Round 4 - vs. Geelong @ Telstra Dome

[ShinSplints]

we will win saturday all you naysayers say now and show yourself!!

the forwardline and midfield are packed with talent there is no way they will have 2 bad weeks. Geelong are cruiosing we will be fierce and unlike most teams in the comp can match the cats brilliant. We will have to play good VERY good but in reality we have 3 down weeks. its time to step up. With a full 22 raph and fiora gone, we shall turn it on.

Saints by 17 points.

 

[Rough_Edges]

Oh my, don't get me wrong, i think we are a chance of winning this one, will be there as i will 22 games this year (maybe 21, dunno if I will be able to get to the Perth game vs. WCE), but lets be honest.....a loss is probable, as much as i'd love us to get out their and chop Geelong, cause tbh, i ____ing hate the pricks.

 

[Look2Me4Guidance]

Oh my, don't get me wrong, i think we are a chance of winning this one, will be there as i will 22 games this year (maybe 21, dunno if I will be able to get to the Perth game vs. WCE), but lets be honest.....a loss is probable, as much as i'd love us to get out their and chop Geelong, cause tbh, i ____ing hate the pricks.

What's with the excessive swearing dude? Doesn't have much effect with the typed word.

 

[mailman4]

my biggest fear is the cats backline...
they're the hands down best team at rebounding the ball for goals and with our 3 talls i cant see us putting on the forward line presure to stop them. all 3 of the geelong backs scarlett, harley and taylor are good enough to at least bring the ball to ground and once its there its out of our forward line in a flash. we're gonna need to get some good delivery coming in from out midfield if we're a chance.

 

[sauce_head]

There's more rivalry between our two teams than we have with Melbourne. Saints have pulled a few upsets on the Cats. I expect it might depend on which forward line fires up. Both seemed to lose their way on the weekend.

Ha ha ha! That is a bit rich. Untilt he halfway point of last year any time you beat us was an upset. Anyway, you have the flag now and are definately deserving of overwhelming favourites.

I love the rivalry between the two clubs in that I absolutely hate Geelong when we play them, but outside of that wish them well.

 

[juricin]

What are the chances of Armitage playing this week?

 

[sainter]

He missed the weekends VFL game through suspension but Lyon did mention him as a possibility after Friday night.

 

[candiehappy]

Ha ha ha! That is a bit rich. Untilt he halfway point of last year any time you beat us was an upset. Anyway, you have the flag now and are definately deserving of overwhelming favourites.

I love the rivalry between the two clubs in that I absolutely hate Geelong when we play them, but outside of that wish them well.

I still remember the game the week after Blighty got the arse....

 

[AFL MAN]

Armitage needs to be in this week

 

[Hood007]

Ling will go to Hayes i'd say, as most teams have been tagging Hayes first and Dal Santo second this year, and lets be honest, getting 15-20 disposals on Ling is a good result.

Ling has tagged Dal Santo a few times in the past. Did so last year...

S. Johnson - Hudgton (Probably a few of you won't agree with this, but for mine has the closing speed, and reads the game very well, the perfect match-up for Johnson IMO)

Personally I think that's a horrible match-up for you guys. SJ is far too crafty and nimble for Maxy.
Max should play on Mooney.
Like Dan A said, someone like Fisher would be better suited to SJ.

Can't wait, always a good game against you lot.
I can only hope you don't roll over as bad as you did on Friday...

 

[Tristagi]

I like the idea of Bartel/Dal Santo... If Dal can push off Jimmy and set up some attack and make him play more defensively it shuts out a big part of our attack. The only thing is Dal isn't so fast and Jimmy should be able to run with him most of the game.

Taylor on Reiwoldt will be a good one too, St. Nick should keep him in the forward 50 and use his experence and strength to kick a bag on him. Harley to Frasier and Scarlett to Kosi.

The only way I can see Geelong getting a clear win over St. Kilda is in our forward line and rebounding through the midfield. If we can win the ball and run it through I really like our small forwards over your smaller backs.

All in all, should be match of the round and I won't be to shocked if St. Kilda get up by a few kicks but if we win it won't be by more than a fwe either.

 

[Rough_Edges]

Early odds on sportsbet

St.Kilda $3.70
Geelong $1.28

Not a bad bet to chuck a tenner on for mien.

 

[Hood007]

Re: The BIG ONE: Saints V Cats, Rnd 4

We were ahead of you, in 2004, 2005 and 2006. We are definately WAY behind at the moment.

Not sure what you're on about there.
Head to head was 3-3 over '04,'05 & '06.
I always thought the 2 sides were quite even...

 

[sauce_head]

Early odds on sportsbet

St.Kilda $3.70
Geelong $1.28

Not a bad bet to chuck a tenner on for mien.

That is pretty long, definately not bad for a two horse. I would not back us in at anything under 3, so may as well chck a Luciano on it...

 

[Rough_Edges]

Anyone no how Ottens is going?

Will he play this week?

 

[Hood007]

Anyone no how Ottens is going?

Will he play this week?

Doubtful.
Bit of a mystery what's wrong and how long he'll be out.
I'm looking forward to Blake v King anyhow...

 

[jackmac7]

What are the chances of Armitage playing this week?

Armitage has to come in. Has to.

 

[Rough_Edges]

Agree we could use his skills around the stoppages.

Would've been good on Firday night, but he was reported so there was nothing we could do about that.

 

[Lunchlady Doris]

Re: The BIG ONE: Saints V Cats, Rnd 4

Geelong have had virtually the same squad out there playing together for over a year now. That goes a long way to explaining their confidence.

Given that same circumstance, the Saints would be just as fearsome to other clubs. We need to keep our boys on the park, something that is looking pretty good so far. Re-integrating Goddard and Maguire and getting games under their belts is paramount.

We may lose this first encounter with Geelong, but we are a better team than them and once we've got a good number of games together we will be able to assert that superiority.

That's a bit of a copout K. Sounds like you've bought into the 'BF truth'. Only 5 Cats players played all 25 games last year.

Chapman missed 6 games, Steve Johnson famously was out for 5, Harley our captain missed 8, Rooke was out for 17, Egan missed all of the finals, Ottens, Bartel, Selwood, Scarlett all missed matches.

This year Egan and Ottens haven't played a game, Mackie is currently injured.

 

[Gaz_Brownlow]

Re: The BIG ONE: Saints V Cats, Rnd 4

That's a bit of a copout K. Sounds like you've bought into the 'BF truth'. Only 5 Cats players played all 25 games last year.

Chapman missed 6 games, Steve Johnson famously was out for 5, Harley our captain missed 8, Rooke was out for 17, Egan missed all of the finals, Ottens, Bartel, Selwood, Scarlett all missed matches.

This year Egan and Ottens haven't played a game, Mackie is currently injured.

Yes there seems to be some strange arguments on this thread. St Kilda have certainly had a few cracking drafts (aided by high compensatory draft picks), in the early 00's, however they simply have not built a high performance team yet (and i do emphasise the yet). I am still dirty on how we gave King to you guys (a premiership contender!) for nothing....let alone the fact that you already received M.Gardiner (how did he end up at the club again?)....

St Kilda are good, they should be a lot better, but they will continue to improve...it just maybe though that other teams will surpass you before you reach your peak (and looking at Hawthorn, Collingwood and even the Dogs it is easy to see this happen). If ever there was a time to cash on in your chips, this is it...should be a cracker against the cats this Sat, although i think we will take it home by about 30 with little GAJ booting 4 from the center!

 

[Reg Hickey]

Re: The BIG ONE: Saints V Cats, Rnd 4

Geelong have had virtually the same squad out there playing together for over a year now. That goes a long way to explaining their confidence.

Given that same circumstance, the Saints would be just as fearsome to other clubs. We need to keep our boys on the park, something that is looking pretty good so far. Re-integrating Goddard and Maguire and getting games under their belts is paramount.

We may lose this first encounter with Geelong, but we are a better team than them and once we've got a good number of games together we will be able to assert that superiority.

LOL.

Like your optimism. Let me ask you this - what's the purpose of a football team? To win games? To win premierships? On any measure, the current Saints fall well short of the current Cats.

I think "team" is very different to "list", but as the team issue is such a clear no brainer, lets look at lists for a minute. The Saints' list has been considered by many football watchers to be high quality, if not the best in the comp, for a few years now. Certainly in 2004-2006 at least. And I think you do have some absolutely fantastic players in the likes of Riewoldt, Dal Santo, Harvey, etc, etc.

BUT, overall I think your list is over-hyped and, yes, overrated. The fact is that aside from the clear champions you also have several big name players that have never really lived up to their reputations. Yes, injuries have played a major part in the careers of the likes of Kosi, the Clarke brothers, Ball, Goddard, Maguire, etc, but frankly many of them are just reputations and not results (so far). Plenty of guys have come into the AFL with big junior reputations, and even produced some results early in their careers, only to suffer serious or chronic injuries or just fade away and never live up their "potential". Doesn't make them great players. I'm not saying your blokes couldn't be great players if consistently fit, but until they actually produce the goods, they aren't.

This time last year many were questioning whether Geelong's list was even good enough to play finals, now it seems that every second post on BF talks about its unparalleled quality, its depth, how scary it is for everyone else, etc.

Heres the key: its the same list!

So why the difference? Because it now has a Brownlow medallist, ten AAs, a Norm Smith, an AFLPA MVP and countless media MVP awards. Same players, but now they have produced the goods rather than just promising to do so for so long.

Bottom line: Maybe fully fit and in form the Saints could be better than the Cats. Maybe. But as things stand right now, they're a LONG, LONG way from it. Notwithstanding injury excuses, the Saints can't be considered a better side than the Cats right now, simply because they haven't produced anywhere near the results the Cats have. Your claim has zero basis and zero credibility.

And on injuries, you should read Doris' post above. 2007 was hardly an injury free year for us. Maybe its our list depth, or maybe its our team oriented style as opposed to reliance individual standouts, but people just don't seem notice so much when we lose key players.

 

[mick13]

Re: The BIG ONE: Saints V Cats, Rnd 4

We don't need an essay to get your point mate.

 

[St DAC]

Re: The BIG ONE: Saints V Cats, Rnd 4

Bottom line: Maybe fully fit and in form the Saints could be better than the Cats. Maybe. But as things stand right now, they're a LONG, LONG way from it. Notwithstanding injury excuses, the Saints can't be considered a better side than the Cats right now, simply because they haven't produced anywhere near the results the Cats have.

Can't argue with that as of R3 2008. But this time last year the Cats weren't all-conquering yet; our year is not over, and we have hope and faith it will improve. The trailblazers for that hope are in fact your mob; if they can do it then we have a shot as well.

 

[haywood jablome]

Re: The BIG ONE: Saints V Cats, Rnd 4

if they can do it then we have a shot as well.

So can Richmond and Carlton

 

[saintsrule]

Re: The BIG ONE: Saints V Cats, Rnd 4

Reg Hickey no one disputes the achievements of your football team, but your sermon is clearly a wank and you sir are a jerk. Think of where your team were at round 3 last year...

Injury free? Depends on who, how many, for how long. Think you will find games missed by Saints key players vastly outnumbered those missed by cats players. Luck is always a variable in winning premierships. Depth? How come there wasn't any in Geelong before last year? Appeared miraculously I suppose. Rather I think it's called working with what you have to get the best from them.

Think again before you come preaching the virtues of your team on another team's board. It's too easy after the event.