Mental Weakness

[Beno88]

Like many Saints supporters, I believe 2018 is the most disappointing season I’ve experienced. Maybe not the worst in terms of performance, but when you consider our trajectory and expectation, it was an absolute disaster.

I’m not sold on the coach, but I don’t buy into the “our list is no good” theory. We have talent. We have depth. Plenty. Just look at this year’s top four, we beat them all by an average margin of 7 goals just last year.

It’s been widely highlighted that we lost a bucket load of experience this year. Riewoldt, Dempster and Montagna were always going to be hard to replace in terms of experience and talent, but it’s their mental toughness that we missed the most.

It was evident last season in the horrific capitulation against Port Adelaide. Without any of the three mentioned above we had no leadership, no direction, no balance under pressure. We cracked. Badly. And we still haven’t recovered.

2018 has reeked of mental weakness. No one leads. No one stands up and says “follow me lads”. No says “I refuse to be beaten today”.

The stats say it all.

We were pulverized in opening halves this season, yet we only lost 9 final quarters. We only lost 3 of our last 11 final quarters. We delivered when the game was dead. When there was nothing to lose. When mental strength was irrelevant.

Our goal kicking accuracy was an abysmal 46.8%, a process which is 90% above the shoulders. Our best accuracy for the year came in matches against Richmond and West Coast, the top two, when we had no expectation and nothing to lose.

We choked when games were there for the taking. The GWS and Hawthorn games were perfect examples. We tried to throw away the Melbourne win. Even the Gold Coast comeback stemmed from having nothing to lose.

We repeatedly made basic skill errors, yet every single player on our list has the elite skillset to make it to AFL level. You don’t just lose your skills. But you can lose your confidence to execute them. Again, it’s above the shoulders.

The problem is clearly in the mind with this team. The sooner we develop or find leaders with mental strength, both on field and off, the sooner we’ll be back on track.

[Saint wagga]

This is an excellent point and I agree 101% you’ve really hit the nail on the head re: goal kicking, 1st half’s, I would beg to add that the whole team couldn’t cope with expectation for this season full stop. Just a massive season long choke.

[Sainter_Dad]

Quick - get Collective Minds on the gig!

[bigcarl]

Excellent points. So much of it is above the shoulders.

The forward line badly lacked leadership and physical presence in the absence of Bruce. That set us back badly.

The plus is we may have uncovered a very good key position player in Marshall.

[longtimesaint]

We hav3 a good prospect in Battle also until he was injured

[guitars4]

Like many Saints supporters, I believe 2018 is the most disappointing season I’ve experienced. Maybe not the worst in terms of performance, but when you consider our trajectory and expectation, it was an absolute disaster.

I’m not sold on the coach, but I don’t buy into the “our list is no good” theory. We have talent. We have depth. Plenty. Just look at this year’s top four, we beat them all by an average margin of 7 goals just last year.

It’s been widely highlighted that we lost a bucket load of experience this year. Riewoldt, Dempster and Montagna were always going to be hard to replace in terms of experience and talent, but it’s their mental toughness that we missed the most.

It was evident last season in the horrific capitulation against Port Adelaide. Without any of the three mentioned above we had no leadership, no direction, no balance under pressure. We cracked. Badly. And we still haven’t recovered.

2018 has reeked of mental weakness. No one leads. No one stands up and says “follow me lads”. No says “I refuse to be beaten today”.

The stats say it all.

We were pulverized in opening halves this season, yet we only lost 9 final quarters. We only lost 3 of our last 11 final quarters. We delivered when the game was dead. When there was nothing to lose. When mental strength was irrelevant.

Our goal kicking accuracy was an abysmal 46.8%, a process which is 90% above the shoulders. Our best accuracy for the year came in matches against Richmond and West Coast, the top two, when we had no expectation and nothing to lose.

We choked when games were there for the taking. The GWS and Hawthorn games were perfect examples. We tried to throw away the Melbourne win. Even the Gold Coast comeback stemmed from having nothing to lose.

We repeatedly made basic skill errors, yet every single player on our list has the elite skillset to make it to AFL level. You don’t just lose your skills. But you can lose your confidence to execute them. Again, it’s above the shoulders.

The problem is clearly in the mind with this team. The sooner we develop or find leaders with mental strength, both on field and off, the sooner we’ll be back on track.

Good post agree that we are mentally weak but I think that the coach/ coaching staff have a lot to answer for as player have gone backwards under their guidance Newnes,Sinclar,Hickey,Weller ,Dunstan just to name a few . I know Losing Rooey,Joey & Shina didn't help but it's still not good enough IMO

[freely]

Blame is not particularly useful (well, actually it's not useful at all!!) however - some of it surely lies with those very players we're in the process of beatifying - Rooey, Joey and Shina spent three years supposedly molding the likes of Dunstan, Weller, Ross and Newnes so they'd be ready to lead us now. That was their main brief, surely, and I daresay it's not a popular view but IMHO they badly let us down.

[st.byron]

Quick - get Collective Minds on the gig!

Shame they’re being shyte bagged on media. Most of what you’ve read about them is uninformed bollocks. They were working with St. Kilda for nearly two years and their work coincided with our going from wooden spoon to just missing the eight. Helped the Rabbitohs to a flag and the Crows to a minor premiership. They’re good at what they do, easy pickings for media bullies who have NFI about anything outside the mainstream.

[chico2001]

Blame is not particularly useful (well, actually it's not useful at all!!) however - some of it surely lies with those very players we're in the process of beatifying - Rooey, Joey and Shina spent three years supposedly molding the likes of Dunstan, Weller, Ross and Newnes so they'd be ready to lead us now. That was their main brief, surely, and I daresay it's not a popular view but IMHO they badly let us down.

That is left field shite, who are you going to blame next? Maybe the boot studder or the doorman.