St Kilda great Leigh Montagna has implored the club to trade out some of its star senior players to bring more youth into the club in a “reset”, saying he thinks it “needs to go back to go forward.”
The Saints had their final hopes dashed after losing to Brisbane, falling to 11-10 to continue St Kilda’s drop off after a promising 5-1 start to the season.
Since Round 7 St Kilda has ranked bottom six in the ‘Core Four’ stats — with the footy (15th), without the footy, clearance and post-clearance contest (all 12th).
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“They’re in a real predicament … this is 15 rounds of football, it’s a bottom-four profile, so they have really struggled with their game,” Montagna said on Fox Footy’s First Crack.
Asked if their issues lie with personnel or system, Montagna said: “I think it’s a combination of both.”
The Saints’ finals hopes are over (Photo by Daniel Pockett/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS
It comes after St Kilda has aggressively recruited players via trade and free agency over the last four years, bringing Paddy Ryder (35 years old), Dan Hannebery (32), Tom Campbell (31), Brad Hill, Dean Kent, Mason Wood, Brad Crouch (all 29), Jarrod Lienert, Zak Jones (both 28), Dougal Howard (27), Dan Butler, Jack Hayes (both 26) and Jack Higgins (24) into the fold.
Looking at the age profile of those players combined with the rest of the senior core, Montgana questioned how much upside the Saints’ list has.
“This is the concern for St Kilda supporters when you think about where the improvement is going to come from in the years to come,” he said.
“How much room for improvement have they got these guys? How high is their ceiling? And that’s in conjunction with their core group of Seb Ross, Tim Membrey, Jimmy Webster, Jack Sinclair, Jack Billings, Rowan Marshall and Jack Steele, who are all 26 plus years old as well.
“There’s not a lot of ceiling room within the core group of players on top of that profile… the upside is a very small margin.”
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Montagna did praise young guns Max King, Cooper Sharman (both 22), Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera (20), Marcus Windhager and Mitch Owens (both 19), who’ve joined the club over the same four-year period, but said he had “question marks” on their other youngsters.
He believes St Kilda should follow Port Adelaide’s blueprint from post 2018 and trade out their players with currency to try and bounce back quickly.
“I think they need to go back to go forward,” Montagna said.
“I think they need to trade out some of those players they’ve brought in and bring in some more young talent and reset — Brad Hill, Zak Jones and maybe Jack Billings or Jade Gresham to try and get some other young talent in.
“I look at Port Adelaide — they went through a period for five years where they were mid-table — then traded Chad Wingard, Jasper Pittard and Jared Polec when they were playing good footy — Jack Hombsch, Paddy Ryder and Dougal Howard.
“They made some change and got in those young players — Zak Butters, Xavier Duursma, Connor Rozee and Mitch Georgiades — then all of a sudden played in back-t0-back preliminary finals (in 2020 and 2021).
“I think there’s some concerns there for St Kilda, they need to have a real hard think about where their list is at moving forward.”
Rugby league legend Billy Slater has slammed Isaiah Papali’i’s potential Tigers backflip following the news the 23-year-old would make a decision at the season’s end.
Reports suggest the backrow enforcer will honor his contract and ply his trade for the merger club in 2023, but doubts still linger over Papali’i’s future.
The 23-year-old penned three-year deal with the Tigers late last year, but after the sacking of Michael Maguire the young gun said he wants to have “no regrets.”
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“Obviously people ask me about it, just even on the street or family and friends are hitting me up but that’s kind of for my manager look after and even if I don’t stay here or I do go next year, I want to make sure that this year has no regrets,” he said to 9 News.
“When I did sign it was talking to Madge — he’s an awesome coach. That rattled the cage a bit and I guess you have to have those conversations and I guess that was a massive factor for me.”
Now, Slater has been left stunned that Papali’i could potentially backflip on his deal and urged him to honor his contract.
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“If you sign with a club, go to the club,” Slater said on Nine’s coverage.
“You’re signing with a club. You’re not signing with a coach, you’re not signing with a player — you’re signing with a club. Go to the club.
“You’re not allowed to walk away from a contract. It’s just pressure, public pressure if you want out.
“If you sign with a club, you want to take that money and you sign the deal, go to the club.”
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Geelong have extended their winning streak to 12-straight on Saturday as they topped the Gold Coast Suns on the road.
The win puts the Cats eight points clear on top of the ladder and secures the minor premiership for the dominant outfit.
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The Cats put the foot down from the opening bounce with forward Tyson Stengle in scorching form, slotting three goals to get the game going.
“It’s one of the great quarters we’ve seen from a small forward this year,” legendary Hawk Jason Dunstall told Fox Footy.
Anthony Hudson added: “He is putting on quite a show.”
It remained one-way traffic in the second quarter as the Cats went into the halftime break holding a 51-point advantage.
“The Suns are getting a masterclass,” Dunstall said.
In what could be their last match outside of Victoria for the year, Geelong cruised to a 17-4 record on the back of an inside 50 entry landslide of 72-43.
It’s the 15th time the Cats have secured the minor premiership, however the feat hasn’t meant much in recent history.
Melbourne last season was the only club to go from minor premiers to premiers, breaking a drought of seven straight minor premiers to fall short.
Collingwood can pull off the biggest heist in AFL history and pinch the minor premiership, to do so they’d need to win their final two games by around 50 combined goals while Geelong would have to lose next weekend by around 25 goals.
Jeremy Cameron finished alongside Stengle with three goals as the Cats flexed their muscles on the road.
They finish the home and away season on Saturday at home against the West Coast Eagles.
As if there wasn’t enough attention on him with speculation swirling around him about
leaving the Suns for Adelaide, Gold Coast livewire Izak Rankine decided to dye his hair a
shade of peroxide blonde.
Rankine is set to accept an offer of $900.00 a year to be the highest paid Crow and Adelaide supporters would have enjoyed his first quarter goal that included a spin in traffic and cheeky right-foot checkside for a goal. He also won a free kick with a crunching tackle and went within a fingernail of a second goal as his performance lived up to his haircut. He left the field in the fourth term favoring his left shoulder in what could be his last appearance of him as a Sun.
St Kilda need a victory over Brisbane on Friday night to keep their final hopes alive, but they’ll be without inspirational mid Dan Hannebery.
The Saints (11-9, 101.1%) have taken a cautious approach with the veteran after he tweaked his ankle in last week’s loss to Geelong.
Brisbane (14-6, 124.2%) have their own injury woes with defender Marcus Adams ruled out with concussion.
The Lions have beaten St Kilda just once at Marvel Stadium in 22 years, dating back to 2000 when it was known as Colonial Stadium.
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The medi subs are Zak Jones (St Kilda) and Ryan Lester (Brisbane).
This match gets underground at 7.50pm AEST from Marvel Stadium.
Watch it live on Fox Footy (channel 504) from 7pm AEST.
Follow St Kilda v Brisbane in our live blog below!
QUARTER BY QUARTER MATCH REPORT
The Saints showed their cards early when tagger Marcus Windhager went straight to Lachie Neale for the first bounce.
And despite the Lions doing all the attacking in the opening minutes, it was Jack Higgins who got St Kilda on the board first.
Higgins pounced when Oscar McInerney missed with his hands in the middle of the ground.
The Saint set sail for home from the center square and it bounced through.
“One tiny little handling error and it’s out the back door,” commentator Brian Taylor said.
Neale headed deep forward in a bid to try and overcome the Windhager tag, but had just one touch to his name after more than 10 minutes of play.
“He and the Lions asking the question.. ‘alright you can run around the midfield as a tagger but how do you go as a pure defender if I go forward?’ Good move,” commentator Daisy Pearce praised.
After early misses by Dan McStay and Hugh McCluggage, plus Cam Rayner’s out on the full, it took a brilliant Charlie Cameron contested grab to get the Lions on the board.
McCluggage then added his side’s second a minute later from the center clearance.
The ball just wouldn’t sit for Neale as he streamed inside 50 and the Saints dodged a third bullet as Jack Sinclair was there to bring the ball out of defense.
But the first term was played mostly in the Lions’ front half as St Kilda were unable to clear.
When Jarrod Lienert won a big ruck battle against McInerney, the Saints got forward and Tim Membrey didn’t disappoint with the snap – and he went to Dayne Zorko to let him know about it.
Tempers threatened to spill over a few times in the first term as the Saints sat just one-point behind.
“St Kilda are on track to record 100 tackles here,” commentator James Brayshaw said.
“They have come to play.”
Mason Wood then gave the Saints the lead after Mitch Owens broke free from the stoppage and got the handball out.
But St Kilda let the lead slip after the quarter time siren when Hipwood slotted his set shot from 40m out.
The second term belonged entirely to the Lions as they found another gear and kicked away.
A big Brad Crouch bump rocked Lion Darcy Gardiner early in the second term as the Saint crashed heavily into his opponent.
Pearce immediately thought Crouch’s actions would draw at least a week’s ban, but luckily for Gardner he was able to stay out on the field.
Joe Daniher went aerial before kicking his first goal of the night before Linc McCarthy extended Brisbane’s lead to 14 points minutes later.
Like the first quarter, the ball remained locked in Brisbane’s attack as St Kilda’s defense was put under enormous pressure.
Hipwood got out the back and goaled from the square before another big contested grab by McStay pushed the lead out to a game-high 26 points.
Wood gave the Saints some hope minutes out from half time with a big goal from just outside 50.
But by the main break, Brisbane held a 22-point lead.
It shapes as one of the biggest, most complex deals of the trade period. But unfortunately for the Gold Coast Suns, it involves another one of their budding stars departing.
Foxfooty.com.au confirmed a report from the Herald Sun that Suns young gun Izak Rankine has been offered a five-year, $4 million deal from the Adelaide Crows as he considers a move back to South Australia.
Originally thought to be close to re-signing with Gold Coast, who are reportedly offering around a $650,000-a-season deal and won’t match Adelaide’s offer, the report states the 22-year old is highly likely to be playing at West Lakes in 2023 given the size of the offer.
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However as Rankine isn’t a free agent, he’d need to be acquired via trade, setting the stage for one of the most fascinating negotiations between the Suns and Crows in some time.
Pick No. 3 in the 2018 draft, Rankine showed promising signs early in his career before really elevating his game in 2022 into the competition’s elite bracket.
Rankine has booted a career-best 27 goals from 16 games this season while averaging 13.6 disposals per game (both ranked above average as a general forward by Champion Data), and his 1.5 goal assists ranks fifth in the league (ranked elite).
What’s more, his 2.9 forward 50 ball gets rank first in the competition and his 10.6 AFL Player Rating ranks ninth (both elite). His 6.4 score involvements per game (elite) come in fifth in the league including three games in 2022 with 11 score involvements.
And from Rounds 8-15 Rankine was the No. 1 ranked overall forward in the competition during a stretch where he ranked second in score assists.
“They signed probably six of their top eight players over the last six months and you just expected Izak will sign … then this comes in as a bit of a wildcard, so incredibly tough for the Gold Coast,” Roos legend David King said on SEN.
“Rankine is going to be a top liner. The ball’s not even kicked to him and his ability to hit the scoreboard is second to none.
What would Rankine cost in a trade? (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
A potential future face of the Suns and just 46 games into his AFL career, Rankine’s upside is scary, and he’s clearly only going to keep getting better, thus complicating his trade value given he’s not yet the final product.
So what’s he worth in a deal right now and how might it look?
Adelaide currently holds Pick 4 in the draft — a pick that could yet get moved back also pending on where potential Pick 1 and father-son draftee Will Ashcroft lands.
You’d think Adelaide’s first pick would be the starting point to any trade, but surely the Suns would want more.
A second first-round pick from the Crows feels like overs, especially considering it’d likely again be a top five selection or thereabouts. Would the Suns accept a first and second rounder?
Looking at recent history, the Adam Cerra trade from last year is a fair comparison given he was also aged 22, an early draft pick (No. 5) and still coming into his prime but didn’t yet qualify for free agency.
The Dockers ultimately received Carlton’s Pick 6 as well as a future third rounder despite originally putting a bigger price on Cerra’s head — although Fremantle had other deals to get done including acquiring Jordan Clark.
Prior to that, Jaeger O’Meara moved from the Suns to Hawthorn at the end of 2016 when he was also aged 22 and rated as one of the best young talents in the game.
O’Meara while playing for the Suns (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS
O’Meara, who joined Gold Coast with the No. 1 pick of a special ‘mini draft’ as part of its early concessions, only cost the Hawks Pick 10 and a future second rounder.
Then there was the original Adam Treloar (who was also 22) trade back in 2015 that saw the star midfielder along with Pick 28 move from GWS to Collingwood for Picks 7, 65 and a future first rounder.
Similar to O’Meara, Treloar was drafted by the Giants as an under-age selection.
But making Rankine’s situation slightly more unique is that he was a bona fide top three pick (and taken ahead of the likes of the King brothers, Connor Rozee and Bailey Smith in the highly-rated 2018 draft), and factoring in that the Suns have already lost so much young talent over the years to add a potential extra tax of sorts.
And losing too many young stars to rival clubs has seen Gold Coast already top up with a stack of early picks in recent years.
It held selections 5 (Mac Andrew) and 7 (Elijah Hollands) respectively over the last two drafts, 1 and 2 in the 2019 draft (Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson) and 2 and 3 the year prior (Jack Lukosius and Rankine).
So would the Suns really want or need more picks? Finals should be firmly on the agenda next year after the club has finally made inroads in 2022, currently sitting 11th on the ladder with nine wins and on track for its best ever season.
Port Adelaide legend Kane Cornes wasn’t yet convinced Rankine is going to be a “top liner,” but emphasized the Crows would have to give up something given he’s not a free agent — proposing a swap for Riley Thilthorpe or a package of Josh Rachele and Darcy Fogarty if draft picks don’t appease the Suns.
Is Buddy going back to Brisbane? | 00:33
“Adelaide would hope that (Pick 4) gets it done, but Rankine was a Pick 3 four years ago and is probably better than what you’re going to take a put on with Pick 4 in this year’s draft, which probably goes to ( Pick) 5 or 6, so that won’t get it done,” he said on SEN.
“They (the Suns) don’t want or need draft picks… is it Rachele and Fogarty or something like that for Rankine?
Of course, the Crows could dig their heels in if they can’t meet Gold Coast’s demands and try and walk Rankine to the pre-season draft (and hope other clubs don’t pounce on him).
This happened most recently in 2019 when Jack Martin joined Carlton via the pre-season draft after the Blues and Suns failed to reach a deal during the trade period.
King believes the Suns should take a stand and be willing to let Rankine walk for nothing if it comes to it.
“I just wonder if they would say, ‘you know what, we’re not going to do this deal, we’re going to take a stand. We’ve got enough first-round picks, future picks coming in, trade commodities to be able to shift if we want to go down that path. Let’s dig our heels in and say if you want to leave you can go to the draft’,” he said.
“Why not? Does it really rock their boat (losing him for nothing)? Do they say, ‘do we just draw a line in the sand?’ Because this is going to continue to happen if they allow it to happen.
“I think they’ll take a stance. I don’t think they’ll say, ‘oh yeah, no worries, what do you (Adelaide) want to discard? You don’t think Rachele is going to be a top-liner? OK, give us Rachele.’ That’s of no value to them.”
