Quiet as a mouse...

[footynut]

Why do the saints appear to be so quiet this off season?

Apart from De Goey (most likely will not get), the media only has us linked to fringe players, hasbeens, and basically said we're willing to sell any decent player we have.

So why aren't we targeting players who can help us be a formidable opponent in the finals?

And why aren't we after a forward coach and a senior assistant such as Harvey, Choco Williams, Cameron Bruce, Ashley Hansen, Justin Leppitsch, or Brendon Bolton just to name a few (and I'm aware some of these are at other clubs)?

[Sainternist]

So why aren't we targeting players who can help us be a formidable opponent in the finals?

We need to trade for higher draft picks. Forget trying to reel in another mercenary, let’s get some young guns in the draft!

[skeptic]

Why do the saints appear to be so quiet this off season?

Apart from De Goey (most likely will not get), the media only has us linked to fringe players, hasbeens, and basically said we're willing to sell any decent player we have.

So why aren't we targeting players who can help us be a formidable opponent in the finals?

And why aren't we after a forward coach and a senior assistant such as Harvey, Choco Williams, Cameron Bruce, Ashley Hansen, Justin Leppitsch, or Brendon Bolton just to name a few (and I'm aware some of these are at other clubs)?

In my opinion, the club has a feel about it that it’s already resigned itself to being unable to secure decent recruits (primary interest in other club’s cast offs, with the biggest interest around which players will leave etc

There’s no feeling that underperforming high payed player X will be cast out because we’re driven to make the finals nor that we’re gunning for some up and coming stars and have the eye for talent.

I’m not suggesting this is the case internally… but it’s certainly how it comes across in the media atm

Not that this is the primary reason for this… but the last image in my mind of our club in 2022 was high 5s all round for Hannebery and Kent, great service guys, we’re so proud for everything you did and all you achieved at the club, never mind that we missed the finals and also lost the game to Sydney… you did your best, your beloved figures here and we loved every minute of it.

Not a popular view I know but geeeeeez i cannot think of a greater demonstration that we absolutely embrace mediocrity and will meekly accept a 12th place finish in 2023.

Obviously what I’m really getting at here is that at this point… there is absolutely no hype about the club at all. Now this isn’t an irreparable situation but the brains trust at the Saints need to figure out something to generate a bit of positive interest. Focus has to shift away from the fact that we capitulated in the second half of the season on the back of being 8-3 to the perception that we’re finals bound and set to make a splash.

[Killa]

Well, if anyone considering St Kilda were to browse this forum they would run a mile - in record time

No Administration

No Coach

No Coaching Panel

No players

The 18th ranked Club in an 18 side competition and easily so - just not competitive

And in regard media?

Well, St Kilda do not rank - they do not sell papers or attract a viewing or listening audience

But don’t believe everything in the media

They are the uneducated telling their fellow uneducated what they do not know

That said, our deficiencies being a key forward, a key defender, a ruck and midfield class to add to the likes of Steele and Crouch and the developing Windhager, Owen and Wanganeen-Milera are not easily found

A question is, with both Coffield and Clark available is Sinclair a mid field option going forward?

Can he bring his All Australian status to the mid field, giving us 2 All Australians with Steele?

Hang on!!!

I forgot

We do not have any players so cancel that speculation

[cwrcyn]

Last time I checked the trade period doesn't start for another three weeks.

So many assumptions, judgements, and criticisms around the club's performance in something that hasn''t even happened yet

[B.M]

We rebuild again

Expect another decade down the bottom and maybe the end of the club!

If we decide to get rid of good players - im out!

Can’t continue to follow a basket case!!!


MUST become relevant!!!

[Teflon]

‘‘Twas the night before draft night …
And all the house was quiet…

Facts are we are irrelevant
We need to hit the draft I think the club might’ve finally realised….the windows not open….after 10 years in wilderness we are off the pace
They have to hit the draft hence why entertaining Hill (who Stavro on BF indicates wants out). Clark is gettable ….but for a top 10 only according to stav but we are not actively shopping him
Perhaps the thinking is 2 gun mids in top 10 this year?? Problem with that thinking is….what’s to stop them plateauing like so many of our prized picks do???
Can you imagine the buzz around us had we secured Clarkson ?????
Too late now.

[BadRossco]

Fact is B.M we don’t have many good players to get rid of, the names being bandied around like Hill, Clark, Bytel, Long and Gresham are all average players that play the occasional good game.

[seano1]

We are not a destination club ….we are in rebuild form ….board knows it coaches know it and deep down most of us know it ……..why would a top player leave the club he’s at that will play finals for the next couple of years to come to saints with the possibility of playing finals slim , unless he is banged up and going to get more money

[Ghost Like]

We are not a destination club ….we are in rebuild form ….board knows it coaches know it and deep down most of us know it ……..why would a top player leave the club he’s at that will play finals for the next couple of years to come to saints with the possibility of playing finals slim , unless he is banged up and going to get more money

Yes, why? Unless that player was guaranteed huge dollars, regardless of ladder position. St Kilda may offer more than the other club but the rhetoric will be that player stayed for finals...I call bullsh!t! Unless the salary cap is a compromised piece of cr@p.

[B.M]

Is Steele not a good player?

What about Marshall??

King, Wilkie, Sinclair, Crouch?????

How about the whipping boy - Ross?!

Membrey record places him as one of the best hybrid forwards in the game.

Gresham, Clark, Coffield, Bytel have been hampered by injury…

Windhager and to a lesser extent Owens have obvious talent

People carry on like we have zero talent?!?!

F*** me

We were one win out of the 8

Beat Richmond, Freo and Geelong


Yet I bet we panic and throw the baby out with bat water and bottom m out again and f*** that up

It will be
2012 all over again

[nostalgicsaint]

Is Steele not a good player?

What about Marshall??

King, Wilkie, Sinclair, Crouch?????

How about the whipping boy - Ross?!

Membrey record places him as one of the best hybrid forwards in the game.

Gresham, Clark, Coffield, Bytel have been hampered by injury…

Windhager and to a lesser extent Owens have obvious talent

People carry on like we have zero talent?!?!

F*** me

We were one win out of the 8

Beat Richmond, Freo and Geelong


Yet I bet we panic and throw the baby out with bat water and bottom m out again and f*** that up

It will be
2012 all over again

Couldn't agree more with this. Sick of the negativity here.

We're no further off than people thought Collingwood were last year or Melbourne were a few years ago.

Plenty to like in the core and even the oldest among them have years of good footy left in them most of our list will see organic improvement when looking at the 23 season to the 22 season.

If we can bring in 1 or 2 good players from the draft, 1 or 2 quality players via trade/fa and 1 or 2 depth players ala wood/Campbell we will be right in the hunt with a bit of injury luck and a nicer draw.

[Banger9798]

We were more than competitive with both Sydney and Brisbane in must win games for them, also. Could easily have gone our way with some decent finishing.

No, we are not that far off, and need a bit of luck with injuries to that mid 20s group.

If we lose Hill , it's not such a bad result for a salary cap dump.

Long and Clark would hurt, and the latter should extract a high draft pick (top 10) or forget it.

Murmurs about NWM leaving seem to have gone quiet, Clark is contracted, Long the only one who could leave and not give us much back in return.

I really don't think it will be a disastrous trade period....but it doesn't look promising

[Scollop]

Is Steele not a good player?

What about Marshall??

King, Wilkie, Sinclair, Crouch?????

How about the whipping boy - Ross?!

Membrey record places him as one of the best hybrid forwards in the game.

Gresham, Clark, Coffield, Bytel have been hampered by injury…

Windhager and to a lesser extent Owens have obvious talent

People carry on like we have zero talent?!?!

F*** me

We were one win out of the 8

Beat Richmond, Freo and Geelong


Yet I bet we panic and throw the baby out with bat water and bottom m out again and f*** that up

It will be
2012 all over again

Did any one else pick up that the only person mentioned who has been a recent import as a free agent out of all the players mentioned above was Brad Crouch

The ‘panic’ was from Lethlean and co. after Richo was sacked and trying to import success instead of trusting the recruiters and getting to work with the existing youth and creating a club that is strong in development and strong in retaining a core group that can build and grow together

The 2020 strategy gave us a quick short sharp rise up the ladder, but perhaps we were going to have that organic growth anyway. The Noosa camp meant our slapped together money ball team was with coaches 24/7. It suited us perfectly because of the large number of imports in the team. The forced ‘connection’ of players and Ratts personality helped unite the group.

The pandemic shortened game perhaps suited our group as well.

The reality of a regular season brought us back to the pack in early 2021. The issues of development and high performance were lacking. We imported Brad Crouch for not much of an uplift in 2021.

Once the players realised in 2022 that Lethlean and co. were chasing De Goey and Amon and continuing on a path of importing success, I reckon a lot players would have felt a ‘dis’connect with the club and perhaps the unravelling started to set in. Especially when you have Lethlean and co. telling the media that certain players cannot be dropped.

You get players wanting to be at a club who values each and every player equally. The reason I say that, is because you get players who start thinking that their spot in the team is under threat with a continuous strategy of recycled players, where Lethlean and co. went for Abbott, Frawley and McKernan

You get players who start thinking the coach and list management don’t want them to be part of the future. Especially when you have Lethlean and co. coming out in media grabs and criticising the list and criticising the skill level of the group.

So back to the list. We have talented fresh draftees and we have a group of players who have been together for several years. That needs to be the focus. If we spend too much time and energy and effort on recruiting imports, instead of developing our existing recruits and helping our existing recruits to become better, then we’ll be mediocre and mid table for many years to come

[Impatient Sainter]

The fact that everything from inside the club is not being run out in the media is a good thing. It suggests that the club are not leaking news like they have in the past.

We will have 5 list spots vacant before the trade period so we should expect movement. We are not going to fill all the list spots at the draft you would think?

[Rubyjo]

We rebuild again

Expect another decade down the bottom and maybe the end of the club!

If we decide to get rid of good players - im out!

Can’t continue to follow a basket case!!!


MUST become relevant!!!

Big call BM. Many are feeling it

[Scollop]

Well, if anyone considering St Kilda were to browse this forum they would run a mile - in record time

No Administration

No Coach

No Coaching Panel

No players

The 18th ranked Club in an 18 side competition and easily so - just not competitive

And in regard media?

Well, St Kilda do not rank - they do not sell papers or attract a viewing or listening audience

But don’t believe everything in the media

They are the uneducated telling their fellow uneducated what they do not know

That said, our deficiencies being a key forward, a key defender, a ruck and midfield class to add to the likes of Steele and Crouch and the developing Windhager, Owen and Wanganeen-Milera are not easily found

A question is, with both Coffield and Clark available is Sinclair a mid field option going forward?

Can he bring his All Australian status to the mid field, giving us 2 All Australians with Steele?

Hang on!!!

I forgot

We do not have any players so cancel that speculation

We have some strengths but there’s always room for improvement (rfi’s)

We need to look at how Hawthorn and Sydney and Geelong and now Richmond in recent years have been able to stay in finals contention for a sustained period. What are the common denominators?

We need to emulate the strengths within those clubs. We need to hire football admin staff who have the experience and the runs on the board or we need executives who have an ability to find intelligent ex players who are hungry to make a name for themselves in these areas.

Hopefully we use the current review to highlight our weaknesses and a few gaps in key areas, PLUS maybe unearth some football people outside our club who might be head hunted

[Teflon]

Is Steele not a good player?

What about Marshall??

King, Wilkie, Sinclair, Crouch?????

How about the whipping boy - Ross?!

Membrey record places him as one of the best hybrid forwards in the game.

Gresham, Clark, Coffield, Bytel have been hampered by injury…

Windhager and to a lesser extent Owens have obvious talent

People carry on like we have zero talent?!?!

F*** me

We were one win out of the 8

Beat Richmond, Freo and Geelong


Yet I bet we panic and throw the baby out with bat water and bottom m out again and f*** that up

It will be
2012 all over again

I don’t disagree at all
So why 1 4 quarter gane (Hawks) in 22 season????
Disconnect from coaching group is why
This list needs to bring in talent no question
But I suggest talent wise it’s on par or better than Tigers
Get a good gane plan - as Lyon said recently….train the way you want to play, embed it under pressure with skills to support
Bring in another 1-3 high draft picks
Drive the 25/26 year core - Gresham Clark Coffield Billings Higgins DMac Wood Battle et al
It can happen quickly
Pies showed that

[Moods]

Gresham, Clark, Coffield, Bytel have been hampered by injury…

It's just excuses and more excuses with all those players mentioned. Coffield has shown very little so far, apart from ducking his head and not being physical enough in the air.
Clark has shown that he lacks fitness and an unwillingness to build his body up to AFL standard. He looks a good player but is he?? Not in my book

Both players 1st Rd draft picks and both would be considered fails so far in their career when measuring up to expectations.

Bytel will be in his 4th season. So far has shown very little apart from a lack of pace.
Gresham - now there's the real tease. Can win clearances and can kick goals, but refuses to work on his deficiencies - his field kicking is appalling for a supposed mid. Can panic under pressure and just bomb the ball or turn it over inexplicably. However has had many games when he has been very good. I'm afraid ppl make excuses about his injuries but in 2021 he wasn't playing great nor was the team when he got injured. In 2022 it started to look promising but then he trailed off. tbh he was probably fortunate to get injured as it masked the lack of impact he was having in games.

These guys are not good AFL footballers, they are actually the reason we are a middling team. Add in Billings, and we have numerous early draft picks who haven't developed to anywhere near what we hoped they would. They are all okish AFL footballers apart from Bytel, who is not up to AFL standard at all as yet. Yes they've all had injuries to some degree but none of them were ripping it up before their injuries. Once again, if you asked anyone from other clubs most would hardly know them or just shrug their shoulders about their impact as an AFL footballer. We continually overate our young players whereas in reality most of them have done very little.

[Vortex]

Well, if anyone considering St Kilda were to browse this forum they would run a mile - in record time

No Administration

No Coach

No Coaching Panel

No players

The 18th ranked Club in an 18 side competition and easily so - just not competitive

And in regard media?

Well, St Kilda do not rank - they do not sell papers or attract a viewing or listening audience

But don’t believe everything in the media

They are the uneducated telling their fellow uneducated what they do not know

That said, our deficiencies being a key forward, a key defender, a ruck and midfield class to add to the likes of Steele and Crouch and the developing Windhager, Owen and Wanganeen-Milera are not easily found

A question is, with both Coffield and Clark available is Sinclair a mid field option going forward?

Can he bring his All Australian status to the mid field, giving us 2 All Australians with Steele?

Hang on!!!

I forgot

We do not have any players so cancel that speculation

Essentially we are missing a spine, structurally and mentally.

We really did over achieve in the front half of the season when you look at the players we need on the list.

[spert]

When a club was gauging it's success on the form of a few imported older players who are past their prime like Ryder, Hanners and Hill, then we're in trouble. Our list isn't going to take us further up the ladder and I think it is time for some serious rebuilding of the playing list, and at coaching level.

[Vortex]

We continually overate our young players whereas in reality most of them have done very little.

What are the chances Sharman becomes best 22 again in the off season.

[terry smith rules]

Realistically how many player’s names out there are ones that we would really want?

De Gooey, still in running?

Taranto… yes

Hopper .. possibly

Lobb… too inconsistent

In my opinion the best player getting mentioned is Dunkley, very consistent

The rest … no

[cwrcyn]

Dunkley can't kick

[Sanctorum]

The lack of any plans by St Kilda about who they are chasing, other than de Goey who's unlikely to leave Victoria Park, does not in any way mean that Gallagher & Co are sitting on their hands. There is always so much absolute scuttlebutt circulating on the net and in the media that has to be taken with a grain of salt, it happens in every off-season and I've never personally never taken much notice of all that white noise.

Best to wait until the free agency window opens on September 30 followed by the trading period which runs from October 3-12.

It's significant to note that the list of uncontracted players this year appears to be at a record high which means both players and clubs are holding off making final decisions, in the case of players about where they will play in 2023 and clubs on how they seek to shape their lists. That trend is likely to increase in future.

We're really fortunate that unlike the NRL, AFL players are not free to sign up with other clubs until the season has ended - can you imagine how fans would react to one of their favourite players giving advance notice of their intention to move elsewhere with the season barely started? That virtually happened throughout 2010 with unconfirmed speculation Gary Ablett Jr would leave Geelong to become the marquee players for the new Gold Coast Suns in 2011....if the AFL had not been in strong support of this proposal there would have been an almighty inquisition!