St Kilda
Coach – Brett Ratten
2020 –
Points For – 4th
Points Against – 9th
Top 5 Best and Fairest
- Jack Steele
- Dan Butler
- Dougal Howard
- Rowan Marshall
- Nick Coffield
2020 Rising Star Noms
Max King (Round 12)
Ins – Brad Crouch, James Frawley, Jack Higgins, Shaun McKernan, Matt Allison, Tom Highmore
Outs – Ryan Abbott, Logan Austin, Jack Bell, Nathan Brown, Nick Hind, Doultan Langlands, Jonathan Marsh, Jack Mayo, Shane Savage, Matt Parker, Ed Phillips
My Prediction
Got this one seriously wrong last year. Thought they looked like a mid-table to bottom four sort of a team. Turns out they were the team that gave all the rest of the bottom dwellers hope that if you get off the field right and recruit well, you can turn things around pretty quickly. The question around the Saints is whether or not it is sustainable and how they go about taking the next step.
The backline they have bolstered with James Frawley which seems an emotional move as much as anything else. He looked cooked last year at Hawthorn and not sure how many games he will play. Howard did good things back there last year and Carlisle showed glimpses of what he can do. Clark and Coffield give good drive off half back and have good footskills. They need improvement here to move forward and I think they will be hoping the natural chemistry will bring some of that improvement.
The Midfield adds Crouch and at his best he is a pretty handy addition. Not sure what he brings from a team culture point of view. Adding him gives Steele support at the coalface. They have plenty of run with Hill, Billings and Jones. Will be interesting to see how Hannebury comes up as even at 80% he is a pretty handy player. The midfield doesn’t feel in the same league as the top teams but enough talent to match it on most days.
Max King looks ready to take the next step and along with Membrey make a pretty formidable couple of marking talls. Ryder floating forward gives them another option as well. They then added Higgins to their smalls alongside Butler and Gresham which is pretty close to the best group of small forwards in the competition. They are still (outside Ryder) a young ground and would expect improvement from within.
The Rucks look covered with Marshall looking a long term quality ruckman who will be ably supported by Ryder. The recruitment of McKernan is baffling when you look at their list and not sure he will see any game time outside of a Sandringham jersey. The coach is a gun, looked a good coach at Carlton before they stuffed it up, went away, learned even more and clearly has the players doing everything he wants.
St Kilda will be relying on natural improvement from their list as well as Crouch and Higgins to come in and have some sort of impact. They will be pushing for top four this year and looking to make an even bigger impact on the finals this year. I think they are capable of making top four but need a lot to go their way with injuries as their list is still developing from a depth point of view. I think a finish between 4 and 6 looks likely.