Wealthy St Kilda figure Gerry Ryan and former coach Grant Thomas endorse Larry Benge to join Saints board

[skeptic]

Can we please stay on topic rather than try to provoke old feuds.

Who put you in charge...I thought Saynta's comment relevant

The clear and unnecessary swipe at a particular forumite that he’s feuding with was not relevant to the discussion

[shanegrambeau]

I didn’t realise GT was responsible for us leaving Tassie but if he was, I’d wager he thought we were losing too many games there..and we were, weren’t we?

Generally you’d take 52 premiership points, 4th and 25000 members, over 44 points, 35000 members and 10th?

[skeptic]

I didn’t realise GT was responsible for us leaving Tassie but if he was, I’d wager he thought we were losing too many games there..and we were, weren’t we?

Generally you’d take 52 premiership points, 4th and 25000 members, over 44 points, 35000 members and 10th?

The 2004 game vs Port Adelaide in Tassie is IMO one of the most catastrophic turning points in this club’s history.

Obviously this is revisionist history but here is my opinion on how it effected this club.

Win that game, we finish top of the ladder and play Geelong at the MCG who we beat twice that year
Pbly a week off and play Port at the MCG in the prelim and Bris in the GF
Pbly a premiership

The extra confidence, glow etc and money pbly sees us go back to back. Pbly get a better trade for Black rather than Fiora.

We stay in Tassie

Make substantially more money over 15 years - no NZ, no Shanghai

We figure how to play at Tassie and in our next push over the 09/10 period, we’re very well suited to the conditions and have every chance to go back to back again.

We pbly have more of a foothold in Tassie as a zone

It’s a stretch but I reckon leaving Tassie was close to the worst decision of all time

[evertonfc]

I didn’t realise GT was responsible for us leaving Tassie but if he was, I’d wager he thought we were losing too many games there..and we were, weren’t we?

GT was interested in St Kilda winning premierships and trying to obtain enough wins in the H&A to compete for top 4.

Tasmania also wasn't the lucrative option that it later became for Hawthorn. The current admin have also messed around with NZ and China and I don't think anything has been a great success.

Look, we should be exclusively focused on winning games first and foremost. Do that, and then we can pick up the rest of the slack in different markets. But for now, just win.

We've run our race with theme games, causes and novelty acts. Our purpose has to be about winning or we really risk being stuck here with another lost decade in front of us.

[Freebird]

Can we please stay on topic rather than try to provoke old feuds.

Who put you in charge...I thought Saynta's comment relevant

The clear and unnecessary swipe at a particular forumite that he’s feuding with was not relevant to the discussion

Not hard to feud with this particular forumite as his love for the most selfish / me me me Lyon is sickening. At least Thomas has a little care for St Kilda....Lyon has/had none - me me me me inherited teams that were premier ready driving them into a brick wall along with the damage left behind

[skeptic]

Can we please stay on topic rather than try to provoke old feuds.

Who put you in charge...I thought Saynta's comment relevant

The clear and unnecessary swipe at a particular forumite that he’s feuding with was not relevant to the discussion

Not hard to feud with this particular forumite as his love for the most selfish / me me me Lyon is sickening. At least Thomas has a little care for St Kilda....Lyon has/had none - me me me me inherited teams that were premier ready driving them into a brick wall along with the damage left behind

So go argue with him directly when he’s talking about it if it bothers you. Criticise Tef all you want but at least he’s on topic.

I don’t agree with his stance on GT either... had the discussion and we left it in that thread.

Taking indirect cheap shots in different threads is the type of carry on behaviour that both ruins discussions on this forum and leaves people feeling bullied and harassed.

[Scollop]

Interesting. An obsessed poster whose nick I can never remember for some reason, has repeatedly posted that Grant is yesterday's man while his hero is still desperately being sought be numerous Afl clubs. Clearly he is wrong.

I laugh when I read how happy people were when Ross was coaching our team and how fondly they remember 2009. Unfortunately I’d like to forget one particular week in that year. It’s a shame because we all know that it’s the only week that really counts

How refreshing is it when you’ve got genuine Saints people who love St Kilda and want the ultimate success for this footy club. If we want to compete for sponsors and for our membership to grow, we have to win a flag. It annoys me when influential people are apathetic and selfish and don’t want to give back to the team and to the club.

Saints fans posting here (and many of them call talkback radio too) and somehow they think that there’ll be some sort of action or something positive will occur due their carry on and their whinging.

GT is not going to sit back and watch us be a middle of the road team for another 10 years and neither is Gerry Ryan. If you can do something to contribute then don’t just talk about it. Get involved.

There’s the talkers and then there’s the dreamers…people like Gerry Ryan and GT are the doers NOT the dreamers. Success is not accidental. It comes to people who have shown all their lives that they know how to consistently achieve results

One of my favourite singer songwriters sums it up best

[Vazelos]

I didn’t realise GT was responsible for us leaving Tassie but if he was, I’d wager he thought we were losing too many games there..and we were, weren’t we?

Generally you’d take 52 premiership points, 4th and 25000 members, over 44 points, 35000 members and 10th?

The 2004 game vs Port Adelaide in Tassie is IMO one of the most catastrophic turning points in this club’s history.

Obviously this is revisionist history but here is my opinion on how it effected this club.

Win that game, we finish top of the ladder and play Geelong at the MCG who we beat twice that year
Pbly a week off and play Port at the MCG in the prelim and Bris in the GF
Pbly a premiership

The extra confidence, glow etc and money pbly sees us go back to back. Pbly get a better trade for Black rather than Fiora.

We stay in Tassie

Make substantially more money over 15 years - no NZ, no Shanghai

We figure how to play at Tassie and in our next push over the 09/10 period, we’re very well suited to the conditions and have every chance to go back to back again.

We pbly have more of a foothold in Tassie as a zone

It’s a stretch but I reckon leaving Tassie was close to the worst decision of all time

100% inspired by Grant Thomas and accepted by a weak board.
Catastrophic decision

[Scollop]

Everyone makes mistakes. The overwhelming majority of Saints fans understand that the winning culture that was created under GT and the foundations that were built under his tenure was the main reason that we had such a strong period in the years that followed his sacking.

Who was the better team out of Geelong and St Kilda in 2004-2006? Answer honestly!!

Who came close to sacking their coach and who didn’t? Who went on to win 3 flags in the next 5 years?

In 2007 when Geelong won their first flag, half of our players were trying to get over trauma of GT’s sacking ( as well as the obvious changes to the game plan etc.) and we lost all our momentum. We took 2-3 years to get back to believing that we were the best team in the AFL

[skeptic]

I didn’t realise GT was responsible for us leaving Tassie but if he was, I’d wager he thought we were losing too many games there..and we were, weren’t we?

Generally you’d take 52 premiership points, 4th and 25000 members, over 44 points, 35000 members and 10th?

The 2004 game vs Port Adelaide in Tassie is IMO one of the most catastrophic turning points in this club’s history.

Obviously this is revisionist history but here is my opinion on how it effected this club.

Win that game, we finish top of the ladder and play Geelong at the MCG who we beat twice that year
Pbly a week off and play Port at the MCG in the prelim and Bris in the GF
Pbly a premiership

The extra confidence, glow etc and money pbly sees us go back to back. Pbly get a better trade for Black rather than Fiora.

We stay in Tassie

Make substantially more money over 15 years - no NZ, no Shanghai

We figure how to play at Tassie and in our next push over the 09/10 period, we’re very well suited to the conditions and have every chance to go back to back again.

We pbly have more of a foothold in Tassie as a zone

It’s a stretch but I reckon leaving Tassie was close to the worst decision of all time

100% inspired by Grant Thomas and accepted by a weak board.
Catastrophic decision

Agreed
I’m a big GT fan but that one has absolutely killed us IMO

[shanegrambeau]

I didn’t realise GT was responsible for us leaving Tassie but if he was, I’d wager he thought we were losing too many games there..and we were, weren’t we?

Generally you’d take 52 premiership points, 4th and 25000 members, over 44 points, 35000 members and 10th?

The 2004 game vs Port Adelaide in Tassie is IMO one of the most catastrophic turning points in this club’s history.

Obviously this is revisionist history but here is my opinion on how it effected this club.

Win that game, we finish top of the ladder and play Geelong at the MCG who we beat twice that year
Pbly a week off and play Port at the MCG in the prelim and Bris in the GF
Pbly a premiership

The extra confidence, glow etc and money pbly sees us go back to back. Pbly get a better trade for Black rather than Fiora.

We stay in Tassie

Make substantially more money over 15 years - no NZ, no Shanghai

We figure how to play at Tassie and in our next push over the 09/10 period, we’re very well suited to the conditions and have every chance to go back to back again.

We pbly have more of a foothold in Tassie as a zone

It’s a stretch but I reckon leaving Tassie was close to the worst decision of all time

100% inspired by Grant Thomas and accepted by a weak board.
Catastrophic decision

Agreed
I’m a big GT fan but that one has absolutely killed us IMO

I am sorry but I really don't understand why leaving Tassie killed us. I can think of more disruptive things...

1) GT sacking
2) Overthrowing Butters's Board
3) School Girl/Dwarf Burning/Rape Accusations and various inflammatory media napalm bombs that followed
4) Moorabbin-Seaford-Moorabbin round-about
5) Watters and Richo appointment
6) Dreadful trading outcomes..Bally to Collingwood, McEvoy etc.
7) Dreadful deal and fixture at Colonial forcing us to whore out games on far away shores
8) Lyon's escape? (dunno..that's an iffy)
9) Lovett/Carlisle fiasco

[skeptic]

I didn’t realise GT was responsible for us leaving Tassie but if he was, I’d wager he thought we were losing too many games there..and we were, weren’t we?

Generally you’d take 52 premiership points, 4th and 25000 members, over 44 points, 35000 members and 10th?

The 2004 game vs Port Adelaide in Tassie is IMO one of the most catastrophic turning points in this club’s history.

Obviously this is revisionist history but here is my opinion on how it effected this club.

Win that game, we finish top of the ladder and play Geelong at the MCG who we beat twice that year
Pbly a week off and play Port at the MCG in the prelim and Bris in the GF
Pbly a premiership

The extra confidence, glow etc and money pbly sees us go back to back. Pbly get a better trade for Black rather than Fiora.

We stay in Tassie

Make substantially more money over 15 years - no NZ, no Shanghai

We figure how to play at Tassie and in our next push over the 09/10 period, we’re very well suited to the conditions and have every chance to go back to back again.

We pbly have more of a foothold in Tassie as a zone

It’s a stretch but I reckon leaving Tassie was close to the worst decision of all time

100% inspired by Grant Thomas and accepted by a weak board.
Catastrophic decision

Agreed
I’m a big GT fan but that one has absolutely killed us IMO

I am sorry but I really don't understand why leaving Tassie killed us. I can think of more disruptive things...

1) GT sacking
2) Overthrowing Butters's Board
3) School Girl/Dwarf Burning/Rape Accusations and various inflammatory media napalm bombs that followed
4) Moorabbin-Seaford-Moorabbin round-about
5) Watters and Richo appointment
6) Dreadful trading outcomes..Bally to Collingwood, McEvoy etc.
7) Dreadful deal and fixture at Colonial forcing us to whore out games on far away shores
8) Lyon's escape? (dunno..that's an iffy)
9) Lovett/Carlisle fiasco

Following my time line…
GT doesn’t get sacked and maintains a good relationship with Butters as he doesn’t need to repay the loan

Moorabbin embraces the premiership Saints

Pbly no school girl fiasco
No Lyon, no Ball walking out
Stadium deal with Marve stadium buffered by the money we make at Tassie and our X2 premiership windfall in 04-05 + 09/10 and maybe even 06/08/11
No Lovett
No Richo or Watters

At least 4 premierships, maybe 7

Saints are the most dominant team of the modern era

Harmony at Saintsational, Saynta and I are the closest of friends

All would have happened if we beat Port in Tassie hat one time - air tight logic. Undeniable
I defy you to find one flaw

[Teflon]

Does he have any qualifications in sports administration or history in anything related to the game other than dentistry?

I'm struggling to figure out why he would be a smart addition.

Is wily old GT trying to install a puppet board member who speaks with his voice?

It’s classic Thomas
At the end of the day it’s not about the club - it’s about him and his ego and St Kilda is just the hapless vehicle
Some dentist who has $ reckons he wants to be the “members voice” and cause board upheaval???

Except it is not about GT.

Gerry Ryan endorses the dentist. GT supports his endorsement.

You have made it about GT because of your vendetta.

Yes,yes.....Grants just happy to sit on his hands ...it’s all about Grant....or it will be if he can get his puppy on the Board....


“ I only have one good fight left in me and — as always — I’m very happy to use it for the cause of St Kilda,” he said.

“In my view there are two types of teams in this competition: those in the premiership business and those simply playing AFL.

“From my observation over the last decade, St Kilda is just playing AFL. It’s time. We want to see a dramatic change in leadership, organisational connectedness and performance.” Grant Thomas

[Teflon]

Does he have any qualifications in sports administration or history in anything related to the game other than dentistry?

I'm struggling to figure out why he would be a smart addition.

Is wily old GT trying to install a puppet board member who speaks with his voice?

It’s classic Thomas
At the end of the day it’s not about the club - it’s about him and his ego and St Kilda is just the hapless vehicle
Some dentist who has $ reckons he wants to be the “members voice” and cause board upheaval???
Just as the club gathers a good core young list together and has done the hard yards to trim the fat off the last few years???(sure more to do but Bing next year, gun mids this year and we are heading in the right direction). Where was GT when Richo and Trout were screwing us up for the past 6 years????? Now he wants to play again...
All this so “good ol GT” can have his “last fight” (he took on AFL last time and that got us nowhere!!) to appear relevant in AFL circles again because as an AFL coach HE IS FINISHED and knows no other club would touch ‘rent a quote’
The fact he’s happy to let this play out in the media
The fact he’s happy to drag us back to the rabble days of St Kilda of old should tell any half sensible Saints supporter enough about any intentions GT has (no I’m not talking about the GT sycophants..,god knows they’re brain dead)
We have Lethlean who IMO is doing a great job making our club relevant again and while Bassat has had his detractors he’s a genuinely smart, self made businessman who is more than comfortable leaving his ego at the door and doesn’t feel the incessant need to be daily cannon fodder for the media
A return to crack pots and ego maniacs running St Kilda will end the club IMO and relegate us to Tassie faster than we know.
And here I thought we had FINALLY gotten past the culture of ego....here it comes again...

I think you might be slowly losing the plot Teffers, it's fun watching it though, i have to admit.

And as previously stated it's the clubs former Vice President, you know the one that has his name on the new digs at Moorabbin, Gerry "Jayco" Ryan, he's the one that is endorsing change.

GT probably has nothing to do with it, he is just supporting it because, long after he has gone, the club still hasn't achieved anything.

Thank you Wayne
If you believe that you really are called Wayne.

[Teflon]

I laughed when I read Benge believed he was qualified because he assisted the club with dental treatments.

Hearing media statements such as "pushing for change" is interesting. Ryan and Thomas stiring the pot.

This is the problem with the AFL comp, it has become a vehicle for self interest.

Absolutely it’s stirring the pot and you get the feel the good old dentist is out of his league already with GT ready in the background...,
Still happy to Shyte can the club in the media for his own ego gain
Pathetic

[Teflon]

Can we please stay on topic rather than try to provoke old feuds.

Who put you in charge...I thought Saynta's comment relevant

The clear and unnecessary swipe at a particular forumite that he’s feuding with was not relevant to the discussion

Well said Skeptic
And I know you’re no Lyon lover but I’ve always admired your ability to remain impartial and logical
But don’t fret over Saynta/Stinger ...,we all know the years ain’t been kind..

[Teflon]

Everyone makes mistakes. The overwhelming majority of Saints fans understand that the winning culture that was created under GT and the foundations that were built under his tenure was the main reason that we had such a strong period in the years that followed his sacking.

Who was the better team out of Geelong and St Kilda in 2004-2006? Answer honestly!!

Who came close to sacking their coach and who didn’t? Who went on to win 3 flags in the next 5 years?

In 2007 when Geelong won their first flag, half of our players were trying to get over trauma of GT’s sacking ( as well as the obvious changes to the game plan etc.) and we lost all our momentum. We took 2-3 years to get back to believing that we were the best team in the AFL

Yep they were so traumatised they went 19-0 2 years later and played off in 2 GFs
Do you even read what you write?

[Teflon]

I didn’t realise GT was responsible for us leaving Tassie but if he was, I’d wager he thought we were losing too many games there..and we were, weren’t we?

Generally you’d take 52 premiership points, 4th and 25000 members, over 44 points, 35000 members and 10th?

The 2004 game vs Port Adelaide in Tassie is IMO one of the most catastrophic turning points in this club’s history.

Obviously this is revisionist history but here is my opinion on how it effected this club.

Win that game, we finish top of the ladder and play Geelong at the MCG who we beat twice that year
Pbly a week off and play Port at the MCG in the prelim and Bris in the GF
Pbly a premiership

The extra confidence, glow etc and money pbly sees us go back to back. Pbly get a better trade for Black rather than Fiora.

We stay in Tassie

Make substantially more money over 15 years - no NZ, no Shanghai

We figure how to play at Tassie and in our next push over the 09/10 period, we’re very well suited to the conditions and have every chance to go back to back again.

We pbly have more of a foothold in Tassie as a zone

It’s a stretch but I reckon leaving Tassie was close to the worst decision of all time

100% inspired by Grant Thomas and accepted by a weak board.
Catastrophic decision

100% Fact - GREAT POST
A weak, inept board at the mercy of a megalomaniac is a recipe for disaster
Thank fork Bassat are a little smarter than the muppets who became GT puppets back then

[Teflon]

Interesting. An obsessed poster whose nick I can never remember for some reason, has repeatedly posted that Grant is yesterday's man while his hero is still desperately being sought be numerous Afl clubs. Clearly he is wrong.

I laugh when I read how happy people were when Ross was coaching our team and how fondly they remember 2009. Unfortunately I’d like to forget one particular week in that year. It’s a shame because we all know that it’s the only week that really counts

How refreshing is it when you’ve got genuine Saints people who love St Kilda and want the ultimate success for this footy club. If we want to compete for sponsors and for our membership to grow, we have to win a flag. It annoys me when influential people are apathetic and selfish and don’t want to give back to the team and to the club.

Saints fans posting here (and many of them call talkback radio too) and somehow they think that there’ll be some sort of action or something positive will occur due their carry on and their whinging.

GT is not going to sit back and watch us be a middle of the road team for another 10 years and neither is Gerry Ryan. If you can do something to contribute then don’t just talk about it. Get involved.

They are the talkers and the dreamers…versus the people like Gerry Ryan and GT and others who are the doers. Success is not accidental. It comes to people who have shown all their lives that they know how to consistently achieve results

One of my favourite singer songwriters sums it up best

Oh geezus ....Weddings Parties and “bring back GT”???
Are you and Saynta twins?
This would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic..
Good good man get a grip

[Teflon]

Can we please stay on topic rather than try to provoke old feuds.

Who put you in charge...I thought Saynta's comment relevant

The clear and unnecessary swipe at a particular forumite that he’s feuding with was not relevant to the discussion

Not hard to feud with this particular forumite as his love for the most selfish / me me me Lyon is sickening. At least Thomas has a little care for St Kilda....Lyon has/had none - me me me me inherited teams that were premier ready driving them into a brick wall along with the damage left behind

Incorrect ....as usual
It’s not love for the greatest Saints coach of the modern era
It’s just railing against the constant attempts from muppets trying to re-write history and paint their megalomaniac man GT out to be done kind of saviour..,
The guy got the arse then SUED the club for $ $$
1 last attempt to raid the coffers before he trudged off back to AFL irrelevance????
If that’s your idea of a “good Saints person” you’re delusional

[spert]

All I remember was that GT got bums back on seats at Saints games, we started winning strongly, lapsed members and supporters returned, the club regained respect, we returned to finals...that's pretty significant for any sporting club.

My concern is the mediocrity and lack of improvement in the club driven by those at the top since our last GF appearance,

[MC Gusto]

Current admin is far from perfect. I have no issue whatsoever bringing in people who want to improve on and off field performance and I agree with GT we have been asleep at the wheel for a decade

[scallopsroe]

I didn’t realise GT was responsible for us leaving Tassie but if he was, I’d wager he thought we were losing too many games there..and we were, weren’t we?

Generally you’d take 52 premiership points, 4th and 25000 members, over 44 points, 35000 members and 10th?

The 2004 game vs Port Adelaide in Tassie is IMO one of the most catastrophic turning points in this club’s history.

Obviously this is revisionist history but here is my opinion on how it effected this club.

Win that game, we finish top of the ladder and play Geelong at the MCG who we beat twice that year
Pbly a week off and play Port at the MCG in the prelim and Bris in the GF
Pbly a premiership

The extra confidence, glow etc and money pbly sees us go back to back. Pbly get a better trade for Black rather than Fiora.

We stay in Tassie

Make substantially more money over 15 years - no NZ, no Shanghai

We figure how to play at Tassie and in our next push over the 09/10 period, we’re very well suited to the conditions and have every chance to go back to back again.

We pbly have more of a foothold in Tassie as a zone

It’s a stretch but I reckon leaving Tassie was close to the worst decision of all time

100% inspired by Grant Thomas and accepted by a weak board.
Catastrophic decision

A terrible decision to walkout on Tassie. The Saints have a very strong supporter base in Tassie, we needed to stick with expanding the club's support base, instead we caved in. Couldn't do the hard yards. Weak decision. A decision that has come back to bite us, viz., NZ, Shanghai and increasing debt. Thankfully the move back to Moorabbin will help, as long as the Board doesn't get the wind put up it and run away again.

[Scollop]

https://player.whooshkaa.com/player/pla ... ode=917786

GT was on SEN Breakfast with Tim Watson and the Loinchop this morning

Garry Lyon asked Thommo if Bassett asked him to join as a director of the club, would he do it?

Thomas replied that he was not interested in getting involved in that regard. He said he’s happy to be involved in some capacity or to consult but he didn’t want a seat on the board. Once again, just like the piece in the paper, he flatly ruled out joining the club in any official role but is happy to push president Andrew Bassat to open a spot on the board to dental surgeon Larry Benge.

He said there’d been decisions that were questionable and that the leadership in the football department needed an overhaul. As a Saints fan and Saints supporter he didn’t want to see another 9 years of mediocrity and it’s plain to see that we are not a top 4 side or a side that looks capable of challenging the top sides in the next 2 years or so.

He was not in favour of just Finnis going and Lethlean taking over. Both need to go is how I interpret what he was implying, but he said he is meeting with the President to discuss these issues and get an understanding of the structures and leadership and also to provide an opinion.

If you listen to the interview it seems pretty clear to me that he thinks both Lethlean and Finis need to be accountable for the failings of the last several years. He specifically referred to Finnis having been there for 9 years which is a fair amount of time and he believed that change is required.

[shanegrambeau]

It is kinda, a little, chotto, yaknow, a wee bit, obvious that Thommo is flexing his muscles here. It must be frustrating and disappointing for the board. When a former heavy weight says, 'I don't wanna be there, or interfere, I'm just a fan, but.....', you know (bla, bla, bla...) , well, it is a piece of rhetorical iron man knocking on the door. Like 'Iron Hand' (Get Smart) trying to open Easter eggs with his iron fist. There will be a few broken chocolates.

I'm a big fan of what GT did and I don't know about his sacking, but whatever...we didn't recover that spirit entirely..

He is interfering here..and when he says ..'There must be something wrong, I dunno whether its at the coaching level..etc..' it must send a few ripples through the camp, because he made a cutting point. Why the blow outs? Why the on-off thang? We all know that the players look like they are trying. (Personally,. I can't tell when the team isn't trying just by watching - apart from a few individual efforts I saw this year (Hill and Ross) that gave me a hint they aren't exactly running on all cylinders.

Well, it'll probably be a storm in a tea cup, and as the racing season and then cricket take over, be forgotten. But he makes a fair point. Maybe he genuinely doesn't know how sensitive we all are? really? He says we've one by one point..

Ha..makes me love St Kilda more..but boy ..Tommo..you're at it again!