Round 23 – West Coast v St Kilda: Praising Saints

Sadly the mighty Saints ended the 2015 season last night with 95-point loss to West Coast.

But I praise my boys for this footy season.

Last night after the usual long-hour work, I visited the club’s Facebook page and read many positive comments on boys. I posted a comment too.

First can I apologise for misleading you in the Port Adelaide vs St Kilda match report? Last week I have ‘recovered from the injury’ that had been supposed to end the season, so watched the game against Sydney Swans at the footy pub in Osaka.

Guys at the pub welcomed me and it was good to talk to them.

Back to the topic, reviewing the 2015 season, the Saints have improved well. We lost the first match against the Giants, but did well against the Suns.

Now we have great young forwards and midfielders such as Josh Brush, Jack Steven, Maverik Weller and David Armitage. They are goal kickers that helped us to gain more wins.

Also I am impressed with Jack Lonie, the rookie who was drafted last year. His kicking skills are great. Indeed he will be a key forward next year.

But I cannot leave veterans’ great jobs too. Our captain Nick Riewoldt scored goals in important games and Leigh Montagna has done good jobs. He brought us a close win against Demons in June. We need their skills next year as well as their great leadership skills.

Even we were not able to keep touch early in games, I believe young players will learn how to keep the ball so that they will score more goals.

I hope boys will keep good efforts that I saw last week in the St Kilda vs Sydney Swans game.

Jack Billings, Hugh Goddard and Paddy McCartin are on my list on good attacking players for 2016. Goddard can even be a defender.

I want St Kilda to be like this year’s Western Bulldogs in 2016.

As the club replaces Mad Monday with a nice little sit down lunch and has decided not to go on a post season trip, I can see the club is focusing on footy. It is a good move and I can see we are building faith and loyalty in the club. Riewoldt and Montagna lead in the loyalty program from what they learned while Grant Thomas was in charge, I believe.

But I would suggest that the boys relax and have fun for a balanced life. I regret what I have done at my youth time. Enjoy the life too my boys!

Next year I will hear ‘Oh when the Saints go marching in. Oh when the Saints go marching in. Oh I want to be with St Kilda. Oh when the Saints go marching in’ more and more!!

Go the Saints!!

About Yoshihiro Imagawa

Love, passion and pride are seen on the footy that is the biggest part of my life. 1. St Kilda Club member: I am a passionate and crazy Sainter. Just hope we will win the second flag soon, especially after Dogs and Tigers having ended long premiership draughts. 2. The Osaka Dingoes Player and Public Relations Officer: Player number 44 that I chose to honour Stephen Milne with my wish being like a small forward like him. Lenny Hayes' hardworking attitudes are adopted on my trainings and practices. Nick Riewoldt's great plays are in my player audiobook too. 3. Writing: Here on the Almanac and also on the World Footy News. My skills utilise on great footy websites.

Comments

  1. Neil Anderson says

    Good to read about your faith in the Saints despite a disappointing end to the season. A nice change from the stories about Clubs trying to beat the system by resting players etc.
    The Melbourne Sunday Herald-Sun newspaper ran an article today by Shane Crawford who predicted that the Saints would be playing the Bulldogs in the Grand Final of 2018. Marcus Bontempelli and Jack Steven were the expected captains and were pictured holding the premiership cup.
    Just a fun article for us supporters, but it indicated that the two teams were on the right track based on the personnel and the strong CULTURE of the Clubs.
    I will look forward to seeing how the Saints go next year and reading your Almanac stories.
    In the meantime, Go Dogs!

  2. Thanks for your comment, Neil.

    Resting players is what former our coach Ross Lyon started. I think there are so many politics news recently. Why cannot we enjoy the footy and how they are played?

    I hope your beloved Doggies keep motivated and Bob Murphy is back for the final series. My hope for 2015 is Bulldogs win the flag.

    Go the Doggies in the finals in 2015!!

  3. Yvette Wroby says

    Hi Yoshi,

    it was a tough game but the good news is that they learnt from some of the best players in the league. Natinui was Jason Holmes inspiration to give Aussie rules a shot, and he got to see Nic Nat be majestic last night. We have a happy future to look forward to. All you need is dreams to work towards.

    Well done with your report

    Yvette

  4. Hi Yvette,

    Thanks for your comment and compliment on my writing.

    It’s great to hear that Jason Holmes learnt inspiration from Nic Natinui. Learning from the strong club is good.

    Sadly we finished at 14th on the ladder thanks to Demons win over Giants today but we have bright future. We Saints fan are strong and loyal so our club will be more competitive.

    Thanks for match information during this season, Yvette. Let’s have a good hope for our beloved Saints.

    Carn the Saints!

    Yoshi

  5. I enjoy your work, Yoshi, and would love to see the Saints come marching in for you, Yvette, Jen “the Musical Lyricist” Muirden and the other red, white and black devotees on the Almanac.
    Likewise, with Neil’s Bulldogs, I hope they can soon end their lengthy premiership drought.
    Let’s hope Crawf is on the money.

  6. Thanks Fitzroy Pete.

    I hope it’s time for Doggies to end their premiership drought.

    I’m not sure what Crawf thinks as he behaves funny on Footy Show and has suggested Chris Judd to be suspended for a match in regarding with his infamous chicken wing tackle. But I hope his prediction comes reality!

    Cheers

    Yoshi

  7. Bec. Blossomvictory says

    I think, the Saints should sponsor you a trip to Australia to watch YOUR Saints play live, Yoshi?! … Ohh whata Fan you are Yoshi, excellent stuffs, Keep Up!! lol …

  8. Yoshi, the wheel can turn quickly. Whilst our clubs were on different sides of the ledger in this one, we were in very similar predicaments not that long ago. This year’s Saints have shown more than a hint that they could leap up before too long.

    Similar to you in watching the game from faraway places, I got up to watch the last quarter live on the net during breakfast. But I did something I don’t normally do: I left the volume on.

    So the thing that struck me most in what I saw of the game was “is Richo a genius?” Or is it just purely the effect of being surrounded by BT, Darcy & Ling – that even a 2 out of 10 intellect will sound like Albert Einstein when you’ve got those 3 for company…??

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