they didnt care

[jimbob]

simple it was a practice game players coudnt give a rats ass about nab cup we made the real grandy last year and thats what the boys are after this year, ross didnt care the only down side was chips going down, trust me when i say youll see the real stkilda in 2 weeks vs swans

[Quixote]

AGREED.

[Dal_Santos_Gal]

I tend to agree, I thought the dogs badly wanted that win on Saturday night. It was clear as mud to me that the umps and most of all the Channel 10 team wanted the dogs to win. Didn't matter how close or how far in front the dogs were, it was always about the dogs.

The players didn't seem to get that excited in the last qrt when we got the gap to within a kick. More important things like the home and away season and September are playing on their minds and not some pre season silver wear that means nothing come 6 months time.

I say let the dogs have there 5 minutes of glory, I remember how excited we were as saints supporters winning pre season cup back in 1996 after years of no silver wear. All this win does for the dogs is put all the spot light on them and even today with the herald sun the spot light is shining ever so bright with big brainless bazza on the back cover with the cup. Oh the media do carry on, one would have thought they had won a day premiership instead of the pre season cup.

Personally I didn't give two rats about that game on Saturday night and was not bothered at all by the end result. Two weeks time is far more important and I think some people on here are over reacting on some comments about some players. I remember the doubts, the baggers and Ross Lyon bashes after losing to Brisbane before round 1 last year

So be careful what you say, you all come back with egg on your face especially after winning 19 games straight.

Chill, relax, enjoy the ride this year, hell because I think some of you didn't last year.

[Moccha]

clear as mud isn't very clear. How about clear as crystal

[saint vince]

simple it was a practice game players coudnt give a rats ass about nab cup we made the real grandy last year and thats what the boys are after this year, ross didnt care the only down side was chips going down, trust me when i say youll see the real stkilda in 2 weeks vs swans

Best post I have seen all week. Couldn't agree more

[stinger]

well...they didn't care as much as the doggies did....

[chook23]

well...they didn't care as much as the doggies did....

agree

cop out and drespectful to Doggies effort

better side on night

[stinger]

well...they didn't care as much as the doggies did....

agree

cop out and drespectful to Doggies effort

better side on night

yep......

[Mr X from the West]

I might be wrong but the Bulldogs seemed to be zoning further up the ground than most teams usually do against us. There was consequently a lot of pressure on us when we were trying to bring the ball out of defence. Bit of a mid-field flood, if you like (which is what we do to other teams).

Could it be that this is what opposition teams are going to do this year to beat our "all field press"? If so, how should we react?

[SydneySainter]

simple it was a practice game players coudnt give a rats ass about nab cup we made the real grandy last year and thats what the boys are after this year, ross didnt care the only down side was chips going down, trust me when i say youll see the real stkilda in 2 weeks vs swans

Can we stop looking for excuses and just admit that we were plain ordinary on the night!

[st_Trav_ofWA]

simple it was a practice game players coudnt give a rats ass about nab cup we made the real grandy last year and thats what the boys are after this year, ross didnt care the only down side was chips going down, trust me when i say youll see the real stkilda in 2 weeks vs swans

Can we stop looking for excuses and just admit that we were plain ordinary on the night!

bingo

we lost not cause we didnt care not cause the umps not cause we wre looking forward we got beaten because we played poorly ... RL said it himself a lapse for even a minute can be very costly against quallity and the dogs are quality

but the bright side is we are not as bad as we played on saturday

[markp]

The OP is spot on.

All this baloney about giving 100% every time they run out... how come teams find another gear come finals time every year?

The Dogs wanted it much more than us, pure and simple.

We only have one mission this season.

[Banger724]

agree with OP... without being disrespectful to doggies who were certainly the better and more committed side on the night, we haven't been playing with anything close to the intensity we will when H&A gets underway, that's been apparent throughout the entire 4 weeks of the nab cup. also agree there's a couple of concerns with individuals but lets not go hitting panic buttons and wanting senior blokes dropped (who got us to 22 out of 25 last year) on the back of a couple of practice matches.

its not an excuse, we weren't at our best, but i think this has more to do with how the playing group is being 'geared' by the coaching staff at this time of year as opposed to individuals being horribly out of form.

[sainter35]

well...they didn't care as much as the doggies did....

agree

cop out and drespectful to Doggies effort

better side on night

I don't think it's disrespectful at all to suggest the Bulldogs wanted to win more.

They did.

You not only have to look at the way they started the game but the fact we stuck to our rotations regardless of the score. If this was a regular season would we really be taking Riewoldt off for a rest after we'd kicked a couple of goals and were within a kick of the opposition?

That doesn't mean they weren't the better team on the night.

We'll see what happens round 6 and in September.

[plugger66]

simple it was a practice game players coudnt give a rats ass about nab cup we made the real grandy last year and thats what the boys are after this year, ross didnt care the only down side was chips going down, trust me when i say youll see the real stkilda in 2 weeks vs swans

Dont believe this point for a moment. Players try as soon as the cross the white line but if they werent then we seriously have some players with attitude problems. We were beaten by a better side on the night. Dont look for excuses.

[sainter35]

simple it was a practice game players coudnt give a rats ass about nab cup we made the real grandy last year and thats what the boys are after this year, ross didnt care the only down side was chips going down, trust me when i say youll see the real stkilda in 2 weeks vs swans

Dont believe this point for a moment. Players try as soon as the cross the white line but if they werent then we seriously have some players with attitude problems. We were beaten by a better side on the night. Dont look for excuses.

We were beaten by a better side on the night and I do think our players tried but there are other factors involved such as the tactics and rotations of the respective coaches. All week our players were at pains to talk down the importance of the game. The Bulldogs players also spoke about the importance of round 1 but not to the same extent. They wanted it more and I'd like to think when we meet them in round 6 things will be different.

I don't think that's making excuses.

[plugger66]

simple it was a practice game players coudnt give a rats ass about nab cup we made the real grandy last year and thats what the boys are after this year, ross didnt care the only down side was chips going down, trust me when i say youll see the real stkilda in 2 weeks vs swans

Dont believe this point for a moment. Players try as soon as the cross the white line but if they werent then we seriously have some players with attitude problems. We were beaten by a better side on the night. Dont look for excuses.

We were beaten by a better side on the night and I do think our players tried but there are other factors involved such as the tactics and rotations of the respective coaches. All week our players were at pains to talk down the importance of the game. The Bulldogs players also spoke about the importance of round 1 but not to the same extent. They wanted it more and I'd like to think when we meet them in round 6 things will be different.

I don't think that's making excuses.

But saying the players didnt give a rats is looking for an excuse.

[sainter35]

simple it was a practice game players coudnt give a rats ass about nab cup we made the real grandy last year and thats what the boys are after this year, ross didnt care the only down side was chips going down, trust me when i say youll see the real stkilda in 2 weeks vs swans

Dont believe this point for a moment. Players try as soon as the cross the white line but if they werent then we seriously have some players with attitude problems. We were beaten by a better side on the night. Dont look for excuses.

We were beaten by a better side on the night and I do think our players tried but there are other factors involved such as the tactics and rotations of the respective coaches. All week our players were at pains to talk down the importance of the game. The Bulldogs players also spoke about the importance of round 1 but not to the same extent. They wanted it more and I'd like to think when we meet them in round 6 things will be different.

I don't think that's making excuses.

But saying the players didnt give a rats is looking for an excuse.

Yes, it probably is.

I think a more accurate description is that the Bulldogs players and coaching staff cared more than our players and coaching staff.

[markp]

simple it was a practice game players coudnt give a rats ass about nab cup we made the real grandy last year and thats what the boys are after this year, ross didnt care the only down side was chips going down, trust me when i say youll see the real stkilda in 2 weeks vs swans

Dont believe this point for a moment. Players try as soon as the cross the white line but if they werent then we seriously have some players with attitude problems. We were beaten by a better side on the night. Dont look for excuses.

Yes, it was obvious the players and coaches wanted to win just as much and were trying just as hard during all the nab cup games as they were during the prelim and gf last year.

[plugger66]

simple it was a practice game players coudnt give a rats ass about nab cup we made the real grandy last year and thats what the boys are after this year, ross didnt care the only down side was chips going down, trust me when i say youll see the real stkilda in 2 weeks vs swans

Dont believe this point for a moment. Players try as soon as the cross the white line but if they werent then we seriously have some players with attitude problems. We were beaten by a better side on the night. Dont look for excuses.

Yes, it was obvious the players and coaches wanted to win just as much and were trying just as hard during all the nab cup games as they were during the prelim and gf last year.

No they werent. The players were trying as hard as the Dogs players in the last practice match of the year. Not sure the coaching staff put all their energy into it though as probably neither did the Dogs coaching staff.

[IluvHarvey]

I don't know if the players didn't care. But I reckon they wont be too upset about it now. Personally I don't care.
Some players should care that they didn't play very well.
But what did we lose?
Some people are reacting just like they did when we lost the REAL Grand Final.
Bring on real footy with no super goals, 4 interchange players, no Super subs and boundary umpires doing what they are meant to do.

[markp]

simple it was a practice game players coudnt give a rats ass about nab cup we made the real grandy last year and thats what the boys are after this year, ross didnt care the only down side was chips going down, trust me when i say youll see the real stkilda in 2 weeks vs swans

Dont believe this point for a moment. Players try as soon as the cross the white line but if they werent then we seriously have some players with attitude problems. We were beaten by a better side on the night. Dont look for excuses.

Yes, it was obvious the players and coaches wanted to win just as much and were trying just as hard during all the nab cup games as they were during the prelim and gf last year.

No they werent. The players were trying as hard as the Dogs players in the last practice match of the year. Not sure the coaching staff put all their energy into it though as probably neither did the Dogs coaching staff.

Yes, sorry, that's what I meant... it was obvious the saints players and bulldogs players were trying exactly as hard as each other, as were the opposing coaches. Exactly.

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

I agree that when they cross the white line they would all be trying, especially early, but I'd say when it got down to it in the last quarter our guys probably didn't bust a boiler to get back in it, like they would if it was for 4 points, or to win a September final.
They knew getting prepared for the "season proper" was the ultimate aim, whereas I think the Doggies definitely wanted to win more.
It was a concerning effort, though, especially by our "book ends". It showed that we have some serious work to do, as we only just beat the Doggies in the Prelim last year and they're now a much stronger side, thanks to Barry Hall, etc. We, on the other hand, don't look to be any better and our "book ends" look to be be going much worse.

[StSteven]

There is no doubt in my mind that the boys wanted to win this one. Pride plays a big part. Cats won it last year and it set their season up. It has put a glint in the eye of the Doggies and their supporters, Would have been a nice start for us.

However losing it is not that important. Bring on the real stuff and see how good we are in 2010.

[Dr Spaceman]

We are of course all guessing, based on how we viewed the game and disappointed by the loss (regardless of how important we viewed a win).

We really have no idea of knowing how much each individual player, or the team as a whole, wanted to win or how hard they were trying etc

I suppose if it's really important we could get one of those body language experts they use on "A Current Affair/Today Tonight" to have a gander at the vid and give us their views