Shafted but also not

[SAINT-LEE]

In 2023:

We had equal Saturday arvo & late Sunday games with Kangaroos...that hurts broadcast money, ticket sales revenue and club gear sales!

But...we ended up with the 3rd easiest fixture in the AFL. So hard to complain...and a bit sad we couldnt have grabbed a top 4 spot with such a rare 'easy' schedule.

Any other cool stats anyone knows about our 2023 campaign?

[Mr Magic]

I believe we spent all 24 weeks inside the Top 8

[SaintPav]

We finished exactly where we deserved to finish.

The Hawthorn and Port losses hurt but that that would have only got us to fifth, which I suppose would be better as it doesn’t involve travel in the second week of the finals. Who knows.

[Yorkeys]

A characteristic of the season was the dismissive media scorn. The collective expectation is/was we were not final 8 worthy and would fall down the ladder, Ross' second coming would be a fizzer and ridicule was just around the corner. First round flogging of their darling Fremantle was immediately discounted.
Media still have not caught up. They must be surprised we finished 6th, have 3 in the AA squad, a strong contender for rising star and how NWM, Mitch and Windy go about their excellent work in a low key undemonstrative fashion. How can a team with a dysfunctional forward line and a maligned mid field make the eight. Well genius analysts, how so?
I think the media have sought to shaft us but have been kept beyond arms reach by performances.
When they tire, next season, of lauding the usual suspects, pillorying WC's Simpson, marvelling at Hardwick's laconic confidence and devil may care treachery in various forms, trying to get Hinckley sacked and rationalising Geelong's fall to earth, some bright sparks will notice NWM, Windy, Mitch, Max and Co. are rather good and rather young, interesting, exciting and maybe there are clicks in not rudely dismissing the Saints.

[Killa]

Media

The uneducated telling their fellow uneducated what they do not know

Under the “leadership” of Murdoch, Stokes and Costello with their agendas

So dinosaurs of a past age now in the final throes of terminal decline

[saynta]

We finished exactly where we deserved to finish.

The Hawthorn and Port losses hurt but that that would have only got us to fifth, which I suppose would be better as it doesn’t involve travel in the second week of the finals. Who knows.

Yeah, they did, but we finished exactly were I said we would.

[SaintPav]

Media

The uneducated telling their fellow uneducated what they do not know

Under the “leadership” of Murdoch, Stokes and Costello with their agendas

So dinosaurs of a past age now in the final throes of terminal decline

Sorry to break it to you but all forms of traditional media are in terminal decline and have been for a while. They censor anything worth reporting and they are usually wrong and late to the party on everything.

The thing with the ABC or the Australian is that they are always late to the truth. When something doesn’t matter any more or everyone has already said it and if you’re paying attention, then they may finally give you the truth…AFTER THE FACT

Most people aren’t buying their divisive bulls*** anymore.

[The Fireman]

The media……the game of football

Two seperate entities

Enjoy watching and getting involved with the passion of our great game
Or
Involve yourself with the media circus at your own peril .. the older I get the less I invest in the media

I’m enjoying my footy a lot more

[SaintPav]

The only way to deal with it is to disconnect but hard to do unless you live under a rock.

[Trev from the Bush]

The media……the game of football

Two seperate entities

Enjoy watching and getting involved with the passion of our great game
Or
Involve yourself with the media circus at your own peril .. the older I get the less I invest in the media

I’m enjoying my footy a lot more

I have to agree. I reckon after all these years my eyes tell me all I need to know about how we are performing, I no longer read match reports in newspapers as they tend to reflect only what coaches spurt at after-match press conferences rather than the journo watching and analysing the game themselves. Then, there are TV and radio "expert" commentators who tend to love the sound of their own voice, see a player do one wrong thing and brand them as no good. Perhaps a few of them post on this forum? Just kidding. If you've played enough footy you tend to be a bit more forgiving, if you've watched enough then you can undertake a SWOT analysis of the team without taking notice of the media.

[Crossy66]

According to an article in the Roar, if all teams played each other just the once ( as they should for fairness), we would have finished 5th. Carlton would have been 9th.

[Beno88]

Any other cool stats anyone knows about our 2023 campaign?

We only lost one game by 40+ points, our best effort since 2009.

We won four games where we trailed at 3/4 time. Our most ever. Equal with 1975 & 1934.

We won 47 quarters, our most since 2012.

We averaged 71.6 points against per game, our best effort since 2009 (excluding 2020 due to shortened matches).

[Sanctorum]

It has never bothered me that footy commentators dismiss the prospects of St Kilda because I'm more than happy for our team to be perennial underdogs and for the club to fly under the radar and let tbe players prove them wrong.

A lot of the negativism about St Kilda this year stems from the belief that the list is not rated as strong enough to contend for finals, and most supporters, myself included, agreed with that assessment.

Despite that, in our 'Sainst Mates' Sportsbet account we decided at the end of March to put $20 on St Kilda making the eight (at $2.25) which paid $45.00!

[thejiggingsaint]

The media……the game of football

Two seperate entities

Enjoy watching and getting involved with the passion of our great game
Or
Involve yourself with the media circus at your own peril .. the older I get the less I invest in the media

I’m enjoying my footy a lot more

SPOT ON! Frieman! I NEVER read the sports pages, listen to sports radio (SEN in particular) or watch the telly (other than live games) I prefer to simply "Go to the footy"

[Beno88]

The media……the game of football

Two seperate entities

Enjoy watching and getting involved with the passion of our great game
Or
Involve yourself with the media circus at your own peril .. the older I get the less I invest in the media

I’m enjoying my footy a lot more

SPOT ON! Frieman! I NEVER read the sports pages, listen to sports radio (SEN in particular) or watch the telly (other than live games) I prefer to simply "Go to the footy"

Likewise. I don't even listen to the commentary during live matches on TV.

[SaintPav]

The media……the game of football

Two seperate entities

Enjoy watching and getting involved with the passion of our great game
Or
Involve yourself with the media circus at your own peril .. the older I get the less I invest in the media

I’m enjoying my footy a lot more

SPOT ON! Frieman! I NEVER read the sports pages, listen to sports radio (SEN in particular) or watch the telly (other than live games) I prefer to simply "Go to the footy"

Talk back call in rant days over?

[thejiggingsaint]

The media……the game of football

Two seperate entities

Enjoy watching and getting involved with the passion of our great game
Or
Involve yourself with the media circus at your own peril .. the older I get the less I invest in the media

I’m enjoying my footy a lot more

SPOT ON! Frieman! I NEVER read the sports pages, listen to sports radio (SEN in particular) or watch the telly (other than live games) I prefer to simply "Go to the footy"

Talk back call in rant days over?

Gee, You're gonna be a L-O-N-G time waiting for one of THEM, Colleague

[saynta]

Media

The uneducated telling their fellow uneducated what they do not know

Under the “leadership” of Murdoch, Stokes and Costello with their agendas

So dinosaurs of a past age now in the final throes of terminal decline

Love it.

[R. Harvey 3 votes!]

Media

The uneducated telling their fellow uneducated what they do not know

Under the “leadership” of Murdoch, Stokes and Costello with their agendas

So dinosaurs of a past age now in the final throes of terminal decline

Can we keep politics out of these threads?

[Vortex]

Media

The uneducated telling their fellow uneducated what they do not know

Under the “leadership” of Murdoch, Stokes and Costello with their agendas

So dinosaurs of a past age now in the final throes of terminal decline

Can we keep politics out of these threads?

Exaxrly...the topic is about shafting, can never get enough of that topic.

[SaintPav]

Any other cool stats anyone knows about our 2023 campaign?

We only lost one game by 40+ points, our best effort since 2009.

We won four games where we trailed at 3/4 time. Our most ever. Equal with 1975 & 1934.

We won 47 quarters, our most since 2012.

We averaged 71.6 points against per game, our best effort since 2009 (excluding 2020 due to shortened matches).

Controlling for 2020, 2023 defensive effort probably the second best record for the club ever.

Quite an achievement.