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2003 ROUND 14 - Page 3


It's natural that we are all devastated at this point, but it's important that the club and it's supporters stick together and remain positive. It's easy to abuse different areas of the football club after shocking performances like last night. I think we have all done this, and I think it is good to be critical, but we must not lose sight of our goals as a club . . .
In my opinion, any move to sack Grant Thomas and Rod Butterss in haste over the performances of the last few weeks would only serve to further destabilise the fabric of our club and also confirm that we have not learnt from the mistakes of the past . . .

What we must do is stop thinking about who is the best unemployed coach at the moment, and start thinking about who is the best coach for US. I don't think we need a coach like Rodney Eade. He has a great tactical mind but his relationships with players seems a bit distant, and this isn't what we need when we are trying to rebuild a club by seperating our new youngsters from the troubles of the past. I believe the best thing for the club is to let Grant Thomas fulfil his current contract, which I think finishes at the end of next year . . . GT is an easy target for everyone in the football public, but you could slowly start to see everyone in the media change their opinion of him when we began to play good football and defeat decent teams. I agree that he has his weaknesses, but I believe his greatest weakness is the people around him, or lack of . . .
» More - 'vergs' - Saintsational Fan Forum

Saints go soft again, rues coach Thomas
Thomas: "(On Friday) we only really had nine contributors and we had about nine or 10 guys who were well off their game." Of particular concern to Thomas was the number of Saints who failed to put their bodies into contests, especially when it became clear the match was lost. He described the lack of physical commitment as "very disturbing". "It's a body-contact game, a collision sport and we need to be able to do that. The biggest disappointment about that is it reflects poorly on the club rather than the individual and we are doing our darndest to dismantle that poor perception - that sort of activity just reinforces the perception that we've had for a long time . . . I couldn't really see that (Essendon) had one effort that was poor; we had 20 that were shown this morning and there were a lot more apart from that." The Saints were sent to swim in the icy waters of Brighton beach yesterday, pondering three consecutive losses that have sent their finals chances plummeting.
» More - Kenneth Nguyen - 06Jul03

Persistence, Determination, Heart
"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence, talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated failures. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent" - Calvin Coolidge
» More - 'Mischa' - Saintsational Fan Forum

Running commentary helps Sheedy
Sheedy and his coaching team arranged for a club contact to monitor the telecast and pass on relevant messages to them. It is understood that "three or four" of the messages broadcast on Nine "came in very handy, thank you very much".
» More - Damien Barrett - HeraldSun - 06Jul03
Thomas a realist about size of task

"The perception of me is the perception - irrespective of what happens - I'm never going to change that. That's just how it is and I think we all know if we don't do well, it's my fault and if we do well, then we should have," Thomas said. "I really don't care about the perception and I've had enough outside perception now to instill myself with that. I'm more interested in the club, the players and a gradually continued improvement. I suppose the measurement this year, from my perspective, is to get that continued improvement."
» More - Matt Burgan - saints.com.au - 05Jul03

Hird on a rampage
The man who led the way last Friday was the man who has led the way for Essendon for the best part of 10 years: James Hird. A perception has been allowed to pervade the football world this year that Hird is almost 'gone', that his time as an elite player is virtually up. Against St Kilda, Hird had 18 touches to halftime. Few St Kilda players would have emerged even remotely satisfied with their performance. Robert Harvey was an exception. He was regularly hammered while disposing of the ball but, unlike many of his teammates who appeared as though they couldn't be bothered offering resistance, he kept running to the contests. So did Lenny Hayes, who fought back after a vomiting burst brought on by an elbow to the groin. Sydney at the SCG is the Saints' next assignment, followed by matches against the Kangaroos, Adelaide and West Coast. If St Kilda plays those matches in the style it did on Friday, then 2003 will be assessed like so many years before it – as a disaster.
» More - Damien Barrett - HeraldSun - 06Jul03

How many times did you see this tonight?
Statsman: . . . the Saints finally win the ball deep in defense and manage to clear it out to the opposite side of the ground where we take a mark on the wing.. The player with the ball then hangs onto it and waits and waits and waits while the Essendon players flood back into our forward like.. After being given the hurry up by the umpire for the 3rd time he proceeds to bomb the ball long to a 3-on-1 contest which the Bombers win easily with their extra numbers.. They rebound quickly out the other side where 2-3 of their players are waiting in the clear . . . After an impromptu raffle, one of them decides to collect the footy and runs casually down the wing before delivering lace out to Lloyd on the lead.. He goes back, mucks around with his socks and the grass for 2 minutes, runs in and gives it a good roost and the ball sails through the middle and lands 10 rows back . . .
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» Ins and Outs - Saintsational Fan Forum Thread
» FOR GODS SAKE!!! - Saintsational Fan Forum Thread

Lloyd 8, Saints 7
The promised land is slipping out of sight for St Kilda. Three rounds ago, the Saints spectacularly defeated the reigning premiers - throwing down a relentless challenge and holding off the Brisbane Lions - but since then, they have muddled their own way with a series of dire performances. With each ragged effort of the past three matches, the likelihood of the Saints actually cracking it into the top eight this year recedes further into the distance.
» More - Melissa Ryan - TheAge RealFooty - 06Jul03
» More stories from the Herald Sun Website - for those who enjoy pain.

Saints couldn't handle pressure: Voss
"Our endeavor and intent was there, but maybe our composure and delivery let us down as well," Voss said after the match. "Against Melbourne, we dropped a game we wanted to win and this was another we wanted to win. All throughout, we were just frustrated at ourselves. Again we were busting our gut out to try, but probably composure and decision making let us down." "Again, maybe we were a bit too reactive and waited for them to get the ball, rather than getting in there first."
» More - Matt Burgan - afl.com.au (via Saints site) - 05Jul03

Saints' finals hopes crumble
While the Saints' fading finals chances were dealt another blow in the heavy loss to Essendon, Baker will face the AFL Tribunal after being booked for kicking Essendon ruckman Steve Alessio in the fourth quarter. On the ground after winning a free kick, Baker raised himself up on one hand, then aimed a kick at Alessio's lower leg in a reaction to what may have been the ruckman standing on Baker's foot.
» More - Grantley Bernard - HeraldSun - 05Jul03

Bombers start to flex muscles
Essendon steeled itself for tough games against Adelaide and the Brisbane Lions in the next fortnightwhen it thrashed St Kilda by 68 points at Docklands last night. Led by Matthew Lloyd, who kicked eight goals in a grand display, Essendon took a long time to build on the dominance it showed for most of the first half. Ten goals to two in the second half ensured that the margin blew right out, giving Essendon a much-needed percentage boost. Lloyd came in under a Kevin Sheedy-generated cloud over a facial injury. It turned out to be a smokescreen. Lloyd's eight matched the highest tally for the season and took him past 50 goals for 2003.
» More - Len Johnson - TheAge RealFooty - 05Jul03

Saints humbled by the Dons
For all its talent, the Saints' forward line - consisting of Hamill, Koschitzke, Nick Riewoldt, Stephen Milne and Fraser Gehrig - struggled to score. Dustin Fletcher handled Koschitzke with aplomb, Wellman lined up on Riewoldt and Andrew Welsh starred against Milne, who failed to goal in a match for the second consecutive week. Most deliveries to the St Kilda attack were wide, and the side got chopped up across half-forward. St Kilda's problems were worse in defence, as coach Grant Thomas rang the changes. The most unusual of the initial match-ups was that of Xavier Clarke on Hird - who began at centre half-forward. Thomas shuffled Brendon Goddard, Troy Schwarze, Brett Voss, Austinn Jones and Steve Lawrence, but his moves were mostly ineffective. In a telling move, Riewoldt was shifted to defence in the second half, where he picked up Lucas and later became Hird's fourth opponent.
» More - Samantha Lane - saints.com.au - 05Jul03

Should Milney be dropped? :Poll
'statsman': Milne hasn't looked like kicking a goal the last two weeks.. I don't think he even had a shot tonight.. He seems to be terribly out of form and down on confidence . . . However he's so important to the psyche of our team because they all feed of his enthusiasm when he's playing well . . . A miraculous goal from Milney just lifts those around him and gives them extra energym . . . What's the best way to get him up and firing again?
'savatage': There's a guy called Murray who runs in a straight line towards goals when he has the football in his hand and is strong overhead. He had one average game and was discarded, prior to that he had 3 pretty good ones. Let's choose on form and not sentiment . . . BIG changes this week, as it SHOULD'VE been last week. A thumping by a S**T side, and 1 change? Who's got their thinking cap on match comittee? PS. Why is this poll solely focused on Milne? Doubt he is the only underperforming player we have on our books currently.
» Poll and Thread - Saintsational Fan Forum