Anyone else feeling flat about this season?

[cwrcyn]

I saw 90% of the games we played in the 80s. I had a ball.

How do I feel about this season? Mixed feelings. I'll be happy to see the improvement in some players, but I'm yet to have the confidence that they'll make it.

Of the players the have not yet reached their potential, I feel confident in Billings, Lonie, Sinclair, Bruce, Longer, Hickey, Webster, Dunstan,and Goddard making steady improvement over the next couple of seasons

However, I'm apprehensive (although I understand it may not be justified) and not entirely sure about Ross, Acres, Templeton, Wright, Murdoch, McCartin, McKenzie, Membrey, and Minchington. To me, it could go either way for most of that group

Weller, Roberton, Newnes, Shenton, and Savage have pretty much reached their potential or are very close.

As for Curren, Delaney, and Lee, well, who knows, but I'm not expecting anything

So, on the positive side, there is a huge scope for improvement. On the negative side, we have hardly any youngsters have yet to show that star quality


Depending on injuries and form, we could finish as low as 16th, or as high as 12th. I suppose the number of wins is irrelevant at this point, as long as we see sufficient improvement in the youngsters so we don't fall in a heap when Fisher, Dempster, Riewoldt, and Montagna exit. Let's face it, those guys are still very important.

[jonesy]

Not excited. Modern football is a drain to watch, and if you're not in the hunt it's hard to keep the interest up. In the past you'd go along and hope for a Lockett bag, or Loewe to drag down 15 monster pack marks, watch a blew, see winmar take mark of the year, listen to crowd banter.

That's all gone now

[The Fireman]

as flat as a $hit carters hat

[citywest]

Not even slightly. To many people want instant success. I wonder how some supporters would have survived the mid 80's. We are getting softer by the day. As for Essendon well its over IMO. I don't even think of them. I leave that for the real negative types SP.

I never said I wanted or expected instant success, simply it's a holding pattern year for us. I'm not expecting finals until at least 2019.

I reckon we will play finals in 2017 because by then we will have the best spine in the comp and one of the best midfields in the comp as well. I expect we will be top 4 by 2019 with our best chance of a flag from 2020 until 2024.

[Jacks Back]

Quietly optimistic but if we don't win many games I'll be quite misty optically.

[Con Gorozidis]

The way I see it is that since the introduction of 18 teams the talent overall has thinned out. The Hawks got lucky in a sense because they stockpiled talent just before GWS and the GC entered the comp. This meant that next bunch of sides couldnt bridge the gap because the talent was either going to GC or GWS or just generally thinning out over more teams. But once this Hawks side comes back to earth (Hodge, Mitchell, Burgoyne, Gibson, Lewis, Roughead will leave huge holes) the whole comp will even out quite a bit. I dont see any of the sides beside the hawks being way out in front. The comp is quite close really. There is no reason we cant play finals in a couple of years if our kids are as good as we hope.

[saintspremiers]

Not even slightly. To many people want instant success. I wonder how some supporters would have survived the mid 80's. We are getting softer by the day. As for Essendon well its over IMO. I don't even think of them. I leave that for the real negative types SP.

I never said I wanted or expected instant success, simply it's a holding pattern year for us. I'm not expecting finals until at least 2019.

I reckon we will play finals in 2017 because by then we will have the best spine in the comp and one of the best midfields in the comp as well. I expect we will be top 4 by 2019 with our best chance of a flag from 2020 until 2024.

IF Carlisle comes back as gun next year and IF Paddy develops rapidly this year and is a gun next year and IF Armo, Steven and Billings all improve another 10% you we may have a great spine.

Lots of big IFs.

Buy a Tatts ticket perhaps

[samuraisaint]

Not even slightly. To many people want instant success. I wonder how some supporters would have survived the mid 80's. We are getting softer by the day. As for Essendon well its over IMO. I don't even think of them. I leave that for the real negative types SP.

I never said I wanted or expected instant success, simply it's a holding pattern year for us. I'm not expecting finals until at least 2019.

I reckon we will play finals in 2017 because by then we will have the best spine in the comp and one of the best midfields in the comp as well. I expect we will be top 4 by 2019 with our best chance of a flag from 2020 until 2024.

Mid-table finish in 2017-2018 - 10th or 11th - Carlisle comes in for his first season with us, Freeman's first full season, plus a raw top 5 draft pick from this year's draft, and a FA (Hurley?), add to that retirements in Dempster, Fisher and possibly Nick at the end of the year, could make winning more than 50% of our games difficult. I can't really see us making the finals until 2019, based on other teams being ahead of us in development. We might be good, but other sides may be better. The Suns, the Giants, Melbourne, Collingwood, Geelong and Port all will re-enter the 8, and sides like the Bulldogs will be there too. Can't really see the Swans dropping out with all of their academy and forwards, and Richmond and West Coast look like they are going to be playing finals for some years yet. Then there's Hawthorn.
That's 11 football teams that, on paper at least, have better personnel than us. After 2018 they will change though, and I expect us to be back contesting finals; hopefully top 4. I haven't included Fremantle or North as I expect them to drop off the cliff either this year or next due to ageing personnel, similar to our fall after 2012.

[samuraisaint]

The way I see it is that since the introduction of 18 teams the talent overall has thinned out. The Hawks got lucky in a sense because they stockpiled talent just before GWS and the GC entered the comp. This meant that next bunch of sides couldnt bridge the gap because the talent was either going to GC or GWS or just generally thinning out over more teams. But once this Hawks side comes back to earth (Hodge, Mitchell, Burgoyne, Gibson, Lewis, Roughead will leave huge holes) the whole comp will even out quite a bit. I dont see any of the sides beside the hawks being way out in front. The comp is quite close really. There is no reason we cant play finals in a couple of years if our kids are as good as we hope.

The only problem with this logic is that the Hawks simply go out and trade for who they want, and still have guys like Langford playing at Box Hill and can't break into that side.
They will be up for a few years yet.
Plus Geelong have topped up and I can see them finishing top 4 again.

[matrix]

Ill watch every saints game and thats it
Wont bother watching any neutral games.
My love for footy in general has slipped dramatically
My love for the saints has not

[Bluthy]

One thing that stood out from the praccy match is how we still struggle with good disposal (although it was a windy oval). Billings, Chips and Joey stood out because they are so confident and measured with the ball in their hand. We just have to be patient and wait for this new batch who have been selected because they use the footy well to come through and have a few years under their belt to be really effective. Guys like Billings, Gresham, White, Rice, Acres, Goddard, Carlisle, Freeman, Lonie, Sinclair, Webster, maybe Lee, even Dunstan I think can use the ball well - he's been a bit erratic as he's been in the heat of the kitchen without a big tank.

I wonder if we could have been a bit more aggressive with trading to try and get more high picks and elite talent - like put Gilbo up for trade - but I don't know if we would have got much for him and you don't want to sell out the farm. I think this year might be a bit frustrating for some supporters who think we should be moving up from last year but we need to get more games into the younger guys before they will be genuinely powerful AFL players.

[BigMart]

Acres and Dunstan are not good kicks - at all compared to AFL standard

Fisher, Montagna, Dempster are not elite by foot... Just solid

Carlisle is not great

Webster turns it over

[ripplug66]

Acres and Dunstan are not good kicks - at all compared to AFL standard

Fisher, Montagna, Dempster are not elite by foot... Just solid

Carlisle is not great

Webster turns it over

Webster is a good kick.

[Bluthy]

Acres and Dunstan are not good kicks - at all compared to AFL standard

Fisher, Montagna, Dempster are not elite by foot... Just solid

Carlisle is not great

Webster turns it over

Acres and Dunny have 2 years only under their belt. With greater AFL tanks and experience comes more poise and precision and better decision making. Both be will be fine. Acres will see things on the field others won't and be very creative. You're not going to have a team full of players with elite disposal. What we want to do is move the base line up for our disposal and being able to keep the footy so there are none of those weak links *cough* dawson *cough*. And we need that younger generation to come through to do that.

As the team gets bigger and stronger and we get a more regular top 24, they make space better, work better as a team to open up space, have more confidence in each other and the whole system works better at keeping the footy. Hawthorns ball keeping ability is in no small part due to its brilliant system of stretching the opposition in all directions so it gets guys open. Also their zoning defense lets them maintain their energy and shape so they are always poised.

Fisher is the only backman who can pierce his way out of our back half with his kicking. Goddard and Carlisle will be great intercept marks - a real weapon - and both kick well for big men. Lee could be a great kicking backman. Webster has a stinging left foot - he'll hopefully get more consistent. We are going in the right direction - following the Pelchen skillful good disposal model. Just will take a bit of time to see these fruits. Don't write off young players who are a bit inconsistent when they have rubbery legs and playing in a chopping-changing side. When they find their AFL legs and are in a tight system, they'll be rippers.

[Bunk_Moreland]

I just remembered why I don't go on saintsational anymore.
Back to the other one .

Yup. Fools who call Mc Cartin a fat diabetic thinks they can bag out supporters from the eighties.

Quality stuff on this forum nowdays.

I don't know what you mean there.

I'm no fan of BigMart but I'm pretty sure it wasn't him that called McCartin a fat diabetic.

Posted it on another forum

[kosifantutti]

Are you sure it's the same guy?

[prwilkinson]

A.F.L footy in general doesn't get the juices flowing like it once did. I often find myself going to matches purely out of habit and my love for the Saints. Don't you just love an echoey Etihad stadium on late Sunday afternoon with 17,000 there watching 36 players within 30 metres of the ball for the entire match.... Under 10's style.... really makes you want to jump in the car and race to the game... But I'll keep going.... but it's only the love of the footy club that gets me there most weeks, not the spectacle.

[Spinner]

Not excited. Modern football is a drain to watch, and if you're not in the hunt it's hard to keep the interest up. In the past you'd go along and hope for a Lockett bag, or Loewe to drag down 15 monster pack marks, watch a blew, see winmar take mark of the year, listen to crowd banter.

That's all gone now

In 15 years time your equivalent will be saying the same about a franklin bag, a fyfe domination and a NicNat specky.

There's many of you, they ring up radio stations and say the same boring thing time and time again. The modern game is fine, in fact never been better - some just like to whinge and over value the past incorrectly.

[prwilkinson]

Not excited. Modern football is a drain to watch, and if you're not in the hunt it's hard to keep the interest up. In the past you'd go along and hope for a Lockett bag, or Loewe to drag down 15 monster pack marks, watch a blew, see winmar take mark of the year, listen to crowd banter.

That's all gone now

In 15 years time your equivalent will be saying the same about a franklin bag, a fyfe domination and a NicNat specky.

There's many of you, they ring up radio stations and say the same boring thing time and time again. The modern game is fine, in fact never been better - some just like to whinge and over value the past incorrectly.

History month on Foxtel was a shining example of how dull 'mordern footy' is. Never been better..... pppplllleeeaaassseeee..

[stevie]

My old tv out the back room where I have the footy on (sometimes, depending who is on. Still mute a lot of games too) is working ok but the set top box ain't! So may see zero games this year lol

[WinnersOnly]

You know as much as our skill levels are an issue, my other concern is having enough players with some mongrel (win at all costs). We have Weller and I think McCartin will get there, but I would like to see more players who truly enjoy hurting the opposition. I think the better sides have several of these type and we have become a crèche for nice boys.

[santazzi]

No "feeling flat" with me. At this time of the year I always suffer from the same ailment. "Bulishitis". Evey game is winnable. Every player will have a breakout year. Three quarter of the best 22 will become super stars. The beauty is that this euphoric state and belief stays with me until about round 15. I am going to have a great year........!!!!

[whiskers3614]

Not excited. Modern football is a drain to watch, and if you're not in the hunt it's hard to keep the interest up. In the past you'd go along and hope for a Lockett bag, or Loewe to drag down 15 monster pack marks, watch a blew, see winmar take mark of the year, listen to crowd banter.

That's all gone now

Get with the times mate.
2016 is about "making some noise" and "being how you want to be"

Wonder how much it cost to uncover those gems?

[samuraisaint]

I remember taking neutral supporter mates (Brits) to Moorabbin in the 80s.
One was a school mate when I was still at school - Lockett stood up from the bench and removed his tracksuit. We were standing behind the goals and could see each and every person in the members stand behind him stand up and applaud - and the noise from the animal enclosure and the section from the other side of the players race was deafening. What my mate said I have never forgotten. He said - "That's the first time I have ever seen anybody get a standing ovation for taking off a tracksuit top."
A couple of years later, I took a guy from work, another Brit who had never been to the footy before. When the first siren sounded for the players to move off to their starting positions, as Lockett jogged down to FF the entire crowd starting cheering him on - he was an older guy and had been to watch First Division matches all of his life and he said it was the most supportive crowd he had ever seen.
You can't bottle that unfortunately. We have been a far better side since 1997 than we were for the quarter of a century before that, but the atmosphere at games has changed. We've still got passionate supporters though and one of my favourite games last year was the game against Geelong when the crowd was really up - the last quarter against Richmond was great too.

[BigMart]

Ah... <<<MOD EDIT>>>

POSTER WARNED FOR BAITING

Questions Bunk....
Were you a McCartin or Petracca fan prior to the 14 Draft?
How well did you initially react to the news we took Paddy??
Was Paddy McCartin in average condition in his 18th year???
Is Paddy McCartin in fact a diebetic????

<<<MOD EDIT>>>