I think Dunstan was quite good in 2019 and played pretty well in his only game of 2020 before he got injured. I think he is capable of becoming a good footballer that plays consistently each week with a bit more continuity and confidence. Ratten has the ability to get the best out of his players and he might help Dunstan become a good footballer.
I have not watched Paddy Dow play much but I know a lot of Carlton supporters have been disappointed by his output after being selected at pick 3 in the 2017 draft. Teague, like Ratten, seems to be a smart coach and might be able to get things to click for him this year. Dow is only 21 and he still has plenty of time to improve. I wouldn’t write either player off just yet.

I think the Saints would want more than pick 65 for a player like Dunstan. He might not have played many games in 2020 but he was pretty much a regular before 2020 and he might be able to play a lot of games in 2021 with a better urun. A pick in the mid 30s should be on the cards should he be traded. Collingwood’s mismanagement and playing their hand too early was the only reason they traded Phillips, Treloar and Stephenson for basically nothing. They were worth way more under normal circumstances. As far as I know, the Saints have their salary cap under control and have not been incompetent with managing it. Players like Dean Kent, Daniel McKenzie, James Frawley, Darragh Joyce would be the first to go before Dunstan if they need to offset their salary cap. But as you said, he might just decide to leave as a free agent and all that will be meaningless.

Dunstan is a pretty decent footballer when he has some confidence. I think he still has the potential to become a good footballer at age 25. It will be quite tough for him to get a game at St Kilda now with their midfield now containing Steele, Crouch, Hannebery and maybe Hunter Clark. He is the sort of depth player a side that is in serious contention would want though. Adelaide might have a crack at him at the end of this year if he is available and wants to play AFL football regularly rather in the 2nds. I think he could still break into St Kilda’s midfield or side with a good injury run.

I agree that the recruitment of Jack Higgins has surely forced Dean Kent out of St Kilda’s best 22 permanently. Higgins is far more talented and has much more upside than Kent as a small forward. The only way Kent will get a game is if there are lots of injuries and even then, he would be behind a player like Jack Lonie in the pecking order.

Very little chance of Zak Jones leaving the Saints in 2021. He seems to be loving playing for the club he grew up supporting and has sort of reinvented himself as a player under Ratten. He was far cleaner with his disposal last year and that was always a knock against him at the Swans. Luke Dunstan is probably more of a risk of leaving than Jones because it might be difficult for him to break into the best 22 with Crouch and Higgins now in the side. He has the talent to force a player like Ross out of the side though imo and he was quite good in 2019 before injuries ruined his 2020 season.

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 .

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

That is interesting about Bruce. He was dreadful in 2020 and his confidence was clearly shot after the first few games. I would give him another shot at proving himself in 2021 and hope he can bounce back. If he fails to perform at an acceptable standard though, the Dogs might have to cut their losses with him. The four year deal the Dogs offered for a potentially dud forward is not looking too good at the moment but judgement should be reserved until after this year. I reckon either Bruce or Schache will be given the flick if they cannot break into the team this year.

I reckon though making the top 4 is a bridge too far for them until they rectify their issues in defence. The best sides normally have rock solid defences and have every area covered. Some smart tactics can easily undo them in that area. They might not have a choice but to throw Naughton back there to remedy this issue. If they do that and it works, then maybe they will be capable of makng the top 4. It might also be a bit between the ears with them and I thought they believed their own hype a bit at the start of last year . Managing expectations internally might be another area they need to work on to take the next step forward and not allowing players to get carried away. They do have a talented list that has set them up well for the next few seasons but good things can take time. I would be pretty surprised if they didn’t make the 8 at the very least

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.

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.

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.

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.

I think Crouch has the ability to become a really good footballer under Brett Ratten. Just look at how Jack Steele exploded 2020. I think Ratten can get the best out of his players and they want to play for him and the playing group. It is disappointing though, that we won’t see him play until R3 because of the suspension but I am hoping that it was out of character for him and he will do the right thing by the club for having some faith in him.

They didn’t really fix their biggest problem from last year in the trade period and draft in my opinion. It appeared they recruited more for what was available rather than what they needed. Getting a key defender should have been priority number one before anything else I thought. There weren’t too many key defenders on the market but some like Carlise, who was pretty good in 2020, were out of contract and could have been easily pryed if the price was right. I wouldn’t be counting on the likes of Bruce and Schache to resolve this problem in defence like some are suggesting. They just don’t seem like AFL standard players to me and the only reason Bruce got so many games at the Saints was because there was pretty much nobody else to take his spot and they didn’t care about losing him when they drafted Max King. He is probably too old to reinvent himself at 28 (will be 29 soon) as a defender. He played in defence at the Giants but that wasn’t his natural position I believe and that was nearly 8 years ago so it is hard to ascertain how effective he would be down there now. Naughton is the one that might have to go back there but that runs the risk of exposing their forward line, even if Ugle Hagen is there now. It will be interesting to see what they do in this area in 2021.

Getting Ugle-Hagen and Treloar were good acquisitions but it cannot be expected Ugle Hagen will tear the world down in his first season and Treloar is just another midfielder, that will make their midfield more dynamic but I don’t think it will radically change it in any meaningful way. You cannot blame them for getting Treloar though and they would have been foolish to not prounce on the opportunity.

Stef Martin’s recruitment was just a quick fix to a long term problem I reckon and I am doubtful he will play more than 10 games in 22 game season at age 35. If English gets injured, there won’t be too many options to cover his loss.

In saying all that though, the Dogs are definitely good enough to play finals and should only get better this year. They did have a lot of injuries last year and a bit more continuity with key players could see them finish higher on the ladder. Should finish around 5th to 7th with a decent run I reckon.

The reason they chose the internim in 2019 as opposed to 2011 was because the club has a completely different adminstration now. The current board and admin had nothing to do with appointing the senior coach in 2011 or 2013 for that matter. Ratten was interviewed like all the other canditates in 2019 and wasn’t just given the job automatically like Shaw at North pretty much. He went through a process and was correctly deemed to be the best choice for next coach.
I think it shouldn’t matter how much of a legend he was at the club when there should be due process. Due process happened and they thought he was not up to the task, rightfully or wrongfully. A few other clubs interviewed him for their coaching jobs in recent years but seemingly arrived at the same conclusion. I don’t believe it was a betrayal to not just give him the job without any questions asked. At any rate, there is probably a lot of apprehension in the business now about appointing club legends into senior roles, especially with how things turned out at Essendon.
Watters though did have more coaching experience, He was a senior coach in the WAFL for 3 years prior to becoming an AFL assistant at Collingwood. At the end of the day, Idk what there reasoning was for not choosing him but I certainly don’t believe it was done in bad faith like you are insinuating without any evidence. I have not heard anything about him being bitter at the club for not selecting him.

I wouldn’t quite compare the unjust sackings of Brett Ratten and Mark Harvey to Robert Harvey not getting the senior coach job in 2011 after becoming internim coach. I think the committee simply did not think he was the man for the job at the time. They got it wrong by choosing a dud in Watters but that doesn’t mean they betrayed him. He was obviously very disappointed but I don’t think it was done in bad faith like you are suggesting. Harvs retired from playing football in 2008 and didn’t have much coaching experience in 2011.

In 2019, there was overwhelming support for Ratten to become senior coach from many fans and the board so it was very tough for him to get the job in that instance too. If he felt the club turned their back on him, then why did he apply for the senior role in 2019? That doesn’t really make any sense to me. I respect your opinion but I have not heard anything in the media about Robert Harvey being on bad terms with the Saints and it would be a pretty big story if that was the case.

That’s true about Bontempelli being able to spend more time forward with Treloar now in the side. He would be a difficult match up but his goal kicking can sometimes be very ordinary. He did kick that clutch goal though against the Eagles last year to win the game and knows how to stand up in big moments of course.

I think the dogs will improve on 2020 overall. They did well to make finals and kick Melbourne out of the top 8. I do like the dogs and hope they can keep it up. I might just have too much faith in the Saints at the moment but I have a good feeling about them now and it just seems logical to me that they will also improve on last year.

Yeah pretty tough opening 6 rounds but I reckon we are good enough to win most of those games. GWS in Sydney will be a test but we smashed them last year in the final round and they have only become weaker imo. It doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence that they are pinning their hopes on Jesse Hogan and Preuss. Their list looks pretty run of the mill now tbh if you take a look. It just doesn’t look capable like it did in 2016. On top of all that, they still have Leon Cameron as their coach and he seemed at a Ioss in 2020. I think they will be a middle of the road side again in 2021. It will nonetheless be a difficult assignment that I hope the Saints can negotiate.

Honestly they should beat Melbourne at Marvel. The Dees are terrible there and our pace could really trouble them. They fluked a win against the Saints last year though but that was in Alice Springs in unfamiliar conditions . Melbourne did acquire Ben Brown but I am still not completely sure he will be the answer to all their problems.

Eagles and Tigers will be the real tests and if they can win one of those games, then we will know how much they have improved in 2021. Just hope they don’t get complacent after having a good season in 2020. Will be interesting to see and let’s hope the season does not get disrupted like last year.

Saints have a more complete side though. The Dogs still don’t have a reliable key defender, unless they plan on playing Naughton there and hope Bruce will be able to turn his career around to support Ugle Hagen. That’s why they lost that final to the Saints. They let Membrey and King get off the leash when the game was there to be won in the 1st half. Also I would be astounded if Stef Martin can put together a full season at age 35 to help out English. Age seemed to have caught up with in 2020 at the Lions but it is a low risk high reward sort of decision by the dogs to recruit him. Treloar was a good get but he is just more of what the bulldogs already have in spades.

I would be surprised though if the dogs don’t play finals again in 2021. I can’t see too many changes to the top 8 from 2020 except for maybe the Pies and WC. Saints could fall out but I have a good feeling about them now.

The Saints are about the same as the Dogs in terms of talent I think. The dogs have a superior midfield but the Saints have a better spine and an even more dangerous forward line now. I expect both sides to improve on last season and to finish pretty close to each other. The Saints have a pretty difficult draw (on paper at least) but get a heap of games at Marvel and that could offset it.

You are right about Billings. He was better in 2019 than in 2020 and he is still yet to fully fulfill his talent and become a match winner. He was solid last year but not anything more than that. He might need to spend some more time forward and play to his strengths. I think he just needs some confidence because the talent is there for him to become an A grader.

Yeah Brisbane have taken a lot of risks with injury prone players and they have mostly paid off so far. They have been pretty successful with McCarthy, Birchall etc. but Daniher and Cockatoo have barely had any continuity for 4 years. They are backing in their medical team’s ability to deliver the goods again and there is a risk they might be biting off more than they can chew by getting these players.
Regardless though, the Lions top 2 finish in 2020 was heavily distorted by the compromised season I believe. They barely left Qld for the whole year and won pretty much all their close games. They probably should have finished closer to 5th or 6th than 2nd.