It's that time and I need someone to tell me all will be ok.

[degruch]

I don't think it has to be that black or white.

It definitely wasn't limp wristed in terms of effort.

In terms of execution, it was pathetic.


So although we're trying and having a crack, for 2 weeks in a row we've looked like a bottom 4 side in many areas.

And the scoreboard has reflected this.

If we're not in a slump now, we're deadset rooted if we do go into one at some stage this year.

OK, I'll take your word for it RF. I still don't believe (a) we'll lose, or (b) the sky will fall in if we do.

[maverick]

I don't think it has to be that black or white.

It definitely wasn't limp wristed in terms of effort.

In terms of execution, it was pathetic.


So although we're trying and having a crack, for 2 weeks in a row we've looked like a bottom 4 side in many areas.

And the scoreboard has reflected this.

If we're not in a slump now, we're deadset rooted if we do go into one at some stage this year.

I agree with RF it would feel like a slump, but it just wouldn't be.
I just don't think RF has seen many of this year's bottom sides go round

If we lose any of the games against the real bottom 4 sides, like we have in the next few weeks, then it really is a slump.

Before the Port game, I thought if we win 2 of the next 3 then top 2 is on track, tonight's the third game.

They are due to beat us tonight, it's going to be tough.
They should have beaten us last year, but couldn't, they will be primed.

[st_Trav_ofWA]

so let me ask you this .....
say we win by a kick in a slogfest where it is again a low scoring high possesion game would you say we are in a slump at equal top on the ladder ??

well if that the case i would much rather this slump then the hawthorn version

[degruch]

so let me ask you this .....
say we win by a kick in a slogfest where it is again a low scoring high possesion game would you say we are in a slump at equal top on the ladder ??

well if that the case i would much rather this slump then the hawthorn version

But Hawthorn's slump will bottom out soon, when they reach 16th...we've got so much more to lose by slumping at the top of the ladder (well, almost). There's a lot more to these slumps than meets the eye, isn't there!?!

[markp]

Saints will bring their 'A' game tonight, and win by 5+ goals... Lock it.

[MC Gusto]

yeah i am a bit nervous but have a feeling we will bring our last quarter agains the dogs rather than the 1st 3. you could see the gameplan really clicked - even without roo so i hope that is the way we start out tonight.

[Quixote]

Saints will bring their 'A' game tonight, and win by 5+ goals... Lock it.

Agreed.

[Quixote]

If we lost, would it matter? We're 5-1, round 7.

Think of those at the match should we lose...

Top right behind the rock, looks like Stevie Baker. He looks sad.

[rodgerfox]

so let me ask you this .....
say we win by a kick in a slogfest where it is again a low scoring high possesion game would you say we are in a slump at equal top on the ladder ??

well if that the case i would much rather this slump then the hawthorn version

It depends.

Which why I'm being 'grey' about it, and not completely 'black or white'.

I understand that most on here just cannot grasp that concept.


We were very average against Port. Poor skills, clumsy and messy going forward, couldn't score and had plenty of players go missing completely.

Against the Dogs, we were gutsy no doubt. Had a real crack at them and didn't give up.
However, our skills were shiithouse. We were clumsy going forward, couldn't score and really only put in about 30 minutes of good footy.

But, we won. Or as most out there believe - the Bulldogs lost.

Regardless of the result though, we did not play good footy. Nor did the Dogs. Which is probably the most worrying aspect of that game.


We could have, some would argue should have, lost the last 2 games. That has to be a concern as both games weren't against world beaters.

If tonight's game is close, it's irrelevant to us being in a 'slump' or not. It's about how we play.

The past fortnight, we've played really poorly. If we do again tonight and win it can become a positive - to be in a slump and win 2 from 3 suggests that when we hit form we'll be pretty hard to beat!

But if we play poorly and lose, then you need to start asking questions....


Was last year an aberration? Is this is as good as we are?

Have we been 'worked out' by the opposition?

Are we in a slump? And if so, can we get out of it?

Do we now officially rely too heavily on Roo?


Now of course there could be plenty of other positive questions asked aswell....

Are we timing our run better this year?

Are we practising new tweaks to the game plan?

etc. etc.

And these may be the case, but as a logical supporter surely you can accept that playing poorly for 3 straight weeks and losing 2 of those games isn't convincing?

[rodgerfox]

so let me ask you this .....
say we win by a kick in a slogfest where it is again a low scoring high possesion game would you say we are in a slump at equal top on the ladder ??

Sorry st_Trav, but it's not as black or white as looking at the ladder after 7 rounds.

[na exa]

we'll smash em.

they're the pretenders , we are the real deal.

not a worry in sight. 28-)4 school.

[bigcarl]

Do we now officially rely too heavily on Roo?

against port and the bulldogs we reverted to a lot of numbers behind the ball, which indicates we probably aren't fully confident of kicking a winning score without him.

i know you lose a lot around the ground, but we can play more to our "usual" structure if bj takes on riewoldt's role in his absence.

i know he's not riewoldt and they have different attributes and strengths, but he is a gun player nevertheless.

personally i'd put bj at ff and give him some space and move kosi out to chf.

[bob__71]

so let me ask you this .....
say we win by a kick in a slogfest where it is again a low scoring high possesion game would you say we are in a slump at equal top on the ladder ??

Sorry st_Trav, but it's not as black or white as looking at the ladder after 7 rounds.

I agree with Trav I think it is that simple. I think your more complex answer Rodger is making footy out to be a more complex game than it really is.

In fact I would go so far as to say, I think it is a great sign having a skilled side not clicking but still winning.

And the Bulldogs were considered world beaters not long ago.

Also, I think we will flog the blues by close to 100 points tonight.

[markp]

Do we now officially rely too heavily on Roo?

against port and the bulldogs we reverted to a lot of numbers behind the ball, which indicates we probably aren't fully confident of kicking a winning score without him.

i know you lose a lot around the ground, but we can play more to our "usual" structure if bj takes on riewoldt's role in his absence.

i know he's not riewoldt and they have different attributes and strengths, but he is a gun player nevertheless.

personally i'd put bj at ff and give him some space and move kosi out to chf.

Yup, I really think the problem has been no Roo and no Gram, not just no Roo... hopefully, tonight we shall see.

[fingers]

Saints will bring their 'A' game tonight, and win by 5+ goals... Lock it.

Agreed.

Thank you. I am choosing to ignore all other posts in this thread. These two speak the truth as far as I am concerned.

GO SAINTS!

[rodgerfox]

so let me ask you this .....
say we win by a kick in a slogfest where it is again a low scoring high possesion game would you say we are in a slump at equal top on the ladder ??

Sorry st_Trav, but it's not as black or white as looking at the ladder after 7 rounds.

I agree with Trav I think it is that simple. I think your more complex answer Rodger is making footy out to be a more complex game than it really is.

In fact I would go so far as to say, I think it is a great sign having a skilled side not clicking but still winning.

And the Bulldogs were considered world beaters not long ago.

Also, I think we will flog the blues by close to 100 points tonight.

Seriously??

So the fact that we may be equal top after 7 rounds means there is no need to improve or assess what we're doing right or wrong?

But simply looking at the ladder tells us we're equal best. Full stop?


Surely you don't believe that.


And...who the hell is going to kick the goals to give us a 100 victory??

[na exa]

Also, I think we will flog the blues by close to 100 points tonight.

thats a smashing !



10 goals and above it is then .

nothing to worry about about op'er.

[bob__71]

At this point in the year being equal top is all that matters...form/skill to go with the guts and determination well if we dont improve that by the end of the year it might be time to worry. not at week 7 and equal top of the ladder.

And its only Carlton....one or two players will show up we only need 20 goals to beat Carlton by 100pts.

[markp]

Saints will bring their 'A' game tonight, and win by 5+ goals... Lock it.

Agreed.

Thank you. I am choosing to ignore all other posts in this thread. These two speak the truth as far as I am concerned.

GO SAINTS!

[st_Trav_ofWA]

so let me ask you this .....
say we win by a kick in a slogfest where it is again a low scoring high possesion game would you say we are in a slump at equal top on the ladder ??

Sorry st_Trav, but it's not as black or white as looking at the ladder after 7 rounds.

I agree with Trav I think it is that simple. I think your more complex answer Rodger is making footy out to be a more complex game than it really is.

In fact I would go so far as to say, I think it is a great sign having a skilled side not clicking but still winning.

And the Bulldogs were considered world beaters not long ago.

Also, I think we will flog the blues by close to 100 points tonight.

Seriously??

So the fact that we may be equal top after 7 rounds means there is no need to improve or assess what we're doing right or wrong?

But simply looking at the ladder tells us we're equal best. Full stop?


Surely you don't believe that.


And...who the hell is going to kick the goals to give us a 100 victory??

never said that we dont need to improve .. thats a given that we need to improve but so does every team in the comp need to improve but you cant say because we struggled in the wet in adelaide without our captain and our leading rebound player and then because we played an unattractive game that we still managed to win against a team that was widely touted as a dead set cert for a g/f this year that we are in a slump ...
we are not playing our best footy but hey wheres the point in playing the perfect game at this time of the year ???

[saintbrat]

I am always nervous till the first bounce or the first bounce back- rebound-- a mark taken in defence and into Joey or BJ's hands and we're off - I then know they are 'on'

But now can't eat during a match

[rodgerfox]

so let me ask you this .....
say we win by a kick in a slogfest where it is again a low scoring high possesion game would you say we are in a slump at equal top on the ladder ??

Sorry st_Trav, but it's not as black or white as looking at the ladder after 7 rounds.

I agree with Trav I think it is that simple. I think your more complex answer Rodger is making footy out to be a more complex game than it really is.

In fact I would go so far as to say, I think it is a great sign having a skilled side not clicking but still winning.

And the Bulldogs were considered world beaters not long ago.

Also, I think we will flog the blues by close to 100 points tonight.

Seriously??

So the fact that we may be equal top after 7 rounds means there is no need to improve or assess what we're doing right or wrong?

But simply looking at the ladder tells us we're equal best. Full stop?


Surely you don't believe that.


And...who the hell is going to kick the goals to give us a 100 victory??

never said that we dont need to improve .. thats a given that we need to improve but so does every team in the comp need to improve but you cant say because we struggled in the wet in adelaide without our captain and our leading rebound player and then because we played an unattractive game that we still managed to win against a team that was widely touted as a dead set cert for a g/f this year that we are in a slump ...
we are not playing our best footy but hey wheres the point in playing the perfect game at this time of the year ???

We're not playing our best footy. We're not even close to playing our best footy. If that form continues for 3 weeks, then I think it's very fair and reasonable to say we're in a slump.

Or more to the point, I hope it's a slump - and not a true indication of what we're capable of this year.

As for your last question/statement, I think I answered that in a previous post.

Having said that, if we win well tonight then things look great really.

[bob__71]

so let me ask you this .....
say we win by a kick in a slogfest where it is again a low scoring high possesion game would you say we are in a slump at equal top on the ladder ??

Sorry st_Trav, but it's not as black or white as looking at the ladder after 7 rounds.

I agree with Trav I think it is that simple. I think your more complex answer Rodger is making footy out to be a more complex game than it really is.

In fact I would go so far as to say, I think it is a great sign having a skilled side not clicking but still winning.

And the Bulldogs were considered world beaters not long ago.

Also, I think we will flog the blues by close to 100 points tonight.

Seriously??

So the fact that we may be equal top after 7 rounds means there is no need to improve or assess what we're doing right or wrong?

But simply looking at the ladder tells us we're equal best. Full stop?


Surely you don't believe that.


And...who the hell is going to kick the goals to give us a 100 victory??

never said that we dont need to improve .. thats a given that we need to improve but so does every team in the comp need to improve but you cant say because we struggled in the wet in adelaide without our captain and our leading rebound player and then because we played an unattractive game that we still managed to win against a team that was widely touted as a dead set cert for a g/f this year that we are in a slump ...
we are not playing our best footy but hey wheres the point in playing the perfect game at this time of the year ???

We're not playing our best footy. We're not even close to playing our best footy. If that form continues for 3 weeks, then I think it's very fair and reasonable to say we're in a slump.

Or more to the point, I hope it's a slump - and not a true indication of what we're capable of this year.

As for your last question/statement, I think I answered that in a previous post.

Having said that, if we win well tonight then things look great really.

I fail to see how beating a rabble like Carlton could make any difference to the outlook for the year. I mean they really should be playing in the VFL.

[na exa]

i see rodgerfox

[aussiejones]

I hope Gram is fully fit .

We need Goddard in the forward 50 some of the night.

Long break should help. Although Carlton are rabble , they have some quick players who will need attention all night.

I would be happy with 2-3 goal win and no injuries.