St Kilda
Coach – Ross Lyon
2024 –
Points For – 15th
Points Against – 5th
Top 5 Best and Fairest
- Callum Wilkie
- Jack Sinclair
- Josh Battle
- Rowan Marshall
- NWM
2024 Rising Star Noms
Darcy Wilson (Rnd6)
Ins – Eamonn Armstrong, James Barrat, High Boxshall, Jack Carroll, Alex Dodson, Jack Macrae, Patrick Said, Alix Tauru, Tobie Travaglia
Outs – Matthew Allison, Josh Battle, Riley Bonner, Tom Campbell, Brad Crouch, Jack Hayes, Olli Hotton, Tim Membrey, Ben Paton, Seb Ross, James Van Es
My Prediction
For a team that really don’t matter, it is still so much fun to watch them perform so terribly. I think in large part because of the nostalgia, St Kilda being a terrible football team plays such a large part of everyone’s football experience. Combine that with their coach being an arrogant tool and it just feels right that the Saints are mediocre.
The backline slipped from first to fifth for points conceded but truth be told. There wasn’t much difference, their defensive gameplan still help up. They lose Battle who has been solid but is hardly a superstar. They have had Caminitti training to take his place and to be honest, I probably couldn’t pick either out of a police line up. They have Dougal Howard that sounds like an accountant and plays football like a VFL star. NWM and Sinclair are quality half backs but realistically the backs themselves aren’t stars but the structure works.
The midfield is boring. They brough in Liam Henry who got very injured but they need him and his pace. I do like that they thought their midfield was a little workmanlike and one paced and then brought in Macrae who is all of those things. They will need Hill and even NWM to spend time through the middle to give them some run. They would also love an injury free season from Steele but I am not sure that is on the cards.
The forward line makes the midfield look interesting. They have offered Max King the sort of long term contract that makes Kane Cornes lose his mind. King has looked good in patches but definitely not living up to the hype. They then have big bodies in Owens and Phillipou both of who struggled last year but they will be looking to step up this year. Higgins has been pretty good for them since going across but he isn’t reliable.
The ruck is good, they need Marshall to stay fit. He is strong around the ground and his tap work is generally pretty reliable. The coach has done it all (especially at Christmas parties (allegedly)), unless you count winning premierships as a part of doing it all in which case he has not. His promises of moving with the times and becoming more attacking have been wildly off the mark.
The Saints feel weaker than last year which I am not sure is accurate. They lose more talent than they brought in but I think they will be able to find improvement from players on the list as well as a couple of top ten draft picks. Not much went their way with injuries last year so I expect even with a bit more luck they will improve. I think they could well play finals. I think they finish in the 7-10 range.
