His name is Jack Steven, not Jack Stevens.

His name is Jack Steven, not Jack Stevens.

Pity we can't play Yarren on him

I have an irrational dislike of Alan Richardson for some reason.

Just thought I would share that.

Your completely valid feelings aside, I think he is a great coach and the primary reason why the Saints are doing so well at the moment compared to, say, the Demons who I think have a much better list of players.
And this highlights the reason why a bunch of high draft picks does not guarantee success (e.g. Carlton, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast) and teams can achieve/maintain great success without many high picks (e.g. Hawthorn, Sydney, Geelong, Adelaide).

I think that the most important member of Hawthorn's dynasty was/is Clarkson who has adapted a game plan to suit his players and the times, and motivated the group to execute it and maintain the right winning intensity.

Similarly, Bolton is the most essential driver of our rebuild including teaching the players and developing a successful culture. SOS is playing a great role getting the right kids in the door. But who's to say that we'd have been able to debut 6 new players this season with a different coach in charge (think Malthouse, Pagan?). Who's to say that some of those high draft pick duds we've taken over the past 10 years couldn't have become great players with a better coach and club culture?
Yes, it looks like now we are placing more of a premium on mental application in our draftees rather than pure talent (Yarran, Menzel come to mind...). But I suspect that Bolton is playing an important role there as well.

A great coach? Really?

Only one great coach in the system at the minute and as much as I hate him that's A Clarkson.

A Richardson has a fair way to go to being labelled "great".

Fair enough - I should have clearly articulated my carefully thought out, tested, verified and universally endorsed criteria.
But I am happy to see that you have complete confidence in your universally accepted definition of 'great' and I accept your god-like ruling on the valid uses of 'great' as a word, both formally and informally.

Just to be clear, I was not using the word 'great' to denote he is a clearly accepted 'great of the game' - where, for example, one might include Wayne Carey or Kevin Sheedy but exclude Nick Reiwoldt or Denis Pagan.
I was using it as one might within a casual conversation where there is no restriction on the number of 'greats' and there is no formal qualification required either.
More like 'I had a great time at the footy on the weekend', even though my joy has not been independently assessed by an international panel nor compared to my feelings at the 1999 prelim or the 1995 grand final.

Happy enough with the changes however would have liked to see Cunningham get a run.

Bolts hasn't hesitated to play the kids this year. I'd say there's a reason he's being held back.
They clearly want to see something in particular from him before he gets a game.
Hopefully it just makes him hungrier and tears up the 2's this week

composure with the ball

Happy enough with the changes however would have liked to see Cunningham get a run.

composure with the ball