What we need is the Grant Thomas factor

[skeptic]

NO not him back as coach

One thing that I think GT did really well (against his many short comings), was his enstil a real sense of pride in the players in regards to this club.

He helped the players feel pride in being a part of the St.Kilda football club and got them to want to portray it as a very serious, responsible entity.

Don't get me wrong, we still had jokers and yahoos that did the wrong thing but more often then not, they were handled and gotten rid of accordingly.

You got a sense that anyone that didn't want to be there and didn't want to be a team player was moved on.

Until things turned at board level and after that... you tended not to have guys tweeting pot shots and, crappy performances on the footy show and all that stuff that whilst isn't particularly damaging stuff... is building pressure on the club.

I think to a degree... a lot of it came from empowering a lot of the younger guys as leaders in different areas whilst having strong leadership at the top.

I think under the previous coach, this is an area that has been neglected somewhat.

From a media point of view, it's like Nick Riewoldt is the Captain and the only player allowed to be the face of the footy club and take all the heat (with Nicky D taking on a few media roles here and there).

I hope the club invests back into this role at the moment.

Whoever gets the coaching position needs to be a proud, passionate person that views himself as a Saints man (now that he's coach). Personally that's why I hope Ayres works in our club in some capacity next season.
By all reports Port Melb is one passionate club that's all about Port Melbourne... the players play for the jumper.

For mine, we need that too

[bobmurray]

NO not him back as coach

One thing that I think GT did really well (against his many short comings), was his enstil a real sense of pride in the players in regards to this club.

He helped the players feel pride in being a part of the St.Kilda football club and got them to want to portray it as a very serious, responsible entity.

Don't get me wrong, we still had jokers and yahoos that did the wrong thing but more often then not, they were handled and gotten rid of accordingly.

You got a sense that anyone that didn't want to be there and didn't want to be a team player was moved on.

Until things turned at board level and after that... you tended not to have guys tweeting pot shots and, crappy performances on the footy show and all that stuff that whilst isn't particularly damaging stuff... is building pressure on the club.

I think to a degree... a lot of it came from empowering a lot of the younger guys as leaders in different areas whilst having strong leadership at the top.

I think under the previous coach, this is an area that has been neglected somewhat.

From a media point of view, it's like Nick Riewoldt is the Captain and the only player allowed to be the face of the footy club and take all the heat (with Nicky D taking on a few media roles here and there).

I hope the club invests back into this role at the moment.

Whoever gets the coaching position needs to be a proud, passionate person that views himself as a Saints man (now that he's coach). Personally that's why I hope Ayres works in our club in some capacity next season.
By all reports Port Melb is one passionate club that's all about Port Melbourne... the players play for the jumper.

For mine, we need that too

Is that why Ayers might get the gig

[Q5]

The reason why our players have had more 'exposure' (for want of a better word!) this year is because we demanded more contact from the club in the survey we all completed at the end of last season. They gave us what we wanted now you all just want to put them down. Damned if you do, damned if you don't!

I have NO DOUBT that every player who pulls on the jumper is proud and passionate about the club! The camaraderie amongst the players and the friendships forged make them want to be together, play together, do things for each other. In some ways coaching & other staff are just peripheral. We sit back and watch but they LIVE IT!!!

[R. Harvey 3 votes!]

NO not him back as coach

One thing that I think GT did really well (against his many short comings), was his enstil a real sense of pride in the players in regards to this club.

He helped the players feel pride in being a part of the St.Kilda football club and got them to want to portray it as a very serious, responsible entity.

Don't get me wrong, we still had jokers and yahoos that did the wrong thing but more often then not, they were handled and gotten rid of accordingly.

You got a sense that anyone that didn't want to be there and didn't want to be a team player was moved on.

Until things turned at board level and after that... you tended not to have guys tweeting pot shots and, crappy performances on the footy show and all that stuff that whilst isn't particularly damaging stuff... is building pressure on the club.

I think to a degree... a lot of it came from empowering a lot of the younger guys as leaders in different areas whilst having strong leadership at the top.

I think under the previous coach, this is an area that has been neglected somewhat.

From a media point of view, it's like Nick Riewoldt is the Captain and the only player allowed to be the face of the footy club and take all the heat (with Nicky D taking on a few media roles here and there).

I hope the club invests back into this role at the moment.

Whoever gets the coaching position needs to be a proud, passionate person that views himself as a Saints man (now that he's coach). Personally that's why I hope Ayres works in our club in some capacity next season.
By all reports Port Melb is one passionate club that's all about Port Melbourne... the players play for the jumper.

For mine, we need that too

Maybe we need a no d**khead policy? Didn't Grant get rid of Spider Everitt? Not sure who else? Maybe Lawrence was another he sacked?
I understand your point. The thing is us as supporters just love the club and would almost play for free if we were good enough as footballers. Most players just don't have this same passion as the supporters and it's just a job, where as Grant as a saints coach was also a supporter and got rid of the dickheads I reckon. Not sure what we do about it, but we seem to get cabbage after cabbage!

[borderbarry]

They are young men! Unless the human race has further evolved in the last 50 years, young men will still be thinking about the same things we did at that age. No wonder they get into so much strife.

[skeptic]

I guess I wasn't entirely clear on what I meant


See me, I work in the emergency department of hospital, I'm a psychiatry specialist so to speak. In my particular hospital (IMO of course) the psych care we provided is amazing.

Whenever I speak about it I always talk it up, about the great things that we do.

I always dress really smartly for work - I'm really tough on junior collegues that are lazy or not as interested as they should be.

I've been doing this long enough to know that our system is far from perfect and that's something that I keep internal and try to address from the inside.

I'd never do anything to embarrass the organisation

This stuff that's happening at the moment at Saints:
sarcastic angey tweeting, players openly slaging others via the media etc etc

Our players don't seem particularly image conscious... or to put it another way I don't get a sense of pride coming from being a part of our club.

We don't seem to be the professional outfit we were 6-7 years ago

[R. Harvey 3 votes!]

I guess I wasn't entirely clear on what I meant


See me, I work in the emergency department of hospital, I'm a psychiatry specialist so to speak. In my particular hospital (IMO of course) the psych care we provided is amazing.

Whenever I speak about it I always talk it up, about the great things that we do.

I always dress really smartly for work - I'm really tough on junior collegues that are lazy or not as interested as they should be.

I've been doing this long enough to know that our system is far from perfect and that's something that I keep internal and try to address from the inside.

I'd never do anything to embarrass the organisation

This stuff that's happening at the moment at Saints:
sarcastic angey tweeting, players openly slaging others via the media etc etc

Our players don't seem particularly image conscious... or to put it another way I don't get a sense of pride coming from being a part of our club.

We don't seem to be the professional outfit we were 6-7 years ago

I think you were clear, but you are too intelligent for this particular forum!

[Old Mate]

the ross lyon factor. tried to instil professionalism however did quite the opposite.

[bobmurray]

the ross lyon factor. tried to instil professionalism however did quite the opposite.

Certainly has now that he bailed because he had money issues AND because
professionally he couldn't handle a rebuild of the list in order to have another crack.....weak as....also......

Roos is a knob for trying to protect him with his talking in riddles defense of Lyin's actions.......

[Old Mate]

the ross lyon factor. tried to instil professionalism however did quite the opposite.

Certainly has now that he bailed because he had money issues AND because
professionally he couldn't handle a rebuild of the list in order to have another crack.....weak as....also......

Roos is a knob for trying to protect him with his talking in riddles defense of Lyin's actions.......

it's quite ironic that ross is seen as instilling professionalism into the club when you look at the sh*t storms over his tenure...

the luke ball (non) trade;
andrew lovett trade;
all the controversies over the last couple of seasons;
'retiring' past greats;
the manner in which he left the club.

whether he is responsible for each incident is questionable however you cannot deny that he is overall accountable as the head coach.

[Scollop]

I guess I wasn't entirely clear on what I meant


See me, I work in the emergency department of hospital, I'm a psychiatry specialist so to speak. In my particular hospital (IMO of course) the psych care we provided is amazing.

Whenever I speak about it I always talk it up, about the great things that we do.

I always dress really smartly for work - I'm really tough on junior collegues that are lazy or not as interested as they should be.

I've been doing this long enough to know that our system is far from perfect and that's something that I keep internal and try to address from the inside.

I'd never do anything to embarrass the organisation

This stuff that's happening at the moment at Saints:
sarcastic angey tweeting, players openly slaging others via the media etc etc

Our players don't seem particularly image conscious... or to put it another way I don't get a sense of pride coming from being a part of our club.

We don't seem to be the professional outfit we were 6-7 years ago

Ross Lyon certainly made mistakes and perhaps one of his biggest mistakes was probably the difference in the way he treated all players on his list, especially the younger blokes. GT not only embraced the younger blokes, but he made sure that the senior blokes knew their place too. I would love for the club to find a role for GT and bring him back to work in an official capacity at the club. I think back to in 2004/2005 when there was so much pressure from the media and from people outside the club (including opposition supporters and club administrators and opposition coaches) that were envious of GT and the success of the Saints. We were enjoying success and perhaps it was all pointing to the ultimate prize until Butters and co made up their minds to oust the man that held the playing team together. Without GT's policy of rotating the captaincy, you'd have a group of young men perhaps not growing into the senior leaders as quickly as they did at that time. Lenny was the '04 Captain and Roo was given the captaincy for the first time in '05. Bally then took over in '06. GT had a knack of not only ensuring his team had great future leaders but also I reckon GT was a great judge of character.

Of coarse when Ross arrived, he just brought with him what he saw at the Swans. Saints announced co-captains in Hayes-Roo-Bally in '07, just as Sydney had Leo Barry-Kirk-Hall in Lyons last year as an assistant there. In '08 Roo got the sole captaincy. There is no doubt that Roo had to be offered everything including the captaincy if we were going to retain him long term at that time. Would GT have done the same thing? Maybe, maybe not. Has it been discussed here? Did it create tension amongst the players in any way? Was Rooys standing and elevation at this time the best thing for the team and it's chances for a premiership and did the shifting policy of selecting a sole captain change Roo to the benefit of team or not?

The doubts around Luke Balls form in 08-09, are similar to the doubts on Roo's on-field form and on-filed leadership by example in '10-'11. I'm not saying Roo didn't deserve to be our captain the last few years, quite the contrary actually. Not only did he deserve the captaincy, but he proved to be a fantastic captain ( and rolemodel for the younger players and especially for the way he prepares) and the way he conducts himself off-field. I believe that Rooys extended role as captain of St Kilda has probably helped him identify himself as a St Kilda person. Roo will probably be with us until his playing days are finished and he needs to just get a bit of luck in the next couple of years to go down as one of our very greatest captains. I think the timing is good for a change of coach atm, and this will help Roo to become a better captain and a stronger captain. Hopefully he gets the tag of premiership captain and all the doubters in opposition clubs and in the media can all recgnise what a true champion of the game he is. All that's needed is for Roo to get up on that podium and say..."We stuck it up 'em Sainters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[lefty]

Imo, we do need GT back in some way/form.

I still think back to 04, that was our best football by far... and we weren't always relying on Roo, we had Hamil, Gehrig, Roo, Milne, Guerra and Kosi all as genuine targets and they all lead to their own space to create 1 on 1's.

Now, we just mainly kick it to Roo or Milne in hope that we win

Grant was not always right, I don't agree with him about trying to delist Milne, but he was overall was good for us.

When he gave the players a day off the the movies, and we lost, he coped a lot of flack, but to be fair, the team was quite young and the bigger bodies can take their toll, yet now Scott from Geelong does it in the Gold Coast and no one says s***.

Funny how that works.....
Club needs him back, maybe as a mentor, or as an assistant or something.

[clarky449]

Imo, we do need GT back in some way/form.

I still think back to 04, that was our best football by far... and we weren't always relying on Roo, we had Hamil, Gehrig, Roo, Milne, Guerra and Kosi all as genuine targets and they all lead to their own space to create 1 on 1's.

Now, we just mainly kick it to Roo or Milne in hope that we win

Grant was not always right, I don't agree with him about trying to delist Milne, but he was overall was good for us.

When he gave the players a day off the the movies, and we lost, he coped a lot of flack, but to be fair, the team was quite young and the bigger bodies can take their toll, yet now Scott from Geelong does it in the Gold Coast and no one says s***.

Funny how that works.....
Club needs him back, maybe as a mentor, or as an assistant or something.

04 was our best football??????????????????????????????????? 09 was clearly our best football