"St Kildas Golden Era and the Lost Flags" Article

[Spud]

And I don't think we're worse off than anyone else. We're only a little bit luck and a little bit of time away from finding our 'golden era'.

I feel that too, our time will eventually come; the wheel turns.

[tweedaletomanning]

I wish all of you understood our history a bit better...

Yes, we started off as a Junior Club, but that was back in the 1870s. By the time the VFL started in 1897, we were a fully fledged senior club.

We lost our first 48 matches, when real 'Junior Clubs' like Fitzroy and Collingwood started winning flags. In an 8 team competition it took us 11 years to make our first Finals Series.

Despite having a good list in 1908, and 1909, it was back down to the bottom the following year due to fights on the Committee and players leaving.

We finished second in 1913, after being lucky to make the Finals. Thean again we made the finals in 1918.

The following year despite winning at Victoria Park for the first time in our history, we were again the laughing stock when South annihilated us kicking 17 goals four in the last quarter (four of our players walked off the ground in disgust.)

Finals then in 1929, and 1939, and then another 22 years before another Finals Appearance.

I grew up in the early 70s. I expected us to make the top four, and then top five every year. After finishing fifth in 1973 we were back on the bottom by 1977.

I don't want to experience the period between 1979 and 1986 ever again. 30 wins in that period. Yes - only 30 wins from 176 games. A different coach every second year, tin rattling, and thinking it was a great effort to get within five goals of a top team.

On the back of Lockett, Winmar, Harvey, Burke, and Loewe we made the finals in 1991, and 1992. Then 1993 - Winmar walks out, we sack Kenny Sheldon, and its back to square one.

Then there was 1997. No, we were not the best team all year. After five rounds, only Melbourne was below us on the ladder. But it was a great effort, and we should have built on that error.

No, we didn't though. 12 months later Stan Alves was sacked, and within a few more years, we were the laughing stock again.

Thank God for the draft. The last eight years have been pretty damn good. But the St.Kilda 'culture' strikes again. The first hint of any trouble, and we implode.

We just can't handle success. We don't plan for the future, and we panic when things get a bit hard. Instead of having a few rebuilding years, we are more than likely to spiral down to the bottom for the next five to ten years.

This is the story of the St.Kilda Football Club. We don't compare favourably to any club, and only possibly break even with the Doggies. Even bloody Port have won a flag.

Even since the AFL came into existence, Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Geelong, Hawthorn, North, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Port, and West Coast have won flags. Discounting the two newbies, thats 11 out of 15 clubs apart from us that have had the ultimate success. We haven't. We don't compare favourably in this time, and anybody who does really have rocks for brains.

But yet, I still love the Club. Will do till the day I die. Doesn't mean I have to be happy about it!!!

Good Read !

[Scollop]

I don't see the quality of our core playing group falling away for another 3-4 years. We are building a winning culture and there are strong leaders amongst the saints family that will help run the club as a successful, professional relevant AFL club.

The running of AFL clubs currently is vastly different to 20 or 30 yrs ago or longer, so I don't see how you can relate now with the past.
Apart from your reference to the draft, most your post is irrelevant. We may not have won a flag with the last few attempts, but we've given it a fair shake and the templates for success are all around us.

Also; just like Burkey, Thompson, Banger and other former players at our club now, there will be members of the leadership on field group at the moment, that could and should be strong off field leaders for this club in the years ahead.

[Scollop]

hey man...the glass is half full!!!

Why do you need to look at 11, 18 30 ...whatever years ago? I tell you what you need to do...Rewind 12 months ago and just head to sleepy hollow and half the town and the fans were devastated with losing junior - their best player. The head coach that took them to 3 GF in a row 'dumped' his team (are you getting the picture I'm painting), along with assistants and their president also retiring was not dissimilar to the uncertainty at our club at the moment.

We still have a core group of great players that made a commitment to the club and I believe that we'll retain them all, there were alot of assistant coaches and footy staff that also played a large role in this teams rise. I was never a RL fan and I never gave the bloke sole credit for our wonderful teams efforts. Half the fans like you will always see doom and gloom and the other half of us will see that 'solutions' are possible.

[Scollop]

And what success did Burkey, Thomson, Banger, et all have... They were all established stars in 2000 when we won 2 games and a draw.

Of coarse they had success. They are recognised as great servants of the Saints, and they're respected by all footy followers. I named these quality individuals because they are back at the club now in an admin role or in the footy department or on the board. You are also isolating one year out of the last 20, and that's typical.

Our expectations changed in the 90's when we started playing finals again and the '97 tilt at the flag was a sign of the things to come. Burkey, Thomson, Banger were all part of this new winning culture.

I remember when we appointed Blighty that I was excited by the 'balls' of the board at that time and the fact that the club was no longer going to strive for mediocrity. Maybe the current board also showed great courage with the appointment of Pelchen and the seeds were sown for the departure of your messiah.

[Johnny Member]

hey man...the glass is half full!!!

Why do you need to look at 11, 18 30 ...whatever years ago?

I know, it's f****** ridiculous.


Why not look at the AFL? Or even the last 10 years? They're far more relevant in terms of history, because the rules during that time are still in place. The rules of the game and the way it functioned was entirely different to how it is today.

Why would you even bother looking back 50, 60 or 100 years? Jesus, they used horse and carts back then for f**** sake!

And people are drawing some sort of comparison between what is happening now, and what happened back then??

Fair dinkum.

[OneEyedSainter77]

hey man...the glass is half full!!!

Why do you need to look at 11, 18 30 ...whatever years ago?

I know, it's f****** ridiculous.


Why not look at the AFL? Or even the last 10 years? They're far more relevant in terms of history, because the rules during that time are still in place.

Why would you even bother looking back 50, 60 or 100 years? Jesus, they used horse and carts back then for f**** sake!

And people are drawing some sort of comparison between what is happening now, and what happened back then??

Fair dinkum.

If you look at our history since 1990 - the year it became AFL, we have won no flags, BUT we have played finals in eleven seasons - amazing. Including seven of our last eight seasons.

we have also played in four grand finals, drawn one and played in six preliminary finals.

True we have not won a flash but neither have three other sides during the same period - Melbourne, bulldogs, richmond.

Perhaps best of all wr have only won one wooden spoon in this time.

[Johnny Member]

One Premiership, and 45 years ago. Making finals, or even Grand Finals isn't a measure of success, its a measure of credible failures. Remember the Colliwobbles??? Made plenty of Grand Finals, but were still a laughing stock.

You say people like me represent 'Doom and Gloom'. I say to you that your lot are happy for mediocrity, and spectacular failures. If you're prepared to accept second best, you'll always get second best.

Well firstly, it's not my mediocrity.

So accepting it, embracing it, hating it, whatever is completely and utterly irrelevant.

It's a sport, and the Saints are a sporting club. A club which I have no personal input into.


So I can sit here, and screw my face up and tell everyone how tough I am for not accepting mediocrity, but the reality is that whether I accept it or not - doesn't matter.


Secondly, I'm not suggesting the Saints are the most successful club going around. They're not. And frankly, it doesn't really bother me that much. I'd love them to win it every year, but either way I don't actually get anything out of it, other than a misplaced sense of achievement I suppose - even though I haven't achieved anything at all!


And thirdly, we ahead of plenty of other clubs over the past 10 years, and ahead of a few since the AFL came in.

So I don't know why people harp on about a horrible history, when it has absolutely zero relevance to what is happening now, and what is going to happen.

Since the new rules have been in effect, we've adapted really well and have outperformed plenty of clubs.
So if we choose to view that history as the obvious guide to the future, then things should continue to be pretty rosy for Saints fans.