How high can we get this year...

[macdog]

I am happy if we are competitive and give it all we've got. There may be another upset or two on the cards before this season is out.

[bergholt]

The Raph Clarke year of 2003 was a very weak draft group as it has turned out.

Yeah, pretty terrible. Sam Fisher at 55 probably the best player of the draft, if we'd taken Raph and Chips in opposite spots then it would look perfectly fine.

Mundy not too bad as well, Michael Johnson popped up in the PSD, and a few reasonable rookies: Carrazzo, Davey, Foley, Duffield, Lovett-Murray. But really pretty terrible overall.

Just goes to show, the Hawks were down the bottom the year after and got Roughead, Franklin, Lewis. In 03 in the same spots they would have had Walker, McLean, Tenace. Not many flags coming from that bunch.

[asiu]

Not only us at SS but even the coach today was fielding questions about our finals prospects at a presser midway through season 2015! What a bloody outrageous success the season has been.

lol
... this didn't happen , Shirley not .
hahahaha
ffs.

Someone needs to be told they're dreaming.

[asiu]

... he's a good coach ... on message ... patience
i could listen to him all day.

[Austinnn]

It's true we have had a lot more wins than many expected. I think the relative success this season is partly due to the new draw policy of making all teams play teams around the same part of the ladder twice. So while we are playing all the rubbish teams twice, Port Adelaide is playing all the strong teams.

[saynta]

It's true we have had a lot more wins than many expected. I think the relative success this season is partly due to the new draw policy of making all teams play teams around the same part of the ladder twice. So while we are playing all the rubbish teams twice, Port Adelaide is playing all the strong teams.

Tell me this then, which team have we beaten twice?

[spert]

It's true we have had a lot more wins than many expected. I think the relative success this season is partly due to the new draw policy of making all teams play teams around the same part of the ladder twice. So while we are playing all the rubbish teams twice, Port Adelaide is playing all the strong teams.

Tell me this then, which team have we beaten twice?

Nearly beaten Dogs twice, nearly beaten Essendon twice, nearly won the first game against GWS and will win against them this weekend.

[saynta]

duplicated

[saynta]

It's true we have had a lot more wins than many expected. I think the relative success this season is partly due to the new draw policy of making all teams play teams around the same part of the ladder twice. So while we are playing all the rubbish teams twice, Port Adelaide is playing all the strong teams.

Tell me this then, which team have we beaten twice?

Nearly beaten Dogs twice, nearly beaten Essendon twice, nearly won the first game against GWS and will win against them this weekend.

YES, but we didn't BEAT any of them TWICE so that poster was talking rubbish.

[Austinnn]

So you're saying that if we'd played Hawthorn and Collingwood twice instead of Bulldogs and Essendon we'd be in the same position with the same momentum? I bow to your knowledge.

[saynta]

So you're saying that if we'd played Hawthorn and Collingwood twice instead of Bulldogs and Essendon we'd be in the same position with the same momentum? I bow to your knowledge.

Your comments were ignorant and just plain wrong.You were talking about unexpected wins. Unexpected to whom? Not me. I predicted we would win 7 games and we are on track, so yes you should bow to my greater knowledge.

[dragit]

It's true we have had a lot more wins than many expected. I think the relative success this season is partly due to the new draw policy of making all teams play teams around the same part of the ladder twice. So while we are playing all the rubbish teams twice, Port Adelaide is playing all the strong teams.

Tell me this then, which team have we beaten twice?

Nearly beaten Dogs twice, nearly beaten Essendon twice, nearly won the first game against GWS and will win against them this weekend.

YES, but we didn't BEAT any of them TWICE so that poster was talking rubbish.

We've played a couple of poor sides twice already before we've even played a few top 8 sides once...

If we'd played 2 games against Fremantle & Sydney and none against the dogs, melb, ess then we could easily be 2 - 11 with a very different percentage.

Austinnn's point about the draw is sound and you are looking a bit silly again sting.

[Austinnn]

So you're saying that if we'd played Hawthorn and Collingwood twice instead of Bulldogs and Essendon we'd be in the same position with the same momentum? I bow to your knowledge.

Your comments were ignorant and just plain wrong.You were talking about unexpected wins. Unexpected to whom? Not me. I predicted we would win 7 games and we are on track, so yes you should bow to my greater knowledge.

Ignorant, eh? You are a troll, a fool and are now a laughing stock. Before you crack another tanty, have a look at the link below and realise that what you are doing is TROLLING me. But it's like being beaten up by a two year old.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll

Just to be clear, I realise that I am guilty of feeding the troll and you know what they say:

But I have tried in the past to appeal to saynta by PM and avoid doing this on the forum, and he was unreceptive. So this is my defence.

Go ahead, saynta. Keep opening your trap and confirming what kind of person you are. You go ahead and report me too. I'm happy to talk football when all you want to do is try and pick at my points for some kind of weird revenge for me ridiculing your daft ideas.

Just to be clear then: "It's true we have had a lot more wins than many expected." I didn't say I, stinger, saynta, anyone in particular, just lots of people, rightly or wrongly. Thats based on forums like this one and BF and the footy media. Am I right so far?

My opinion about the draw contributing to our favourable position is certainly contestable, although perhaps saynta showed his hand with an overly-emotive critique. Looking at Port's season so far, they've only played one team twice: Sydney, and we've only played two teams twice: Essendon and Bulldogs. In each case it's been 4 points each way. So maybe using Port Adelaide as a comparison was a bad idea.

In our two cases, our losses were by a goal or less and St Kilda got a lot of external credit for being the better team and nearly winning. Is it too much of a stretch to say the coaches and players might have gone into the following week in a positive frame of mind, feeling they just needed to correct their goalkicking to win? In each case, we won the following game.

Dragit's point is a perfect example of what I was talking about. He gets it.

The team is super positive at the moment, in-form and stable. The coaches can rely on certain players doing their job with stable output, and the players are learning what works with their teammates. Roo has been great since his injury. Lonie and Bruce have kept their positions and made our attack sparkle. Sinclair has been in every game except when he had to be re-rookied and he's scored goals in most games. Weller has been a bull. Longer has been getting better and better. Newnes too. Armo and Steven are having the season of their lives, especially Armo. The team is brimming with aggression and belief.

Would any of that be the case if we'd already been beaten twice by some of the clubs in the top 4 of last years end of season? Sure, it's unquantifiable but is it deniable?

Players get chopped and changed after poor games, especially big losses. They lose faith in their ability, have doubts about their team-mates. They take less chances. The coaches have to come up with a plan B.

After week 17 we'll have played GWS and Melbourne a second time, after losing to the former by 9 points in round one and beating the latter by 2 in a mini-comeback. In the form we're in I can easily imagine us winning both games.

Replace those two games with games against Hawthorn and Adelaide and I'm not so positive.

It's all conjecture and hypotheticals, maybe it's just a coincidence. I don't know.

Anyway, besides that: Our form was probably at the lowest ebb after the loss to Collingwood, since that and the Carlton game the team has played well generally. Losses against Adelaide and Hawthorn were still improvements on last year, the loss against WCE was due more to their great form and the loss against WB was narrow, and down to poor kicking for goal only.

Perhaps our poor form will resurface, but it seems at the moment that nothing can break these boys and their belief in each other and the coaches ideas. The team might lose matches but I'd be surprised if it plays badly for the remaining games unless the younger players get tired or the injuries rack up. I've got a feeling its going to be an exciting remainder to the season.

Go Saints!

[8856brother]

We've enjoyed a very soft draw and a good run with injuries. We haven't beaten any good sides yet and have been convincingly beaten by the few good sides we've played so far.

I am loving the way the whole club is performing atm but I don't want us to get ahead of ourselves. We will be losing 3 or 4 genuine club legends over the next few years. Life without Roo is a scary proposition.

Our soft draw could also cost us 2 or 3 draft spots. Another discussion for another day.

Don't want to put a dampener on things. Just not sure we have totally turned the corner yet. Signs are promising though.

[SaintPav]

So saynta is Stinger?

Interesting!

[Megamaguire]

"We've enjoyed a very soft draw and a good run with injuries. We haven't beaten any good sides yet and have been convincingly beaten by the few good sides we've played so far.
I am loving the way the whole club is performing atm but I don't want us to get ahead of ourselves. We will be losing 3 or 4 genuine club legends over the next few years. Life without Roo is a scary proposition.
Our soft draw could also cost us 2 or 3 draft spots. Another discussion for another day.
Don't want to put a dampener on things. Just not sure we have totally turned the corner yet. Signs are promising though"

Yes worth bearing in mind 8856brother.

The spirit and cohesion being demonstrated by this Saintly team is inspiring. So far we've experienced a few great outcomes (wins) and plenty of highlights. 8856brother I agree with your cautionary points. We are still very much a developing side but at the same time team cohesion & a low injury count is helping the Saints morph into a serious challenge for plenty of other teams. So far the recruiting and developmental teaching the young players are receiving appears very good. Post Rooey & Joey is not a happy thought. I like the fact that Paddy Mc & Hughie G. have not been thrown in as yet - waiting till they are best equipped is probably smarter in the long run. If our good recruiting reveals itself in the way these two play then a big part of the puzzle will have fallen in place but we needn't put the cart before the horse.
Development is where we are at & we are making a good job of it so far.
Personally I'm really enjoying the show @ the moment and am impressed with AR. Mind you it's understandable that many of us are looking forward to the Draft and keeping the fingers crossed that whatever top 10 pick we get he is a genuine talent.

G O S A I N T S 1

[samuraisaint]

Both Austinn and Saynta have been proven correct so far this year, in fact although they are at cross purposes, they are essentially arguing the same point. We have done better than expected, but Saynta along with a couple of others thought we could win 7-8 and one poster even suggested 9! I thought 2.
But what Austinn is suggesting is true also, and this is an important point; after the next three matches, we will struggle to win another game because we play sides in the top 4 and sides playing for a spot in finals. Even if we win tomorrow that would not come as a major surprise as GWS were not expected to play finals this year and they have been significantly weakened by injuries to key players. To win one of two games against them was to be expected at the beginning of the season.
I think Melbourne will account for us in our repeat game against them at the G, and the Tigers look to be having an out of the box season, so in light of that I think tomorrow is a major opportunity to get a sixth win of the season, thereby surpassing MOST people's expectations for 2015. It will certainly surpass mine.
In the final 6 games I would like to see consistent effort and application and NO losses by over 50 points. And who knows, usually bottom sides manage to get up for one last game in the final rounds and cause an upset, and if we do that Saynta will be correct and we will have won 7 matches, and at least one against a top club.

[samuraisaint]

"We've enjoyed a very soft draw and a good run with injuries. We haven't beaten any good sides yet and have been convincingly beaten by the few good sides we've played so far.
I am loving the way the whole club is performing atm but I don't want us to get ahead of ourselves. We will be losing 3 or 4 genuine club legends over the next few years. Life without Roo is a scary proposition.
Our soft draw could also cost us 2 or 3 draft spots. Another discussion for another day.
Don't want to put a dampener on things. Just not sure we have totally turned the corner yet. Signs are promising though"

Yes worth bearing in mind 8856brother.

The spirit and cohesion being demonstrated by this Saintly team is inspiring. So far we've experienced a few great outcomes (wins) and plenty of highlights. 8856brother I agree with your cautionary points. We are still very much a developing side but at the same time team cohesion & a low injury count is helping the Saints morph into a serious challenge for plenty of other teams. So far the recruiting and developmental teaching the young players are receiving appears very good. Post Rooey & Joey is not a happy thought. I like the fact that Paddy Mc & Hughie G. have not been thrown in as yet - waiting till they are best equipped is probably smarter in the long run. If our good recruiting reveals itself in the way these two play then a big part of the puzzle will have fallen in place but we needn't put the cart before the horse.
Development is where we are at & we are making a good job of it so far.
Personally I'm really enjoying the show @ the moment and am impressed with AR. Mind you it's understandable that many of us are looking forward to the Draft and keeping the fingers crossed that whatever top 10 pick we get he is a genuine talent.

G O S A I N T S 1

Except Paddy was thrown in - at the (very) deep end too. I am now reconsidering whether they should come in at all in the final rounds as a 'taster' or whether to leave them at Sandy. Hogan is an example where that has been shown to the best preparation. And Goddard is certainly big enough but smarter minds than mine have said that he doesn't have the fitness to play at senior level yet. Lee, White, Markworth and Sipposs should get another opportunity to show what they have got and Lee could probably replace Delany as KPB according to reports, or replace Fisher/Gilbert moving forward. For mine, ad I have been a Lee critic as a forward, if Lee can make it as a defender, that has potential for a massive upside as it means that we haven't wasted a high draft pick. Fingers crossed.

[bergholt]

So far this year we've beaten:

R2: Gold Coast - 15th when we played them, now 17th
R6: Western Bulldogs - 3rd when we played them, now 7th
R9: Brisbane - 16th when we played them, now 18th
R11: Melbourne - 15th when we played them, now 15th
R14: Essendon - 13th when we played them, now 14th

This week GWS 9th, if we beat them they'd be by far our second biggest scalp of the year. Still agree with those who say that the draw for the rest of the season looks tough, taking into account that we haven't beaten many good sides.

[samuraisaint]

and lost by more than 50 points three times already, and had two other losses by more than 40. IF we can win tomorrow, I hope that it is a solid win in the region of 8 goals so that we still stand a chance of posting a percentage in the region of 80% at the end of the season.