Next week

[WellardSaint]

Carlton lose to Tigers.
Swans beat the Power. % is slightly lower than ours.
We beat Injectors by the same margin, or greater than the Swans.

Result for ladder?
Blues drop 3 spots
Tigers move up one.
We move up to 5th (one spot)

Am I right?

Cats will beat Meth Coast by the length of the main straight at Sandown racetrack, so their % will go ^

We need the Tigers to win (I feel dirty, saying that)
otherwise, Bluebaggers get 2 games clear of us, and we need to stay in touch with Top 4 (as close as possible)

Sure, you're all gonna go 'we can't rely on other teams to win, we need to get into finals on our own merit'

Well...Games vs the Pies and the Power show that our club can't win winnable games.
Nuff said

[The_Dud]

I’m not too worried where we sit week to week, just worried about getting those 13 wins to guarantee our finals spot regardless of what everyone else does.

A home final / top 4 would be a bonus in my book.

[WellardSaint]

I’m not too worried where we sit week to week, just worried about getting those 13 wins to guarantee our finals spot regardless of what everyone else does.

A home final / top 4 would be a bonus in my book.

Top 4 is lala-land. Perhaps next year. We're gonna be lucky to remain in the 8.
You seen our horrible draw?

[SunnyErnie]

Carlton lose to Tigers.
Swans beat the Power. % is slightly lower than ours.
We beat Injectors by the same margin, or greater than the Swans.

Result for ladder?
Blues drop 3 spots
Tigers move up one.
We move up to 5th (one spot)

Am I right?

Cats will beat Meth Coast by the length of the main straight at Sandown racetrack, so their % will go ^

We need the Tigers to win (I feel dirty, saying that)
otherwise, Bluebaggers get 2 games clear of us, and we need to stay in touch with Top 4 (as close as possible)

Sure, you're all gonna go 'we can't rely on other teams to win, we need to get into finals on our own merit'

Well...Games vs the Pies and the Power show that our club can't win winnable games.
Nuff said

The only 2 things we need next week are.....

1. St Kilda to beat Essendon.
2. No more injuries for St Kilda or Sandringham.

[The_Dud]

I’m not too worried where we sit week to week, just worried about getting those 13 wins to guarantee our finals spot regardless of what everyone else does.

A home final / top 4 would be a bonus in my book.

Top 4 is lala-land. Perhaps next year. We're gonna be lucky to remain in the 8.
You seen our horrible draw?

Essendon, Eagles, Hawks should all be wins if we’re fair dinkum (and carry our form from the first half of the season)

Carlton, Freo, Dogs, Lions (H), Swans (H) are all 50/50 IMO

Swans (A) and Cats will be tough.

So by those odds I’ve got us on 13/14 wins, fingers crossed we can pull it off

[The Fireman]

Carlton lose to Tigers.
Swans beat the Power. % is slightly lower than ours.
We beat Injectors by the same margin, or greater than the Swans.

Result for ladder?
Blues drop 3 spots
Tigers move up one.
We move up to 5th (one spot)

Am I right?

Cats will beat Meth Coast by the length of the main straight at Sandown racetrack, so their % will go ^

We need the Tigers to win (I feel dirty, saying that)
otherwise, Bluebaggers get 2 games clear of us, and we need to stay in touch with Top 4 (as close as possible)

Sure, you're all gonna go 'we can't rely on other teams to win, we need to get into finals on our own merit'

Well...Games vs the Pies and the Power show that our club can't win winnable games.
Nuff said

The only 2 things we need next week are.....

1. St Kilda to beat Essendon.
2. No more injuries for St Kilda or Sandringham.

Really ?

[WellardSaint]

Bombers, WCE, Hawks = 11 wins.

14 wins means win 3 of
Blues, Dockers, Dogs, Lions, Swans (Marvel)

Blues are better than early season.
Freo? Ditto
Dogs? We should beat them,, if we're fair dinkum.
Lions at home, under the roof?
Hmm...Steele back, Billings on fire by then, we should match them .

Swans? Geez, they"re better than Lions, when you compare their lists, also Longmire is a supercunning coach and Swans are a lovechild, which will give them an 8 goal headstart.

[bangaulegend]

With our draw t's going to be a big challenge IMO to make the 8 . I'm hopeful but realistic as well ATM we don't have a list that can win a flag this year but we are building a decent team & if we keep recruiting the right players the future is looking bright .

[Wayne42]

If we need to plead with the AFL to give us a much softer draw each year in order to make the finals then maybe we aren't that good.

[StPeter]

If we need to plead with the AFL to give us a much softer draw each year in order to make the finals then maybe we aren't that good.

We are not asking for a soft draw( it is not a draw which suggests it is random) but at least a fixture on equal footing with other teams we are competing with.
The fixture we have been given the past 2 years puts us with a handicap of around 2 games against other teams we are competing with.
All analysts have conceded how tough our fixtures have been.

[The_Dud]

If we need to plead with the AFL to give us a much softer draw each year in order to make the finals then maybe we aren't that good.

We are not asking for a soft draw( it is not a draw which suggests it is random) but at least a fixture on equal footing with other teams we are competing with.
The fixture we have been given the past 2 years puts us with a handicap of around 2 games against other teams we are competing with.
All analysts have conceded how tough our fixtures have been.

How do you expect the AFL to know who’s going to be good before the season starts? Currently only 4 teams who played finals last year are in the top 8.

[StPeter]

If we need to plead with the AFL to give us a much softer draw each year in order to make the finals then maybe we aren't that good.

We are not asking for a soft draw( it is not a draw which suggests it is random) but at least a fixture on equal footing with other teams we are competing with.
The fixture we have been given the past 2 years puts us with a handicap of around 2 games against other teams we are competing with.
All analysts have conceded how tough our fixtures have been.

How do you expect the AFL to know who’s going to be good before the season starts? Currently only 4 teams who played finals last year are in the top 8.

At the start of both seasons the experts who analyze the fixture, unanimously recognized the Saints as having the most difficult "draw" of all clubs.
Nothing that happened during the seasons changed that analysis.

[SunnyErnie]

Carlton lose to Tigers.
Swans beat the Power. % is slightly lower than ours.
We beat Injectors by the same margin, or greater than the Swans.

Result for ladder?
Blues drop 3 spots
Tigers move up one.
We move up to 5th (one spot)

Am I right?

Cats will beat Meth Coast by the length of the main straight at Sandown racetrack, so their % will go ^

We need the Tigers to win (I feel dirty, saying that)
otherwise, Bluebaggers get 2 games clear of us, and we need to stay in touch with Top 4 (as close as possible)

Sure, you're all gonna go 'we can't rely on other teams to win, we need to get into finals on our own merit'

Well...Games vs the Pies and the Power show that our club can't win winnable games.
Nuff said

The only 2 things we need next week are.....

1. St Kilda to beat Essendon.
2. No more injuries for St Kilda or Sandringham.

Really ?

Yes really!!!

[Wayne42]

If we need to plead with the AFL to give us a much softer draw each year in order to make the finals then maybe we aren't that good.

We are not asking for a soft draw( it is not a draw which suggests it is random) but at least a fixture on equal footing with other teams we are competing with.
The fixture we have been given the past 2 years puts us with a handicap of around 2 games against other teams we are competing with.
All analysts have conceded how tough our fixtures have been.

From afl.com .au, St Kilda's 2022 draw ranking..
Degree of difficulty: 41 (sixth)
https://www.afl.com.au/news/691521/fixt ... culty-more

[WellardSaint]

Bulldogs
Melb
Power
Bris
Giants
Saints

That's the official order from AFL for difficulty.

[Wayne42]

I’m not too worried where we sit week to week, just worried about getting those 13 wins to guarantee our finals spot regardless of what everyone else does.

A home final / top 4 would be a bonus in my book.

But what will our draw be like in the finals ?

Will we have to play any top 8 teams twice ?

[older saint]

Glass half full or half empty

Play teams around you and win it is an 8 point game. therefore presents an opportunity to push for top 4 or home final first week at worst.
Sure those games can be harder to win and yes it can get you the other way also.

Need to embrace the chance to control our destiny rather than fear it. If we lose all those games we aren't good enough and need more time.

IMO we will Ess, WC HAw WB
Lose Geel (a)
and probably split the rest
finishing around 4-6 depending on others and which of this we win

[spert]

As we're going on this season, it just looks more like our midfield is a cut below the top challengers- even with Steele in there. We lack a class clearance mid. Not easy to fix that, as Bytel was a possibility but seems injury prone, Clark is not a mid IMO and young guys Windy and Owens are still on a learning curve, but it would be good to see Byrnes back in the mix in place of Jones- we need to get more games into him.

[SaintPav]

Need to get 50-65 games into Windhager, Owens, NWM, Byrnes and Bytel asap.

[bigcarl]

As we're going on this season, it just looks more like our midfield is a cut below the top challengers- even with Steele in there. We lack a class clearance mid. Not easy to fix that, as Bytel was a possibility but seems injury prone, Clark is not a mid IMO and young guys Windy and Owens are still on a learning curve, but it would be good to see Byrnes back in the mix in place of Jones- we need to get more games into him.

I think Clark can be a very good clearance mid, but he is not the big-bodied superstar like Cripps or Dusty that many of the top teams have. With Steele and Crouch and Gresham alongside him, it might look okay.

There seems to be a reluctance to play him in there as he’s been hurt badly a couple of times. If opposition teams see a chance to take him out, they will take it as they recognise him as a key playmaker.

[samuraisaint]

Carlton lose to Tigers.
Swans beat the Power. % is slightly lower than ours.
We beat Injectors by the same margin, or greater than the Swans.

Result for ladder?
Blues drop 3 spots
Tigers move up one.
We move up to 5th (one spot)

Am I right?

Cats will beat Meth Coast by the length of the main straight at Sandown racetrack, so their % will go ^

We need the Tigers to win (I feel dirty, saying that)
otherwise, Bluebaggers get 2 games clear of us, and we need to stay in touch with Top 4 (as close as possible)

Sure, you're all gonna go 'we can't rely on other teams to win, we need to get into finals on our own merit'

Well...Games vs the Pies and the Power show that our club can't win winnable games.
Nuff said

Port did finish third last year and the year before that. Their midfield includes Robbie Gray, Travis Boak, Ollie Wines and Zac Butters. That is an A grade midfield. At the beginning of the year I had that game in Cairns diwn as a loss (and I don't think I am alone in saying that on here).

Last season at about this time we found our mojo and started winning matches like we did in 2020. I think we can win every game we play between now and the end of the season, but some games are more winnable than others, no doubt.

And yes; it is perfectly reasonable to want other teams to win so that we are best placed to play finals this year. It makes other matches more interesting too.

[samuraisaint]

Need to get 50-65 games into Windhager, Owens, NWM, Byrnes and Bytel asap.

Great post and very true.

If all of Owens, DMac, Zac and maybe Wood, don't play Friday night it gives other players their chance. Byrnes is one who might finally get a semior game this year, and Clark another.

[Teflon]

As we're going on this season, it just looks more like our midfield is a cut below the top challengers- even with Steele in there. We lack a class clearance mid. Not easy to fix that, as Bytel was a possibility but seems injury prone, Clark is not a mid IMO and young guys Windy and Owens are still on a learning curve, but it would be good to see Byrnes back in the mix in place of Jones- we need to get more games into him.

Byrnes fir Jones not like for like
He’s not a ball winning beast Byrnes he’s a runner with suspect disposal fir mine
I think he’s a good VFL player tbh hope to be proven wrong
So disappointed Bytel is injured this was his time

[Scollop]

Need to get 50-65 games into Windhager, Owens, NWM, Byrnes and Bytel asap.

Stanley Ipkiss talking sense again!

[Yorkeys]

Need to get 50-65 games into Windhager, Owens, NWM, Byrnes and Bytel asap.

Stanley Ipkiss talking sense again!

Selectors obviously agree but a couple of those men make it difficult at times. And none are a goal scorers like the Pies younger group.