September bound?

[bigcarl]

Stranger things have happened I guess, but I can't think of one. At least we'll take a few scalps like we did to the drug cheats tonight. Go Saints!

[joffaboy]

Highly unlikely.

It is a marathon and the kids will get tired. There will be a few more 12+ goal floggings this year, but it is very exciting to see kids like Billings, Dunstan, ELi, Jack Newnes ets coming through.

Also pretty happy with early season form

3 or wins is about as many as I thought we may win allyear.

[Wayne42]

All this winning and positivity is not helping the recruiters get the required players to the club.

[plugger66]

All this winning and positivity is not helping the recruiters get the required players to the club.

No it isnt but I certainly feel better tonight than after the last game. Win or get high draft picks. Win everytime.

[3rd generation saint]

Well I had us down for 5 wins this year, we play Brisbane, Carlton and Gold Coast down here, all winnable games for us.
So we might do a little better than I thought, certainly wont win the spoon.

[desertsaint]

Well I had us down for 5 wins this year, we play Brisbane, Carlton and Gold Coast down here, all winnable games for us.
So we might do a little better than I thought, certainly wont win the spoon.

No, another trophy less season for us - the spoon is gone! Forgotten how to win them.

[hungry for a premiership]

We're currently 3-2. Need 13 wins to make finals. Let's take an optimistic view of the remainder of the season:

vs.
Brisbane - Wellington. Win. 4-2
Hawthorn - MCG. Lose. 4-3
Carlton - Etihad. Win. 5-3
Gold Coast - Etihad. Win. 6-3
Collingwood - Etihad. Lose. 6-4
Port - Away. Lose. 6-5
Geelong - Shell stadium. Lose. 6-6
West Coast - Etihad. Win. 7-6
Richmond - Etihad. Win. 8-6
Carlton - Etihad. Win. 9-6
North - "BA". Lose. 9-7
Fremantle - Etihad. Lose. 9-8
Gold Coast - Manuka. Lose. 9-9
Bulldogs - Etihad. Win. 10-9
Sydney - SCG. Lose. 10-10
Richmond - MCG. Lose. 10-11
Adelaide - Away. Lose. 10-12

To have any chance of playing finals we must beat Brisbane next week, then we must beat Carlton and Gold Coast at home after the Hawthorn match to go 6-3.
Other "must" wins are both Carlton matches at etihad, at least one of the Richmond matches, West Coast at etihad, and bulldogs at etihad. Then we'd need to sneak a win against say Freo at etihad or collingwood at etihad. Pretty bloody tough job!

[Waltzing St Kilda]

The club calls it The Road to 2018.

We still need more first-round draft picks. GWS has 27 of them already. Let's just avoid the wooden spoon -- looking good so far.

[saintspremiers]

All this winning and positivity is not helping the recruiters get the required players to the club.

Well had we kept SW we'd have landed pick 1 this season and the next 2........and had hardly any members or sponsors!

[PADDLEPOP1001]

Love the way the club is going about it new kids ,reinvigorated the old blokes,and will start to get some really good media which will bring new sponsors it's all looking positive and we"ve got kids belting the door down at Sandy to get in !

[3rd generation saint]

What we need to recruit is at least two more forwards, especially a power forward. Roo wont be there in 2018 and we need a replacement for him plus another.
Unfortunately, guys like the G Train don't appear, but gee wouldn't be great to have a young version of him. Speed, agility and pure strength in the one on ones.
Smart trading, smart recruiting and intelligent use of Free Agency is what we need over the next 2-3 seasons.
Believe me, with exciting young players like we got, we will attract players looking for success and more sponsorship, even if we are training at Seaford.

[Moorabbin Man]

Far from impossible, but do we want to from a development point of view?

However, at the risk of been called mad or a hopeless optimist, I am starting to think that if all things fall in place our veterans just may get another sneaky crack. Yes, I am saying that despite most of us having accepted that we had a few years of rebuilding, the window may unexpectedly come slightly ajar next year.

[kosifantutti]

The club calls it The Road to 2018.

We still need more first-round draft picks. GWS has 27 of them already. Let's just avoid the wooden spoon -- looking good so far.

We will get a first round pick next year, regardless of where we finish.

[Sainter_Dad]

I hope so - I put a sneaky $20.00 on it at $15.00's - Would love to put that towards my next years membership.

[Bernard Shakey]

I hope so - I put a sneaky $20.00 on it at $15.00's - Would love to put that towards my next years membership.

They saw you coming!

[Sainter_Dad]

I hope so - I put a sneaky $20.00 on it at $15.00's - Would love to put that towards my next years membership.

They saw you coming!

Not really - wont miss the $20.00 - the $300.00 would be nice - don't expect to collect - but would be nice - The betting agencies have bought us in from $15.00's to $8.00's so I must be some sort of a chance.

[ShanghaiSaint]

Stranger things have happened I guess, but I can't think of one. At least we'll take a few scalps like we did to the drug cheats tonight. Go Saints!

i would prefer to miss this year pick up a few more niceish picks and build for solid runs at it.

[Teflon]

The club calls it The Road to 2018.

We still need more first-round draft picks. GWS has 27 of them already. Let's just avoid the wooden spoon -- looking good so far.

We will get a first round pick next year, regardless of where we finish.

I don't just want first round - we want top 5..... Top 3 would be nice...

Let's be serious we need another Riewoldt...... probably another Billings too..... We Have to make the most of drafting and the best way to do this is get as high a pick as possible..... no guarantees but best bargaining position by far

This draft meant to be uncompromised..... Now is the time to make hay

What point is it finishing 9th..while Carlton load up..???

Not interested being another Nth , Carlton, RIchmond etc I'm interested in being top 4 genuine chance we gonna need as much A grade talent we can scrape in to challenge GWS / Suns etc so we have it drink long and deep

I'm excited by what I'm seeing but IM a realist. We've beaten GWS, Melbourne and Ess off a WA trip that we also struggled coming back from... next we play Brions who are really sh!te, I know you can only beat who they throw up but the draw has been nice....and that's all ok as long as we get those picks....

[Teflon]

Stranger things have happened I guess, but I can't think of one. At least we'll take a few scalps like we did to the drug cheats tonight. Go Saints!

i would prefer to miss this year pick up a few more niceish picks and build for solid runs at it.

Absolutely - why would you want to pretend at the bottom end of the 8 that we somehow have the talent to knock Hawks/Cats over..let's build to be a SERIOUS challenger one where on every line people spot hood players with multiple A Graders...

[PJ]

I think the chances of us finishing bottom 4 are starting to slide. Possibly somewhere from 10th to 14th the way we are tracking. So that's pick 5 to 10ish. Still top 10.

Think the bottom 4 will be GWS, Melbourne, Brisbane & Carlton. But yes a long way to go yet.

[Wayne42]

All this winning and positivity is not helping the recruiters get the required players to the club.

Well had we kept SW we'd have landed pick 1 this season and the next 2........and had hardly any members or sponsors!

I don't think that is accurate, i think Richo has got a bit of a free ride based on SW's decisions re recruiting and becoming a fruitcake thus gifting Richo the job.

[kosifantutti]

The club calls it The Road to 2018.

We still need more first-round draft picks. GWS has 27 of them already. Let's just avoid the wooden spoon -- looking good so far.

We will get a first round pick next year, regardless of where we finish.

What point is it finishing 9th..while Carlton load up..???

Carlton loaded up for years. Where did it get them?

Billings is great but so is Dunstan and hopefully Acres as well.

Play to win, draft well, build a winning culture. That's what I'd like to see.

[saintsRrising]

We have had an easy draw so far.

It wont last as the year goes on.

Also our coaches will be looking to blood players when ready and not just win games at all costs.

We are going along very nicely...but we have a lot of players to try out before seasons end including some that will have next years future decided upon.

[Hurricane]

I'd expect us to finish somewhere between 10-14.

We don't have the fan base, sponsors or cash that Carlton have so we can't afford to go bottom and load up for years on end only to stuff it up and go back a couple of years later. I'd also hate to be another North Melbourne that just stagnates around 6-10 every season. I firmly believe we have the structure of a really good side. Another power forward to replace Roo wouldn't hurt but sides will start to fear us in a couple of years when we get Billings, Acres, Webster, Wright, White, Murdoch, Templeton and Dunstan into that 50+ game bracket.

BANG BANG

[70s sainter]

With this kind of form and looking at the fixture I have us winning about 8 games .
I looked at the ladder position over the last few years with 8 wins and it's usually about 4th or 5th last.
I would be happy with the forth or fifth pick.