2007 St.Kilda Report Card... C+

[SaintWodonga]

http://www.afl.com.au/Default.aspx?tabi ... wsId=52303

Final ladder position: 9

Best and fairest and other award winners:
Winner – Nick Riewoldt
Runner-up – Sam Fisher
Third – Leigh Montagna
Fourth – Nick Dal Santo
Fifth – Lenny Hayes

Leading goalkicker: Fraser Gehrig (59)

Leading possession getter: Leigh Montagna (502)

Season in a nutshell
The Saints’ drop out of the eight was a shock for the faithful, but in reality an unsurprising result. A pile-up of injuries from recent seasons finally took its toll in 2007.

Defining moment
A fourth consecutive loss in round 11 saw the Saints slide to 14th on the ladder. With just four wins on the board, finals from there were always going to be difficult to achieve.

What went right
Halting the club’s run of injuries in the second half of the season was a major positive which augurs well for 2008. On the playing front, Leigh Montagna stepped up, placing third in the club's best-and-fairest award, and Sam Gilbert continued to develop. Nick Riewoldt, who was extremely unlucky not to be rewarded with All-Australian selection, capped off another outstanding season with his fourth Trevor Barker Award. Champion Robert Harvey, the game's oldest player, agreed to play on in 2008 – a great result for a club that has lost some experienced stock.

What went wrong
Four wins in 11 rounds was not the start new coach Ross Lyon had hoped for. Injuries remained an issue when it mattered. In round eight’s 28-point loss to Hawthorn, St Kilda had 15 players unavailable. In fact, from rounds six to nine inclusive, the side had 10 or more players either injured or suspended. Hope springs from the Saints’ second-half fightback to ninth spot, but the departures of Fraser Gehrig, Aaron Hamill, Andrew Thompson, Brett Voss and Matthew Clarke make for a significant dip in experience at the club. Gehrig in particular is a massive loss.

The coach(es)
Things soon got tough for first-year senior coach Lyon, with an opening-round win over Melbourne followed by a 52-point shellacking against the Brisbane Lions. Lyon’s game plan came under question as his side slid down the ladder, although in reality the club’s biggest problem was its injury crisis. He also copped some criticism for his public demeanour in media conferences. In the second half of the year, the Saints rebounded and Lyon began to show what he could do. He’ll enter 2008 with renewed optimism.

Most valuable player
Co-captain Nick Riewoldt missed out on All-Australian selection despite a superb season after missing the opening two rounds with a back/hamstring problem. He was easily the Saints’ best, impressing with his ability to both continually run himself into the ground and present as a key marking target across half-forward. He kicked 42 goals and took 194 marks. Riewoldt’s leadership is proving increasingly invaluable, as indicated by a new three-year contract.

Coach's award
St Kilda's No.1 run-with player, Steven Baker, wins the nod for his efforts on the competition's elite midfielders. A strong case could be made for another underrated Saint, Jason Blake, who finished a notch above Baker in the club's best-and-fairest award.

Needs a big pre-season
Barry Brooks. The boy from King Island has been an emerging prospect since he was drafted by Port Adelaide in the 2001 NAB AFL Draft, but since making his AFL debut in 2003 has managed just 10 matches, despite being granted time for his development. He has shown some promising signs – such as his round 22 performance against the Brisbane Lions in 2006 – but in his sixth AFL-listed season, Brooks and the club will be hoping he can take his game to the next level.

Next big thing
David Armitage. The Queensland midfielder tasted three AFL matches in his first listed season in 2007, after being claimed at No.9 in last year's NAB AFL Draft. A ball-magnet, Armitage will still be honing his craft in 2008, but he arguably looms as the club's best young prospect.

Trading places
Like several clubs, St Kilda needs to address its needs in all three areas – defence, midfield and attack. With Max Hudghton almost at the end of his career, a key backman will be a target. The Saints need midfield pace and a key forward to replace the retired Gehrig. Another ruckman will be on the cards, with Clarke also retired.

Grade: C+

[borderbarry]

Good post SaintWodonga.

[st_Trav_ofWA]

i thought they went fairly easy on us there almost made the season sound not so bad

[riccardo]

Thats very generous to be honest.

[evertonfc]

Very kind.

[st_Trav_ofWA]

but then again that just plays into the acceptance of mediocrisy that surrounds St kilda

most of us fans no longer accept close enuff is good enuff anymore but the AFL see it as "oh well they didnt get the spoon so it must have been an ok year for them "

[evertonfc]

Spot on St Trav. I'd love to know how most supporters felt like when we lost against West Coast...

I was frightened at how many people were queueing up to laud the loss as honorable.

...depsite the fact our finals hopes were on the line that night, and we squibbed when we had the chance in the last quarter.

Half of the supporter base seem content with 'near enough is good enough' and the other half believe premierships are the only thing good enough.

I hate the 'oh well' mentality.

[fonz_#15]

Good post SaintWodonga.

i think you will find saintwodonga has just copied and pasted the article if you click the link

[st_Trav_ofWA]

Spot on St Trav. I'd love to know how most supporters felt like when we lost against West Coast...

I was frightened at how many people were queueing up to laud the loss as honorable.

...depsite the fact our finals hopes were on the line that night, and we squibbed when we had the chance in the last quarter.

Half of the supporter base seem content with 'near enough is good enough' and the other half believe premierships are the only thing good enough.

I hate the 'oh well' mentality.

i think with the westcoast loss i was one of the manny who were not too upset by that loss as it was purely a top four team beating a bottom 8 club its to be expected i was mainly glad we kept at them and didnt fall to peices and lose by 50pts but by that stage we were not in the hunt for the flag anyway
this year was unacceptable and it was a big dissapointment and i dont think im alone in thinking that

[Shades]

we got a F

[claystreet]

The team lost its momentum with a coach sacking
then you have a new coach trying to teach an old dog new tricks
then you have injuries
bad recruiting decisions over at least 4 yrs result in running out of quality stock
hiring hacks, how many including hammel (say what you like he played less than a season in a lifetime) has the club bought on board in the last 5 seasons

i could go on and on and on

that report card is flattering at best



p.s we have lots of huge positives if the club can get its ass in gear

[stinger]

we got a F

f minus in my view......

[CURLY]

Showd remarkable heart to keep going after a horrendus injury run. So easily could of and should of finished last if it wasnt for our depth and coaching staff. Great effort all things consisdered and never through in the towell gives us a great platform for 2008. A-

[rogerwa]

go along with an f

the season was ...&%$#@*

[BAM! (shhhh)]

Thought that was a pretty accurate assessment of how the Saints season went. Not sure how some take it as accepting mediocrity to assess the season as having been blown in the first half... I read the article as being an outsiders perspective that it's tough to have much of a read on St. Kilda based on '07, one of the dissapointments of the year (and there were quite a few of those who propped teams into the finals who were clearly not at the level when all was said and done), and really hard to say how they'll go in '08 other than to say that the better run of injuries in the 2nd half bodes better...

[midas_touch]

Agree with the assesment, although our 7-3-1 record in the second half of the year did flatter us as we faded out in a number of games. We failed to get into top gear all season, and weren't helped by the horrendous injury run in the first half of the year. With the players getting more used to executing the game plan and better luck with injuries, we should be able to put in a better performance next year even though the loss of Gehrig will be felt.

[fonz_#15]

Showd remarkable heart to keep going after a horrendus injury run. So easily could of and should of finished last if it wasnt for our depth and coaching staff. Great effort all things consisdered and never through in the towell gives us a great platform for 2008. A-

i'll take that as a joke in order to contain my laughter

[OneEyedSainter77]

Very easy on us - I would give us at least a D... not an F because I was't expecting us to DEFINITELY make finals. But we certaibnly performed badly when we had our chances. Injuries plagued us for four rounds this year - that's all. Compared to 04/05/06 when it was ongoing (actually 2004 was more suspensions and we STILL had the depth to cover them all) that is deplorable.

I expect us to finish 9th-12th next year, but won't be surprised if we make the bottom four and grab a 27th spoon. Lost a lot of experience and anyone who honestly thinks finals are in the equation are looking through rose-coloured glasses.

Feel free to bump this in a year and prove me wrong or whatever, but so far we look very far off the pace.

[st_Trav_ofWA]

Showd remarkable heart to keep going after a horrendus injury run. So easily could of and should of finished last if it wasnt for our depth and coaching staff. Great effort all things consisdered and never through in the towell gives us a great platform for 2008. A-

geeewiz i hope you are taking the piss

[n1ck]

I expect us to finish 9th-12th next year

Very harsh. I expect 1st-6th at the very least.

[Oh When the Saints]

11-1-10.

That's our report card.


The scoreboard never lies.

[OneEyedSainter77]

I expect us to finish 9th-12th next year

Very harsh. I expect 1st-6th at the very least.

yes wel I'm basing this on the fact that we've lost a lot of experience and I think we will just miss the finals next year. Honestly, if we finish in the bottom of the top eight I'll say we had a very good year, 9th or 10th is an Ok year, 11th or 12th is poor year and anything below that is unfofgivable because we are not THAT bad.

Also, I'm not setting the bar low so I can be excused for accepting mediocrity. (looks at Everton) I'm not setting a bar at all - my honest opinion is we need to improve a lot on this year and with gaping holes all over thr ground I don't think we can achieve finals if we couldn't do it this year.

If the changes I mentioned when our season officially ended occur (fitness, goalkicking/accuracy and depth) then we are capable of achieving more.

What I want and think we are capable of is a different thing. We are capable of finsihing top six I believe - but need a lot of luck and variables to go our way. I want to win the premiership obviously. that will never change. but I've taken the rose-coloured glasses off for a change.

[CURLY]

Showd remarkable heart to keep going after a horrendus injury run. So easily could of and should of finished last if it wasnt for our depth and coaching staff. Great effort all things consisdered and never through in the towell gives us a great platform for 2008. A-

i'll take that as a joke in order to contain my laughter

Fonz your showing your lack of football knowledge again. If you honestly beleive we should of performed any better with the injuries throughout the year. The fact we were competitive was a magnificent effort.

[plugger66]

Showd remarkable heart to keep going after a horrendus injury run. So easily could of and should of finished last if it wasnt for our depth and coaching staff. Great effort all things consisdered and never through in the towell gives us a great platform for 2008. A-

i'll take that as a joke in order to contain my laughter

Fonz your showing your lack of football knowledge again. If you honestly beleive we should of performed any better with the injuries throughout the year. The fact we were competitive was a magnificent effort.

Agree with Fonz, you cannot be serious. Had as many if not more injuries last season and I thought that wasnt a great effort. keep coming up with excuses that is the St.Kilda way. We just werent good enough. D at best as it is a failure to miss the finals with our list.

[CURLY]

I take it youve never been involved ion a football club then. Not excuses there called reasons.