Let's forget about the bad news today and look ahead to the next round, when the Saints meet the Demons at the MCG on Sunday. That's 3 sunday games in a row.

Sorry BB, but your boys are going down this week! (and I'm open to a wager too)

The coverage on the telly is poor again. I've gotta wait until Sunday evening for the replay, so I'll turn to the live radio stream (unfortunately 3AW is covering the game!)

Tuesday 30/05/2006

• 12.30a  Round 9 St Kilda v Kangaroos
• 1.30p  Round 9 St Kilda v Kangaroos

Friday 02/06/2006

• 1.00p  Last Time They Met 2005 Rnd 18 Melbourne v St Kilda

Sunday 04/06/2006

• 8.30p  Round 10 Melbourne v St Kilda

Tuesday 06/06/2006

• 3.00a  Round 10 Melbourne v St Kilda
  

10:11:52 PM    comment []  trackback []  G!   • My Hobbies • My Interests • TV

Terrible news today regarding a season ending injury to Saint's star midfielder Lenny Hayes. The forum on Saintsational has been abuzz

RealFooty

Saints lose Hayes for AFL season The Age, Australia - St Kilda coach Grant Thomas says the Saints have not given up on their premiership aspirations, despite the shock loss of star midfielder Lenny Hayes for the ... Injury ends Hayes' season The Age Hayes out for season sportal.com.au Hayes 'shocked' by injury AFL AFL - AFL - all 32 related ?

8:58:01 PM    comment []  trackback []  G!   • My Hobbies • My Interests

 I tipped 7 winners again this week. I was hoping for an upset against the swans but it wasn't to be!

Week 9
Home		Draw		Away
Magpies (21.13 139)				Bulldogs (16.9 105)
Cats (12.18 90)				Tigers (17.8 110)
Crows (18.16 124)				Blues (9.6 60)
Hawks (7.12 54)				Swans (19.5 119)
Bombers (9.15 69)				Power (20.9 129)
Lions (21.15 141)				Dockers (10.13 73)
Saints (10.14 74)				Kangaroos (8.9 57)
Eagles (13.19 97)				Demons (11.9 75)

46 correct tips for the season!

9:27:14 PM    comment []  trackback []  G!   • My Hobbies • My Interests

 The Saints won ugly againsts the Roos. A win's a win. Next week - Melbourne! 

	Qtr Time	Half Time	3 Qtr Time	Final
St Kilda	4. 4 (28)	6. 7 (43)	8.11 (59)	10.13.   73
Kangaroos	1. 3   (9)	5. 8 (38)	6._8 (44)	8._9.   57
St Kilda: Goals: - N.Dal Santo 2, N.Riewoldt 2, F.Gehrig 2, L.Ball, M.McGough, R.Harvey, T.Schwarze. Best: - L.Fisher, S.Fisher, N.Dal Santo, L.Ball, L.Montagna, R.Harvey, N.Riewoldt. Kangaroos: Goals: - T.Makepeace 2, S.Grant 2, N.Thompson, K.Green, Co.Jones, H.McIntosh. Best: - G.Archer, A.Simpson, S.Grant, D.Harris, D.Pratt. Injuries - St Kilda: nil. Kangaroos: nil. Reports - St Kilda: F.Gehrig (striking). Kangaroos: nil. Umpires - M.Vozzo, M.Stevic, C.Hendrie. @ Telstra Dome, Melbourne. Crowd: 30,904.

Saints grind out tough AFL win over Roos
The Age, Australia
... they had learnt the lessons of their losses this AFL season to Fremantle and Geelong, the Saints ground out a 17-point win over the Kangaroos at Telstra Dome. ...
Saints beat Kangaroos The Age
Saints edging Kangaroos at half-time ABC Online
Saints too strong for struggling Kangaroos ABC Online
FOX SPORTS - all 16 related »

9:24:22 PM    comment []  trackback []  G!   • My Hobbies • My Interests

This weeks game against the Kangaroos has an interesting back story.

The Saints have played against the Kangaroos 140 times and the record stands as St Kilda 69 wins , Kangaroos 69 wins , Drawn 2.

Pefectly balanced!

The winner will have positive win/loss ratio.

It got me thinking - what's the Saints records against all teams.

Well, here it is:

V's	Played	Won	Lost	Draw	Win
ADELAIDE	25	9	15	1	38.00%
BRISBANE	33	15	18	0	45.45%
CARLTON	200	42	156	2	21.50%
COLLINGWOOD	199	52	146	1	26.38%
ESSENDON	196	59	133	4	31.12%
FITZROY	183	77	105	1	42.35%
FREMANTLE	16	7	9	0	43.75%
GEELONG	197	78	119	0	39.59%
HAWTHORN	140	67	72	1	48.21%
KANGAROOS	140	69	69	2	50.00%
MELBOURNE	194	77	116	1	39.95%
PORT ADELAIDE	14	5	9	0	35.71%
RICHMOND	166	62	102	2	37.95%
SYDNEY	196	70	123	3	36.48%
UNIVERSITY	14	8	6	0	57.14%
WEST COAST	30	12	17	1	41.67%
WESTERN BULLDOGS	139	69	68	2	50.36%
TOTAL	2,082	778	1,283	21	37.37%

12:44:00 PM    comment []  trackback []  G!   • My Hobbies • My Interests

I read a distrubing report regarding the injured Justin Koschitzke. Poor guy. Hope the queensland sun makes him feel better - but he better stay away from the Gold Coast.

RealFooty

Hamill heads for sun in recovery bid The Age, Australia ST KILDA forward Aaron Hamill is poised to join teammate Justin Koschitzke in Queensland on an endorsed sabbatical that the Saints hope will help them through ... Collision leaves Kosi with hearing loss RealFooty all 3 related »

12:52:42 PM    comment []  trackback []  G!   • My Hobbies • My Interests

Big win last week to the Saints. But it's not all rosy yet. In Round 9, they will meet an underperforming Kangaroo team this week

Crappy TV coverage for this game. Big delayed telecast. I;m going to be following the game online this weekend.

On the plus side, I find myself at home this afternoon, so I can watch the replay of Sunday's game

Tuesday 23/05/2006

• 1.30p  Round 8 Carlton v St Kilda

Friday 26/05/2006

• 10.30a  Last Time They Met 2005 Rnd 20 Kangaroos v St Kilda

Sunday 28/05/2006

• 8.30p  Round 9 St Kilda v Kangaroos

Tuesday 30/05/2006

• 12.30a  Round 9 St Kilda v Kangaroos
  

3:05:55 PM    comment []  trackback []  G!   • My Hobbies • My Interests • TV

Almost a perfect round this week. I picked 7 winners. Just missed out due to the upset win to the Tigers

Week 8
Home		Draw		Away
Hawks (9.7 61)				Demons (20.16 136)
Tigers (10.9 69)				Crows (9.12 66)
Dockers (13.6 84)				Kangaroos (6.13 49)
Bulldogs (14.6 90)				Swans (17.14 116)
Magpies (22.14 146)				Cats (6.8 44)
Power (10.18 78)				Lions (22.15 147)
Bombers (14.8 92)				Eagles (16.17 113)
Blues (4.10 34)				Saints (18.18 126)

39 correct tips for the season

5:29:39 PM    comment []  trackback []  G!   • My Hobbies • My Interests

 Big win to the Saints!!!!

	Qtr Time	Half Time	3 Qtr Time	Final
St Kilda	7. 7 (49)	9.13 (67)	14.15 (99)	18.18.   126
Carlton	1. 2   (8)	1.05 (11)	2. 6 (18)	4.10.   034
St Kilda: Goals: - N.Riewoldt 9, F.Gehrig 3, S.Milne 2, S.Baker 2, J.Peckett, B.Voss. Best: - N.Riewoldt, B.Goddard, J.Gram, L.Hayes, S.Baker, N.Dal Santo, S.Milne, L.Montagna. Carlton: Goals: - B.Fevola 4. Best: - B.Fevola, H.Scotland, S.Wiggins. Injuries - St Kilda: nil. Carlton: J.Waite (knee). Reports - St Kilda: nil. Carlton: nil. Umpires - B.Allen, M.Nicholls, K.Nicholls. @ the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Crowd: 39,908.

The Age

Saints destroy shameful Blues sportal.com.au, Australia - 36 minutes ago ... St Kilda has now won its past seven matches against the Blues by an average margin of 64 points - its greatest ever winning run against Carlton in more than a ... Saints cruising against Blues ABC Online Saints flog the Blues The Age Snaps Thomas used to 'win it for Banger' The Age all 4 related »

Saints dispose of dismal Carlton SportsAustralia.com, Australia - 18 minutes ago A Nick Riewoldt inspired St Kilda has clinically disposed of a dismal Carlton outfit to the tune of 92 points on a gloomy Sunday afternoon at the MCG. ...

5:28:32 PM    comment []  trackback []  G!   • My Hobbies • My Interests

Man, the folks at AFL.COM.AU like to bag the saints. Look at their recent ponderings from Round 7

2. Worrying times for Saints

For the past couple of years it has almost been assumed that it was only a matter of time before the Saints made a grand final and won a premiership given the talent at its disposal after years of shrewd drafting.

But in light of another disappointing loss on Friday night, at the hands of Geelong, the question that has to be asked is “Is the Saints’ window of opportunity to win a premiership beginning to slip away?”

After two years of bowing out in the preliminary final, the Saints have actually lost more games than they have won after seven rounds of the season and are not even in the top eight with nearly a third of the season gone – yet alone in the top four where they surely need to finish if they are to win a premiership.

The Saints clearly have their problems and chief amongst them is their lack of quality ruckmen – a problem which has been exposed even more by the continued injury problems that have beset star big man Justin Koschitzke.

While the commitment of Cain Ackland and Jason Blake cannot be questioned, they lack the height, strength and class to match it with the league’s best ruckmen – as was brutally exposed by Geelong pair Steven King and Brad Ottens on Friday night.

The loss of Aaron Hamill for up to six weeks with a knee injury, coming on top of the loss already of Koschitzke for a similar amount of time with a fractured skull, will put even more pressure on Nick Riewoldt in attack and it’s a burden he may not be able to handle because of his poor kicking for goal (see below).

That in turn puts even more pressure on Fraser Gehrig to kick goals but Gehrig is in the latter stages of his career and remains one of the AFL’s more unpredictable players.

Similarly in midfield the Saints appear to lack pace and the injury problems afflicting new skipper Luke Ball have hardly helped and it was a worrying sight seeing the gallant young midfielder barely able to get to his feet in the rooms after the game on Friday night due to the extent of his groin problems.

With Ball struggling, it has robbed the Saints of much of their hardness in midfield and again puts too much pressure on a veteran player in 34-year-old Robert Harvey, whose days of carrying the Saints’ midfield should be over.

It all adds up to worrying times for long-suffering Saints’ fans and if the club cannot recover and get its premiership ambitions back on track this season, it may be that the club’s best chance of a first premiership since 1966 will have come to an end – particularly with the irreplaceable Harvey expected to retire at season’s end.

But Wait, There's More

Villain of the week: NICK RIEWOLDT (St Kilda)

Riewoldt is increasingly starting to look like a flawed genius as it becomes increasingly evident that he has problems converting set shot goals under pressure.

The star Saint, one of the best marks in the AFL, just undoes too much of his good work through poor kicking for goal and last year he actually kicked more behinds (36) than goals (33) for the season.

And on Friday night his inability to convert set shots under pressure may have cost St Kilda victory when he marked just 20 metres from goal with the Saints having closed to within 14 points of a Cats side that was vulnerable considering it had lost four games in a row.

With about 10 minutes still to go, a goal would have put the Saints only eight points down and with the momentum they had, Grant Thomas’ side could well have steamrolled over the top of the Cats.

But Riewoldt’s miss immediately lifted the pressure off the Cats, who then went down the other end to seal victory through a Kane Tenace goal and it was of little consolation to the Saints that Riewoldt’s next shot at goal went straight through the middle from a set shot after the final siren had sounded and the pressure was off.

The sad news is that I can't really argue with these comments

7:12:58 PM    comment []  trackback []  G!   • My Hobbies • My Interests

Disappointing result on the weekend. Let's look forward.

I am so delighted - I have a LIVE game this Sunday, when the Saints meet the Blues. I have many memories of being slaughtered by the Blues in the 80s. I hope the Saints continue the winning run against them

Thanks Fox Footy

Wednesday 17/05/2006

• 1.00p  Round 7 St Kilda v Geelong

Friday 19/05/2006

• 12.30a Round 7 St Kilda v Geelong
• 10.30a  Last Time They Met 2005 Rnd 15 St Kilda v Carlton

Sunday 21/05/2006

• 2.00p  Round 8 Carlton v St Kilda LIVE

Monday 22/05/2006

• 2.30a  Round 8 Carlton v St Kilda

Tuesday 23/05/2006

• 12.30a  Round 8 Carlton v St Kilda
  

10:02:16 PM    comment []  trackback []  G!   • My Hobbies • My Interests

Nerds FC is such a wonderful program. Last week the nerds became 'men'. Good TV

-----Original Message-----
From: Nerds FC Fan Club 
Sent: Monday, 15 May 2006 5:37 PM
To: Frank Arrigo
Subject: Nerds FC Fan Club 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ NERDS FC FAN CLUB NEWSLETTER   +
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hello again,

Welcome to another sneak peak behind the scenes of the last episode of 
SBS’s smash hit series Nerds FC that’s for your eyes only.

Did you know that the previous Pope (John Paul II) was a pretty 
accomplished goal keeper in his youth? Dunno if Trent’s got any aspirations 
towards the church but he’d be in good company if he wanted to. But you 
don’t want to hear me prattle on about Popes – you joined the fan club to 
be part of the Nerds FC experience and to learn some extra stuff that 
didn’t make the program, didn’t you? Well, here it is fact fans, some stuff 
that non members will only get to know if you tell them:

- The boys spent 3 days camping in Kangaroo Valley, 2 hours south of Sydney 
for their man course. Banks and other corporate groups are normally the 
type of clients Bob the Man Expert gets but he treated the Nerds FC team 
exactly like he would any other group.

- There was just one chemical toilet for the whole group. The person who 
used it the most (and co-incidentally disliked it the most) was Phillip.

- It was discovered that the Nerds FC bus on the way home from Kangaroo 
Valley carried one more passenger than it brought there: Tim discovered 
he’d picked up a leech during the course. You’ll be pleased to know that 
Tim was uninjured. The leech, however, was already dead.  

That’s all for the time being but there’s heaps more I can tell you and I 
will over the next few weeks.

Finally, congratulations to all our lucky Nerds FC Fan Club winners for the 
past two weeks: Deborah Muchamore, Susan Gorton, Rachie Gray and Mark 
Barnier will all be watching high-quality TV on their new Centrex Digital 
Set-top boxes. Marian Stoney and Jeffrey Stanyer will be the envy of their 
friends winning an authentic football used by Nerds FC. Good luck to 
everyone for this week's draw!

Yours in football,

Webster
Treasurer, NFC Fan Club
http://www.nerdsfc.com.au

--------------------------------

9:51:30 PM    comment []  trackback []  G!   • Geek • My Hobbies

I had a pretty average round - got 5 results.

Home		Draw		Away
Saints (9.10 64)				Cats (12.10 82)
Tigers (9.8 62)				Swans (28.12 180)
Demons (17.15 117)				Dockers (8.10 58)
Hawks (9.12 66)				Lions (16.10 106)
Eagles (16.16 112)				Magpies (15.8 98)
Power (13.12 90)				Bulldogs (25.16 166)
Blues (17.9 111)				Bombers (11.12 78)
Kangaroos (9.6 60)				Crows (18.8 116)

I've yet to tip a perfect round this season (although I came close 2 rounds ago) and I've managed 32 correct tips for the season

9:06:02 PM    comment []  trackback []  G!   • My Hobbies

Melbourne Herald Sun

Cats snap losing streak with win over Saints ABC Online, Australia - 33 minutes ago ... Despite outscoring the Cats three goals to two in the final period, the Saints could not do enough to bridge the gap, and raised further questions as to their ... Cats hold slight lead over Saints ABC Online Cats snap losing streak The Age Cats spoil Harvey milestone SportsAustralia.com FOX SPORTS - all 36 related »

11:54:25 PM    comment []  trackback []  G!   • My Hobbies • My Interests

Grrrrrrrrr - Terrible result

	Qtr Time	Half Time	3 Qtr Time	Final
Geelong	2. 4 (16)	6. 5 (41)	10. 7 (67)	12.10.    82
St Kilda	1. 4 (10)	3. 8 (26)	6. 8 (44)	9.10.    64
Geelong: Goals: - P.Chapman 3, S.Johnson 3, J.Rooke, J.Kelly, H.Playfair, D.Johnson, C.Ling, K.Tenace. Best: - P.Chapman, D.Milburn, S.Johnson, J.Kelly, J.Corey, C.Ling, J.Bartel. St Kilda: Goals: - N.Riewoldt 3, T.Schwarze, F.Gehrig, C.Ackland, J.Gram, M.Maguire, B.Goddard. Best: - B.Goddard, N.Dal Santo, J.Gram, L.Hayes, L.Ball, B.Voss. Injuries - Geelong: nil. St Kilda: nil. Reports - Geelong: nil. St Kilda: nil. Umpires - R.Chamberlain, S.Ryan, D.Goldspink. @ the Telstra Dome, Melbourne. Crowd: 48,313.

10:45:33 PM    comment []  trackback []  G!   • My Hobbies • My Interests

Melbourne Herald Sun

Saints go all out to mark Harvey's milestone The Age, Australia - 21 hours ago ... The 34-year-old midfielder overtakes Nathan Burke's 323 games when the club meets Geelong at the Docklands, and the Saints will wear special guernseys with a ... Harvey still driven as retirement looms The Age Thomas expects no special effort AFL Harvey retains winning drive FOX SPORTS Melbourne Herald Sun - all 20 related »

9:59:50 PM    comment []  trackback []  G!   • My Hobbies • My Interests

A friday night game this week - The Saints meet the Cats.

FoxFooty has it covered. For me, it's another delayed telecast. Oh well.

Friday 12/05/2006

• 3.00a Round 6 St Kilda v Western Bulldogs
• 3.30p  Last Time They Met 2005 Rnd 19 St Kilda v Geelong
• 9.30a  Round 7 St Kilda v Geelong

Saturday 13/05/2006

• 12.30a  Round 7 St Kilda v Geelong
• 6.30a  Round 7 St Kilda v Geelong
• 9.30a  Round 7 St Kilda v Geelong

Monday 15/05/2006

• 8.30a  Round 7 St Kilda v Geelong

[listening to: I Was Only 19 (Live) - The Herd ]
11:02:40 AM    comment []  trackback []  G!   • My Hobbies • TV

The Saints won their game against the Western Bulldogs. It was a real arm wrestle

Again, there was controversy when poor Justin Koschitzke was knocked out in the third quarter

Saints are now sitting with 3 wins and 3 losses after 6 rounds.

ST KILDA 3.4 8.4 9.8 14.8 (92)
WESTERN BULLDOGS 3.0 4.1 8.4 12.6 (78)
Goals: St Kilda: F Gehrig 6 R Harvey 3 A Hamill N Riewoldt M Maguire T Schwarze S Milne. Western Bulldogs: M Hahn 3 D Giansiracusa 2 C Grant 2 B Johnson 2 R Smith S West A Cooney.
Best: St Kilda: N Dal Santo R Harvey N Riewoldt F Gehrig B Goddard L Ball. Western Bulldogs: P Street M Hahn C Grant B Johnson.
Injuries: St Kilda: J Koschitzke (concussion). Western Bulldogs: C Wight (ankle) W Skipper (foot) replaced in selected side by C Wight.
Reports: B Montgomery (Western Bulldogs) reported by field umpire M Head for striking T Schwarze (St Kilda) in the second quarter.
Umpires: S McBurney M Head S Wenn.
Crowd: 42,760 at Telstra Dome.

Saints win the battle sportal.com.au, Australia St Kilda has recorded a crucial 14-point victory over the Western Bulldogs in a largely lacklustre clash at Telstra Dome, improving the Saints to a 3-3 record. ...

Saints win another Melbourne Herald Sun, Australia  CONTROVERSY dogged a St Kilda game again today, but this time the Saints scored a vital 14-point AFL win at the Western Bulldogs' expense. ...

Saints back on winners list SportsAustralia.com, Australia  St Kilda have returned to the winners circle, registering a 14-point win over a fast finishing Western Bulldogs side that struggled to penetrate the wall of St ...

6:29:22 PM    comment []  trackback []  G!   • My Hobbies • My Interests

The big decision was made last night in relation the the Saints V Dockers game

The AFL ruled that it was a win to the Dockers and Saints rule out appeal

Time to move onto the next game

Final Score : St Kilda 13. 15. (93) def. by Fremantle 14. 10. (94) 

Here's just some of the news on this ruling:

Pandora's box prized open: Saints
FOX SPORTS - Australia
A STUNNED St Kilda and several other AFL clubs fear last night's shock decision to award Sunday's match to Fremantle has opened a Pandora's box and will only ...
See all stories on this topic

St Kilda sounds warning siren
FOX SPORTS - Australia
ST KILDA fears that the AFL commission's decision to reverse the club's farcical draw against Fremantle last Sunday and give the match to the Dockers will ...
See all stories on this topic

Dockers' win creates betting quandary
AFL - Australia
... biggest betting agency, TAB Sportsbet has confirmed it will not pay out on a Fremantle win in last Sunday's Launceston clash against St Kilda following the ...
See all stories on this topic

Roos backs Saint coach
Advertiser Adelaide - Adelaide,South Australia,Australia
SWANS coach Paul Roos yesterday defended St Kilda coach Grant Thomas's decision not to immediately hand over the two premiership points to Fremantle. ...
See all stories on this topic

The St Kilda reaction
The Age - Melbourne,Victoria,Australia
ST KILDA believed the weight of history and the law was on its side but will decide today whether to press a case through the courts to overturn the AFL ...
See all stories on this topic

Ball is again up for grabs
Tasmania Examiner - Launceston,Tasmania,Australia
... up for grabs. The Examiner is auctioning off the Sherrin involved in the St Kilda, Fremantle `draw' at Aurora Stadium. "This is ...
See all stories on this topic

AFL Awards Fremantle Win Over St Kilda After Siren Debacle
Bloomberg - USA
May 3 (Bloomberg) -- The Australian Football League awarded Fremantle victory over St Kilda after the result of their drawn match three days ago was protested ...