The St Kilda Football Club has had an alarming fall from grace since the heady days of 2008-2011, and unfortunately for their loyal and long-suffering supporters, the worst is still to come.
Most pundits predicted another slip down the ladder for the Saints this season, but perhaps not the free fall that has ensued. The worst part is the weight being carried by the same old shoulders.
Nick Riewoldt has been a giant of the game for a decade or more, and continues to lead the way with his legendary work ethic, evident again in yesterday’s loss to the Swans.
Staggeringly to me, I still get the sense his career has been somewhat underrated.
He’s had a sensational year, should win his sixth best and fairest award, and is my personal All-Australian centre-half forward.
Leigh Montagna has returned to his hard-running, accumulating best after a couple of seasons that saw his impact dulled. He’s only really had one bad game from a ball-winning perspective, against Carlton in Round 7, but he offset that by laying nine tackles.
The leadership shown in a struggling side is to be commended, and he’s gone up a rung in the eyes of many.
Nick Dal Santo has found it hard to recapture his creative best, still being sat on every week by an opposition tagger. It’s become a tough ask for the silky left-footer, and he must be understandably struggling for drive with his premiership dreams in tatters.
No-one would begrudge him looking elsewhere next season, and he’d be a perfect fit at a side like Hawthorn that plays a possession game moving the ball by foot.
Lenny Hayes has been a heart and soul player for as long as anyone can remember, and is still willing his battered body to contest after contest, tackling fiercely and winning clearances. It’s yet to be determined if he’ll continue on next season, but he is one man who has well and truly earned the right to make his own call.
Riewoldt has played a lone hand up forward, and the three midfielders only have Jack Steven for company in averaging the most disposals per match for the team.
Steven was actually my pick for the St Kilda best and fairest at the start of this year, the leader of the next generation. He’s a certainty for a top three finish, and is the number one clearance and contested possession winner for his side, as well as ranking second for tackles, emphasising the defensive mindset that all coaches love.
Another asset is his goal sense, which is always important for a midfielder looking to step up to the elite level.
Support for him is thin on the ground, although David Armitage is still improving.
Farren Ray and Clinton Jones are the best of the next tier at this stage, which is a sobering thought.
Despite the lack of form and off-field troubles he’s suffered through this year, Stephen Milne is still the second highest goal-kicker for the year at the Saints. Starting as the sub yesterday, his superb career is coming to a close and it would surprise most if he decided to play again next year.
In terms of replacing Milne in that specialist forward pocket position, it’s the old “there’s good news and there’s bad news” situation.
The good news is that St Kilda has a plethora of options, with the recruiting staff at one stage being accused of trying to draft every forward pocket in the land.
The bad news is that none of them have shown they can consistently cut it at AFL level.
Adam Schneider is still effective when fit, which isn’t very often, while Ahmed Saad, Terry Milera and Trent Dennis-Lane have all been tried with varying degrees of success.
The latter three seem to get dropped as often as they get selected, with none able to nail down their spot.
Tom Lee has been a bright spot up forward after an unencouraging start to the season. Taller than he looks, he can assume a key position once he puts on some muscle. His distinctive kicking style is unerringly accurate when taking a shot at goal.
Down back, James Gwilt and Sam Fisher are still very good footballers, although seldom have they shared the same field in recent seasons. Like most of the Saints best players, they’re getting on, and Fisher in particular has his best football behind him.
Rhys Stanley is worth persevering with in the back half after a few spluttering seasons up forward. His footballing education as a full-back may help him in future years if he’s required to play in the front half again.
Sean Dempster was a deserved All-Australian defender in 2012, but has been down on that form in 2013.
This is as much a by-product of being far more under siege this year than last, but he’s taking fewer marks, generating less run, and disposing of the ball more inefficiently, not a good mix.
Dylan Roberton and Jarryn Geary have both been good for what they are, but it’s not a defence that strikes fear into the hearts of any forward line.
Ben McEvoy has gone backwards in the ruck, while Tom Hickey looks promising.
Both are still young enough to grow into a quality duo, but both have question marks over their agility in terms of having an impact when resting forward.
The Saints have used 38 players this season, which is at the top end for the AFL. It’s far too early to tell which of the inexperienced types are going to make it, but all are going to need continued exposure at the highest level.
We’ve known how poorly their list is positioned for a couple of years due to varying factors, and it’s going to be a long haul back. You’d think there is going to be three top three picks coming their way in the next few drafts.
Each of them needs to be nailed, and the focus must be on elite midfielders first.
By the time the next wave of youth matures into AFL standard, the gun older players are going to be retired. It’s not inconceivable that the Saints won’t see finals again this decade.
Daniel
Guest
http://www.theroar.com.au/2013/05/20/long-cold-winter-ahead-for-western-bulldogs/ When will you write an article apologizing?? Don’t quit your day job as a writer though because you definitely don’t have a future as a weather man. This cold winter is feeling a bit hot at the moment.
D.Large
Guest
Dogs resurgence??? I'd rugged up for a long, cold winter based on your previous article.
andrew
Guest
Cameron, no doubt other sides are closer to a flag, but can they offer the saints the key defenders they so desperately need, accepting it will largely be dal Santo's call anyway
Cameron Rose
Expert
Good post Tim, an that is a long list of names isn't it. I thought they jumped the shark when bringing in Polo and Pattinson myself. Lovett was a worthy trade at the time, and exactly what the Saints needed. It's easy to forget what a damaging player he could be when at his best. 20 outside touches and a goal a game, you'd think Lyon could have driven him to higher levels still.
Cameron Rose
Expert
You make quite a bit of sense Andrew. I'm of the opinion that Dal Santo should move on, it would be in the interests of both parties. Is North close enough to a flag that it would entice him to go there? Maybe, but he'd probably have other options ahead of them. There's not a side in the top half of the ladder that wouldn't love to have Dal Santo as an extra classy midfielder.
Jax
Guest
It was an observation, not an attack, take a chill pill :-) My point is that this is the price you pay for employing that strategy, same as the Aust Cricket Team only they got the chocolates before the slide. Saints rolled the dice and unfortunately for them they lost, just saying!
BigAl
Guest
Of course he was gunning for a flag - that's what he was supposed to do. That playing group that you say he played week in week out was the best the Saints had, in fact the best going around and could well have won 2 flags. Why on earth would you sacrifice a real chance for a flag to 'develop players" ??? Develop players to do what ??
Jax
Guest
Lyon didn't develop players at St Kilda. He played the same group week in, week out for years as he was gunning for a flag.
Paul Spalding
Guest
In my view a closer look at the Saints year offers a less bleak view than most have posted here. The Saints should've beaten both West Cost and Port Adelaide and gave up decent second half leads in a number of other games in the first half of the season. Their form till the half way stage wasn't too bad. Once injuries hit it seemed Watters wrote the season off and decided to blood all the kids. The result has seen a typical season ending run of fade outs by a young, largely inexperience side. The end of the year can't come quickly enough for them but one should judge them equally on their performances in the first dozen game or so. Let's remember that their last month has been all away games against Geelong, Sydney, Brisbane and a home match against the Hawks. It doesn't come much tougher than that for a young side. Certainly the Saints need to recruit astutely in the next couple of drafts but they can turn it around if they get it right. It's been done before. Personally, I'm looking forward to the last game of the year against Freo. An emotion charged game against Ross Lyon with possible last games for Kosi, Hayes, Milne , Dal ? etc could be just the tonic for all the long suffering Saint's fans.
Jax
Guest
St Kilda were slow to sign him I recall. Not defending Lyon btw
Cameron Rose
Expert
Fruit basket? What am I? A slab of some kind I think would be a better fit... I've always found Gia the type who does damage because the opposition doesn't respect him. Certainly has the smarts to make the most of it, and has made a career out of exploiting such thinking.
Tim
Guest
The issue at the moment with the Saints is purely about list management and emerging talent development. As a die hard Saints fan, I attribute our weakness in both areas to Ross Lyon. I am grateful for the sustained success he brought to the club, but it is clearly evident that he pushed an agenda of recruiting players who had time in the system with a view to fast tracking players to enhance the prospect of bringing home the silverware. Michael Gardiner, Charlie Gardiner, Stephen King, Andrew Lovett, Adam Schneider, Sean Dempster, Fraser Gehrig, Luke Miles, Andrew McQualter, Brett Peake, Jesse Smith, Adam Pattison, Zac Dawson, Tommy Walsh, Dean Polo and the list goes on. This strategy may have also been created by salary cap pressures, but again that relates directly to list management. The writing was on the wall at the end of 2010. Where we are now is right where we should be and need to be, and that is with a focus on developing young players at all levels of the club, and creating a steady stream of polished talent, ala Geelong. Thank you Scott Watters for your efforts to date. Now bring on Cameron Shenton.
Andrew
Guest
what st kilda need is key position defenders. with thompson, grima and lachie hansen all firing at north, the young delaney brothers cannot get a game. both a more than handy types. young, strong bodies. either would walk into the saints side. what north need is one more outside midfielder with polish to assist wells and harvey. north have the inside clearance players (swallow, ziebell and cunnington), and even depth here too levi greenwood only getting game because swallow and ziebell out but getting 38 possessions. as such, surely a straight swap for a key defender for nick dal santo would be tempting for both parties. nicks great mates are moving one (goddard gone. hayes, kosi and milne not there in 2014 for mine). a fresh start would do him well. he is a durable type and with wells and harvey copping the tag, he could be a good pick up.
Andy_Roo
Roar Guru
All hail the mighty rose
Pope Paul VII
Guest
I go for North, you can keep him.
Gordon smith
Guest
A rushed behind away from wining a GF win and still not happy with the coach. As a freo supporter I will accept getting the best out of whoever is available- you're not getting him back, we will keep him thanks very much.
Brendan
Guest
Your correct Cam Stkilda will inevitable get worse before they improve.As a Geelong supporter who watched the Cats lose four Grand Finals i can sympathise with the Saints die hards 4 g/f in 13 yrs for nothing.They cant recruit properly - should have taken Judd ahead of Ball - and so many fringe players from other clubs who delivered nothing. The list they had took too many years to go deep into the finals around about 03-05 they were challengiing for the flag.Maybe like Geelong they will only win a flag when all the players who played in losing G/F are gone.
TomC
Roar Guru
Perhaps someone can explain to me why this comment has been awaiting moderation for the past two hours. Is it because it's off-topic? There's no rude words in there.
Dockersfan
Guest
To be fair it's not the head coaches role to recruit players. Sure they tell the recruiters what sort of player they need but essentially it is up to the recruiters to pick the players that will fill the needs of the coach. Lyon clearly isn't short of young players stepping up at Dockers and that is the result of work from Chris Bond, Simon Lloyd & Co. Not sure who was in charge of recruiting at Saints (although I believe they got the boot a couple of years ago) but blaming the coach for draft picks is just a cop out.
Pope Paul VII
Guest
On the Bright Side as all the older players fade it will free up a lot of cash. Though perilously close to GF wins I think Lyon didn't put enough emphasis on attacking when he was on top and spreading goalkicking responsibility. Some of the blokes having pings late in 2009 hadn't seen the sticks for yonks or were looking for the usual suspects. Sydney in 2006 did something similar in their defensive attitude when they belatedly gave it a crack.