2021

[The Fireman]

Ok be fair dinkum...

Has anyone been looking forward to a season as much as this one in the last 10 years ?


and our list is still not stamped.

sorry to waste a thread on this but I'm stoked and looking forward to even a better year of quality football.

...

[bangaulegend]

Looking forward to 2021 but expectation has always been a downer for me , get my hopes up & reality brings me back to earth pretty quick but yeah I'm up beat

[skeptic]

To be honest... it is quite exciting

It turns out that we did in fact have the talent and we can in fact attract players from rival clubs.

We had a good result this year and have looked to improve our list.

Place has a very positive energy about it

Been some bad management that has perhaps loaded us up with a few cloggers... we seem to be bipod good something pretty special touch wood

[The Fireman]

Looking forward to 2021 but expectation has always been a downer for me , get my hopes up & reality brings me back to earth pretty quick but yeah I'm up beat

been around too long to harbour false expectations ..hell I used to think we would do well each season in the 80's .. the naivety was replaced with glass half empty mindset. My Glass is now realistically half full.
Nup.. this is something else.. the club is being run in an aggressive and clever manner .. Skeptic touched on bad management and loading up with list cloggers...the club is now ruthless with it's culling.
We now have some young superstars who can only improve and seasoned top grade players who want to wear our guernsey.

so yep...happy days.

[bangaulegend]

Looking forward to 2021 but expectation has always been a downer for me , get my hopes up & reality brings me back to earth pretty quick but yeah I'm up beat

been around too long to harbour false expectations ..hell I used to think we would do well each season in the 80's .. the naivety was replaced with glass half empty mindset. My Glass is now realistically half full.
Nup.. this is something else.. the club is being run in an aggressive and clever manner .. Skeptic touched on bad management and loading up with list cloggers...the club is now ruthless with it's culling.
We now have some young superstars who can only improve and seasoned top grade players who want to wear our guernsey.

so yep...happy days.

Yeah mate starting to become a destination club which is great , that's why the Caldwell situation amazes me . I know his family are Saint supporters & we were offering similar deals but he chose those drug f-----g cheating a---holes over us . I just don't get it . Oh well if we can snag Higgins it will make up for it . Go Sainters

[remboy]

I was looking forward to 2020 but really can’t wait for 2021. Year of the Saint.

[SaintPelican66]

Ok be fair dinkum...

Has anyone been looking forward to a season as much as this one in the last 10 years ?


and our list is still not stamped.

sorry to waste a thread on this but I'm stoked and looking forward to even a better year of quality football.

...

2021 feels exactly like 2005 preseason did. So it has been 15 years. Time flies. Back then I remember feeling we are a legit chance of winning a premiership. I feel the same way about 2021.

[Ghost Like]

Very true Firey. 2021 is exciting for a number of reasons. No less a simple build on 2020. I want to see Crouch & Higgins fit in and add to our mix.
I want to marvel at the ruck work of Ryder and how he works in tandem with Marshall.
I want to watch Bytel, Clavarino, King develop and announce themselves.
I look forward to Clark, Coffield & Paton take further steps to All Australians.
I look forward to watching our young defence lock down, support each other and attack whether that is through the middle or through the wings using Hill, Jones, Battle and Billings.
I have enormous faith in Ratten & Roughead building belief, standards and expectation within the club.
My fingers are crossed for the 20's to be the most successful era in St Kilda's history.

[desertsaint]

My fingers are crossed for the 20's to be the most successful era in St Kilda's history.

setting a pretty low bar there ghost

[Ghost Like]

My fingers are crossed for the 20's to be the most successful era in St Kilda's history.

setting a pretty low bar there ghost

Sadly desert, our club set that bar

[asiu]

[asiu]

chins right up display

we could make 7 win 5 in the next 9

[yipper]

playing at Etihad - our fortress.

We have loaded up with skilfull and fast players - with King and Marshall lurking up in the forward line - could be super exciting.

[Yorkeys]

made hard work of getting into the finals. Sloppy last quarter against Dogs when we had them on their knees. Lost games that good sides don't. No established CHF or CHB. We have issues. Its promising after such a bleak period but I can't get quite so excited.

[saintbob]

Bring it on!!!

[SaintPav]

made hard work of getting into the finals. Sloppy last quarter against Dogs when we had them on their knees. Lost games that good sides don't. No established CHF or CHB. We have issues. Its promising after such a bleak period but I can't get quite so excited.

Yes, far from perfect but where we came from though...

Context.

[skeptic]

made hard work of getting into the finals. Sloppy last quarter against Dogs when we had them on their knees. Lost games that good sides don't. No established CHF or CHB. We have issues. Its promising after such a bleak period but I can't get quite so excited.

Yep. We’re where many good teams before us have been only to fall away and implode in a disastrous manner

The single greatest challenge in AFL IMO is correctly assessing the value of players... both already on the list and those your bringing in.

Overall... the status of our list has quite a lot to like and even more to be concerned about

We had a good year but we’re found wanting for depth. Especially when it mattered

We have no viable ruck back up or a particularly promising developing one
We had no one to cover Carlisle when he wasn’t around... and as good as Howard is, he’s not good enough to do it alone yet.
Our mids are ok but have lacked elite grunt, polish and menace
We didn’t solve the small forwards conundrum
And... there are a lot of players on the total list that need to be turned over... guys that have never been sustained top22 and pbly won’t ever be... or alternatively, those that have talent but don’t give the bang for the buck

It’s exciting because we have a really decent top 25... maybe even 28 with our additions but it falls away very quickly after that

It’s okay to top up a bit or recruit to need but we desperately need to upgrade on our depth, continue bringing in good kids and make sure we retain the right depth players

[fugazi]

Can't wait for 2021

[SinCitySainter]

I am cautiously optimistic about 2021.
I think we are still a couple of players short from really challenging the top 4.
It is a pity that we just don't have the cash for Treloar because he could have been one of them.
A true end to end running machine, who runs both ways and wins at lot of the ball.
Sure he butchers it a bit but when you have a midfield with pace and clearance grunt it doesn't matter so much as you back your mids to win it back.

The other player we need is an extra key defender.
Maybe Clavarino could be that player but we have no idea if he can even cut it at AFL level yet.

The good news though is that Crouch allows us to rotate Gresh and Billings through the forwards more a major improvement on Kent, Hind or Parker.
If we can also bring in Higgins then our rotations means we only carry one specialist small forward in Butler.

This not only improves the personnel we have available but also makes us harder to match up on as we have a number of players who have a bit of flexibility.

[Sanctorum]

Very true Firey. 2021 is exciting for a number of reasons. No less a simple build on 2020. I want to see Crouch & Higgins fit in and add to our mix.
I want to marvel at the ruck work of Ryder and how he works in tandem with Marshall.
I want to watch Bytel, Clavarino, King develop and announce themselves.
I look forward to Clark, Coffield & Paton take further steps to All Australians.
I look forward to watching our young defence lock down, support each other and attack whether that is through the middle or through the wings using Hill, Jones, Battle and Billings.
I have enormous faith in Ratten & Roughead building belief, standards and expectation within the club.
My fingers are crossed for the 20's to be the most successful era in St Kilda's history.

Well said "Phantom", couldn't agree more, especially about the influence of Ratten & Roughead which will be a massive factor to achieve greater success in 2021.

The other players that I believe will step up even further are Dougal Howard, Jake Carlisle and Callum Wilkie in defence, not to mention the cut through work of Jade Gresham, Dan Butler and Jack Higgins.

[spert]

made hard work of getting into the finals. Sloppy last quarter against Dogs when we had them on their knees. Lost games that good sides don't. No established CHF or CHB. We have issues. Its promising after such a bleak period but I can't get quite so excited.

Yeah need to strengthen the spine before we can go further into the finals in 2021.

[ace]

made hard work of getting into the finals. Sloppy last quarter against Dogs when we had them on their knees. Lost games that good sides don't. No established CHF or CHB. We have issues. Its promising after such a bleak period but I can't get quite so excited.

Yep. We’re where many good teams before us have been only to fall away and implode in a disastrous manner

The single greatest challenge in AFL IMO is correctly assessing the value of players... both already on the list and those your bringing in.

Overall... the status of our list has quite a lot to like and even more to be concerned about

We had a good year but we’re found wanting for depth. Especially when it mattered

We have no viable ruck back up or a particularly promising developing one
We had no one to cover Carlisle when he wasn’t around... and as good as Howard is, he’s not good enough to do it alone yet.
Our mids are ok but have lacked elite grunt, polish and menace
We didn’t solve the small forwards conundrum
And... there are a lot of players on the total list that need to be turned over... guys that have never been sustained top22 and pbly won’t ever be... or alternatively, those that have talent but don’t give the bang for the buck

It’s exciting because we have a really decent top 25... maybe even 28 with our additions but it falls away very quickly after that

It’s okay to top up a bit or recruit to need but we desperately need to upgrade on our depth, continue bringing in good kids and make sure we retain the right depth players

Depth is no longer possible.
I want game time but someone was ahead of me.
Agent find me a club where I will get game time on at least the same pay.
Make the trade.

Trades are so easy to make happen.

[cwrcyn]

Let's not forget that Josh Battle can hold down a key position. So we have Carlisle, Howard, Battle, and King, with Marshall spending half his time in the forward line. That's not a terrible situation to be in, don't you think? If I was sure
Clavarino could develop well enough to replace Carlisle, I'd be happier, though.

Most clubs don't have sufficient depth in the key positions.

[cwrcyn]

What if Port Adelaide had been without Dixon this year? The key position situation at all clubs is fragile

[The Fireman]

made hard work of getting into the finals. Sloppy last quarter against Dogs when we had them on their knees. Lost games that good sides don't. No established CHF or CHB. We have issues. Its promising after such a bleak period but I can't get quite so excited.

ok let's take into account that the team that played this year were playing under a new coach , new players.. once they learn to Gel these problems will disappear.
Also take into account that our young champions are just that..young..hard to believe but they are odds on to improve and lets not mention the influx of new talent for 2021.

I simply can't share your pessimism.