We are a middle of the road team...

[fugazi]

We have been very overrated, talked up as top 4 and some having us to top the ladder...we are nowhere near. We are somewhere between 6-12 on the ladder.

I actually thought we were OK yesterday, we lost by 7 goals but thought we played better then our 7 goal win against Carlton. But the difference was enormous between the two sides. Too many passengers and so many players who are just below AFL standard.

Upside:

S.King - excellent, great to have a ruckman at last, some great taps to advantage.

L.Hayes - back to near his best

Goddard - will be in the top 5 again soon.

Roo - apart from finishing, was very good today.

Passengers:
Fiora - too weak, did you see Ling stand up and effortlessly shrug him off his back?

Gehrig - his full back was BOG, his liabilities outweigh his assets.

Dempster - first week back I suppose, but awful.

Maguire - will hopefully improve, but was badly out of it today.

Blake - can be useful but not when there are too many other unskilled players out there too.

Depth:

We have Baker back in a couple of weeks, both Gardiners to come in

Armitage and Birss the next best midfielders and Schneider up forward.

No more soft players:

B: ...L.Fisher..........Max........S.Fisher
HB:..Goddard.......Goose........Gilbert
C: ..Monty...........Hayes...........Gram
HF:...Ball..............Roo..........C.Gardiner
F:...Schneider.......Kosi...........X-man
R:..King, Dal Santo, Baker
I/C: M.Gardiner, Harvey, Armitage, Birss
EMG: Blake, Allen, McEvoy

Fiora, Raph, Dempster to prove their worth in the VFL

Gehrig to drop out unless injuries create room for him at FF.
Last year for Harvs, so we really need game time into Armitage, he should be played as much as possible this year. Same with Gilbert keep [playing him...will be taking over from Max. Allen is the next tall to get a guernsey if it opens up for him.

[Eastern]

The next 2 weeks could determine where we finish this year.

Win both and we are back on track to finish top 6

Win one and we are in the middle of the pack 7-10

Lose both and we are in real trouble !!

[fugazi]

Exactly. And thats about where we deserve to be. We are still being rated on the 2005 names. But we have gone backwards since then in most areas (Ball, Dal Santo, Harvey, Max, Gehrig, Maguire...all worse then their 2005 form)....S.Fisher, Goddard, Monty have improved admittedly, and we now have a ruck division......but improvement from your second stringers is not enough to offset the decline of your first stringers.

[Hawkesbury Saint]

I'm not so sure we are a middle of the road team atm. I think we may need to climb a few spots on the ladder before we can legitinately claim that.

[SaintBot]

The next 2 weeks could determine where we finish this year.

Win both and we are back on track to finish top 6

Win one and we are in the middle of the pack 7-10

Lose both and we are in real trouble !!

very true this friday against essendon is the biggest test of the season yet

So far, as far as predicting goes, only the bulldogs game has been a disappointment - a loss to geelong was to be expected.

We could (and should) win the next three games - essendon dome, port aami and tigers dome

Collingwood at dome should sit in our favour. Followed by Brisbane at the Gabba, win-able but as far as predicting goes this can go down as a loss (one of our expected losses will have to be turned into a win now we have put down the doggies game).

Then we get a % boost with melbourne at td - id be surprised if we lost to bulldogs again in round 11.

From there we have a few tough games (syd scg, haw td, col mcg, wc freo subi) win at least three of those and that's a pass.


Our season is far from over. Bulldogs could very realistically get to 6 - 0 but then they have 6 or 7 tough games in a row.


This season is well and truly alive.

[Behind Play]

I believe it was this time last season Geelong lost their game, Bomber behind closed doors gave them what for.......since then they have lost one game. Can we turn it around, is RL able to turn it around or is this another saints typical season?
I just cannot believe we have got that far behind Geelong.

[cwrcyn]

We are better than a MOR team. Behind Geelong, we sit equal with the next four or five teams.

Unfortunately, we have a gama plan that concerns itself far too much with what the opposition is doing. Our players, who are a talented bunch, have become hesitant and unwilling to take risks.

They do a ridiculous amount of unnecessary defensive running, which means by half time in each game they are physically spent. Our negative style is affcting the performances of players such as Gram and S.Fisher.

As a proactive team, we can play with fluency and we worry our opposition. As a reactive team, which we now are, we fail tp play to our strengths and fail to threaten the big sticks enough to post winning scores.

I see some worrying similarities with the Tim Watson era in where our tactical focus is.

[cwrcyn]

Oh, and we need to replace Fiora with Geary. Geary can do anything Fiora can, and doesn't shirk any contests.

Jason Blake is a man without a position at the moment, and his form hasn't been up to par. He needs to be replaced with someone like Ferguson, who is quicker and better in marking contests.


With Harvey probably out through injury, the time has arrived for Armitage. He's got plenty of mongrel, and we really need some at the moment.

[yltnias]

Thank God cw..... finally a poster that talks more sense than crap!!!

[mad saint guy]

We are better than a MOR team. Behind Geelong, we sit equal with the next four or five teams.

Unfortunately, we have a gama plan that concerns itself far too much with what the opposition is doing. Our players, who are a talented bunch, have become hesitant and unwilling to take risks.

They do a ridiculous amount of unnecessary defensive running, which means by half time in each game they are physically spent. Our negative style is affcting the performances of players such as Gram and S.Fisher.

As a proactive team, we can play with fluency and we worry our opposition. As a reactive team, which we now are, we fail tp play to our strengths and fail to threaten the big sticks enough to post winning scores.

I see some worrying similarities with the Tim Watson era in where our tactical focus is.

Great post. Sums up where we are at the moment and where we could be with a decent game style.

[st_Trav_ofWA]

The next 2 weeks could determine where we finish this year.

Win both and we are back on track to finish top 6

Win one and we are in the middle of the pack 7-10

Lose both and we are in real trouble !!

if we loose the next 2 games we may as well do a carlton and go for broke to get a kid by the name of Rich playing in the WAFL !!

[Buckets]

The next 2 weeks could determine where we finish this year.

Win both and we are back on track to finish top 6

Win one and we are in the middle of the pack 7-10

Lose both and we are in real trouble !!

if we loose the next 2 games we may as well do a carlton and go for broke to get a kid by the name of Rich playing in the WAFL !!

HELL NO!!!!!!! I could not stand by and watch that happen we are above the scum i would never want to sink to their disgusting level!

[matrix]

We are better than a MOR team. Behind Geelong, we sit equal with the next four or five teams.

equal with the hawks?
sorry, but no way are we rated equal with hawthorn.

all we have to do is finish in the 8 for a sniff at GF action.
everyone loses, and GF day can be a funny old day and give everyone a chance.
but at the moment (and come on, its only round 4) we havent a chance at beating the cats or the hawks.
hopefully we start to see a bit of a turn around in the next 2 or so months.

[evertonfc]

We are better than a MOR team. Behind Geelong, we sit equal with the next four or five teams.

Unfortunately, we have a gama plan that concerns itself far too much with what the opposition is doing. Our players, who are a talented bunch, have become hesitant and unwilling to take risks.

They do a ridiculous amount of unnecessary defensive running, which means by half time in each game they are physically spent. Our negative style is affcting the performances of players such as Gram and S.Fisher.

As a proactive team, we can play with fluency and we worry our opposition. As a reactive team, which we now are, we fail tp play to our strengths and fail to threaten the big sticks enough to post winning scores.

I see some worrying similarities with the Tim Watson era in where our tactical focus is.

Great post. Sums up where we are at the moment and where we could be with a decent game style.

Seconded. Individual players are all performing at different levels, but the fact is that collectively, their output is exactly as you have described.

[Eastern]

The next 2 weeks could determine where we finish this year.

Win both and we are back on track to finish top 6

Win one and we are in the middle of the pack 7-10

Lose both and we are in real trouble !!

if we loose the next 2 games we may as well do a carlton and go for broke to get a kid by the name of Rich playing in the WAFL !!

I heard shifter Sheehan say on radio the other day that Rich could go ahead of Natnui in this yrs draft. He must be bl**dy good. I don't like our chances of getting either because we ain't that bad, but have to prove that !!

[st_Trav_ofWA]

The next 2 weeks could determine where we finish this year.

Win both and we are back on track to finish top 6

Win one and we are in the middle of the pack 7-10

Lose both and we are in real trouble !!

if we loose the next 2 games we may as well do a carlton and go for broke to get a kid by the name of Rich playing in the WAFL !!

I heard shifter Sheehan say on radio the other day that Rich could go ahead of Natnui in this yrs draft. He must be bl**dy good. I don't like our chances of getting either because we ain't that bad, but have to prove that !!

in my opinion getting Natnui is a bit like picking up Kosi huge potential and a lot of upside but still that little bit of a querrie on if it can be harnessed consistantly where as Rich would be like picking a ready made player with silky skils and a fair amount of grunt mark my words Natnui may go no.1 but Rich will be the one that will make the instant impact !

[brown-coat]

We are better than a MOR team. Behind Geelong, we sit equal with the next four or five teams.

Unfortunately, we have a gama plan that concerns itself far too much with what the opposition is doing. Our players, who are a talented bunch, have become hesitant and unwilling to take risks.

They do a ridiculous amount of unnecessary defensive running, which means by half time in each game they are physically spent. Our negative style is affcting the performances of players such as Gram and S.Fisher.

As a proactive team, we can play with fluency and we worry our opposition. As a reactive team, which we now are, we fail tp play to our strengths and fail to threaten the big sticks enough to post winning scores.

I see some worrying similarities with the Tim Watson era in where our tactical focus is.

Brilliantly said.

We're a reactive team, it's boring to watch and is founded on fear.