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.”
“Heartbreak” awaits whoever finishes 6th | 02:27
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.”
Fremantle expect Rory Lobb to back up against GWS, despite being subbed out of the win over West Coast.
While the Roos are counting the injury toll from a bruising encounter with the Crows.
Get the latest AFL injury news in our Round 22 Casualty Ward!
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FREMANTLE coach Justin Longmuir has defended the club’s decision to sub Rory Lob out of the win over West Coast late, despite then admitting he expects the star to play next weekend.
Lobb has been carrying a shoulder injury for the past few weeks and appeared to aggravate it in a marking contest in the third term.
But the big forward waved away medical staff and played on, despite clearly carrying his right shoulder.
“He’s sore,” Longmuir admitted post-match. “We don’t think it’s too significant. We’re proud of his efforts after he got injured and halved some contests and remained in the game and kept working his way through it.
“(We) expect him to play (against GWS).
“Players have played plenty of times after they’ve been subbed out.
“He was carrying his arm around so he’s got an injury. He’s been carrying it for three weeks so he got a stinger on it and couldn’t go on tonight but we think he’ll be alright.”
Longmuir said he would enjoy the win over West Coast before contemplating having both Lobb and fellow big forward Matt Taberner unavailable for the away clash with GWS.
“I’ll worry about that when I get home,” he laughed.
“It’s not ideal and I’d love Lobby to play next week. We haven’t really crossed that bridge yet.
“When you see a player out there carrying their arm, you want to protect them so that’s why we subbed him out.
“He’s a fast healer. He played the week after he hurt it the first time from memory. So fingers crossed he gets up. He doesn’t let on when he brings injuries into games and he pushes through it really well.
“He’s 205cm and we needed to contest forward of the ball.
“I’m really proud of his efforts to keep competing, sometimes with one arm.”
Saint in hot water over bump? | 00:41
The call to sub Lobb out of the contest came with just four minutes remaining when the match was all but won.
“The docs went out and checked him and probably decided that he couldn’t go on anymore,” Longmuir said.
“He battled as well as he could for as long as he could. We needed to get him off for his own welfare from him.”
Lobb’s potential absence could hurt Fremantle’s top four push with Taberner already sidelined. skipper Nat Fyfe is no guarantee to return from his hamstring injury in Round 23 with Longmuir adamant the club would take a cautious approach.
“We don’t need to (bring him straight back), but if he’s fit to play, he’ll put his hand up for selection,” Longmuir said.
“If he’s not declared fit, we’re not going to put him out there and risk him. You injure yourself at this time of year and have a repeat injury to that hammy, then your season’s almost done.”
Longmuir said Fyfe may even go back to the WAFL for a second time this year to build fitness heading into finals.
“If it’s not this week, then we’ve got the bye and a WAFL game in the bye so we’ll look at that,” he said.
ST KILDA‘s Jimmy Webster‘s season is all but over after he injured his hamstring in the loss to Brisbane.
With the Saints now only a mathematical chance of finals, Webster is set for scans in the coming days.
He was subbed out of the loss to Brisbane early and was iced up for the remainder of the clash.
Cunnington emotional after huge return! | 02:47
ADELAIDE forward Shane McAdam is in doubt for this weekend’s Showdown with Port Adelaide.
McAdam was subbed out of the win over North Melbourne with a hamstring complaint.
“Forward Shane McAdam injured his hamstring while leading for the ball in the final quarter and was subbed out of the game,” Crows high performance manager Darren Burgess said.
“He will be assessed in coming days ahead of next week’s Showdown.”
NORTH MELBOURNE are counting the cost of a bruising loss to the Crows, with three players injured and young Paul Curtis now racing to be fit for the final match of the season.
jed anderson suffered concussion and won’t play again this season under the AFL’s protocols.
skipper jack ziebell is also likely done for 2022 after suffering a “significant” shoulder injury.
“It didn’t look great for Ziebs in particular,” coach Leigh Adams said.
“It’s some sort of shoulder injury. I think we all know Jack Ziebell is going to put his body on the line every time.
“I’m not sure if its collarbone or a dislocation but for him to come straight off and get subbed off, it must have been pretty bad. He doesn’t come off unless something is wrong.
“Fingers crossed it’s not too bad but it looks like his season is over.”
Kangaroos miss chance against Crows | 01:34
Jaidyn Stephenson will have to prove his fitness to play again this season after coming off with a back injury.
“Stevo’s had a bit of back issues that can come good pretty quick.”
Adams defended the club’s decision to send Anderson back out into the contest, as he was later ruled out with concussion.
“I haven’t seen the vision yet – I’m comfortable our doctors will have made the right decision,” he said.
“I know he came off with the blood rule and I was told at three quarter time he’d gone into the concussion protocols.”
Adams said the club wouldn’t take any risk with young Curtis after he copped a knock to his shoulder.
“This time of year obviously with one game to go, we won’t take any risk with a young kid like that,” he said.
GWS could be without Lachlan Keeffe after he complained of groin soreness in the loss to the Western Bulldogs.
Caretaker coach Mark McVeigh said the club would take precautions with the veteran.
“We’ll assess Keeffey who complained of a bit of groin soreness. We’ll take precautions there,” he said.
Tanner Bruhn won’t play again this season after entering the AFL’s concussion protocols.
“Tanner Bruhn with the HIA so he’ll enter those protocols which is not ideal for him,” McVeigh said.
the WESTERN BULLDOGS admit skipper Marcus Bontempelli is not fully fit but continues to press on.
“I finished the game off alright didn’t he?” coach Luke Beveridge said.
“He’s struggling a little bit with a niggle or two. I had Marcus and Chrissy Bell in my office yesterday talking through, he’s got a bit of an adductor issue going on.
“Both Marcus and Chris were sure he’d get through the game.
“He’s not 100 per cent. I have pushed through a bit of discomfort today.”
Bulldogs keep finals in sight | 02:53
GEELONG Coach Chris Scott has hinted at resting more players for the final round clash against West Coast.
With top spot assured, the Cats do have one injury concern with Rhys Stanley subbed out of the win over the Gold Coast.
“They tell me he’s got a low grade adductor strain,” Scott said.
“Generally when they say low grade it’s a week or two. It will be unlikely he’ll play next week is the feedback I’ve got but they are not too worried beyond that.”
GOLD COAST coach Stuart Dew says he feels for Sam Day after the forward re-injured his knee.
“Suspected that he’s hurt his meniscus that he’s had repaired last year and it was the same mechanism the way he slid and jammed that joint so we’ve got fingers crossed but unfortunately I think Sam might have hurt his knee which is really unfortunate,” Dew said.
Izak Rankin also remains in doubt for Round 23 after injuring his shoulder.
“He hurt that shoulder a few weeks back… clearly awkward landing/hit and he’s stirred that up,” Dew said.
“We’ll just see how that settles.”
WEST COAST could be without both Nic Naitanui and jamine jones for the trip to Geelong.
Jones was subbed out of the loss to the Dockers with a back issue.
“His back just seized up. We weighed up before the game whether to pull him out … He’s had a big year and carried some injuries. He just couldn’t last,” coach Adam Simpson said.
Simpson also admitted Naitanui was playing through the pain.
“He’s playing because the club needs him,” Simpson said.
St Kilda midfielder Brad Crouch could be staring down the barrel of a stint on the sidelines following a late hit on Brisbane Lions defender Darcy Gardiner during Friday evening’s AFL match at Marvel Stadium.
During the second quarter of Brisbane’s 15-point victory, Crouch’s shoulder made heavy contact with Gardiner’s head near the boundary line.
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The dazed 26-year-old required medical attention following the ugly incident, which sparked a brief melee.
“That’s not good I don’t think,” footy icon Brian Taylor said on Channel 7 commentary.
“That’s head contact with a bump and it could’ve been a tackle.”
Melbourne AFLW footballer Daisy Pearce continued: “That’s weeks. At least a week and anything upward of that hinges on what those doctors are working out right now.”
Channel 7 commentator James Brayshaw replied: “You say that, but in the current landscape how would anyone know?”
Crouch will almost certainly come under scrutiny from the Match Review Officer, but the severity of his punishment remains unclear.
Earlier this week, the AFL Appeals Board overturned the AFL Tribunal’s decision to uphold Carlton captain Patrick Cripps’ two-match ban for rough conduct due to a lack of procedural fairness.
The outcome baffled the footy community, and the AFL Appeals Board could face further scrutiny following Crouch’s late hit at Marvel Stadium.
“Good on Carlton for pursuing it and getting their player free but I thought we were all about protecting the head and Cal Ah Chee had no chance whatsoever to protect his own head last week,” Lion coach Chris Fagan told reporters in the post- match press conference.
“And he was off early in the game last week and he’s not playing this week as a result of it so we get penalized for that and unfortunately Cal gets injured.
“We’ve just got to protect the head – it’s as simple as that.”
Melbourne great Garry Lyon fumed on Fox Footy: “It’s the greatest raffle in sport right now… it’s a farce.
“We don’t know what’s going on. ‘Procedural fairness’, come on.
“I hope this is not the start of a long concussion run for Callum Ah Chee, because we’d go back to this moment and go, ‘This is an AFL that makes a lot of noise but (doesn’t do enough)’ .”
St Kilda will need a minor miracle to qualify for the finals after Friday’s 12.9 (81) to 9.12 (66) defeat.
Brisbane opened up a 26-point buffer late in the second quarter, but for the third game in a row, they either gave up a sizeable lead, or had one eaten into significantly, as the Saints exploded in the third quarter to lead by five points, putting the Lions’ top-four ambitions in peril.
However, Brisbane’s pursuit of a double chance would’ve been severely impeded if Saints spearhead Max King kicked straight, but he could only must five behinds, including four missed set shots from directly in front in the second half when the Saints enjoyed all the momentum .
In response, Rayner stepped up to the plate, showing King how it’s done, booting three of Brisbane’s four final-quarter goals, to finish up with a team-high four majors, and prove to be the match winner.
The Saints will likely drop to 10th this weekend, meaning they will have to not only beat the Swans in Sydney in the final round next week, but will also need a raft of other results to go their way to make the finals.
St Kilda has blown a golden opportunity at the wrong time, falling to Brisbane by 15 points in game there to be won late with the Saints’ season on all the line to all but end their final hopes.
Brett Ratten’s side recovered from a slow start to come charging back into the game in the second half, but wasn’t able to convert its opportunities including a wasteful 0.5 kicking display from Max King.
Saints legend Nick Riewoldt said he hoped the club wouldn’t put all the onus on its goalkicking inaccuracy in the second half, lamenting its lackluster start to the contest.
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“They had the game where they wanted it… but I hope it doesn’t turn into a ‘we just didn’t take our opportunities’, conversation. Because early in the contest when the game was there to be won, they weren’t necessarily up for it,” he said on Fox Footy post-match.
The Saints’ final hopes were dealt a massive blow (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS
“Then when it gets desperate you take it on. I hope it’s a really learning experience this game for St Kilda. When they played with a bit of desperation, especially with the footy, then they put the Lions under pressure and looked like a finals team.
“If you’re looking at it with a narrow lens, you would say they didn’t take their opportunities. Max King was bit of a liability in front of goal, he didn’t look he wanted the ball in the end, so he’ll be really disappointed that he couldn’t convert.”
St Kilda ended up winning the disposal count (327-310) and inside 50s (50-49), but converted 9.12 of its shots at goal (43 per cent) compared to Brisbane’s 12.9 (57 per cent), with Cam Rayner the match winner for the Lions with three of his four goals in the last term.
Demons legend Garry Lyon was much more encouraged by St Kilda’s style when it had more urgency and played faster and direct.
“The competitive, go slow style they’ve been playing has been left behind largely … that’s the learnings I would hope they get from it, because when they went with some stuff that looked unscripted, that’s when they looked most dangerous,” he said.
It’ll likely go down as another wasted season for the 11-10 Saints despite such a promising 5-1 start to 2022 to emerge as a premiership dark horse as Ratten was rewarded with a contract extension.
Saint in hot water over bump? | 00:41
But they’ve now won just three of their last 10 matches and would need nearly everything to go right by the way of other results for them to make finals from here including beating an in-form Swans outfit next weekend at Marvel Stadium.
Former Hawthorn sharpshooter Ben Dixon was however still giving St Kilda hope to finish in the top eight and was left unconvinced by Brisbane’s performance, calling it the “sweep escape”.
“I think Brisbane was given that game, they didn’t win it… if Richmond and Carlton lose they’ve (the Saints) still got a heartbeat. I’m giving them hope,” he said on Fox Footy Live.
But St Kilda champion Nick Dal Santo doesn’t believe his former side is currently playing a good enough brand to hold up in September.
“You want your finals series to be teams that are currently in form or capable of causing an upset from the bottom of the top eight,” he said.
“The form that the Saints have played of recent, no, I don’t think their in the best eight teams in the comp right now.”
Others responded on social media to the Saints’ blown opportunity.
St Kilda coach Brett Ratten has said star forward Max King “won’t be seeing anybody outside the club” to help improve his set-shot routine, instead backing in those at the club to help steady the 22-year-old’s game.
King imposed himself in the air during Friday night’s loss to Brisbane at Marvel Stadium, but kicked five behinds and ended up goalless as the Saints’ final hopes were all-but dashed.
Speaking post-game, Ratten was staunch in his defense of King.
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Cripps free to play, ban overturned! | 00:35
“It’s part of the game and you look through great forwards to have played the game, they’ve had a night where they haven’t scored like they wanted to,” he said.
“The pleasing part we know about Max is that Tuesday was a day off for the players and he was at Marvel Stadium for an hour-and-a-half having goal-kicking practice. Every day we’re at the footy club or not at the footy club he’s there having extra goal-kicking and really rehearsing and fine-tuning his game to make sure he gets the opportunity to score on game-day. He’s doing a power of work.
“What I do know is I want Max King in my corner. He’ll be at our footy club for 10 years and when we look back we’ll be saying what a great player he is and what he’s done. Tonight he had a night where it didn’t work for him.
“He did everything right but finish, for great forwards that’s happened in the game. He’s 21 years of age, we love what he brings to the footy club, he’s developing and we know that he’s doing the work. Sometimes you don’t get the reward all the time but he’ll keep doing that and you watch, he’ll turn it around.”
King has enjoyed a relatively impressive season in front of goal, booting 47 goals from his 21 games.
There have been occasions, however, where inaccuracy has plagued him, most notably his return of one goal and seven behinds in round six and two goals and five behinds in round 20 before tonight’s five behinds.
Ratten said a myriad of factors were at play for King.
King kicked five behinds on Friday night (Photo by Daniel Pockett/AFL Photos/via Getty Images).Source: Getty Images
“I wouldn’t say high pressure, I think sometimes the goal-kicking, it’s got so many elements to it,” he said.
“It’s the technical aspect, the mental aspect, the fatigue, what part of the ground, people score from different parts and score easier when the ball is on the right side versus the left.
“I want to go to war with Max because he delivers and he will deliver.”
The Saints in 2021 knocked back Max King’s request for help from Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd – who also coached King at Haileybury College – instead opting to leave King’s goal-kicking practice to those internally.
Asked on Friday night if there had been a change since then, Ratten’s response was firm.
“He won’t be seeing anybody outside the club, he doesn’t need to. We’ve got people with the skillset to keep working there,” he said.
“As I said to you, it’s not just all about the technical aspect, there’s a mental aspect to it as well. With goal-kicking, it’s a closed skill and there’s different elements to it.
“It’s not just we bring somebody in and they fix up the hand drop or anything like that. He hasn’t got many flaws, but sometimes it can go against you.”
