News 2023 St Kilda Media Thread

[Remboy]

The soaring Saint from the land of the rising sun​

By Greg Baum
SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Young Saints star Mitchito Owens.CREDIT: EDDIE JIM

Mitchito Owens says the first word he spoke was “do itashimashite”. In Japanese, it means “you’re welcome”.
Owens and his older brothers Kai and Tomo are the sons of an Australian father, Cameron, and a Japanese mother, Maki, who met when he was teaching her English at school in Tokyo. His Christian name is an Anglicised version of Michito, a common Japanese name; the added T neatly shortens to Mitch here.

Mitchito Owens between two Lions.CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES
Owens says his family regularly spoke Japanese at home when he was young, he went to Japanese school for a while and his mother still talks to him in her native tongue from time to time.
His facility with the language dulled when COVID interrupted what previously had been annual return trips to Japan with the family, but he was pleasantly surprised to find how quickly the words came back last off-season when he went back on a trip sponsored by AFL Japan. He says he has always understood Japanese better than he has spoken it. Kids generally do!
Owens grew up and still lives 10 minutes down the road from St Kilda’s Moorabbin base and had a classic southern suburbs footy and school upbringing, but he came to the club via its next generation academy,established by the AFL at each club to further Indigenous and multicultural representation. So it was that the Saints were able to match a bid from Sydney to secure him at 33 in the 2021 draft.
It’s fair to say that Owens’ progress this year has been as surprising – even to him – as his provenance is exotic. Last year, he played seven games. This year, he has played all but one – which he missed because of concussion protocols – and thrilled fans with his brave marks, long goals and general footy smarts. He finished third in the Rising Star award.
For reference, the two players who shaded him, North Melbourne’s Harry Sheezel and the Brisbane Lions’ Will Ashcroft, were Nos.3 and two respectively in last year’s draft.
“I’ve definitely been surprised,” he said. “At the start of the year, I was pretty much focused just on playing round one and working from there. So I’m surprised by the way I’ve gone so far. I’m pretty happy.”
Owens attributes his emergence to a heavy-duty pre-season shared with the Saints’ tight cohort of younger players, notably fellow academy graduate Marcus Windhager. “Especially Marcus. He’s very fit,” he said. “I was just trying to chase him all the time. Even in the gym. We’re both very competitive, so that helps.”

A spate of early season injuries opened up a spot on the forward line in round one and he has not let it go. He says he has revelled in playing under Ross Lyon’s stewardship. “He has such high standards. And I love how smart and tactical he is as well,” he said. “He sees small things so well.”
Every now and then, there is a bit of Lyon-speak to interpret, harder even than Japanese. “Sometimes he has you thinking, what the hell does that mean?” Owens said. “But the more time I spend with him, the more I understand his riddles.”
Owens is not yet 20 and not every element of AFL footy has come as easily to him as he sometimes makes it look. “The mental side of it has been pretty hard,” he said. “It’s hard to play consistent footy, as everyone would know. It can get to you a bit mentally. If you have one or two bad games, you’re like: what am I doing different? What’s wrong? I struggled with that a bit.”

The extra attention that comes with greater prominence also has challenged him. “People hyping me up; I hate seeing myself in that sort of stuff,” he said. “I felt it put a bit more pressure on me.”
Assistant coach and dual Brownlow medallist Robert Harvey had an answer. “He pretty much put me in the middle and drew a circle around me and said, all that matters is the four walls of this club,” Owens said. “All you can control is your own actions, and that’s all that matters.”

Owens finished third in this year’s Rising Star award.CREDIT: EDDIE JIM
He says he tries to avoid publicity, only for his mother to alert him to each new appreciative story or post. That is a mother’s prerogative.
Defying science, sporting talent manifests where and as it will. Owens says his father was a handy local footballer for bayside clubs, but who knows what would have happened if he hadn’t taken up a job in Japan?
There, he played for the Samurais in a rudimentary AFL league in Tokyo and met Maki and so it began. Now Kai is playing for Frankston and excited some interest in last year’s mid-season draft, Tomo is playing footy seriously for the first time after a stint playing basketball in Japan, and Mitch is the new darling of Saints’ fans. “We’re a very competitive household,” Owens said.
Other legacies of the Owens’ Japanese background were more predictable. He is acutely conscious that half of his teammates are from interstate while he could walk home, always to good cooking. “We encourage those boys to come over. It’s the least we can do,” he said.
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Owens’ favourite dish is katsu curry. “She made that for the boys one night and they loved it as well,” he said.
By favourite, he means to eat rather than cook. Unlike his footy, his cooking is on a low flame. “Mum’s trying to teach me,” he said. “She’s pretty impatient with me because I’m really slow.”

St Kilda’s Mitch Owens kicks a goal against Gold Coast.CREDIT: FOX FOOTY
Owens grew up as a North Melbourne supporter and thrilled in his schooldays to watch them play finals under Brad Scott. He went to finals last year because he loves watching footy anyway. But he has only ever played two games on the MCG. His third will be a final, and he can hardly wait.
Away from footy, Owens said he was learning carpentry one day a week and tried sometimes to play golf with embarrassing outcomes. Otherwise, his hands are full with his golden retriever puppy. “I’ve got to walk her most mornings and afternoons,” he said. “Mum helps.” Don’t they always?
So life’s rhythms develop, with footy always at its heart. Owens said he was beginning to feel at home in the game now. “There’s nothing smooth about AFL footy. It’s full of ups and downs,” he said. “But one thing that’s probably increased from last year is that I’ve got a lot more confidence in myself.”
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Dynamic forward suits – for now. “I’m more than happy with wherever the coach wants me,” he said. “But ideally when I get a bit older, maybe a Dusty [Martin], [Jordan] De Goey mid-forward role would be pretty nice.”
Meantime, switched-on Saints fans might think back on this season and Owens’ blooming and say to him: “Arigato.” And he, well-bred as he is, will reply: “Do itashimashite.”

 

[Dr Spaceman]

Victorian AFL clubs raked in $40m from poker machines last financial year

Carlton, Essendon, Richmond and St Kilda continue to profit from pokies, drawing criticism from fans and gambling reform advocates

www.theguardian.com

In the last financial year "St Kilda took $1.8m from 83 machines at its Moorabbin base"

Honestly pretty gross that we still have pokies on the same site as the Danny Frawley Mental Health Centre.

Yeah that’s pretty s**t house

Totally agree. A real blight on our magnificent complex at Moorabbin.

Does anyone know any more about this (remember reading a few articles about the issue but this is the only one I can find with a quick google)

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/andrews-government-blocking-push-by-rsls-and-footy-clubs-to-get-out-of-pokies/news-story/b0fa0be22026bbbd10b0e44e2cd12d9c

Victorian footy clubs and RSLs trying to get out of pokies by offloading lucrative long-term licences have hit a brick wall with the Andrews government.

Several pokies venues, including at the home of St Kilda Football Club, want to leave the industry despite the money to be made.

But government sources say a push to hand back licences has fallen on deaf ears with Premier Daniel Andrews, with clubs already locked in to 20-year pokie deals signed in 2018.

Alliance for Gambling Reform spokesman Tim Costello has lashed the Premier, saying: “Daniel Andrews is holding these clubs back from doing the right thing, and is putting people’s welfare at risk.

“The motto is to ‘gamble responsibly’ but the state government needs to be responsible as well and reduce harm.

“Victorians are sick of the pokies and if the venues want to (quit), what is stopping the Premier from assisting?

“When clubs are doing the socially responsible thing, it’s the government being socially irresponsible.”

Mr Costello said the government should look at buyback schemes for anyone wanting to leave the industry.

It’s understood options have been floated with the government, including to transfer unwanted licences to other operators or to “retire” licences in some areas.

It comes as Kingston Council – which houses St Kilda’s Moorabbin home base – lobbies to reduce a cap on pokies in the area, from 1200 to the 954 now licensed.

Senior figures within the club are uncomfortable about a pokies venue sitting next to the Danny Frawley Centre for Health and Wellbeing, which aims to tackle mental health problems in the community.

Clubs and venues wanting to escape pokies have launched a petition behind the scenes, but have so far declined to publicly campaign for change.

In 2018, the government’s pokies licence scheme was heavily criticised for locking venues into two decades of entitlements that had to be paid upfront.

The 20-year licences to run pokies kicked in from last month, and the first set of payments is due in November.

Last financial year $2.237bn was lost on poker machines across Victoria.

Licence fees were in part determined by how much revenue each machine made between 2013-14 and 2016-17, and many venues spent heavily to hold on to machines they no longer want.

In the last financial year $2.237bn was lost on poker machines across Victoria.

A government spokesman said last night that all venue operators were aware of the financial commitments for purchasing entitlements before participating in the allocation process for entitlements.

Over that time, the state raked in $868m in taxes from machines, and they are now expected to fill government coffers to the tune of at least $1.2bn each year, including licence payments.

There’s been a growing push among AFL clubs in recent years to reconsider their reliance on gaming revenue.

Some insiders believe the sentiment has shifted further in the time since these clubs inked the new long-term deals.

Hawthorn was one of the highest-profile clubs to quit pokies this year by selling entire venues, transferring the licence to a new owner.

But clubs such as St Kilda, which rents land off Kingston Council, do not have the same option and will have to remove or transfer their licences.

A club spokeswoman said: “St Kilda Football Club has been open and transparent in its preference to transition from operating an electronic gaming machine venue at its home ground in Moorabbin.

“The club is actively investigating multiple options to achieve this but it would be premature to speculate on the nature of any solution.”

Kingston Council, which covers the Moorabbin venue, has an aggressive policy of reducing gambling harm, including campaigning to ensure pokies venues are not near grocery stores.

Mayor Steve Staikos said the council owned the land for two venues with pokies, St Kilda’s Moorabbin base and a local bowls club.

“As the landlord there is a an expectation those venues will move away from the machines when they can,” he said.

“The negative impact on people’s lives is significant. We are leading the local government sector in this area of harm minimisation.”

 

[AirWinmar]

I think it takes time to rewrite the narrative. We have been very underwhelming in the last decade and mostly play off broadway in s**t slots. There is a working class vibe to our game and we look like a side that does everything through hard labour. We don't have many highlight reel moments either.

Funny enough Sydney are like a bit of a flashier version but they get respect for it. I guess that's decades of finals performances and consistency.

To me finals forge your reputation. Play well in finals with the eyes of the world on you and all of a sudden those people who haven't noticed how good you are take notice. My Richmond mates were laughing at me last year for saying that Sinclair was our best player. Now they both think he's a star after watching enough of him.

Wilkie shouldn't be as good as he is, he's too short, he's too light blah blah, but he gets the job done. He's just a professional committed competitive beast. I watch Darcy Moore and he plays a pretty game, he rises up inside a pack and comes out with the ball with his locks flowing. Weitering again, does the stylish and solid, Haggis Andrews stands a head above everyone and mops everything up. Even Sicily gets midfield numbers and crazy amounts of intercepts as a spare across HB.

But if you want to take an opponent out of the game of any size, throw Wilkie on them. If a loose ball is coming in and he sees it he knows when to leave his man and go out and meet it. He's just a terrier who never wants to lose a contest. If it's a grand final and you can choose any player in the competition for defence he's one of the first picked IMO. Similar to Stewart but much more personally accountable. He is like a combination of one of those spares that mop up off HB but also plays 100% accountable to a player.

* them all, if they underrate him they'll get Wilkied. The Accountant will audit the campaigners.

So to summarise, Wilkie should grow his hair?

 

[Saint Watto]

In the last financial year "St Kilda took $1.8m from 83 machines at its Moorabbin base"

Honestly pretty gross that we still have pokies on the same site as the Danny Frawley Mental Health Centre.

It's still very disappointing that we have them.

I do know that the club wants to exit the pokie business as soon as it can......from memory that has been stated publicly a few times.

A "little birdie" told me at the start of last year that the idea was that when the DFC was producing solid revenue streams.....that may be when we make the move.

 

[The Cobra]

The soaring Saint from the land of the rising sun​

By Greg Baum
SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Young Saints star Mitchito Owens.CREDIT: EDDIE JIM

Mitchito Owens says the first word he spoke was “do itashimashite”. In Japanese, it means “you’re welcome”.
Owens and his older brothers Kai and Tomo are the sons of an Australian father, Cameron, and a Japanese mother, Maki, who met when he was teaching her English at school in Tokyo. His Christian name is an Anglicised version of Michito, a common Japanese name; the added T neatly shortens to Mitch here.

Mitchito Owens between two Lions.CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES
Owens says his family regularly spoke Japanese at home when he was young, he went to Japanese school for a while and his mother still talks to him in her native tongue from time to time.
His facility with the language dulled when COVID interrupted what previously had been annual return trips to Japan with the family, but he was pleasantly surprised to find how quickly the words came back last off-season when he went back on a trip sponsored by AFL Japan. He says he has always understood Japanese better than he has spoken it. Kids generally do!
Owens grew up and still lives 10 minutes down the road from St Kilda’s Moorabbin base and had a classic southern suburbs footy and school upbringing, but he came to the club via its next generation academy,established by the AFL at each club to further Indigenous and multicultural representation. So it was that the Saints were able to match a bid from Sydney to secure him at 33 in the 2021 draft.
It’s fair to say that Owens’ progress this year has been as surprising – even to him – as his provenance is exotic. Last year, he played seven games. This year, he has played all but one – which he missed because of concussion protocols – and thrilled fans with his brave marks, long goals and general footy smarts. He finished third in the Rising Star award.
For reference, the two players who shaded him, North Melbourne’s Harry Sheezel and the Brisbane Lions’ Will Ashcroft, were Nos.3 and two respectively in last year’s draft.
“I’ve definitely been surprised,” he said. “At the start of the year, I was pretty much focused just on playing round one and working from there. So I’m surprised by the way I’ve gone so far. I’m pretty happy.”
Owens attributes his emergence to a heavy-duty pre-season shared with the Saints’ tight cohort of younger players, notably fellow academy graduate Marcus Windhager. “Especially Marcus. He’s very fit,” he said. “I was just trying to chase him all the time. Even in the gym. We’re both very competitive, so that helps.”

A spate of early season injuries opened up a spot on the forward line in round one and he has not let it go. He says he has revelled in playing under Ross Lyon’s stewardship. “He has such high standards. And I love how smart and tactical he is as well,” he said. “He sees small things so well.”
Every now and then, there is a bit of Lyon-speak to interpret, harder even than Japanese. “Sometimes he has you thinking, what the hell does that mean?” Owens said. “But the more time I spend with him, the more I understand his riddles.”
Owens is not yet 20 and not every element of AFL footy has come as easily to him as he sometimes makes it look. “The mental side of it has been pretty hard,” he said. “It’s hard to play consistent footy, as everyone would know. It can get to you a bit mentally. If you have one or two bad games, you’re like: what am I doing different? What’s wrong? I struggled with that a bit.”

The extra attention that comes with greater prominence also has challenged him. “People hyping me up; I hate seeing myself in that sort of stuff,” he said. “I felt it put a bit more pressure on me.”
Assistant coach and dual Brownlow medallist Robert Harvey had an answer. “He pretty much put me in the middle and drew a circle around me and said, all that matters is the four walls of this club,” Owens said. “All you can control is your own actions, and that’s all that matters.”

Owens finished third in this year’s Rising Star award.CREDIT: EDDIE JIM
He says he tries to avoid publicity, only for his mother to alert him to each new appreciative story or post. That is a mother’s prerogative.
Defying science, sporting talent manifests where and as it will. Owens says his father was a handy local footballer for bayside clubs, but who knows what would have happened if he hadn’t taken up a job in Japan?
There, he played for the Samurais in a rudimentary AFL league in Tokyo and met Maki and so it began. Now Kai is playing for Frankston and excited some interest in last year’s mid-season draft, Tomo is playing footy seriously for the first time after a stint playing basketball in Japan, and Mitch is the new darling of Saints’ fans. “We’re a very competitive household,” Owens said.
Other legacies of the Owens’ Japanese background were more predictable. He is acutely conscious that half of his teammates are from interstate while he could walk home, always to good cooking. “We encourage those boys to come over. It’s the least we can do,” he said.
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Owens’ favourite dish is katsu curry. “She made that for the boys one night and they loved it as well,” he said.
By favourite, he means to eat rather than cook. Unlike his footy, his cooking is on a low flame. “Mum’s trying to teach me,” he said. “She’s pretty impatient with me because I’m really slow.”

St Kilda’s Mitch Owens kicks a goal against Gold Coast.CREDIT: FOX FOOTY
Owens grew up as a North Melbourne supporter and thrilled in his schooldays to watch them play finals under Brad Scott. He went to finals last year because he loves watching footy anyway. But he has only ever played two games on the MCG. His third will be a final, and he can hardly wait.
Away from footy, Owens said he was learning carpentry one day a week and tried sometimes to play golf with embarrassing outcomes. Otherwise, his hands are full with his golden retriever puppy. “I’ve got to walk her most mornings and afternoons,” he said. “Mum helps.” Don’t they always?
So life’s rhythms develop, with footy always at its heart. Owens said he was beginning to feel at home in the game now. “There’s nothing smooth about AFL footy. It’s full of ups and downs,” he said. “But one thing that’s probably increased from last year is that I’ve got a lot more confidence in myself.”
Advertisement

Dynamic forward suits – for now. “I’m more than happy with wherever the coach wants me,” he said. “But ideally when I get a bit older, maybe a Dusty [Martin], [Jordan] De Goey mid-forward role would be pretty nice.”
Meantime, switched-on Saints fans might think back on this season and Owens’ blooming and say to him: “Arigato.” And he, well-bred as he is, will reply: “Do itashimashite.”

Great article.

Now that’s the next gen leadership material, together with Windhager and Pou, who we need to work with RTB and build this Club into a sustained top 4 team to challenge for some silverware! (Apologies to NAS he might also be a leader but seems a little quiet - in any event you can also lead by on field actions and he is doing that).

 

[sunny3193]

Great article.

Now that’s the next gen leadership material, together with Windhager and Pou, who we need to work with RTB and build this Club into a sustained top 4 team to challenge for some silverware! (Apologies to NAS he might also be a leader but seems a little quiet - in any event you can also lead by on field actions and he is doing that).

NAS = Whispering Death.

 

[The Cobra]

It's still very disappointing that we have them.

I do know that the club wants to exit the pokie business as soon as it can......from memory that has been stated publicly a few times.

A "little birdie" told me at the start of last year that the idea was that when the DFC was producing solid revenue streams.....that may be when we make the move.

They are a cancer preying on the weak and those who can’t afford to lose.

Tough for a smaller Club like the Saints, but the sooner the Club can generate enough revenue from an alternative source to get rid of them the better.

 

[puppy_dog7]

They are a cancer preying on the weak and those who can’t afford to lose.

Tough for a smaller Club like the Saints, but the sooner the Club can generate enough revenue from an alternative source to get rid of them the better.

Yep, which is why it’s no surprise the 2 clubs still benefiting the most are Carlton & Essendon. Absolutely no morals at either club. Both still living in their glory days.

 

[botts]

No Cookies | CODE Sports

No Cookies | CODE Sports

t.co

Any one got this one

 

[BrutThough]

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t.co

Any one got this one

The remarkable St Kilda numbers that show why Ross Lyon should be coach of the year​

This season, Ross Lyon has achieved a 35-year first – one usually reserved for a bottom side. SAM LANDSBERGER discovers why the St Kilda boss should be coach of the year.

He was “Ross the Boss”. This year he has been “Ross the Babysitter”.
Based on these numbers he could soon become coach of the year, an accolade Ross Lyon last won in 2009.

An analysis by this masthead has revealed the Saints have pumped 104 games into players who started this calendar year as teenagers.

That ranks behind only West Coast (116 games) – and yet the Saints finished 10 wins, 54.8 per cent and 12 places north of the Eagles on the ladder.

Put simply, Lyon has latched on to young talent like a bottom-four team would be expected to and somehow he has guided this blended team into a home MCG final.

You have to go all the way back to 1988 for the last time the Saints got more games into players who started the year as teenagers.

That year a 16-year-old Robert Harvey, who then-coach Darrel Baldock mistakenly called “Rodney” Harvey, made his debut and the Saints sank to last on the 14-team ladder.

Now Harvey is part of Lyon’s coaching panel and is helping harvest this talent wave.

The 2023 statistics become more staggering by the second.

It is all based around the fantastic five – Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera (23 games), Mattaes Phillipou (23), Mitchito Owens (22), Marcus Windhager (18) and Anthony Caminiti (17).

They combined for 103 of the 104 matches and Category B rookie Jack Peris added one more to the tally.

This season’s teenage takeover has already eclipsed the figure from Lyon’s stint as St Kilda coach from 2007-11.

In those five seasons, Ross 1.0 fed 92 games to players who started the year as teenagers.

The Saints of 2023 enter September with the most teenage exposure of any finalist since 2010.

The next-best tally since then? Sydney (92 games) in 2011, and the Swans won the premiership the next season.

The next best after that?

The Western Bulldogs (83 games) in 2015, and the Dogs also won the flag the following season.

The 2023 figure is currently tied with St Kilda’s 2004 campaign (104 games) – but that included finals, and so it will be surpassed at 3.20pm on Saturday.

Back in 2004 it was the likes of Brendon Goddard (No.1 draft pick), Luke Ball (No.2), Nick Dal Santo (No.13), Raph Clarke (No.8), Jason Gram (No.19) and Matt Maguire (No.21) who were consistently fed games as teenagers.

This year it has been done without such dominant draft hands.

But who really cares that Owens somehow slipped to No.33?

This kid is 19 and has been asked to play centre half-forward every week … plus pinch-hit in the ruck and wherever else he has been needed.

“It’s well-documented the club didn’t really go to the draft for four years, we’re just fortunate the kids we’ve got are really, really good players,” Lyon said during last weekend’s bye.

“Like Wanganeen-Milera and Windhager and Owens and Phillipou and Caminiti. So we want to really add to that group.”

The Saints will spend the off-season searching for speed and midfielders – Carlton’s Paddy Dow would be an obvious target – but draft picks are their priority.

They will select another three or four teenagers in November to flesh out Lyon’s quality quintet.

Collingwood legend Nathan Buckley gave Owens maximum votes in the Rising Star count that was won by Harry Sheezel.

“I thought his season was the most exceptional of the young talent,” Buckley said.

Owens – who was nominated for both mark and goal of the year – is a competitor who adjusts to all conditions and appears built for big games.

Wanganeen-Milera – moved to half-back by “half-back whisperer” and assistant coach Corey Enright – is tipped to give the top five of the Saints’ best-and-fairest a tilt.

Caminiti came in off a VFL pre-season while Phillipou has played every game.

When you consider their positions it adds potency to their powerful seasons.

Caminiti, Owens and Phillipou were put together in an AFL attack that wouldn’t look out of place in the under-18s.

Can one of them grow from a boy to a man in an elimination final against Greater Western Sydney?

Back in 1982, Dermott Brereton launched his glittering career with 5.2 on debut in a semi-final.

Windhager and Wanganeen-Milera have partnered at half-back although the former has recently crept up to a wing.

They are five critical roles and they have somehow proven themselves almost overnight.

These aren’t honest footballers who have been around for five or 10 years that Lyon is extracting everything out of, but will never be able to take the Saints to the promised land.

And they aren’t the likes of Spencer White and Tom Lee, draft busts from a decade ago.

They are legitimate future A-graders. When was the last time you could say that about St Kilda’s youngsters?

But it makes you wonder … what does the future have in store for some of the club’s older players stuck outside the selected side?

How many times could Lyon have rested 18-year-old teetotaller Phillipou to play Jack Billings this year?

He didn’t at all. Billings must be thinking about browsing the AFL marketplace for a new buyer.

Does injury-prone utility Nick Coffield fit back in? And what about Hunter Clark? Will free agent Jade Gresham seek a fresh start?

Lyon has clearly locked in his favourite five and wants to build around them. This year of exploration has ended up exploding with promise.

These Saints have won 13 last quarters with a mindset that anything is possible.

There are obviously leaders driving them forward.

Reigning premiership captain Joel Selwood noted how All-Australian Callum Wilkie would often run up to the midfielders mid-game to offer advice and then organise his defensive group.

Wanganeen-Milera has shadowed Jack Sinclair at training this year.

The fear 12 months ago was that Wanganeen-Milera would return to South Australia after 2023.

But in April the Herald Sun revealed he had re-signed until 2025 and it’s no surprise after listening to teammates talk about how he has come out of his shell in his second season.

There are three more St Kilda babies still on training wheels in the VFL that insiders at Moorabbin are also bullish about.

They are key forward Isaac Keeler (12 VFL games this year), midfielder Oli Hotton (9) and key defender James Van Es (14).

Keeler, Van Es, Phillipou and Caminiti are housemates in Cheltenham while Wanganeen-Milera – the nephew of 1993 Brownlow medallist Gavin Wanganeen – lives with revitalised wingman Mason Wood.

There’s hordes of talent in those houses with more on the way. As for the long-held theory that Lyon doesn’t play the kids?

Consider it debunked.


YOUNG TALENT TIME
Home-and-away games played by those who were teenagers as of January 1, 2023. Stats after round 24, 2023
West Coast 116 games (10 players) – Ladder: 18th
ST KILDA 104 (6) – 6th
North Melbourne 86 (8) – 17th
Hawthorn 86 (9) – 16th
Adelaide 68 (4) – 10th
Brisbane Lions 60 (5) – 2nd
Fremantle 56 (4) – 14th
GWS Giants 48 (5) – 7th
Melbourne 46 (3) – 4th
Carlton 42 (3) – 5th
Essendon 40 (4) – 11th
Gold Coast 39 (3) – 15th
Port Adelaide 33 (4) – 3rd
Western Bulldogs 28 (3) – 9th
Collingwood 24 (2) – 1st
Richmond 22 (3) – 13th
Sydney 16 (3) – 8th
Geelong 15 (4) – 12th

---

SAINTS’ TEENAGE TAKEOVER IN 2023
Games played
23 Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera – pick 11
23 Mattaes Phillipou – pick 10
22 Mitch Owens – pick 33
18 Marcus Windhager – pick 47
17 Anthony Caminiti – SSP
1 Jack Peris – Cat B rookie

---

OLDER ROSS, YOUNGER SAINTS
Games played by teenagers as of January 1 at the start of the season.
Ross 1.0 (2007-11): 92
Ross 2.0 (2023): 104 (and counting)

 

[botts]

The remarkable St Kilda numbers that show why Ross Lyon should be coach of the year​

This season, Ross Lyon has achieved a 35-year first – one usually reserved for a bottom side. SAM LANDSBERGER discovers why the St Kilda boss should be coach of the year.

He was “Ross the Boss”. This year he has been “Ross the Babysitter”.
Based on these numbers he could soon become coach of the year, an accolade Ross Lyon last won in 2009.

An analysis by this masthead has revealed the Saints have pumped 104 games into players who started this calendar year as teenagers.

That ranks behind only West Coast (116 games) – and yet the Saints finished 10 wins, 54.8 per cent and 12 places north of the Eagles on the ladder.

Put simply, Lyon has latched on to young talent like a bottom-four team would be expected to and somehow he has guided this blended team into a home MCG final.

You have to go all the way back to 1988 for the last time the Saints got more games into players who started the year as teenagers.

That year a 16-year-old Robert Harvey, who then-coach Darrel Baldock mistakenly called “Rodney” Harvey, made his debut and the Saints sank to last on the 14-team ladder.

Now Harvey is part of Lyon’s coaching panel and is helping harvest this talent wave.

The 2023 statistics become more staggering by the second.

It is all based around the fantastic five – Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera (23 games), Mattaes Phillipou (23), Mitchito Owens (22), Marcus Windhager (18) and Anthony Caminiti (17).

They combined for 103 of the 104 matches and Category B rookie Jack Peris added one more to the tally.

This season’s teenage takeover has already eclipsed the figure from Lyon’s stint as St Kilda coach from 2007-11.

In those five seasons, Ross 1.0 fed 92 games to players who started the year as teenagers.

The Saints of 2023 enter September with the most teenage exposure of any finalist since 2010.

The next-best tally since then? Sydney (92 games) in 2011, and the Swans won the premiership the next season.

The next best after that?

The Western Bulldogs (83 games) in 2015, and the Dogs also won the flag the following season.

The 2023 figure is currently tied with St Kilda’s 2004 campaign (104 games) – but that included finals, and so it will be surpassed at 3.20pm on Saturday.

Back in 2004 it was the likes of Brendon Goddard (No.1 draft pick), Luke Ball (No.2), Nick Dal Santo (No.13), Raph Clarke (No.8), Jason Gram (No.19) and Matt Maguire (No.21) who were consistently fed games as teenagers.

This year it has been done without such dominant draft hands.

But who really cares that Owens somehow slipped to No.33?

This kid is 19 and has been asked to play centre half-forward every week … plus pinch-hit in the ruck and wherever else he has been needed.

“It’s well-documented the club didn’t really go to the draft for four years, we’re just fortunate the kids we’ve got are really, really good players,” Lyon said during last weekend’s bye.

“Like Wanganeen-Milera and Windhager and Owens and Phillipou and Caminiti. So we want to really add to that group.”

The Saints will spend the off-season searching for speed and midfielders – Carlton’s Paddy Dow would be an obvious target – but draft picks are their priority.

They will select another three or four teenagers in November to flesh out Lyon’s quality quintet.

Collingwood legend Nathan Buckley gave Owens maximum votes in the Rising Star count that was won by Harry Sheezel.

“I thought his season was the most exceptional of the young talent,” Buckley said.

Owens – who was nominated for both mark and goal of the year – is a competitor who adjusts to all conditions and appears built for big games.

Wanganeen-Milera – moved to half-back by “half-back whisperer” and assistant coach Corey Enright – is tipped to give the top five of the Saints’ best-and-fairest a tilt.

Caminiti came in off a VFL pre-season while Phillipou has played every game.

When you consider their positions it adds potency to their powerful seasons.

Caminiti, Owens and Phillipou were put together in an AFL attack that wouldn’t look out of place in the under-18s.

Can one of them grow from a boy to a man in an elimination final against Greater Western Sydney?

Back in 1982, Dermott Brereton launched his glittering career with 5.2 on debut in a semi-final.

Windhager and Wanganeen-Milera have partnered at half-back although the former has recently crept up to a wing.

They are five critical roles and they have somehow proven themselves almost overnight.

These aren’t honest footballers who have been around for five or 10 years that Lyon is extracting everything out of, but will never be able to take the Saints to the promised land.

And they aren’t the likes of Spencer White and Tom Lee, draft busts from a decade ago.

They are legitimate future A-graders. When was the last time you could say that about St Kilda’s youngsters?

But it makes you wonder … what does the future have in store for some of the club’s older players stuck outside the selected side?

How many times could Lyon have rested 18-year-old teetotaller Phillipou to play Jack Billings this year?

He didn’t at all. Billings must be thinking about browsing the AFL marketplace for a new buyer.

Does injury-prone utility Nick Coffield fit back in? And what about Hunter Clark? Will free agent Jade Gresham seek a fresh start?

Lyon has clearly locked in his favourite five and wants to build around them. This year of exploration has ended up exploding with promise.

These Saints have won 13 last quarters with a mindset that anything is possible.

There are obviously leaders driving them forward.

Reigning premiership captain Joel Selwood noted how All-Australian Callum Wilkie would often run up to the midfielders mid-game to offer advice and then organise his defensive group.

Wanganeen-Milera has shadowed Jack Sinclair at training this year.

The fear 12 months ago was that Wanganeen-Milera would return to South Australia after 2023.

But in April the Herald Sun revealed he had re-signed until 2025 and it’s no surprise after listening to teammates talk about how he has come out of his shell in his second season.

There are three more St Kilda babies still on training wheels in the VFL that insiders at Moorabbin are also bullish about.

They are key forward Isaac Keeler (12 VFL games this year), midfielder Oli Hotton (9) and key defender James Van Es (14).

Keeler, Van Es, Phillipou and Caminiti are housemates in Cheltenham while Wanganeen-Milera – the nephew of 1993 Brownlow medallist Gavin Wanganeen – lives with revitalised wingman Mason Wood.

There’s hordes of talent in those houses with more on the way. As for the long-held theory that Lyon doesn’t play the kids?

Consider it debunked.


YOUNG TALENT TIME
Home-and-away games played by those who were teenagers as of January 1, 2023. Stats after round 24, 2023
West Coast 116 games (10 players) – Ladder: 18th
ST KILDA 104 (6) – 6th
North Melbourne 86 (8) – 17th
Hawthorn 86 (9) – 16th
Adelaide 68 (4) – 10th
Brisbane Lions 60 (5) – 2nd
Fremantle 56 (4) – 14th
GWS Giants 48 (5) – 7th
Melbourne 46 (3) – 4th
Carlton 42 (3) – 5th
Essendon 40 (4) – 11th
Gold Coast 39 (3) – 15th
Port Adelaide 33 (4) – 3rd
Western Bulldogs 28 (3) – 9th
Collingwood 24 (2) – 1st
Richmond 22 (3) – 13th
Sydney 16 (3) – 8th
Geelong 15 (4) – 12th

---

SAINTS’ TEENAGE TAKEOVER IN 2023
Games played
23 Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera – pick 11
23 Mattaes Phillipou – pick 10
22 Mitch Owens – pick 33
18 Marcus Windhager – pick 47
17 Anthony Caminiti – SSP
1 Jack Peris – Cat B rookie

---

OLDER ROSS, YOUNGER SAINTS
Games played by teenagers as of January 1 at the start of the season.
Ross 1.0 (2007-11): 92
Ross 2.0 (2023): 104 (and counting)

How bloody good!!!!

 

[stavro#4]

The remarkable St Kilda numbers that show why Ross Lyon should be coach of the year​

This season, Ross Lyon has achieved a 35-year first – one usually reserved for a bottom side. SAM LANDSBERGER discovers why the St Kilda boss should be coach of the year.

He was “Ross the Boss”. This year he has been “Ross the Babysitter”.
Based on these numbers he could soon become coach of the year, an accolade Ross Lyon last won in 2009.

An analysis by this masthead has revealed the Saints have pumped 104 games into players who started this calendar year as teenagers.

That ranks behind only West Coast (116 games) – and yet the Saints finished 10 wins, 54.8 per cent and 12 places north of the Eagles on the ladder.

Put simply, Lyon has latched on to young talent like a bottom-four team would be expected to and somehow he has guided this blended team into a home MCG final.

You have to go all the way back to 1988 for the last time the Saints got more games into players who started the year as teenagers.

That year a 16-year-old Robert Harvey, who then-coach Darrel Baldock mistakenly called “Rodney” Harvey, made his debut and the Saints sank to last on the 14-team ladder.

Now Harvey is part of Lyon’s coaching panel and is helping harvest this talent wave.

The 2023 statistics become more staggering by the second.

It is all based around the fantastic five – Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera (23 games), Mattaes Phillipou (23), Mitchito Owens (22), Marcus Windhager (18) and Anthony Caminiti (17).

They combined for 103 of the 104 matches and Category B rookie Jack Peris added one more to the tally.

This season’s teenage takeover has already eclipsed the figure from Lyon’s stint as St Kilda coach from 2007-11.

In those five seasons, Ross 1.0 fed 92 games to players who started the year as teenagers.

The Saints of 2023 enter September with the most teenage exposure of any finalist since 2010.

The next-best tally since then? Sydney (92 games) in 2011, and the Swans won the premiership the next season.

The next best after that?

The Western Bulldogs (83 games) in 2015, and the Dogs also won the flag the following season.

The 2023 figure is currently tied with St Kilda’s 2004 campaign (104 games) – but that included finals, and so it will be surpassed at 3.20pm on Saturday.

Back in 2004 it was the likes of Brendon Goddard (No.1 draft pick), Luke Ball (No.2), Nick Dal Santo (No.13), Raph Clarke (No.8), Jason Gram (No.19) and Matt Maguire (No.21) who were consistently fed games as teenagers.

This year it has been done without such dominant draft hands.

But who really cares that Owens somehow slipped to No.33?

This kid is 19 and has been asked to play centre half-forward every week … plus pinch-hit in the ruck and wherever else he has been needed.

“It’s well-documented the club didn’t really go to the draft for four years, we’re just fortunate the kids we’ve got are really, really good players,” Lyon said during last weekend’s bye.

“Like Wanganeen-Milera and Windhager and Owens and Phillipou and Caminiti. So we want to really add to that group.”

The Saints will spend the off-season searching for speed and midfielders – Carlton’s Paddy Dow would be an obvious target – but draft picks are their priority.

They will select another three or four teenagers in November to flesh out Lyon’s quality quintet.

Collingwood legend Nathan Buckley gave Owens maximum votes in the Rising Star count that was won by Harry Sheezel.

“I thought his season was the most exceptional of the young talent,” Buckley said.

Owens – who was nominated for both mark and goal of the year – is a competitor who adjusts to all conditions and appears built for big games.

Wanganeen-Milera – moved to half-back by “half-back whisperer” and assistant coach Corey Enright – is tipped to give the top five of the Saints’ best-and-fairest a tilt.

Caminiti came in off a VFL pre-season while Phillipou has played every game.

When you consider their positions it adds potency to their powerful seasons.

Caminiti, Owens and Phillipou were put together in an AFL attack that wouldn’t look out of place in the under-18s.

Can one of them grow from a boy to a man in an elimination final against Greater Western Sydney?

Back in 1982, Dermott Brereton launched his glittering career with 5.2 on debut in a semi-final.

Windhager and Wanganeen-Milera have partnered at half-back although the former has recently crept up to a wing.

They are five critical roles and they have somehow proven themselves almost overnight.

These aren’t honest footballers who have been around for five or 10 years that Lyon is extracting everything out of, but will never be able to take the Saints to the promised land.

And they aren’t the likes of Spencer White and Tom Lee, draft busts from a decade ago.

They are legitimate future A-graders. When was the last time you could say that about St Kilda’s youngsters?

But it makes you wonder … what does the future have in store for some of the club’s older players stuck outside the selected side?

How many times could Lyon have rested 18-year-old teetotaller Phillipou to play Jack Billings this year?

He didn’t at all. Billings must be thinking about browsing the AFL marketplace for a new buyer.

Does injury-prone utility Nick Coffield fit back in? And what about Hunter Clark? Will free agent Jade Gresham seek a fresh start?

Lyon has clearly locked in his favourite five and wants to build around them. This year of exploration has ended up exploding with promise.

These Saints have won 13 last quarters with a mindset that anything is possible.

There are obviously leaders driving them forward.

Reigning premiership captain Joel Selwood noted how All-Australian Callum Wilkie would often run up to the midfielders mid-game to offer advice and then organise his defensive group.

Wanganeen-Milera has shadowed Jack Sinclair at training this year.

The fear 12 months ago was that Wanganeen-Milera would return to South Australia after 2023.

But in April the Herald Sun revealed he had re-signed until 2025 and it’s no surprise after listening to teammates talk about how he has come out of his shell in his second season.

There are three more St Kilda babies still on training wheels in the VFL that insiders at Moorabbin are also bullish about.

They are key forward Isaac Keeler (12 VFL games this year), midfielder Oli Hotton (9) and key defender James Van Es (14).

Keeler, Van Es, Phillipou and Caminiti are housemates in Cheltenham while Wanganeen-Milera – the nephew of 1993 Brownlow medallist Gavin Wanganeen – lives with revitalised wingman Mason Wood.

There’s hordes of talent in those houses with more on the way. As for the long-held theory that Lyon doesn’t play the kids?

Consider it debunked.


YOUNG TALENT TIME
Home-and-away games played by those who were teenagers as of January 1, 2023. Stats after round 24, 2023
West Coast 116 games (10 players) – Ladder: 18th
ST KILDA 104 (6) – 6th
North Melbourne 86 (8) – 17th
Hawthorn 86 (9) – 16th
Adelaide 68 (4) – 10th
Brisbane Lions 60 (5) – 2nd
Fremantle 56 (4) – 14th
GWS Giants 48 (5) – 7th
Melbourne 46 (3) – 4th
Carlton 42 (3) – 5th
Essendon 40 (4) – 11th
Gold Coast 39 (3) – 15th
Port Adelaide 33 (4) – 3rd
Western Bulldogs 28 (3) – 9th
Collingwood 24 (2) – 1st
Richmond 22 (3) – 13th
Sydney 16 (3) – 8th
Geelong 15 (4) – 12th

---

SAINTS’ TEENAGE TAKEOVER IN 2023
Games played
23 Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera – pick 11
23 Mattaes Phillipou – pick 10
22 Mitch Owens – pick 33
18 Marcus Windhager – pick 47
17 Anthony Caminiti – SSP
1 Jack Peris – Cat B rookie

---

OLDER ROSS, YOUNGER SAINTS
Games played by teenagers as of January 1 at the start of the season.
Ross 1.0 (2007-11): 92
Ross 2.0 (2023): 104 (and counting)

Stole my stats from a few weeks ago on here.

 

[goodie23]

SAINTS’ TEENAGE TAKEOVER IN 2023
Games played
23 Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera – pick 11
23 Mattaes Phillipou – pick 10
22 Mitch Owens – pick 33 (Saints used picks 48 and 54 to match bid)
18 Marcus Windhager – pick 47 (Saints used pick 57 to match bid)
17 Anthony Caminiti – SSP
1 Jack Peris – Cat B rookie

Thanks, very interesting article. Just felt the need to amend the bit at the end to highlight just how cheap we got the boys (and how broken the bidding system is). Not as absurd as Collingwood getting Daicos for picks 38, 40, 42 and 44 but a still a big win for us.

 

[The Cobra]

How bloody good!!!!

Good drafting and good coaching - powerful combination!

If we can develop Keeler, Van Es & Hotton and grab a couple more gems from the draft we will be a very powerful unit!

 

[Remboy]

The remarkable St Kilda numbers that show why Ross Lyon should be coach of the year​

This season, Ross Lyon has achieved a 35-year first – one usually reserved for a bottom side. SAM LANDSBERGER discovers why the St Kilda boss should be coach of the year.

He was “Ross the Boss”. This year he has been “Ross the Babysitter”.
Based on these numbers he could soon become coach of the year, an accolade Ross Lyon last won in 2009.

An analysis by this masthead has revealed the Saints have pumped 104 games into players who started this calendar year as teenagers.

That ranks behind only West Coast (116 games) – and yet the Saints finished 10 wins, 54.8 per cent and 12 places north of the Eagles on the ladder.

Put simply, Lyon has latched on to young talent like a bottom-four team would be expected to and somehow he has guided this blended team into a home MCG final.

You have to go all the way back to 1988 for the last time the Saints got more games into players who started the year as teenagers.

That year a 16-year-old Robert Harvey, who then-coach Darrel Baldock mistakenly called “Rodney” Harvey, made his debut and the Saints sank to last on the 14-team ladder.

Now Harvey is part of Lyon’s coaching panel and is helping harvest this talent wave.

The 2023 statistics become more staggering by the second.

It is all based around the fantastic five – Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera (23 games), Mattaes Phillipou (23), Mitchito Owens (22), Marcus Windhager (18) and Anthony Caminiti (17).

They combined for 103 of the 104 matches and Category B rookie Jack Peris added one more to the tally.

This season’s teenage takeover has already eclipsed the figure from Lyon’s stint as St Kilda coach from 2007-11.

In those five seasons, Ross 1.0 fed 92 games to players who started the year as teenagers.

The Saints of 2023 enter September with the most teenage exposure of any finalist since 2010.

The next-best tally since then? Sydney (92 games) in 2011, and the Swans won the premiership the next season.

The next best after that?

The Western Bulldogs (83 games) in 2015, and the Dogs also won the flag the following season.

The 2023 figure is currently tied with St Kilda’s 2004 campaign (104 games) – but that included finals, and so it will be surpassed at 3.20pm on Saturday.

Back in 2004 it was the likes of Brendon Goddard (No.1 draft pick), Luke Ball (No.2), Nick Dal Santo (No.13), Raph Clarke (No.8), Jason Gram (No.19) and Matt Maguire (No.21) who were consistently fed games as teenagers.

This year it has been done without such dominant draft hands.

But who really cares that Owens somehow slipped to No.33?

This kid is 19 and has been asked to play centre half-forward every week … plus pinch-hit in the ruck and wherever else he has been needed.

“It’s well-documented the club didn’t really go to the draft for four years, we’re just fortunate the kids we’ve got are really, really good players,” Lyon said during last weekend’s bye.

“Like Wanganeen-Milera and Windhager and Owens and Phillipou and Caminiti. So we want to really add to that group.”

The Saints will spend the off-season searching for speed and midfielders – Carlton’s Paddy Dow would be an obvious target – but draft picks are their priority.

They will select another three or four teenagers in November to flesh out Lyon’s quality quintet.

Collingwood legend Nathan Buckley gave Owens maximum votes in the Rising Star count that was won by Harry Sheezel.

“I thought his season was the most exceptional of the young talent,” Buckley said.

Owens – who was nominated for both mark and goal of the year – is a competitor who adjusts to all conditions and appears built for big games.

Wanganeen-Milera – moved to half-back by “half-back whisperer” and assistant coach Corey Enright – is tipped to give the top five of the Saints’ best-and-fairest a tilt.

Caminiti came in off a VFL pre-season while Phillipou has played every game.

When you consider their positions it adds potency to their powerful seasons.

Caminiti, Owens and Phillipou were put together in an AFL attack that wouldn’t look out of place in the under-18s.

Can one of them grow from a boy to a man in an elimination final against Greater Western Sydney?

Back in 1982, Dermott Brereton launched his glittering career with 5.2 on debut in a semi-final.

Windhager and Wanganeen-Milera have partnered at half-back although the former has recently crept up to a wing.

They are five critical roles and they have somehow proven themselves almost overnight.

These aren’t honest footballers who have been around for five or 10 years that Lyon is extracting everything out of, but will never be able to take the Saints to the promised land.

And they aren’t the likes of Spencer White and Tom Lee, draft busts from a decade ago.

They are legitimate future A-graders. When was the last time you could say that about St Kilda’s youngsters?

But it makes you wonder … what does the future have in store for some of the club’s older players stuck outside the selected side?

How many times could Lyon have rested 18-year-old teetotaller Phillipou to play Jack Billings this year?

He didn’t at all. Billings must be thinking about browsing the AFL marketplace for a new buyer.

Does injury-prone utility Nick Coffield fit back in? And what about Hunter Clark? Will free agent Jade Gresham seek a fresh start?

Lyon has clearly locked in his favourite five and wants to build around them. This year of exploration has ended up exploding with promise.

These Saints have won 13 last quarters with a mindset that anything is possible.

There are obviously leaders driving them forward.

Reigning premiership captain Joel Selwood noted how All-Australian Callum Wilkie would often run up to the midfielders mid-game to offer advice and then organise his defensive group.

Wanganeen-Milera has shadowed Jack Sinclair at training this year.

The fear 12 months ago was that Wanganeen-Milera would return to South Australia after 2023.

But in April the Herald Sun revealed he had re-signed until 2025 and it’s no surprise after listening to teammates talk about how he has come out of his shell in his second season.

There are three more St Kilda babies still on training wheels in the VFL that insiders at Moorabbin are also bullish about.

They are key forward Isaac Keeler (12 VFL games this year), midfielder Oli Hotton (9) and key defender James Van Es (14).

Keeler, Van Es, Phillipou and Caminiti are housemates in Cheltenham while Wanganeen-Milera – the nephew of 1993 Brownlow medallist Gavin Wanganeen – lives with revitalised wingman Mason Wood.

There’s hordes of talent in those houses with more on the way. As for the long-held theory that Lyon doesn’t play the kids?

Consider it debunked.


YOUNG TALENT TIME
Home-and-away games played by those who were teenagers as of January 1, 2023. Stats after round 24, 2023
West Coast 116 games (10 players) – Ladder: 18th
ST KILDA 104 (6) – 6th
North Melbourne 86 (8) – 17th
Hawthorn 86 (9) – 16th
Adelaide 68 (4) – 10th
Brisbane Lions 60 (5) – 2nd
Fremantle 56 (4) – 14th
GWS Giants 48 (5) – 7th
Melbourne 46 (3) – 4th
Carlton 42 (3) – 5th
Essendon 40 (4) – 11th
Gold Coast 39 (3) – 15th
Port Adelaide 33 (4) – 3rd
Western Bulldogs 28 (3) – 9th
Collingwood 24 (2) – 1st
Richmond 22 (3) – 13th
Sydney 16 (3) – 8th
Geelong 15 (4) – 12th

---

SAINTS’ TEENAGE TAKEOVER IN 2023
Games played
23 Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera – pick 11
23 Mattaes Phillipou – pick 10
22 Mitch Owens – pick 33
18 Marcus Windhager – pick 47
17 Anthony Caminiti – SSP
1 Jack Peris – Cat B rookie

---

OLDER ROSS, YOUNGER SAINTS
Games played by teenagers as of January 1 at the start of the season.
Ross 1.0 (2007-11): 92
Ross 2.0 (2023): 104 (and counting)

It makes the future looking a lot more exciting than it was a couple of years ago. It will be interesting to see what the media say in the off season. Should put to bed the usual line about having no young talent.

 

[Minga]

The Saints of 2023 enter September with the most teenage exposure of any finalist since 2010.

The next-best tally since then? Sydney (92 games) in 2011, and the Swans won the premiership the next season.

The next best after that?

The Western Bulldogs (83 games) in 2015, and the Dogs also won the flag the following season.

Guess you can lock in a Saints 2024 flag then…

 

[2ballz]

The 'Rocket' he needed: How Eade inspired Saint's rise

Versatile Saint Cooper Sharman will play in his first AFL final after plenty of ups and downs

www.afl.com.au

 

[Diehard Saint]

The 'Rocket' he needed: How Eade inspired Saint's rise

Versatile Saint Cooper Sharman will play in his first AFL final after plenty of ups and downs

www.afl.com.au

Love these type of stories.

 

[littlecreatures]

Does anyone have this article? Bringing St Kilda people back to St Kilda: Lyon and the familiar faces chasing the great Saints dream


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[BrutThough]

Does anyone have this article? Bringing St Kilda people back to St Kilda: Lyon and the familiar faces chasing the great Saints dream


On iPhone using BigFooty.com mobile app

Bringing St Kilda people back to St Kilda: Lyon and the familiar faces chasing the great Saints dream​

By Andrew Wu​

September 9, 2023 — 5.30am

“Can’t repeat the past? Why, of course you can!”
So said Jay Gatsby to his friend Nick Carraway in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel The Great Gatsby of his obsession to win back the love of his life Daisy Buchanan.
A year ago, the Saints were unhappy with the present, the future appeared bleak, and their best option lay in the past.
As jilted as the Saints were when Ross Lyon broke their hearts 12 years ago, in this story the man dubbed “Ross the Boss” is no Daisy, though he does represent as close to a golden time as St Kilda has had.

The club’s tortured history is part of football folklore – one flag in 126 seasons against 27 wooden spoons – but under Lyon it was a formidable force.
If not for Matthew Scarlett’s iconic toe poke in the 2009 grand final, or the devilish bounce for Stephen Milne a year later, the Saints could have been back-to-back premiers – and Lyon would forever hold a place in the hearts and minds of anyone in the red, white and black.

Even without the silverware, Lyon is a celebrated figure at Linton Street. He is the face of the club. His coaching record is second only to Allan Jeans, who delivered the club its only flag. Former president Andrew Plympton has Lyon in the club’s top three most important off-field people. Favourite son Leigh Montagna is rapt at how Lyon has brought St Kilda people back to St Kilda.

Bringing The Band Back Together​

One of the first things you notice when you enter St Kilda headquarters at Moorabbin is a giant picture of the Saints’ longest-serving captain Nick Riewoldt which overlooks reception. It can see everyone who enters the club.


The symbolism is hard to ignore given his perceived role in Lyon’s return, and the significant involvement many from the class of 2009-10 have at the club. The Saints have brought the band back together.
The club’s former on-field spiritual leader Lenny Hayes is an assistant coach, a role he had agreed to before former coach Brett Ratten’s departure, along with dual Brownlow medallist and games record-holder Robert Harvey. Former champion Brendon Goddard has returned in a development role to mentor the club’s rising stars. Another, Nick Dal Santo, is the coach of the AFLW team. Justin Koschitzke works in the Danny Frawley Centre for Health & Wellbeing. A former Lyon footsoldier Jason Blake is the Saints’ football director.

“It’s certainly exciting. It brings that element of bringing St Kilda people back to the club,” said Saints great Montagna, a two-time All-Australian turned respected Fox Footy pundit.
“They bleed it, grown up there or spent a fair portion of their life there. It just means a helluva lot to them.”

Said Plympton, president during the Save Our Saints tin rattle in 1995 and their near fairytale in 1997: “What Ross has done is allow the club to not feel so negative about itself. I know there’s only one premiership there, and it’s about fighting for premierships, but part of St Kilda was fighting to stay alive.
“What he’s added is a level of respect to all the kids and young people coming in that it’s not a club built on failure, a lack of success or discipline. You meet the Harveys, Hayes, Riewoldts, you get to respect they’re as good as anyone. There’s some bloody good people at the St Kilda Football Club.”

​

Has Ross Changed?​

Lyon’s third coming as coach has come with the moniker of “Cuddly Ross”, a reference to a perceived softer and more empathetic approach to players, staff and even the media. It is true to a point.
In previous roles, Lyon had a reputation of being a hard taskmaster who could be difficult to work for, but track watchers at Moorabbin have observed a senior coach more trusting of his assistants, a natural byproduct of having people he has worked with.

“First time around as coach, Ross was the driver of the ship,” Montagna said. “He really steered it all. We have really fond memories and high respect for how he went about it. It was hard but it was fair. It was always about actions and never personal.
“You do hear he’s less hands on the wheel third time around in regards to driving all the game plans and the reviews, from what I’ve heard and understand.
“He’s certainly allowed the assistant coaches to take the reins a bit more, which is part of his development and him being comfortable with how long he’s been around the system. He’s probably done that because he’s got high-quality assistants that he can trust.”
Lyon believes he is now a more relaxed coach because he has delegated more.

“I probably get to the line a bit fresher. There is that nervous anxiety, there’s no doubt about that, but you feel like you’re alive,” Lyon said. “You can’t buy this experience and I’m fortunate to be in a position working with a club and a group of young players and coaches to try and achieve something.”
The hard edge remains. Lyon’s record commands respect. His reputation precedes him.

“I don’t think he’s too cuddly,” said Brad Hill, a favourite of Lyon from their days at Fremantle. “He might have one or two players he might be cuddly with. He still keeps you on your toes, for sure.”
When Saints players reported back for training after Christmas, “90 per cent of the list ran PBs” in the time trial, ruckman Rowan Marshall said. He attributed the fear of Lyon as a factor for the lift in training standards, an issue which sparked a sharp verbal joust between Riewoldt and Ratten in July.

“I guess that’s what a new coach does,” Marshall said. “Everyone wants to impress the new coach, everyone’s definitely worked pretty hard.”

The Game Plan​

The Saints of 2023 are typical of sides coached by Ross Lyon. Defence-oriented and miserly, they stifle opposition sides, forcing them to kick into parts of the ground they ideally would avoid. Effort is a non-negotiable.
Their points against was the lowest of the home-and-away season but, with Max King and Tim Membrey limited to 10 and seven games respectively, they ranked bottom four for scoring.
“In regards to visually and how they play, it’s almost like Ross hasn’t changed at all,” Montagna said.

“He’s still got his fingerprints all over a team that give maximum effort, high accountability, defend first, rewards role players and gets players to play at almost their maximal potential.
“From that point of view, it’s the same Ross that coached us and at Fremantle.”

Media Ross​

Former Collingwood president and prominent football figure Eddie McGuire has noted a new “statesman-like” Lyon, borne from his time in the media as an analyst for Nine on Footy Classified and Triple M.

Such a description is at odds with the Lyon of 2013, who infamously berated 3AW reporter Shane McInnes with his “you’re quite brilliant” sledge after a finals victory in Geelong, or the Lyon who erred on the side of insularity to shield his players from the outside.
This newfound respect of the Fourth Estate, McGuire said, came after Lyon saw first-hand behind the scenes how hard journalists worked on stories.

“I think sometimes there’s a feeling in football clubs the media just turn up and make it up,” McGuire said. “I think he was a bit surprised to see the phones ringing on a Wednesday night, myself and Caro [Caroline Wilson], and how it actually works.
“Ross has gone back in feeling he’s widely regarded for his special comments on Triple M, and his comments on Footy Classified. He’s moved into a statesman-like role in footy.”

Can The Saints Recreate The Past?​

Even with Lyon back on board, few gave the Saints much hope of making the eight, let alone scaling the heights of 2009-10.
“I wasn’t thinking they’d be playing finals at the start of this year,” Montagna said. “I thought they’d be a long-term play with Ross. They’d sort out the list, the style and environment they wanted to develop to build a premiership list.
“He’s probably exceeded my expectations, but in saying that it hasn’t been a surprise me with what I know about him as a coach, and the coaching group they’ve got, a playing group that is all committed and bought in.”
Internally, the Saints have taken an “anything is possible” approach in what Lyon has described as a “year of exploration”.

“I don’t think you can exceed your expectations, but you can fulfil your possibility,” Lyon said. “I think we’re fulfilling what’s possible for us.”
As for repeating the past?
“Hopefully, he goes one better,” Montagna said. “That’s the aim.”

 

[gringo2011]

The remarkable St Kilda numbers that show why Ross Lyon should be coach of the year​

This season, Ross Lyon has achieved a 35-year first – one usually reserved for a bottom side. SAM LANDSBERGER discovers why the St Kilda boss should be coach of the year.

He was “Ross the Boss”. This year he has been “Ross the Babysitter”.
Based on these numbers he could soon become coach of the year, an accolade Ross Lyon last won in 2009.

An analysis by this masthead has revealed the Saints have pumped 104 games into players who started this calendar year as teenagers.

That ranks behind only West Coast (116 games) – and yet the Saints finished 10 wins, 54.8 per cent and 12 places north of the Eagles on the ladder.

Put simply, Lyon has latched on to young talent like a bottom-four team would be expected to and somehow he has guided this blended team into a home MCG final.

You have to go all the way back to 1988 for the last time the Saints got more games into players who started the year as teenagers.

That year a 16-year-old Robert Harvey, who then-coach Darrel Baldock mistakenly called “Rodney” Harvey, made his debut and the Saints sank to last on the 14-team ladder.

Now Harvey is part of Lyon’s coaching panel and is helping harvest this talent wave.

The 2023 statistics become more staggering by the second.

It is all based around the fantastic five – Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera (23 games), Mattaes Phillipou (23), Mitchito Owens (22), Marcus Windhager (18) and Anthony Caminiti (17).

They combined for 103 of the 104 matches and Category B rookie Jack Peris added one more to the tally.

This season’s teenage takeover has already eclipsed the figure from Lyon’s stint as St Kilda coach from 2007-11.

In those five seasons, Ross 1.0 fed 92 games to players who started the year as teenagers.

The Saints of 2023 enter September with the most teenage exposure of any finalist since 2010.

The next-best tally since then? Sydney (92 games) in 2011, and the Swans won the premiership the next season.

The next best after that?

The Western Bulldogs (83 games) in 2015, and the Dogs also won the flag the following season.

The 2023 figure is currently tied with St Kilda’s 2004 campaign (104 games) – but that included finals, and so it will be surpassed at 3.20pm on Saturday.

Back in 2004 it was the likes of Brendon Goddard (No.1 draft pick), Luke Ball (No.2), Nick Dal Santo (No.13), Raph Clarke (No.8), Jason Gram (No.19) and Matt Maguire (No.21) who were consistently fed games as teenagers.

This year it has been done without such dominant draft hands.

But who really cares that Owens somehow slipped to No.33?

This kid is 19 and has been asked to play centre half-forward every week … plus pinch-hit in the ruck and wherever else he has been needed.

“It’s well-documented the club didn’t really go to the draft for four years, we’re just fortunate the kids we’ve got are really, really good players,” Lyon said during last weekend’s bye.

“Like Wanganeen-Milera and Windhager and Owens and Phillipou and Caminiti. So we want to really add to that group.”

The Saints will spend the off-season searching for speed and midfielders – Carlton’s Paddy Dow would be an obvious target – but draft picks are their priority.

They will select another three or four teenagers in November to flesh out Lyon’s quality quintet.

Collingwood legend Nathan Buckley gave Owens maximum votes in the Rising Star count that was won by Harry Sheezel.

“I thought his season was the most exceptional of the young talent,” Buckley said.

Owens – who was nominated for both mark and goal of the year – is a competitor who adjusts to all conditions and appears built for big games.

Wanganeen-Milera – moved to half-back by “half-back whisperer” and assistant coach Corey Enright – is tipped to give the top five of the Saints’ best-and-fairest a tilt.

Caminiti came in off a VFL pre-season while Phillipou has played every game.

When you consider their positions it adds potency to their powerful seasons.

Caminiti, Owens and Phillipou were put together in an AFL attack that wouldn’t look out of place in the under-18s.

Can one of them grow from a boy to a man in an elimination final against Greater Western Sydney?

Back in 1982, Dermott Brereton launched his glittering career with 5.2 on debut in a semi-final.

Windhager and Wanganeen-Milera have partnered at half-back although the former has recently crept up to a wing.

They are five critical roles and they have somehow proven themselves almost overnight.

These aren’t honest footballers who have been around for five or 10 years that Lyon is extracting everything out of, but will never be able to take the Saints to the promised land.

And they aren’t the likes of Spencer White and Tom Lee, draft busts from a decade ago.

They are legitimate future A-graders. When was the last time you could say that about St Kilda’s youngsters?

But it makes you wonder … what does the future have in store for some of the club’s older players stuck outside the selected side?

How many times could Lyon have rested 18-year-old teetotaller Phillipou to play Jack Billings this year?

He didn’t at all. Billings must be thinking about browsing the AFL marketplace for a new buyer.

Does injury-prone utility Nick Coffield fit back in? And what about Hunter Clark? Will free agent Jade Gresham seek a fresh start?

Lyon has clearly locked in his favourite five and wants to build around them. This year of exploration has ended up exploding with promise.

These Saints have won 13 last quarters with a mindset that anything is possible.

There are obviously leaders driving them forward.

Reigning premiership captain Joel Selwood noted how All-Australian Callum Wilkie would often run up to the midfielders mid-game to offer advice and then organise his defensive group.

Wanganeen-Milera has shadowed Jack Sinclair at training this year.

The fear 12 months ago was that Wanganeen-Milera would return to South Australia after 2023.

But in April the Herald Sun revealed he had re-signed until 2025 and it’s no surprise after listening to teammates talk about how he has come out of his shell in his second season.

There are three more St Kilda babies still on training wheels in the VFL that insiders at Moorabbin are also bullish about.

They are key forward Isaac Keeler (12 VFL games this year), midfielder Oli Hotton (9) and key defender James Van Es (14).

Keeler, Van Es, Phillipou and Caminiti are housemates in Cheltenham while Wanganeen-Milera – the nephew of 1993 Brownlow medallist Gavin Wanganeen – lives with revitalised wingman Mason Wood.

There’s hordes of talent in those houses with more on the way. As for the long-held theory that Lyon doesn’t play the kids?

Consider it debunked.


YOUNG TALENT TIME
Home-and-away games played by those who were teenagers as of January 1, 2023. Stats after round 24, 2023
West Coast 116 games (10 players) – Ladder: 18th
ST KILDA 104 (6) – 6th
North Melbourne 86 (8) – 17th
Hawthorn 86 (9) – 16th
Adelaide 68 (4) – 10th
Brisbane Lions 60 (5) – 2nd
Fremantle 56 (4) – 14th
GWS Giants 48 (5) – 7th
Melbourne 46 (3) – 4th
Carlton 42 (3) – 5th
Essendon 40 (4) – 11th
Gold Coast 39 (3) – 15th
Port Adelaide 33 (4) – 3rd
Western Bulldogs 28 (3) – 9th
Collingwood 24 (2) – 1st
Richmond 22 (3) – 13th
Sydney 16 (3) – 8th
Geelong 15 (4) – 12th

---

SAINTS’ TEENAGE TAKEOVER IN 2023
Games played
23 Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera – pick 11
23 Mattaes Phillipou – pick 10
22 Mitch Owens – pick 33
18 Marcus Windhager – pick 47
17 Anthony Caminiti – SSP
1 Jack Peris – Cat B rookie

---

OLDER ROSS, YOUNGER SAINTS
Games played by teenagers as of January 1 at the start of the season.
Ross 1.0 (2007-11): 92
Ross 2.0 (2023): 104 (and counting)

I said the same thing during the season. We were putting up younger sides than the bottom 4 clubs most weeks.

 

[sammm]

St Kilda climbing up the Hill after years of struggling to make it to the top

Bradley Hill was the flashy recruit traded from Fremantle to St Kilda that pocketed a close to $900,000-a-year deal who supposedly just returned to Victoria for the money.What else could the motive of...

nit.com.au

 

[Mowman]

AFL 2023: Nailing trades can turn St Kilda into a contender​

Despite bowing out of finals, St Kilda has a core of young stars to build a premiership team around. Can trade guru Stephen Silvagni find the players to complete the puzzle?
Josh Barnes
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@Josh__Barnes

4 min read
September 10, 2023 - 7:16AM
News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom

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08:25
'I thought we had more in us than that'

AFL: Ross Lyon reflected on the Saints season and loss in the finals to GWS, speaking about earning the right to progress more in the final.

AFL​

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Ross Lyon may have begun stocking his shopping trolley before the ball was even bounced on St Kilda’s season-ending elimination final loss on Saturday.
Perhaps the most consequential moment for St Kilda’s future came an hour before the game against GWS Giants kicked off, when it began leaking out that Fremantle’s Liam Henry had chosen Moorabbin as his new home and wants a trade to St Kilda.
During the actual game on Saturday Lyon’s midfield issues were stark – the Giants had star power in Josh Kelly and Tom Green

12

Tom Green

Age

24

Ht

192cm

Wt

92kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.5

3star

K

4.3

2star

HB

7.3

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.3

4star

CL

2.8

4star

D

11.5

3star

K

4.3

2star

HB

7.3

4star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.3

3star

CL

2.8

4star

D

11.5

3star

K

4.3

2star

HB

7.3

5star

M

1.8

2star

T

2.3

4star

CL

2.8

5star

and the Saints had Jack Steele

9

Jack Steele

Age

29

Ht

187cm

Wt

90kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

20.9

5star

K

8.7

3star

HB

12.2

5star

M

3.7

4star

T

6.8

5star

CL

3.6

5star

D

21.3

5star

K

10.0

4star

HB

11.3

5star

M

4.0

4star

T

5.8

5star

CL

4.6

5star

D

16.8

4star

K

5.0

2star

HB

11.8

5star

M

2.6

3star

T

6.4

5star

CL

3.6

5star

and that was about it.
Even Lyon said his skipper played a “lone hand” with a typically herculean 38 disposals.
The coach knows his team needs A-grade midfield support to jump from finalists to contenders and he joked post-match that he won’t find it in Woolies, as cost of living even impacts the trade market this off-season.
“I can’t head to Woolworths in Glen Huntly Rd and buy one, I know that. They don’t have a half-priced special,” Lyon said in perfect Rossism tone.
So, how do the Saints make that leap?
Lyon earmarked 2023 breakthrough youngsters such as Mattaes Phillipou, Mitch Owens, Anthony Caminiti, Marcus Windhager and Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera as the core his club “just have to build around”.
Nailing a couple of drafts and slingshotting into contention is doable.

Jack Steele

9

Jack Steele

Age

29

Ht

187cm

Wt

90kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

20.9

5star

K

8.7

3star

HB

12.2

5star

M

3.7

4star

T

6.8

5star

CL

3.6

5star

D

21.3

5star

K

10.0

4star

HB

11.3

5star

M

4.0

4star

T

5.8

5star

CL

4.6

5star

D

16.8

4star

K

5.0

2star

HB

11.8

5star

M

2.6

3star

T

6.4

5star

CL

3.6

5star

played a lone hand in the Saints midfield against GWS. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images
Just after the Saints filed out of the MCG, Port Adelaide began another qualifying final up in Queensland.
The Power nailed the 2018 draft by snaring Zak Butters

9

Zak Butters

Age

24

Ht

181cm

Wt

77kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

14.3

4star

K

7.7

3star

HB

6.7

4star

M

3.0

3star

T

2.6

4star

CL

0.8

3star

D

14.7

4star

K

8.9

4star

HB

5.9

3star

M

3.9

4star

T

2.9

4star

CL

1.1

3star

D

17.0

5star

K

9.0

4star

HB

8.0

5star

M

3.6

4star

T

1.6

4star

CL

0.6

3star

, Connor Rozee

1

Connor Rozee

Age

25

Ht

185cm

Wt

79kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

14.6

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

7.0

4star

M

3.3

3star

T

3.6

5star

CL

1.0

3star

D

12.8

3star

K

7.4

3star

HB

5.3

3star

M

2.9

3star

T

2.4

3star

CL

1.6

4star

D

16.4

4star

K

8.0

3star

HB

8.4

5star

M

4.2

4star

T

3.4

5star

CL

0.8

3star

, and to a lesser extent, Xavier Duursma

28

Xavier Duursma

Age

24

Ht

186cm

Wt

82kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

18.5

5star

K

10.0

4star

HB

8.5

5star

M

5.4

5star

T

2.1

4star

CL

1.6

4star

D

13.0

3star

K

8.8

4star

HB

4.3

3star

M

3.8

4star

T

2.3

3star

CL

0.5

3star

D

16.8

4star

K

8.4

4star

HB

8.4

5star

M

4.8

5star

T

2.0

4star

CL

1.6

4star

, all at once.
And around them, they have both traded in and drafted – bringing in the likes of Jason Horne-Francis, Ryan Burton

3

Ryan Burton

Age

28

Ht

191cm

Wt

92kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

18.5

5star

K

12.1

4star

HB

6.3

4star

M

4.6

4star

T

2.1

4star

MG

277.3

4star

D

16.8

4star

K

12.3

5star

HB

4.5

3star

M

5.0

5star

T

1.0

2star

MG

277.3

4star

D

13.4

4star

K

9.0

4star

HB

4.4

4star

M

4.8

5star

T

2.2

4star

, Jeremy Finlayson

11

Jeremy Finlayson

Age

28

Ht

197cm

Wt

93kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

13.5

3star

K

9.9

4star

HB

3.6

3star

M

4.5

4star

T

1.4

3star

G

1.3

5star

D

7.0

1star

K

7.0

3star

HB

0.0

1star

M

1.0

1star

T

2.0

3star

G

1.0

4star

D

18.4

5star

K

12.6

5star

HB

5.8

4star

M

3.8

4star

T

1.6

4star

G

0.0

1star

, Willie Rioli

15

Willie Rioli

Age

29

Ht

175cm

Wt

78kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.0

3star

K

8.0

3star

HB

4.1

3star

M

3.3

3star

T

2.8

4star

G

1.2

4star

No current season stats available

D

11.0

3star

K

7.4

3star

HB

3.6

3star

M

3.0

3star

T

1.8

4star

G

0.6

3star

, Aliir Aliir

21

Aliir Aliir

Age

30

Ht

194cm

Wt

96kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

15.2

4star

K

9.3

4star

HB

5.9

4star

M

5.2

5star

T

1.9

4star

MG

240.9

4star

D

11.0

3star

K

6.0

2star

HB

5.0

3star

M

3.0

3star

T

2.0

3star

D

13.0

4star

K

6.4

3star

HB

6.6

4star

M

3.8

4star

T

2.0

4star

MG

158.4

3star

and drafting Todd Marshall

4

Todd Marshall

Age

26

Ht

198cm

Wt

94kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

9.0

2star

K

6.4

3star

HB

2.5

2star

M

3.3

3star

T

2.5

4star

G

1.1

4star

D

8.9

2star

K

7.1

3star

HB

1.8

1star

M

3.8

4star

T

3.0

4star

G

1.1

5star

D

9.6

3star

K

5.6

3star

HB

4.0

3star

M

3.0

3star

T

2.4

4star

G

1.6

5star

, Dan Houston

5

Dan Houston

Age

27

Ht

186cm

Wt

88kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

18.2

5star

K

11.8

4star

HB

6.4

4star

M

4.9

5star

T

3.0

5star

MG

289.2

4star

D

17.6

4star

K

11.6

4star

HB

6.0

3star

M

3.3

3star

T

3.4

4star

MG

319.9

5star

D

16.6

4star

K

12.4

5star

HB

4.2

4star

M

7.0

5star

T

2.6

4star

MG

279.8

5star

and Willem Drew

28

Willem Drew

Age

26

Ht

188cm

Wt

86kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

15.9

4star

K

7.2

3star

HB

8.7

5star

M

2.2

2star

T

5.6

5star

CL

2.3

4star

No current season stats available

D

18.0

5star

K

9.2

4star

HB

8.8

5star

M

3.0

3star

T

4.2

5star

CL

2.8

5star

.
If the Saints are right that they have a strong cohort of youngsters that can take them somewhere, they won’t be back picking early in the draft any time soon.
So they must make the most of smart trades.
Henry, a strong runner who could have at least gone with the Giants’ leg speed on Saturday, is a shrewd start.
Lyon knows his side needs top-level midfield support and another goalkicker.
Perhaps Caminiti and Owens will cover the goalkicking around Max King

12

Max King

Age

24

Ht

202cm

Wt

100kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

7.3

2star

K

4.7

2star

HB

2.6

2star

M

2.7

3star

T

0.7

3star

G

1.4

5star

D

7.3

2star

K

4.7

2star

HB

2.6

2star

M

2.7

3star

T

0.7

1star

G

1.4

5star

D

8.0

2star

K

5.2

2star

HB

2.8

3star

M

2.8

3star

T

0.6

3star

G

1.4

5star

, but finding that star onballer will keep the list team of Stephen Silvagni and Graeme Allen up at night.

Docker Liam Henry could land at Moorabbin. Picture: Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images
Port Adelaide managed to land an absolute A-grade talent in Horne-Francis through a trade last year but that was mostly luck – it’s hard to see a disgruntled No.1 pick wanting to move to Moorabbin.
And the Saints won’t rush for a quick fix.
“There are mechanisms. There is trade, draft, free agency,” Lyon said.
“We will explore those things but when I walked in, it was never going to be a one-year build. We have to build it out over a period of time.”
The good news is the kids are hungry.
While Phillipou, Caminiti and Owens were quiet on Saturday, Wanganeen-Milera and Cooper Sharman were outstanding.
Phillipou is a workhorse and Owens is a future star and they are part of a young group of Saints who’s workrate equals their talent.
All-Australian Jack Sinclair

35

Jack Sinclair

Age

29

Ht

181cm

Wt

82kg

Pos.

D/M

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.5

4star

K

8.1

3star

HB

8.4

5star

M

3.1

3star

T

3.2

5star

MG

235.0

4star

D

15.0

4star

K

10.0

4star

HB

5.0

3star

M

4.0

4star

T

2.0

3star

MG

376.0

5star

D

12.0

3star

K

4.2

2star

HB

7.8

5star

M

1.6

2star

T

2.0

4star

MG

138.2

3star

came back from his summer break last year marvelling at the work the junior Saints had done.
“Even last year they sort of set the scene in terms of improving every week, so when us older boys got back they were hitting PBs on the running track or in the gym and as an older guy, that made me want to get better,” he said.
“I think that is the best thing for us. We just want to get better every day and every week and every year not matter how old you are.
“That is being led by the young guys, but I think our senior guys have really played their role.”
The young Saints will get to work over summer and it will be up to the off-field team of Silvagni, Allen and Lyon to get shopping and find some of those bargains.
A-GRADE LOOKS INTO B-GRADE OPPORTUNITIES
Saints fans will be closing their eyes over coming weeks and seeing it over and over.
The forward line players leaping and crashing into each other, the dropped marks and the missed chances up forward.
It has been a tale of the season for St Kilda, which has moved the ball well generally but often fallen over when looking for targets inside 50.
It was one point of improvement Sinclair pointed out, while saying finals is now a “minimum standard” for his club.
And it was an issue, along with conceding scores from stoppages, that Lyon brought up to his troops in a lengthy post-match meeting on Saturday.
“Obviously, some efficiency going inside-50, that sometimes takes time,” Sinclair said.
“That takes time to build. It doesn’t happen straight away but with some guys in front of the footy it can be tough.”

Mitch Owens and the Saints forwards had a tough day at the office. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images
So often on Saturday, the Giants would sweep forward and find a forward in space or a clear one-on-one option, instead of multiple forwards crowding each other like at the other end.
The Giants, particularly Brent Daniels

16

Brent Daniels

Age

25

Ht

172cm

Wt

75kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.9

3star

K

6.4

3star

HB

6.5

4star

M

2.6

3star

T

2.9

4star

G

0.4

3star

D

10.3

3star

K

4.3

2star

HB

6.0

3star

M

1.9

2star

T

1.9

3star

G

0.0

1star

D

9.0

3star

K

3.6

2star

HB

5.4

4star

M

1.6

2star

T

3.0

5star

G

0.8

4star

, were willing to cut angles and get creative to find targets, thanks to good connection with their forwards.
St Kilda went inside 50 twice more than GWS on Saturday but was never in the game after the 15-minute mark of the second quarter.
Much of the issues would be fixed if King and Tim Membrey managed full seasons, while young forwards Owens, Caminiti and Phillipou can only improve.
“Even when we are coming and having a go, we were getting A-grade looks that become B-grade opportunities,” Lyon said.
Even after the loss, the Saints will hit another summer of improvement with some momentum, after reaching finals and drawing over 68,000 fans to the MCG, only the second time St Kilda has played in front of that many since the end of 2017.
The loyalty of the St Kilda fan base shone through, even as the club remained on 22 finals wins, the same Joel Selwood managed in 109 fewer seasons.

More Coverage​

Saints throw arms around Membrey
Brutal September lesson can drive Saints to greatness
The home-grown roar was enough to spur Sinclair into 2024.
“When I reflect on this year, that is what will stand out for me,” he said.
“It was awesome to be out there. We don’t get too many games on the ’G but to get that and have the majority of the fans supporting us, it was a special day, but we didn’t get the result of play the way we wanted to play.”

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[Mowman]

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon says Tim Membrey

28

Tim Membrey

Age

30

Ht

188cm

Wt

92kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.2

3star

K

8.1

3star

HB

4.1

3star

M

5.8

5star

T

1.5

3star

G

1.8

5star

D

9.4

2star

K

6.5

3star

HB

2.9

2star

M

4.5

4star

T

1.3

2star

G

1.5

5star

D

9.6

3star

K

4.8

2star

HB

4.8

4star

M

3.2

4star

T

1.4

4star

G

0.6

3star

in ‘safe place’ after missing elimination final​

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon says the club’s thoughts are with Tim Membrey

28

Tim Membrey

Age

30

Ht

188cm

Wt

92kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.2

3star

K

8.1

3star

HB

4.1

3star

M

5.8

5star

T

1.5

3star

G

1.8

5star

D

9.4

2star

K

6.5

3star

HB

2.9

2star

M

4.5

4star

T

1.3

2star

G

1.5

5star

D

9.6

3star

K

4.8

2star

HB

4.8

4star

M

3.2

4star

T

1.4

4star

G

0.6

3star

after the forward was a game-day withdrawal from the Saints’ elimination final team.
Josh Barnes
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@Josh__Barnes

less than 2 min read
September 9, 2023 - 8:23PM
News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom




02:36
GWS' ride an Orange Tsunami to dump the Saints at the MCG
AFL: GWS held off a number of threats from St Kilda to prevail by 24 points. Jake Riccardi was the Giants' best with three goals.

AFL​

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St Kilda forward Tim Membrey

28

Tim Membrey

Age

30

Ht

188cm

Wt

92kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.2

3star

K

8.1

3star

HB

4.1

3star

M

5.8

5star

T

1.5

3star

G

1.8

5star

D

9.4

2star

K

6.5

3star

HB

2.9

2star

M

4.5

4star

T

1.3

2star

G

1.5

5star

D

9.6

3star

K

4.8

2star

HB

4.8

4star

M

3.2

4star

T

1.4

4star

G

0.6

3star

is in “a safe place” and receiving care after he was pulled out of Saturday’s elimination final after a health episode.
Saints coach Ross Lyon received a call at 8.15am on Saturday morning about Membrey and St Kilda went to the AFL and GWS Giants asking for permission to replace him in the side with Anthony Caminiti, who wasn’t part of the club’s emergencies.
Giants coach Adam Kingsley

Adam Kingsley

Age

49

Ht

183cm

Wt

83kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.9

4star

K

11.5

4star

HB

5.4

4star

M

4.1

4star

T

1.3

3star

No current season stats available

D

16.4

4star

K

10.4

4star

HB

6.0

4star

M

3.0

3star

T

1.0

3star

said his club was happy to oblige the request given the circumstances.
Clubs have been fined in the past for adding players to the team who weren’t emergencies but not under difficult circumstances such as on Saturday.
St Kilda assistant coach Lenny Hayes

Lenny Hayes

Age

45

Ht

186cm

Wt

85kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

22.5

5star

K

11.5

4star

HB

11.0

5star

M

3.7

4star

T

5.0

5star

CL

5.2

5star

No current season stats available

D

9.2

3star

K

5.0

2star

HB

4.2

4star

M

1.6

2star

T

0.4

3star

told SEN before the game that Membrey had a “mental health challenge that has just sort of reared”.

Tim Membrey

28

Tim Membrey

Age

30

Ht

188cm

Wt

92kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.2

3star

K

8.1

3star

HB

4.1

3star

M

5.8

5star

T

1.5

3star

G

1.8

5star

D

9.4

2star

K

6.5

3star

HB

2.9

2star

M

4.5

4star

T

1.3

2star

G

1.5

5star

D

9.6

3star

K

4.8

2star

HB

4.8

4star

M

3.2

4star

T

1.4

4star

G

0.6

3star

was a late out before St Kilda’s final against GWS. Picture: Michael Klein
“He is in really good hands at the moment and our thoughts are with him,” Hayes said.
Speaking post-match, Lyon made clear that losing the experienced goalkicker was no excuse for his team’s 24-point loss to the Giants.

More Coverage​

Why the threat from off-Broadway Giants is very real
Brutal September lesson can drive Saints to greatness
“It probably challenged those closest to him, we addressed it, he is in a safe place and our thoughts are with Tim. I have nothing further to add,” he said.
Caminiti was subbed out of the final at halftime after registering just three disposals and one behind.
Membrey, 29, has played 159 games with the Saints since crossing from Sydney before the 2015 season and has kicked 263 goals.

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[The Cobra]

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon says Tim Membrey in ‘safe place’ after missing elimination final​

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon says the club’s thoughts are with Tim Membrey after the forward was a game-day withdrawal from the Saints’ elimination final team.
Josh Barnes
Follow
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less than 2 min read
September 9, 2023 - 8:23PM
News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom




02:36
GWS' ride an Orange Tsunami to dump the Saints at the MCG
AFL: GWS held off a number of threats from St Kilda to prevail by 24 points. Jake Riccardi was the Giants' best with three goals.

AFL​

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St Kilda forward Tim Membrey is in “a safe place” and receiving care after he was pulled out of Saturday’s elimination final after a health episode.
Saints coach Ross Lyon received a call at 8.15am on Saturday morning about Membrey and St Kilda went to the AFL and GWS Giants asking for permission to replace him in the side with Anthony Caminiti, who wasn’t part of the club’s emergencies.
Giants coach Adam Kingsley said his club was happy to oblige the request given the circumstances.
Clubs have been fined in the past for adding players to the team who weren’t emergencies but not under difficult circumstances such as on Saturday.
St Kilda assistant coach Lenny Hayes told SEN before the game that Membrey had a “mental health challenge that has just sort of reared”.

Tim Membrey was a late out before St Kilda’s final against GWS. Picture: Michael Klein
“He is in really good hands at the moment and our thoughts are with him,” Hayes said.
Speaking post-match, Lyon made clear that losing the experienced goalkicker was no excuse for his team’s 24-point loss to the Giants.

More Coverage​

Why the threat from off-Broadway Giants is very real
Brutal September lesson can drive Saints to greatness
“It probably challenged those closest to him, we addressed it, he is in a safe place and our thoughts are with Tim. I have nothing further to add,” he said.
Caminiti was subbed out of the final at halftime after registering just three disposals and one behind.
Membrey, 29, has played 159 games with the Saints since crossing from Sydney before the 2015 season and has kicked 263 goals.

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