ROO TO HAVE SURGERY!!

[sainter#4]

How anyone thinks losing a player for a heap of the season with no guarantee of him playing again this season is a blessing is beyond me. Obviously we cant do anything about it but there is absolutely no positive in this at all for this season. maybe will help in the future but surely for us it is all about this season.

Losing Riewoldt is definitely a major disaster, but that does not mean that we should break down and cry.

When ever you suffer a disadvantage, you should immediately examine how you can take advantage of the circumstances.
These circumstance allow the club to try other players in the team and to develop structures and alternate game plans.
Game plans that can be used in the finals if Riewoldt, is being swamped as occured in last years Grand Final.
The loss of Riewoldt can still be used to improve the club's chances of winning this year's premiership.

I call it taking advantage of disadvantage.

im not trying to be all doom and gloom.but the only advantage i can see is that players such as cahill,lynch,stanely and possibly even mcevoy have their chance now to get some games and show they are worthy of being in the 22.

but in saying that.we will need to find atleast 4 extra goals to cover for roo's output.which i think has to start buy kosi standing up now and taking that next step into becomming an out and out superstar not just an average-good player.

IF we can infact take 7 from the next 10 without roo (i personally believe roo will be back in a minimum of 8)
then that should give us 10 wins and a spot in the 8 gurranteed hopefully from which we regroup mid season break and push for top 4. which should require us winning half of our remaining games.

[Teflon]

Everyone suggesting we will just beat sides without Riewoldt is dreaming.

A bit pessimistic there.

No doubt it is going to be a lot harder to beat the best sides now. But against many as long as we play our Saints Footy we should be good enough to win.

Against the bests side it will now be a real battle.

Disagree with this logic - its not just the best sides in AFL you have to worry about.....thats dangerous thinking for mine...

Apart from Geelong it wasnt "the best" sides last year that beat us - it was Nth/Essendon.....the point is in AFL the difference between the "best" sides and mid range sides can be minimal - how often do you hear the term "dont turn up in the right mind frame at AFL level and you will get embarrassed..."

Im not saying we cant win games, ofcourse we can as we aint a 1 man team- what I am saying is Nick Riewoldt helps us across the line in many games.....he aint there..... so expect to drop a few cause of this. There will be days where our makeshift fwd line wont work - there wont be the Roo go to man to get out jail.....with 15 marks and 4 goals........so when I read " we will win the next 7 without Roo..." I think we may need to lower expectation a tad...

[plugger66]

How anyone thinks losing a player for a heap of the season with no guarantee of him playing again this season is a blessing is beyond me. Obviously we cant do anything about it but there is absolutely no positive in this at all for this season. maybe will help in the future but surely for us it is all about this season.

Losing Riewoldt is definitely a major disaster, but that does not mean that we should break down and cry.

When ever you suffer a disadvantage, you should immediately examine how you can take advantage of the circumstances.
These circumstance allow the club to try other players in the team and to develop structures and alternate game plans.
Game plans that can be used in the finals if Riewoldt, is being swamped as occured in last years Grand Final.
The loss of Riewoldt can still be used to improve the club's chances of winning this year's premiership.

I call it taking advantage of disadvantage.

im not trying to be all doom and gloom.but the only advantage i can see is that players such as cahill,lynch,stanely and possibly even mcevoy have their chance now to get some games and show they are worthy of being in the 22.

but in saying that.we will need to find atleast 4 extra goals to cover for roo's output.which i think has to start buy kosi standing up now and taking that next step into becomming an out and out superstar not just an average-good player.

IF we can infact take 7 from the next 10 without roo (i personally believe roo will be back in a minimum of 8)
then that should give us 10 wins and a spot in the 8 gurranteed hopefully from which we regroup mid season break and push for top 4. which should require us winning half of our remaining games.

I am certainly not thinking it is a major disaster. Far from it. I still think we will win maybe 7 or 8 out of our next 10. Just pointing out nothing good can come from losing Rooy this year. As i said it maybe good for the future but I couldnt give a stuff about the future when we are this good at the moment.

[maverick]

Everyone suggesting we will just beat sides without Riewoldt is dreaming.

A bit pessimistic there.

No doubt it is going to be a lot harder to beat the best sides now. But against many as long as we play our Saints Footy we should be good enough to win.

Against the bests side it will now be a real battle.

Disagree with this logic - its not just the best sides in AFL you have to worry about.....thats dangerous thinking for mine...

Apart from Geelong it wasnt "the best" sides last year that beat us - it was Nth/Essendon.....the point is in AFL the difference between the "best" sides and mid range sides can be minimal - how often do you hear the term "dont turn up in the right mind frame at AFL level and you will get embarrassed..."

Im not saying we cant win games, ofcourse we can as we aint a 1 man team- what I am saying is Nick Riewoldt helps us across the line in many games.....he aint there..... so expect to drop a few cause of this. There will be days where our makeshift fwd line wont work - there wont be the Roo go to man to get out jail.....with 15 marks and 4 goals........so when I read " we will win the next 7 without Roo..." I think we may need to lower expectation a tad...

+1
Hopefully, it may be the making of a few others on our list, Gwilt showed kicking that goal on Friday night.

[PJ]

I agree but it could never be called a positive.

I think you'll have to wait till much later in the season to be able to call that. Who knows what we will be able to produce - I actually don't care who's the hero or who's kicking the goals as long as he's wearing a saints guernsey.

Who wins a team of champions or a champion team? Old cliche but I think it applies here. Are we a one player team?

I think the St.Kilda FC has a few more players than just NR

[Leo.J]

How anyone thinks losing a player for a heap of the season with no guarantee of him playing again this season is a blessing is beyond me. Obviously we cant do anything about it but there is absolutely no positive in this at all for this season. maybe will help in the future but surely for us it is all about this season.

It depends on how long he's out for, for starters...which no one knows yet.

If he's out for the season, it as bad as it can be, no positive

If he's out for the H&A but back for the finals that is still bad IMO as he'd be pretty unfit, and probably not up to the tempo, no positive

But if he can get back by at least round 15 then he's got plenty of time to get some fitness under his belt, and be finals ready. Possibly in better physical shape than last year, that could be a positive.

I tend to agree with RF regarding our reliance on Roo, and agree that it might give us a great opportunity to find other avenues to goal.

We've only had 1 and a half recent games without him and we won.

Apparently Collingwood are a top 4 side, we beat them with out Rooey for a half and therefore one man down for the last half. There are really only 3-4 sides that will give us trouble imo.

IMO If he can come back in at least 10-12 weeks time, and our structures stand up as I believe they will. We could be a better side for it.

So therefore that is a positive, again imo.

[saintsRrising]

Everyone suggesting we will just beat sides without Riewoldt is dreaming.

A bit pessimistic there.

No doubt it is going to be a lot harder to beat the best sides now. But against many as long as we play our Saints Footy we should be good enough to win.

Against the bests side it will now be a real battle.

Disagree with this logic - its not just the best sides in AFL you have to worry about.....thats dangerous thinking for mine...

...

Where did I say that you do not worry about every team?

What I stated was that if we play Saints Footy that it even without Roo should be good enough to beat most teams.

Our midfield is intact.
Gardi is in useful form.
Our backline apart from Zac is outstanding.
We have some good small forwards.
Our tweaked gameplan is getting more goals from our midfield.

I just do not see us losing to most teams just because we do not have Roo. If we play up to our best we will still win most games.

However as I also stated the best teams will be more of a challenge now.

[ace]

Top 4 probably requires 15 wins and 7 loses for a guarantee, but less may also make it.

That means winning 12 more out of 19.

But a team is still in the finals and the best team can win a premiership from 8th.
12 or 13 wins should guarantee final 8.

That means 9 or 10 more wins out of 19.

Warning to all opposition, count the saints out at your peril.
They will make the 8 and with the return of Riewoldt will be worthy premiership favourites.

[plugger66]

Top 4 probably requires 15 wins and 7 loses for a guarantee, but less may also make it.

That means winning 12 more out of 19.

But a team is still in the finals and the best team can win a premiership from 8th.
12 or 13 wins should guarantee final 8.

That means 9 or 10 more wins out of 19.

Warning to all opposition, count the saints out at your peril.
They will make the 8 and with the return of Riewoldt will be worthy premiership favourites.

Anywhere in the top 4 is fine if Brisbane dont make it. You cannot win the flag outside the top 4.

[maverick]

Top 4 probably requires 15 wins and 7 loses for a guarantee, but less may also make it.

That means winning 12 more out of 19.

But a team is still in the finals and the best team can win a premiership from 8th.
12 or 13 wins should guarantee final 8.

That means 9 or 10 more wins out of 19.

Warning to all opposition, count the saints out at your peril.
They will make the 8 and with the return of Riewoldt will be worthy premiership favourites.

Anywhere in the top 4 is fine if Brisbane dont make it. You cannot win the flag outside the top 4.

Or Freo and maybe Sydney

[plugger66]

Top 4 probably requires 15 wins and 7 loses for a guarantee, but less may also make it.

That means winning 12 more out of 19.

But a team is still in the finals and the best team can win a premiership from 8th.
12 or 13 wins should guarantee final 8.

That means 9 or 10 more wins out of 19.

Warning to all opposition, count the saints out at your peril.
They will make the 8 and with the return of Riewoldt will be worthy premiership favourites.

Anywhere in the top 4 is fine if Brisbane dont make it. You cannot win the flag outside the top 4.

Or Freo and maybe Sydney

Yep sorry they have crept up on me.

[sainter#4]

quote="Teflon"]
I am saying is Nick Riewoldt helps us across the line in many games.....he aint there.....There will be days where our makeshift fwd line wont work - there wont be the Roo go to man to get out jail.....with 15 marks and 4 goals........so when I read "

i think teflon has it spot on.its not so easy just to replace someone as great as nick and expect someone to stand up.nicks presence makes us walk so much taller, and gives our side a sorta of aura which to be fair scares the s*** out of most sides when they come up against us.

[suss]

Top 4 probably requires 15 wins and 7 loses for a guarantee, but less may also make it.

That means winning 12 more out of 19.

But a team is still in the finals and the best team can win a premiership from 8th.
12 or 13 wins should guarantee final 8.

That means 9 or 10 more wins out of 19.

Warning to all opposition, count the saints out at your peril.
They will make the 8 and with the return of Riewoldt will be worthy premiership favourites.

Anywhere in the top 4 is fine if Brisbane dont make it. You cannot win the flag outside the top 4.

Or Freo and maybe Sydney

Yep sorry they have crept up on me.

Can you believe that this week's game is a top of the table clash? That's a worry. In fact, with the Lions playing the Dogs we could be a game clear after four rounds if we manage to get over the Dockers.

I had it pencilled in as a bye a few weeks ago - how things change.

[Gabba]

Will be interesting to see how much more of the ball Kosi gets... there are a lot of marks that go to Roo when they could just as easily be directed to him when they are both deep in the forward line. Obviously he will need to step up a bit and will be a bit useless this week

I am not suggesting that this is a solution or that there even are any but it is a point worth noting.. again.. as it has been mentioned elsewhere.

Hopefully he is back and fit at least a few weeks before the finals... waiting for more definite details is killing me.. as is the thought that such details mightn't exist any time soon.

[markp]

It is neither the end of the world nor a blessing, but it is an opportunity for others to step up... and if we were 'one dimensional' we would have lost on friday.

The best part about this is that Roo should be back well before the finals, which is when we really need him up and firing.

[Teflon]

HEALY just quoted 16 weeks... F*** @@@@@@@

If its 12 weeks we are gonna feel this big time.

Everyone suggesting we will just beat sides without Riewoldt is dreaming.

It brings our fwd line right back to the pack, changes our structure performance in that while we may plonk another big body there their success rate will not be that of Riewoldt....

Still the bigger picture is finals - whatever it take get him right and pray we have enough games to get some run/form into him before the main stuff....cause imo we will not win it without him (you dont just lose the best player in the game and not feel it...)

You are as soft as hot butter!

What contribution did Roo make on Fri night? Pretty much diddly. We still beat an apparent contender pretty comfortbly in the end. Why? Because we have a structure that is ingrained, disciplined hardarse players who never give up, and a top ten or twelve players that are the envy of every club because of their ruthless and unending committment.

So quit the doom and gloom, bud. Smell the roses.

Soft as hot butter? Lookout....here's the "hard anvil of the internet forums"...Frk me some take themselves a tad seriously....

As for Riewoldts contribution Friday night...I wouldve thought that a tough guy like you going on about "structure" would understand that his contribution on such a night was ALL about structure - and not stats?

But you're probably right - we aint gonna miss Riewioldt 1 bit.....cause "were tough"...

[Moccha]

Is it possible that he did actually tear it/partially off the bone and it's just a cover up or just sensationalist journalism?

In a dramatic weekend for St Kilda, the club also announced yesterday that injured captain Nick Riewoldt would have surgery today on his injured right hamstring, which scans on Saturday confirmed was a high-grade muscle tendon injury. The club said it hoped the procedure would allow its skipper to play again ''in the later part of the season".

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/c ... -s0ss.html

[mad saint guy]

I don't mind this at all. Roo will be able to return at least a month before finals to get his body ready. This will also let him rest any knee/groin issues he might be carrying from last year. Kosi will thrive on the responsibility and we'll get to see how Stanley goes in the seniors.

St Kilda is about structure, discipline and playing your part. Individual brilliance is not high on the priorities list so if any team can handle losing a star, it's us.

[Thinline]

HEALY just quoted 16 weeks... F*** @@@@@@@

If its 12 weeks we are gonna feel this big time.

Everyone suggesting we will just beat sides without Riewoldt is dreaming.

It brings our fwd line right back to the pack, changes our structure performance in that while we may plonk another big body there their success rate will not be that of Riewoldt....

Still the bigger picture is finals - whatever it take get him right and pray we have enough games to get some run/form into him before the main stuff....cause imo we will not win it without him (you dont just lose the best player in the game and not feel it...)

You are as soft as hot butter!

What contribution did Roo make on Fri night? Pretty much diddly. We still beat an apparent contender pretty comfortbly in the end. Why? Because we have a structure that is ingrained, disciplined hardarse players who never give up, and a top ten or twelve players that are the envy of every club because of their ruthless and unending committment.

So quit the doom and gloom, bud. Smell the roses.

Soft as hot butter? Lookout....here's the "hard anvil of the internet forums"...Frk me some take themselves a tad seriously....

As for Riewoldts contribution Friday night...I wouldve thought that a tough guy like you going on about "structure" would understand that his contribution on such a night was ALL about structure - and not stats?

But you're probably right - we aint gonna miss Riewioldt 1 bit.....cause "were tough"...

Nice strop, champ.

Any dingbat knows Riewoldt is a gun. Anyone knows his loss sucks.

But explain to me anything useful by snotting up your tissues while you bemoan his absence. ONE useful thing.

My guess is a our players won't be throwing their hands in the air. My guess is Lyon and his coaching staff won't be either. I expect them and our players to be made of sterner stuff. The way our club plays indicates to me that they are.

So whinge all you like. It'll do bugger all.

Get on with it.

I shouldn't even have bothered responding to your sooky la la poonce-fest....

[rodgerfox]

I actually do think it's a blessing.

We'd become predictable and clearly over reliant on one player.

If he were (or is) out for the season or won't be fit come finals time, then this is no blessing!

But if he's fit when the finals come around, we'll be better for it. Mark my words.

'Winning 7 of the next 10' or 'winning the next 7 straight' doesn't mean squat. It didn't last year, and it won't this year.

We just need to win 58% of the remaining matches and we'll be in the top 4 come season's end, we'll have our captain back and fit with any niggles gone, and we'll have an incredible belief in ourselves being able to win without the comp's best player.

Some say we lost the GF last year because Roo got hurt and it was wet.

I mean, come on.

I don't want to leave our fate in the hands of the weather gods and the footy gods and their ruling on whether it will all go in Roo's favour this September.

I'd much rather get 10 weeks to learn to win without him.


So yes folks, a blessing.

[thequarry]

According The Australian, he's been told he's going to miss 12-14 weeks:

"Saints without captain Nick Riewoldt for 14 weeks after hamstring surgery"
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sp ... 5852474376

[St.Rob8]

Will be interesting to see how much more of the ball Kosi gets... there are a lot of marks that go to Roo when they could just as easily be directed to him when they are both deep in the forward line. Obviously he will need to step up a bit and will be a bit useless this week

I am not suggesting that this is a solution or that there even are any but it is a point worth noting.. again.. as it has been mentioned elsewhere.

Hopefully he is back and fit at least a few weeks before the finals... waiting for more definite details is killing me.. as is the thought that such details mightn't exist any time soon.

I think this is really important. On one of the footy shows last week - can't remember which one - they showed how Roo kicks less goals when Kosi plays, simply because some of the supply goes to Kosi and some of the 48 goals Kosi kicked last year would be put down to Roo had Kosi not played. This gives us the chance to turn it on it's head, as most clubs - Crows, Eagles, Swans, Blues, Tigers, Pies, Dons, Melb, Roos would all have Kosi as there No.1 key forward. Very keen to see how we go in this scenario, and hopefully gives Kosi some confidence and an opportunity for another to put their hand up as a 3rd leading forward when Roo is back.

[samoht]

Stanley 94 kg ! .. that means he's put on 5 kg since being recruited.

[rodgerfox]

Will be interesting to see how much more of the ball Kosi gets... there are a lot of marks that go to Roo when they could just as easily be directed to him when they are both deep in the forward line. Obviously he will need to step up a bit and will be a bit useless this week

I am not suggesting that this is a solution or that there even are any but it is a point worth noting.. again.. as it has been mentioned elsewhere.

Hopefully he is back and fit at least a few weeks before the finals... waiting for more definite details is killing me.. as is the thought that such details mightn't exist any time soon.

I think this is really important. On one of the footy shows last week - can't remember which one - they showed how Roo kicks less goals when Kosi plays, simply because some of the supply goes to Kosi and some of the 48 goals Kosi kicked last year would be put down to Roo had Kosi not played. This gives us the chance to turn it on it's head, as most clubs - Crows, Eagles, Swans, Blues, Tigers, Pies, Dons, Melb, Roos would all have Kosi as there No.1 key forward. Very keen to see how we go in this scenario, and hopefully gives Kosi some confidence and an opportunity for another to put their hand up as a 3rd leading forward when Roo is back.

I'd much prefer to see us move away from the 'kick it to the big forward' concept as opposed to hoping Kosi can kick a winning score each week as opposed to Roo doing it.

I really think scoring these days has to be the same as basketball (minus the reliance on one star of course).
You need to be able to hurt the defence from outside the arc, from inside the key and from outside the key.

You need an even spread of these. Your opponent needs to know you can hurt them with 3-pointers. And if they cover that defensively you need to be equally as dangerous using your Centres inside the key.
And if you are getting beaten in both of these, you need to be able to shoot accurately for 2 outside the key.

Defences can't cover all 3 offensive weapons.

Currently, we are very good at scoring 'inside the key' using our key forwards.
However watching Friday night's game and the uber flood that Collingwood put on and how effective it was against our key forwards, makes me think that that will become the standard defence against us.

If we continue with this attacking style, minus a superstar to carry it out, I think we'll get beaten.

If we focus on perfecting other scoring methods in Roo's absence, we'll be lethal when he comes back in.

[Moccha]

Looks like it will be round 18. 4 inch tear to the tendon is a fair whack. Looks like surgery was the only way to repair it. Will they put him on the long term injury list?