grant thomas stands down, page-7

yeah, the failure to swap a tired max hudgeton in the final qtr for much faster legs that could keep up with the dees neitz in the end was the difference

the back line totally fell appart with no support up the guts of the ground to counter balance any rebound into the dees forward 50and the dees made us sainters look second rate

perhaps mike sheahans article sums up why thomas should consider his future at linton st moorabbin

clearly every club has to deal with player injuries over the course of the season, but when the pressures on list mgmt during game time is critical to either winning or losing


***St Kilda out of excuses***
By Mike Sheahan
September 12, 2006 IS ST Kilda a victim of the devil for another year, or has the injury alibi expired?

Have the Saints done enough by finishing in the eight three years running, or do they continue to fumble a gift-wrapped opportunity to win a rare flag?

Why have they lost cut-throat finals in each of the past three years after leading at three-quarter-time in all of them?

Do they fall for the most basic of temptations by playing good players who are underdone in the biggest games?

Would they have been eliminated first-up under the direction of, say, Rodney Eade?

Questions, questions, questions.

Collingwood is out of the premiership race because too many players don't stand up to finals intensity, because it is painfully slow and has a flaky forward division.

St Kilda, though, is out for more obscure reasons. Some beyond its control, some self-inflicted.

Those beyond its control are the loss to injury of Lenny Hayes after nine games and Matt Maguire in Round 19, and the ongoing fitness problems for Justin Koschitzke, Aaron Hamill and Xavier Clarke.

Those five played 56 of a possible 115 this year, and "Kosi", Hamill and Clarke were "right" for probably 10 between them.

Here's the sting, though.

Adelaide is in the preliminary final with six of its best either injured or ill, while the Bulldogs have completed all or much of the season without Luke Darcy, Robert Murphy and Mitch Hahn.

Darcy, Murphy and Hahn played 20 between them, while Daniel Giansiracusa and Will Minson have missed chunks of the season. St Kilda either lacks depth or hasn't been able to improvise like the others.

The worry for Saints supporters is the best performance from this group came in 2004, when it won 17 of 25 and lost a preliminary final in Adelaide by a kick. It has since won 15 (of 24) and 14 (of 23).

Coach Grant Thomas deserves sympathy on the injury front as Hayes and Maguire were victims of innocent collisions in a contact sport. Thomas, though, has to take the responsibility for who takes the field, and he has been prepared to take risks in the past two years with players whose fitness has been questionable, to say the least.

Koschitzke and Hamill were never going to be able to play anywhere near their best this year, given their interrupted campaigns.

Kosi was hurt on Friday night after fluffing a regulation mark and trying to recover the ball at ground level.

Brock McLean saw him exposed, bumped him vigorously but fairly, stunning him momentarily and forcing him off the ground.

Hopefully Koschitzke puts a terrible year behind him, recovers completely over the summer and gets a fair crack at it in 2007.

Sadly, the Clarke brothers, Xavier and Raphael, are as fragile as they are exciting.

They had four possessions from a total of 40 minutes on Friday night.

What compounded the problem this time was injuries during the game to key pair Robert Harvey and Fraser Gehrig, the stars of the five-goal first term. The Saints played just three newcomers this year: Sam Gilbert (two games), Michael Rix (11) and Fergus Watts (one).

Thomas has some thinking to do. Does he persist with the notion Koschitzke will solve his ruck problem, or does he go and find one? Much like Sydney did with Darren Jolly.

If he is to persist with Cain Ackland and Jason Blake, why didn't either play on Friday night?

List management is an issue.

The departures look certain to include Barry Brooks, James Gwilt, Mark McGough, Allan Murray, Justin Peckett, Stephen Powell and Andrew Thompson, freeing up at least seven spots on the list, with Stephen Milne and Troy Schwarze at obvious risk.

While none of Luke Ball, Nick Dal Santo, Sam Fisher, Brendon Goddard, Jason Gram, Koschitzke, Maguire, Leigh Montagna and Nick Riewoldt is older than 24, opportunity knocks for only so long.