You might be thinking – how will a team who lost to Adelaide by 88 points and West Coast by 103 points last season make the top eight this season, let alone the top four?
Every year it seems as if there are a few teams that blow everyone’s expectations out of the water. Last year it was Adelaide and the Bulldogs, in 2015 it was West Coast, and in 2014 it was Port Adelaide. This year’s bolter will be St Kilda. Mark my words.
After a 92-point drubbing of Carlton last weekend, there is plenty of reason for optimism for Saints fans.
This along with their narrow victory against Port Adelaide have left the Saints as confident as ever for the season ahead.
In addition to St Kilda’s pre-season form they are basically injury free at this point. Barring any injuries between now and Round 1 everyone will be available to play in their opener against Melbourne, which means that St Kilda are primed to have a huge 2017.
New additions
St. Kilda had one of the best off-seasons last year, bringing in Nathan Brown, Koby Stevens and Jack Steele in addition to the return of Jake Carlisle from his one year ban.
Jack was easily the Steele of the trade period (pardon the pun) crossing over from the Giants in exchange for the Saints’ second-round pick in the 2017 draft.
Steele adds more class and ball-winning ability to St Kilda’s already strong midfield group, plus he can be a handful up forward as shown by his two-goal 25-possession performance against Carlton in the JLT Community Series.
With Koby Stevens coming across from the Bulldogs for more gametime, the Saints get a hard-nut midfielder that gives them more depth through the middle.
Meanwhile, Nathan Brown and Jake Carlisle add depth and experience to St Kilda’s backline which was their weakest area on the ground in 2016.
Young talent
Boy oh boy wowee. The Saints are absolutely stacked with young guns all over the ground. These guys will be the core of St Kilda for the foreseeable future, and they are ready to take the step up to competing with the best of the best in 2017.
Jack Billings, Blake Acres, Seb Ross, Jack Newnes, Luke Dunstan, Jack Steele, Tim Membrey, Josh Bruce, Paddy McCartin, Jack Lonie and Jade Gresham are all entering the primes of their careers.
These are exciting talents in their early 20s who have shown improvement every year since they entered the AFL and there is no reason why that won’t continue in 2017.
Jack Billings may have been drafted ahead of Marcus Bontempelli, but he has had his first uninterrupted preseason and coming into his fourth season Billings is primed for a breakout performance in the Saints’ already strong midfield.
Forward line
The Saints talls Josh Bruce, Tim Membrey, Paddy McCartin and of course Nick Riewoldt are one of the best forward groups in the AFL.
The Saints took the third most marks inside 50 in 2016 with 316, and that will only improve as McCartin who dealt with injuries and inconsistency in his first two seasons can hopefully find consistency in his play and remain injury free for the 2017 season.
It’s not just the talls doing the work up forward for the Saints. The forward pressure applied by their explosive small forwards to create turnovers, and trap the opposition inside the Saints’ forward 50 is a huge part of their game.
Small forwards Jade Gresham, Jack Lonie, and Mav Weller all provide fierce pressure when the opposition has the ball and can also chip in with some goals to compliment the tall forwards.
Midfield
St Kilda already had a strong midfield last year and it will only strengthen with more competition for minutes in 2017.
With Jack Steven, David Armitage, Seb Ross, Blake Acres, Jack Billings, Jack Steele, Koby Stevens, Leigh Montagna, Jack Newnes, and potentially Nick Riewoldt on the wing, the Saints currently have the most underrated midfield in the AFL.
The only teams possessing as much talented young midfield depth are GWS and the Bulldogs.
With Jack Steven and David Armitage the Saints have two elite on-ballers, and then when you factor in guys such as Jack Billings, Seb Ross, and Blake Acres who are all primed to make the step up into becoming top-level midfielders, you can see that the Saints are completely stacked in the midfield.
Besides Jack Steven the Saints’ midfield doesn’t have the elite potential Brownlow medallists that sides like Geelong and Sydney have, but St Kilda have a versatile, hard-working midfield full of young talent that can take it up to the best of the best as was shown in their performances against Hawthorn and Geelong last year.
Backline
Led by their reliable new captain Jarryn Geary, 2016 wasn’t the best year for St. Kilda’s defence. Having conceded the sixth most points in the AFL this is clearly an area of concern for the Saints and a place they will need to strengthen if they want to continue their ascent up the ladder.
The addition of Nathan Brown and Jake Carlisle will go a long way to sureing up the Saints backline that struggled against opposition key forwards at times in 2016.
The biggest worry for the Saints backline this year is keeping everyone on the field after they were depleted by injuries at times last year.
If veteran Sean Dempster, Jake Carlisle, and Nathan Brown can all have good seasons then the Saints will have a solid group of key defenders that will be able to stop opposition forwards.
With the run and carry of Shane Savage and the class of Jack Newnes and Sam Gilbert the Saints will be able to attack from their backline which is a key to how footy is played these days.
With some better luck in regards to injuries, the Saints backline will take a step up this year, and the inclusion of the much-maligned Jake Carlisle should propel them to become one that can challenge the best forward lines in the competition.
Putting all of this together, the Saints have one of the strongest young lists going around. They bring unrivalled pressure and speed that is exciting to watch and will take them a long way in 2017 and beyond.
With the continued development of their young talent, in addition to experienced campaigners such as Nick Riewoldt and Leigh Montagna, St Kilda have the perfect mix of ages to make the push up into the top four.
Many have predicted them to finish at the bottom end of the top eight, however, I feel like they will experience the type of rapid growth seen by teams such as the Dogs and West Coast who both climbed the ladder much faster than expected.
The Saints are still a few years off realistically challenging for the flag, but they will surprise people this season and be right up there around the top four places.
Where do you think the Saints will finish in 2017?
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