Luke Ball of Collingwood in action during a Collingwood Magpies training session at Gosch's Paddock in Melbourne. Slattery Images
Father-son recruit Nicholas Winmar made his debut on the weekend, arguably the only positive to come from a horror 2010 preseason for St Kilda.
St Kilda’s performance this season has been dismal, with two-and-a-half wins from their eight games, entrenching last year’s grand finalists deep in the bottom half of the ladder.
While many experts have marked their Round 1 loss to Geelong as the pin in the St Kilda bubble, it could be argued that the bubble burst in the 2010 pre-season, when they gave up Luke Ball for nothing.
The Saints, although playing in two grand finals last year, had the writing on the wall from the start of the last season.
In 2009, they were the team to beat. The Saints football had taken over the Geelong style of play, and in result, they finished on top of the AFL ladder with 20 wins and just two losses.
After steamrolling the Pies in the qualifying final, then edging out the Dogs in the preliminary, St Kilda went into the Grand Final favourites against the mighty Cats.
As is well documented, the gripping match ebbed and flowed, before the Cats finally outran the Saints by 12 points.
With such a successful year finishing with no silverware, the Saints looked set in the 2010 pre-season to fill in the missing pieces that ultimately cost them the flag.
Leg speed was a major priority as well as extra depth in the midfield.
But from the end of the 2009 Grand Final to the start of the 2010 NAB Cup, the outside of the St Kilda bubble started to burst, as the Saints’ list went backwards.
St Kilda’s 2007 captain Luke Ball wanted out of the club, after being unable to secure a permanent spot in the team during the 2009 season.
St Kilda refused to agree with Collingwood’s offer of picks 25 and 65 during trade week, with St Kilda coach Ross Lyon saying that Ball was worth more than a 25th pick.
The deal fell through, Ball quit the Saints and nominated for the pre-season draft. Collingwood picked him up with pick 30.
St Kilda’s first pick wasn’t until pick 32, where they selected Nicholas Winmar.
Between picks 25-32, Essendon picked up Travis Colyer and Geelong drafted Mitch Duncan. They too could be wearing a St Kilda jumper right now.
During trade week, they also picked up Essendon speedstar Andrew Lovett and Fremantle midfielder Brett Peake.
Lovett, who was traded for St Kilda’s pick 16, was thrown out of the club before the season started, and in the end the Saints were left with nothing.
While St Kilda could be excused for not forecasting Lovett’s future, the club failed to make any changes to their best 22. They added no extra leg speed, lost Luke Ball for no extra picks, and lost Lovett (and pick 16).
Collingwood in the mean time filled in the holes in their list, acquiring Ball and ruckman Darren Jolly to their squad.
They also took the tough track, persisting with young players such as Sharrod Wellingham, Brent Macaffer, Jarryd Blair, Danye Beams, Steele Sidebottom and Ben Reid.
That meant that the Pies’ older brigade missed out, including Tarkyn Lockyer, Shane O’Bree, Paul Medhurst and Simon Prestigiacomo.
Twelve months down the track, the Pies added a 15th premiership to their collection, and the Saints again finished runners-up, unable to match the Pies’ leg speed or midfield depth on the first Saturday in October.
It’s fair to argue that the Saints went within a whisker of a premiership in 2010, drawing the first grand final, but St Kilda’s list managers failed to improve on the 2009 squad.
Dale Thomas, Scott Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom ran riot in the second grand final, as did Luke Ball in the black and white.
St Kilda however couldn’t match the Pies’ youthful speed, and although they got so close in the first, Collingwood proved they were the best team in 2010.
And with the St Kilda school-girl photo scandal breaking in May last year, the club’s off-field drama had hit an all-time high.
Off-field issues surrounding the photo scandal lasted all year, prompting outsiders to wonder just how much affect it was having on the playing group.
The ordeal continued through this year’s pre-season with the Ricky Nixon story breaking, and St Kilda finally finished in a bundled heap before a ball had even been bounced.
Their on-field resolve would soon be tested as they met with old foes Geelong in the Round 1 blockbuster.
But it wasn’t to be, with the Cats holding on for a one-point win.
Now with just two-and-a-half wins from seven games, their finals hope have been all but written off.
Off-field problems can be kept off-field. But as time caught up with the Saints, they’re lack of list management, or of luck, has cost them a premiership.
The Saints, although not going backwards, did not move forward.
Collingwood improved their list, and they have a cup to prove it.
Come 2011, St Kilda still don’t have that leg speed, and with spiritual leader Lenny Hayes out for the season, they also don’t have the midfield depth required to challenge the league’s best.
If only St Kilda could do 2010 all over again.
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