Unnatural highs and medicated come-downs.

[barks4eva]

FAIR DINKUM

The sleeping tablets completely messed with his ability to function properly the next day. ''You'd have to wake up at 6 o'clock to get to the footy club again with your eyes hanging out of your head. It wasn't a good scenario.''

The megalomaniacal maestro appoints himself in a sham process, pays himself $500,000 a year with no previous AFL coaching experience, insists on absolute 100% full control of the football department and the buffoon was pissed and off his head on pills the whole time!

FAIR DINKUM

Sacked and not a minute too soon before he shipped Milne off to Essendon, but not before he managed to send a playing list from heaven half way to hell in five years, while destroying a relationship with our VFL affiliate and overseeing shambolic recruiting with boy wonder Bundy by his side,

as if pick 6 in the National Draft wasn't enough for Barry Brooks, they threw in a second rounder to sweeten the deal to the ex- club boy wonder happened to be affiliated with,...... seriously

How could such inanity happen?

''You'd have to wake up at 6 o'clock to get to the footy club again with your eyes hanging out of your head. It wasn't a good scenario.''

Probably explains a great deal!

Perhaps Bundy was also helping out some old mates at Port at the very same time!

The only rookie to come through under Thomas was Milne and he can take no credit for recruiting Milne to begin with and in the end was going to give him the flick, thank flick they flicked the right flick just in flicking time!

Zero rookies, zero, zilch, nada, nought, nothing, absolutely SFA!

Without bothering to check the exact number there were about five rookies in West Coast's 2006 premiership team.

Insisted the club spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on two week overseas holidays disguised as training camps and Mr Snakeoil can't even get the team fully fit for the requirements of AFL football!


FAIR DINKUM

And not to mention Jason Blake in the ruck with no numbers behind the ball, seriously at least we now know Blake wasn't the only one getting smashed at the time!

When I spoke to Mick McGuane and questioned this inanity he responded with "We prefer to back our own players", FAIR DINKUM

That was the entire gameplan, just send them out with the mission to beat their opponent, with no tactics or gameplan whatsoever!

Did I mention playing Jason Blake in the ruck with no instruction to the midfield to get numbers behind the ball?

At least we can now put this down to him being totally sloshed at the time as some sort of explanation for this complete and utter buffoonery!

''You'd have to wake up at 6 o'clock to get to the footy club again with your eyes hanging out of your head. It wasn't a good scenario.''

FAIR DINKUM

And then we come to fitness and conditioning and injury management,

oh dear


Grant "fitness and conditioning staff are overrated" Thomas in control of the entire football department and responsible for one of the most crucial elements in a team's success was off his head, on the piss and popping pills the whole time!

FAIR DINKUM

To think of all the know nothing, numbnuts, nuffies, suckholes, brown noses, GT doll worshipping sheep, the easily conned dingbats, douchebags, dunderheads, a gaggle of geeks, gumps, gimps and goatriders who fell for the snake oil routine and lined up for the poisoned cordial,........ they who abused me on here for years when I suggested (on at least one occasion), that Thomas was pissing our chances up against the wall and didn't have a FAIR DINKUM clue!:roll:

Shame on you all!

Apologies are in order!

''You'd have to wake up at 6 o'clock to get to the footy club again with your eyes hanging out of your head. It wasn't a good scenario.''

This is a bit much!

FAIR DINKUM

Yeah, that's exactly what I thought, $500,000 is a bit much a year for a rookie coach with zero AFL coaching experience and even more so when he's getting smashed on alcohol and popping pills the whole time, FAIR DINKUM!

[Finna]

FAIR DINKUM

The sleeping tablets completely messed with his ability to function properly the next day. ''You'd have to wake up at 6 o'clock to get to the footy club again with your eyes hanging out of your head. It wasn't a good scenario.''

The megalomaniacal maestro appoints himself in a sham process, pays himself $500,000 a year with no previous AFL coaching experience, insists on absolute 100% full control of the football department and the buffoon was pissed and off his head on pills the whole time!

FAIR DINKUM

Sacked and not a minute too soon before he shipped Milne off to Essendon, but not before he managed to send a playing list from heaven half way to hell in five years, while destroying a relationship with our VFL affiliate and overseeing shambolic recruiting with boy wonder Bundy by his side,

as if pick 6 in the National Draft wasn't enough for Barry Brooks, they threw in a second rounder to sweeten the deal to the ex- club boy wonder happened to be affiliated with,...... seriously

How could such inanity happen?

''You'd have to wake up at 6 o'clock to get to the footy club again with your eyes hanging out of your head. It wasn't a good scenario.''

Probably explains a great deal!

Perhaps Bundy was also helping out some old mates at Port at the very same time!

The only rookie to come through under Thomas was Milne and he can take no credit for recruiting Milne to begin with and in the end was going to give him the flick, thank flick they flicked the right flick just in flicking time!

Zero rookies, zero, zilch, nada, nought, nothing, absolutely SFA!

Without bothering to check the exact number there were about five rookies in West Coast's 2006 premiership team.

Insisted the club spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on two week overseas holidays disguised as training camps and Mr Snakeoil can't even get the team fully fit for the requirements of AFL football!


FAIR DINKUM

And not to mention Jason Blake in the ruck with no numbers behind the ball, seriously at least we now know Blake wasn't the only one getting smashed at the time!

When I spoke to Mick McGuane and questioned this inanity he responded with "We prefer to back our own players", FAIR DINKUM

That was the entire gameplan, just send them out with the mission to beat their opponent, with no tactics or gameplan whatsoever!

Did I mention playing Jason Blake in the ruck with no instruction to the midfield to get numbers behind the ball?

At least we can now put this down to him being totally sloshed at the time as some sort of explanation for this complete and utter buffoonery!

''You'd have to wake up at 6 o'clock to get to the footy club again with your eyes hanging out of your head. It wasn't a good scenario.''

FAIR DINKUM

And then we come to fitness and conditioning and injury management,

oh dear


Grant "fitness and conditioning staff are overrated" Thomas in control of the entire football department and responsible for one of the most crucial elements in a team's success was off his head, on the piss and popping pills the whole time!

FAIR DINKUM

To think of all the know nothing, numbnuts, nuffies, suckholes, brown noses, GT doll worshipping sheep, the easily conned dingbats, douchebags, dunderheads, a gaggle of geeks, gumps, gimps and goatriders who fell for the snake oil routine and lined up for the poisoned cordial,........ they who abused me on here for years when I suggested (on at least one occasion), that Thomas was pissing our chances up against the wall and didn't have a FAIR DINKUM clue!:roll:

Shame on you all!

Apologies are in order!

''You'd have to wake up at 6 o'clock to get to the footy club again with your eyes hanging out of your head. It wasn't a good scenario.''

Very animated post Barks.

I couldnt have said it better myself.

Thank God we have a pro and a genuine football brain as coach now - not some wasted tool on an ego trip the size of Jupiter......

[markp]

I imagine Ross is more of a tea man.

[Thinline]

I'm with you Barks.

Perhaps it puts the later attitude of that other numbskull Butterss into perspective.

Thomas was an underqualified law unto himself.

Now we know he was ill disciplined (read OFF HIS FREAKIN CHOPS) to boot.

And before the usuals start teeing off on the Thomas bashers, ask a few of the remaining players what they think of him and his methods in hindsight. My oil is it ain't flattering.

I enjoyed watching Thomas-era footy (the players were young and fearless), but oh how I yearn to turn back the clock to add some Lyon-era discipline into the mix.

[mordi]

just imagine if the cards had fallen our way in 2004 and we'd got over Port.....

we may have had the first alcoholic, nutbag Premiership coach.....

or maybe not...........

[Thinline]

just imagine if the cards had fallen our way in 2004 and we'd got over Port.....

we may have had the first alcoholic, nutbag Premiership coach.....

or maybe not...........

perhaps.

or maybe if he was sober, we mightn't be hypothesising.

[mordi]

I hope no-one is suggesting he was drunk in the coaches box??

but as to nutbags and booze artists, hey , Adelaide and the Bombers have won a few GFs in the past 15 years......go figure

[markp]

sober |ˈsōbər|
adjective ( -berer , -berest )
not affected by alcohol; not drunk.
• serious, sensible, and solemn : a sober view of life | his expression became sober.
•free from alcoholism; not habitually drinking alcohol

Grant Thomas, St Kilda's coach between 2001 and 2006, revealed yesterday that for most of those years his match-day routine was an unhealthy cycle of unnatural highs and medicated come-downs.

When St Kilda played at night, Thomas would end up a walking cocktail of caffeine, alcohol and sleeping pills. He spent the following days feeling like the living dead.

Both finals losses in 2004 and 2005 came after a night game... just 7 days in the case of former, 13 in the latter... and the 2006 defeat was 6 days after a night game.

We haven't won any flags in the past 15 years... go figure.

[sunsaint]

just imagine if the cards had fallen our way in 2004 and we'd got over Port.....

we may have had the first alcoholic, nutbag Premiership coach.....

or maybe not...........

perhaps.

or maybe if he was sober, we mightn't be hypothesising.

that's utter rubbish
if the ball was delivered just 1mt differently or Guerra started his run a half second earlier, it all would have been different in the PA game.
Just as if Dawsons' interception punch landed 1mt to the left in the GF, it all may have been different.
Fact is StKilda punched well above it's weight in the first half of this decade, the same core group of players(now minus two class on-ballers but with more experience under its belt) still hasnt achieved its potential.

[Thinline]

just imagine if the cards had fallen our way in 2004 and we'd got over Port.....

we may have had the first alcoholic, nutbag Premiership coach.....

or maybe not...........

perhaps.

or maybe if he was sober, we mightn't be hypothesising.

that's utter rubbish
if the ball was delivered just 1mt differently or Guerra started his run a half second earlier, it all would have been different in the PA game.
Just as if Dawsons' interception punch landed 1mt to the left in the GF, it all may have been different.
Fact is StKilda punched well above it's weight in the first half of this decade, the same core group of players(now minus two class on-ballers but with more experience under its belt) still hasnt achieved its potential.

Sure, but maybe - just maybe - Thomas' scrambled brain across a whole season may have cost us a spot on the ladder, the need to travel to AAMI, the nous to knock off Brisbane in the first final...

I dunno.

I'm speculating.

I'm not stating things as fact.

[rodgerfox]

just imagine if the cards had fallen our way in 2004 and we'd got over Port.....

we may have had the first alcoholic, nutbag Premiership coach.....

or maybe not...........

perhaps.

or maybe if he was sober, we mightn't be hypothesising.

that's utter rubbish
if the ball was delivered just 1mt differently or Guerra started his run a half second earlier, it all would have been different in the PA game.
Just as if Dawsons' interception punch landed 1mt to the left in the GF, it all may have been different.
Fact is StKilda punched well above it's weight in the first half of this decade, the same core group of players(now minus two class on-ballers but with more experience under its belt) still hasnt achieved its potential.

Sure, but maybe - just maybe - Thomas' scrambled brain across a whole season may have cost us a spot on the ladder, the need to travel to AAMI, the nous to knock off Brisbane in the first final...

I dunno.

I'm speculating.

I'm not stating things as fact.

Scrambled brain??!!

That's rich.

If he has a 'scrambled brain' due to drinking red win, having caffeine once a week followed by sleeping pills that night - then there must be quite a few of us in a bit of trouble.


What I find interesting about the situation is this....

1) That he regularly worked all through the night for the club.
2) That he did his own editing!
3) That if the coach is working through the night, that the board doesn't do something to assist.
4) That he was prepared to get his heart jump started just to ensure he fulfilled his responsibilities.
5) How many other coaches put in this sort of effort? And if so, what sort of 'assistance' are they getting?

I find it extraordinary that any professional (aside from a doctor at an emergency ward perhaps) would be under that sort of pressure and put in that sort of effort.


Perhaps AFL coaches are underpaid, afterall.

[rodgerfox]

I imagine Ross is more of a tea man.

Ummm, no. He quite enjoys a beer.

[SainterK]

just imagine if the cards had fallen our way in 2004 and we'd got over Port.....

we may have had the first alcoholic, nutbag Premiership coach.....

or maybe not...........

perhaps.

or maybe if he was sober, we mightn't be hypothesising.

that's utter rubbish
if the ball was delivered just 1mt differently or Guerra started his run a half second earlier, it all would have been different in the PA game.
Just as if Dawsons' interception punch landed 1mt to the left in the GF, it all may have been different.
Fact is StKilda punched well above it's weight in the first half of this decade, the same core group of players(now minus two class on-ballers but with more experience under its belt) still hasnt achieved its potential.

Sure, but maybe - just maybe - Thomas' scrambled brain across a whole season may have cost us a spot on the ladder, the need to travel to AAMI, the nous to knock off Brisbane in the first final...

I dunno.

I'm speculating.

I'm not stating things as fact.

Scrambled brain??!!

That's rich.

If he has a 'scrambled brain' due to drinking red win, having caffeine once a week followed by sleeping pills that night - then there must be quite a few of us in a bit of trouble.


What I find interesting about the situation is this....

1) That he regularly worked all through the night for the club.
2) That he did his own editing!
3) That if the coach is working through the night, that the board doesn't do something to assist.
4) That he was prepared to get his heart jump started just to ensure he fulfilled his responsibilities.
5) How many other coaches put in this sort of effort? And if so, what sort of 'assistance' are they getting?

I find it extraordinary that any professional (aside from a doctor at an emergency ward perhaps) would be under that sort of pressure and put in that sort of effort.


Perhaps AFL coaches are underpaid, afterall.

Pretty sure many of them pull all nighters, have trouble sleeping, just not entirely sure they do it in that kind of fashion.

[rodgerfox]

Pretty sure many of them pull all nighters, have trouble sleeping, just not entirely sure they do it in that kind of fashion.

What sort of fashion? Sleeping pills?

You seriously don't think AFL coaches take sleeping pills?

[SainterK]

Pretty sure many of them pull all nighters, have trouble sleeping, just not entirely sure they do it in that kind of fashion.

What sort of fashion? Sleeping pills?

You seriously don't think AFL coaches take sleeping pills?

Of course they do

[mordi]

.....and like a drop or two of Red.

I hear Bankstown Vintage Cellars is doing great business

[rodgerfox]

Pretty sure many of them pull all nighters, have trouble sleeping, just not entirely sure they do it in that kind of fashion.

What sort of fashion? Sleeping pills?

You seriously don't think AFL coaches take sleeping pills?

Of course they do

So what were you referring to?

[SainterK]

Pretty sure many of them pull all nighters, have trouble sleeping, just not entirely sure they do it in that kind of fashion.

What sort of fashion? Sleeping pills?

You seriously don't think AFL coaches take sleeping pills?

Of course they do

So what were you referring to?

Grant, just a little bit of a drama queen IMO....

[markp]

I imagine Ross is more of a tea man.

Ummm, no. He quite enjoys a beer.

Errr... I meant rather than 'tar'.

[markp]

Scrambled brain??!!

That's rich.

If he has a 'scrambled brain' due to drinking red win, having caffeine once a week followed by sleeping pills that night - then there must be quite a few of us in a bit of trouble.

Ummm...

When St Kilda played at night, Thomas would end up a walking cocktail of caffeine, alcohol and sleeping pills. He spent the following days feeling like the living dead.

This in a caper where coaches constantly go to great lengths to try just waste a few precious minutes of each other's time during the week on players who may or may not be playing.... and ours was 'like the living dead' for days... including leading into finals.

Indefensible.

[rodgerfox]

Scrambled brain??!!

That's rich.

If he has a 'scrambled brain' due to drinking red win, having caffeine once a week followed by sleeping pills that night - then there must be quite a few of us in a bit of trouble.

Ummm...

When St Kilda played at night, Thomas would end up a walking cocktail of caffeine, alcohol and sleeping pills. He spent the following days feeling like the living dead.

This in a caper where coaches constantly go to great lengths to try just waste a few precious minutes of each other's time during the week on players who may or may not be playing.... and ours was 'like the living dead' for days... including leading into finals.

Indefensible.

Not sure if anyone is 'defending' it.

However there's a reason coaches go grey within months of taking on the job.
Dare I say that GT isn't alone on this.

I know doctors and surgeons who start partying on Thursday nights and finish on Sunday night. They don't feel human again until Wednesday - then do it all over again!

Three things...

1) There's clearly some poetic license being used by the 'journalist' with this article - and as SainterK pointed out, I think GT is being a tad dramatic.

2) I'm not sure really what impact 'feeling barely human' at the start of the week would have on the team's performance. As I said above, many highly skilled professionals perform brilliantly whilst running off about 6 minutes sleep a night!

3) I'd suggest that many coaches also function like this.


What I find amazing about this, is that if you're fair dinkum, or don't have a board willing to splash some cash around then I guess this is actually how a coach is supposed to function.

It's pretty full on.

[markp]

Scrambled brain??!!

That's rich.

If he has a 'scrambled brain' due to drinking red win, having caffeine once a week followed by sleeping pills that night - then there must be quite a few of us in a bit of trouble.

Ummm...

When St Kilda played at night, Thomas would end up a walking cocktail of caffeine, alcohol and sleeping pills. He spent the following days feeling like the living dead.

This in a caper where coaches constantly go to great lengths to try just waste a few precious minutes of each other's time during the week on players who may or may not be playing.... and ours was 'like the living dead' for days... including leading into finals.

Indefensible.

Not sure if anyone is 'defending' it.

However there's a reason coaches go grey within months of taking on the job.
Dare I say that GT isn't alone on this.

I know doctors and surgeons who start partying on Thursday nights and finish on Sunday night. They don't feel human again until Wednesday - then do it all over again!

Three things...

1) There's clearly some poetic license being used by the 'journalist' with this article - and as SainterK pointed out, I think GT is being a tad dramatic.

2) I'm not sure really what impact 'feeling barely human' at the start of the week would have on the team's performance. As I said above, many highly skilled professionals perform brilliantly whilst running off about 6 minutes sleep a night!

3) I'd suggest that many coaches also function like this.


What I find amazing about this, is that if you're fair dinkum, or don't have a board willing to splash some cash around then I guess this is actually how a coach is supposed to function.

It's pretty full on.

Not sure if anyone is 'defending' it.

However...

When St Kilda played at night, Thomas would end up a walking cocktail of caffeine, alcohol and sleeping pills. He spent the following days feeling like the living dead.

2004 we lost prelim final 7 days after a night game.

2005 we lost a prelim final 13 days after a night game.

2006 we lost an elimination final 6 days after a night game.


If you surgeon mates had a similar record immediately after their benders, they may well be in jail.


indefensible |ˌindəˈfensəbəl|
adjective
1 not justifiable by argument : the policy of apartheid was morally indefensible.
2 not able to be protected against attack : the towns were tactically indefensible.

[rodgerfox]

If you surgeon mates had a similar record immediately after their benders, they may well be in jail.


indefensible |ˌindəˈfensəbəl|
adjective
1 not justifiable by argument : the policy of apartheid was morally indefensible.
2 not able to be protected against attack : the towns were tactically indefensible.

So you're outright declaring we lost because Grant Thomas felt ordinary on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday morning in the weeks leading up to the matches?

You think that was the reason?

What if a coach has the flu? Do you even bother turning up that week?


Come on, I'd hate to think even the biggest GT obsessives wouldn't draw a bow that long!

Do you think Thomas feeling average for 2 or 3 days after the Crows win, resulted in us losing the match 13 days later!?


Come on.


As for 'indefensible', what is it exactly that you're referring to?

The caffeine in the box? The sleeping pills to help him sleep? The all-nighters on the job? Or the bottle of plonk whilst doing the all-nighters?
Or feeling shiit early in the week?

If any of the above are 'indefensible', you better brace yourself once you hear from other coaches on the matter!

[markp]

If you surgeon mates had a similar record immediately after their benders, they may well be in jail.


indefensible |ˌindəˈfensəbəl|
adjective
1 not justifiable by argument : the policy of apartheid was morally indefensible.
2 not able to be protected against attack : the towns were tactically indefensible.

So you're outright declaring we lost because Grant Thomas felt ordinary on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday morning in the weeks leading up to the matches?

You think that was the reason?

What if a coach has the flu? Do you even bother turning up that week?


Come on, I'd hate to think even the biggest GT obsessives wouldn't draw a bow that long!

Nope.

What I'm outright declaring is that an AFL coach presenting and conducting himself in that manner (particularly leading into finals) is totally unprofessional, unacceptable, and indefensible.

The resulting horrendous failures must at least serve to underline this.

[Thinline]

If you surgeon mates had a similar record immediately after their benders, they may well be in jail.


indefensible |ˌindəˈfensəbəl|
adjective
1 not justifiable by argument : the policy of apartheid was morally indefensible.
2 not able to be protected against attack : the towns were tactically indefensible.

So you're outright declaring we lost because Grant Thomas felt ordinary on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday morning in the weeks leading up to the matches?

You think that was the reason?

What if a coach has the flu? Do you even bother turning up that week?


Come on, I'd hate to think even the biggest GT obsessives wouldn't draw a bow that long!

Nope.

What I'm outright declaring is that an AFL coach presenting and conducting himself in that manner (particularly leading into finals) is totally unprofessional, unacceptable, and indefensible.

The resulting horrendous failures must at least serve to underline this.

If he was behaving 'abusively' I'm not sure anyone can rule out that his state of mind may have affected his performance adversely.

Maybe, maybe not.

Hell, maybe we would've finished sixth in 05 if he wasn't buzzed off his chops.

Who knows?

The big thing for mine is that Thomas is a big mouth with a massively over inflated opinion of the relevance of his record and CV.

I mean, really, what was he adding to the whole sleeping pill/caffeine debate other than a bit of 'look at me, look at me'?

He offers nothing but words. And RF, with the greatest respect, given your diatribe about the relevance of 'opinion providers' the fact that you defend St Kilda's greatest living muppet reeks quite strongly of hypocrisy.

Not that it really matters. You can say what you want.