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[SydneySainter]

Not the biggest GT fan - egotistical, boarder-line narcissistic, especially when he’s given a platform.

That being said, while I still think he underachieved with the blended depth of raw and seasoned talent, he was still had a method that the players responded to.

As to how he got the job though, seriously…

[B.M]

04-05
Was GTs fault

09-10
Was the players fault???

What fkn logic is that???

04-05
Role players
Powell, Peckett, Thompson, Voss, Guerra, Knobel/Ackland

Dal, Clarke, Ball, Riewoldt, Kosi, Goddard, Joey, Fisher, Raph, Gwilt, Gram
None of whom were in their prime yet - good players yes
All 60 games or less

[B.M]

04-05
Was GTs fault

09-10
Was the players fault???

What fkn logic is that???

04-05
Role players
Powell, Peckett, Thompson, Voss, Guerra, Knobel/Ackland

Dal, Clarke, Ball, Riewoldt, Kosi, Goddard, Joey, Fisher, Raph, Gwilt, Gram, Maguire
None of whom were in their prime yet - good players yes
All 60 games or less

[meher baba]

It’s a long time since I could be bothered arguing with Teflon about this.

Few If any other coaches have been sacked from a club after making the finals three years in a row. We were very unlucky in 2006: a difficult draw, losing Lenny for the season, missing the top 4 because the AFL took two points away from us. Lyon is a great coach, but GT deserved another year. The reason he didn’t was because of the troubles between him and Butterss, for which both men must take some of the blame

There’s no comparison between the decision in 2006 and the entirely sensible decision to replace Ratten with Lyon in 2022. In 2006 the club took an enormous risk bringing in an unproven coach. Yes we made the GFs in 2009 and 2010, but 2007 and 2008 were possibly our biggest lost opportunities while Lyon was still learning the ropes. We’ll never know now.

[The Fireman]

I was a GT fanboy

[Otiman]

The game changing fan incursion after G Train's 100th killed 04. Nothing else.

[SaintPav]

2004 was the season the AFL made Brisbane play a home final at the MCG.

Brisbane were rooted after that.

[Yorkeys]

Here's a test for who is a genius coach:
You are up 28 points @ 3/4 time in a huge match, got the opposition on their knees: do you,
A. Do nothing
B. Pray
C. Put McGrath on N. Daicos and say hurt him, don't let him get a sniff. To be sure to be sure
D. Watch your side fold and put a positive spin on it at the presser e.g., not unlike Musk's successful rocket explosion.

I think GT would be torn between A and D. Then appoint a new captain.
I think our panel are more likely to go C.

[saynta]

I was a GT fanboy

Me too. Still am.

[SaintWiki]

I was a GT fanboy

Me too. Still am.

GT didn't get us a flag with the group he had and neither did RL, but RL has a much better chance now with a group that was considered second class generally.

[B.M]

Yorkeys

RL had that decision two weeks ago.

He chose A

GT would have started with Baker on him

[CQ SAINT]

Yorkeys

RL had that decision two weeks ago.

He chose A

GT would have started with Baker on him

We were never 28 points up. Daicos never left the backline. Collingwood opened up the a lead in 10 minutes and then played keepings off inthere backline, while we scored 3.6 to 1.0.
Had we won the game, we would still be taking about how good Daicos was, even though his impact wasn't that significant to their score.

[older saint]

GT is perhaps the Hinkley of the previous era. Able to get a team close to the top level but not able to take that final step required as the difference between good and great.
Lacked a plan B, and management of younger players saw many with IP and other ailments.
That said was able to galvanise a group and was a players coach hence why he is still well loved by most he coached.

Ultra successful business man , which unfortunately probably was a downfall with coaching as not used to or want to hear challenging questions. Bit like Malthouse (without flags) still thinks should be coach and loves his own voice.

[asiu]

I was a GT fanboy

Me too. Still am.

i'll hop on that train

[perfectionist]

...
Playing injured players in the prelim …

Dunno about that. What I do know is that Aaron Hamill missed both PFs due to injury. Back then, he WAS our defensive forward line - and had he been available - I am sure we would have won at least the 2004 PF.

[B.M]

CQ

You can down play Daicos vs us all you want - from your pov

Fact is
He doesn’t dominate they don’t win

Ross knows that - which is why he gave him 5 votes

He was clearly best on ground - blind Freddy would know that!!!

[meher baba]

GT is perhaps the Hinkley of the previous era. Able to get a team close to the top level but not able to take that final step required as the difference between good and great.
Lacked a plan B, and management of younger players saw many with IP and other ailments.
That said was able to galvanise a group and was a players coach hence why he is still well loved by most he coached.

Ultra successful business man , which unfortunately probably was a downfall with coaching as not used to or want to hear challenging questions. Bit like Malthouse (without flags) still thinks should be coach and loves his own voice.

That's a whole lot of nonsense. First of all, Lyon is in exactly the same place as GT in terms of proving unable to take a team to a premiership. And I think Lyon is far more disinclined to adopt a plan B than was GT.

Re injuries, try not to absorb Teflon's nonsense about this. As I recall it, the only young player at the club with major chronic injury problems was Ball. I can't see how you or any other keyboard warriors could possibly know whether or not Ball's problems were a result of mismangement or would have happened anyway. A lot of the other injury problems that affected us, particularly in 2006, were hardly GT's fault: Lenny did an ACL, and Kosi got viciously smashed in the head in an incident that would nowadays see the culprit suspended for half a season. Hamill was chronically injured from way back: arguably his kamikaze playing style was unsustainable. There was a succession of hamstring injuries, and I am uncertain as to the extent to which these would have been manageable through alternative strategies. Under Lyon, the main sufferers of hamstring problems were not rehabilitated, but had their contracts terminated. Another factor worth remembering was the terrible surface on which we played at the Docklands Stadium at that time.

Re not listening to other voices: this is nothing like what I have heard about GT, nor the criticisms made of him at the time. He was often represented as knowing relatively little about coaching, and being over-dependent on the expertise of others.

In the end, his career exploded because of the breakdown of his personal relationship with Butterss: a problem for which both me were responsible. And the club had also gotten sick of his continual brawling with Demetriou and the AFL, even though he was pretty much bang on in all of his criticisms. And I think he didn't get on very well with Archie Fraser, in which respect I don't believe he was Robinson Crusoe.

[older saint]

GT is perhaps the Hinkley of the previous era. Able to get a team close to the top level but not able to take that final step required as the difference between good and great.
Lacked a plan B, and management of younger players saw many with IP and other ailments.
That said was able to galvanise a group and was a players coach hence why he is still well loved by most he coached.

Ultra successful business man , which unfortunately probably was a downfall with coaching as not used to or want to hear challenging questions. Bit like Malthouse (without flags) still thinks should be coach and loves his own voice.

That's a whole lot of nonsense. First of all, Lyon is in exactly the same place as GT in terms of proving unable to take a team to a premiership. And I think Lyon is far more disinclined to adopt a plan B than was GT.

Re injuries, try not to absorb Teflon's nonsense about this. As I recall it, the only young player at the club with major chronic injury problems was Ball. I can't see how you or any other keyboard warriors could possibly know whether or not Ball's problems were a result of mismangement or would have happened anyway. A lot of the other injury problems that affected us, particularly in 2006, were hardly GT's fault: Lenny did an ACL, and Kosi got viciously smashed in the head in an incident that would nowadays see the culprit suspended for half a season. Hamill was chronically injured from way back: arguably his kamikaze playing style was unsustainable. There was a succession of hamstring injuries, and I am uncertain as to the extent to which these would have been manageable through alternative strategies. Under Lyon, the main sufferers of hamstring problems were not rehabilitated, but had their contracts terminated. Another factor worth remembering was the terrible surface on which we played at the Docklands Stadium at that time.

Re not listening to other voices: this is nothing like what I have heard about GT, nor the criticisms made of him at the time. He was often represented as knowing relatively little about coaching, and being over-dependent on the expertise of others.

In the end, his career exploded because of the breakdown of his personal relationship with Butterss: a problem for which both me were responsible. And the club had also gotten sick of his continual brawling with Demetriou and the AFL, even though he was pretty much bang on in all of his criticisms. And I think he didn't get on very well with Archie Fraser, in which respect I don't believe he was Robinson Crusoe.

Agree to disagree
Lyon has 3 GF appearances ( and a replay), GT had nil. We kick better 2009, and notto mention a bounce he could be duel premiership coach - yes i know if my Aunt had balls....
Maguire was another who suffered OP and while none of us will know the cause,we have seen rest and reduced workloads has significantly reduced the occurrence and affect of this.
Keyboard warrior - hardly - this is forum where opinions are expressed some based on additional knowledge some not so much, no abuse or personal attack here i can read so take a deep breath.
Partly agree re Butters situation however GT also set himself up for failure with his ego in he wanted to control all parts of the footy dept (coaching, contracts etc ), they said ok 2006 you can do this but it sits with you - he failed and the side had a major fail in finlas playing unfit players. Anyone would have failed with too much to manage- and this gave Butters the out to remove him.
Like anyone there are fans, despises and those in between . IMO he had strengths and took the club as far as he could but that wasn't far enough.

[meher baba]

Thanks older saint. You make a few good points.

We’ll never know if GT might have taken the list to a premiership in say 2007, but I can’t help wondering about it.

[meher baba]

Thanks older saint. You make a few good points.

We’ll never know if GT might have taken the list to a premiership in say 2007, but I can’t help wondering about it.

[shanegrambeau]

23 posts, 8 from Teflon.

It seems he doesn't like GT. Threads like this are like krill for a hungry whale, such in eveything and blow what you don't want out.

Great metaphor.

Indeed.

Not saying I’d want to hear GT every week, but…
I was thrilled they got GT on and I like listening to him
Wish he was asked other things too,

1)how was footy changing in general 2005-2020
2) as an outsider now, does he think our game plan will change as the year wears on and are other teams already copying/setting up to bypass it? (Suspect our 2020 situation was like that)
3) why no Ruckman in his last game selected - tho that’s a lil bug bear I’ve had
4) why he thinks Cordy is being picked..
etc etc …the list goes on

Well done Saints TV

[samoht]

Injuries at the wrong time (finals) to key players stopped us getting there "under GT."
But we were thereabouts, and came darn close.

Anyway. we shouldn't be adding salt to the injuries ... it's our team and its fortunes we're talking about.
Nothing said now (to win arguments that can't be won) will change anything.

[B.M]

Always makes perfect sense GT

And says it as it is - not an apologist

The thing that made me sick was the Jack Riewoldt comments?!

Probably cost us a flag

[samuraisaint]

He made some good points I thought.

Jordan and Max did an awesome job interviewing GT for mine.

They asked very good questions and then they actually let him speak and didn't interrupt him, allowing him to answer questions with detailed responses.

They were also very good listeners and if GT made an interesting point, they brought him back to that point and the discussion turned into a deep dive into his time at St Kilda, and his thoughts on football and life.

When he was asked about which player from today's team he would most like to have had, he responded by asking if he could have two, and said Rowan Marshall and Callum Wilkie and gave detailed reasons as to why. And very good reasons they were too.

[saynta]

Great interview and well worth watching. Injuries and just plain luck ruined his chances for greater glory . I for one, was sorry, no devastated, to see him sacked. He is a no bulls*** person and deserves the respect of all Sainters as a former player and coach. Wont happen though because haters will hate. Although to me they are completely irrelevant.

I could never understand why we passed on Jack and like BM I feel that that decision cost us big time.