Window bolted shut?

[bigcarl]

And if you think that someone like Lenny couldn't inspire a group to lift then I believe you are mistaken.

Agree. I know he's not captain, but he is an inspirational figure. Makes everyone go up a notch.

No he doesnt. He makes supporters go up a notch. If that was the case we would have won the 2010 GF by 10 goals.

So you speak for the players?

[plugger66]

Agree. I know he's not captain, but he is an inspirational figure. Makes everyone go up a notch.

No he doesnt. He makes supporters go up a notch. If that was the case we would have won the 2010 GF by 10 goals.

So you speak for the players?

No I watch the games. Common sense suggests no one tries more because Lenny is playing. 2011 we finished 8th, 2012 we finished 9th. Surely if you spoke to players no one would be silly enough to ask that question.

[St. Luke]

I'm forever optimistic. Have been ever since the 97 GF Always next season in my books!

[saintspremiers]

Sydney are a bunch of f.ucking cheats.

Salary cap concessions.

[bergholt]

Sydney are a bunch of f.ucking cheats.

Salary cap concessions.

How is it cheating to play by the rules?

[St Ick]

Sydney are a bunch of f.ucking cheats.

Salary cap concessions.

How is it cheating to play by the rules?

Correct. The AFL may be creating an unfair comp by giving them concessions but its hardly cheating.

We assed up a stadium deal to make Etihad our home ground when we moved from Waverley. The AFL now give us concessions. Which in turn is spent on a gizzillion assistant coaches. Are we cheating too?

You play the hand thats dealt, so in short, Sydney aren't cheating.

[fugazi]

I thought Geelong's window was shut in 2011....you never know for sure - we're like a fading successful side (without the success)

Rhys Stanley, Siposs, Lee, Hickey, Saad, Milera, Simpkins etc....if they can quickly move to their potential, we could have one more shot before our big guns are over the hill.

IMO, we will be in a worse posi to win one in 2014/2015, then next year - Milne, Hayes, Kosi, Blake all in last year 2013. Dal and Monty and Fisher the year after.

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

I thought Geelong's window was shut in 2011....you never know for sure - we're like a fading successful side (without the success)

Rhys Stanley, Siposs, Lee, Hickey, Saad, Milera, Simpkins etc....if they can quickly move to their potential, we could have one more shot before our big guns are over the hill.

IMO, we will be in a worse posi to win one in 2014/2015, then next year - Milne, Hayes, Kosi, Blake all in last year 2013. Dal and Monty and Fisher the year after.

Dal, Monty and Fisher the year after? Fisher maybe (but on the other hand he didn't play his first full senior season until the year he turned 23 and has been very durable (this year was the first since he was 23 that he didn't play at least 20 games) and hasn't even played 200 games, so I won't be at all surprised if he goes on for 3-4 more years, especially if he plays more of an easy flank/pocket role, from 2014 onwards), but Dal and Joey will only be 30 the year after and both have also been very durable throughout their career, so I won't be at all surprised if they go on for at least a couple more after that, bringing them to the age Lenny and Milney were this year, when they both had terrific seasons. Joey for one could probably move to the back pocket to finish off/extend his career and Dal to a back flank.

Agree with your first couple of points though, there are a heap of ways we can improve on this year, when not a hell of a lot went really well and where we never really got a roll at any stage.

[gringo]

No he doesnt. He makes supporters go up a notch. If that was the case we would have won the 2010 GF by 10 goals.

So you speak for the players?

No I watch the games. Common sense suggests no one tries more because Lenny is playing. 2011 we finished 8th, 2012 we finished 9th. Surely if you spoke to players no one would be silly enough to ask that question.

I played basketball and when some guys that weren't leaders lifted you definitely lifted a notch personally. You are trying to claim evidence of an unmeasurable is common sense by making a sweeping statement again. So Lenny is uninspiring to anyone but fans because he isn't captain? The obvious conclusion is that unless we won premierships by ten goals he isn't an inspiration on field?

[bigcarl]

I played basketball and when some guys that weren't leaders lifted you definitely lifted a notch personally.

Yep, leadership comes in many forms and of course it is important.

I know that seeing a guy like Lenny in there under the packs busting a gut would make me walk taller.

But that's just me, I can't speak for all the players.

[Sainternist]

Thanks to some wonky recruiting when RL was at the helm, I fear we'll be set back for at least a couple of years before becoming a genuine contender again.

However, I'm optimistic the team is in the right hands. SW seems like the man in rebuilding us relatively quickly and efficiently.

2013 may not promise us a flag, but it'll be interesting to see how things unfold.

[sainter#4]

i think the most exciting thing about 13' is that - There is no expectations from the outside.

we could be anything and i think thats whats getting me most excited in round 1.

[chook23]

It is according to one at the HS

we prob are 12 -18mths later than the Dogs slide

"Saints to have their worst season since 2002"

ST KILDA is the slider of 2013. The Saints won 12 games under Scott Watters last year but it’s hard to see them replicating that feat, and they could have their worst season since the Malcolm Blight debacle a decade ago. Brendon Goddard is gone and the likes of Lenny Hayes, Nick Riewoldt, Leigh Montagna, Nick Dal Santo, and co aren’t getting any younger. The gulf in the Saints list is similar to the Dogs, who were exposed in 2012 for that reason. The fixture looks OK, so that should help secure a handful of wins, but it could be a while until the core group of talented teenagers the Saints are starting to assemble clicks. Tom Lee and Tom Hickey are raw but come with high hopes, and while the Saints are on the right track long term, you just get the feeling there could be a stack of pain to bear first.

[kosifantutti]

It is according to one at the HS

we prob are 12 -18mths later than the Dogs slide

"Saints to have their worst season since 2002"

ST KILDA is the slider of 2013. The Saints won 12 games under Scott Watters last year but it’s hard to see them replicating that feat, and they could have their worst season since the Malcolm Blight debacle a decade ago. Brendon Goddard is gone and the likes of Lenny Hayes, Nick Riewoldt, Leigh Montagna, Nick Dal Santo, and co aren’t getting any younger. The gulf in the Saints list is similar to the Dogs, who were exposed in 2012 for that reason. The fixture looks OK, so that should help secure a handful of wins, but it could be a while until the core group of talented teenagers the Saints are starting to assemble clicks. Tom Lee and Tom Hickey are raw but come with high hopes, and while the Saints are on the right track long term, you just get the feeling there could be a stack of pain to bear first.

Blight wasn't coaching in 2002. Hopefully not the only thing the journo got wrong.

[joffaboy]

It is according to one at the HS

we prob are 12 -18mths later than the Dogs slide

"Saints to have their worst season since 2002"

ST KILDA is the slider of 2013. The Saints won 12 games under Scott Watters last year but it’s hard to see them replicating that feat, and they could have their worst season since the Malcolm Blight debacle a decade ago. Brendon Goddard is gone and the likes of Lenny Hayes, Nick Riewoldt, Leigh Montagna, Nick Dal Santo, and co aren’t getting any younger. The gulf in the Saints list is similar to the Dogs, who were exposed in 2012 for that reason. The fixture looks OK, so that should help secure a handful of wins, but it could be a while until the core group of talented teenagers the Saints are starting to assemble clicks. Tom Lee and Tom Hickey are raw but come with high hopes, and while the Saints are on the right track long term, you just get the feeling there could be a stack of pain to bear first.

Pretty poor summation, especially with the Dog comparision.

The Dogs had three or four top liners in Ackermanis, Johnson, Hall, Lake, then Cooney and Griffen and Murphy. Once they lost their top four, they had absolutely nobody coming through.

We have Roo, Dal, Joey, Fisher for probably another three years, while at the same time we have had players like Steven, Armo, Stanley, Newnes, Dunnell, Ross etc getting good experience.

I think our transition will not be as painful as the Western Bulldogs, although our chances went out the window at siren time in GF1 of 2010. Looking at 2015 for our next tilt, maybe, just maybe 2014.

[Dr Spaceman]

Each team will have 22 players out there trying to win games.

And at the end of the day, as the great man once said, they're still all sausages.

[borderbarry]

I fear that in a couple of years it will be a two horse race, GC and GWS. And that they will dominate for a long time.

[PJ]

It is according to one at the HS

we prob are 12 -18mths later than the Dogs slide

"Saints to have their worst season since 2002"

ST KILDA is the slider of 2013. The Saints won 12 games under Scott Watters last year but it’s hard to see them replicating that feat, and they could have their worst season since the Malcolm Blight debacle a decade ago. Brendon Goddard is gone and the likes of Lenny Hayes, Nick Riewoldt, Leigh Montagna, Nick Dal Santo, and co aren’t getting any younger. The gulf in the Saints list is similar to the Dogs, who were exposed in 2012 for that reason. The fixture looks OK, so that should help secure a handful of wins, but it could be a while until the core group of talented teenagers the Saints are starting to assemble clicks. Tom Lee and Tom Hickey are raw but come with high hopes, and while the Saints are on the right track long term, you just get the feeling there could be a stack of pain to bear first.

Pretty poor summation, especially with the Dog comparision.

The Dogs had three or four top liners in Ackermanis, Johnson, Hall, Lake, then Cooney and Griffen and Murphy. Once they lost their top four, they had absolutely nobody coming through.

We have Roo, Dal, Joey, Fisher for probably another three years, while at the same time we have had players like Steven, Armo, Stanley, Newnes, Dunnell, Ross etc getting good experience.

I think our transition will not be as painful as the Western Bulldogs, although our chances went out the window at siren time in GF1 of 2010. Looking at 2015 for our next tilt, maybe, just maybe 2014.

Have to agree with this - pretty close to the money JB. We may not contend but 2013 but could be an interesting year from player development and team structure perspective.

[Kickit]

The optimist in me thinks that any hope of holding our ladder position from 2012 may heavily rely on Roo's knee, Lenny's heart and Milney's 2.24 goals per game.

The realist in me thinks bottom 4.

GWS, Melbourne, GC, Bulldogs, Port. Which 2 does the realist in you think will finish above StKilda next season?
Maybe just a touch of pessimism thrown in.

[slider]

I was talking to some opposition supporters at the cricket yesterday. A couple of Carltons, a Collingwood and an Essendon.

The consensus was that we will not improve in 2013, that we had our chance and didn't take it.

I said, "we'll see" and pointed out that (apart from not nabbing a full back) I thought we'd recruited well.

What do Saintsationalists think in their hearts? Can we make the finals in 2013?

This is where you lost me.... you were talking to opposition supporters who know less than our own supporters who know less than the club.

Riveting stuff

[bigcarl]

This is where you lost me.... you were talking to opposition supporters who know less than our own supporters who know less than the club.

Riveting stuff

Assuming you are not a troll, you must have an opinion of what 2013 will bring. Let's hear it.

[Wrote for Luck]

If Lenny gets captain then we will WIN THE FLAG

[plugger66]

If Lenny gets captain then we will WIN THE FLAG

And I will get a root in the next 10 minutes.

[SaintPav]

If Lenny gets captain then we will WIN THE FLAG

And I will get a root in the next 10 minutes.

try cougarroot.com

[clarky449]

Yep we will win the Premiership because we have Lenny, the player will lift for him.