Are we SO bad Folks?

[thejiggingsaint]

Maybe it's just me, but looking at the (so called) "great hopes" for Victoria Western Bulldogs ...and for that matter the current "media darlings" Melbourne and their current positions on the ladder. I'm thinking that perhaps we're not all THAT far away from making a fist of it come Seasons end. The doggies are (seemingly) fireproof from media blowtorches. They were Ka-POWED by Essendon in rnd 1, and only for games against Brisbonk and GC would perhaps be in a worse spot than us. They caved in bigtime against Freo. The same goes for the Demons....lets see where we are on the ladder come the final round!!!
GO SAINTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[saintlee]

Why are you comparing us to the WB and Mel? The important question is can be beat teams like Collingwood, Geelong, Hawthorn etc that are a genuine flag chance. And the answer is we are miles off at the moment.

[st_Trav_ofWA]

Why are you comparing us to the WB and Mel? The important question is can be beat teams like Collingwood, Geelong, Hawthorn etc that are a genuine flag chance. And the answer is we are miles off at the moment.

lets be realistic about hawthorn aswell ... they lost ot the Crows first up .. fell over the line against the eagles and got taught a lesson against the Cats today ... we are in a funk no doubt as are some other teams who seem immune to the media spot light we get ....

[Middo]

Why are you comparing us to the WB and Mel? The important question is can be beat teams like Collingwood, Geelong, Hawthorn etc that are a genuine flag chance. And the answer is we are miles off at the moment.

Miles..? One point against the Cats ...?

[saintlee]

Why are you comparing us to the WB and Mel? The important question is can be beat teams like Collingwood, Geelong, Hawthorn etc that are a genuine flag chance. And the answer is we are miles off at the moment.

lets be realistic about hawthorn aswell ... they lost ot the Crows first up .. fell over the line against the eagles and got taught a lesson against the Cats today ... we are in a funk no doubt as are some other teams who seem immune to the media spot light we get ....

Fair enough re hawthorn, point being I don't see the point of comparing us to other middle of the road teams at this stage of our development. If we can't go with the best then we need to think about regeneration.

[saintlee]

Why are you comparing us to the WB and Mel? The important question is can be beat teams like Collingwood, Geelong, Hawthorn etc that are a genuine flag chance. And the answer is we are miles off at the moment.

Miles..? One point against the Cats ...?

Would we get that close again now? Think we played them at a good time and we couldn't beat them when we really should have. Geelong are unbeaten and playing well. We are terribly out of form and I worry about where our next stars are coming from

[st_Trav_ofWA]

Why are you comparing us to the WB and Mel? The important question is can be beat teams like Collingwood, Geelong, Hawthorn etc that are a genuine flag chance. And the answer is we are miles off at the moment.

lets be realistic about hawthorn aswell ... they lost ot the Crows first up .. fell over the line against the eagles and got taught a lesson against the Cats today ... we are in a funk no doubt as are some other teams who seem immune to the media spot light we get ....

Fair enough re hawthorn, point being I don't see the point of comparing us to other middle of the road teams at this stage of our development. If we can't go with the best then we need to think about regeneration.

well lets also look at geelong ... fell over the line against us ... smashed port as most would especially in Geelong... fell over the line against Freo and was touch and go against the swans .... they have done well but they have been far from perfect

[saintlee]

Why are you comparing us to the WB and Mel? The important question is can be beat teams like Collingwood, Geelong, Hawthorn etc that are a genuine flag chance. And the answer is we are miles off at the moment.

lets be realistic about hawthorn aswell ... they lost ot the Crows first up .. fell over the line against the eagles and got taught a lesson against the Cats today ... we are in a funk no doubt as are some other teams who seem immune to the media spot light we get ....

Fair enough re hawthorn, point being I don't see the point of comparing us to other middle of the road teams at this stage of our development. If we can't go with the best then we need to think about regeneration.

well lets also look at geelong ... fell over the line against us ... smashed port as most would especially in Geelong... fell over the line against Freo and was touch and go against the swans .... they have done well but they have been far from perfect

Beat us, beat Freo over in Perth, beat Hawthorn comfortably, and are unbeaten after 5 rounds. Thats not bad in my book.

[thejiggingsaint]

Not comparing us with M. O. R. teams. (by the way the media seem to think the Doggies are a chance) Simply comparing the way in which the world and his dog are prepared to write off our season NOW based on results so far. The Doggies and several other sides have had the fortune to play GC and Brisbonk (as we have too ) We played badly against Essendon (but so did the Doggies!) and we've been hauled over the coals for it and dismissed out of hand.
All I'm saying is that we need to wait a wee while to see how we go in 2011. Even Collingwood have the potential to hit a form slump, just as WE (if we all work hard enough) have the potential to hit a winning streak! We have one win on the board (and are half a win behind some of the fancied teams) so why the hell not?!!!

[st_Trav_ofWA]

Why are you comparing us to the WB and Mel? The important question is can be beat teams like Collingwood, Geelong, Hawthorn etc that are a genuine flag chance. And the answer is we are miles off at the moment.

Miles..? One point against the Cats ...?

Would we get that close again now? Think we played them at a good time and we couldn't beat them when we really should have. Geelong are unbeaten and playing well. We are terribly out of form and I worry about where our next stars are coming from

no mistake we are in a funk and our form is not the best but you gotta remember we lost by one point because of a last min stuff up , we drew with the tigs with us kicking ourself out of the game .... the only real loss that showed us failing was against Essendon ... the team that pushed collingwood to its limits ... we have been bad but not as bad as the media love telling us we have been

[saintlee]

Not comparing us with M. O. R. teams. (by the way the media seem to think the Doggies are a chance) Simply comparing the way in which the world and his dog are prepared to write off our season NOW based on results so far. The Doggies and several other sides have had the fortune to play GC and Brisbonk (as we have too ) We played badly against Essendon (but so did the Doggies!) and we've been hauled over the coals for it and dismissed out of hand.
All I'm saying is that we need to wait a wee while to see how we go in 2011. Even Collingwood have the potential to hit a form slump, just as WE (if we all work hard enough) have the potential to hit a winning streak! We have one win on the board (and are half a win behind some of the fancied teams) so why the hell not?!!!

No doubt the media have written us of too soon, but they always jump to conclusions as it helps to sell papers. IMO we will still comfortably make the 8...not sure we will be top 4 tho.....lets just hope we hit some form soon.

[st_Trav_ofWA]

Why are you comparing us to the WB and Mel? The important question is can be beat teams like Collingwood, Geelong, Hawthorn etc that are a genuine flag chance. And the answer is we are miles off at the moment.

lets be realistic about hawthorn aswell ... they lost ot the Crows first up .. fell over the line against the eagles and got taught a lesson against the Cats today ... we are in a funk no doubt as are some other teams who seem immune to the media spot light we get ....

Fair enough re hawthorn, point being I don't see the point of comparing us to other middle of the road teams at this stage of our development. If we can't go with the best then we need to think about regeneration.

well lets also look at geelong ... fell over the line against us ... smashed port as most would especially in Geelong... fell over the line against Freo and was touch and go against the swans .... they have done well but they have been far from perfect

Beat us, beat Freo over in Perth, beat Hawthorn comfortably, and are unbeaten after 5 rounds. Thats not bad in my book.

the hawthorn game was their best performance ... they could easilly have been 2 from 5 at this stage just as we could easily have been 3 and 1 ....

[st_Trav_ofWA]

Not comparing us with M. O. R. teams. (by the way the media seem to think the Doggies are a chance) Simply comparing the way in which the world and his dog are prepared to write off our season NOW based on results so far. The Doggies and several other sides have had the fortune to play GC and Brisbonk (as we have too ) We played badly against Essendon (but so did the Doggies!) and we've been hauled over the coals for it and dismissed out of hand.
All I'm saying is that we need to wait a wee while to see how we go in 2011. Even Collingwood have the potential to hit a form slump, just as WE (if we all work hard enough) have the potential to hit a winning streak! We have one win on the board (and are half a win behind some of the fancied teams) so why the hell not?!!!

No doubt the media have written us of too soon, but they always jump to conclusions as it helps to sell papers. IMO we will still comfortably make the 8...not sure we will be top 4 tho.....lets just hope we hit some form soon.

top 4 will be hard especially given our draw the next month will be a massive test for us

[SainterK]

Thought the same thing this arvo.

When Joey was on a panel after one of the friday night games recently, Leigh Matthews made some remark to him like 'don't let yourselves to be talked into a hole'

Like he was implying our form line wasn't so bad, and we could fall in the trap of allowing the general football public to dictate our form.

[thejiggingsaint]

Spot-on SainterK!

[3rd generation saint]

The next few weeks will tell, we need to get a winning streak going, but not just win games, but look like a top 4 side doing it.
In my opinion we need a 5 goal plus win this week against the Crows and follow it up with a similar win over the Blues.

[wasaintsfan]

when playing poorly the hardest win is the first one

everyone says our form against brisbane was unconvincing.... honestly when is it convincing against brisbane where ever we play them??

was it round 2 2007 at the gabba brisbane 102 st kilda 50???
how about round 9 2008 at the gabba brisbane 141 st kilda 95??

round 9 2009 at the dome we call home? st kilda 97 brisbane 81??? was that a convincing win?


round 15 2010 at home? st kilda 79 brisbane 65

the last time we looked convincing against brisbane was 2006... so we've got our first victory after a very poor start at a ground we dont win at against a team we rarely win against

start thinking positive people things are on the up

[Con Gorozidis]

im glad lethal said that. i too have become much more optimistic after watching a great round of afl games.

but pies aside noone else is that flash. geelong still formidable as ever. dockers up and about. so really the general landscape is the same as last year. cats having a honeymoon run with new coach.

mental issues aside we are still alive.

the OP makes a good point dogs really annoy me. what a bunch of flogs. seem to be immune from media scrutiny for their choking and i still dont really rate them for their big song and dance over aker last year (remember their big show of singing the song etc). they seem like a bunch of flogs if you ask me. they carry on like they are the worlds best blokes when in fact they really seem like knobs. ben hudson. horrendous bloke. gia. horrendous bloke.

[Richter]

im glad lethal said that. i too have become much more optimistic after watching a great round of afl games.

but pies aside noone else is that flash. geelong still formidable as ever. dockers up and about. so really the general landscape is the same as last year. cats having a honeymoon run with new coach.

mental issues aside we are still alive.

Got to say, but I am also feeling a bit more optomistic.

It just does not make sense that this team who over the last 5 years have been in the best in the competition, should suddenly turn to rubbish. Clearly we need to improve and blood a few youngsters, but there is still hope. Flickering though it is.

After the bye in round 14 we have 5 highly winnable games on the trot - North, Port, Eagles, Crows and GC. If we can go 4-4 in our next 8, and then get on a run in those 5, and finish the season with improved form then we can sneak in to the 8 and perhaps give finals a shake from there.

Long way to go, but all hope is not quite lost.

[Teflon]

im glad lethal said that. i too have become much more optimistic after watching a great round of afl games.

but pies aside noone else is that flash. geelong still formidable as ever. dockers up and about. so really the general landscape is the same as last year. cats having a honeymoon run with new coach.

mental issues aside we are still alive.

Got to say, but I am also feeling a bit more optomistic.

It just does not make sense that this team who over the last 5 years have been in the best in the competition, should suddenly turn to rubbish. Clearly we need to improve and blood a few youngsters, but there is still hope. Flickering though it is.

After the bye in round 14 we have 5 highly winnable games on the trot - North, Port, Eagles, Crows and GC. If we can go 4-4 in our next 8, and then get on a run in those 5, and finish the season with improved form then we can sneak in to the 8 and perhaps give finals a shake from there.

Long way to go, but all hope is not quite lost.

If we are just sneaking into the 8 then for me its a mini relaod year. If so, go flat out playing youth, turn them over find out who is/isnt a player and dont worry bout finals. I know GWS have all good picks....but we can still sure up our spot in the selection...still trade and ensure any senior player with a niggle is fit for pre season 2012. Hayes needs bionic man plates insterted also.......

[bergholt]

It just does not make sense that this team who over the last 5 years have been in the best in the competition, should suddenly turn to rubbish. Clearly we need to improve and blood a few youngsters, but there is still hope. Flickering though it is.

After the bye in round 14 we have 5 highly winnable games on the trot - North, Port, Eagles, Crows and GC. If we can go 4-4 in our next 8, and then get on a run in those 5, and finish the season with improved form then we can sneak in to the 8 and perhaps give finals a shake from there.

Long way to go, but all hope is not quite lost.

fair point.

the optimistic way of looking at it is that we're starting slow on the long build to the finals. but for a couple of minor errors, we'd be 3-1 and playing poorly. as it is, we're 1.5-2.5, but finals are still no way out of the question.

the next four games are mixed. we'll need to win a couple:

adelaide away, carlton home, hawthorn away, melbourne home

then the next four are hard, win one if we're lucky:

fremantle away, collingwood away, bulldogs home, geelong away

turn at 4.5-7.5. we need probably 11.5 to make the finals this year, so we need to win 7 of the last 10. as you say, next 5 are soft:

north home, port away, west coast home, adelaide home, gold coast away

we can't afford to lose any of them, but if we take them all that could put us 9.5-7.5 with a wet sail and coming home strong. then we just have to halve these five:

fremantle home, collingwood home, sydney away, north home, carlton away

beat freo and north and we scrape in.

yeah, it's not as easy as i've made it look there, but at the same time we'll probably sneak a good win at some point this year, so that could counteract a poor loss.

so as long as we're no worse than 4.5-7.5 after 12 then i'm still on board, if we're showing some steady improvement.

[wasaintsfan]

start the mend of our season with wins against adelaide carlton and hawthorn may aswell smack melbourne and freo around a little too

vs collingwood i dont think there will be much incentive to play the harder brand of football to beat them at that time of year

when sitting 6 wins 1 draw and 2 loses prob hold off to beat bulldogs then geelong.. and be 8 wins 1 draw 3 loses heading into the bye in round 14

then people will have forgotton our poor start to the year running into our patch vs north port west coast and adelaide again

while sitting strongly at 12 -1-3 going to finals with 6 games in hand

[noob]

rather the bad patch now than later down the year.

[dcstkfc]

Just keep winning.

One week at a time.

We are a chance every time we go out there.

It's pretty simple really.

Actions. Not words.

[thejiggingsaint]

So I guess we're "not SO bad" then Folks!!!