Saints are certainties to make the Grand Final.... right?

[legend166]

Last time swans met the saints in the finals yes the swans got up, but there will be no barry hall this time around and the saints were lacking a ruckman back then, not to mention the swans had TWO home finals whereas this time round will be in melbourne then fly back to sydney then come back to melbourne and travel is on the agenda.
The saints had been to adelaide that finals campaign and this time play their finals here in melbourne so that also helps.
Dont also forget the saints hammered and i repeat hammered the swans in 2004 finals as well.
so it means nothing if sydney get there as swans were lucky against an innacurate carlton and will be out of steam come prelim finals weekend.

We only played 1 home final in 2005. Our first week was a game at Subiaco.

 

[Papa Juggs]

I expect to lose every game now.

Only when our players have put in the hard work on the field and we're ahead on the scoreboard do I start feeling a bit more comfortable.

It's just not the time to be overconfident.

 

[DidakDelight]

You have no idea the culture of a StKilda supporter. We don't take any game lightly. We watch incredulously if our team puts more that 2 wins in a row together. We have no sense of destiny, we just hope.

You have things way wrong. No StKilda supporter ever turns up to a game thinking it is our God given right to progress.Years of failure and frustration are hard wired into our brains. Unlike others.

Ricmel my friend, you remind of a Collingwood supporter who grew up in the late 60's onwards.
Im tipping you may well be into your 5th decade because you are definitely the exception to the majority of Aints supporters on bigfooty who definitely believe its the saints god given right to win the flag because of their top of the ladder H&A season in 2009

 

[Murraj1966]

You IDIOT OP!

Like I am going to expect to win a Preliminary Final. When in the last 6 years Preliminary Finals have been the bane of my existence as a supporter!

 

[skywalker1977]

We only played 1 home final in 2005. Our first week was a game at Subiaco.

yes sorry but u had the trip to subi then a home final then to melbourne.
The saints had the trip to adelaide the week off then the game in melborune, but the saints had to travel that year where as this time they dont and ur second final wont be at home but rather at the mcg and then again a second week there on the road should u win without barry halls cheapshot punch on any saints players.
Nothing personal but I cant stand the hero since his pathetic hit on maguire and was rapt to see him cost u some shots the folloowing year.

 

[TassieSaint]

Ricmel my friend, you remind of a Collingwood supporter who grew up in the late 60's onwards.
Im tipping you may well be into your 5th decade because you are definitely the exception to the majority of Aints supporters on bigfooty who definitely believe its the saints god given right to win the flag because of their top of the ladder H&A season in 2009

Majority hey, you're kidding yourself. I'd like you to show me just one Saints supporter who thinks a flag is our 'god given right', but I'm tipping you can't and won't.

 

[stkfc_cowboys]

You have no idea the culture of a StKilda supporter. We don't take any game lightly. We watch incredulously if our team puts more that 2 wins in a row together. We have no sense of destiny, we just hope.

You have things way wrong. No StKilda supporter ever turns up to a game thinking it is our God given right to progress.Years of failure and frustration are hard wired into our brains. Unlike others.

+1
Even though some say we have an pretty light run to the granny, I'm still nervous as all hell and the concept of once again another failed September does linger in the thought process

 

[nicky]

Last time swans met the saints in the finals yes the swans got up, but there will be no barry hall this time around and the saints were lacking a ruckman back then, not to mention the swans had TWO home finals whereas this time round will be in melbourne then fly back to sydney then come back to melbourne and travel is on the agenda.
The saints had been to adelaide that finals campaign and this time play their finals here in melbourne so that also helps.
Dont also forget the saints hammered and i repeat hammered the swans in 2004 finals as well.
so it means nothing if sydney get there as swans were lucky against an innacurate carlton and will be out of steam come prelim finals weekend.

exsqueeze me? Our first final was in Subi then hosted a home final against geelong then flew to melbourne to play the saints. We certainly did NOT win that game from the luxury of easy street.

Having said that, we're a few classes lower this year.

 

[Ricmel]

Ricmel my friend, you remind of a Collingwood supporter who grew up in the late 60's onwards.
Im tipping you may well be into your 5th decade because you are definitely the exception to the majority of Aints supporters on bigfooty who definitely believe its the saints god given right to win the flag because of their top of the ladder H&A season in 2009

I truly do not see that. I hang out with a lot of StKilda supporters, old and young and it is the same with just about all of them, they dare not pinch themselves in case it is a dream.

When Saints have an outstanding year (09,97) Stkilda supporters tend to be fatalistic, waiting for the inevitable stumble.

When Pies have a good year (10) Pies supporters tend to start celebrating the forthcoming premiership in round 16 or 17.

I don't mean that as a knock, it is the different culture of our supporter bases. Yes there are loud mouthed, arrogant StKilda supporters. A couple here on BF but they are way outnumbered by the Saints supporters that just live in hope more than conviction.

 

[dan warna]

Geez

Most saints supporters are watchfully hopeful.

We probably have the most nihilistic attitude after decades of nearly, coulda shoulda.

Probably on Richmond supporters are thicker skinned than us.

We have a good team and should have got the job done last year but didn't, should have got the job done in 04, 05 as well, but didn't.

SHould have got the job done in 91, 92, and 97 etc etc.

I think most saints supporters won't celebrate the premiership till a week after a win after the rumours of legal challenges etc have subsided.

If haven't realised that 90% of the shiz that goes on here is spin and giggles...

 

[dan warna]

and ;et me also just say if we lose to the dogs or the swans then they deserve to be there its as simple as that.

in 05 we lost to the swans because 1. they were fitter, and 2. the pushed themselves through the pain threshold and we had nothing left.

whose fault is it we lost? ours.

we had talent, ability and probably more talent at our disposal than in 09 and 10 but lacked discipline and fitness.

Anyone who watched the swans in 05/06 could honestly say they were the most disciplined side in the competition.

I would say that much of the st kilda discipline now is far more important than the talent we have at our disposal.

I watched the hawks and dogs in their losing finals...no discipline to do the 1%ers.

I will also say the dogs have more raw talent (when fully fit and all players available) but the swans have discipline when coach roos can extract it from them.

the game between saints, and, should the swans make it, we have more talent than the swans, and the swans to beat us will have to exert more discipline across every line.

That is why i fear the dogs more, because their raw talent if they can get going is more dangerous and less predictable.

If we lose to the swans, its because we were lazy and arrogant.

 

[Lazyboy]

The cats just know they cannot win number 3, another arrogant troll after smashing a marshmallow freo.

Lets face it even if the cats managed to beat collingwood, who will no doubt vent their jealousy all game especially in the last if we lose the saints will smash them the following week.

 

[Look2Me4Guidance]

I'm sure the OP would agree that the stakes were just a bit richer that a mere PF berth last Friday night. The loser would not only have had to potentially play Hawthorn in a final, but also more than likely go through Collingwood in a prelim. A tough ask in anyone's estimations.

I cringe when I hear "experts" saying we are on the easy side of the draw. There is no such thing as an easy preliminary final. Go and ask Essendon fans about 1999.

I think this year we are in a position to make greater use of the week off and I feel we are building towards our best football at the right time of year.

In regards to an opponent I would probably prefer the Dogs, given a lack of Cooney would allow Clint Jones to tag Griffen and the lack of Dale Morris (even if back from injury would be underdone) makes finding a matchup for Riewoldt tough. However the Dogs will be out for revenge from last year. The Swans on the other hand are far more attacking than what they have been and must be thanking the Hawks many times over for delivering Ben McGlynn and Josh Kennedy to them. Those blokes are born for finals. The Swans are so well drilled and for this reason almost never lose by a big margin which usually leaves them in a game for a very long time.

The only thing I'm sure of is that I hope the Dogs and Swans belt the suitcases out of each other tonight!!!

 

[duffman324]

yes sorry but u had the trip to subi then a home final then to melbourne.
The saints had the trip to adelaide the week off then the game in melborune, but the saints had to travel that year where as this time they dont and ur second final wont be at home but rather at the mcg and then again a second week there on the road should u win without barry halls cheapshot punch on any saints players.
Nothing personal but I cant stand the hero since his pathetic hit on maguire and was rapt to see him cost u some shots the folloowing year.

Agree with every word of this.

 

[Donakebab]

The Saints have assembled the greatest team ever, where have you been?!

In all seriousness, I don't think the dogs will trouble the Saints, just too many unfit/injured/out of form players, the Swans on the other hand could cause an upset but I wouldn't bank on it.

They are just better than both Sydney and WB across almost all areas.


Edit. Hoping for an upset though, so all their moronic supporters can shut the f**k up, although I was praying for a Freo win last night turned out well.

The ironing is delicious...

 

[LiterallyNobody]

Let me explain to you how the average St Kilda supporter's mindest works at the moment.

1) we NEVER take anything for granted as far as finals are concerned. We go into every game thinking we could win this or we could lose this. Had we fronted up against Freo this weekend, we likely would have been nervous. Regardless of who wins tonight, next weekend's match is going to be tough for us. So regardless of what the media thinks or God forbid, one of the arrogant St Kilda supporters on bigfooty, we don't think any game is a foregone conclusion.

2) 1991, 1992, 1997, 1998, 2004, 2005, 2009 - we may not have the same amount of Grand Final losses as Collingwood, or prelim heartbreak as the Bulldogs or two finals appearances in the last fifteen years like Richmond - BUT all these years mentioned above at one stage or another we've thought "this is our year".

This year is the same. And even in all these years somewhere in the back of our mind was this lingering doubt that we would actually do it - maybe it's the fact that we've been supporting the team so long and dare to believe it, maybe it's the fact that we've only ever won the flag once before, or perhaps it is simply because we are not sure we have the ability to pull it off -because of the above reasons.

So if we ever are arrogant, talking the team up or just generally acting as though we've got the flag won - I'll let you in on a little secret, the reason we are really doing this is to convince ourselves.

I'm well aware that I support the most unsuccessful and irrelevant team in the competition; I'm aware of four wooden spoons in a row in the eighties, forty-eight losses in a row at the start of our career; I'm aware of the fact we've only ever won one premiership and have 26 wooden spoons to match. I'm aware not only because I am reminded this by the more successful Essendon, Collingwood and Carlron supporters but because this is always playing on our minds. As much as we try to deny the fact we have such a poor history and act like it didn't happen, we just know how bad it is. All the more reason to want a premiership.

The crazy thing is, we haven't had it the worst - like mentioned above, Collingwood, the Bulldogs and Richmond supporters have had it worse than us.

3) all saints supporters seem to go into each match with a loser mentality - it's what we are used to and at the end of the day it's how we have been brought up. Even when we are confident we will win, we still accept there is a very good chance we could lose. And whenever the inevitable does happen and we do lose, nobody is harder on us than ourselves.

4) Finally, I think we all want it so much that when we finally do win the premiership, we'll be pinching ourselves for a week - can it really be true?

So if anyone thinks the Saints are certainties to make the Grand Final, they certainly aren't the average St Kilda supporter.

 

[SaintsManMat]

Let me explain to you how the average St Kilda supporter's mindest works at the moment.

1) we NEVER take anything for granted as far as finals are concerned. We go into every game thinking we could win this or we could lose this. Had we fronted up against Freo this weekend, we likely would have been nervous. Regardless of who wins tonight, next weekend's match is going to be tough for us. So regardless of what the media thinks or God forbid, one of the arrogant St Kilda supporters on bigfooty, we don't think any game is a foregone conclusion.

2) 1991, 1992, 1997, 1998, 2004, 2005, 2009 - we may not have the same amount of Grand Final losses as Collingwood, or prelim heartbreak as the Bulldogs or two finals appearances in the last fifteen years like Richmond - BUT all these years mentioned above at one stage or another we've thought "this is our year".

This year is the same. And even in all these years somewhere in the back of our mind was this lingering doubt that we would actually do it - maybe it's the fact that we've been supporting the team so long and dare to believe it, maybe it's the fact that we've only ever won the flag once before, or perhaps it is simply because we are not sure we have the ability to pull it off -because of the above reasons.

So if we ever are arrogant, talking the team up or just generally acting as though we've got the flag won - I'll let you in on a little secret, the reason we are really doing this is to convince ourselves.

I'm well aware that I support the most unsuccessful and irrelevant team in the competition; I'm aware of four wooden spoons in a row in the eighties, forty-eight losses in a row at the start of our career; I'm aware of the fact we've only ever won one premiership and have 26 wooden spoons to match. I'm aware not only because I am reminded this by the more successful Essendon, Collingwood and Carlron supporters but because this is always playing on our minds. As much as we try to deny the fact we have such a poor history and act like it didn't happen, we just know how bad it is. All the more reason to want a premiership.

The crazy thing is, we haven't had it the worst - like mentioned above, Collingwood, the Bulldogs and Richmond supporters have had it worse than us.

3) all saints supporters seem to go into each match with a loser mentality - it's what we are used to and at the end of the day it's how we have been brought up. Even when we are confident we will win, we still accept there is a very good chance we could lose. And whenever the inevitable does happen and we do lose, nobody is harder on us than ourselves.

4) Finally, I think we all want it so much that when we finally do win the premiership, we'll be pinching ourselves for a week - can it really be true?

So if anyone thinks the Saints are certainties to make the Grand Final, they certainly aren't the average St Kilda supporter.

Agree with every word you said

As a saints fan, even if you are 33 points up against the best side of the last 4 years in a QF, you think how can we lose this, and then the team tries their best to do it

So as the others have said, any saints supporter claiming we are going to walk in the GF, they are not the majority

 

[kosifantutti]

Overwhelming relief! That's what i got from Saints players and supporters last Friday night when they beat the Cats; like all the pressure had been lifted off their shoulders.

Wow. A team playing a final against the best team over the last four years who they have never beaten in a final, jumps out to a 33 point lead and sees that whittled away and even disappear for a couple of seconds. They finally hang on and win.

What were you expecting to see on people's faces?

I would have liked to have seen some footage from Geelong lounge rooms when Freo got up over the Hawks.

 

[ishka29]

Last time swans met the saints in the finals yes the swans got up, but there will be no barry hall this time around and the saints were lacking a ruckman back then, not to mention the swans had TWO home finals whereas this time round will be in melbourne then fly back to sydney then come back to melbourne and travel is on the agenda.
The saints had been to adelaide that finals campaign and this time play their finals here in melbourne so that also helps.
Dont also forget the saints hammered and i repeat hammered the swans in 2004 finals as well.
so it means nothing if sydney get there as swans were lucky against an innacurate carlton and will be out of steam come prelim finals weekend.

Makes sense wise one!!

 

[Fred]

You have no idea the culture of a StKilda supporter. We don't take any game lightly. We watch incredulously if our team puts more that 2 wins in a row together. We have no sense of destiny, we just hope.

You have things way wrong. No StKilda supporter ever turns up to a game thinking it is our God given right to progress.Years of failure and frustration are hard wired into our brains. Unlike others.

I don't think I've ever watched or listened to a saints game with expectations of a win. The key word is hope, not expect.

 

[doingthangs]

attacking the footy is important

 

[StFly]

I don't think I've ever watched or listened to a saints game with expectations of a win. The key word is hope, not expect.

I don't think I've watched or listened to a Saints game without at some point wanting to just go hide in a corner or peeking through fingers when the other mob either kicks away or lessens our lead. It is indeed hope more than anything, that this time will be different and this time we'll finally hold on or keep up to snatch victory.

 

[vicco]

We SHOULD beat either of those teams in the prelim and that makes the game even more daunting. We were put through hell againts the doggies last year when almost everyone was backing us. Not to mention 04 and 05 . We just cant afford to lose next week.

 

[Vdubs]

Saints will devour either of these struggling teams who are both playing their GF. Saints all the way this year.

 

[Herne Hill Hammer]

They are now. They'll spifflicate Footscray. Sydney trouble them to a certain degree.

Oh well, a replay of last year again.