3-3 would be a good result I suppose after round 6. I did not expect to beat Manly and expected to beat Dolphins. It was the matter in how they lost to the Dolphins which makes it so much worse. If they lost by less than 10 you can make that up but 38 points is a few victories to get the +/- back to where it should be if you are fighting for finals. losing to the Cows after such a good start was disappointing and again the manner in how they lost and by how much hurt. Same with the Knights. When Saints lose, the lose big. If Saints beat Tigers to get to 3-3 that will sort of make me feel a bit more comfortable that Saints won't get the spoon however, if they get flogged by Tigers like their other losses then I won;t be comfortable that Saints won't be bringing home a wooden spoon.
Saints are entering a new era, new systems, coach etc. It will take time to gel. If the coach has the players to make change like Webster has at the Warriors they can make it happen quicker but Saints simply don't. Their spine is a huge issue. Sloan, Hunt, Liddle. Last minute KFlanno to 5/8 who was not a star before he joined. It was a tougher gig for Flanno than we thought. He honestly believed the players he had can deliver but they are not. The only one that is, wants to leave. People say Zac is spitting chips for playing wing, but what if Hunt was treated the same and picked at Hooker? Where he does play Origin. You will find that Hunt will do exactly what Lomax is doing. That is not on the coach but the type of players Saints have at the moment. Self centred that think they are bigger than the club and can whinge if out of position. We had a guy like Andrew Johns say on the footy show how pi$$ed he would be if he found out one of his players had dinner with an opposition coach. They all said it would simply never happen. Johns played hooker for NSW when he was clearly the best half just to satisfy the coach who wanted his mate Kimmorley. That worked out well.... Like the great players said on the couch (Fittler, Johns and Slater), you play where the coach puts you and that is it, not ask for a release or threaten to ask for a release because we all know that is what Hunt is doing and Saints are caving in, because the coach puts you out of position. Those 3 mentioned are legends of the game because of their attitude and it is something a lot of these players at Saints don't have which Flanno is figuring out and will get rid of. JDB will stay. THey have salary cap dispensation for 10+ years so should be cheaper to keep him around. Plus he stated he wants to stay and plays wherever the coach puts him.
The Saints team in 2-3 years will be so different when Flanno get's there as he has more dead wood to clear than he thought. And if their is 2 separate camps, then getting rid of 1 camp is a good start. See ya later Zac and Lawrie and whoever is part of this group if it does exist. Hopefully not and it is all about the jersey not the players or their position they are there for.
