Greater Western Sydney star midfielder Dylan Shiel has allegedly been offered a staggering deal from St Kilda.
The Saints are after the services of Shiel for six years and have supposedly offered him more than $8 million dollars.
That offer from the Saints would land Shiel firmly in the top 10 bracket of highest paid players – and in my mind, may just doom St Kilda to another decade of obscurity, at least.
St Kilda have problems. Lots of them. The forward 50 struggles to apply pressure at all and with the ball in hand doesn’t convert. Down back when the going gets tough, they leak goals like it’s going out of style. The midfield has no problem racking up the raw numbers – they just do next to nothing with it when they execute.
It’s easy to see why St Kilda may view Shiel as a bit of a silver bullet solution.
Shiel’s numbers this year: averaging 25.9 disposals but just 9.3 are contested, only six goals for the year, 4.5 clearances and 3.4 tackles and 4.7 inside 50s.
Shiel’s highlights for the year: ranked 9th for total inside 50s, ranked third for total goal assists, ranked 17h for total metres gained and ranked 20th for total clangers.
St Kilda in those zones? As a team? 14th for inside 50s, 14th for goal assists, 14th for clangers.
A poor return, so Shiel should hopefully boost those zones.
St Kilda’s key weaknesses? Last for contested possessions, 135.5 per game. Last for clearances, 33.3 per game. Second last for tackles, 60.0 per game – beating only Brisbane who had 58.0 per game. Third last for tackles inside 50, 9.4 per game. Second last for hitouts, 29.5 per game.
All areas that Shiel is unlikely to boost. But none of these – none of them, are the real reason why Shiel isn’t worth the kind of money St Kilda is throwing his way.
Dylan Shiel. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Heading into the season St Kilda preached about the dawn of a new age. The Saints were shooting for a spot in the top four and believed that they had the weapons they needed to get there.
Instead, St Kilda finished the season in 16th spot with just four wins – locked with Gold Coast on the same tally and barely leading Carlton, one of the most performing sides in history.
It was a remarkable drop off for the Saints who, in 2017 finished in 11th spot with 11 wins and seemed to have all the hallmarks of a side ready to climb, climb, climb.
Since taking over in 2014, Alan Richardson has coached St Kilda to the following finishes. 18th (2014), 14th (2015), 9th (2016) then 11th and now 16th.
The Saints are clearly panicking. The plan has fallen apart. In October of 2017 the Saints extended Richardson’s contract until 2020 and they can’t afford to sack him now. There’s no real big fishes in the pond as far as senior coaches go and they’ve already invested so much into his vision as it is. Sunken cost fallacy anyone?
Coach Alan Richardson of the Saints. (AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy)
So what changed between 2017 and 2018? Well, around the league a lot did. But within the four walls at St Kilda, only one important thing changed.
The retirement of skipper Nick Reiwoldt. Reiwoldt said farewell to the game and with him left 336 games of experience and more than 700 goals. That void is yet to be replaced and Dylan Shiel is not the man to do it.
Shiel is a stunning footballer, but a leader he is not – not so far at least. Phil Davis and Callan Ward have been running the show as the league’s longest serving co-captains for years and years now. Joining Davis and Ward is Josh Kelly, named vice captain this year with Stephen Coniglio – while Matt de Boer rounds out the group. Not listed: Dylan Shiel.
This roll of the dice for the services of a fringe A grade player is purely a knee-jerk reaction to a huge drop off from year to year. The Saints are crying out for leadership.
The man for St Kilda was Gold Coast’s departing co-captain Tom Lynch. Sadly – he’s always been destined for Richmond.
A wise man once said ‘more is lost to indecision than wrong decision. Indecision is the thief of opportunity. It will steal you blind.’
It looks like St Kilda have taken this wisdom to heart but in this case it really doesn’t apply. Throwing all your money at the next best thing is just going to doom the Saints to more mediocrity.
For the hopes and dreams of Saints fans in the future – let’s hope Shiel waves the money away and heads to Hawthorn instead.
George
Guest
Some seriously disastrous sentences in this article. But that's beside the point. At what stage has St Kilda stated that Shiel will be their so-called "silver bullet solution"? Aren't they just investing in a player who will likely improve their list? Aren't North trying the same with Gaff? Didn't Sydney do the same with Buddy? Such examples are countless. And to suggest St Kilda should've gone for Tom Lynch because of leadership - well, that's just absurd. On what evidence are you basing that suggestion? If anything, current evidence would suggest he isn't much of a leader at all. I get it, though. St Kilda make for easy targets. Keep polishing those cliches, kid.
Macterminator
Roar Rookie
I can't see Hawks satisfying GWS with what they can offer I think it will be either bombers or blues
Macterminator
Roar Rookie
That's the trouble I see with the Hawks getting Sheil I don't think they will be prepared to part with enough to satisfy GWS I think it will be bombers or blues
Damo
Guest
Sheil is exactly what we need. Firstly, he IS a leader. He turned down a leadership role at GWS which was a big indicator he was to move on at seasons end. Secondly, Saints biggest issue is not the talent in our forward line but the delivery into our forward line. Dylan is 3rd for goal assists in the league. Lastly, the money needs to be spent, and Dylan is worth the money! Not like we’re blowing it on Rockliff, Trengove, Watts and Thomas!!
Andrew
Guest
I agree Shiel will likely choose hawks but 14 and a second rounder would not be enough for GWS. Maybe 14 and 2019 1st rounder (14-18) would be round the mark.
Birdman
Roar Rookie
I reckon we get him with pick 14 and maybe one of a 2019 second round pick or Jon Ceglar assuming Sheil nominates the Hawks. I'm very confident he will.
Mac Hawk
Roar Rookie
Agree. You nailed it with the fringe A grader rating. As a Hawk fan I would be happy to have him but on less money than we pay Mitchell and for no more than a first round pick and a ruckman.
Kanga
Guest
Hes obviously talking about Roughead who cant hardly mark above his head. Gunston is a star and so is Breust, Hawthorn need a pack breaking forward who can mark = L.Casbolt who will cost nothing to get from Carlton and the Hawks don't need him to be a big goal kicker they already have those players (they are just smaller guys). Hawks desperately need another quality midfielder (like Shiel) but simply don't have the draft picks to get Shiel from the Giants. Lewis is hopeless in the Demons backline (turnover machine) and unless they move him further up the ground and give him more bench time they will continue to suffer the consequences.
Samuel Ord
Roar Guru
Jack - appreciate the feedback. Answering a few of your questions; >Using Shiel to cement the club's status as a destination club is a good idea. Being labelled a destination club doesn't impact how you perform on the ground though and that's St Kilda's real issue. >Likewise, if you waste an extra $400,000 a year on Shiel - how do you propose the Saints are going to pay for these other big fish? >Why does St Kilda need to use Shiel to raise the standards at training and around the club? This is a professional sports club. They should be doing that themselves. Shiel is also not a premiership player, so there's no reason to think he's the man to be raising standards to the right level. He's never even played in a grand final. >I'm not suggesting Shiel wouldn't have a positive impact on the midfield around him. Just that he's not the solution to most of the issues they face currently. Appreciate the feedback. Have a good day.
Samuel Ord
Roar Guru
Appreciate the kind feedback Birdman! I really like the first line you've got there - that perfectly sums up the message I was trying to get across. The Saints are really, really desperate to sell hope to the fan base in the form of a big signing and they've made the decision to throw a fat stack of cash down the well in order to do so. Unlikely to pay off!
Dean
Guest
Who would he rather go to? Two sides that have been unsuccessful over the past 20 plus years or the most successful side in the last 50 years. The only reason shiel will pick the blues or saints is money. Carlton has been rebuilding for 20 years and it will be another 5 years before there really pushing for a premiership at which time he will be 30, that's if they are not in another rebuilding stage. The saints have gone backward in the last couple of years with a few list issues. The hawks might not be vying for a premiership next year but at least they have a good track record of turning the club around quickly I know who l would pick.
Jack Billings
Guest
Nah you are right mate, Saints should just sit around and do nothing, not try and improve. How about getting Shiel may be the catalyst for other FAs looking our way? How about Shiel raising the bar internally and setting standards? How about Shiel copping more attention and letting guys like Jack Steven off the chain more? Am glad the club is having a crack, they won't get Shiel but have an abundance of cap space so the salary is a non issue and is better than over playing some of the others on the list.. Poorly thought out article, you should speak to Damien Barrett about a job.
Birdman
Roar Rookie
A broken down 2018 AA Jack Gunston? He's no Jordan Lewis..
Stix
Guest
"The Saints should not over-spend on Shiel."..... The problem is they would be overspending in terms of salary for multiple years + pick 4. Overspending both ways is not a winning strategy but Shiel will save their incompetence by choosing Carlton instead.
Gecko
Roar Pro
Yes, well argued Samuel. Shiel will add some needed class to the Saints' midfield but big games require midfielders with strengths in leadership, contested possession and tackles. Shiel has none of these and is not a recognised big game performer. The Saints should not over-spend on Shiel.
Demons19
Guest
D.Shiel has no interest in St.Kilda anyway and St.Kilda would be crazy to pay him that much. Who would Shiel rather kick to, a broken down Roughead and Gunston? Curnow, McKay, McGovern? or Membrey, McCartin, Battle?
IAP
Guest
Let’s face it, St Kilda are irrelevant. They’ve probably got the list with the least prospects in the league too, other than maybe Good Coast. They’ve got no fans and they’re going nowhere. The only way for them to attract decent footballers is stacks of cash, because there’s nothing else there for them.
Birdman
Roar Rookie
Brilliant analysis, Samuel. Saints desperate to sell hope and prepared to burn a pile cash to do it but Shiel is no messiah on his own. At least at the Hawks he can share the heavy lifting with Mitchell and O'Meara and keep them in prospect for another flag. At the Saints, Dylan will be drawing down his superannuatipn early but will prob. retire without a real sniff at silverware.