Season 2023 - St Kilda

Football Discussion Non Essendon Stuff
1

St Kilda

Coach – Ross Lyon

2022 –
Points For – 15th
Points Against – 7th

Top 5 Best and Fairest

  1. Jack Sinclair
  2. Callum Wilkie
  3. Jack Steele
  4. Tim Membrey
  5. Seb Ross

2022 Rising Star Noms

Marcus Windhager (Round 22)

Ins – Zaine Cordy, Mattaes Phillipou, James Van Es, Olli Hotton, Isaac Keeler

Outs – Paddy Ryder, Dan Hannebery, Jarryn Geary, Josiah Kyle, Dean Kent, Darragh Joyce, Ben Long, Jarrod Lienert

My Prediction

Talk about your nightmare years, the last season for the Saints was the sort of thing you thought only the Bombers did to their fans. Line them up, get the fans all hopeful and then be totally useless with no light at the end of the tunnel. Whilst doing this, you sign your coach up for two more years and then sack him for someone who previously left you for a better offer years earlier. After signing up said coach, you bring back any of your old players with even a skerrick of coaching experience.

The backline is probably their most solid area of the ground. Howard and Battle hold down the KP spots and do it well. They have Wilkie on the FB line who has been really solid and then you are looking at Hill (who doesn’t want to be there) and Sinclair who keeps improving and is probably their most fun player to watch.

The midfield is pants. Crouch will be in there, Hunter Clark will be back, probably slightly annoyed at their efforts to trade him last year and most of the workload will fall on Seb Ross and Jack Steele. They will be hoping Phillipou and Wanganeen-Milera will come in and provide a point of difference this year but any time you relying on first and second year players, it tends to be a struggle.

The forward line will miss Max King for a fair portion of the season after his tissue paper frame again struggled with the whole contact sport thing. Membrey has been solid for them but he is as unexciting as the stupid tattoos he wears with pride. They have brought in Cordy who may get some time up forward and then you are looking at all the smalls in Gresham, Butler and Higgins. It is not going to be a high scoring forward line.

They lost Ryder to old age which leaves Marshall to be the one out ruck. This wont be a bad thing as despite looking like he got lost on the way to comic con, he is a relatively good ruck. The coach will be enthralling. How long until the fans turn on him. He is promising a more attacking mindset but that is all talk as he doesn’t have the pieces for a game plan like that. He has just enough spuds to go defensive and go back to old school Lyon at a time when the game is moving away from that. It feels like this is going to end badly.

The Saints list is showing signs of extreme mismanagement over a long period of time. They have traded and drafted their way into mediocrity and it is going to be a slow journey out of it. I suspect the journey from mediocrity will be via the draft as they slowly drift down the ladder. I think it starts this season when they make their way into the 12-14 range.

6 Likes
2

ROSS DA NO VIBE BOSS

3

The two big question marks on Lyon’s coaching record are his ability to develop young talent and implement a consistent attacking framework.

He has an opportunity to address both of those questions this time around at St Kilda, but I’m not optimistic of his chances.

2 Likes
4

I actually see them pretty similar to us.

They have a group of guys that fans probably consider A graders (like we do) but in reality to most neutrals they are good ordinary players. And a few promising young players to keep you interested enough.

Capable of stinking it up and copping a flogging but also can randomly put it together on the day and beat a top echelon side.

4 Likes
5

Hurry up and fold already you loser club

1 Like
6

Fox Footy best 22

B: Ben Paton, Dougal Howard, Callum Wilkie

HB: Jack Sinclair, Josh Battle, Brad Hill

C: Dan McKenzie, Brad Crouch, Hunter Clark

HF: Marcus Windhager, Tim Membrey, Jade Gresham

F: Dan Butler, Max King, Jack Higgins

FOLL: Rowan Marshall, Jack Steele, Seb Ross

I/C: Jack Hayes, Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, Jack Billings, Mattaes Phillipou

Saints didnt lose a lot - Ryder gone. but he was pretty well aged and only getting slower.

Expect some nice displays from Wanganeen-Milera and Phillipou this year. Hope that Jack Peris gets a debut along the way as well.

Good summary allblack
defence ok
Midfield slow - will need excitement from Hill, Wanganeen-Milera and Phillipou.
Forwardline - King misssing is important. plus lose Ryder/Marshall to ruck duties

I don’t see them doing any better than last year. so say 10-14th
Ross the Boss is the outlier here, can he inspire the list to do play above themselves, or playing as a unit/team, better than the individual parts.

Ross probably has grace for a down year, but if saints out perform will put it down to Ross the Boss.

2 Likes
7

Surely they only consider Steele a A grader
And King potentially one if can stay on the park.

8

They are perennial underachievers. It doesn’t matter how good they might ever look on paper, you just know that at some point around the middle of the season they will collapse and half their list go missing. It usually happens when there is a high pressure match, when too much will be left to too few.

Apart from Sinclair and Battle the defence lacks physical presence (with a name like that he would have to be a defender), in particular Howard and Hill. Up forward they have Membrey who has been a solid citizen for them ever since he rediscovered his favourite goal kicking boots, but he is required to play as a KPF, when he should be the third tall, and the team looks for him a little too much, as he is their bail out option. King should deliver for them this season, to start repaying some of the faith shown in him. Wanganeen-Millera is a classy mover and worth watching but is still lightly built and growing into his role on the wing. Philippou will get games early on, much to the chagrin of many in here. Marshall is a fine ruck and much will depend on his ability to give his midfield first use. The midfield is well led by Jack Steele, but the rest of them, such as Seb Ross are either plodders or ball butchers, Crouch.

Then there is the coach. I rated Lyon’s specialist comments this season. His public persona as coach was a very different animal. He doesn’t yet have the pieces he needs to make the Aints relevant let alone a finals threat. That is going to take a few years. I have plenty of mates who barrack for them, but l am yet to hear a decent reason for them to continue. They only flatter to deceive, each and every year, they will finish in the bottom third of the ladder.

2 Likes
9

Just appointed SoS as their list manager.

1 Like
10
11

C’mon guys. Just wrap it all up and fold. 140 years and you’ve won one flag and have serious amounts of debts to show for it. The biggest reason for North to feel the heat to get up and move to another state is because general punters (myself included) actually forget you even exist sometimes.

1 Like
12

Their 150th year is gonna be on par with our celebrations at this rate. What a debarcle.

13

I very much dislike this collection of people.

14

What’s the difference between a List Manager and a Head of Talent and Acquisition role?

15

Head of Talent and Acquisition may be pretty broad. It could extend to players, coaches and support staff, whereas list manager is just focussed on players?

1 Like
16

Any word on how Philippou is tracking?

17

I believe Philippou reports has doing amazing

18

I wonder if any of the players drafted after Tsatas are doing better than Tsatas and whether that gives me a justifiable reason to complain about Tsatas?

19

Head of talent and acquisition may more of an off field role :wink::blush:

20

It’s probably how Essendon fans call Shiel an A grader, while would call Crouch a dud. When in reality, they’re pretty similar quality players.