YKSTKFC13

[josh@saintsradio]

My house is quiet, both kids and dog peacefully sleeping, my wife is out and I have time to reflect, and write. It was Yom Kippur yesterday (the Jewish Day of Atonement). I sat in Synagogue and thought about myself, as a father, husband, employee, son, brother. And thought. I reflected, and projected, I listened. I talked with my Uncle about the Saints, and I woke up this morning thinking about our team. About where we are, a generational change that's occurring and my place in it. My little boy got his first footy jumper two weeks ago. He loves it. He walks around holding a football with number twelve on his back. I smile a lot. My kids will see our next premiership. This isn't just about me and my first hand experience anymore.

Kosi, Milney and Blakey retired two weeks ago. We smashed Freo, everyone was happy, and the sun shone for them. It wasn't just about three retiring players though. As a collective we have had to tacitly accept that our window is closed. We're rebuilding. And as we let BJ go last year, and may do the same with Dal and Sam Fisher this year, we have to project forward to our next shot, in three to five years, and learn new names, and thrill watching these kids grow, my boy’s idols, and live through them.

What is it that I am writing? Why am I sitting here? To mourn a lost chance, or period of success that never materialized into anything meaningful, or to acknowledge that what happened was great albeit unfulfilling. Maybe it's that. We've just concluded the most successful decade or so of my life, without a flag, and it was awesome and unsatisfying. Genuine high highs, gut wrenching defeats. Big crowds, blockbusters, big name players. Our club standing for something other than bad culture and a forgettable hundred year history. All of it for something. For the experience of being us, of wanting to experience the soul enriching sensation of a premiership win, just once, and not. For being there three times, and in Prelims five times, and winning two of them. The second best feeling, the wonder of Grand Final week. A drawn Grand Final, being part of history. Knowing the names, nicknames, and idiosyncrasies of almost every player on the list, knowing them by name, and wanting to be their mate, for the feeling of being included in something is almost as good as doing it.

For me it started in 2000 with the Blight sacking. Thomas and Butterss made us believe. We bought in. I was twenty five. It was awesome. We were smart and a terrible side, and tanked our way to Rooey and Kosi, then Bally, X Clarke, and Dal. Goddard was the year following. We were building something special. The last half dozen games of 2003 showed it plainly for anyone with even a remote passing interesting the game. I remember belting the Blues by twenty goals at Princess Park late in that year and knowing we were watching the genesis of something big. We had built a list full of quality experience, and precocious talent.

I can't believe we were so excited about a NAB Cup final win. We yelled ourselves hoarse when Banger won the Michael Tuck medal. It was almost as good as the Norm Smith he'd never won in '97, or something. I just remember the atmosphere being electric. Two young sides going each other so hard in February like it was the third week of September. Guey knocked out Cameron Ling and Powelly told him he deserved it, the red headed c***. Kent Kingsley kicking four on TS40 in a half. We were livid. And then all hell breaking loose when Fraser goaled to put us in front. It was a NAB Cup GF and we celebrated like we'd won something meaningful. And then something meaningful happened. We won ten straight games to start the season. We won three games in a row by over one hundred points.

This was probably the best St Kilda side we've ever seen. An amazing mix of senior payers: Harvey, Burke, Thompson, Hudgton, Hamill, Penny, Voss, Jones, Peckett, and kids the envy of every other side in the comp: Rooey, Kosi, Bally, BJ, Dal, Milney, Sammy Fish, Joey, the Goose. But we didn't have a ruckman or a decent medical department, and injuries, and a coaching inability to play against the flood killed us so often. We beat Brisbane one night at the dome during the streak and announced ourselves. Shitters goal. The loudest roar I’ve ever heard including Goddard’s mark in 2010. We hugged complete strangers who became our mates. Nothing makes you feel that good. They played with arrogance, brute force and freedom, and Thommo was teaching our side to play similarly. We limped to September, and got smashed in week one. And then beat Sydney in the driving rain the week following to set us up a Prelim in Adelaide against Port. Fraser kicked his hundredth two thirds of the way through the first quarter and thousands of idiots ran on to the ground, and interrupted what had been up until then a complete domination. Port composed themselves, and the game ebbed and flowed until Gavin Wanganeen pulled two of the arsiest goals out of his, well, you know, and we got rolled by a goal. I always think that of all the lost opportunities this one was it. Port went on to belt a tired and injured Brisbane in the Granny and we had a year to think about what might have been.

2005 came and went. Another Prelim. Another defeat, only this one stung more. Maybe because we believed the sense of destiny stronger after the Qualifying win in Adelaide. Banger’s greatest ever game, which is a massive call, given just how good a player he was, and how many consistently good games he played. But this night was really memorable. Thirty five odd possessions, three goals, including the winner. It was just the best performance I’ve ever seen from a St Kilda player. Writing about it still gives me goose bumps. They played for him, and he for them, and we won, against the odds, and earned a week off. And then, Jason Ball and f****** Schneider destroyed us in the final quarter of the Prelim, and we were out on our arses again. And again, the inability of our medical staff to get our most important players fit when we needed them, and our then coach’s arrogant inability to see past his Brisbanian game style, and the lack of a ruckman, cost us.

I’m not going to sit and give each year a paragraph. It’s too obvious and will take too long to write, and read, and I don’t think I’m writing a history of what might have been. It’s too sad, and ultimately futile. The memories, though, are the things to enjoy. I remember in 2006, one Friday night, playing the Bulldogs at the Dome. They dominated the first quarter and in to the second, and somehow, we responded, and slammed ten goals in twenty minutes. Rooey gave Farren Ray, then a skinny Bulldog, the biggest spray at half time. We swaggered off the ground like good sides do when they’re playing well. Kosi, took baby steps back, after Gia had ironed him out earlier that year and fractured his skull, now wearing a helmet, and took a hanger. He, so emblematic of our side during our decade: so much potential and talent, so much capacity for self-harm. September came and went. One week only, knocked out by Melbourne and Brock Mclean who did the biggest number on us. Then we sacked GT. I wasn’t unhappy. I didn’t care about his relationship with the president or the board, I knew he’d done the best he could, and it wasn’t good enough and now we needed something better.

And in 2007 I had no idea whether it was. He was icy; spoke in monotones, our players looked confused, and played negatively. As supporters, we had to accept there was a change happening, but really we didn’t understand it, except to know that Ross Lyon had come from a Premiership winning culture, and trust that he knew what he was doing. Defense first was his mantra, the polar opposite of what we’d come to expect. We missed the finals that year, and in 2008 played like we were getting it. My only real memory was needing to beat Essendon by 20 goals in the final round to finish fourth, and somehow doing it. And that feeling of totally dominating a side, and chasing down a cricket total winning margin, and emphatically doing it, was a ridiculously good feeling. September that year was about R Harvey and his retirement. It was classy and dignified, and somewhat drawn out, like his career. We did beat Collingwood in a knock out final, and Rooey gave a second half master class on how to play in big games. But I think we all knew that it wasn’t our year, that 08 was about building for 09, and when that came we were a better prepared, better drilled and better coached side than anything we’d seen before in our lives.

f*** me, it was good. I didn’t think we were going to lose. Not once that year. Thinking about the Round 15 game against Geelong makes my very short and balded hair stand on end. I wasn’t even there. I was on my honeymoon and reckon I watched it ten times when I got home. I remember a text I got frokm my brother when it was over. “Won by a goal. Best game ever. Unbelievable. f*** me.” And that pretty much sums it up. It was the best home and away game I’ve ever seen. Two powerhouse sides playing to remain undefeated for four quarters of the best standard football we’d ever seen. And we won. We were serious now. Week one of September against Collingwood at the G. Sunday afternoon. BJ ironed out Daisy Thomas with the cleanest shirtfront. He just told him to f*** off in no uncertain terms, and got him flush. We played with supreme confidence, and our Captain played with supreme ability, and when he goaled late in the final quarter to put the game beyond doubt, a right foot snap, running toward the boundary line, punt road end, Jesus it was sweet.

I could write a book on that September. The week leading up to the Prelim was the slowest of my football watching career. The sense of destiny and utter fear was equal to the inability of time to just hurry the f*** up. The Bulldogs played out of their skins. He was a really good coach, Rocket Eade. But, again it was Reiwoldt. When the others looked tired, he willed them to respond again, and again. He kicked two final quarter goals, the last after, ironically enough, Giansiracusa had missed a left foot snap to regain the lead, was the stuff of legend. Loose ball in the goal square, players flying everywhere, and time stood still, a collective breath drawn around the ground, as his left foot soccered the ball out of mid air, and through, and we were home. Sixty seconds to go. Sixty seconds to get there. They Bulldogs mounted one last attack, and Kosi took a giant pack mark. I nearly burst in to tears, that he’d marked it, and that it was him who did. Siren, elation, relief, utter jubilation. No voice, no care. Grand Final week, only two loses that year so far, against Geelong, for so long our measuring stick. Time for us, the true believers to get what we deserved. It never happened. We kicked atrociously. The game should have been finished at half time. It wasn’t. BJ broke his nose, and collar bone. We just couldn’t get up. And didn’t.

Heart break.

2010. A totally different year after Rooey tore his hamstring in Round three. A stirring win against Collingwood that night. I remember the place erupting when Gwilt goaled when we were surging in the last quarter. Is there a better feeling than the goal that puts the result beyond doubt, at home, against a big Melbourne side. This was Rossy’s biggest test. The players had bought in, the game style was the best in the comp, but could they produce without Rooey who would be out for three months. They did, he tweaked, BJ and Sammy Fisher played forward, and we won, and lost enough to finish third. Qualifying final night. MCG, cold, wet and windy and we played all over Geelong in the first half. Milney kicked three second quarter goals, Lenny knocked out Paul Chapman. We lead, until late, when Cameron Ling goaled to put them in front, and then not. “In the back” The three sweetest words I’ve ever heard. In the back. No goal. We win. Another Prelim against the Bulldogs, only this time, no heart attack, just a clinical performance to get us through again. I don’t need to write about the Grand Final emotionally. I’ve done it before. Just an amazing experience, the mark, the bounce of an oval ball, bouncing away from him like that. A draw. The best game ever. Just unbelievable. The replay was a non-event. Simple as that. We were cooked, they dominated, and won.

And then it flies away from us. Rossy coaches us for another year. We sit on our hands, Freo don’t and he’s gone, and they’re playing a Prelim this week and we’re not. And Scott Watters is our coach, and we’re rebuilding. And everything is new again. New players to learn, their idiosyncrasies to understand, old faces to enjoy while they’re still there, because like us, they’re aging and it doesn’t go on forever. And as I sit here, my fingers banging away on the keyboard in front of me and remember it all, I am filled with gratitude and pride for the experience of being a Saint this last decade or so. I am frustrated it restarts like this, unfulfilled, but we’ve experienced so much. So many wins, finals, memories, a generation of players, and know that if we’re smart, and it would appear that we are, we will be there again, sooner rather than later, and maybe these kids, led by the brilliant Jack Steven, can deliver us what we crave. Maybe. Hopefully. Definately. One day.


Josh Rynderman

[HXT]

Brilliant. Enjoyed every word and sentiment. Thank you

[stinger]

maybe one day i will come back and read your article in full....maybe...

started off okay ..but this next line threw me a bit


"Our club standing for something other than bad culture and a forgettable hundred year history."

1966 wasn't forgettable .....no way...

i read on....

but then you threw a real curve ball...

...this next bit is just pure crap...


"We were smart and a terrible side, and tanked our way to Rooey and Kosi, then Bally, X Clarke, and Dal. Goddard was the year following. "


we didn't tank our way to anything......in the early years we were just not good enough to win game.............if we were flowering tanking...we would have been able to add wells to our list....


did you forget..or not see the game when a bunch of kids...we had no one else left to play......managed a draw against sydney with almost the last kick of the day......??


sorry to rain on your parade...but that is just bulls***.......i didn't read on.....

[GrumpyOne]

Didn't read it all, but it must be bloody good if Stinger canned it.

Take no notice of our resident forum troll, Josh. This forum needs more intelligent participation.

[BackFromUSA]

Josh

This type of post is what has made Saintsational great.

Thank you for sharing. It is a fantastic read.

Personally I believe that I felt we were rebuilding over the past two seasons - creating a base and room in our salary cap.

We are building a different way to the 2000 to 2003 period.

First they have balanced our list with a group of solid foundation players aged 19-22 with a few stars destined to develop like Jack Steven has this year:

Over the next 2 or 3 years we will bring in some draft cream. Class players - the next Roo, Dal etc.

Free agency will deliver us the players we need to fill gaps when we are ready to challenge.

2016 we should be in finals.

2017 top 8 - hopefully top 6 at minimum.

2018 onwards top 4 for at least 6 years and our next chance at a flag.

My son will be 13 in 2018. This era will hopefully deliver us our second premiership.

Simon

[bergholt]

maybe one day i will come back and read your article in full....maybe...

Don't worry Josh, stinger's not a fan of anyone having different opinions to him.

[stinger]

maybe one day i will come back and read your article in full....maybe...

Don't worry Josh, stinger's not a fan of anyone having different opinions to him.

that's crap.......i was just commenting on some factual errors...the boy can take it or leave it........

[mad saint guy]

"We were smart and a terrible side, and tanked our way to Rooey and Kosi, then Bally, X Clarke, and Dal. Goddard was the year following. "


we didn't tank our way to anything......in the early years we were just not good enough to win game.............if we were flowering tanking...we would have been able to add wells to our list....


did you forget..or not see the game when a bunch of kids...we had no one else left to play......managed a draw against sydney with almost the last kick of the day......??


sorry to rain on your parade...but that is just bulls***.......i didn't read on.....

Said game was in round 5, 2002. After he said we tanked our way to Roo, Kosi, Dal etc. Obviously our 2000 and 2001 seasons were all about playing and developing kids as the '97 team was being phased out (much like next year will be).

OP was a top quality post, thanks for sharing.

[stinger]

"We were smart and a terrible side, and tanked our way to Rooey and Kosi, then Bally, X Clarke, and Dal. Goddard was the year following. "


we didn't tank our way to anything......in the early years we were just not good enough to win game.............if we were flowering tanking...we would have been able to add wells to our list....


did you forget..or not see the game when a bunch of kids...we had no one else left to play......managed a draw against sydney with almost the last kick of the day......??


sorry to rain on your parade...but that is just bulls***.......i didn't read on.....

Said game was in round 5, 2002. After he said we tanked our way to Roo, Kosi, Dal etc. Obviously our 2000 and 2001 seasons were all about playing and developing kids as the '97 team was being phased out (much like next year will be).

OP was a top quality post, thanks for sharing.

wrong game....was towards the end of 2001....what i stated was correct......can even remember thomas saying that we weren't interested in getting anymore handouts in the way of priority picks.....we never tankesd...and to see a post stating we did from a saints supporter is disappointing, to say the least.......

[bennymac5]

Tldr

[asiu]

bustling barrys last game for us is the one stingers talkn about i think

[mad saint guy]

wrong game....was towards the end of 2001....what i stated was correct......can even remember thomas saying that we weren't interested in getting anymore handouts in the way of priority picks.....we never tankesd...and to see a post stating we did from a saints supporter is disappointing, to say the least.......

Nope, this draw in 2001 never happened. In round 5, 2002 we lead Sydney all day, then they hit the lead in the last quarter and Daniel Wulf had the chance to win us the game in the dying moment. He was running into goal for a simple shot and a glorious win and he hit the post, drawing the match.

[chook23]

.

[stinger]

wrong game....was towards the end of 2001....what i stated was correct......can even remember thomas saying that we weren't interested in getting anymore handouts in the way of priority picks.....we never tankesd...and to see a post stating we did from a saints supporter is disappointing, to say the least.......

Nope, this draw in 2001 never happened. In round 5, 2002 we lead Sydney all day, then they hit the lead in the last quarter and Daniel Wulf had the chance to win us the game in the dying moment. He was running into goal for a simple shot and a glorious win and he hit the post, drawing the match.

no...you are right...just checked the afl records.......i'm still right as well....we didn't tank that year.......if wulf hadn't kicked the point for a draw we would have had a priority pick....bj and wells were in the draft at the end of 2002

[Beno88]

Great read. Thanks Josh.

[saint66au]

Stinger..reckon the OP{ might have been taking a bit of poetic license eh??

Fantastic article Josh..up there with your magnificent piece post the 2005 Prelim. Remember you reading it out on Saints Radio back in the day. Not a dry eye in the house

[stinger]

Stinger..reckon the OP{ might have been taking a bit of poetic license eh??

Fantastic article Josh..up there with your magnificent piece post the 2005 Prelim. Remember you reading it out on Saints Radio back in the day. Not a dry eye in the house

maybe....stick with what i posted though...we never tanked...and i find any suggestions that we did..offensive....

...we could have done with wells though....

[gringo]

I just love that you spent the holiest day on your calendar reflecting on the sainters. Religions would be a lot less combative with each other if they all prioritised the right things like you my good man.

[Junction Oval]

Just came across this. Written with passion, even if a couple of factual questions. A good read.

[70s sainter]

That 2004 was phenomenal when you look back at the names.
Will never forget TS40 banging it through in against the biggest powerhouse team for 50 years and the whole ground erupting into a frenzy.
Bulldogs losing the two prelims puts the era into perspective.

Great post Josh.

[fingers]

Thanks for sharing Josh

[SaintPav]

Thanks Josh.

Very rude Stringer, very rude indeed.

[stinger]

Thanks Josh.

Very rude Stringer, very rude indeed.

\
whats rude....?????....mentioning the 1966 flag...in his 100 forgettable years.......wasn't forgettable for me......or disputing that we tanked.????..we didn't.....not rude at all...imho....

[HitTheBoundary]

no...you are right...just checked the afl records.......i'm still right as well....

That made me chuckle.

Thanks for the article Josh.

[stinger]

no...you are right...just checked the afl records.......i'm still right as well....

That made me chuckle.

Thanks for the article Josh.

glad to give you a laugh.....i meant i was right about not tanking ...not the year of the game...