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For St Kilda supporters, season 2013 has been one to forget as the team endured its worst season on the field since the turn of the millennium.
The team won just five matches, its lowest tally since 2002, to finish 16th – its lowest finish since 2000, and just ahead of Melbourne and the GWS Giants.
It’s clear that the Saints need to rebuild their playing list and develop younger players quicker if they are to once again challenge for a second AFL flag.
Three Saints veterans – Jason Blake, Justin Koschitzke and Stephen Milne – who started at the club during its lowest ebb, have already retired and their legacy towards the club will not be forgotten.
But now let’s have a look back at what was the Saints’ worst season since 2002.
What went right
For the most part, nothing. However, there were some notable moments worth mentioning.
The Saints may have only won five games, but it was a good effort for a side which is mixing in its younger players with more seasoned and experienced (but rapidly slowing) veterans in Nick Riewoldt, Nick dal Santo and Stephen Milne, among others.
The club also launched an initiative to play a premiership match in New Zealand over the next few years.
Quite appropriately it was scheduled for ANZAC Day, a public holiday which is annually shared between Australia and New Zealand.
Although they lost to the Sydney Swans on that night in Wellington, the Saints put up a challenge to the defending premiers and were far from disgraced in defeat.
Additionally, the Saints ended season 2013 with consecutive wins for the only time in the season – a pair of home victories over the Gold Coast Suns and Fremantle, the latter of which saw them inflict the worst ever defeat on their former coach, Ross Lyon.
Those two victories suggested that there could be light at the end of the tunnel for long-suffering Saints supporters, many of whom weren’t even alive when the club won its only flag back in 1966.
Here’s hoping that the Saints can return to the top half of the ladder in the next few years.
What went wrong
As mentioned above, the Saints suffered their worst season on the field since 2002 and finished 16th (or lower) for the first time since 2000.
The season opening loss to the Gold Coast Suns did not appear to be an indication of the poor season the club would suffer, but it actually did.
Additionally, the club lost eight consecutive matches between rounds 14 and 21, their longest losing streak in a very long time.
Among those eight losses was a 101-point thrashing by the Cats at Simonds Stadium in what was the Saints’ first match at the venue since 2004.
Justin Koschitzke endured an injury-marred season (as has been the case throughout his career) but he was very thankful that he was not to be denied a 200th and final AFL game in the final round of the season.
The club also suffered from the departure of Brendon Goddard, who accepted a massive offer to join Essendon, where he still continues to play his best footy.
As a whole, the season was seen as a massive step backwards given the club had just missed the play-offs in 2012, giving the impression that Ross Lyon had left a winning legacy at the club.
But it was not to be, and now the Saints face a tough few years as they try to return to the upper echelon of the competition.
The future
The Saints’ need to rebuild was vindicated by the decisions of Jason Blake, Justin Koschitzke and Stephen Milne to hang up their boots at season’s end.
But the exodus might not end there. Nick dal Santo might not be at the club next year, and their other veterans loom closer to retirement than another shot at the club’s second AFL flag.
Ahmed Saad, one of the revelations of the 2013 season, might also not be at the club next year as investigations continue into whether he took a banned substance during the season.
The departures of said players could spell another tough season at Moorabbin in 2014.
Questions that people will want answered in 2014
– How will the losses of Blake, Koschitzke and Milne be covered?
– Will this be Nick Riewoldt’s final year?
– Will Nick dal Santo be at the club next year?
And last, but not least…
– Can the Saints climb back up the ladder in 2014?
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