Expectations and all the guff that goes with it.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Expectations and all the guff that goes with it.

Some lovely excuses there. Quite frankly i'm sick of excuses!

Yea same here just still cant sit back and listen to Saint supporters crap on still have to walk away

[Greystache]

Re: Expectations and all the guff that goes with it.

Some lovely excuses there. Quite frankly i'm sick of excuses!

+1

For 50 years we've been hearing excuses why we lose to the top teams.

[Cyberdoggie]

Re: Expectations and all the guff that goes with it.

Fair enough but we didnt lose by much if I remember another 5 mins and we wouldve won by a couple of goals.

I've never said we were better than the Pies but the other two? Yes.

I think by law of averages we should of beaten these sides by now.

Will be interesting to see what happens this year, as we've had quite a change in personel.

[mjp]

Re: Expectations and all the guff that goes with it.

Games against top 4 sides.

NAB Final: I know its Pre Season but after the Saints lost the previous year and they havnt had much success as well you cant say that they took it easy. They wanted it as much as us, but they met our Full Side and we smashed them.

Round 1: Collingwood last year when organised and ready near impossible to defeat, we were always going to have a letdown after winning the NAB Final anyway.

Round 6: Dominate the Saints all game bar 5 minutes of complete stupidity. We lost it ourselves lose by 3.

Round 20: Geelong were lucky to get us then. We cant count this we wouldve lost to Wunghnu Seconds that day we were spent.

NAB Cup doesn't count and losses to the other 3 sides make us the 4th best side.

What you say might be true - they got lucky, whatever - but we lost. To say we were better than Geelong and St Kilda when they beat us and we couldn't beat them is just dumb.

[chef]

Re: Expectations and all the guff that goes with it.

Fair enough but we didnt lose by much if I remember another 5 mins and we wouldve won by a couple of goals.

I've never said we were better than the Pies but the other two? Yes.

No. The results speak for themselves. Unlucky with injury or not we were still only the forth best team last year.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Expectations and all the guff that goes with it.

+1

For 50 years we've been hearing excuses why we lose to the top teams.

Because we go out there calling them the top teams. “We just want to put up a good showing against Geelong, Collingwood, etc”

In our minds, we should be the top team. Our football should be reinforcing that reality until it becomes so.

[the banker]

Re: Expectations and all the guff that goes with it.

Great to talk this talk a month before the season. By and large, we are realistic about what what we have failed to achieve in the past few years while recognising the achievements. I can't help feeling that the Club and its supporters have matured to the point where we have an understanding of how we will do it. Every premiership winner needs their bit of luck with injuries. We have the talent. We have the will. There will be a phase pre finals when everything has to start to take shape. When we achieve a top four place and our list is fit. We will have every chance to win it all. We have the talent and we have the will to go all the way. Our best will be good enough.

[Go_Dogs]

Re: Expectations and all the guff that goes with it.

Great to talk this talk a month before the season. By and large, we are realistic about what what we have failed to achieve in the past few years while recognising the achievements. I can't help feeling that the Club and its supporters have matured to the point where we have an understanding of how we will do it. Every premiership winner needs their bit of luck with injuries. We have the talent. We have the will. There will be a phase pre finals when everything has to start to take shape. When we achieve a top four place and our list is fit. We will have every chance to win it all. We have the talent and we have the will to go all the way. Our best will be good enough.

Great post.

[Sedat]

Re: Expectations and all the guff that goes with it.

There will be a phase pre finals when everything has to start to take shape. When we achieve a top four place and our list is fit.

Sounds like 2009 to me, and we all know what happened in the first half of that QF (against a tired and sore opponent who should have been ripe for the picking).

I cannot question our efforts in week 2 and week 3 of the last 3 finals series, but I want to see our team come out in week 1 and turn it on from the get-go. Geelong, St Kilda, Hawthorn, Collingwood have all done this but we have failed to do so for 3 years in a row.

[Ghost Dog]

Re: Expectations and all the guff that goes with it.

that extra 5-10% is more a tactics issue? We leaked easy goals last season. Watching a collingwood game, felt they were several steps ahead of us but not just in cattle. In their work ethic and game plan. To play them in the final last year, we would have been given a drubbing.
Luck is a factor, but unless we have the speed to get through their zone its going to be hard to pip them in the big dance.
. Do we have the brains in the box to get us there. I think so, but a lot of players are going to have to stand up tall. Minson, Hill, Stack, these kind of blokes who promise a great deal. If they can't give their best game on the day then at least we need the ferocious tackling that has become a must for finals contenders.

[Mantis]

Re: Expectations and all the guff that goes with it.

that extra 5-10% is more a tactics issue? We leaked easy goals last season. Watching a collingwood game, felt they were several steps ahead of us but not just in cattle. In their work ethic and game plan. To play them in the final last year, we would have been given a drubbing.

We played them in a final last year and copped a drubbing so what is your point?

Luck is a factor, but unless we have the speed to get through their zone its going to be hard to pip them in the big dance.
. Do we have the brains in the box to get us there. I think so, but a lot of players are going to have to stand up tall. Minson, Hill, Stack, these kind of blokes who promise a great deal. If they can't give their best game on the day then at least we need the ferocious tackling that has become a must for finals contenders.

If Hill, Minson & Stack played in a final they would be 19th, 20th & 21st picked - these guys while having to play a part don't win you finals.

[Mofra]

Re: Expectations and all the guff that goes with it.

If Hill, Minson & Stack played in a final they would be 19th, 20th & 21st picked - these guys while having to play a part don't win you finals.

If the Saints had anyone useful to pick as the 19th, 20th & 21st players they would be the reigning premiers. Most clubs don't have too much seperating their top 10 players, it's the role players that can seperate teams.

[Desipura]

Re: Expectations and all the guff that goes with it.

We played them in a final last year and copped a drubbing so what is your point?



If Hill, Minson & Stack played in a final they would be 19th, 20th & 21st picked - these guys while having to play a part don't win you finals.

Finally some sense! Roughy needs to take over the number 2 ruck position and provide a valuable option up forward. He is extremely important in our overall set up IMHO.
Playing Minson & Huddo in the same time robs us of some flexibility as they are only one position players.

Slightly off topic, if we can beat the likes of Collingwood and St Kilda this year, I will personally feel more confident about our chances at the business end of the season.

[Mantis]

Re: Expectations and all the guff that goes with it.

If the Saints had anyone useful to pick as the 19th, 20th & 21st players they would be the reigning premiers. Most clubs don't have too much seperating their top 10 players, it's the role players that can seperate teams.

More like players 12-18.

[Ghost Dog]

Re: Expectations and all the guff that goes with it.

We played them in a final last year and copped a drubbing so what is your point?





If Hill, Minson & Stack played in a final they would be 19th, 20th & 21st picked - these guys while having to play a part don't win you finals.

not a final
The final

It would have been like Port V Geelong in 2007

It only takes one player to run, chase and lay a great tackle to inspire a team at a critical moment in a game.

St Kilda, without too many big names but a do or die ethic have shown what it takes to get to the final.
Collingwood got the most out of Brown, even Davis with the same demand / higher expectations of defensive and second efforts. 1 % ers. Dick for example, not a player you would expect to be a defensive machine but made some great chases when fit. Hill could take a leaf out of his book.

You need a lot of things to go right to get to a final. Each play counts.
1st or 21st in the list, it has to be ramped up in this area for us. Feel confident it will with more people pushing for spots