Our favourite footy clubs provide a compelling narrative. Think Port Adelaide, with their rags to riches story, or Sydney’s famous ‘Bloods’ culture, supposedly the envy of all other clubs.
Compare that to Carlton, where the lack of a coherent or stable narrative has led fans to constant frustration.
All clubs’ prospects are heavily influenced by the narrative built by their leadership. And finally, after years of up and down, St Kilda are doing it just right.
So why do some narratives succeed where others fail? It comes down to two elements: realism and commitment.
First and foremost the narrative needs to be realistic. Just last year, a lack of realism probably cost Guy McKenna his job. Gold Coast are clearly building something exciting, yet a slight hiccup in late 2014 was enough to get the coach sacked. With a more realistic timeframe for success, ‘Bluey’ might still have a job.
Commitment to the narrative is equally important. Years ago, North Melbourne began the slow process of building a top-four team through the draft, and while the going has been tough, they have stuck to their guns. Case in point: they have retained and used both their first and second-round draft picks for the last nine consecutive years. Now, finally, that commitment to the narrative is starting to pay dividends.
For Saints fans, the current picture is bleak. The side crashed to their 27th wooden spoon last year, with the dream of a second flag nowhere in sight. Most of their modern champions have either retired or left for greener pastures. And the memory of coming so agonisingly close in 2009 and 2010 is now just that, a memory.
And yet supporters do not despair, they do not flee. Why? Because they have hope. Because they have a clear direction. Because they have a narrative.
To be sure, this rebuild will take time. The Saints will not be in finals, much less flag contention, for many years. But what they do have going for them is significant.
They have a coach whose praises could not be sung more loudly. They have a gun midfielder in Jack Steven who has just recommitted to the club for the long haul. They have an ageing captain who knocked back offers to end his career in comfort, opting instead to stay and cement his legacy as one of the true modern champions of the game.
And then they have their kids.
In years to come, the 2014 draft may be looked back on as a watershed moment for the club. Obviously it’s far too early to call, but already it’s been compared to Hawthorn’s 2004 draft, which brought Jarryd Roughead and Buddy Franklin to the club.
In Patty McCartin and Hugh Goddard, the Saints look to have key position bookends for the next 10 years, while they have also added athletic midfielder Daniel McKenzie, and dangerous small forward Jack Lonie. That’s in addition the handsome crop of midfielders drafted last year, headed by Jack Billings and Luke Dunstan.
The rookie draft too has played a big part. St Kilda has shown it is keen to snare talent from that avenue, with the likes of Eli Templeton and Mav Weller coming down that path last year.
In the short term, St Kilda isn’t going too far up the ladder, so they will take more top-end picks into next few drafts.
With a bit of patience, and the commitment required to stay the course in the face of pressure to deviate, St Kilda will rise again. The narrative isn’t an easy one, but it’s strong and it’s exciting. The Saints are building slowly and cleverly, and are well and truly on their way.
Gecko
Guest
AR, Interesting point re the Saints playing finals even before Lyon came along. I agree the core of that team was very good but my comment was about the 'bottom half' of that team, who all had shocking disposal (Kozitsky, the Clarke brothers, McQualter, Eddy, Peake, Baker, Clint Jones, Blake, Zac Dawson). There's a telling comment from Leigh Matthews during the 2010 GF. He observes, "There's half a dozen players in this St Kilda side that you don't actually want the ball in their hands". Ross Lyon got amazing results given the team's limitations. As for your final sentence... errr... good luck.
Me Too
Guest
saints played in two prelims and three finals series in the immediate years before Lyon came along. they were already a contender and who knows what may have happened if he hadn't been there - he didn't build the core of that team, he simply built a new game plan and filled holes left by retiring players such as gehrig, jones, and harvey with older gops, instead of developing youth. he enjoyed the core of that team at their peak, so hardly performed miracles. did well, and it was worth the risk, but now we are rebuilding from near scratch. but the saints of the AFL era are better than the VFL era and we'll be back and playing finals in a few years and likely stay up for another seven to eight years before the cycle begins again.
Luke
Guest
Really good read from a die hard St. Kilda supporters point of view. I would hope that they could get next gun mid in the draft and perhaps another key defender as well. And maybe with a strong finish to 2016 to build excitement along with plenty of salary cap space to sign up a free agent such as Sidebottom or Hannebery. This could get the Saints on track for an early 2017 finals appearance.
Gecko
Guest
The Saints' narrative was to be a bottom half club forever. Then Lyon came along and, with a team half full of reserves players, dragged them kicking and screaming into two grand finals (actually three). That was never part of the narrative and a team half-full of reserves players will probably never get near a GF for the rest of this century. Richardson looks to have started well but he's got huge shoes to fill. Meanwhile, the Saints are back in familiar territory, and back as everybody's second favourite team.
Gyfox
Guest
This is one football club that was unlucky to lose a GF, dropped its bundle subsequently & has a huge powerhouse of supporters. Can only go up!