You don't have to be the best player to be a leader.

[plugger66]

Why is Kosi now being labelled a leader?

How has he changed?

Why has it taken this long?

Love the Kos!

He is hard to judge too harshly because he has been a fairly injury prone player. if he gets his body right i think it is fair to assume his role could be more prominent.

He was injured at the start of the year missing preseason and the first chunk of the season proper.

He is considered a leader because he is a great bloke around the club and a genuine club man. Nathan Buckley was a great player but a s*** bloke around the club. You don't have to be the best player to be a leader.

And you arent a leader because you are a good bloke. Kosi isnt a leader because he just cant perform often enough and because of that hardly inspires confidence in other players.

[thejiggingsaint]

WHO knows? W-A-Y too far out from the season to be making predictions. I'm just looking forward to going to the games!

[SMS]

This time last year EVERYONE said geelong were GONE! People expected Geelong to at least drop fromn top 4 and probably top 8!!

EVERYONE!!

We copied Geelong, for intensity, in 2009 look what happened! The same thing will happen in 2012, yet this time we WILL WIN THE FLAG!

[gringo]

Why is Kosi now being labelled a leader?

How has he changed?

Why has it taken this long?

Love the Kos!

He is hard to judge too harshly because he has been a fairly injury prone player. if he gets his body right i think it is fair to assume his role could be more prominent.

He was injured at the start of the year missing preseason and the first chunk of the season proper.

He is considered a leader because he is a great bloke around the club and a genuine club man. Nathan Buckley was a great player but a s*** bloke around the club. You don't have to be the best player to be a leader.

And you arent a leader because you are a good bloke. Kosi isnt a leader because he just cant perform often enough and because of that hardly inspires confidence in other players.

You can still lead by training well and showing role model style leadership.

Lockett and G Train weren't leaders despite performance. They could show anybody their skills but at the end of the day you would rather them stay away when the new guys are coming through.

Kosi is respected by his peers -just not by the fans and media who have become inpatient after he looked like he might be something really special.

[plugger66]

Why is Kosi now being labelled a leader?

How has he changed?

Why has it taken this long?

Love the Kos!

He is hard to judge too harshly because he has been a fairly injury prone player. if he gets his body right i think it is fair to assume his role could be more prominent.

He was injured at the start of the year missing preseason and the first chunk of the season proper.

He is considered a leader because he is a great bloke around the club and a genuine club man. Nathan Buckley was a great player but a s*** bloke around the club. You don't have to be the best player to be a leader.

And you arent a leader because you are a good bloke. Kosi isnt a leader because he just cant perform often enough and because of that hardly inspires confidence in other players.

You can still lead by training well and showing role model style leadership.

Lockett and G Train weren't leaders despite performance. They could show anybody their skills but at the end of the day you would rather them stay away when the new guys are coming through.

Kosi is respected by his peers -just not by the fans and media who have become inpatient after he looked like he might be something really special.

Kosi seems like a great bloke but how do you know he is respected by his peers for what he does on the footy field?

[Con Gorozidis]

I think we are in for a similar year results wise. Just outside the top 4.

Pro's:
- no longer playing under a seige mentality, guys will enjoy their footy a bit more
- Watters more likely to try some of the kids / non-established players
- expect bigger contributions from Lenny & Gilbert

Cons
- game plan is no longer a differentiator - everyone plays a version of the same game plan now
- players need to adapt to a revised game plan (remember the trouble the players had adapting in Lyon's first year ?).
- I cant see anyone rising from B or C grade player to A grade
- Reiwoldt's best is behind him

I think there is some real talent in some of the boys that have joined the club in the last 2 years - Cripps, Ledger, etc, and in some ways I see this year a bit like 1996 - where we got games into guys like Jones, Smith etc and they emerged as superstars the following year.

Curiously, I think 2013 could be our year to win it.

good post zed. i agree with it all. although i think maybe we might sneak a b grader into an a grader or hopefully a c grader into an a grader.

i certainly expect gilbo to be a big pro for us after his disastrous 2011.

We are a big unknown this year. Anywhere from 1st to 10th.

[SMS]

The boys are as fit as 2009. Youngsters are coming up.

Cripps, Winmar, Geary, Stanley, Sippos, Ross, Crocker all fighting for places


We will win this year! We had a shocker year in 2011 and still ended up 7th.

Reiwoldt, Goddard, Montagna, Hayes, Dal Santo, Gilbert, Fisher, Milne and Schnieder - all these guns wear a saints jumper! Dont forget that!

They will be back better than ever before!

Dempster BTW is ready to back his 2011 up! The man is flying! And finally with the confidence he will shock eveyone by becoming AA!

[SaintPav]

Hard to see how anyone could think we'd be worse than last year...who have we lost, who have we gained? Incoming and outgoing coaches both have finals experience, core champs are still there, pressure's off and so far, touch wood, no off field screw ups. Barring something outstandingly evil, how would an educated footy punter have us out of finals contention?

Below us:
Port
GC
GWS
North
Richmond
Melbourne
Brisbane

Line ball:
Essendon
Bulldogs

Possibly ahead:
Adelaide
Weagles
Freo

Adelaide ahead of us? Are you joking?

[SaintPav]

WHO knows? W-A-Y too far out from the season to be making predictions. I'm just looking forward to going to the games!

And having a beer..

[clarky449]

The boys are as fit as 2009. Youngsters are coming up.

Cripps, Winmar, Geary, Stanley, Sippos, Ross, Crocker all fighting for places


We will win this year! We had a shocker year in 2011 and still ended up 7th.

Reiwoldt, Goddard, Montagna, Hayes, Dal Santo, Gilbert, Fisher, Milne and Schnieder - all these guns wear a saints jumper! Dont forget that!

They will be back better than ever before!

Dempster BTW is ready to back his 2011 up! The man is flying! And finally with the confidence he will shock eveyone by becoming AA!

Please, every team is fit this time of year. Same thing is said every year.

Those players havent even had much game time, how can you expect them to come in and give us the thing we need to win a Premiership.

We wont win this year, because we wont be good enough. Last year should of made you realised we are on the way down.

[bobmurray]

the fact is basically every thing that could go wrong did go wrong last year

That is my view too.

So if we can steady the boat...and get some of our younger talent to bloom I see an improvement. We just need to get Lenny to hit is straps by the second half of the season. Lenny is truly elite...and if "back in town" will make a huge difference. Not just by his own playing ability, but because he is that rare type of player that lifts his team-mates so that they play better.

Over the course of last year Ben became a good player...and I am expecting more from him this year.

Steven also looked better last year, and would be expected to step up as well.

Armo will hopefully improve...but if not we also have some young'uns like Ledger.

Saad is capable of adding value in his first year.


You can only play 22 players in any one team at once.......and I see enough newish players that will be pushing in to lift the overall quality of our 22.

We have lost Zac...but he was a reasonably steady role player rather than a good players. So Wilkes or Simpkin would be a reasonable bet to replace him.

Have just one true No 1 ruck in Ben makes me nervous. But Kosi and/or Stanley should be ok as No2s. just hope that either do not have to play as No1s.

I believe that Watters has a lot to work with. So the challenge is now his to find ways to make us score better....and injectinga bit of pace and better kicking is likely to be part of this.

Which old blood will make way for which new blood. well that will be fascinating to watch.

Good summary...i don't want to see the club rely on the same 22 that has carried them to ultimate failure over the last few years so i'm hoping the recent recruiting is able to add something to the teams structure and addresses some of the over exposed flaws...

[meowys]

Hm, let me think... YES.

They had 3 chances at the flag (the 3rd chance, being the replay of 2010)... and they still couldn't deliver the goods. They aren't getting any younger.

[The Redeemer]

Hard to see how anyone could think we'd be worse than last year...who have we lost, who have we gained? Incoming and outgoing coaches both have finals experience, core champs are still there, pressure's off and so far, touch wood, no off field screw ups. Barring something outstandingly evil, how would an educated footy punter have us out of finals contention?

Below us:
Port
GC
GWS
North
Richmond
Melbourne
Brisbane

Line ball:
Essendon
Bulldogs

Possibly ahead:
Adelaide
Weagles
Freo

Adelaide ahead of us? Are you joking?

They have that Lynch guy now.

[degruch]

Adelaide ahead of us? Are you joking?

Caveat...'possibly'. They have some great young players who are set to step up, some lazy bastards with a stack of potential, previously injured players putting good pre-seasons in, if you believe all the hype...were expected to be a finals contender last year, should be this year. Only downside was the loss of Davis and Gunston.

[gringo]

Adelaide ahead of us? Are you joking?

Caveat...'possibly'. They have some great young players who are set to step up, some lazy bastards with a stack of potential, previously injured players putting good pre-seasons in, if you believe all the hype...were expected to be a finals contender last year, should be this year. Only downside was the loss of Davis and Gunston.

Melbourne has a good young list as does north, brissie, GWS, GC, Richmond etc.


I can't see Adelaide doing anything spectacular with what they have but your entitled to your opinion.

[Megsie]

THE COURAGEOUS "Lenny" IS BACK IN 2012.

Happy Birthday Lenny.....14/1/2012 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

[Con Gorozidis]

My belief is that lyon leaving the way he did will galvanise the team.
He basically told the footy world by his actions that he thinks the saints window has closed and this groups chance to win a flag has gone.
Similarly he told the footy world that luke ball was no good 3 years ago.
If I was a player I know what I would be thinking. I reckon we might shove it right up him (as teddy whitten would say).

[clarky449]

My belief is that lyon leaving the way he did will galvanise the team.
He basically told the footy world by his actions that he thinks the saints window has closed and this groups chance to win a flag has gone.
Similarly he told the footy world that luke ball was no good 3 years ago.
If I was a player I know what I would be thinking. I reckon we might shove it right up him (as teddy whitten would say).

He is right though.

[boomer]

Its is about time we had a star come out of nowhere and be a big improver. Some people say Jimmy Gwilt was our last one but he was a really a steady progression who gradually got better and grew in confidence.

most other clubs seem to have someone who goes from nothing to a star in a single year. about time we got one!

Think a couple of our young guns will step up, possibly Sippos & definately Ledger. Not sure how they are going on the track, but with a year under their belt they are well and truly primed to make a big impact. Top 4 for me.

[samuraisaint]

This year we would have finished top 4 if the following things had NOT have happened

Lenny doing his knee
Gwilt doing his knee/leg
Cripps/Siposs/Ledger all being unavailable after round 10 when they were starting to hit their straps
Goddard hadn't had to play sore all year
Gardiner unavailable all year

I think we will go alright no matter what happens, but I can accept a year out of the finals provided we are building for something.

It would be nice if Saad and Milera could come straight in though. They could have an automatic impact with their leg speed by all accounts.

[bergholt]

This year we would have finished top 4 if the following things had NOT have happened

those things may not happen this year - but don't you think it's likely that other things will go wrong instead? it happens for every club every year. for instance, if mcevoy did a knee we'd be in a lot of trouble.