Can't remember who but one of the commentators on 3AW before the GF talked about the philosophy of the Swans and P Roos and what got them to the big day. That was HONESTY.

Honesty on the field
Honesty on the training track
Honesty in their extra-curricular activities

If we are to apply that same standard to our players it is

Goodbye to Norman, Houlihan,
Keep for another year - Wiggins and Prendagast

We cant let players stay on the list on potential. They poison the rest of the team. Even though Norman and Houlihan have heaps more talent, for one reason or another they are not willing to put the effort in to become regular AFL standard senior players.
Give me a toiler like Wiggins who gives no no less then 100% every second he is involved, over a showpony like Norman any day

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T E A M

Honesty is such a lonely word.
Everyone is so untrue.
Honesty is hardly ever heard.
And mostly what I need from you.

_________________
Richard Pratt - A Carlton legend.

No no Buzz, all you need is talent. Talent is all apparently. Things like work ethic, character and yes honesty do not count or so I have been told.

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A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty" -Winston Churchill

L.M 35-06

All you need is love.

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Congratulations CK95

I'll give you what you need, yeah

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"In better news for Blues fans, Jarrad Waite was not named on the club's injury list."

Honesty, what a load of crap.
4 of the last 5 premeirship winners have made the most of the AFL handouts provided to them. The flag that Port Adelaide won was also influenced by the AFL when it scheduled Brisbane to play in Melbourne on Saturday night.
Wake up people. St Kilda will be the icing on the cake.

St Kilda will not win a Premiership while Thomas is coach.

_________________
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty" -Winston Churchill

L.M 35-06

What EXACTLY is wrong with him, BM [apart from his monstrous profile and annoying business-speak]? I'd be interested to hear an objective view on why he can't take St Kilda to a premiership

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"In better news for Blues fans, Jarrad Waite was not named on the club's injury list."

I'm with BM on this.

Thomas is a hack.

He barely has a Plan A, and relies on the talent of the list to get them over the line, which given how good most of them are, works fine. But when you come up against a smart operator, then it all falls apart.

How many other coaches would have turned a high draft pick into an overweight, slow, bumbling idiot?

_________________
And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.

We have a pretty good track record of doing just that.......

I agree with BM and KK. G Thomas was totally outcoached by Paul Roos in the earlier final. Thomas was totally reactive trying to plug holes after the horse had bolted ( to mix a few metaphors!)

Thomas and connelly are the two coaches that stand out for not getting anywhere near the best out of their classy talented playing list.

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“Before you criticise someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticise them, you're a mile a way and you have their shoes."

The AFL will manage to overcome this hurdle next year.

Grant Thomas is great at manageing the team. He lacks presence on match day when the contest is on the line. He has a dazzling array of talent so obviously its not too hard to put Kosi up forward if Riewoldt or Gehrig are struggling or switch Ball, Dal Santo and Hayes in and out of the centre.
But if things arent going their way he doesnt have the abiity to create something in the box.
You might find a situation like Carlton in 2000 where someone like Rendell does the match day coaching allowing Thomas to focus on the "Big picture"

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T E A M

There are many reasons why teams win Premierships but 9/10 times its the team with the most talent that get up..everynow and then you get a Collingwood(1990) and this year the Swans who win it with a less talented list but with great work ethic and team spirit...for me its still about assembling the best talented list and giving yourself a decent cycle of years in the top four to give us the best chance of winning a flag...

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"When you have the attitude of a champion, you see adversity as your
training partner."
- Conor Gillen

Yep - fair enough. 'GT Sucks' is one of those footy truths that, due to limited footy knowledge, I had not actually rationalised or understood. It would be interesting to get a SS view on him

Anyway, back to topic

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"In better news for Blues fans, Jarrad Waite was not named on the club's injury list."

Yeh Yeh Yeh,

Sydney is not talented. You are all fooled!
Guess which AFL club pays the most in players wages?

And the winner is Sydney.

Don't bother. I'll sum it up for you:
"GT's the best coach ever."
"The fact that he hasn't won a premiership every single year he coaches is proof that the AFL victimises St Kilda"
"GT sits down at about 6pm each night. You can tell, cos that's when the world goes dark"
"The world just doesn't understand him. he is truly a prophet for the ages."
We'll win at least 3 flags between now and 2010 with GT"
"Please Grant, i know I'm a boy, but I loves youse, can I marry you and have your babies?"

And on and on it goes like that....

_________________
And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.