xarronn

Read this on Saintsational, - by heck, now it really is a 'LINE IN THE SAND GAME', we don't need another damn record against us!!! "History to be made today" "But today, today, we have an opportunity to make history against them. Our two longest winning runs against opponents in our history have been 13 against Fitzroy (60s), and 13, plus a draw in what would have been the 14th, against Richmond (2010s). We win today and for the first time in 120 years we will have won 14 games in a row against an opponent. We will also have won our 91st game against an opponent, which would be a St. Kilda record. We have won not only the past 13 against Melbourne FC, but 15 out of the past 17, and they have not beaten us at Docklands Stadium since 2002, taking our excellent record against them in recent times back 14 years."

Wouldn't it be great, if for once our dreams (fantasies) about some of our line in the sand games would come true. I went to the earlier game with the same hope, (apart from the St. Kilda hoodoo, we were also striving for our first threepeat in years). We got the first two goals and even led 5 goals to 2 late in the first quarter before they ran us ragged. I have lowered my expectations of winning any specific game since that and the Essendon loss, however, the one thing I do have confidence in, is that we will fight on and won't give up. I'm bloody proud of this team for that reason.

In that case I stand corrected.

Real easy. West Footscray station is just metres from the Whitten oval and Southern Cross is just 4 stops down the track.

Can't see that Roos will be the decision maker, - is no doubt playing a role in the ongoing considerations but surely his contract finishes by the end of September if not before.

Fact or Myth "Lactic acid. Most athletes see it as a villain, the cause of muscle fatigue, burn and delayed onset muscle soreness (aka DOMS). We’ve been led to believe it’s a waste product we need to “flush from our systems” with a massage or resting with our legs propped up on a wall. But the latest research suggests that our bodies don’t, in fact, produce a substance called lactic acid when we exercise. Turns out, lactic acid — at least as we thought we knew it — is mostly just myth. Instead, our bodies actually create something called lactate — and we produce it not just when we exercise, but all the time. Furthermore, lactate is good for us, not bad! Has it been misunderstood all these years? Read on for the truth behind the burn." Plenty of articles on recent research on this issue, but the quote above came from this: http://dailyburn.com/life/fitness/truth-about-lactic-acid-lactate/

It's the othervway round.

I heard it in SEN at about 10:50pm Sunday night. The presenter was speaking with a Journalist from the Northern Territory. It's the first I have heard of an amount for our games in the NT.

Agree with your first paragraph Macca. It's so utterly obvious that our poor performances up there are completely related to our shizen performance as a club in that period. As for the finances, I just heard that it's worth $3.2m over the next two years. As well as that it gives us an inside running with our NT Academy. I would hope that out FD have learnt enough about how to train for and play in the Darwin conditions to turn it into a 'fortress' for us. As an aside, we struggle much more to win at Geelong, and we've never lost by 186 points in either Darwin or Alice.

That seems a huge loss of fluid in the space of 2 & 1/2 hours, especially considering they would be constantly hydrating during that time. Nevertheless, I'm also very interested in what Melb planned for the teams recovery: 1. Did they fly home last night or stay in Darwin? Pro's and Cons? 2. What was planned for today (Sunday)? Does anyone know?

The other difference is that the Saints have one day less than us this time. Probably as even a preparation as we can expect without the benefit of a bye.

Twelve before this round, ten left after this.

Probably makes no difference, but the game is on Saturday, unless I am mistaken.

Quite amusing the crossed wires involving these three posts.

I'm puzzled by this and other posters who have questioned Roos' competence and/or his integrity for Grimes not getting a game. Surely everyone understands team selection is not a one man show. Apart from the selection committee and strategy analysis which would play a major role in selection, without a doubt, Goodwin's views regarding the 2017 game style and list would have taken increasing precedence this year. If, any one individual had a huge say in Grimes' selection, then surely it would be Goodwin, but I'd bet it's pretty much a consensus view.

Is this really different to the following clubs "fabricated out of thin air and gifted so much advantage in talent ". West Coast: fabricated club - had all of W.A. players who were in the, (at that time very strong) WAFL, plus the return home factor of quite a few others playing in Victoria. Made a Grand Final in their 5th year and premiership in 6th. Adelaide: fabricated club - had many SA players who the SANFL had contracted available to them from the beginning and again a strong go home factor. Won back to back premierships in years 7 & 8. Since we won our last Premiership every other team except the Bulldogs has won at least one and most many more. We didn't play finals for 22 years whilst there were only 12 teams in the VFL and we finished on the bottom in 08 and 09 when GWS and GC weren't in the AFL. The expansion clubs are hardly what has stood between us and success. I wonder which real Melbourne supporters would actually feel better, if Hawthorn, (who had 1 premiership when we won our 12th and have gone past us and matched our three in a row), won a 4th this year. As for someone else who posted that they would prefer to join the Essendon cheer squad than congratulate GWS, - must have a short memory, Essendon have caused us far more grief in the last twenty years than GWS have caused us, let alone their arrogance and refusal to accept the consequences of their doping adventure. Surely, all the angst about Scully is tempered by the fact we got Hogan with the compensatory pick, plus probably an agreement that allowed us to take Viney as a father / son at pick 26. On top of that we have made good trades with them since then.

14. Jack Grimes

Absolutely right! If you want cutting, critical commentary or analysis then you can listen to or read 'Damo, Kingy or Caro'. It would be great to have Burgo's critics put forward the questions they would ask in the interviews, so Demonlanders could know how the job should be done.

My comment is only in reference to todays conditions and the influence they had on Casey's performance and skills.

I agree with this. I watched the equivalent of two quarters, spread out over the full game. From a Melbourne supporters point of view it was nigh on unwatchable. Casey just played very poorly, no clean handling, dropped marks, poor disposal. What was worse was that apart from Spencer and Newton, Melbourne listed players were almost invisible. The ground certainly did not seem to be a bog. Generally the wind was not a significant influence and was not mentioned as such in the commentary. A couple of squalls swept through, but I have seen far, far worse conditions at other VFL grounds. By all accounts, Casey and Box Hill played a terrific game there a few weeks ago. This was just a horrible game by Casey. Very disappointing, but to point the finger at the ground just doesn't seem justifiable to me.

Haven't seen the replay yet, and that's exactly what I was wondering, (although I don't think I am a little thick). This is the first post I've read referring to it. The difference in scoring shots paints a different picture to all the comments I have read on the post game thread up to this point Can someone explain why there was such a difference if we were more than competitive?

Didn't get to see the game and I'm working my way through the post game thread before I watch the replay. The matter of ducking has been brought up several times already. My post is not related to yesterdays game. 1. The rules of the game state that tackles above the shoulders are not legal 2. Ducking is different to dropping at the knees 3. The rules allow ducking to be penalised and it is. 4. Dropping at the knees is not against the rules 5. Umpires currently have no option if point 4 brings about point 1. 6. If Clarko doesn't like his players doing that, how come the master coach hasn't eliminated it from their game? 7. Bottom Line: Umpires carry the can for many things, let's not blame them for applying the rules.

Thanks DemonWA. I can see that now. Lack of a comma after defence probably threw me.

Can someone help me out? Clearly I must have a comprehension problem, because I cannot decipher what that bolded section means.

Whilst there has been criticism of selection, another factor worth considering is the number of players who have been unavailable. Obviously because of injury in the first place, but also because of the clubs conservative recovery approach, (which I agree with), and the policy of giving some players a mini preseason if they missed out on one, (also agree with). The list is quite surprisingly large. Some of them have been playing at Casey for a number of weeks and are ready to be considered if needed and hopefully the list will get even smaller after the bye. Just hope that we are over the hump now. Brayshaw, Dawes, Jones, Lumumba, Oliver, Pederson, Salem, Trengove, vandenberg, Kennedy-Harris, Spencer. If we add the unavailability of Melksham, there's a lot of talent and / or experience on that list.