Ahmed Saad at AFL Players' Induction Camp

[stkildathunda]

St Kilda recruit Ahmed Saad talks about his transition into AFL football, his style of play and mentor at the club, and also reveals who is training well for the Saints and what he learnt at the AFL Players' Induction Camp.

[defacto]

theres something about saad. hoping he gets a game in the nab cup so we can see what he;s got

[paddy]

theres something about saad. hoping he gets a game in the nab cup so we can see what he;s got

I agree, I think that it is a few things that make him an exceiting recruit:

1) he has a few years under his belt.
2) he is a solid unit already
3) he lit it up in the VFL, against AFL players, and as he says he was only training 2 days a week after work etc...
4) He has had to work for his spot

So hopefully he responds well to full time training, and his work ethic kicks in and he is a star

.... I doubt he will be a natural talent, and his footy intelligence may be a little poor, but i think he was a great choice, and hope he does well

[plugger66]

theres something about saad. hoping he gets a game in the nab cup so we can see what he;s got

That was one funny movie.

[saintspremiers]

theres something about saad. hoping he gets a game in the nab cup so we can see what he;s got

That was one funny movie.

Saad makes me Happy.

[rodrocket]

What is his nick name? Maybe Saadine! :

[magnifisaint]

theres something about saad. hoping he gets a game in the nab cup so we can see what he;s got

That was one funny movie.

You're thinking about Mary

[Dr Spaceman]

theres something about saad. hoping he gets a game in the nab cup so we can see what he;s got

That was one funny movie.

You're thinking about Mary

"That's what she saad!"

[saintbrat]

theres something about saad. hoping he gets a game in the nab cup so we can see what he;s got

There's something to be Said ......

[hungry for a premiership]

Traditionally, the first born male in a muslim family gets the same first name as the family surname.

I grew up in coburg so had lots of arabic/muslim classmates in primary school, and came across some amusing examples of this.

Eg, I went to school with a kid named Saad Saad!

And another named Hammoud Hammoud.

But my all time favourite was the elder brother of my grade one best friend, Mohammed, whose name was Abdoulatif Abdoulatif!

Isn't culture wonderful?

I just hope that our boy Ahmed's muslim religion doesn't interfere with the rigors of being a pro AFL footballer, and I'm worried that it will, because its a very stringent religion that places many restrictions on the devoted, and I can't see how the demands of his religion won't get in the way of his AFL career. For example, during Raamadaan, Saad will not be able to eat during daylight hours. How will this effect his training schedule and energy levels etc?

Also, when I was a kid and had many muslim friends, at lunch time and after school and on weekends we'd have games of park footy, as you do. But every hour, we'd have to stop playing for 10-15 minutes because the muslim kids had to go inside to pray. We'd play for an hour, then stop while they'd go off and have a pray, then we'd play for another hour, then stop again while they'd go off and have another pray, etc.

I somehow doubt Saad will be afforded this luxury of stopping the game so that he may appease his god, nor do I think there are any "prayer rooms" at seaford or etihad to cater for those of the muslim faith. And we wouldn't ask Saad to offend and anger the almighty Allah now, would we, just to play a bit of footy??? I think it will be hard for him to meet the demands of both his religion and his AFL career simultaneously...

[minneapolis]

I've been straining my eyes but I cannot decipher the word written on the seats in the background. I thought it may be LUNCH but that is definitely wrong. Maybe I was just hungry!!!

Can anyone make it out?

[Dr Spaceman]

Does marriage simply become a case of:

"He Saad, She Saad"

[bergholt]

I just hope that our boy Ahmed's muslim religion doesn't interfere with the rigors of being a pro AFL footballer, and I'm worried that it will, because its a very stringent religion that places many restrictions on the devoted, and I can't see how the demands of his religion won't get in the way of his AFL career. For example, during Raamadaan, Saad will not be able to eat during daylight hours. How will this effect his training schedule and energy levels etc?

bachar houli seems to cope with it ok. he had his season high for possessions in the first 2011 game in ramadan. anyway, this was addressed ad nauseum when saad was drafted.

Also, when I was a kid and had many muslim friends, at lunch time and after school and on weekends we'd have games of park footy, as you do. But every hour, we'd have to stop playing for 10-15 minutes because the muslim kids had to go inside to pray. We'd play for an hour, then stop while they'd go off and have a pray, then we'd play for another hour, then stop again while they'd go off and have another pray, etc.

i don't doubt your memory, but is that really the way it's supposed to work? according to the internet, prayer times at the moment are 4:20am, 6:09am, 1:28pm, 5:21pm, 8:46pm, 10:29pm. only a couple of those would interfere with a footy game even if he can't get special dispensation to avoid them. (which i believe is what houli has done.)

I somehow doubt Saad will be afforded this luxury of stopping the game so that he may appease his god, nor do I think there are any "prayer rooms" at seaford or etihad to cater for those of the muslim faith.

there's definitely at least one prayer room at etihad. but a special prayer room isn't even necessary. all he needs is a small empty room for ten minutes, as i understand. an empty office at seaford, an empty bootstudder's room at etihad.

don't get me wrong, i think all religion is moronic. but i just don't think saad's faith is going to be the make or break of his career.

[hungry for a premiership]

Bergholt wrote:

don't get me wrong, i think all religion is moronic. but i just don't think saad's faith is going to be the make or break of his career.

I certainly hope you're right about this, and that it won't interfere with his career.

Also, agree re: religion being moronic as a way of explaining reality. It closes up people's mind's, makes them rigid and inflexible and blind to evidence and one-eyed. Much like being a supporter of a football club. Eg, "We will win the flag this year!" How brainwashed is that??

Indeed, football has many similarities to religion. We all follow our own clubs that most of us were indoctrinated into following from a young age, and all other clubs seem hideous to us, even though they look similar to someone on the outside looking in, much like all religions look similar to atheists. Heaven/The Holy Grail is winning a flag, Hell is the Wooden Spoon, and 9th is limbo.

If another human being wears a jumper from a different team, this is enough to make us truly hate him and think him morally corrupt, whereas a player wearing our jumper is idolized and assumed morally sacrosanct. The analogies could go on and on; we, as supporters, are virtually indistinguishable from dedicated religious people in the "faith" we have in our club even though there is no evidence to justify this faith, just as there is no evidence to justify "faith" in god.

The similarities end there, though.

[bergholt]

Also, agree re: religion being moronic as a way of explaining reality. It closes up people's mind's, makes them rigid and inflexible and blind to evidence and one-eyed. Much like being a supporter of a football club.

yeah, maybe, but i'm not sure that's a great analogy.

religion is explicitly a framework for understanding the world and guiding your actions, and so has to be understood in that context.

football is entertainment. picking a team to blindly support simply gives the whole thing more spice and so heightens the entertainment. it's a great thing to do as long as you don't go too far and completely turn off your brain in the process. (as some of your examples show.)

[Dave McNamara]

Bergholt wrote:

don't get me wrong, i think all religion is moronic...

Unfortunately I have pale Anglo-Celtic skin and so have to hide from the sun big time. I envy those with dark skin - melalin rocks, if only I could produce it.

But I take comfort from the fact that although dark skinned people are far more sun tolerant than me, the sun still ages them just the same.

There is a God.



Back in 2004 Dr Stephen Unwin, a Risk Asessor, calculated the probability of God existing at 67%. http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/200 ... cation.uk1

BTW, Paddy Power were only offering 4-1 on the existence of God being found, so not great odds there for atheist punters.

[saintbrat]

I've been straining my eyes but I cannot decipher the word written on the seats in the background. I thought it may be LUNCH but that is definitely wrong. Maybe I was just hungry!!!

Can anyone make it out?

It's the left over of the petfood sponsor of the AFL season with some seats covered, Canidae.

[skeptic]

Also, agree re: religion being moronic as a way of explaining reality. It closes up people's mind's, makes them rigid and inflexible and blind to evidence and one-eyed. Much like being a supporter of a football club.

I'll take some acception to that (not in a nasty way).

I'm not a particularly religous person but religion doesn't make people close minded... close mindedness makes people close minded.

People often say that religion promotes homophobia and racism etc but IMO it's not true - narrow minded people often hide behind religion to justify their own prejudices.

You meet plenty of accepting open minded relgious people and plent of narrow minded hateful relgious people. Just like there are plenty of nice open minded non-religious people and plenty homophobic, racist non religious people.

Prejudice is not exclusive to religion

[st_Trav_ofWA]

Well said ... As a Catholic I have no issue with sexual preference even though my church does ...

[Megsie]

football is my religion !!

p.s just joking.