For the second trade period in a row St Kilda were big players in free agency and the draft, telegraphing from a fair way out who they were going out to get and holding their nerve to get the deals done.
It’s a risky strategy given how many clubs have gone down the same path and completely bombed out, conjuring memories of the Lions under Michael Voss recruiting a bunch of injury-prone veterans who wound up off the field more often than on it, including the infamous Brendan Fevola trade that sent the club into a seven-year spiral.
It is probably a surprising fact to many that St Kilda’s list is the oldest in the AFL, which is what happens when you go courting players in their 30s, as they did again this year, even tempting a player out of retirement to push their average age up to 25.4 years.
In free agency the Saints went after the biggest fish, attracting Brad Crouch from Adelaide, who held out as long as they could before settling for the pitiful compensation offered for their 2019 best and fairest. They also picked up unrestricted free agent, Shaun McKernan, from the Bombers.
Brad Crouch is becoming a Saint for 2021 (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)
St Kilda were very quiet in trade week until the final day, when Richmond extracted a high price for Jack Higgins, who sent with Pick 21 and a future fourth for Pick 17 and a future second.
The Saints also traded Nick Hind back to the Bombers for a scatter of useless picks that didn’t end up getting used, vacating a senior list spot, so expect the club to look at some players to draft in during the preseason and be active in the midseason draft as they currently have only 40 listed players.
A couple of weeks later Saints assistant coach Jarryd Roughead managed to coax his erstwhile Hawks premiership teammate James Frawley out of retirement, bringing a Frawley back to the club and providing some necessary playing assistant coach experience that is very much in vogue with the soft cap cuts seeing coaching staff decimated.
On draft night the Saints had to wait until the very end of the first round to pick at 26 after the pick slid five places, with Matthew Allison from Calder Cannons the draft bolter coming in before several other more highly fancied prospects.
Then they traded up for Pick 43 with Pick 54 and Richmond’s future fourth in a deal with the Hawks that helped St Kilda secure mature ager and former GWS academy graduate Tom Highmore, who spent the year at South Adelaide playing SANFL and will likely be a ready-made player.
Crouch is the midfield accumulator the Saints need to take the unit to the next level, provided he can stay out of trouble and jell with his new teammates.
McKernan appears to be a depth replacement for the injury to Paddy Ryder and will provide strong competition for the tall forwards in the preseason.
Frawley is a quality defender who the Saints have brought in to mentor the younger key defensive players on the list and model the behaviours required of professional players.
Higgins is the other piece of the puzzle for St Kilda’s run at the flag, with plans for the desperately unlucky former Tiger to run through the midfield and rotate forward, while there is still plenty of time for him to chase flags as the Saints look to consolidate themselves in the top eight.
Allison is a greenhorn key position player that has the versatility to play in the goal square or up the wings, yet he’ll take some time to develop and may not feature in the AFL this year.
Highmore is another mature ager for the Saints and looks set to be this year’s late bloomer, turning 23 on the eve of the season, slotting into the backline as a third tall with senior experience either in the senior team or for Sandringham.
St Kilda have delisted ten players, with a retirement and a trade bringing the number players leaving to 12, but they brought in only six players through the avenues available to them. They have up to three places to fill and will announce training lists soon.
The club’s 2021 draft position is good, although having to give their future second-rounder up for Higgins means their picks are a little shallow, so their strategy will be similar to this year and hoping they can find talent in the later rounds after their first pick.
A finals finish in 2020 augurs well for the club’s chances in 2021, though by the next trade period the list will have seven players past the age of 30. Then again, Geelong will have 12, while West Coast and Richmond will have eight each.
The Saints have planned for immediate success without regard to birth certificates, which appears to have been a winning strategy in 2020. However, with the most difficult fixture of all in 2021, they will need to draw deeply on their resources to get back to the finals, which explains their trade rationale.
Thom Roker
Roar Guru
From what I've been told, he was rated talent wise much higher than where he was drafted in the 2nd round, with West Coast in particular into him and then went cold on him after they met with him. ESPN had him going at 23, Cal Twomey at 28, and the Roar at 29 and AFL Draft Central at 28, but he fell to 36. To give that some context, only 3 of the next 15 picks made their AFL debut and only 36 players from the draft made their debuts at all, so even in a weak draft he hasn't been able to distinguish himself. Still, you're dead set right about the age of these dumb kids, whose brains don't develop fullyuntil they are 28yo.
Vercetti1986'
Roar Rookie
Don’t get me wrong, I hope he is able to turn his life around and he was only 19 years old when these incidents occurred. People in their late teens and early 20s can tend to do some things they really regret later in life. He was naive and stupid for what he did and he will have to pay the price unfortunately for his sake. It is a touchy issue and it will work against him for some time. There is of course always two sides to a story and I don’t really know much about the details of his case tbh. Just the basic facts and summary. It is always hard to know what really happened with these sort of things. All I know is that he got charged and that will be against his name. I just can’t see him playing in the AFL or any lower level leagues anytime soon .
Thom Roker
Roar Guru
The trial for Elijah Taylor's case said he was asleep at the time of the incident and was attacked by his girlfriend. His retaliation came after this and the aggressive nature of it led to his charges. She was also the one to breach Covid protocols in August. In terms domestic violence, this was complicated and I don't think it ends his career. I just don't see it happening at St Kilda.
Vercetti1986'
Roar Rookie
I would be astounded if the Saints or any club for that matter would even contemplate giving Taylor another opporunity. I am all for giving people second chances, provided the offences were relatively minor, to redeem themselves but I think it is very hard to see him playing in professional sport ever again. Just too much personal baggage and not worth the risk with everything that he did last year. I think St Kilda's judgement with recruiting players has been excellent in the past couple of years and Taylor would not even be in their conversations. The club has been working carefully to rebuild their image and culture for a few years and they will stick to their guns. James Gallagher and his team have done a superb job and they know what they are doing I reckon.
Thom Roker
Roar Guru
Corey Ellis is a player who suffered from being an inside midfielder at Richmond which had elite inside mids, then going to the Suns where he was too similar to the incumbents and lacked the pace they desperately needed. He's gone to Coburg and would be a great cheap depth player. Just read that Elijah Taylor has been linked to Sandy, but surely the Saints don't go there...
Vercetti1986'
Roar Rookie
It will be interesting to see what happens then. Some of these guys that play in the seconds, generally speaking, are good enough to be regulars in the AFL sides.
Thom Roker
Roar Guru
Yep. The Saints have not to my knowledge announced who might train with them, so the Sandringham announcement could mean more than just a change of scenery. Bear in mind that any player training at any club is fair game until a contract is signed. In the first SSP, the Suns signed Sam Fletcher when he was training with the Box Hill Hawks. In fact, he's signed with Frankston and worth a look. Mitch Riordan, also from Dandenong and also delisted by the Suns is worth a look too. Both undrafted, but talented and still young.
Vercetti1986'
Roar Rookie
Highmore will provide much needed depth in the key defensive stocks at the Saints. He is only 22 and might be able to break into the side sooner than he would have if he was drafted at 18. Interesting news about the SSP. Didn't know about them having the option to recruit 3 more players. Just quickly reading up on Ross and Coffield, they played in the VFL premiership sides for Hawthorn and Richmond respectively. Might be worth giving them a shot to prove themselves at the senior level.
Thom Roker
Roar Guru
Tom Highmore is a mature ager and the Saints can still 3 add more players in the SSP, which means they are in the open market as of now. Jack Bell and Jackson Ross have signed with Sandy, so they are a chance, as is Dan Coffield, older brother of Nick.
Vercetti1986'
Roar Rookie
Yes, well I have been really impressed with Wilkie. He is reliable and hasn't really put a foot wrong since they got him. Kent has been ok but I doubt he will get many games this season with Higgins now on the list. Parker was delisted last year and played with passion when he debuted but I think he was pretty limited as a player and it was not surprising he was not given another contract with the squeeze all clubs have felt. Disappointed Hind was traded because he is a really quick player but he is another one that would struggle to make the side now. It is good that he will get more opportunities at Essendon in their AFL side and might even be a better option than Fantasia was for them in the past couple of seasons.
Vercetti1986'
Roar Rookie
Why cry over spilled milk now? It was 3 years ago and it is a waste of time to dissect the character of everyone at the club. Nobody is perfect and everyone has a history. Some better than others but everybody has something. Just look at Hardwick at Richmond right now. That isn’t looking too good for him and the most successful club of the past 4 years, not to mention all their off-field stuff last year. Not excusing what Lethlean reportedly did but that was at the AFL and he is now working at St Kilda. So long as he is a professional and does his job, without bringing the club into disrepute in any way, then I think we should just worry about that and not his personal past. He is only one cog in a big organisation and it is the coaches, players, President, CEO and board that are more important to how the club operates anyway. I think we do have all the pieces in place to contend for a flag. I think the list is in much better shape than it was 24 months ago and it might only be a matter of time before things fully click. We all just want the club to win that second flag and I think we have the right people in the right positions running everything now.
robertbrob13226
Roar Rookie
1. Lethlean should never have got the job in the first place ( mates looking after mates) not a good look for the club. Football era,s ? ,well for us saints it’s been decades. We are moving forward slowly but if you don’t have the cattle you can’t win , 2 Flags in 100 years maybe but not in 2020 decade
Vercetti1986'
Roar Rookie
Unfortunately Hannebery has not played as many games as he should have so far at the Saints but the club was not in the best position at the end of 2018 and needed to take some risks. People have accused the Saints of being too conservative in recent years but when they did take some calculated risks, then everyone would think they’d fail. The 2019 trade period was a complete success after taking some very bold risks. Howard, Ryder, Butler, Hill and Jones were excellent last year and helped them go from 14th to 6th without compromising the future. I think their record in recent years with drafting and recruiting has proven they have a competent and capable management, that knows what it is doing. Things just take time and I have a really good feeling about this group and the coach running it. Ratts seems like a really good guy and a smart coach, that the players really respect. The could not be said about the previous few coaches. I think, getting back to Hanners, that he has been great in the games he has played but it simply has not been enough. I am hopeful that his body is now right after finishing first in the running trials today and looks really fit according to reports. He was important in that final against the Dogs last year and I doubt they would’ve won that final without his leadership. I think Crouch was a smart acquistion by the club. It basically cost them nothing in terms of draft picks and they would have been stupid to refuse it. Crouch did have that off-field incident but I am prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt since it was his first real incident and the Crows had a shocking year. He could become an A-grader under Ratts, just like Jack Steele did in 2020. I reckon he will bolster the St Kilda midfield this year and reduce the reliance on Steele. Lethelan made some mistakes when he was working at the AFL HQ but i think he has done a good job so far. Everybody has a past and I think he has been instrumental in helping turn the club around in recent years. He should viewed on his merits as a football manager and not what he did 4 years ago. There is no denying the club has improved tremendously in the last 24 months after being a basket case under Richardson for 5 years. I am honestly quite astounded at how rapidly they went from a regular bottom 5 side under Richo to 6th and making a semi final in 2020 under such difficult circumstances. I think there is every reason to be optimistic and I reckon they will win a flag within the next few years. I get that after following them for 50+ years that it is easy to lose faith but we live in the era where Richmond and the Dogs have won flags. There is no reason why the Saints can’t do the same thing in the next few years and make history.
robertbrob13226
Roar Rookie
$1.4 million Will Hannebery @ Crouch be able to manage 23 games total between them. Another incompetent trade but the school teacher @ his discarded ex AFL house employee. Successful clubs have Football people prominent positions ,Until the saints get this right we will always be unsuccessful. The old saying rots from the head down . Saints supporter 50 years +
Vercetti1986'
Roar Rookie
It will produce some some error if you don’t take that into account that but for all intents and purposes, it is good enough. I forgot about Hanners tbh. He hasn’t played many games for the Saints but he was pretty good in the games he played last year. He is defintely ahead of some of the players like Ross and Geary if he remains fit so he does make it into the best 22 if he is available.
Aransan
Roar Rookie
Yes, I took days and months into account — our averages are consistent, yours understate the average by about 6 months, a 26 year old would on the average be 26.5 years old so adding 0.5 to your 24.72 gives 25.22 compared with my 25.12 and in fact there is a slight bias in favour of players born in the first half of the year — 52% are born in the first half of the year according to Kevin Sheehan, even higher in their draft year due to their greater maturity. I included Hannebury 29 instead of your Geary 32 which drops your average by 0.12 to 24.6, adding 0.5 gives 25.1 which is as close as you could get to my 25.12.
Vercetti1986'
Roar Rookie
544/22 = 24.72, I used the ages of the 19 players I mentioned in my previous comment above and included Ryder (32), Carlisle (29) and Geary (32) for the final 3 players in the best 22. Your calculation is probably more accurate because I have not taken months and days into account, which would affect it. It doesn't really matter but it is an interesting metric to assess how close a side is to premiership contention. Yeah, 1966 was the last flag. That will be 55 years this year, unless they win the flag, which would certainly be a big story if they do.
Aransan
Roar Rookie
My calculations give average age of list at January 1 of 25.08 years, average age of best 22 — 25.12 years. St Kilda supporters have certainly been patient.
Vercetti1986'
Roar Rookie
I think the average age of their best 22 is about 24.7 years of age as of this month. It is still quite young and the good thing is that their core group of players are all around that age and should only get better as time rolls on. I think they are in a pretty good position for the next few seasons and might just be on the verge of becoming a real premiership contender. Fingers crossed for the sake of St Kilda supporters, who have been waiting for 50+ years for another flag. Hopefully patience and commitment will be rewarded soon.
Vercetti1986'
Roar Rookie
I would’ve thought the 1997 prelim was more painful for Dog’s supporters. Adelaide had no right to win that final but they somehow pulled it off. The Dogs would’ve been a real chance that year had they made it through to face the Saints in the GF, ironically. The Dogs were a great team in 1998 too but the Crows again denied them from making the grand final but that time it was a belting rather than a game that slipped through their fingers.