Why cant people accept that we had too many passengers?

[stevos2151]

I understand people getting upset when certain playerse are made as scapegoats but it was the same old story yesterday.

Raph Clarke getting tackled from behind in the first minute having absolutely no awareness. The first minute for christ sake.

Steven Milne once again failing in a final.

Dawson kicking into Hawkins. Is their a player called Max Hughton.

Players bombing the ball to Roo when he is 3 on 1.

Roo and Kosi leading to the same spot. Do they have homing beacons on each other?

What were the positives?

Luke Ball showing why he should never be dropped again.

Lenny Hayes.

Clinton Jones

Lenny Hayes

Goddard

Lenny Hayes

[Thomas]

Add a decent performance from Gram

[SuperSaint]

Good post. Kosi needed to play smarter but too often he is a clumsy footballer. He and Milne, at this stage of their careers and age, were the most disappointing for me. They needed to stand up yesterday and were ineffective and for the other two finals as well.

[BringBackMadDog]

I understand people getting upset when certain playerse are made as scapegoats but it was the same old story yesterday.

Raph Clarke getting tackled from behind in the first minute having absolutely no awareness. The first minute for christ sake.

Steven Milne once again failing in a final.

Dawson kicking into Hawkins. Is their a player called Max Hughton.

Players bombing the ball to Roo when he is 3 on 1.

Roo and Kosi leading to the same spot. Do they have homing beacons on each other?

What were the positives?

Luke Ball showing why he should never be dropped again.

Lenny Hayes.

Clinton Jones

Lenny Hayes

Goddard

Lenny Hayes

How about you just f*@k off??? The boys were heroes, all of them, they sacrificed everything all day and came up short.
If you spent 20 seconds on the field, you would have pissed your pants and then jumped the fence.

My respect and admiration for all of them grew 100% after the game.
Sure I'm gutted by the loss, but I will not point fingers at any one.

[fugazi]

I can't accept anything at the moment!

[SuperSaint]

How about you just f*@k off??? The boys were heroes, all of them, they sacrificed everything all day and came up short.
If you spent 20 seconds on the field, you would have pissed your pants and then jumped the fence.

My respect and admiration for all of them grew 100% after the game.
Sure I'm gutted by the loss, but I will not point fingers at any one.

Mate, there is no denying supporters respect and admiration but when a team blows an opportunity like yesterday's, to move forward brutal assessments and analysis needs to be made. This competition has the most uneven Home and Away compettition and it requires a bit of luk also to get to that lat Saturday in September. There were some notable failures yesterday and the warning signs with a certain few players were on show in the previous two Finals and after yesterday's failure they can no longer be overlooked. So, no need to turn your post into a personal attack on it with stevos2151.

[bigcarl]

when a team blows an opportunity like yesterday's, to move forward brutal assessments and analysis needs to be made.

agree, and i'm sure ross and the brains trust will make those assessments.

it takes expert judgement though because you don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

[SuperSaint]

when a team blows an opportunity like yesterday's, to move forward brutal assessments and analysis needs to be made.

agree, and i'm sure ross and the brains trust will make those assessments.

it takes expert judgement though because you don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

True. I'm confident in Ross having what it takes to make the tough decisions because if we are fortunate to get there again we cannot afford to have so many inside 50's and not make them count. We need a tough, uncomprimising forward to help Roo out and the 3 finals proved we don't have one.

[Bardon Saint]

I understand people getting upset when certain playerse are made as scapegoats but it was the same old story yesterday.

Raph Clarke getting tackled from behind in the first minute having absolutely no awareness. The first minute for christ sake.

Steven Milne once again failing in a final.

Dawson kicking into Hawkins. Is their a player called Max Hughton.

Players bombing the ball to Roo when he is 3 on 1.

Roo and Kosi leading to the same spot. Do they have homing beacons on each other?

What were the positives?

Luke Ball showing why he should never be dropped again.

Lenny Hayes.

Clinton Jones

Lenny Hayes

Goddard

Lenny Hayes

Surprised you didn't mention Schneiders open goal, Milne running into an open goal and McQ (i think) doing the same. They were under f*** all pressure. At least Raph and Dawson were put under pressure when they conceded goals.

[Dal_Santos_Gal]

I can't believe this thread, if we hadn't missed those easy shots at goal we would have been premiers this morning..

Its not a witch hunt at the moment, the emotion is still very raw, people really need to think before they post at the moment.

Them boys gave it everything yesterday, how about some respect.

[SaintDebi]

brutal assessments and analysis needs to be made.

Maybe so, but the club hires and pays people to do that.
My job as a supporter is to SUPPORT. And I will do that with my very last breath. I know that not one of the players out there WANTED to lose.

I know we are all entitled to air our opinions, and I'm not knocking yours. I'm just sharing mine.

[desertsaint]

I can't believe this thread, if we hadn't missed those easy shots at goal we would have been premiers this morning..

Its not a witch hunt at the moment, the emotion is still very raw, people really need to think before they post at the moment.

Them boys gave it everything yesterday, how about some respect.

exactly - proud, gutted but proud!

[SydneySainter]

While Dawson wasn't great in defence, he wasn't to blame either. Chips and Gilbo weren't that much but that game wasn't lost in our defence.

I knew that it would be inevitable for some suggesting Max would have been a better option had we lost, but knowing the way Max plays and seeing him make the same errors under pressure himself this season, I don't think he would have made much difference. At least Dawson backed himself to take a mark in defence on at least two occasions, something Max almost never does and also something Chips and Gilbo certainly didn't back themselves to do.

But, we move on!

[bigred]

Not many passengers.

Hardly even one.

But we had several completely wilt under pressure in front of goal.

That is what cost us the game. That and nothing else.

[SuperSaint]

Not many passengers.

Hardly even one.

But we had several completely wilt under pressure in front of goal.

That is what cost us the game. That and nothing else.

That's right and that's why the Saints hierarchy will be looking to improve on this and find other reliable avenues to goal. Too much was left to Riewoldt in the first two Finals and when his output was diminished in the GF, too few stood up to convert from our superior number of inside 50's.

SaintDebi, I respect your opinion too and we all need to continue to SUPPORT as you put it but in order to move forward, after watching all 3 Finals performances, we need to improve on our current forward set up to deliver next time we are in the Finals. A midsized powerful forward who can break tackles and who doesn't struggle from distances of 45m or more is needed to help Roo. Milne and Schneider are not enough and that has become clearer after this Finals Series.

[Gabba]

I still think Luke Ball was being saved for the finals.

Frankly, if we had kicked straight this post would not exist.

[vacuous space]

Raph Clarke getting tackled from behind in the first minute having absolutely no awareness.

Am I the only one who blames Sam Fisher for that one? IMO, he should have been dragging his tagger away from the player with the ball, not hanging around like a seagull looking for a cheap touch. Once Fisher brought Rooke to the ball, Clarke couldn't play on. Without eyes in the back of his head, (or Sam Fisher talking,) he wouldn't have known that.

[SydneySainter]

Raph Clarke getting tackled from behind in the first minute having absolutely no awareness.

Am I the only one who blames Sam Fisher for that one? IMO, he should have been dragging his tagger away from the player with the ball, not hanging around like a seagull looking for a cheap touch. Once Fisher brought Rooke to the ball, Clarke couldn't play on. Without eyes in the back of his head, (or Sam Fisher talking,) he wouldn't have known that.

Exactly my thoughts yesterday. Fisher did not do the ball carrier any favours!

[BakesFan]

Am I the only one who blames Sam Fisher for that one? IMO, he should have been dragging his tagger away from the player with the ball, not hanging around like a seagull looking for a cheap touch. Once Fisher brought Rooke to the ball, Clarke couldn't play on. Without eyes in the back of his head, (or Sam Fisher talking,) he wouldn't have known that.

I agree!! Sam dragged Rooke into perfect position to lay that tackle.. it wasn't all Raph's fault.... Not having a go at Fisher either...it's just one of the many things the went wrong yesterday.
The boys will learn and inprove.

[saintsRrising]

118 tackles

Doing enough to win accept for accuracy on goal..


..all against one of the best teams in the history of the game suggests to me that we did not in fact have that many passengers.


I think forumites should not underate the pressure on the day or the quality of the opposition.

Our gameplan only works through TEAM application and dedication.

Now sure like any game some players are up or down...and some are better than others.

But to suggest that we had many passengers is simply wrong. Very wrong.


Going into the game our edge was our key forwards...the Cats edge their deeper midfield. The very wet weather was more of disadvantage to us that than the ctas...yet despite all of this our players dominated for most of the game.

We had some poor decisions, and some poor execution...but passengers no.

[wallbanger]

The correct balance in my opinion is somewhere between the two ideas on this topic.

Yes, I'm sure there isn't a St Kilda supporter in the land who isn't proud of the guys yesterday, their application, commitment and effort was brilliant - it would be fair to say they did everything right execpt get over the line.

But that is the fact - they didn't get over the line, and that is why people are frustrated and looking for answers. Not to lynch anyone, but to try and get things right for next year and beyond.

In the end the equation was simple - bad kicking is bad football. But that doesn't mean we just bury our heads in the sand and hope that things might bet better next year - we've been waiting too bloody long and chances like yesterday don't grow on trees.

[terry smith rules]

118 tackles

Doing enough to win accept for accuracy on goal..


..all against one of the best teams in the history of the game suggests to me that we did not in fact have that many passengers.


I think forumites should not underate the pressure on the day or the quality of the opposition.

Our gameplan only works through TEAM application and dedication.

Now sure like any game some players are up or down...and some are better than others.

But to suggest that we had many passengers is simply wrong. Very wrong.


Going into the game our edge was our key forwards...the Cats edge their deeper midfield. The very wet weather was more of disadvantage to us that than the ctas...yet despite all of this our players dominated for most of the game.

We had some poor decisions, and some poor execution...but passengers no.

+1

[Enrico_Misso]

And if we want to make sure that the next time we get a chance we take it, then we need to learn from this.

Milne has proven once again that he is a non performer in finals games.
Not judging him just on yesterday, but on every final since 2004.
Kept losing his footing, bad decisions, and bad kicking.
His job is to be a nimble, smart, sure-footed goal sneak.
Chappy on one leg did what Milne couldn't do.
At his age he is not going to improve.
We need to make plans for a forward structure without him.

[vacuous space]

118 tackles

The combined totals were 302 contested possessions and 214 tackles. The latter would have to be a record, at the very least for a grand final. The former is a huge total too.

It was an epic, no doubt. Cats fans should be much more proud of that one than the 07 won. For us, it hurts so much more because...

Doing enough to win accept for accuracy on goal..

I just hope our forwards aren't haunted by that performance. I'd back Schneider and Mini in front of goal, and they both missed easy shots. Kosi's kicking fell off a cliff late in the season. That might have been Milne's worst performance ever - he barely got anything right.

I stand by our forward group. I was stunned by their performance. They had an unbelievably bad day. They're much better than what we saw yesterday.

[saintdavies]

I know i'll get flamed for this but to be honest i think it was a coaching decision that made us fall short. Me and a few other supporters noticed that for the whole 4th quater everyone was behind the ball flooding, trying to save the game for an ENITRE quater. We were too negative in the 4th trying to be too defensive when we needed to attack and gain a bigger lead and THEN save it in the last few minutes.

Hopefully they learn from this though, and improved for next years grand final