Where to next.....serious thinking time

[Teflon]

Seriously...i hope the team is firing, or there is some hope for the future(and the not too distant future) as demonstrated by the young-uns, by the time I get back.

Concur with the suggestions as above...but I would let the big Irishman loose too...very little to lose there. Must see what he can do..it is time.

agree re Walsh - IF as suggested our defenders struggle 1 out......Walsh is worth a look...has the size/speed to contribute and could certainly replace a Blake role. He also has to be given incentive.

[PJ]

If Tommy doesn't get a gig this year it'll be back to the mothercountry I'm sure.

[realdeal]

So from the side that lost to the dons by 50 points we now have included Lynch, Cripps and Kosi. I am not saying it is good or bad but if they all played last week with the club having the same attitude we would have lost by, wait for it, 50 points. It isnt about who is or isnt playing at the moment. It is simply about their mental attitude so we can make 1 or 10 changes but nothing will change with the side until they get their heads right.

+1

[hungry for a premiership]

Great post BigMart.

I especially agree with playing BJ in the middle as our no. 1 midfielder.

That team looks exciting. And thats just what the players need. Some excitement, some enjoyment from playing footy and winning together.

The experienced core stays, and the best youth we have is injected, and the core teaches them. Then we draft the talent over the next two or three years in the twilight of the core's career's, and who knows, they may still yet get a flag.

Does anyone here truly believe that we are a show for the flag this year? if so, why?

[Stephen Theodore]

Good read bigmart.

Dont know enough about Winmar, and never seen him play, so can only go by posters thoughts on this forum. I'm certainly with you on adding a sprinkling of youth to the team, as long as they've earnt it.

Honestly though, I believe Plugger66 is correct in that a lot of the problem is above the shoulders.

[saintsRrising]

Did not see the Dons game as am in Italy at present...but players seem mentally off at present....and in todays team football that is deadly.

Gram came out earlioer in the year and spoke out...and was lmbasteed by his team-mates....but mentally too many players are off the boil at present.

Now personeel and gameplan all need tinkering with....but unless the players can be re-engaged we will be fora rough yuear.

Good to bring in some kids...but remember that initially this will be 2 steps back...one forward till they get some games up.

[bergholt]

Does anyone here truly believe that we are a show for the flag this year? if so, why?

having trouble believing it, but the rationale is that we were always going to have a slow start to the season, given three consecutive grand finals and a lot less pre-season than most other clubs. and all the off-field shenanigans.

we're obviously not quite as bad as we've been playing - look at the quality on the park - and it's likely that we'll get on a roll of good form at some point in the season. if that starts from about round 12 then we should still make the finals and we'd be an outside chance to finish top four. we could win 10 of the last 12 and hit the finals with a head of steam built up, having been through the worst the season could throw at us.

but given we may well go to round 12 at 2-1-7, it could be a painful next couple of months. not looking forward to collingwood at the mcg on june 4.

[BigMart]

As i have mentioned before....think of footy as a three qtr oval game...which is exactly how the 'press' began.

HFF now push up to midfiield, wings push back, fp push up to hf, hbf push deeper and bp play last line....and on the way fwd the opposite occurs....
Mids must make every stoppage to structure up.

Dal and schnieder as hff assume the main responsibilty for delivery, with bj.

Gram and sam gilbert are dangerous in defense, because their turn-overs turn directly into goals. And raph for that matter.....and as they are weak defenders their opponents become dangerous...

P66
How many changes would you like to make to the seniors, considering our seconds beat the bottom vfl side by two goals.....we could go backwards by bringing in a few gop' like blake, mini, eddy???
We could throw archer, walsh, johnson all to the wolves as developing kpp's
We could look at our dominant vfl seconds team and add curran, andreoli, crocker???

As i said, dont throw the baby out with the bathwater

You said there are three changes....i say more

Stanley and smith and steven played their first game will improve
Add cripps and lynch will come in and initially weaken the side, then improve

Geary and or ledger to come in as the other missing small

Dont underestimate kosi as far as giving a target for structural reasons

We lost by 10 goals....thats two and a half per qtr......coming from errors....get rid of the worst few players and the errors over time will decrease....plus, we really need to piss off these defensively minded unskilled players to get better....dempster, mini, cj, bake, blake, eddy.....add to that the appauling footskills of peake the continual disappointment of raph
and Of course the underwhelming gamble

[BigMart]

Mentally

Mcevoy, armitage, lynch, winmar, steven, stanley, geary, ledger, cripps have not been through the oh so close gf losses and would be hungry to achieve....will add talent plus the hunger to the main core and help refresh them......happened in 2007

Out
Hamill, thompson, peckett, powell, voss, gehrig

[Saints94]

i was watching danny frawley sunday night,....seems he is a fan of young cuz...reckons he should be fast tracked into the side,....kinda agree with him....and i have only seen the kid play twice....

Im sorry but who is Cuz??

[spert]

Start panicking if we dont get a couple of wins by round 6, and that will mean it is just a slow start, GF hangover etc. If we have only won one game out of 6 by then, then it means we have deeper problems and I expect the knives will be out! I hope RL looks out of the box a bit with his use of players and tactics..a bit of lateral thinking might be the go, and I hope he is not a one-trick pony.

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

If Tommy doesn't get a gig this year it'll be back to the mothercountry I'm sure.

That would surely be very likely.
He was a "star" in their game and could be kicking ass over there in front of tens of thousands, but instead of that he's just another Joe playing in front of a thousand or whatever, in suburban grounds, across the other side of the world, in a foreign game.
He may not want to continue to eat up the prime sporting years of his life hoping that Zac Dawson and Sam Fisher happen to get a long term injury.

[Sobraz]

...plus, we really need to piss off these defensively minded unskilled players to get better....dempster, mini, cj, bake, blake, eddy.....add to that the appauling footskills of peake the continual disappointment of raph and Of course the underwhelming gamble

Great post BM, I agree entirely... Like the idea of Gilbo more wing/midfield... He has great ball winning ability, can shrug a tackle and break the lines... I also think his foot disposal isn't as bad as many make out...

But the highlighted quote above is GOLD... Hit the nail on the head, and it cannot be made simpler than that... Defensively minded unskilled players bring nothing to the way the game is being played now, and the trend its tracking in....

[Dr Spaceman]

...plus, we really need to piss off these defensively minded unskilled players to get better....dempster, mini, cj, bake, blake, eddy.....add to that the appauling footskills of peake the continual disappointment of raph and Of course the underwhelming gamble

Great post BM, I agree entirely... Like the idea of Gilbo more wing/midfield... He has great ball winning ability, can shrug a tackle and break the lines... I also think his foot disposal isn't as bad as many make out...

But the highlighted quote above is GOLD... Hit the nail on the head, and it cannot be made simpler than that... Defensively minded unskilled players bring nothing to the way the game is being played now, and the trend its tracking in....

All these guys have tried their guts out for the team we support.

I think we can simply look to giving game time to younger, more skillful players without the need to piss off blokes who have tried their best and have helped us achieve a lot in recent times (albeit not a flag)

I don't think we need to disrespect our players to make a point.

[saintbrat]

Interesting article on where to now
http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/ ... fault.aspx

At St Kilda they are all in the boat together as they paddle through rough waters. It will take enormous discipline and commitment and trust from the coaches and players to reframe their game while in the heat of the season.

The bye has come at a perfect time for the Saints because there is plenty to work on.

As Lyon explained after the game, the Saints are in a transition phase but such shifts can happen quickly as long as the attitude remains positive and belief in each other stays strong because the quality of personnel is high.

That is their challenge. It is a challenge their coach understands so well.

[BigMart]

Why is that coming in round 3.....

Whata massive c**k up, to misread a group and their abilities when you spend every day with them.......and have to change tact mid stream......amaturish imo......ross does know about succesion planning yes???


he gets paid half a million bucks a year to prepare a side for success.....this season....not good enough, in any dept....

[bergsone]

If Tommy doesn't get a gig this year it'll be back to the mothercountry I'm sure.

That would surely be very likely.
He was a "star" in their game and could be kicking ass over there in front of tens of thousands, but instead of that he's just another Joe playing in front of a thousand or whatever, in suburban grounds, across the other side of the world, in a foreign game.
He may not want to continue to eat up the prime sporting years of his life hoping that Zac Dawson and Sam Fisher happen to get a long term injury.

+1

[asiu]

Whata massive c**k up,

it started at moorabbin the day after the loss , with managements mindset of deceipt

couldn't talk the hard bitter truth then , and ross continued the pretending up until sunday night.

out the window with brutal honesty when all you are worried about is spruiking and selling next years memberships.

the floggers couldn't organise a **** in a brothel.