Last Year v This Year. Please Explain

[damienc]

I've read a lot lately. Both here and elsewhere.

Trying, unsuccessfully, I might add, to find a reason why our form last year was so consistently good and this year we play one good game followed by something truly atrocious.

What gives? There's got to be a reason.

Is it the coach? No. Too easy.

Besides Ratts is a good coach.

If I was to offer a criticism of Brett Rattan it's that he tries to be too supportive of the players when they should be made accountable for their own performances.

The players are paid employees of the St Kilda football club. Paid very handsomely to do a job every week and that is win games of footy and ultimately a premiership. The don't need a cuddle. They need a boot up the backside.

Clearly there is something wrong. Do the players not want to be successful? I can't believe that is true. What would be the point?

If it is an issue above the shoulders, such as lack of motivation, loss of confidence etc, then surely that can be fixed?

What's happened to Dan Butler? All Australian last year, these days can barely get a kick.

I don't want to focus only on him. He has a lot of fellow travellers.

But making wholesale player changes is not the answer. The solution to our present woes won't be found in the Sandringham football club.

We've shown in the past, we have the personnel to get the job done. But at the moment they aren't up to it. Yes we've had some injuries to key players. But all footy clubs have injuries.

Good clubs still find a way to win. And you can win if you want it badly enough. At the moment, we don't.

And if other clubs know how to counter last year's playing style then we need to find another way of doing things. There are people at our footy club being paid big $ to come up with those solutions.

Yes we've made some serious recruiting mistakes. But acknowledging those mistakes is not a pathway out of our present malaise.

Everyone who has anything to do with running our footy club, on and off the field, is accountable.

It must be fixed and fast. Failure is not an option. Seriously not an option.

[Enrico_Misso]

Good points.
But we need answers and explanations to those points.
Not sure the Pres knows the answers.
But someone must know!

[Munga]

I still think we stuffed pre-season. The club leaving it to the players to train themselves. Ha.

Last year we were flying over the ground. This year we're buried IN the ground.

That's just the first dot point.

[carn_sainter]

I think fundamentally we have tried to take a shortcut on something which takes time.

Look at Geelong for fifteen years, us 20 years ago, Melbourne and the dogs this year, Richmond since Cotchin and Martin...it takes time.

We have tried to build a pretty house focusing on the cladding more than the foundation.

Guys we traded in were average or below average players, hence tradeable, who got a little kick out of a new environment but have now regressed to their mean.

From the outside we lack leadership. Riewoldt, Hayes, Harvey...these guys are always pushing for higher standards, never happy with themselves. I'm not sure we have those types at the moment...seem complacent and quick to congratulate ourselves.

I also think marketing and selling memberships is more important than building sustained success at the club. Trading players in as if they'll push us over the edge into contending aligns with that rather than drafting kids that will take a few years

[Waltzing St Kilda]

I still think we stuffed pre-season. The club leaving it to the players to train themselves. Ha.

Last year we were flying over the ground. This year we're buried IN the ground.

That's just the first dot point.

If Ratten is letting the players train themselves then he's going down the Timid Watson route and will be out the door very quickly.

[Yorkeys]

Money per se is not a motivator; team dynamics have changed markedly for worse; Coffield and Long may have been contaminated by the slack standards/arrogance of the newer players from outside. Injuries to irreplaceable players. Assuming a 200cm forward in his second year will be an automatic winning score machine is rather naive, to put it politely.

If you are a defender/mid how can you keep putting your body and soul on the line only to watch half assed forwards stuff up 90% of attacking moves.
Forward set up is hopeless. Players regularly there are too small, too slow, not skilled, certainly not footy smart or desperate. Goodness knows what has made Roughhead's reputation as a forwards coach. The first 3 kicks for goal on Saturday smack of such inadequate composure as to evoke sympathy. Those guys heads were cooked at the time and didn't it give the Doggies the nod the Saints were not in the house.

From what Nick R said last night and my observations it appears several players recruited recently are just going through the motions or have lost what talent they might have had and that has frayed the team fabric. Strong as weakest link? I imagine those same guys are personable, yappy and full of I am stories. Just can't get a kick in forward line or take a half chance or in Frawley's case move quickly. Good friends were probably cut to allow these bad apples in: Savage, Phillips, Hind (all who seemed to always try hard even if lacking in execution). Hannebery, what an albatross.

[whiskers3614]

I still think we stuffed pre-season. The club leaving it to the players to train themselves. Ha.

Last year we were flying over the ground. This year we're buried IN the ground.

That's just the first dot point.

If Ratten is letting the players train themselves then he's going down the Timid Watson route and will be out the door very quickly.

But, but Hannebery drives training standards!

[saynta]

Money per se is not a motivator; team dynamics have changed markedly for worse; Coffield and Long may have been contaminated by the slack standards/arrogance of the newer players from outside. Injuries to irreplaceable players. Assuming a 200cm forward in his second year will be an automatic winning score machine is rather naive, to put it politely.

If you are a defender/mid how can you keep putting your body and soul on the line only to watch half assed forwards stuff up 90% of attacking moves.
Forward set up is hopeless. Players regularly there are too small, too slow, not skilled, certainly not footy smart or desperate. Goodness knows what has made Roughhead's reputation as a forwards coach. The first 3 kicks for goal on Saturday smack of such inadequate composure as to evoke sympathy. Those guys heads were cooked at the time and didn't it give the Doggies the nod the Saints were not in the house.

From what Nick R said last night and my observations it appears several players recruited recently are just going through the motions or have lost what talent they might have had and that has frayed the team fabric. Strong as weakest link? I imagine those same guys are personable, yappy and full of I am stories. Just can't get a kick in forward line or take a half chance or in Frawley's case move quickly. Good friends were probably cut to allow these bad apples in: Savage, Phillips, Hind (all who seemed to always try hard even if lacking in execution). Hannebery, what an albatross.

Good comments.

[Scollop]

I think fundamentally we have tried to take a shortcut on something which takes time.

Look at Geelong for fifteen years, us 20 years ago, Melbourne and the dogs this year, Richmond since Cotchin and Martin...it takes time.

We have tried to build a pretty house focusing on the cladding more than the foundation.

Guys we traded in were average or below average players, hence tradeable, who got a little kick out of a new environment but have now regressed to their mean.

From the outside we lack leadership. Riewoldt, Hayes, Harvey...these guys are always pushing for higher standards, never happy with themselves. I'm not sure we have those types at the moment...seem complacent and quick to congratulate ourselves.

I also think marketing and selling memberships is more important than building sustained success at the club. Trading players in as if they'll push us over the edge into contending aligns with that rather than drafting kids that will take a few years

The quick fix is always just a short term fix. It’s like using the old masking or gaffa tape. Eventually the ‘bond’ isn’t strong enough

You can’t build a premiership team quickly. You can’t cheat and slap together 15 new players. We just traded in too many established players over the last 2 years and we were only looking for a quick fix.

Chris Fagan and the Brisbane Lions are the most recent example of a team building slowly and trying to get the fundamentals right. The club wasn’t in a hurry and they sacrificed instant wins for more sustained longer term success. They have good leaders. Good mentors who drive standards and taught everyone to take ownership.

Luke Hodge was immense for the Lions in every aspect of development and for the growth of their future leaders. They also brought in Grant Birchall. Maybe Richo and Lethlean were on the right track with looking for on field leaders

Geary and Ryder and Frawley were missing in the early rounds, but hopefully with two of our senior leaders back it means we have more leadership voices on the field. I think Dunstan will also be beneficial and I’m liking Crouch’s attitude the last few games.

So, although I’m favourable to the recruiters trying to target a leadership style of senior player for next year or the year after, I hope they don’t ever go the way they did this year with too many C or D grade journeymen.

[Devilhead]

We have structural issues

Last year we had a good run with injuries across key players and key positions ...... this year has been the opposite and unfortunately our back ups for these key players and key positions have struggled to fill the void

Also other teams - Sydney, Bullies, Essendon Melbourne, GWS - their less inexperienced players have taken the next step and shown natural improvement and they havent been smashed by injuries to key players and across key positions (as much as we have) or at least they have been able to suitably replace them

I am sure if we had close to our full team on the park we would easily be Top 8 and even Top 4 contenders .... our depth is an issue especially across ruck, CHF CHB and mids

Hopefully gettting some players back will help us 2nd half of the season and we can make a late run at the 8 but we still have many gaps to fill in terms of depth

[desertsaint]

where does one start. the worst of it all is that we are a team of downhill skiers. too many just give it up when it doesn't to their way.

[saynta]

where does one start. the worst of it all is that we are a team of downhill skiers. too many just give it up when it doesn't to their way.

Yeah, more than a bit in that. Against the doggies, the first three kicks at goal, all easily get-able were, all f****** atrocious. Couple that with the maggots really reaming us, the heads kept getting dropped lower and lower.

And yes, they simply gave up any thought of winning and it f****** stood out like dogs balls.

[st.byron]

I still think we stuffed pre-season. The club leaving it to the players to train themselves. Ha.

Last year we were flying over the ground. This year we're buried IN the ground.

That's just the first dot point.

If Ratten is letting the players train themselves then he's going down the Timid Watson route and will be out the door very quickly.

But, but Hannebery drives training standards!

And he’s the reason other players wanted to come to us. He provides so much off field leadership he doesn’t even need to be in the leadership group.

[st.byron]

where does one start. the worst of it all is that we are a team of downhill skiers. too many just give it up when it doesn't to their way.

Yeah, more than a bit in that. Against the doggies, the first three kicks at goal, all easily get-able were, all f****** atrocious. Couple that with the maggots really reaming us, the heads kept getting dropped lower and lower.

And yes, they simply gave up any thought of winning and it f****** stood out like dogs balls.

That buck stops with Ratten IMO. His job to mould the spirit of the team and on current showings, there ain’t none.