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Personally, I don't give a sh*t what the non-St.Kilda supporting public thinks, but it just seems that in recent time we have become somewhat infamous. Just to put it mildly. Obviously, The Filth will always be the most hated by pretty much everyone who doesn't follow them, but it is somewhat disheartening to feel we are put on the hitlist, if we infact are. All my non-Saints friends, associates and colleagues seem far less sympathetic these days and possibly with good reason.
The squandered GF's of 2009 and 2010, the former Essendon player who came with James Hird's blessing, the "school girl" media beat up and 2004 scandal surrounding #44 blah, blah, blah.... Why don't they boo #11 as well? God, I am just tired of our team being referred to as the "R" word and "crybabies"
We have a captain who is continually booed by the opposition, despite the fact he plays the game on fair level and has displayed incredible skills.
It's just interesting that everbodies "second favourite team" (with Footscray) in the past, has become villains of recent time.
I really hope our image our doesn't take more of a battering. Perhaps this sudden plight into football wilderness - which dare I say, we're headed towards - will take a lot of the spotlight from the club and a new era will develop, which can shed the skin of a bad reputation.
Curb your enthusiasm - you’re a St.Kilda supporter!!
I actually think it can work in our favor. If you subscribe to the old adage that "any publicity is good publicity" then certainly our clubs profile has risen and has certainly increased the sales of papers of recent times.
I travel the country far and wide and especially to remote locations in Western and Northern Australia and I’ve noticed our profile has certainly risen in these areas when you get into a general footy discussion with lads.
Much rather be hated than have ppl feel sorry for us. They hate us for a reason - b/c we've been beating most of them in the last 7 years. Everyone can feel sorry for a loser - they're no threat.
Collingwood love being hated. Look at Bomber and essendon fans - it's an intense rivalry built through both clubs success in the 80's. They loathe each other ( a couple of games in the noughties certainly helped that along as well)
Actually this is an Interesting thread. We have alway been a club that everyone generally had a sentimental soft spot for and wanted to get behind to see us succeed.
I've been up in Qld for 15 years now and I have a mad keen Richmond supporter mate in Melbourne that keeps Insisting that things have dramatically changed.
He says we are now more hated than Collingwood.
Because of all the off field allegations and dramas the club has gone through over recent years and some players are really hated as well.
Milne I can understand getting under peoples skin but he says even Roo has gained unpopularity which surprises me.
I don't know if that is simply because he is Captain or what?
It just seems surprising as I have always known us as being generally everyones sentimental second team once apon a time.
People dont like Roo because they think hes a sook and gets free kicks. All of which is crap anyway. People dont like our image either and see us as a pack of loosers. I wish our supporters were more vocal at games, but alot are very insipid.
Well if you think about it - If Collingwood are the enemy and the most hated - then most people would have felt let down but the saints being unable to finish the b*stards off. In some peoples eyes the Saints are the team that allowed the pies to win a flag.
And from there it flows on - if the saints had put an end to the pies it put an end to eddy crapping on, pies fans crapping on and all the pain that goes with a pies flag. so for the majority you can see why the saints are in the bad books right now. we are the team that could have/should have stopped a pies flag.
most people wouldnt have cared much for a saints flag but heck they would have got so much joy from seeing the pies lose a close one. most people would be in raptures about that.
when u think of that way u can see why they hate us.
Well put Con. Also the media sseems to have had an anti- St.Kilda approach over the last 7 or 8 months. And Roos over-reaction to the photo thing has not helped his image. The club should have handled the media then, not left it to the players.
Well put Con. Also the media sseems to have had an anti- St.Kilda approach over the last 7 or 8 months. And Roos over-reaction to the photo thing has not helped his image. The club should have handled the media then, not left it to the players.
Well put Con. Also the media sseems to have had an anti- St.Kilda approach over the last 7 or 8 months. And Roos over-reaction to the photo thing has not helped his image. The club should have handled the media then, not left it to the players.
People hate Milne with a passion. Everyone without exception,I ask people and mates who like the saints,they're answer is yep they hate Milne. Not because of the allegations,just has a head you can hate. I don't see it.......but I hate Ballantyne from Freo,and he basically looks and acts the same as Milne-so there you go
Roo is hated. They see him as a sook and a try hard. If he didn't play for us I would have no argument with that
A lot don't like Lyon/us,due to our game style over the past couple of years. We have recieved a lot of exposure to free to air.....and have reduced a lot of games into farcical affairs
Then there is the off field stuff,coupled with us being a dominant club over the last few years,it gives a reason for people to hate. Let's face it,we all don't mind the clubs that are not a threat,but soon as the club becomes a power,we despise them.
I remember a few years back, during GT’s era, a Hawthorn supporter basically suggesting that the AFL had handed us a flag and it would be disgraceful if we didn’t achieve it.
Therein lies part of the problem. There exists many opposition supporters who still think we were given an unfair advantage with choice draft picks. Many are envious and love to see us fail. Strangely I didn’t notice much negative reaction to the Hawk’s 2008 flag which was built largely on tanking and dodgy second hand car sales to the Kangaroos. And I doubt that if and when the Demons are successful there will be much negativity, despite that club availing itself to the many first round picks available to a perennial loser.
Like many fishing stories I think most opposition supporters probably now think that in the early 2000s the Saints had five successive years of having the first 10 picks in the Draft.
And, without wishing to crank up another thread, it is my belief that GT’s attitude and persona during his coaching tenure probably made those opposition supporters hate us just that little bit more.
1. They absolutely hate Milne
Therapist. Hated face, hated expression. Just hated. If/when we start winning the forces that hate him will roll out the 'police cover up rape investigation' routine again to try and drag us back into the quagmire.
2. They hate Baker
Can't kick, can't mark, can't run, can't tackle, can't take the game on. Can niggle, can annoy, can frustrate opposition players. Hated.
3. They hate Riewoldt
Massive tank, massive heart, fighter, passionate and emotional. They hate the emotions being shown, imo its great to see a non-robot of a player who is capable of crying after pouring every last drop of your sweat and blood into winning.
Well, if a team plays in three grand finals in two years, and can't win any of them, including getting thrashed in the replay, then have all the stupid off-field avoidable pre season rubbish rear its head, then that means a lot of creds we built up over recent years are gone. The best way to shut up the opposition supporters and media thickheads, is to stop making excuses, get rid of the off-field crap, and start winning AND get into the finals and go on with the job we should have done.
Moods wrote:Much rather be hated than have ppl feel sorry for us. They hate us for a reason - b/c we've been beating most of them in the last 7 years.
this
So they should start loving us again soon.
the footy world is fickle. they probably will start loving us when we start losing. as someone pointed out before, it seems you're a threat when you're successful. richmond have definitely become the loveable losers in recent years. i guess it's part of the small poppy syndrome which seems to be ingrained in aussie culture.
i feared it may be a sore point for a lot of people, but there some interesting responses itt so far. cheers
Curb your enthusiasm - you’re a St.Kilda supporter!!
I agree that we have certainly become largely "hated" in the past year or so, but I don't think it has all that much to do with the fact we've been winning a lot, as some have suggested.
I do agree with what others have said about what many think about the likes of Milne (most hated in the AFL ,by a stretch, I'd say), Roo (who they think is a "cry-baby", who gets soft free kicks, that others don't get) and Baker (who most reckon is dirty and offers nothing positive to the spectacle).
But I think that the thing that has us hated the most has been our style (or lack thereof) of play.
Since this site crashed and was out of action from around Christmas time, I've been on the main board on Big Footy a lot and it's very clear that many of those who follow other teams HATE the way we play the game. Many of them clearly just love footy and love watching footy and reckon that we almost "bring the game into disrepute" (one of the suggestions in one of many threads on this topic after that "un-watchable" game we played against Geelong in round one) with the way we've been playing since Ross took over.
Many probably don't have Foxtel and only get the chance to watch a couple of games a weekend and we have had a lot of the prime-time games in the past 2 years (understandably, as a top team), so they get mighty pissed off when we turn potentially good games into a, unwatchable, boring, two hour grind, with each team kicking about 7 goals. Some of them are obviously good games, but there have been plenty that could have been far better, if we weren't so negative. This has turned many, many against us. Many of us have found us hard to watch for a fair bit of the last few years (even games we've won), so you can imagine how hard it is to watch for those who don't follow either team!
I dare say they also hate (as I do) the way we, under Ross, almost never go on with it when we get on top in a game, even though we were a dominant team of the comp, with the "wood" on most teams.
Under Thomas, when we got well on top in a game we would "go for the jugular" and pile on a big score/put on a show, but under Ross that has rarely happened, even though, as I said, we were one of the most dominant teams of recent years and had the wood on most teams (who would have "folded", if we went for their jugular). A team that has won as many as we have over the past 3 years ought to win more of them more comfortably.
We would get well on top and then usually either put the que in the rack, or try to protect a 5 or so goal lead, for the next quarter and a half, or so, pretty much making the rest of the game "unwatchable", until the last few minutes (when the other team would inevitably have gotten back into it, since we had stopped trying to score, about 45 minutes earlier).
As a result of that last point, many probably don't reckon we deserved to win a flag with that sort of mindset/approach, while at the same time you really got the feeling Geelong and Collingwood were playing much more for those supporting them, than our boys were. Geelong and Collingwood would "put on a show " for them, when they got on top, while we usually got exactly the opposite (que in the rack, or shut the game down and try to protect a lead for 45 minutes- thanks for that!).
On a side note, I also believe that last point has cost us at least one flag, because, instead of having a fair few "soft" wins, where we blew them away and the game would be over by 3/4 time, we pretty much had to grind out almost every game.
That cost us in two ways, I believe:
1- The fact that we rarely put teams away meant that more sides thought they were a reasonable chance against us than they otherwise would be against a "normal" top 2 team, meaning they went into games against us with more confidence and probably went harder and longer than they would have against a similarly "superior" team (that actually tried to beat them by miles, once they got on top). Against a Collingwood or Geelong, they probably knew they weren't going to win before they started, but against us they would have at least given themselves a chance, knowing that we rarely "put teams away". And most are going to go much harder against a team they reckon they're a sneaky chance against, than a team they expect will kick their ass. I'd suggest this fact meant that Collingwood had much more petrol in the tank for the second GF last year and to a lesser extent, the year before, Geelong were able to finish over the top of us, despite us being dominant early.
2- Even though we were winning almost every game, because we were generally winning by small margains we didn't get the "aura" that Collingwood have at the moment, or that Geelong have had for much of the past 4 years (when they were winning a similar amount of games, but by bigger margains). I dare say we would have gotten a lot more confidence if we'd won a lot more of those games, where we were completely on top by say, half way through the third, by huge margains. This would have held us in better stead, with more confidence and other teams (including Collingwood) would surely have had less belief that they would beat us. It may also have put some of our challengers off. (Like in horse racing, where if someone's completely dominant, like Black Caviar, most others won't even bother to go up against her, even if it's a race they otherwise would have entered. This makes it easier for her, as less things are likely to go wrong in a field of 8, than say a field of 16 (where you can get drawn in barrier 16, or get caught in "traffic". Sides obviously would have gone up against us, but maybe more would have written off their chances for the year and started planning more for the following year, even sub-consciously, making more games easy for us.)
I'm all for having a good number of close games, to get you used to winning the close ones, but you also need some "soft" wins along the way, or you're just likely to be knackered by the end of the season. You don't need to have close ones almost every bloody week.
The French Open has just started and it's the same in tennis. When was the last time someone won a Grand Slam after having two weeks of long, 4 and 5 set matches (the equivalent of our close games)? It almost never happens. The ones who have a good balance of reasonably hard fought ones and "soft" ones along the way and are fresh at the end of the tournament are the ones that almost always win it.
So not only did our approach to these games we were well on top in ruin the spectacle, but it made very little sense, as far as tactics go. If we did it deliberately, it was ridiculous and costly, IMO. (Hasn't helped our attendances, either).
AnythingsPossibleSaints wrote:I agree that we have certainly become largely "hated" in the past year or so, but I don't think it has all that much to do with the fact we've been winning a lot, as some have suggested.
I do agree with what others have said about what many think about the likes of Milne (most hated in the AFL ,by a stretch, I'd say), Roo (who they think is a "cry-baby", who gets soft free kicks, that others don't get) and Baker (who most reckon is dirty and offers nothing positive to the spectacle).
But I think that the thing that has us hated the most has been our style (or lack thereof) of play.
Since this site crashed and was out of action from around Christmas time, I've been on the main board on Big Footy a lot and it's very clear that many of those who follow other teams HATE the way we play the game. Many of them clearly just love footy and love watching footy and reckon that we almost "bring the game into disrepute" (one of the suggestions in one of many threads on this topic after that "un-watchable" game we played against Geelong in round one) with the way we've been playing since Ross took over.
Many probably don't have Foxtel and only get the chance to watch a couple of games a weekend and we have had a lot of the prime-time games in the past 2 years (understandably, as a top team), so they get mighty pissed off when we turn potentially good games into a, unwatchable, boring, two hour grind, with each team kicking about 7 goals. Some of them are obviously good games, but there have been plenty that could have been far better, if we weren't so negative. This has turned many, many against us. Many of us have found us hard to watch for a fair bit of the last few years (even games we've won), so you can imagine how hard it is to watch for those who don't follow either team!
I dare say they also hate (as I do) the way we, under Ross, almost never go on with it when we get on top in a game, even though we were a dominant team of the comp, with the "wood" on most teams.
Under Thomas, when we got well on top in a game we would "go for the jugular" and pile on a big score/put on a show, but under Ross that has rarely happened, even though, as I said, we were one of the most dominant teams of recent years and had the wood on most teams (who would have "folded", if we went for their jugular). A team that has won as many as we have over the past 3 years ought to win more of them more comfortably.
We would get well on top and then usually either put the que in the rack, or try to protect a 5 or so goal lead, for the next quarter and a half, or so, pretty much making the rest of the game "unwatchable", until the last few minutes (when the other team would inevitably have gotten back into it, since we had stopped trying to score, about 45 minutes earlier).
As a result of that last point, many probably don't reckon we deserved to win a flag with that sort of mindset/approach, while at the same time you really got the feeling Geelong and Collingwood were playing much more for those supporting them, than our boys were. Geelong and Collingwood would "put on a show " for them, when they got on top, while we usually got exactly the opposite (que in the rack, or shut the game down and try to protect a lead for 45 minutes- thanks for that!).
On a side note, I also believe that last point has cost us at least one flag, because, instead of having a fair few "soft" wins, where we blew them away and the game would be over by 3/4 time, we pretty much had to grind out almost every game.
That cost us in two ways, I believe:
1- The fact that we rarely put teams away meant that more sides thought they were a reasonable chance against us than they otherwise would be against a "normal" top 2 team, meaning they went into games against us with more confidence and probably went harder and longer than they would have against a similarly "superior" team (that actually tried to beat them by miles, once they got on top). Against a Collingwood or Geelong, they probably knew they weren't going to win before they started, but against us they would have at least given themselves a chance, knowing that we rarely "put teams away". And most are going to go much harder against a team they reckon they're a sneaky chance against, than a team they expect will kick their ass. I'd suggest this fact meant that Collingwood had much more petrol in the tank for the second GF last year and to a lesser extent, the year before, Geelong were able to finish over the top of us, despite us being dominant early.
2- Even though we were winning almost every game, because we were generally winning by small margains we didn't get the "aura" that Collingwood have at the moment, or that Geelong have had for much of the past 4 years (when they were winning a similar amount of games, but by bigger margains). I dare say we would have gotten a lot more confidence if we'd won a lot more of those games, where we were completely on top by say, half way through the third, by huge margains. This would have held us in better stead, with more confidence and other teams (including Collingwood) would surely have had less belief that they would beat us. It may also have put some of our challengers off. (Like in horse racing, where if someone's completely dominant, like Black Caviar, most others won't even bother to go up against her, even if it's a race they otherwise would have entered. This makes it easier for her, as less things are likely to go wrong in a field of 8, than say a field of 16 (where you can get drawn in barrier 16, or get caught in "traffic". Sides obviously would have gone up against us, but maybe more would have written off their chances for the year and started planning more for the following year, even sub-consciously, making more games easy for us.)
I'm all for having a good number of close games, to get you used to winning the close ones, but you also need some "soft" wins along the way, or you're just likely to be knackered by the end of the season. You don't need to have close ones almost every bloody week.
The French Open has just started and it's the same in tennis. When was the last time someone won a Grand Slam after having two weeks of long, 4 and 5 set matches (the equivalent of our close games)? It almost never happens. The ones who have a good balance of reasonably hard fought ones and "soft" ones along the way and are fresh at the end of the tournament are the ones that almost always win it.
So not only did our approach to these games we were well on top in ruin the spectacle, but it made very little sense, as far as tactics go. If we did it deliberately, it was ridiculous and costly, IMO. (Hasn't helped our attendances, either).
Sounds to me that those are your issues - not supporters of opposition teams.
If you really care what people think about us then dont engage with supporters of other teams......
ralphsmith wrote:1. They absolutely hate Milne
Therapist. Hated face, hated expression. Just hated. If/when we start winning the forces that hate him will roll out the 'police cover up rape investigation' routine again to try and drag us back into the quagmire.
2. They hate Baker
Can't kick, can't mark, can't run, can't tackle, can't take the game on. Can niggle, can annoy, can frustrate opposition players. Hated.
3. They hate Riewoldt
Massive tank, massive heart, fighter, passionate and emotional. They hate the emotions being shown, imo its great to see a non-robot of a player who is capable of crying after pouring every last drop of your sweat and blood into winning.
and other stuff.
All three reasons s*** me to tears.
1. Milne, when he retires IS...IS statistically going to be one of the BEST small forwards to EVER have played the game. EVER. Full stop. The end.
He kicks too many small forward goals too often. So everyone hates him. Plus the M&M bulls***, the Malthouse offensive and the way he gives it to opp cheersquads. Maybe he is his worst enemy here, but sheesh he doesnt get the respect he deserves.
2. Baker will be remembered as a thug. Nothing more. Which is pretty ordinary. Great clubman, 100% goer. But being the AFL's walking rule changer comes with a price.
3. Yeah they hate the emotion. They hate the fact that he can run the opp's best defender into the ground in a half of footy. They hate the fact that he can be an unstoppable contested mark.
They love the fact that he cried at the Gabba. They love the fact he cant kick for s***. They love the fact they have all seen his lunch.
Again, for someone who has won so many Barker awards, unless we win a flag with him in the team, he will, again be another player who retires without the respect he deserves.
Other supporters HATE us at the moment, because we have made so many of them our complete and total BITCH over the last few years. Even over the Thomas era, when we were out and out flat track bullies, we used to beat up on some sides.
Clubs have not been able to beat us over the last fifty games. Make no mistake, we had an effect on some clubs developing lists. We put some teams back weeks and weeks from one game. We could choke the hell out of you and physically smash you. Or just make you look like a reserves team by making you cough up the ball so, so often.
I really, really hope we have finally shed that "everyones second team" bulls***. I dont want or need your f****** football pity.
Anyhoo.
"Now the ball is loose, it gives St. Kilda a rough chance. Black. Good handpass. Voss. Schwarze now, the defender, can run and from a long way".....
5 x B&F, scrupulously fair ball player, I just dont get it.....doesnt even sook to the umpires when things go wrong like Goodes and Judd
So he shows some emotion...so does his cousin and I for one love how Jack plays his footy, pretty much for the same reasons as Richo was my fave non-Saint
Milney..Baker..yep I get that..but I just got get the hate for Roo, bar stupid jealousy
