Discussion Thoughts at the Bye

[SaintsSeptember]

We really only have 2 mids in reserve and one has 2 games and one played 24. Jones is reserve too but looks cooked. We are also hoping our 17 game veteran can take one of this spots with no drop off.

You can't play what you don't draft. There has been a list management failure over a long period that leaves us vulnerable to injury to a couple of players which inevitably happens every year.

You forget, the mighty McKenzie.

 

[Murraj1966]

Bye week's got me stir crazy enough that I ended up playing fantasy video games

 

[George]

Bye week's got me stir crazy enough that I ended up playing fantasy video games

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Gonna fire it up now for a couple games.

 

[Cairnsman]

Bye week's got me stir crazy enough that I ended up playing fantasy video games

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These bloody fantasy video games should be banned, they are ruining our younger generation, it gives them a false sense of reality and forces our young to have delusional dreams about finals series they'll never be a part of. And then we wonder why our young supporters wonder into shopping malls with automatic weapons to raid a Rebel store and steal all of the Collingwood merch.

 

[MrFoster]

100% we have steadfastly refused to build a strong midfield for as long as I can remember. It's just not something we do and it's quite baffling.

I think it’s also due to past coaches over estimating existing playing group including mids (Armitage, Jack Steven) and a lot of wishful thinking that Billings, Dunstan, Acres Mckenzie, Clark, Caufield will eventually become elite mids.

At the end of the day, basically due to the fact we didn’t have the elite football department with coaches and recruiters who holds high standards. Everyone was just going through the motions and hope for success rather than practice it.

 

[gringo2011]

You forget, the mighty McKenzie.

He's a wingman more than a pure mid.

 

[DougalHoward]

Bye week's got me stir crazy enough that I ended up playing fantasy video games

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How is AFL 23?

Last game I played was AFL live 2 which wasn't great, enjoyed the first one.

 

[Murraj1966]

How is AFL 23?

Last game I played was AFL live 2 which wasn't great, enjoyed the first one.

At the moment it’s really good. The AI is a little easy at times but the ball movement is so slick and it feels satisfying.

Very much looking forward to ultimate team when it releases

 

[Dard Ball Get]

Bye week's got me stir crazy enough that I ended up playing fantasy video games

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[George]

At the moment it’s really good. The AI is a little easy at times but the ball movement is so slick and it feels satisfying.

Very much looking forward to ultimate team when it releases

I find that on the harder difficulties the ball just pings around and it doesn't replicate real footy so playing on an easier difficulty you've got more time/space and can put together some nice stuff.

 

[Dard Ball Get]

I find that on the harder difficulties the ball just pings around and it doesn't replicate real footy so playing on an easier difficulty you've got more time/space and can put together some nice stuff.

Funny way of saying you can’t hack the big leagues, pee wee

 

[Mowman]

I find that on the harder difficulties the ball just pings around and it doesn't replicate real footy so playing on an easier difficulty you've got more time/space and can put together some nice stuff.

 

[gringo2011]

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All our favourites like Chimp-Face, Baby, 1940s guy with a mullet, Pedo-Hannerbury, and Rowan Longer.

 

[Mowman]

Funny way of saying you can’t hack the big leagues, pee wee

Poor old pee wee

 

[George]

Funny way of saying you can’t hack the big leagues, pee wee

Well if it isn't Beavis & Butthead. Can't catch a break with you two campaigners sniffing around like starved rats

 

[sunny3193]

I find that on the harder difficulties the ball just pings around and it doesn't replicate real footy so playing on an easier difficulty you've got more time/space and can put together some nice stuff.

First world problem.

 

[MordySaint]

Still 5th midway through round 12, with a game to play.

I'm going to give our season a B+ so far.

The new recruits who are performing are well and truly a highlight and sets us up for the future.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

Bye Bye, Bye.

 

[sunny3193]

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AI not great at caricature then?

 

[gringo2011]

AI not great at caricature then?

Not having to licence the use of their image if they are unidentifiable maybe?

 

[sunny3193]

Not having to licence the use of their image if they are unidentifiable maybe?

Good get!

 

[DougalHoward]

Not having to licence the use of their image if they are unidentifiable maybe?

Nah just done on a low budget, it's not FIFA made by a multinational developer for the whole world.

 

[StFly]

Good get!

Given it's AI they probably just used their own image online to make that image to begin with, such is the vicious cycle of AI generating images. Probably a good thing they released now when people are just cracking the shits about IP and appropriation instead of it being actual law yet.

 

[Saintos The ITK]

My take, without reading too much of the other comments on this thread:

Positives:

• The Lyon & Co game plan standing up early, and being attractive fast footy, not dour like it had been
• Superior fitness early
• Caminiti and Stocker great pick ups, both slotting straight in
• Sinclair and Wilkie continuing on from their AA form of last year
• Mitch Owens rising exponentially, both in his form and his marking
• Byrnes taking his game to another level - not brilliant but played every game so far, and been decent in many
• Throwing Phillipou in early and him surviving, at times thriving
• Gresham being a wild card
• Membrey and Billings made to earn their spots rather than being auto-inclusions
• Ultimate clubman Mason Wood mentoring NWM
• NWM re-signing after speculation of losing him to SA
• Winning games without Steele and King
• Definite game plan early on
• Beat the Bulldogs, a team who humiliated us last year
• Beat Carlton, Essendon and North who are all still deliciously s**t (double positive)
• Ross's press conferences - absence of "G'day Saints fans" soft serves
• The handling of the 150th game promo and merch

Negatives:

• The chaotic and flawed nature of our forward entries
• The heavy amount of injuries early, inability for players like Coffield, Jones and Dmac to get back without regression
• The form of Steele, injury or otherwise
• The glacial speed of our midfield
• Marshall's ruckwork, regardless of his overall value
• Still heavily reliant on Marshall's fitness - if he goes down, who replaces him?
• Max King not twirling the ball around as much before set shots
• Still reliant at times on individual brilliance (Wood, Owens, Higgins, Wilkie in the early games) - though all teams are to a certain extent
• Early superior fitness giving us a false advantage that was hard to sustain later (still believe it will work in our favour come August)
• Soft draw masking true form early
• Fringe players not getting enough senior experience - Bytel, Sharman and Windhager used mostly as subs if at all)
• Sandringham's Saints-listed players not having rotation through the senior side (Heath, Adams, Van Es, Keeler - didn't expect anything else, but we really need to expose them at some stage)
• The effort dropping off considerably in the last month, probably due to tiredness and being targeted by the opposition (game plan found out)
• The frustrating amount of individual brain farts from most of the players
• The lack of on-field leadership - a problem we have had for years
• Lack of ability to score heavily
• Lack of ability to put the foot on the throat when we have the ascendency
• Wasting the game vs Hawks to boost ladder position - could have been won well with correct application
• The gloom of Rattsball and Richoball returning - will we ever be free?
• Saints fans still not jumping back on in droves and largely not turning up in huge numbers either

The burning questions:

• Is the culture really changing? It sure needs to, and that's why we brought in RTB
• Will we continue on with Jack Steele as the skipper?
• Can we win a flag with Marshall as our number one ruckman?
• Will SOS pollute our list with substandard Carlton players?
• How deep will we cut the list? Jones, Coffield, Highmore, Bytel, Billings, Membrey, Gresham, Allison, DMac, Connolly, Peris, all vulnerable to trades or delisting
• Can Windhager get back into the seniors team where he belongs?
• Can Owens sustain his excellent form or will he regress like all St Kilda's previous early burners?
• Are our assistant coaches getting the job done?
• How can Sandringham contribute in a meaningful way?
• Are we forever destined to be as s**t as we have been for most of our history or are we actually capable of evolving, like other clubs have?

Most Saints fans would have taken this situation in pre-season, but after the sugar rush of the first 5 rounds, it's a bitter pill to swallow now. Overall, my confidence in Ross Lyon compared to Ratts allows me to feel optimistic about the second half of the season. Our youngsters need finals exposure and they should get it, the players that have held us back for years will be under RTB's microscope and we might even freshen up our systemically-faulty leadership model.

Prediction:
Finish the H&A in 6th place, win 1 or 2 finals before bowing out, come back a vastly different unit next year

Great write up bro
In fact there’s some real good stuff coming out of this thread.

 

[StCicatriz]

I’m not sure why you’d go after Lethlean with those standards, without applying it to the rest of the board and administration from President down.

The entire board should have been spilled after Ratten was sacked. A decade of pure and total incompetence under their control. While I agree with what Bassat did in sacking Ratten and appointing Lyon, his fingerprints are all over the last 10 years too. Bad decision after bad decision, with zero real scrutiny on any of them.

the problem is the bar was so ****in low when summers took over, anything would look good.

IMO we kept Finnis around for far too long. just like all the other appointments. it was stability because we felt we've been to unstable in the past. just mental. all you're doing is letting the demons of your past dictate your future still.