So who is happy we won?

[BigMart]

A part of changing a team is not only how your going in the seniors, but how someone else is going in the reserves....that is also rewarding someone for effort, is it not.....

I hate the notion.....don't change a winning side.....

If I played for us against Freo/WCE does that mean I hold my spot in the team, because it would have still won.....so I stay in because Dal, Joey, Kosi, Sam, BJ and Co are dominating......don't you just pick the best 22..

I do agree with not making wholesale changes, but the occasional omitting can keep people on their toes and also keep the fringe interested that a reward exists.

[Spinner]

On a serious note Joffa - Surely you cant be content we the first three quarters. We were dismal, turnovers, poor disposal, poor decisions. It was nothing that could make me confident that we will be able to give the title a real shake this year.

glad to see you not taking the piss take seriously spinner.

We were poor for two quarters today. We were beaten for hardness at the pill and tackles.

We relied the get out of jail card in Kosi and Roo far too often today.

But the real issue is the coaching of RL. Voss had two loose players filling the whole at CBH and Rossy did SFA about ti for the second and third qtrs.

He changed things about a bit in qtr four (Mr Flexibility Blake up forward) and we slaughtered the Brion ruckman with Gard and King dominating.

Actually the whole season was the point of the OP.

Look back to R1 at qtr time. We had shown nothing in the pre season and were getting slaughtered by Sydney.

We were looking at an almighty slide down the ladder.

Who of any of us suggested that we would be 9-0 with a 183% in top spot just two months later?

I come on here today and while there is justifiable critisism of our game - we get this shrill and hysterical crap from some supporters about dropping three to four players

really - i know this forum thrives on gloom and doom - but to read this whinging and harsh critisisms of our players after anothe rwin is just too much.

There is a case for mabye Jimmy have a rest and promoting Gram - but for people to deman Blake and Jim and Raph and half dozen others get dropped is bording on idiotic.

What message does it give a team. You are 9-0 and top of the ladder but f##k you - you are dropped???

Yeah great for morale.

One thing I will say about though. You have one bad game - bad luck - two you are on notice - three you are dropped. I would say Jimmy is on notice.

On the money. Also of note that I am impressed with your Roo and Kos comment. Seriously, some of their efforts made our midfield/forward 50 delivery look much better than it was.

My only disagreement would be that I have been pressing for Max and Gooses promotion to the seniors coupled with Gram, this would be a rally for three inclusions.

Sometimes hard decisions need to be made.

[desertsaint]

I think the last two weeks have shown us that we can't expect to play a finals level of intensity week in week out. We also have to expect teams will be trying to match that level when they play us, or risk being blown out of the water. Our cleanliness with the ball was certainly down today, and credit to the lions who took their chances.

I would like to see more reward for those players on the fringes and more rotation to keep us fresh and keep players motivated - knowing if they drop in form or intensity they will be dropped - this belief of 'he played in a winning team so deserves to stay' is flawed - it's akin to waiting for a loss before we react.

That said - kudos to the team for grinding out two wins where they faced a fair dinkum fight to the finish - sign of a good team that have made winning a habit.

The challenge for management is to ensure we peak at finals time, and that our cattle at that time all have match experience, match fitness, self-belief, and give 100%.

[Spinner]

A part of changing a team is not only how your going in the seniors, but how someone else is going in the reserves....that is also rewarding someone for effort, is it not.....

I hate the notion.....don't change a winning side.....

If I played for us against Freo/WCE does that mean I hold my spot in the team, because it would have still won.....so I stay in because Dal, Joey, Kosi, Sam, BJ and Co are dominating......don't you just pick the best 22..

I do agree with not making wholesale changes, but the occasional omitting can keep people on their toes and also keep the fringe interested that a reward exists.

Yep....Unfortunately RL does not share your wisdom. Xavier being one example, Goose being another.

There seems to be a feeling of fear in regards to dropping players. Its been done before, its a part of the game.

[joffaboy]

Did anybody really expect us to be 9-0? I doubt it.

Point of the whole thread - however I notice most tried to seperated today (still a win FFS ) from the rest of the season.

IT WAS ALL ABOUT WHERE WE ARE AFTER 9 ROUNDS.

But you cant consle the sad sacks. If we ever won a flag - we would have sad sacks on here complaining about someones game.

Perhaps the biggest dissapointment for me today was inaccurate licking, and the lack of effort from our crumbers. But when it was time to stand up, we did.

Stop watching porn - or at least watch some with accurate licking

[joffaboy]

I do agree with not making wholesale changes, but the occasional omitting can keep people on their toes and also keep the fringe interested that a reward exists.

Fair comment.

Mabye we have seen it with Gram today.

Possibly Jimmy next week.

[saint75]

We played shithouse today Joffa, and it was fairly blatant.

We have been carrying this sloppy form for the last few weeks and have been luckly to have played some lesser teams. Today it showed: poor disposal, poor decision making and costly turnovers.

Charman, Leunburger, Patful and Merrett didn't play, coupled with Hooper.

Riewoldt and Kossi played against kids, first gamers in fact, King and Gards rucked against nobodies.

Sorry if I don't have the same enthusiasm as your great self but that is not a performance that I believe would come close to challenging Geelong.

I'm ecstatic with the win, and rapt that we have a four game break.....but don't expect people to be talking premierships with that performance.

We were flat, granted. So were Geelong on Friday night. FFS, Geelong are only a team, they are not a machine and they are not unbeatable.

We won today and it is further proof of how good this side is, even when they are down on performance. They will not be up for every game. They will go through a flat spot. The fact that so far we have still won for the last 2 weeks even though we have been flat (against other potential finals contenders possibly as high as 3rd placers I might add) is proof of how good we are.

This whole posts relies on the assumption that we are on a flat patch.....How do you know?

I'd rather go on performance, which is fact. And hope we will get better rather than expect that we will.

Winning today did not prove how good we really are. How can you even think that. If anything it proved opposite.We were tested, for the second week in a row by a team that had no defence, no ruck and were playing interstate........But if that proves how good we are in your book, well thats just dandy.

So winning today proved how bad we are? No pleasing some!

I go on performance AND RESULTS! We won when we were challenged after having let ourselves down in front of goal. Would it have made you feel better if we had lost?

Obviously there are areas that need improvement, but that can be said for all 16 teams in the comp. I felt that there were areas that required improvement after our game against Collingwood and we smashed them. I have yet to see a perfect performance from any team in the time that I have been watching football.

[evertonfc]

For the record.

You CAN be happy to win, but disappointed with HOW we played.

That's me. I won't apologise for it. I'm not having a massive whinge because I know, at 9-0, we're placed really well in what has been a fantastic start to the season.

However, having a crack at people who want to see this club become the best it can be is just ludicrous.

Great start to 2009? Absolutely. But that's all it is: a start. It's not a premiership. I want a premiership. I've seen this club go on massive streaks before, and what have they yielded? Sob stories, broken hearts, misty eyes and DVDs. Not good enough.

But I haven't been there to see St Kilda win a premiership before my very eyes. Until that happens, I won't be satisfied.

I hope the players, coaches and staff of my beloved have the same attitude. So should the fans.

[battye]

Happy we won obviously, but thought we could have played better. Accuracy in front of goal cost us a bit, had we kicked straighter we would have won by 6 goals.

[Milton66]

For the record.

You CAN be happy to win, but disappointed with HOW we played.

That's me. I won't apologise for it. I'm not having a massive whinge because I know, at 9-0, we're placed really well in what has been a fantastic start to the season.

However, having a crack at people who want to see this club become the best it can be is just ludicrous.

Great start to 2009? Absolutely. But that's all it is: a start. It's not a premiership. I want a premiership. I've seen this club go on massive streaks before, and what have they yielded? Sob stories, broken hearts, misty eyes and DVDs. Not good enough.

But I haven't been there to see St Kilda win a premiership before my very eyes. Until that happens, I won't be satisfied.

I hope the players, coaches and staff of my beloved have the same attitude. So should the fans.

I tend to agree with that.

I also think that if supporters who think that the club has a "we're winning so don't make changes" arrogance, are truly kidding themsleves. It would be foolish to suggest that they are not looking at ways to improve the team.

In Ross I Trust!

[evertonfc]

It would be foolish to suggest that they are not looking at ways to improve the team.

Absolutely, 100% correct.

Always improving. Always getting better. Always looking to get ahead. This should be the ethos of our club for the next 136 years.

[saintbrat]

all we needed was ONE point,
as each week goes the teams facing us will try harder and bring their ' best ' game
as teams do against Geelong

the team were flat BUT they came back against the flow and worked hard to get back in front, and then make sure

test are for overcoming - they were tested and will learn-
the team we played was equap third and looking to go third in their own right,-- they were not 13th

from memory the only other game where we were even headed was the Crows game rd 2 ,and it was only the last 5-10 minutes that we got level and then ran away in the last five,

WE came back
WE won
we're top
I'm excited

[saint66au]

Someone said that fans are now turning up greedy. Spot on

It seems now that a 10 goal win is par for a lot of people. More than 3 oppo posessions in a row has people screaming "PICK EM UP" Anything less than "Clearance, kick, kick mark goal" is met with howls of "stop stuffing around with the footy" like we are 1-7 and fighting for the spoon

News flash. We are not gonna win by 10 goals every week. Teams are gonna kick more than 6 goals against us more often than not.

Yes we've set the bar high so far this year and thats great. Doesnt mean that people should bring unreasonable expectations to the game though and start sledging the side if they arent met.

[degruch]

Well...Melbourne, North, Scum and Richmond coming up. North may get a chance to play themselves back into form with a home game against a softened up Brisbane next week, and The Scum will be getting excited about the prospect of ending a decade of losses against us, but it's not a bad run. 10-0 is the best we've ever done...hopefully that'll be yet another broken record a fortnight from now!

Good to back up a hard earned victory against the speedy in-form Dons with a decent victory over this weeks media wonder kids. Given their personnel losses, we always should have won, but great to see us get over an absolute shocker to beat them all the same. Shows a bit of mental fortitude.

[felixleo]

http://finalsiren.com/AFLLadder.asp

[saint-stu]

Yes we've set the bar high so far this year and thats great. Doesnt mean that people should bring unreasonable expectations to the game though and start sledging the side if they arent met.

Second that. Sick of the 'just kick it' complaint. The saints seem to look better when they're running and handpassing the ball.

Do you think Hawthorn didn't have a few bad games last year?

[Milton66]

According to the press conference, Ross Lyon was happy with today's win.

Reckon's we did ok given that we were wasteful in front of goal.

[saintspremiers]

Well I'll give a different perspective.....first 3 terms were hard going - I had two kids to deal with (2 and 4) that were ready to go at 3/4 time.....Dad was also considering chucking the towel due to how we had played and the ratty kids.....but it was close, so I wanted to stay.

So.....

A seat change to behind the goals - end Saints were kicking to - in the last term turned out to be a masterstroke.

The kids loved sitting there (much more space), got to see 6 great goals from a great possie - and was a genuinely exciting last term.

So I came home very happy - all due to that last quarter fight and spirit (not to mention must easier to deal with billy lids )

[bobmurray]

Pretty ordinary game with lots of skill errors , i didn't enjoy it at all....

A win is a win though and i hope the winning streak continues

[Dan Warna]

birsbane were sitting 5th and 3 wins in a row and chockers with confidence coming into the game.

they leave having conceded 10 more scoring shots having their midfield drilled, thrashed in the ruck, with almost all their scoring shots coming from 50m or more.

if i were brisbane i'd be thankful that they wren't beaten by 6 goals or more.

[barneyboyz]

Good to see some people with fairly balanced observations starting to come through by the third page of this rubbish.

For mine, I believe that apart from the Freo game, where we won convincingly (although not as disciplined as should have been), we started the season as hunters and over the last several weeks have become the hunted, we need to be very careful that over the next 4 weeks that we aren't too complacent, or we might drop a couple.

At any rate, where we are on the ladder, as of tonight, doesn't matter as much now, as we have all but put too much distance between us (and Geelong) and the rest.

Two weeks ago the picture changed slightly and we are now learning what Geelong know and that is, how to survive being hunted.

So Spanker, you can stamp your feet like the little kid in the shop, demanding that mummy buys him a lolly, or you can be positive like the rest of us and just believe that our club has finally turned the corner and provided our playing group with the right tools, to effectively pursue that flag that WE ALL so dearly dream of

[desertsaint]

I also think that if supporters who think that the club has a "we're winning so don't make changes" arrogance, are truly kidding themsleves.

Don't think anyone would believe the club thinks that way - many posters however do!

[Dis Believer]

I personally (despite having a 4 and 6 year old to contend with) did get to see most of the action today, and I am impressed that, when challenged, we can apparently go up a gear for a quarter and win a game. It's good to be a good team.

For the sad sacks - today wasn't a polished, impressive, clinical slaughter of an opponent, but when it mattered in the final quarter we saw our guys go up a gear, to a gear most teams don't have. It's nice to know we have that.

[barneyboyz]

I personally (despite having a 4 and 6 year old to contend with) did get to see most of the action today, and I am impressed that, when challenged, we can apparently go up a gear for a quarter and win a game. It's good to be a good team.

For the sad sacks - today wasn't a polished, impressive, clinical slaughter of an opponent, but when it mattered in the final quarter we saw our guys go up a gear, to a gear most teams don't have. It's nice to know we have that.

I honestly have to say, that whilst I was unable to go to the game, or watch most of it on tv (I coach juniors on Sunday), I did get to watch the last 20 minutes and you know what, I didn't get the impression that they merely thought they had survived one with too much expectation upon themselves, no, they seemed to me to be still fairly up and about and if there had been another quarter today, they might have won by 60 points, they are enjoying the ride and quite frankly, so am I

[saintly_safes]

Extremely happy.Any saints supporter who is not happy after a gallant hard fought win like that is expecting way too much imo