Saints unveil new academy

[Moccha]

ST KILDA coach Scott Watters has unveiled the club's radical new football academy that will see the Saints bolster their notoriously undermanned player development team by 400 per cent and invest unprecedented resources in VFL partner Sandringham.
With Dean Laidley set to join Watters in coming days as part of the Saints' assistant coaching team, the club has also poached Claremont's WAFL premiership coach Simon McPhee to coach Sandringham and play a key role in the new player academy to be based at the club's Seaford home.

The remodelling of both welfare and development has also been a target of new Saints football boss Chris Pelchen, who described the revamped coaching and development program at the Linen House Centre yesterday as ''one of the biggest turnovers I've seen in football''

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/s ... z1c6CxqFnD


About bloody time. Maybe Ross did St Kilda a favour after all!

[The Jeff]

Very excited about this. Things are taking shape nicely.

[supersaints]

Fantastic news I am starting to feel very confident about the future.wonder if Ross smith would make a good director of the academy. (he was in charge of the Australian institute of sport , I think) . Or he may be getting too old?

[InkerSaint]

The remodelling of both welfare and development has also been a target of new Saints football boss Chris Pelchen, who described the revamped coaching and development program at the Linen House Centre yesterday as ''one of the biggest turnovers I've seen in football''

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/s ... z1c6CxqFnD


About bloody time. Maybe Ross did St Kilda a favour after all!

Love it.

All the bellyaching about our board and its "mismanagement" of finances but you never get these same people asking what is being done with the money.

Footy First to the letter, four years on.

[bobmurray]

The remodelling of both welfare and development has also been a target of new Saints football boss Chris Pelchen, who described the revamped coaching and development program at the Linen House Centre yesterday as ''one of the biggest turnovers I've seen in football''

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/s ... z1c6CxqFnD


All the bellyaching about our board and its "mismanagement" of finances but you never get these same people asking what is being done with the money.

Footy First to the letter, four years on.

Yep....where are the vehemently anti board wankers now....

[Ross who?]

This really is Exciting
A fantastic move by the club IMO. My opinion of Scotty just gets better after hearing that this is his idea.
This is a total revamp by the club. List to have another 6 or so fresh kids. It is going to be great!

[stkildathunda]

http://www.saints.com.au/news/newsartic ... fault.aspx

St Kilda Football Club is thrilled to announce the appointment of 2011 WAFL premiership Coach Simon McPhee from Claremont Football Club as a full-time Development Coach.

McPhee, along with former West Coast Eagles ruckman Jaymie Graham, and current St Kilda Assistant Coach Paul Hudson, have been appointed Development Coaches for the newly unveiled Saints Player Academy.

http://www.saints.com.au/news/newsartic ... fault.aspx

The Saints Player Academy will be resourced with four full-time staff and will utilise the state-of-the-art facility at the Linen House Centre Frankston.

The soon to be appointed Academy Director will be supported by three full-time development coaches responsible for;
- Leadership and Welfare;
- Skill Acquisition; and
- Senior Coach of Sandringham FC.

[stkildathunda]

[quote]WATTERS - “No other Club in the AFL has looked at player development in this way and I truly believe it will give us a competitive advantage moving forward.

“Whilst it’s a first for the AFL, you just need to look at the long term benefits of similar programmes run by the top English Premier League clubs. The introduction of such a program into our football structure will be of real benefit over time.â€

[Wrote for Luck]

This really is Exciting
A fantastic move by the club IMO. My opinion of Scotty just gets better after hearing that this is his idea.
This is a total revamp by the club. List to have another 6 or so fresh kids. It is going to be great!

St Kilda website says this has been in the making for months - so likely Pelchen's baby but feeling is Watters had similar vision in his presentation/interview.

What I like about this is the motivation factor it will have on the senior players.

The structured development program for our young guns will impact upwards into the senior group.

Wonder if any unlisted players will participate in the academy.

[awesome_days]

This could be perfect for doing summer program with NSW Scholarship (trials perhaps) or even international players, just because we know we can secure them outside of the draft.

I wonder if the AFL would ever go down the path of TAC cup team alignment with the AFL and using a similar bidding system to the father-son laws. This would allow proper academy development from an age of 15 or 16

[zebraman]

About bloody time. Maybe Ross did St Kilda a favour after all!

Couldn't agree more...you can add Sandy to the list as well

[bobmurray]

About bloody time. Maybe Ross did St Kilda a favour after all!

Couldn't agree more...you can add Sandy to the list as well

It's great..Lyon had some Positives, but man, the Negatives were mammoth..

[kaos theory]

ST KILDA coach Scott Watters has unveiled the club's radical new football academy that will see the Saints bolster their notoriously undermanned player development team by 400 per cent and invest unprecedented resources in VFL partner Sandringham.
With Dean Laidley set to join Watters in coming days as part of the Saints' assistant coaching team, the club has also poached Claremont's WAFL premiership coach Simon McPhee to coach Sandringham and play a key role in the new player academy to be based at the club's Seaford home.

The remodelling of both welfare and development has also been a target of new Saints football boss Chris Pelchen, who described the revamped coaching and development program at the Linen House Centre yesterday as ''one of the biggest turnovers I've seen in football''

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/s ... z1c6CxqFnD


About bloody time. Maybe Ross did St Kilda a favour after all!

Finally!

About bloody time.

thanks RL for p1ssing off.....you did us a favour.

[Dr Spaceman]

Ross would have opened the "Defence Academy For Mature Aged Students"

[Selhurst Saint]

Sounds bloody brilliant.

[busso mick]

Simon McPhee is a fantastic appointment for us. A lot of the young blokes at Claremont have come on leaps and bounds under his tutelage and also he is a very genuine bloke and I feel will gain the respect of the club very quickly. He was the colts coach and took over the senior gig from Daniel Kerr's father and had almost immediate success. Our coaching team is taking shape well and I am very bullish about our future.

[WinnersOnly]

Great initiative - well done Saints ! Its nice to see Mr WATTERS and PELCHEN having such a positive influence on the place.

Poor old Freo went after the crown jewells and got topaz. They dont know what a dour meglamaniac they have inherited !

[Stillwaiting]

Ross would have opened the "Defence Academy For Mature Aged Students"

to add to that, a requirement would be you had to have been a rejected fringe player from another club.

[gringo]

Pelchen is a hard arse but he kicks heads and gets things done. We seem to have had a lack of big picture vision for a while and this is the sort of initiative that gives the team good news and best practice credits. it works a treat for when you want sponsors on board as well.

I had this picture of the old store room used as a playstation room for the players as their academy, this is way beyond what I thought possible.

[HitTheBoundary]

Fantastic news I am starting to feel very confident about the future.wonder if Ross smith would make a good director of the academy. (he was in charge of the Australian institute of sport , I think) . Or he may be getting too old?

Possibly too old, he's about 70.

Although I didn't want him as coach I was wondering if someone like Gary Ayres may be a good fit as Academy Director.

[BigMart]

There were absolutely NO negative critisisms allowed on here two months ago

IN ROSS WE TRUST...

Some quarters on here would even attempt to humiliate anyone who even dare find a obvious and simple pitfall in Ross Lyon and his staff...some were embarrassingly blind in their defense of the regime that got us close....but could not see the rot occurring underneath

This massive change in philosophy in someways proves there was a massive oversight with regards to player development since 2008...

McEvoy and Steven got their opportunities via long term injuries to stars, but Armitage, Geary, Walsh, Lynch, Heyne, Smith, Cahill, Stanley, Winmar have all stagnated and one could argue NONE are better players now than when they started....

Two have left, and will prosper immediately.....luckily last years kids have only had 12 months and are yet to go from promising kids to VFL plodders

StK has been a Black Hole for recruits in previous years.....and a gold mine for delisted GOPs wanting another chance

Our recruiting and selection processes were also woeful in the same period...maybe can we salvage something from the wreck

and the grand finals
Dont forget
Riewoldt, Hayes, Goddard, Dal Santo, Montagna, Fisher, Koschitzke, Milne, Blake, Baker, Schnieder, Gilbert and Gram when giving credit for that

[mcadam05]

ST KILDA coach Scott Watters has unveiled the club's radical new football academy that will see the Saints bolster their notoriously undermanned player development team by 400 per cent and invest unprecedented resources in VFL partner Sandringham.
With Dean Laidley set to join Watters in coming days as part of the Saints' assistant coaching team, the club has also poached Claremont's WAFL premiership coach Simon McPhee to coach Sandringham and play a key role in the new player academy to be based at the club's Seaford home.

The remodelling of both welfare and development has also been a target of new Saints football boss Chris Pelchen, who described the revamped coaching and development program at the Linen House Centre yesterday as ''one of the biggest turnovers I've seen in football''

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/s ... z1c6CxqFnD


About bloody time. Maybe Ross did St Kilda a favour after all!

Image what we would do if we had some money

This must kill all those haters in the Media who turn everthing little thing about St Kilda into Doom and gloom

so on would and up would

[gringo]

There were absolutely NO negative critisisms allowed on here two months ago

IN ROSS WE TRUST...

Some quarters on here would even attempt to humiliate anyone who even dare find a obvious and simple pitfall in Ross Lyon and his staff...some were embarrassingly blind in their defense of the regime that got us close....but could not see the rot occurring underneath

This massive change in philosophy in someways proves there was a massive oversight with regards to player development since 2008...

McEvoy and Steven got their opportunities via long term injuries to stars, but Armitage, Geary, Walsh, Lynch, Heyne, Smith, Cahill, Stanley, Winmar have all stagnated and one could argue NONE are better players now than when they started....

Two have left, and will prosper immediately.....luckily last years kids have only had 12 months and are yet to go from promising kids to VFL plodders

StK has been a Black Hole for recruits in previous years.....and a gold mine for delisted GOPs wanting another chance

Our recruiting and selection processes were also woeful in the same period...maybe can we salvage something from the wreck

and the grand finals
Dont forget
Riewoldt, Hayes, Goddard, Dal Santo, Montagna, Fisher, Koschitzke, Milne, Blake, Baker, Schnieder, Gilbert and Gram when giving credit for that

probably a little simplistic, plenty couldn't believe we got rid Thommo, but in hindsight was probably visionary. I don't disregard all Lyon has done but the timing feels right to move in another direction. If we fall everyone will see it as a sign he was a god, but it might just be the cycle of rise and fall.

[BigMart]

I would go the other way and think its not too complicated....

BTW - recent history suggests we challenge not lon after a change of coach....besides the two disasters

[karnak]

Looking forward to Goddard and others tweaking their body shapes, still can't believe he doesn't even have a bicep vein.