End of Season Poll - Part the Second
By Louisa
June 11 2005
So, the curtain has finally fallen on the season that was 2004/05, and what a season it's been. A few fantastic highs, but even more crushing lows. From on top of the world and the try of the season, to rock bottom and escaping relegation by the skin of our teeth... phew! It's been a tough ride!
After a fantastic response from all the ComeOnYouSaints.com contributors, our inboxes have been flooded and the votes have finally been counted. So without further ado, we bring you what you’ve all been waiting for. It’s the one, the only… The End of Season Poll Part II.
Section Three
21. Which departee will we miss the most?
ANDREW BLOWERS – 66.7%
Corne Krige – 22.2%
Shane Drahm – 11.1%
It comes as no surprise that after five years of tireless service to the Saints, both on and off the pitch, Andrew Blowers ran away with 68% of the vote:
“Easy peasy! Hurricane!”
“Andy Blowers - Saintsman through and through”
“AB is without a shadow of a doubt completely irreplaceable. No one in the professional game comes close to his professionalism, his work rate, his desire or his leadership. It disgusted me that he wasn’t made skipper, where he leads EVERYONE follows. Beyond special.”
“Andy Blowers by a country mile”
“Andrew Blowers – Leadership, commitment, scares the opposition, a true Saintsman.”
“Andrew Blowers, but Shane Drahm might not be far behind if Carlos doesn't perform or gets injured…”
“Drahm for his goal-kicking”
“Corne Krige – the way he played for the Baa Baas was just superb”
“We will miss Corne in the long run - clever, determined, doesn’t have a great profile in game thanks to Barnes and Morris, but to be honest, as much as everyone likes to wax lyrical about Corry, who does have a good profile thanks to his PR office, he’s just as dirty as Corne but not anywhere near as busy a player.”
I’m tempted to say that the departee we will still missing the most is John Leslie whose defensive & organisational skills have still not been adequately replaced. However, of this year’s departures, it will be Andy Blowers although there is a case for saying that we’ve had his best years & that there were signs of decline in his game last season.”
22. Which newcomer will have the most impact?
CARLOS SPENCER – 72%
Sean Lamont – 12%
A new recruit in the pack – 12%
Daniel Browne – 4%
Well, no great shock here either. If we can get him the quick, clean ball that he needs, Carlos will undoubtedly be a great asset to us, and after the magician’s touches that he showed at yesterdays Barbarians match, the gloom is finally lifting and it seems that things for next season may finally be looking up…
CARLOS SPENCER – 70%
Sean Lamont – 12%
Daniel Browne – 12%
Other – 6%
“Carlos! I hope…”
“King Carlos should, but watch Sean Lamont”
“Carlos… I’m expecting some lovely stuff in September and May, the rest of the time…”
“Carlos, if we have a pack that's going forward”
“Carlos Spencer, will bring the best out of Bruce and the back line, will link up well with Mark Robinson and provide the type of flair we have been missing for years. Will put a few thousand on the gate as well!”
“The obvious answer here is Carlos Spencer but that will only happen if the forwards give him the platform to play. The as yet unannounced back row reinforcement will therefore likely have the biggest impact.”
“Sean Lamont looks like Ben Cohen in his prime…”
“Whoever we sign in the backrow”
“The tight head we have yet to sign”
“I hope that it is one of the big lumps – yet to be signed in the pack.”
“An un-heard-of bunch of orcs will set the platform (just like Worcester (minus P Sanderson)) Carlos will write the head lines.”
23. Best Referee
ASHLEY ROWDEN – 54.2%
Tony Spreadbury – 33.3%
Chris White – 12.5%
“Rowden home v Tigers, a homer if I ever saw one.”
“Ash! Ash! Ash!”
“At the risk of being sycophantic, our Ash is pretty good.”
“Our Ashley! Honest, open and prepared to explain his decisions.”
“Umm, I've booed quite a few this season (with very little justification). It was always going to come from the select bunch who over saw a Saints' victory so - A Rowden.”
“Chris White, but he seemed to have lost it a bit towards the end of this season. I suspect he might have been busy on some weekends and sent his identical twin brother along in his place…”
“Tony Spreadbury is usually well up there, especially for his communication/ enthusiasm.”
“Spreaders… rarely bottles the big decisions”
“Best game of many seasons Wales/NZ refereed by Spreadbury”
“David Rose is definitely one for the future; was impressed with his handling of Bath - Leicester on a quagmire at the Rec.”
24. Worst Referee
STEVE LANDER – 52.2%
Sean Davey – 13%
“The rest” – 8.7%
Chris White – 8.7%
Roy Maybank – 4.3%
Steve Leyshon – 4.3%
Tony Spreadbury – 4.3%
Alain Rolland – 4.3%
“Steve Lander!”
“Slander - I even tried cheering him on to the pitch.”
“Slander seems to do stupid things on purpose…”
“The bloke who reffed us against Sale…”
“It's a tough call as they are all trying to do a difficult job. If push comes to shove I suppose Sean Davey was the least consistent I saw last season.”
“White appears to be front-runner to assume his mantle of most overrated whistle-blower.”
“Alain Rolland, will never ever forgive him for his performance in the QF at Brisbane, so will always be my very worst referee”
“His Worshipful Lt Commander the Hon Geraint Ashton-Jones”
“The bearded bloke with glasses in C Block..!”
“The worst “referees” I’ve come across are invariably those in the stands, a fair proportion of whom appear not to understand some of the basic laws of the game. Of course this doesn’t stop them from offering an opinion on just about every situation that goes against their team.”
“So many to choose from. Ramage is still the all time worst.”
25. What's the most you'd pay to watch a ZP game (a) involving Saints?
“I'll say it again - DROP this question, it only gives Robson ideas.”
“Any increase in season ticket prices is unjustified;”
“Put it like this; £40 for a Twickenham final? Outrageous. I have an advantage in that I don't have to pay my travel to Twickers (there goes my anonymity if indeed it's lasted this long) - but for anyone paying travel, by the time they've had a beer or three and purchased an overpriced programme, it's a three figure day out. And that's too much.”
“The terrace season ticket is good value”
“£25-30 for either. Not that that happens much these days...”
“I don’t pay, hubby always does!”
“£25, £30 for a damn good seat.”
“No idea I buy a season ticket”
“They (A Robson et al) could take the (fish) as much as they want with ticket prices, sadly I'd still pay. Home £35-40”
“How much is my house worth? Ummm… £50”
(b) not involving the Saints
“The ZP in general already charges more than enough for entrance and, especially, car parking”
“Depends who is involved; if it's something good, like Leicester - Wasps, £20, maybe a little more, is reasonable; if it's Leeds, I want paying to turn up. Now, if you were to ask how much for a top-line European game (someone like Toulouse) - if it cost an extra fiver, I wouldn't mind. Pure class.”
“If I go to Saracens or Leicester I pay the minimum available”
“£10 if its club rugby £30 if its England”
“depends on occasion and ground £20 to £30 for the majority. £4.50 for Bath - that should leave enough for scaffold tightening, Local Authority Rent (90K PA- that's Carlos's sandal allowance) and Leisure Centre view - let's face it it's the only thing you'll see.”
“£20 tops”
26. Best COYSDC event
SAINTS WITH HEART 3 – 54.5%
Haven’t been to one – 18.2%
Reflink evening – 13.6%
Quiz night – 4.5%
Other – 4.5%
“The Saints With Heart Walk!”
“So proud of what everyone achieved in the Saints With Heart walk.”
“The BHF Walk. Even if you are not walking, just get involved!”
“Reflink – what a fantastic idea…”
“The pikernik we will have at the first home game of 2005/06!”
“Haven’t been to one, sorry!”
“That'll be the one I went to then! Quiz at the Victoria.”
27. Best other Sportnetwork site
BATH RUGBY – 42.9%
Worcester Warriors – 23.8%
London Irish – 9.5%
Leicester Tigers – 4.8%
NEC Harlequins – 4.8%
Saracens – 4.8%
England Unofficial – 4.8%
“The Worcester Warriors site - a fantastic bunch of supporters and some really good banter. They make the club what it is.”
“Bath - for a laugh”
“The Rec's Rearguard – for the nonsense and vitriol”
“Barf...makes me realise how good ours is!”
“Bath's good for a laugh, as is Quins.”
“Bath – It is always such a laugh a minute site!”
“Bath is so funny. It’s like an unstoppable roller coaster of bias, wind-ups, and folks who eventually showed some real class for Moz, god bless him”
“Quins (for the infighting), Irish (for the critic) Bath (for their sheer one-eyed-ded-ness)”
“Haven't the time to use the others”
“The Referees Sycophancy Site”
“It's not the busiest site, but Saracens usually are reasonably interesting and not too biased.”
“Don't play away… very parochial”
“Is there any other?”
28. If you could change one thing about the season...
Well, there seem to have been two different interpretations on this question, so I’ll put your answers into two sections. Apologies for not being clearer!
(a) … that’s just past
“The results…”
“HEC qualification… boohoo!”
“The loss of team spirit”
“Presumably this question refers to the next season, if it refers to last the list would be endless!”
“Assuming you mean the season just past, I'd have liked us to have won more games! On a lower level, and something that would have achieved the above, I'd go for Mark Robinson not treading on Mark Regan.”
“Losing to Leeds at Headingly…”
“Sacking Solomons about three months earlier.”
“Kempson, we all saw it from day one. Forwards carrying the ball more and hitting more rucks. They are big enough; they just don’t work hard enough…”
“No doubt there will be a lot of responses along the lines of not
appointing Alan Solomons but for me it would be not repeatedly making the same mistakes on the field the whole way through & apparently failing to learn from any of it. In particular there were the repeated discipline problems: sendings off, bans & especially giving away stupid penalties which directly cost us at least 4 matches that I can think of. You could also point to the line out & the defensive alignment in the backs as other examples.”
(b) ... in general
“Drop the Autumn internationals - they devaluate from the summer tours and how can fixtures that vary year on year matter to anyone?”
“The structure is a hotchpotch”
“Stop the ZP games on international weekends, and reintroduce a limited amount of midweek evening games: one in September, and one in April.”
“Get the Heineken group games played contiguously, make 4 groups of 7 (2 each from England and France, 3 from the others), enforce a stricter home-grown rule, play each team once, top 2 to qualify.”
“Cancel last day of season and be safe by a point even if last day not cancelled.”
“Though I imagine many don’t like league games during the internationals, it’s the only time we are ever likely to stand up to some teams. I’d like to see less talking and more doing from the RFU to be honest. The reintroduction of ‘A’ internationals is important. The main players from England’s squad get plenty of benefit from time away so why not expand it further to inspire more players to reach for higher goals?”
“We'd be winning more”
29. Who would you have as next season's captain?
It is interesting to see that the vote has gone exactly the same way as last year with a resounding win for local lad Steve Thompson, with Bruce Reihana and Mark ‘Sharky’ Robinson in second and third place respectively. Although Wally eventually won this particular section by a country mile, many polls suggested that Bruce should be his second in command.
STEVE THOMPSON – 68.2%
Bruce Reihana – 18.2%
Mark Robinson – 9.1%
Other – 4.5%
“Wally!”
“Stick with Wally - not that I'm entirely convinced. At least Krige consistently produced the performances; two wonder tries don't make a season.”
“Wally with Bruce as vice-captain”
“Let the players decide. Wally I guess, although does he need the extra pressure?”
“Not Wally, he is not here enough in my book. His attitude towards others disappoints me…”
“An outsider is Sharky, but my first choice is Bruce, sets the example and does us proud every single week.”
“We don’t have any captaincy material that is English and is available all season, so Wally should carry on and there will have to be a reserve, Spencer or Reihana maybe.”
Section Four – Mixed Bag
30. If Saints were a fictional character, who would they be?
“What the hell were you on when you came up with this one?”
“Mr Micawber!”
“Simon Templar”
“Postman Pat. Very inconsistent, going from place to place.”
For the last season, Homer Simpson. Bumbling along with the occasional moment of lucidity!”
“Walter Mitty”
“Baldrick. Except that Baldrick’s cunning plans stood more chance of
success than ours…”
“The Scarlet Pimpernel”
“Freddie Kruger, hideous and unpleasant, always likely to kill off others but ultimately gets outsmarted by whinny brats (such as Steve Diamond who is a pot of toss)”
“Mr Bean”
“Tiger – Liked me all, entertaining with great bouncebackabillity.”
“The Big Bad Wolf - blow over the easy teams but struggle against the top ones”
“Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde”
“Wily Coyote - so near to the damned road runner but ultimately so far”
“Sergeant Lewis”
“George Bailey (Jimmie Stewart - It's a Wonderful Life) - so many metaphors. I'll take the academy and Saintsmen like Lordy and the youngsters as our Newell Post (i.e. familiar individuals who make you realise what the game is all about). Bruce/Ben/Wally for our Juju (sic).”
31. If you could sign one player who would it be?
I won’t do the percentages for this one because the answers were so many and so varied, but the names that came up the most were that of the Crusaders and All Black openside, Richie McCaw, and the Toulouse flanker, Christian Labit. Another name that came up again and again was that of the Hurricanes and All Blacks centre, Tana Umaga. One other name that kept cropping up belonged to some chap called Blowers…
“Richie McCaw! Richie McCaw! Richie McCaw!”
“Chabal”
“Fabien Pelous”
“Christian Labit”
“Daniel Carter”
“Josh Lewsey”
“Any world class centre”
“Brian O’Driscoll – we need a class centre.”
“We got him!”
“Yannick Jauzion”
“An effective number 8 – Simon Taylor would be nice.”
“Pieter DeVilliers”
“Bakkies Botha or Josh Blackie”
“Tana Umaga or a tight head of the calibre of OneGaryPagel.”
“Past - Martin Johnson - a big bully in the second row would have been
really good. Present day - To be honest, Carlos Spencer is one of them, Mehrtens close behind (although maybe a few years ago.) Probably wossisname from the All Blacks - is it McCaw? The one everyone raves about.”
“Andrew Blowers (again)!”
“Pagel in his prime – again!”
32. One word to sum up our 2004/05 season
“Emotional”
“Rollercoaster”
“Inverselazarusesque”
“Disappointing”
“Dire”
“Unfeasible”
“Shoite”
“Interesting”
“Poop”
“Heartstopping”
“Haphazard!”
“Excrement”
“Woeful”
“**** or if that’s not allowed “Yikes””
“It’s too easy to say CRAP, but there was not a single good game at FG so maybe MISSABLE is more appropriate.”
33. Impressions on the academy's progress
“Seems to be being taken more seriously by Budge & Grace, with Digger, Vilk and Starling coming through, plus the new entrants as well. Long overdue!”
“Getting a lot better, but we need to find some decent forwards.”
“I'll reserve judgement. Injuries to some of the more promising (Clarke, Starling, Grove) have given a bit of a negative (overall) impression.”
“Slowly starting to turn around after years of lacking focus. It’s not just about identifying sundry individuals & coaching them. There needs to be a strategy which should revolve around finding talent in some key positions & then moulding these players for first team action.”
“Seems to have got real focus now with Rob Hunter and James Sinclair. I hope this is right”
“A good start but only a start”
“Slow but steady must put aside honour and recruit more numbers. Dare I suggest we look at recruiting from abroad?”
“Reasonable”
“Disappointing up to now - players seem to have come through into the
First Team for the odd appearance and then not really developed into regular starters. Players like Diggin look like good prospects though, and let's hope they can develop. It looks like the current coaching setup is taking it more seriously, with a number of decent signings. High hopes. Mind you, success in the second XV competition isn't a guarantee of success at the top level - didn't Quins win it in 2003-04?”
“It looks good for next season”
“If you build it they will come.”
“Looks as though a lot of investment in time and effort has been going on since Budge and Larry took over.”
“What academy? What was its purpose? Why are all English coaches joining the English academy when academy coaching should be based around the clubs?”
“Very good, especially with the new signings”
“At last!!!”
34. Which team would you most like to