COYSDC End of Season Poll - Part Uno
Custard King
By Mark Hazell
July 22 2003
Many of you kindly participated in Mark H's Saints supporters survey. He's beavered away to collate the results and provide highlights of the best comments. So, without further ado,we bring you: Part I of the Custard Kings COYSDC Saints supporters poll.
The COYSDC End of Season Poll
Many weeks ago, you’ll remember that I nagged you all to complete end of season poll forms (repeatedly), and as a result of the response I got (and many thanks to everyone who completed the forms, some of them were completely fascinating), I’ve managed to put together a couple of articles breaking down the answers, handing out the plaudits, and finding out who has replaced Leicester as the most disliked opposition this season (see, they can’t even win that - standards must be dropping at Welford Road!). (Sorry I've edited that bit out. No point pouring petrol on the flames-Rich)
This first article covers the questions regarding the players, the matches and the opposition faced in 2002/03. The next one will look at the more general issues regarding the Saints, and looking forward to next season. Both will feature your comments, but I’m not going to name anyone (and some of the more libellous ones, particularly around the most disliked opposition, will remain for the next COYSDC get-together!). So, on with the scores, and we may as well start with the big one:-
Saint Of The Season 2002/03
You were asked to pick out your top three players of the season, who were then scored points for their position (5,3, and 1).
1st - ANDREW BLOWERS
2nd - Nick Beal
3rd - Matt Lord
4th - Budge Pountney
5th - Paul Grayson
AB picked up nearly twice the points tally of Bealer in second place, and such was the margin of victory, that only five replies did not mention him within their top three. Fifteen players in all were mentioned, the others being Daws, Foxy, Jorgy, Sleights, JL, Handyman, Ben, Tam, Deso, Wally and Oriol.
Best Match
LEICESTER AWAY - 57.69%
London Irish (Powergen semi) - 23.08%
Cardiff away - 5.77%
Cats - 3.85%
Bath home - 3.85%
Newcastle home - 3.85%
Orrell away - 1.92%
No surprises here then, as the two most significant victories of the season take the top two positions, and certainly there won’t be many of us who won’t forget 30th November 2002 for a very long time.
Your comments on Leicester:-
“…Tiggers away game - COME ON!!!!…”
“…Welford Road (25-12) oh that sounds soooooo good!”
“…just has to be the win at Welford Road. Honest truth, I felt more elated than I did after the Euro win…”
“…that match…”
Your comments on London Irish:-
“…put the ghosts of last season to rest, fantastic display all round and gave us all hope for the final…”
“…sheer quality of our rugby combined with an excellent and respectful atmosphere from both sets of supporters. Pressure on Saints to seek revenge for the final the year before, plus the tension of whether the supporters coaches and Bernie’s head would arrive on time!…”
“…going to Oxford …my heart was full of foreboding (not helped by the journey). Memories…left me feeling we had a lot to do. And then we did it!…virtually everything we tried came off…”
Other comments:-
Cardiff - “…keeping Cardiff down to NIL points was a big highlight for me…”
Bath - “…for everything connected with it…”
Orrell - “…a proper rugby ground…”
Best Home Match
BIARRITZ - 34.62%
Sale - 19.23%
Wasps - 15.38%
Bath - 7.69%
Cats - 7.69%
Leeds - 7.69%
Bristol - 3.85%
Saracens - 3.85%
Again, not really a surprise with any of the top three, they certainly seemed to be the best performances against higher quality opposition. As you can tell be the absence of the Leicester game, Zara didn’t vote…
Your comments on Biarritz
“Full of good things with the result in doubt up until the final whistle.”
“…good game and a brilliant time with the BO fans afterwards.”
Your comments on Sale
“80 minutes of commitment and concentration. Forwards going forward every time and grinding down the opposition.”
“Close call with many others but selected this due to the importance of the game in respect of European places for next season, plus it made Lardy Barnes eat his words once again. Saint’s demonstrated once again “hats on wheels rugby” a real team performance.”
“They were predicted to do soooo well, Barnes never gave us a look in.”
“…good performance against a decent side.”
Your comments on Wasps
“…gave em a good stuffing.”
Your comments on Leeds
“…the big one in terms of setting up for next season”
Your comments on Bristol
“Just what we needed after the Powergen final (and) the Toulouse match…”
Best Away Match
LEICESTER - 69.23%
Cardiff - 11.54%
Bath (cup) - 11.54%
Orrell - 3.85%
London Irish (Powergen semi) - 3.85%
So, did we win at Leicester or what? Can’t quite remember the score…
Your comments on Leicester
“No contest.”
“for the sheer audacity of breaking the Tigers unbeaten sequence…”
“…no need to comment further…”
“Nuff said.”
“…stop asking silly questions Mark…”
“Yep, still sounds good”
Your comments on Cardiff
“…it really non-plussed the commentators..”
Your comments on Bath
“…just snuck it in the end…”
Your comments on Orrell
“A proper rugby ground!”
Your comments on London Irish
“…bit of revenge…”
Best Away Trip
BIARRITZ - 23.08%
TOULOUSE - 23.08%
Leicester - 19.23%
Ulster - 13.46%
Orrell - 3.85%
Cardiff - 3.85%
Bath (league) - 3.85%
Bath (cup) - 3.85%
Haven’t been on one - 3.85%
Twickenham - 1.92%
The usual suspects appear again…
Your comments on Biarritz
“…the sun the sand the wine…and the rugby…”
Your comments on Toulouse
“…my first Euro game…”
“…a great rugby city…”
Your comments on Leicester
“…what a day!!!”
Your comments on Ulster
“…good because of the company…”
“Far and away…lunchtime in The Crown liquor saloon, plus the Saturday watching Munster beat Glos…”
Your comments on Cardiff
“Good win followed by a belter of a night out!”
Your comments on Bath (Cup)
“Excellent pre match hospitality in the local bars, hostile atmosphere complete with banter during a seriously competitive match. After the result it was wonderful to stride around the City with head held high!”
Your comments on Bath (League)
“Had a very pleasant journey on the train, enjoying several pints on the way.”
Your comments on Twickenham
“…despite the result…”
Best Opposition
GLOUCESTER - 65.38%
Toulouse - 34.62%
Were there really only two teams that impressed us greatly last season? Granted, one won the league by 15 points and the other won the European Cup, but surely Bath, giving us nine points out of ten and a passage into the Powergen semi-finals deserve a mention?
Your comments on Gloucester
“…3 superb games when the better side won…”
“…pack is the best we’ve faced this year.”
“…boring I know but the power of the Gloucester pack.”
“…they have played fantastic rugby throughout the season.”
Your comments on Toulouse
“…big, strong, and could play a bit…”
Worst Opposition
CARDIFF - 21.15%
Bath - 19.23%
Bristol - 19.23%
London Irish - 13.46%
Harlequins - 11.54%
Newcastle - 7.69%
Sale - 3.85%
Leicester - 3.85%
So the three worst teams just happen to be three of the four teams we managed to beat twice this season. The hammering of Cardiff at the Arms Park will live long in the memory.
Your comments on Cardiff
“…both home and away…”
“…went through the motions…”
“…by a Welsh country mile…”
“A 31-0 defeat at home is just careless!”
Your comments on Bath
“…a headless Bath…”
Your comments on Bristol
“I tipped them to go down long before end of season”
Your comments on London Irish
“…lucky to avoid the drop…”
“…two poor league matches (one of which we lost) and completely outplayed in the Powergen semi”
Your comments on Newcastle
“…very poor team that we should have taken ten points off but got five.”
“…at the start of the season…”
Marks out of Ten for the Season
The season - Average score 7.63
The players - Average score 7.60
The management - Average score 8.31
Scores for the season and the players ranged from 6 to 10, and for the management from 5 to 10.
Your comments on the season
“Started OK, stuttered, dipped quite badly after the 6 Nations & finished reasonably strongly. Some decent away trips though…!”
“Achieved more than should have…”
Your comments on the players
“Depends on which players…but there are too many internationals, especially the England ones who don’t cut it when the international matches come into view & also immediately afterwards. I’m also sick to death of hearing whingeing about being “knackered” - players are contracted to play a certain number of games per season & they should be mentally gearing themselves to do that.”
“We suffered a bit during the Autumn internationals, I especially remember the Leicester game at the gardens where we were appalling. Our internationals were out of sorts after the 6 nations and let us down a little and the whole lot of them conspired to rob us of victory at Newcastle.”
“6, although many messed around. In one week, out the next. Invariable look as though they’re going through the motions, whereas they can beat anyone on their day.”
Your comments on the management
“Sometimes the tactics have been strange (e.g. second half v Newcastle (away)). And the idea of co-captains doesn’t work. Budge plays better when he’s left to concentrate on his own game. JL should be the captain.”
“There has been no naming and shaming when things have gone wrong, which is good, and yet I get the impression that Wayne Smith would certainly not mince his words. The whole coaching staff are certainly able to motivate the guys and give them the tactics to take anyone apart.”
“Strange decisions at crucial times, like playing Hyndman in Toulouse. We’re never sure what his best side is.”
In part two, I’ll look at the most memorable moment of the season, the best opposition player, the personification of a Saint, and whether England will win the World Cup (remembering this poll was taken before the recent internationals), amongst other things.