Building our Team takes a while

[nw7]

We are all very disappointed with todays effort. Our recruiting has been really terrible for many years but the last 2 years have been good. This years crop Dunstan, Billings and Acres should be elite players. Eli could join them. There is a good crop from the last year or so Newnes, Webster, Wright, Saunders Curren, and Murdoch will be B to B+ maybe a few get to be elite. We need to find 2 more elite players this year and at least one more next. Bruce, Delaney, T Lee, Hickey and Longer will be good players. We will also be able to pick up a few free agents, maybe a superstar player. We are not just starting to develop our list, I think we are ahead of Melb, Carlton and will catch and pass other teams like bombers and Tigers in the next few years. It will again be an exciting ride in the next few years. I remember losing to Geelong in 2002, 166 to 4o something then we had a fantastic team for 10 years. Hang in there guys, even though its bloody hard.

[saint6709]

Agree with the sentiment - was going to start a post "rebuild is confirmed and still on"

[spert]

Rebuilding does take time,and we will have a lot of ups and downs along the way, but it is not an excuse for a lack of competitiveness as we saw today- the coach needs to have a good think about this result and last week's results..not good outcomes.

[Bluthy]

Good post NW. I'm basically forgetting today. Sometimes in sport s*** happens. And s*** happened today. Hawks were UN-FREAKING-BELIEVABLE. If it gets really ugly next week then we start to panic a bit. But otherwise today didn't happen and we reset for next week.

[Wayne42]

I thought i was back in the early 80's today, that was a typical result back then.

[gringo]

They are just are way to deep for teams like us. We were trying to stop the ocean with a pop gun. Not great for the kids.

[lefty]

This rebuilding bulls*** is simply an excuse. Both teams have 22 players, I EXPECT to give a little heart and contest.

I don't mind loosing, yes sure were not as experienced, big, solid yada yada yada but f*** me, loosing by 120+ points is in-excusable and a disgraceful effort. That's not a loss, thats a belting, and to get belted like that, you are doing the basics wrong. Even with an entire "flood" type game style in play, you cannot and should never be belted by that much.

Just terrible, if supporters settle for games like today and blame it on "rebuilding", then you're simply confining to accepting performances like today.

To be honest, the ONLY midfield who actually looked like winnning the center clearance was Lenny, wtf were any of the other players doing? Are we relying on Dunstan already? Far out.... Steven's, can you please fix your disposal, please....?

Savage? He might as well sit in the reserves for the next 8 weeks, I don't give a s***, if he can't win his own ball and is always 2nd to the contest, then that's where he can play with the sharpest haircut in the AFL.

Jones? What is your role exactly? If you're not a tagger anymore, then where are you playing? I don't get it. We might as well play Seb Ross.

Seriously, if we're going to be belted by 120+ points, then play ALL the kids. That means Siposs, Lee, Markworth, White.
Terrible and utterly disappointed with the game today. Really thought we'd give it a decent crack, but come on here and people are happy to accept it as part of the rebuild, bulls***, all that does is lower self esteem, confidence in the players, upset supporters, sponsorships etc

[SemperFidelis]

Nobody wants to blame injury, but I think it is a tough ask with a mostly young team to have 5 changes in a week, 3 of which involved injury.

When you take Steven, Fisher, Armo, Gilbert, Wright, Hickey, Templeton and now poor Gears (10-12?) out of the weekly lineup for extended stretches, perhaps results like today aren't so surprising. We of course have to cope with injury like every other team, but holes this big in an otherwise holey developing team have to be very unsettling.

The effort and skill level today was unacceptable, no excuses, but I feel confident we'll get at least our effort back up and that today was one out of the box. My worry is we don't have a whole lot of senior-ready extra cattle in the paddock. Perhaps the upside is that we'll get to see something of some others who might otherwise not have had a hope of getting out of the twos this year.

Looking forward to seeing who steps up. Go Saints!

[happy feet]

I like the OP. The rest of you tarts need to go and take a cold shower. Today was always going to happen. Look at the differences between the two clubs, not just the players on the park. Think about it for a while while your in that cold shower. Support the players, especially the young inexperienced players and support our coach.

[nw7]

I get it Lefty, I feel exactly the same way, I was at the game today and feel crap. My post is based on the glass being half full, we shouldn't be where we are but that's the reality of it. We have to look forward, hopefully Richo can get a better performance more consistently from this years list but we won't be a much better team until our players develop and we pick up more star players. I feel for Lenny, Monty and Roo but I get pissed off with Gwilt, Dempster, Ray, Jones, Gilbert (when playing) Geary and Schneider they have some great games and a lot of shockers, when we had a team full of stars in their prime these players went ok. Wake up tomorrow, pretend today never happened and focus on us beating Carlton. We have a long break, no travel, at a ground we play well at and for some reason we are more competitive there, Geary and Gwilt will be out so we will have less turnovers. Go Saints!

[Dave McNamara]

We are all very disappointed with todays effort. Our recruiting has been really terrible for many years but the last 2 years have been good. This years crop Dunstan, Billings and Acres should be elite players. Eli could join them. There is a good crop from the last year or so Newnes, Webster, Wright, Saunders Curren, and Murdoch will be B to B+ maybe a few get to be elite. We need to find 2 more elite players this year and at least one more next. Bruce, Delaney, T Lee, Hickey and Longer will be good players. We will also be able to pick up a few free agents, maybe a superstar player. We are not just starting to develop our list, I think we are ahead of Melb, Carlton and will catch and pass other teams like bombers and Tigers in the next few years. It will again be an exciting ride in the next few years. I remember losing to Geelong in 2002, 166 to 4o something then we had a fantastic team for 10 years. Hang in there guys, even though its bloody hard.

Great post! Please post more often.

[SainterK]

Agree with Dave

Well articulated point, well made.

[samuraisaint]

We are all very disappointed with todays effort. Our recruiting has been really terrible for many years but the last 2 years have been good. This years crop Dunstan, Billings and Acres should be elite players. Eli could join them. There is a good crop from the last year or so Newnes, Webster, Wright, Saunders Curren, and Murdoch will be B to B+ maybe a few get to be elite. We need to find 2 more elite players this year and at least one more next. Bruce, Delaney, T Lee, Hickey and Longer will be good players. We will also be able to pick up a few free agents, maybe a superstar player. We are not just starting to develop our list, I think we are ahead of Melb, Carlton and will catch and pass other teams like bombers and Tigers in the next few years. It will again be an exciting ride in the next few years. I remember losing to Geelong in 2002, 166 to 4o something then we had a fantastic team for 10 years. Hang in there guys, even though its bloody hard.

Yep - last year was 1999, this year is 2000. Next year will be 2001. And 2016 will be atrocious with retirements like 2002 with younger players missing games due to higher training loads. Expect a lot of hidings and thrashings that year I reckon. 2017 more than likely to be like early 2003, with some promising efforts, but overall inconsistent. This will be the period that we will attack free agency like teenagers at a hamburger at Maccas.
2018 to be like the second half of 2003 with an improvement overall, but missing finals due to the new faces in the side. I expect a return to finals action with a complete spine and hard bodied, hard running flankers at both ends of the ground in 2019. Pelchen's team of left footers and southpaws should be aiming for top four that season too like we did in 2004. It will be worth the wait if that can be achieved. I know that the club have predicted a return to finals action in 2018 but I can't see it, not in any meaningful way anyway.

[saintspremiers]

Brilliantly put sumari. I think the 2018 is just spin to keep supporters happy.

Can't say a return to finals later as it's too far away and our supporters are too fickle.

[Trev from the Bush]

We are all very disappointed with todays effort. Our recruiting has been really terrible for many years but the last 2 years have been good. This years crop Dunstan, Billings and Acres should be elite players. Eli could join them. There is a good crop from the last year or so Newnes, Webster, Wright, Saunders Curren, and Murdoch will be B to B+ maybe a few get to be elite. We need to find 2 more elite players this year and at least one more next. Bruce, Delaney, T Lee, Hickey and Longer will be good players. We will also be able to pick up a few free agents, maybe a superstar player. We are not just starting to develop our list, I think we are ahead of Melb, Carlton and will catch and pass other teams like bombers and Tigers in the next few years. It will again be an exciting ride in the next few years. I remember losing to Geelong in 2002, 166 to 4o something then we had a fantastic team for 10 years. Hang in there guys, even though its bloody hard.

Great post! Please post more often.

+1. Yesterday was exactly the type of result Richo warned of at the start of the season. If nothing else, it showed how extremely well drilled and practiced the Hawks are with their game plan. Mercilessly bagging the Saints will do nothing; watching and learning from the awesome performance Hawthorn turned out yesterday would be time better spent for the team. Their pressure forced us to handball backwards all of the time and the turnovers soon followed.

We can beat Carlton if we apply what is learnt from yesterday's horror.

[St. Luke]

The worst bit is somewhere along the lines we've mucked up our recruiting & list management. Geelong on the other hand had got the balance right. They could easily challenge again this year....and potentially win another flag. We on the other hand will be lucky to get past the Suns this season...and avoid the 2nd largest spanking we've ever had against the Hawks next time we meet.

That said, the only thing I want us to avoid this season is another flippin' spoon. I hope we never end up in another pickle as the one we're currently in. Gonna be a few dark seasons to come before we see the light of finals again. Its a shame, but hopefully we learn from it. That said I'll still drag my sorry carcass into games & keep on keeping the faith.

[dragit]

To be honest, the ONLY midfield who actually looked like winnning the center clearance was Lenny, wtf were any of the other players doing? Are we relying on Dunstan already? Far out.... Steven's, can you please fix your disposal, please....?

Another bloke had 39 kicks & 12 clearances - 4 from the centre. He won the medal for BOG.

[BigMart]

Lenny only has to play half as good as Joey to be seen as the better player in a game

Saw this with the SS votes the other week?
Joey was clearly BOG against Brisbane,.... And some voters gave him a couple of votes??!!

[WinnersOnly]

Players seem to be in 2 and 3 minds as to what to do with the ball ! The AR system is in transition and will take time to perfect but we cant accept perfomances like that again EvEr!

Our midfield seems the most confused and were absolutely spanked vs the Hawks.

Lets hope they can turn things around very quickly ???

[FQF]

Agree ^

[Con Gorozidis]

[saintsRrising]

We will be up and down in form for a couple of seasons...particularly with key players out.

ARMO AND Dunstan hurt...as did Hickey..

Gilbert..Fisher etc.

HAWTHORN were on song too. SO PERFECT STORM time.

[BigMart]

Not forgetting that

StK were non competitive in most areas?!

[Junction Oval]

Because of the pace of the game today, a couple of stars can no longer carry a team. They "all" have to be close to the top their game in order to be competitive against the best teams. This takes time to build.

The "key" lies in the ability of the recruiters to identify great players - mediocrity will no longer cut it.

[BackFromUSA]

As fans we can see that a strong future core is being built. The top end young talent is coming in now ... Billings, Dunstan and Acres plus low draft picks over the next 2 years.

As these 6 to 9 talented players will be hitting the start of their peak in 2019, the current young group of Steven, Armitage, Sipposs, Roberton, Bruce, Delaney, Curren, Webster, Newnes, Wright, Saunders, Murdoch, Stanley, Hickey, Longer, Ross, Lee, Markworth will have either become established stars, been traded or chopped but along with players picked up on 2017 and 2018 will give us a very well balanced list with a group of your superstars supported by a core of hard working experienced players.

Until then 100 point losses may bob up once in a while.