If Sam Fisher and Nick Dal Santo leave then they might be in trouble.

But at the same time if they can find 1 or 2 capable big defenders to go with some other reliable backmen (S. Fisher, Roberton, Dempster, Wright, Geary) they'll have a good defense. If Dal Santo stays they'll have Hayes, Dal Santo, Montagna, Ray, C. Jones, Armitage, Steven and some other decent kids, there's enough to work with there. Up forward though with Riewoldt another year older and no Milne it's going to fall on the midfield or guys ilke Tom Lee to kick goals. They wont be scoring much.

Personally if I was the saints I'd probably keep Sam Fisher, he's a seriously good player and will keep a strong back 6 together and at the same time get one of these young big guys in Delaney or Bruce they are keen on, or both if the price is right. But I'd ship off Dal Santo if the price is right and go all out for Tom Boyd. That way it doesn't matter if they are rubbish next year the fans will have a genuine prospect to cheer for and the saints will have a nicely balanced line up to work from into the future. Not to mention the development advantages that 1-2 years alongside Riewoldt would provide a Boyd.

Personally the saints seemed to improve toward the end of the year. I'd say they could win anywhere between 4 and 9 games. I'd set the line at 6. Melbourne on the other hand could go anywhere between 3 and 8 wins but I'd set the line at 5. Unless we work absolute magic in the draft and trade period we won't have the midfield talent to beat teams like the dogs and saints on a consistent basis. We should expect to break even with them but I can't see us routinely beating anyone unless a team has an absolute shocker.

I'd love a season like the dogs had this year for us next year. By getting a nice draw of some beatable opponents later in the season with a settled side they ended up getting 8 wins. Next year we need consistent performances even in losses and then hopefully at some stage we hit a couple of flat teams and can bolster the numbers. But it's more about how we play than the wins. The saints and dogs both finished with percentages in the 80's. I'd take that for sure.

I think the Saints are on the way down... so I feel theyll still have a little bit left next season. Guys like Riewoldt, Dal Santo, Fisher, Mogtagna etc probably wont be there come 2015.. Thats when I feel we will over take them. Dont get me wrong I think we can be a better team than them next season (for what its worth I feel we could be better than a few teams) but i would be surprised if the Saints COMPLETELY dropped off next season.. As mentioned in this thread already their mids are quite decent.. probably a top 8 midfield... but outside of riewoldt and fisher their kpd/kpf stocks arent overly strong... especially their kpd.

Also- Isn't it a nice change that Demon fans are writing about how bad other teams can be instead of ours ( I know this is a 'who'll be worse thread' but still!

I see a major reshuffling for the top 8 and bottom 8. A lot of clubs have huge potential to climb, and many have the equal possibility to slide. Saints for Wooden Spoon, but I have to wait and see the trade/draft period first.

I think Saints and GWS will struggle, with the Lions not far behind unless they can stem the flow of young talent leaving.

And Pug from above, the use of Latin such as yours reeks of the Sphinx out of Mystery Men. But you are correct none-the-less. The counting of chickens is a very stupid thing to do.

We will finish above the saints. The negativity is astounding.

We will finish above the saints. The negativity is astounding.

To me as we've practically got worse from 2007 on wards, with a blip in 2010 I'd consider anything but negativity to be foolish. The same can be said of the saints improving, if they've got things right then the decline of 5 old guys who play each week will be trumped by the 15 youthful guys who have now had another preseason.

I hoping next year sees the competition come back together. Freo, Geelong, Sydney and Hawthorn won too many games this year for a good top 4 but not a great one. Freo pretty much avoided playing any other top team more than once. Sydney clearly have issues with some players and Geelong and Hawthorn won games at will against teams like North, Carl, Ess, Rich, Coll who finished 5-8 and need to bridge the mental gap more than any physical one between these sides.

NOT US haha we lose again , chortle , chortle ,

Too early to say.

Let's see how our final list pans out.

If they trade DalSanto or Montagna and Riewoldt gets injured, they are absolutely rooted. They'd better not ask for a PP though.

I see a major reshuffling for the top 8 and bottom 8. A lot of clubs have huge potential to climb, and many have the equal possibility to slide. Saints for Wooden Spoon, but I have to wait and see the trade/draft period first.

I think Saints and GWS will struggle, with the Lions not far behind unless they can stem the flow of young talent leaving.

And Pug from above, the use of Latin such as yours reeks of the Sphinx out of Mystery Men. But you are correct none-the-less. The counting of chickens is a very stupid thing to do.

Mystery Men! An underrated film if ever I've seen one.

This thread should be re named

"Degrees of Crapiness"

What about the coach? Been bagging on about a rotten culture but have been on a massive slide since he arrived.

hopefully saints are worse... ? who knows, I had no idea this season was going to be so bad for us, who knows whats in for next season

I just look forward to another team other than Melbourne to be on the end of some monumental thumpings.

forget our list.

if we actually learn to defend as a unit, apply pressure as a unit and cause turnovers as a unit, we will come decent sooner rather than later.

Well we can't get worse, that would be impossible, could the Saints get this bad ? that would be impossible.

My brother in law who I a Saints Supporter thinks it will be them at the bottom of the ladder next year as they will need to rebuild soon.

I had recommend CS as their CEO as he has so much experience in the area of team Development and Sponsorship retention.

Can not make a call on this topic this side of trade week.

we could move up the ladder by 2 or 3 spots or not improve at all depending on trade week.

some good trades could see us up to 14th spot i reckon if a couple of good mids can be brought over

The Saints have been basically the worst team along with us at developing young talent and recruiting in the last few years, though they've still been better coached and have had far more good mature players who define the club. If they aimlessly throw fairly unimpressive youngsters in like this year and don't recruit well again, I'd say we've got a good chance to topple them