Round 5 2007

[3rd generation saint]

At the end of that round, Geelong was 2 wins 3 losses after suffering an embarrassing home defeat to Nth Melb.

They were being lambasted in the media and seemed to be heading down the same path that saw them miss out on the 8 in 2006.

Since that round they have lost 2 games and look pretty well invincible.

What happened, how did they suddenly transform into the team they are now and what can we do to achieve the same results?

[SainterX]

They all took a good look in the mirror at themselves.

[The Saintsational Man]

Steroids

[The Saintsational Man]

They all took a good look in the mirror at themselves.

Scarlett broke 32 mirrors in a row.....

So he decided to ask the team to tell him what they saw.....they all replied;

"Your a wanker"

[bergsone]

My guess is they would have had much the same side they have now

[SainterX]

Yeah, he is the one who took steroids, the rest looked in the remaining mirrors.
After all, he is certainly an angry young man that Scarlett.

Really though I think it hit home for them that in letting themselves down they were letting down the player next to them and so on.

Every other team has too many self serving players, who care about looking good themselves then doing the team thing.

Or maybe just Mark Thompson had been there so long that he had tried everything else first

Interestingly though, if the umpire played advantage in the first quarter when Gram kicked the goal, but Roos kick was marked by Ottens on the line, and that double goal wasnt given we woulda only lost by 47 points, suggesting they are not any better then when we played them earlier in the season and lost by 42.

[marksnsparks]

Interestingly though, if the umpire played advantage in the first quarter when Gram kicked the goal, but Roos kick was marked by Ottens on the line, and that double goal wasnt given we woulda only lost by 47 points, suggesting they are not any better then when we played them earlier in the season and lost by 42.

And if my uncle had tits he'd be my auntie.

[degruch]

They all took a good look in the mirror at themselves.

Looks to me as if there's a lot of gazing into mirrors going on down there. Looking forward to the re-match in a few weeks, so we can drop 'em a peg...they'll think they've got in the bag by then.

[Sobraz]

Im pretty sure it was the next round that they came out and belted Richmond by over 150 points.... they havent looked back from there...

For some reason, winning by 25 goals and scoring over 200 points has seen them grow into the confident machine they are today...

There's only about 4/5 players difference to the same cats team that was belted by 90 odd points late '06 by the Crows at AAMI... The core is the same, with only a few fringe players different... The turn-around is astonishing...

[sainter123]

the reason they are so good is that thet exucute there game plan well and have so much confidence in their theam mates that is wot makes them unstopable.

[Sainter_Dad]

And they have such strength through their core - they are rarely unbalanced and so are able to back themselves.

[MACEwasACE]

For the cats, something clicked back on 06. And that is how to play a dominat game. They don't play much different to the Bombers of 00 and the brisbane side that won 3 in a row. And they play qute simple footy.

Grabted their foot and hand skills have become exceptional, the main part of the game is that tyhey run, run and run. They always get to the ball first and when they get the pill there is nearly always 2 options to give the ball off. The ball moves quickly and the oppositon have to second guess.

Mooine's half volley is a prime example. He had bearly got the ball (sliding on his guts) before the handpass went out to a running Barko (I thinks that's his name) who kicked straight.

There is always someone running past.

We seem to get possesion and have to wait for others to make position rather than being in possition.

We played that way in 97. I'd love fo us to get back to that kind of footy.

[WayneJudson42]

Their revival was player driven. Some home truths were delivered by the team to each player, as well as what was expected from them.

Ablett was surpirsed and stung by his criticism, and began to work harder on the track. Sound familiar to one of our gun midfielders?

The key thing I notice is that can kick the ball anywhere and 9 times out of 10 a team mate will get to it. In other words, they trust that someone will bust their gut to get to it.

Michael Voss was right in his article. Until we work as a team, and for each other.. we're going nowhere. Which is why, that despite haveing so many talented players over the last 20 years... we've won jack!

[perfectionist]

In 2006, many of their midfielders had continuing injuries - soft tissue. Also in 2006, Kent Kingsley was still at the club. He was a small FF type who missed crucial goals. When he played (plus Charlie G) I knew we were a chance.

In 2007, with a new fitness regime, KK gone and CG only picked in desperation, their new game plan was unveiled. It took a few weeks to get running and for the players to trust it. The rest is history.

[St. Luke]

I still believe we’re a good chance against the Cats, as stupid as that sounds when you look at the outcome of the recent game.

But in all honesty, we never looked settled, the ball bounced every damned way except our way in the contests, (not wanting to mention this, but the umpiring was ordinary at best) and when we got rattled we clammed up.

A confident start, the added pressure of having Ball in the side, and I truly reckon we can start imagining a different outcome after we take the Hawks apart regarding our second meeting with the Cats in the GF (should they make it that is. Stranger things have happened and there is every chance we could be playing the Swans).

The next two games will serve as hardening and confidence building matches. 2 good wins will bring with it a bucket-load of momentum which would help to inflict some REAL damage on the Cats. A fortnight of sheer guts and determination will get us there.