If we finish ninth with 11 wins and 11 losses???

[SunnyErnie]

Does Ratten get another contract?

Discuss!!!

[Teflon]

No

[Jacks Back]

[bangaulegend]

I can't see us winning 11 games but I would be happy to be wrong. I think Ratts will get another extension unless we free fall & finish bottom 4 . I doubt that will happen but if that does eventuate he will be in trouble then IMO.

[bigcarl]

The question is, does Ratts have the cattle?

[Vortex]

The question is, does Ratts have the cattle?

That is the question.

And we all know the answer to that lies in injury management and player improvement.

[spert]

From what I have seen so far in preseason and the first two games, we will be lucky to win 6 games.

[SunnyErnie]

From what I have seen so far in preseason and the first two games, we will be lucky to win 6 games.

You cannot be serious!!

[B.M]

No

[Gershwin]

I think he needs to get us into the finals to hold his job.
In saying that, if there are significant games missed by our top 12 players then that should give him a little more leeway.
11 and 11 is line-ball.

[Vortex]

What if the 11 wins included games won against sides filled with mostly second and third tier grade players due to the AFLs outrageously ridiculous covid protocol rules.

The WCE vs North game was a farce. And betting was allowed on the game, integrity equals zero.

Brace yourself, this year is headed towards something resembling a circus as we head towards the colder months.

[shanegrambeau]

If we continue to trundle along in mediocrity, it wouldn't surprise me if Ratts just hung up the coaching boots and said, 'I've had enough. Time for someone else to have a go."

I think him leaving us is more likely than us asking him to pack his bags. Caveat - we really fall off badly.

[Scollop]

If we continue to trundle along in mediocrity, it wouldn't surprise me if Ratts just hung up the coaching boots and said, 'I've had enough. Time for someone else to have a go."

I think him leaving us is more likely than us asking him to pack his bags. Caveat - we really fall off badly.

I don't think you've picked the man or studied his career. He's super competitive and I hope he can be given time to mould a list and also develop this current batch of youth

It wouldn't surprise me if St Kilda FC stuffed up again and sacked a coach before he had a chance to construct our next premiership capable side

[spert]

From what I have seen so far in preseason and the first two games, we will be lucky to win 6 games.

You cannot be serious!!

Ok 5 wins

[MC Gusto]

I think we’ll beat the tigers this weekend

[Vortex]

If we continue to trundle along in mediocrity, it wouldn't surprise me if Ratts just hung up the coaching boots and said, 'I've had enough. Time for someone else to have a go."

I think him leaving us is more likely than us asking him to pack his bags. Caveat - we really fall off badly.

I don't think you've picked the man or studied his career. He's super competitive and I hope he can be given time to mould a list and also develop this current batch of youth

It wouldn't surprise me if St Kilda FC stuffed up again and sacked a coach before he had a chance to construct our next premiership capable side

Here's one for you Scollop. When do you see us returning to the finals? This is Ratts 3rd year, more if you count his caretaker time, let's say we don't return to the finals for another year or two, isn't that heading into Richo territory? Was it about the 3 year mark supporters started turning on Richo? How long was he coach for, 5. I recon history of the club proves if Ratts doesn't make finals this year then the jungle drums will start beating loud in 2023.

A brutal game but just pointing out the most likely scenario based on historical events.

I recon Ratts has precisely the same problems Richo had, lack of quality players and I can't see supporters being patient for another 2 or 3 years.

[Scollop]

If we continue to trundle along in mediocrity, it wouldn't surprise me if Ratts just hung up the coaching boots and said, 'I've had enough. Time for someone else to have a go."

I think him leaving us is more likely than us asking him to pack his bags. Caveat - we really fall off badly.

I don't think you've picked the man or studied his career. He's super competitive and I hope he can be given time to mould a list and also develop this current batch of youth

It wouldn't surprise me if St Kilda FC stuffed up again and sacked a coach before he had a chance to construct our next premiership capable side

Here's one for you Scollop. When do you see us returning to the finals? This is Ratts 3rd year, more if you count his caretaker time, let's say we don't return to the finals for another year or two, isn't that heading into Richo territory? Was it about the 3 year mark supporters started turning on Richo? How long was he coach for, 5. I recon history of the club proves if Ratts doesn't make finals this year then the jungle drums will start beating loud in 2023.

A brutal game but just pointing out the most likely scenario based on historical events.

I recon Ratts has precisely the same problems Richo had, lack of quality players and I can't see supporters being patient for another 2 or 3 years.

If you need proof as to whether Ratts can coach, he did make finals in his first year at St Kilda. The club didn’t make a finals series for a decade before that.

I think he deserves to be judged on list availability. Whether we finish in 8th spot or not shouldn’t be the sole factor in determining a new contract. We had a pretty good finish to 2021 as well and that was because we had Ryder and Marshall and most of our better players back from injury. Ratts also made finals when he was senior coach at Carlton.

Unless the team falls off the rails and we become a rabble in 2022 and he loses the trust of the players, I’d offer him a 4 year deal prior to the end of the home and away games. Let’s focus on getting the best talent up to scratch and play them for 50-60 games

I think you are wrong about St Kilda supporters. We are a farken resilient bunch. We are used to tough times, especially those of us who experienced the 70’s and 80’s. In recent times, we had such a shocking bottoming out after the 1997 GF.

The club used the draft during the Watson and Blight years and slowly built a culture that was based on development and based on creating an environment for future success. It worked and we played off in consecutive GF’s in 2009 and 2010.

We dropped to the bottom of the ladder again in 2014 and before we actually made finals…we started gambling on too many ready made senior players. In 2018 they did it again and they panicked. Let’s not get sucked in to any more trades that sacrifice our future just to save face for the coach, or the COO or the CEO or the membership department and let’s not take short cuts

We can handle some pain if it means we get the foundations right and we create the blueprint to climb the pinnacle

Let’s aim to become a premiership contender rather than being satisfied with making finals

[Vortex]

If we continue to trundle along in mediocrity, it wouldn't surprise me if Ratts just hung up the coaching boots and said, 'I've had enough. Time for someone else to have a go."

I think him leaving us is more likely than us asking him to pack his bags. Caveat - we really fall off badly.

I don't think you've picked the man or studied his career. He's super competitive and I hope he can be given time to mould a list and also develop this current batch of youth

It wouldn't surprise me if St Kilda FC stuffed up again and sacked a coach before he had a chance to construct our next premiership capable side

Here's one for you Scollop. When do you see us returning to the finals? This is Ratts 3rd year, more if you count his caretaker time, let's say we don't return to the finals for another year or two, isn't that heading into Richo territory? Was it about the 3 year mark supporters started turning on Richo? How long was he coach for, 5. I recon history of the club proves if Ratts doesn't make finals this year then the jungle drums will start beating loud in 2023.

A brutal game but just pointing out the most likely scenario based on historical events.

I recon Ratts has precisely the same problems Richo had, lack of quality players and I can't see supporters being patient for another 2 or 3 years.

If you need proof as to whether Ratts can coach, he did make finals in his first year at St Kilda. The club didn’t make a finals series for a decade before that.

I think he deserves to be judged on list availability. Whether we finish in 8th spot or not shouldn’t be the sole factor in determining a new contract. We had a pretty good finish to 2021 as well and that was because we had Ryder and Marshall and most of our better players back from injury. Ratts also made finals when he was senior coach at Carlton.

Unless the team falls off the rails and we become a rabble in 2022 and he loses the trust of the players, I’d offer him a 4 year deal prior to the end of the home and away games. Let’s focus on getting the best talent up to scratch and play them for 50-60 games

I think you are wrong about St Kilda supporters. We are a farken resilient bunch. We are used to tough times, especially those of us who experienced the 70’s and 80’s. In recent times, we had such a shocking bottoming out after the 1997 GF.

The club used the draft during the Watson and Blight years and slowly built a culture that was based on development and based on creating an environment for future success. It worked and we played off in consecutive GF’s in 2009 and 2010.

We dropped to the bottom of the ladder again in 2014 and before we actually made finals…we started gambling on too many ready made senior players. In 2018 they did it again and they panicked. Let’s not get sucked in to any more trades that sacrifice our future just to save face for the coach, or the COO or the CEO or the membership department and let’s not take short cuts

We can handle some pain if it means we get the foundations right and we create the blueprint to climb the pinnacle

Let’s aim to become a premiership contender rather than being satisfied with making finals

I know this isn't a popular view but I'm of the view the 2020 and 2021 premiers have an asterisk next them and without going down that rabbit hole too much, I think you could mount an argument our 2020 finals appearance was covid synthesised. Does that argument strengthen if we miss finals again this year? Time will tell.

No doubt our supporters are resilient and no doubt Ratts can coach, but he wouldn't be the first coach to fail because he didn't have the required resources and that's where my personal view sits. I think this list is well short of sustainable finals appearances and possibly by somewhere between 3 to 5 years and so that's where I question the clubs resolve to back Ratts in for that length of journey. I'd be prepared to patient and back him in because I also think sacking a coach in our situation just throws the baby out with the bathwater and even shoots the proverbial foot.

[SunnyErnie]

I think we’ll beat the tigers this weekend

I hope so.

[Scollop]

I think we’ll come back to earth with a thud this week and people will be calling for Ratts head, but let’s put into perspective how we won last week and who our opposition was.

Freo’s pressure rating was among the lowest for any team this year. Their second efforts and tackling numbers were way below par

I watched the last half of the match just now on replay and I wasn’t disappointed with the way we finished that last quarter. We started ok and we tried a few entries but we couldn’t finish and I think from late in the 3rd up until five minutes into the last we kicked 5 behinds in a row. I think Freo had double our inside 50’ in the last quarter. Thank goodness for Wilkie, McKenzie, ….Battle (best on ground) and Jimmy Webster

I watched Hill closely too. He had 2 or 3 turnovers and that goal kicked by Freo with just 2 minutes 30 left on the clock was because Hill coughed up the footy and it spilt to Colyer. It was deemed as a dangerous tackle and it was a dubious free, but none the less, the opportunity for them to score was a direct result of Brad fumbling the ball in a critical contest deep in our defense.

This is what happens on too many occasions with Mr Hill. He is being played in the backline and he needs to be able to defend, otherwise he shouldn’t be playing in that position.

People who look at the stat sheet and think ‘oh gees’ Hill was good ‘he had 25 touches’ don’t really understand footy ( or they’re apologists for the club). Hill gets to play on from a Freo behind and that pumps up his numbers (don’t tell me he’s not replaceable). He gets the footy smothered or he turns it over and that is also a stat. At the end of the day he has stats that might appear good on paper but he was recruited for his ability to provide connection and provide our forwards with opportunities to score. He only did that once for the whole game

[SunnyErnie]

I think we’ll come back to earth with a thud this week and people will be calling for Ratts head, but let’s put into perspective how we won last week and who our opposition was.

Freo’s pressure rating was among the lowest for any team this year. Their second efforts and tackling numbers were way below par

I watched the last half of the match just now on replay and I wasn’t disappointed with the way we finished that last quarter. We started ok and we tried a few entries but we couldn’t finish and I think from late in the 3rd up until five minutes into the last we kicked 5 behinds in a row. I think Freo had double our inside 50’ in the last quarter. Thank goodness for Wilkie, McKenzie, ….Battle (best on ground) and Jimmy Webster

I watched Hill closely too. He had 2 or 3 turnovers and that goal kicked by Freo with just 2 minutes 30 left on the clock was because Hill coughed up the footy and it spilt to Colyer. It was deemed as a dangerous tackle and it was a dubious free, but none the less, the opportunity for them to score was a direct result of Brad fumbling the ball in a critical contest deep in our defense.

This is what happens on too many occasions with Mr Hill. He is being played in the backline and he needs to be able to defend, otherwise he shouldn’t be playing in that position.

People who look at the stat sheet and think ‘oh gees’ Hill was good ‘he had 25 touches’ don’t really understand footy ( or they’re apologists for the club). Hill gets to play on from a Freo behind and that pumps up his numbers (don’t tell me he’s not replaceable). He gets the footy smothered or he turns it over and that is also a stat. At the end of the day he has stats that might appear good on paper but he was recruited for his ability to provide connection and provide our forwards with opportunities to score. He only did that once for the whole game

I'm very curious, when Hill (or anyone for that matter), plays-on from a kick out after a point, is he credited with that disposal/possession?

[older saint]

The raw numbers are not the determining factor. For example 11-11 with a significant injury list to key players long term may well be over achieving , while 11-11 with minimal injury disruption would be under achieving. Hence why i hate the make finals or else type statements.
All about what was able to put on the park, game style, player development etc to me.

[CQ SAINT]

I think we’ll come back to earth with a thud this week and people will be calling for Ratts head, but let’s put into perspective how we won last week and who our opposition was.

Freo’s pressure rating was among the lowest for any team this year. Their second efforts and tackling numbers were way below par

I watched the last half of the match just now on replay and I wasn’t disappointed with the way we finished that last quarter. We started ok and we tried a few entries but we couldn’t finish and I think from late in the 3rd up until five minutes into the last we kicked 5 behinds in a row. I think Freo had double our inside 50’ in the last quarter. Thank goodness for Wilkie, McKenzie, ….Battle (best on ground) and Jimmy Webster

I watched Hill closely too. He had 2 or 3 turnovers and that goal kicked by Freo with just 2 minutes 30 left on the clock was because Hill coughed up the footy and it spilt to Colyer. It was deemed as a dangerous tackle and it was a dubious free, but none the less, the opportunity for them to score was a direct result of Brad fumbling the ball in a critical contest deep in our defense.

This is what happens on too many occasions with Mr Hill. He is being played in the backline and he needs to be able to defend, otherwise he shouldn’t be playing in that position.

People who look at the stat sheet and think ‘oh gees’ Hill was good ‘he had 25 touches’ don’t really understand footy ( or they’re apologists for the club). Hill gets to play on from a Freo behind and that pumps up his numbers (don’t tell me he’s not replaceable). He gets the footy smothered or he turns it over and that is also a stat. At the end of the day he has stats that might appear good on paper but he was recruited for his ability to provide connection and provide our forwards with opportunities to score. He only did that once for the whole game

Effective, running and linking players is something we have lacked for a decade.
Despite Hills slow start at the Saints, in his time
- Billings has been carrying injury and has been inconsistent
- Paton and Gresham have been injured alot
- tow ball has impacted 50% of the time he has actually played
- we took the ball away from Ross and gave him different roles
- Crouch has added accumulation
- we've given more of it to Steele,
- Sinclair has become elite,
- DMac is improving out of site
- and now NVM has joined us.
- I think Byrnes will also develop the skills effectively eventually.

Replacing Hill isn't the real issue here, neither is the coaching.

[Scollop]

There are certainly more positives than negatives with Brad Hill. I respect everything he does and the work he puts in. I just think we have some unheralded players like DMac and Webster that deserve more recognition and reward for their work and effort too

[SunnyErnie]

Hill should play wing. He is not a defenders bootlace