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Opinion
It’s been 12 years since St Kilda finished in the top four, their second longest such streak since they won their only premiership in 1966.
It’s been Brett Ratten’s turn to hold the poisoned chalice over the last two and a half years, since he took over the reins as caretaker coach from Alan Richardson.
He was able to oversee a jump from 14th to fifth in his first full season at the helm, but last year the Saints hovered around the fringes of the eight without ever really threatening to jump in.
Their early season form was punctuated by two awful losses when Essendon and Richmond combined to beat them by 161 points, giving their percentage a hammering that they could never recover from.
The question now is what does the real St Kilda look like, and can they stand up?
Experienced players like Jake Carlisle, James Frawley, Shaun McKernan were barely fringe players last year, but all got games as times. Dylan Roberton has finally retired. Luke Dunstan and Jack Lonie, who Brett Ratten never considered in his best team, were shown the door.
That’s a lot of AFL experience gone, but the Saints weren’t players in the free agency or trade market, with only draftees coming in to replace them. This is a club that seems caught in no man’s land.
What’s new
While St Kilda didn’t land any on-field recruits that turned heads, they certainly did with the signing of Ernie Merrick to the coaching staff.
The Scottish-born Merrick is best known for coaching over 300 games in the A-League, having devoted most of his life to the world game. Given he’s spent most of his life in Melbourne, he certainly won’t have escaped the huge hold VFL/AFL has on the city during that time, but it’s not his oval ball acumen that has seen him make his way to Moorabin.
Merrick has been brought in to mentor Brett Ratten, and be a sounding board for all of the coaching panel. Who knows what his work around communications and building relationships will have on the field, but if Ratten hasn’t been at his best in recent seasons and has found a different way to be effective as a senior coach, perhaps we will see those results in the win/loss column.
Star on the rise
In terms of more established talent, Max King and Rowan Marshall are the two who could explode into superstar status and form the basis of a top-four contender for their club.
(Photo by Darrian Traynor/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)
It won’t surprise anyone if King becomes the best key forward in the competition at some stage of his career. After missing his first year with an ACL, his first two seasons playing at AFL level have been impressive regardless of the promise of more to come.
King is lighting quick and agile for a 202cm man, albeit he did look to lose a bit of both last season after more time spent in the gym to try and build up his skinny frame. He was one of the top five contested marks in the competition last year, and put some mid-season kicking yips behind him to finish accurately in front of goal in the second half of the season.
It’s Marshall’s sixth year of AFL football and his time is now. He’s a beast of a mark, can gather the ball around the ground and has no problem rucking all day or being a focal point up forward.
For the last couple of years, Saints fans have felt that when Marshall plays well, their team plays well. It was certainly true last year when they were 8-5 with him and 2-7 without.
Who’s under the pump
There’s a few at the Saints.
Jade Gresham has only played 14 games in two seasons, and needs to stay on the park to help transform the St Kilda midfield and forward-line. Dan Hannebery has played 15 games in three years since coming across from Sydney on good money. He’s on the wrong side of 30 now, but these two would add another dimension if they can stay fit and produce quality football.
Brad Crouch is on good coin too, and needs to be more of a weapon than he is, given how much of the football that he can get. He was a slow starter last year, but needs to hit the ground running and give opposition teams something to think about other than Jack Steele.
Of the younger brigade, it would be nice to see Hunter Clark play a full season and put himself in All Australian calculations. The talent is there, and the fire in his stomach should be burning given he had no say after Round 10 last year.
Best-case scenario
St Kilda finds their best football from 2020, which gave plenty of good teams a scare. Yes, they were a mini-Richmond in some ways with their small forwards and pressure game, and you do wonder if there was something to the new stand rule seeing both teams slide back down the ladder.
Similar to Carlton and Fremantle in many ways, the Saints are coming off a year when injuries were perhaps a reason for never seeing consistent football, but gave them a chance to build up depth. You can almost guarantee one of these clubs will play finals, and possibly even challenge top four and six.
St Kilda would love to see the likes of Jarryn Geary, Dan Hannebery, Seb Ross and Dean Kent either not playing or be under severe pressure for their spot due to the next wave cementing theirs.
Worst-case scenario
Another nothing year, and that top-five finish in 2020 fading into a memory, rather than being a building block for something more significant.
They can’t afford to have any horror games, or go missing for large patches like they did last season. Absolutely competitiveness can’t be negotiable.
The list will start to have a bland feel to it if the Saints can’t produce something that makes them looks like a contender, or that they could be in 2023. It’s been a long rebuild, having already brought in the likes of Hannebery, Crouch, Brad Hill, Zak Jones, Paddy Ryder, Dan Butler, Jack Higgins and Dougal Howard to complement their draftees.
It’s moving day.
B: Daniel McKenzie Dougal Howard Jimmy Webster
HB: Tom Highmore Callum Wilkie Jack Sinclair
C: Brad Hill Jack Steele Dan Hannebery
HF: Jack Higgins Tim Membrey Jade Gresham
F: Dan Butler Max King Jack Billings
Foll: Rowan Marshall Zak Jones Brad Crouch
Int: Paddy Ryder Hunter Clark Seb Ross Josh Battle