In the dying minutes of the game against the Crows in which they will lose, it is hard to believe that the Saints were Grand Finalists last year.
Apart from the third quarter, they have been seriously woeful in all facets of the game.
What is the most disturbing fact is that Gilbert, Dawson, Baker & to a lesser extent Schneider, are just sub-standard kicks of the football.
Dawson & Gilbert also make terrible decisions under pressure and invariably either get outmarked or give away a soft & undisciplined free kick.
Every time Baker took a mark, he kicked backwards, he does not have the wherewithall to want to kick forward at all so all of the opposition teams will know that and play to it.
Their ruck dept. is sadly inferior to the other clubs and their reliance on the big guns (Goddard, Dal Santo, Montagna, Reiwoldt & Milne) to get them over the line is now costing them games. Those players listed are very good in their own right but tonight they were pretty poor overall and when they are missing, there is no-one else to pick up the slack.
It's really sad to see this team perform at the level they are right now and although they will pinch a handful of wins over the remaining 18 rounds, it will not be enough for them to play finals.
They need to swing the axe and make some swift but calculated changes to their playing list if they want to make a quick recovery because the current group has had their time in the premiership hunt. They need to clear out some of the deadwood on their list and replace them with some young enthusiastic players from the draft.
I know Saints supporters will want to attack me for speaking my mind here but if they are honest with themselves, they'll agree with me on most of these points.
Apart from the third quarter, they have been seriously woeful in all facets of the game.
What is the most disturbing fact is that Gilbert, Dawson, Baker & to a lesser extent Schneider, are just sub-standard kicks of the football.
Dawson & Gilbert also make terrible decisions under pressure and invariably either get outmarked or give away a soft & undisciplined free kick.
Every time Baker took a mark, he kicked backwards, he does not have the wherewithall to want to kick forward at all so all of the opposition teams will know that and play to it.
Their ruck dept. is sadly inferior to the other clubs and their reliance on the big guns (Goddard, Dal Santo, Montagna, Reiwoldt & Milne) to get them over the line is now costing them games. Those players listed are very good in their own right but tonight they were pretty poor overall and when they are missing, there is no-one else to pick up the slack.
It's really sad to see this team perform at the level they are right now and although they will pinch a handful of wins over the remaining 18 rounds, it will not be enough for them to play finals.
They need to swing the axe and make some swift but calculated changes to their playing list if they want to make a quick recovery because the current group has had their time in the premiership hunt. They need to clear out some of the deadwood on their list and replace them with some young enthusiastic players from the draft.
I know Saints supporters will want to attack me for speaking my mind here but if they are honest with themselves, they'll agree with me on most of these points.
