Gaertner Going .. ????

[Squizzy1970]

I saw a fair few over 2 years and heard about many others.

How in the hell were the Saints crying out for a tall spare parts player with no good form.

No good form? Crap comment. In the best players 8 times last year (in 16 VFL games). Typically played on the better tall forwards (many of those were AFL-listed). The club were keen for him to stay - no idea what you've been watching.

[borderbarry]

It seems an odd time to be wanting to leave the club. Will he be delisted at List Lodgement 3., and will we pick up an additional rookie to compesnate?
But what about him? Could he have been promised a rookie spot and possible games elsewhere?

[Dr Spaceman]

It seems an odd time to be wanting to leave the club. Will he be delisted at List Lodgement 3., and will we pick up an additional rookie to compesnate?
But what about him? Could he have been promised a rookie spot and possible games elsewhere?

List Lodgement 3 was yesterday bb so it appears not.

[InkerSaint]

this was on st kilda's big footy- not sure if its true, but

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthrea ... st19655062

Yes unfortunately Steven just didn't enjoy the footy life.

He wanted to leave at season's end but was talked into staying and went to the first session yesterday and realised he just didn't have the dedication required to be a success.

Apparently it is quite common in AFL footy for players to not enjoy the life and most battle through and just become very depressed.

Whilst he had the physical talent he didn't have enough desire or will to be a success required to make it.

Good luck next year Saints you got some pretty talented pickups in the draft.

Yep, have another look, that poster is talking about his son.

Whilst I love footy, unfortunately he doesn't and it wasn't an easy decision for him to make. He has had it on his mind for ages and finally made the decision. If he had the desire and commitment of say Tom Simpkin he could have been anything but he doesn't and will have to find something else to do with his life.

I wish Steven (and his dad) all the best, disappointing as I liked the look of the early YouTube clips of him and always hoped he would make the grade.

[avid]

So do we get another rookie pick because of this, or is it too late??
I really wish this had been settled with the draft deadlines in mind.

I'm very sorry to see him go. I held out some real hopes for him.
Seems like a nice bloke too.
But if he can't dedicate himself to it, then he shouldn't torture himself. There is much more to life than footy. (though I often lose track of that thought myself.)

[Con Gorozidis]

please explain?

for the record ill go nuts if he goes. the guy is a freak athlete and showed he can play footy. ive been saying he got a bum run last year and he should have been promoted.

The coaching staff WANT him to stay, Gaertner wants out of football full stop. does not have the desire to play. My nephew is one of his best mates, played with him all of his junior career. Steven told him that he hates the AFL life and cannot commit to it anymore, the club asked him to reconsider

ok fair enough. on that information. then the club has done the 100% right thing. if he wants out of footy then thats a personal life choice. if u dont want to play footy u dont want to play footy. its a big commitment with no guarantees of success and lots of injuries and heart break. not for everyone. he had a lot of talent and would have made it if he desired to.

[Con Gorozidis]

an alternative theory:

the saints is such an "un-fun" work environment that it put him off footy altogether?

if u look it at from a bigger picture. exodus of assistants plus a talented youngster put off footy altogether. people have been pushing the idea that all the assistants leaving at once was "coincidence" but im not so sure...

....saints footy is not fun footy. the place is regimented and super vanilla. there is no development culture (not a single player 21 or under in our gf teams whereas collingwood had 4). players are picked according to their "role" or position in the "structure" like cogs in a machine rather than individual performance. very robotic mechanistic environment. all individual expression is suppressed like in a authoritarian communist.

just a theory....

[St Lenny]

So do we get another rookie pick because of this, or is it too late??
I really wish this had been settled with the draft deadlines in mind.

I'm very sorry to see him go. I held out some real hopes for him.
Seems like a nice bloke too.
But if he can't dedicate himself to it, then he shouldn't torture himself. There is much more to life than footy. (though I often lose track of that thought myself.)

Yes you would have to wonder about the timing, but I presume the club have known about this for a while. Agree with your comments, especially the last sentance

[Moccha]

Too many theories. I don't care if Lyon is an absolute prick to work for and that's why the assistants left. He's the head coach, he's in control and as long as the team is winning and making it deep into the finals then he can do it any which way he pleases.

[InkerSaint]

It amazes me, for a forum that supposedly prizes itself on facts, how many "fairy stories" are fabricated and passed off as gospel.

[Dr Spaceman]

Too many theories. I don't care if Lyon is an absolute prick to work for and that's why the assistants left. He's the head coach, he's in control and as long as the team is winning and making it deep into the finals then he can do it any which way he pleases.

Agree.

Let's not get too worked up about a few assistant coaches, and now a rookie listed player, leaving our club.

If things were really as bad as some would like to suggest, then surely it would be a Nick Riewoldt, Lenny Hayes or Brendan Goddard leaving. Those guys are powerful enough to demand they be traded to a less communistic club. Surely a player such as Armo, who has struggled to become a regular over 4 seasons and is no guarantee to do so in 2011, would have taken the opportunity to be traded to a fun club. No, he's put his hand up for another 12 months of agony - go figure!

Assistant coaches come and go for all sorts of reasons. And Gaertner won't be the young man who decides the demands of AFL footy, whoever the coach is, is not something he craves.

[plugger66]

I saw a fair few over 2 years and heard about many others.

How in the hell were the Saints crying out for a tall spare parts player with no good form.

No good form? Crap comment. In the best players 8 times last year (in 16 VFL games). Typically played on the better tall forwards (many of those were AFL-listed). The club were keen for him to stay - no idea what you've been watching.

I was watching the games live and also getting reports. You were obviously watching the paper. Those best players are rubbish as shown by the votes players receive in the B&F. Also I never said the Saints werent keen for to stay. I said you dont gift games. He didnt deserve an upgrade and a game this year IMO and obviously the coaching staff.

[saintbrat]

good luck Steven get yourself set for life.

[Dr Spaceman]

Now on the HS website

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/s ... 5960802722

As I have said previously I am a fan, but really how does a guy who was about to enter his 3rd year on the rookie list warrant this media attention?

[super dooper]

I wonder what this means:

"Gaertner, 20, was understood to be wavering over the off-season and may have been pushed over the edge during the club's first pre-season training."

Pretty poor reporting has left this open for interpretation....

If he doesn't want to stay, i'm sure we can fill his spot with someone who does!

Not like he has exactly set the world on fire in the past couple seasons...

[SainterK]

If Steve thinks he can get a game elsewhere, them best of luck to him. I can't say I feel he's been hard done by the club.

Perhaps he has been approached, in a Paul Roos style fashion, you'd be given a crack at our best 22...etc etc

[savatage]

Geez people talk s*** on here.

Listen, he basically doesn't have the commitment to live the AFL lifestyle - training non stop, eating & breathing football, it's not the life he wants.

Kudos to him for being honest with himself & kudos to the club for giving him every opportunity to prove himself.

[saintlee]

Now on the HS website

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/s ... 5960802722

As I have said previously I am a fan, but really how does a guy who was about to enter his 3rd year on the rookie list warrant this media attention?

The media are clearly desperate for a story when a rookie who has never played a senior game wanting out becomes a headline.....

[St Lenny]

Just to throw another theory out there, I have heard he had a injury and he isnt confident that he had recovered enough to play.

[plugger66]

Just to throw another theory out there, I have heard he had a injury and he isnt confident that he had recovered enough to play.

Must be bad as they dont play for 4 months.

[Dr Spaceman]

Just to throw another theory out there, I have heard he had a injury and he isnt confident that he had recovered enough to play.

Fair dinkum, he's getting more analysis than Cayden Beetham when he walked away and he was a first round draft pick. This guy was pick 58 in the Rookie Draft.

[saintsRrising]

If the only the coach could see past his ego and realise that this is the case and not his wonderful, genius 'structures' and 'systems'.

err..

The Pies increased their reliance on structures and system in 2010, added extra discipline, and some players and became a much better team.

Cats stuck to their gameplan. Got them 2 flags. Now outmoded.

Hawks won their flag via structures ad systems.


Anyone thinking that you can wina flag in this day and age without structures and systems is kidding themeslves.

[sainter35]

Geez people talk s*** on here.

Listen, he basically doesn't have the commitment to live the AFL lifestyle - training non stop, eating & breathing football, it's not the life he wants.

Kudos to him for being honest with himself & kudos to the club for giving him every opportunity to prove himself.

And kudos to him for making the decision now and allowing the club to have an extra selection in the rookie draft.

[saintsRrising]

Geez people talk s*** on here.

Listen, he basically doesn't have the commitment to live the AFL lifestyle - training non stop, eating & breathing football, it's not the life he wants.

Kudos to him for being honest with himself & kudos to the club for giving him every opportunity to prove himself.

Exactly.

Playing the game on match-day can be fun...but if you do not enjoy training, the rest of the week and year can be a long boring drag.

[saintsRrising]

. if u dont want to play footy u dont want to play footy.

I suspect that the playing footy part is fine. 2 hours of competitive action.

But that the training: pumpoing weights, running laps, dooing drills etc...just does not grab him.

Some like Banger enjoy it...others just suffer through it..