We are better

[Desipura]

Collingwood is one of the most evenly talented teams going around (similar to Geelong were).
St Kilda nearly pipped them on the weekend with the likes of Hayes & Goddard leading the way.

Riewoldt was good but far from their best on the weekend. They are not a one man team, if they were, they would not be playing off in a grand final.
The days you rely on one champion player to get you a flag are non existent

[Bulldog Revolution]

The huge difference between us and the saints is the consistency of what they do

We threw everything at them in the 2009 prelim final, in our best and most agressive performance of the year, and couldn't quite get the job done.

They consistently play at a much higher level which we can muster only a couple of times a year.

[LostDoggy]

This something i have questioned about our group over the last few years, it's an area we seem to fall down at.

In the big games we seem to lack the mental toughness, to really get the job done.

How do we fix it?

The biggest thing for me, is that we can fix it. Nobody can make Hahn run faster. Nobody can make Josh Hill a tough, tackling type of footballer. That's just not who they are, it's not their strengths or what they contribute to the team. You can't really do much about the ability of a player, outside of teaching and coaching them as best you can and hoping they pick it up and get better, but at this level, they either have it or they don't.

What we can fix, is the stuff between the ears. And this must be done by the coach, and to the coach by the board. I've said a few times in other threads, any organisation change must be driven from the top, not the bottom.

Part of that is weeding out the hackers from the slackers. You look at each member of the team, write down their strengths — are they the strengths we need? Write down their weaknesses — are those weaknesses a liability we can live with? Honestly assess each member of the team and make the hard calls, and make every decision about results. Players' attitude will follow suit.

But a coaching panel and board who play favourites and look at players with skewed perspectives cannot achieve this.

I remember how shocked the football world was when St Kilda sacked Grant Thomas after making the finals. Who's laughing now?

P.S. I'm not necessarily suggesting a change of coach, just hoping that all avenues are looked at, and they don't just address the easy questions.

[azabob]

But a coaching panel and board who play favourites and look at players with skewed perspectives cannot achieve this.

I remember how shocked the football world was when St Kilda sacked Grant Thomas after making the finals. Who's laughing now?

P.S. I'm not necessarily suggesting a change of coach, just hoping that all avenues are looked at, and they don't just address the easy questions.

This was a huge call by the St.Kilda board and good on them for making the hard call, and they stood by their man even when the year after they missed the finals.

[Greystache]

This was a huge call by the St.Kilda board and good on them for making the hard call, and they stood by their man even when the year after they missed the finals.

It certainly seems to have been the right call, but you would have to think a factor in the decision making process was personal issues between coach and president unrelated to the teams performance.

[alwaysadog]

It certainly seems to have been the right call, but you would have to think a factor in the decision making process was personal issues between coach and president unrelated to the teams performance.

Or in the end did they both point in the same direction?

[alwaysadog]

St.Kilda's mindset, committment and spirit is better than ours.

How this comes about... and how can we achieve it seem to me to be the questions we need to address.

[Greystache]

Or in the end did they both point in the same direction?

Given one fired the other it's more likely they were pointing in exactly the opposite directions.

[alwaysadog]

Given one fired the other it's more likely they were pointing in exactly the opposite directions.

The point I was making was didn't they both point to the need for the coach to be dispensed with.

[LostDoggy]

End of 09 season we just needed to improve mainly in finishing off games. (Big example was our rnd. 22 game with collingwood). But we went backwards in that area and so many others. I.e. Tackling, basic kicking, etc.

[Mofra]

The biggest thing for me, is that we can fix it. Nobody can make Hahn run faster. Nobody can make Josh Hill a tough, tackling type of footballer.

His average no of tackles at AFL level this year puts him 6th on our list. More of an indictment of other players than support for Josh.