I honestly don't know what to think????

[Loyal]

Ranking them at this stage
Geel
WBulldogs
Haw
Carl
Stk

St Kilda
Geelong
Western
Carlton/Hawthorn

we still have to prove that we can defeat geelong once we have beaten WBD.

[Life Long Saint]

...but I never get my hopes up, learned that in 97

If 1997 didn't teach us anything then 2004 surely would have!

[Loyal]

twenty rounds plus finals.
lets just humble WBD first.

gazz could go down with another ankle.
take boyd out of WBD and they are vulnerable.
you cant hang your hat on hawthorn at the moment. hodge looks vulnerable and sam 'the kick' mitchell is being tagged-out.

[saintsRrising]

I don't think we're showing hawthorn enough respect... keep in mind they had the following players out

Campbell
Croad
Gilham
Ladson
Sewell
Osborne
Lewis
Ladson
Taylor
and Tuck

That is 10 out of their starting 22...
...

Not many players are worth two...Ladson must be good

[Loyal]

ladsonson .. he's swedish

[Saints94]

I'm just taking it "One week at a time"

[mad saint guy]

Our skills are still not good enough to be a top team and our forward line still has question marks. No doubt we are very good defensively, but I can't see any team sustain that kind of effort all year. In both games so far we've had lapses in concentration and the opposition have quickly piled on goals. A team like Geelong or Hawthorn would be much harder to stop in that situation than Sydney or Adelaide.

I think we've shown enough to suggest that we should make the top 6, but we're still a long way behind Geelong and a fit Hawthorn side.

[stinger]

We've caught up yes, not much, but made progress.

It also has to do with Hawthorn and Geelong slipping though. Hawks are obviously no where near there premiership form of last year, whether it be to their mounting injuries or just a premireship hangover.

And Geelong being taken all the way by Tigers isn't a great sign for them...

If we were to play either team this week, I'd be hella more confident than I was going into playing them last year.

Bit of a contradiction of terms there stkfc.

i think we have improved in intensity...we had a bit to prove after our final series....we have ball back...ray and gardiner have added extra grunt to the midfield......dal, gilbert and joey are on song........god is in his heaven at the moment....

..and the hawks and the girls from sleeoy hollow are going backwards.....

[gringo]

For any team to win a premiership you need a good core that plays together consistently for most of the year, Geelong have had a couple of years where the core stood up and Hawthorn had that last year.

Both are a bit shaky at the moment and a few injuries really level the playing field.

Carlton will probably make the finals on confidence but it usually takes a couple of series to get the pressure game going.

This year is a good year for a break out season hope it is the one we get it together and not the dogs.

[terry smith rules]

my saints lid is well and truly snap locked in place

too early to write off hawks with the missing players

cats on the other hand, wheels just slightly wobbling

long term injuries can kill off sides very quickly, at least the hawks will start to get these players back

cats without egan, hunt, now ottens , question mark on Harley

Scarlett and Milburn not getting any younger

yes they have the best midfield but their forward line still lacks a dominant tall and the defence rests heavilly on scarlett and milburn

I strongly believe their window is closing ever so slightly

[B W and R all over]

I don't put too much stock in what Robert Walls says, whether it's positive or negative.

He's not overly insightful, just provocative and that's why he gets so many media gigs.

Listening to James Hird on the couch by comparison just shows how little Walls has to offer.

[Thinline]

I think there's been an improvement in effort but, frankly, there should be.

West Coast, then Freo, etc etc etc... one week at a time, six months of the hardest work ever, and happy for Blues to be soaking up all the attention in the world.

[Con Gorozidis]

there seems to be much focus on "moving forward", "making progress" and "Catching up". now if this were true and there was constant improving then teams back in the 90's must have been rubbish and teams in 10 years from now will be supermen. we all know this aint true. teams go up and down. what im seeing right now is the saints have improved very slightly but the hawks and cats have gone backwards a bit. bringing them back towards us and the doggies. the pies are similar to last year. the only real improvers i see are the blues. so i reckon it might be tight in the top 6.

[Con Gorozidis]

my saints lid is well and truly snap locked in place

too early to write off hawks with the missing players

cats on the other hand, wheels just slightly wobbling

long term injuries can kill off sides very quickly, at least the hawks will start to get these players back

cats without egan, hunt, now ottens , question mark on Harley

Scarlett and Milburn not getting any younger

yes they have the best midfield but their forward line still lacks a dominant tall and the defence rests heavilly on scarlett and milburn

I strongly believe their window is closing ever so slightly

i agree

[Lennon]

Keeping a very big lid on it at the moment but right now ,yes we can beat anyone!

Lol. Us keeping a lid on it.