For mine the 5 biggest disapointments were the following:
1. The board spats with our ex coach. I am not going to take sides, both sides used the football club to make personal attacks. I am sure the club and all supporters are glad this is behind us because Stkilda is there to win flags, not as a play thing for those with big ego's.
2. Injuries. It got to the silly stage where we NEARLY played phil raymond (how bad would you feel being the only senior listed plaer not to get a game against the hawks
![Razz :P](./images/smilies/icon_razz.gif)
3. Interstate loses. Huge loses to brisbane and port in the first month and a half were a shocking introduction to the coaching game for ross lyon. I have not seen this type of inability to contest since 2004.
4. losing games by not running them out. Our mental and physical inability to run out games meant that we lost some very winnable games. These include the bulldogs draw, losses to the kanga's, wce and a terrible loss to the pies. In fact if they want something to spur them on put that final quarter against the pies on to show the difference a bit of inner strangth and team ethics can make!
5. The retirement of Thommo. I don't think people remember what a great servant this guy has been during our lowest points (1999 - 2003). It is fantastic that he is on the board.
While on the other hand there were positives from 2007:
1. The breakout season of sam gilbert. Went from a thin HFF in 2006 to a damaging swingman. His great speed and dodging ability came to the fore, while his ability to either shut down a forward (judd) or go forward to score a couple of important goals meant he was the most improved.
2. The improvement of the rookies. This was one of the biggest improvements in our list. Attard was fantastic, being that back pocket we have always cried out for. CJ went on to play some solid games (still huge question mark over his disposal) while geary, eddy and the Van had great seasons for casey (geary pushing for selection in rd 22). Look for these three to put pressure on the senior list in 2008.
3. The board transition. It was a bloodless and thus we have to be thankful to rod for standing down. The employment of new fitness staff seems to be having a great result already with only a couple of players working through injuries over preseason. There is a great vibe around the club and memberships are up.
4. Harvey and gehrig are playing on. It's hard to replace a 100 goal kicker and harvey is, well, harvey.
5. List management. After an awesome trading period that gained us 3 priemership players, most noteably ruckman king and the schneiderman. We have a more compact list, with more depth.
So bring on 2008. We have made the changes that should put us on the road to better results. The players need to work harder, for longer. We need to be the hunter again, hate to say this but the pies are what we want to base our year on. Want it more then anyone else. They have a lot less football ability but they get EVERYTHING out of themselves. I implore our players to make that a benchmark.
Go saints