St Kilda were lucky to play in the Thursday night game in Round 5. Very lucky.
While the Saints have copped a little bit of heat after their 86-point loss to Richmond, it wasn’t nearly enough for a team that was in the top six last season, had designs on a top-four position this year, and have lost twice in 13 days by 75 points or more.
People move on from the Thursday game, and the weekend’s events take over. Carlton bore most of the brunt of the critics’ ire following the round, along with Collingwood’s continued woes, while the footy world also celebrated the continued unbeaten runs of Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs.
But St Kilda are awful. They’ve only won five quarters this year. Five. North Melbourne have won more and their record is worse than Melbourne’s under Mark Neeld. This is the level we’re talking.
Somehow, St Kilda have won two games. Both were escapes. The first was in Round 1 against GWS, who struggled as much as any team in the first three rounds, and the Saints were a couple of goals down halfway through the last. Their second win was inexplicably coming from six goals behind against West Coast.
(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Their losses have been really ordinary. Melbourne are 5-0, but have benefited from playing teams at the right time, and have got better as the season has gone on to be almost a top-four certainty and genuine premiership threat. They had 32 scoring shots to 18 against the Saints, and could have easily won by triple their 18-point margin.
Against Essendon, in what was the Dons’ only victory so far, St Kilda didn’t fire a shot in conceding 22 goals. It was truly inept.
There’s no shame in losing to Richmond these days, but even in the Tigers’ four-year run as the supreme side of the competition, they’ve only won three home-and-away games by more than the 86 points they decimated the Saints by.
Let’s make no mistake about it – the St Kilda players gave up last Thursday night.
Some of it is not entirely their fault, given this is a club that has failure embedded in their DNA. One premiership in 124 years of VFL/AFL footy speaks to that. One. Say it again – one.
Even that flag needed a lucky bounce of the ball to win by the barest margin.
Through the 1980s, the Saints had the reputation as a party team. Performance on the field wasn’t as important as at the discos later. It is also when a cult of individual developed that lasted all the way through the ’90s.
Wins didn’t matter as long as Trevor Barker got mark of the week, Tony Lockett kicked his ten or 12, or Robert Harvey won the Brownlow.
(Photo by Getty Images)
Grant Thomas, Ross Lyon, Nick Riewoldt and Lenny Hayes changed all of that. The Saints in the 2000s ended up becoming a great team, but even Riewoldt and Hayes couldn’t overthrow the burden of a failed history and deliver another elusive trophy.
Whenever talk of a Tasmanian team comes up, it tends to be in the guise of something brand new or otherwise a relocation of North Melbourne. At least the Kangaroos have won multiple flags and have had periods of sustained success, with a home base largely at Arden St, which is actually in the suburb they are named after.
The Saints have always been nomads, starting at the Junction Oval and coming back a couple of times after shifts away, moving to Moorabbin, then Waverley Park, then on to Docklands. They were one of the first teams to try and go to Tassie. They have also ventured into New Zealand for reasons unknown.
Even in the last 20 years, they moved their training base away from what was supposed to be their spiritual home of Moorabbin and set up shop on the Mornington Peninsula.
Moorabbin Oval isn’t even in St Kilda. At least the other suburban VFL teams actually played in their suburb and have long, storied histories there.
What St Kilda does have is a proud history with Tasmanian players, having what are widely accepted as three of the top five of all time: Darrel Baldock, the most famous of all, and Brownlow medallists Ian Stewart and Verdun Howell.
Nick Riewoldt, their champion player of this century, was born in Hobart. Barry Lawrence and Jim Ross are also famous St Kilda names.
A move down to the Apple Isle may give the Saints a chance to move on from their history of failure and start a new culture that embraces key elements of their heritage.
(Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
As for this season, it’s shot. They have the second-worst percentage in the competition and it will be a brave person to bet against it taking a further dent against Port Adelaide this Sunday.
That said, the Saints will surely respond after a second abject performance in three weeks, but won’t this be just as pathetic as throwing in the towel? Their effort is proving to be conditional. What a horrific backward step, after putting in so many honest performances in 2020.
It will be better when Paddy Ryder returns, say some fans and judges. West Coast won a flag without Nic Naitanui, if we want to talk about how important ruckmen supposedly are. And what happened to soldier in, soldier out, and anytime, anywhere?
St Kilda are a conditional footy team and have long been a conditional footy club. It’s not something that is shaken easily and perhaps can never be shaken at all in their current format.
The Tasmania Saints has a nice ring to it.
Kyr
Guest
Really?'Correct me if I'm wrong but ,as I remember it,the Saints played in two Grand Finals in the first two years of going to Moorabin with the second year being their Premiership year.Personally,I would look at the shift from Moorabin to Waverly as far more catastrophic.
Republican
Guest
More than premature to be talking relocation or expansion exacerbated now by the Pandemic. 18 is already spreading talent thinly while relocations are abjectly damaging and shouldn't be considered as an option anymore. I would celebrate a new entity entrenched in Canberra but this is a bridge too far since the AFLs GWS folly will heamorage $s for the foreseeable future.
Republican
Guest
Not unlike the GWS mountain - false summits galore.
Thom Roker
Roar Guru
St Kilda has the hardest fixture in 2021 according to Champion Data. It is far too premature to be putting a fork in the Saints and packing them off to Tassie.
Maxy
Roar Rookie
Sarcasm Gerry,prefer quality over quantity,too many so called B graders or depth players running around at the moment.18 is to many in my opinion
ChrisH
Roar Rookie
North could go north and become The Northern Territory Kangaroos. TNT Kangaroos. Could get a sponsorship with TNT.
Gerry
Roar Rookie
What a load of rubbish
Bemused
Guest
This is a patently ridiculous article, the premise is that the Saints haven't played well the last few weeks so lets relocate them. St Kilda have just invested millions in a state of the art training facility as have the state government and AFL then integrated it with all manner of community organisations. The argument that the Saints are Nomads is just wrong, they are one of the few clubs with a clear geographical base in the AFL the whole bayside region from St Kilda to Frankston is their home. It is where the majority of their support comes from and unlike most clubs they still feel connected to their home. Any connection to Tassie is 50 years out of date and as some Taswegiens have pointed out we burnt that bridge a few years ago when we abandoned the state. Whole article smacks of a North supporter desperately trying to deflect the conversation on to someone, anyone else. There is only one reason North keeps being brought up in this conversation and it is because they would not be missed in Victoria not enough people would care if they left. For all their success in the 70's and 90's they have failed to translate that into fans. They are still stuck in Arden St surrounded by the Dogs on one side and Dons on the other which has meant they never had the room to grow their base a problem experienced by South Melbourne and Fitzroy before them. They are stuck with a tiny supporter base that is unlikely to grow or at least not grow as fast as their competitors. They recognised this themselves, playing in Tassie and Canberra and Sydney was meant to try and find a way to grow membership outside of the constraints in Melbourne. They may not move to Tassie but they will always be first to be mentioned when ever relocation comes up The Saints have plenty of their own problems both historical and financial but they just have more fans than North and have deeper roots in their community. The Author should look to Melbourne for an alternate candidate if they need one, their only argument for staying put is their name.
Gerry
Roar Rookie
Do you know there are 29 Tasmanian players currently in the AFL playing. Do you think they would firm the basis of quite a decent stand alone side?Players like Mihocek Reiwoldt Ben Brown? Sounds like a pretty good team to me. Google the current Tassie players and you will see. The infrastructure needs to be put in place but no doubt in my mind a Tasmanian side would be strong and successful very similar the Eagles at their inauguration. Get it done no more talking no more excuses.
Maxy
Roar Rookie
Gee,I wish I was young again.I was a run of the mill A grade country footballer getting 80 bucks for a win nothing for a loss,could get a gig on a afl list and get 100k a year,what a life
Gerry
Roar Rookie
Why a 3rd SA team ? You may also ask. Because these two states have the resources and player capacity to field them. If Victoria can sustain 10 teams for so long albeit with help from all the other teams in the AFL surely one more team from these states is sustainable and good for the competition.
Goalsonly
Roar Rookie
Is it mathematically impossible for no one to be picked on. By the authorities. Sorry I mean the experts. I believe there is hate bile that unites the footy media at times and it surfaces against the weak until some kind of ritual sacrifice is made. Matter of fact a lot of media serves the purpose of fostering hatred and dividing into hate clubs. Trump China Muslims . Or else it serves a bigger agenda. Like destroying the participation of local sport by perpetuating a win loss ethic in an athletic field. If anything stuffs up participation in sport at all ages its the win /loss is everything myth and the aggro it creates.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Why a third WA team though?
Gerry
Roar Rookie
By 2030, I expect to see a 22 game comp with a 3rd WA Team let’s call it Perth Panthers, Tasmanian team Tassie Devils. St Kilda , North Melbourne or GWS moving to Canberra so Canberra Saints Roos or perhaps Capitals. An NT team NT Thunder and a 3rd SA Team perhaps Norwood move from the SANFL like Port did.
Southeastlondon
Roar Rookie
As a Saints fan and proud Tasmanian, bring it on. No one wants North in Tassie.
Southeastlondon
Roar Rookie
From the State government. Already agreed to $10m per annum for an AFL team.
Christo the Daddyo
Roar Rookie
That’s actually not true generally.
Gerry
Roar Rookie
How much being spent to fund Gold Coast and GWS?
Gerry
Roar Rookie
So enough to field a fairly good quality team?
Micko
Roar Rookie
Geelong is 200K population. Hypothetically would you NOT give them a footy team if they wanted to join the AFL? And that goes back to my previous point: Geelong FC would be a huge economic booster for Geelong and that region of Victoria. An AFL team in Tassie would alternate venues between Hobart and Launceston, meaning virtually all the population will have access to games.