Preview 2025 AFL Season - Round 3: St Kilda v Richmond (Saturday March 29, 4.15pm - Marvel Stadium)

[Zzzed]

We have a really good season , we should attract a few players to the club knowing they will be in for several years at the top of the table - guys like Merrit would be spewing he never took the offer he was given.

We picked up a A grade mid this year in Macrae but in all reality he has only a couple good seasons left in him most probably -Steele the same / however by this time we hope Phillipou , Windhager , Travaglia , Wilson and there is always someone that comes out of nowhere just like Sinclair going from a average player with a good kick to a full on star.

But we need to lock up Nas , Phillipou etc - because we can not afford these talented kids to exist the club because it will only stall our progress.

The best thing I have seen at this club for a long time is that we actually have kids that are striving to get the best out of them selves - guys like Wood , Windhager , Owens , Wilson , Nas are infecting everyone around them to be the best they can be.
A guy like Byrne that might be the one of the lesser lights of the squad gives everything and this is what guys like Billings , Gresham never had in them to be honest imo.

There is still this underlying narrative from player managers and the media that players can't achieve the ultimate success at St Kilda. It's a place you go to get an opportunity if you are a fringe player at another club, or you need a few extra bucks and it's your last shot at a decent pay day.

That's why I think it's so important we make finals this year. Suddenly the narrative becomes finals twice in 3 years with a group of young hungry players driving the success and a club that's finally got all parts of the club operating at or near best practice. Miss out on finals and the existing narrative gets perpetuated and the big fish remain elusive for another 2 years at least.

What happens this year has a long lasting legacy (good or bad) for many years to come

On SM-X820 using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[tomjoad]

I think we're gonna see a slightly different forward setup before too long. I think Coops has probably arrived and with Chito back on track we'll look more dynamic. Hall and Lance are further along than thought and will put pressure on Butts soon if not already. Then there's Henry.

Like the sound of this... here's hoping

 

[Leap of Faith]

Percentage of games played, King vs Curnow in first 6 seasons:

Max King (Completed 6 Seasons)
2019 - 0%
2020 - 95%
2021 - 91%
2022 - 100%
2023 - 46%
2024 - 52%
64% of games after 6 seasons

Charlie Curnow (Completed 9 Seasons)
2016 - 27%
2017 - 95%
2018 - 91%
2019 - 50%
2020 - 0%
2021 - 18%
47% of games after 6 seasons
2022 - 100%
2023 - 100%
2024 - 87%

I think Charlie Curnow is a good comparison. Maybe he was being written off after his first 6 seasons, like Max is here by some people, but we've seen Curnow now become an elite key forward.
Max King has obviously missed a couple of games already this year (so has Charlie) but if he can get back for our last 20 games he can really start to stamp himself. Write him off at your own peril.

I don’t think anyone is writing him off. But the warning lights are flashing.

 

[SG34]

News Flash:

St Kilda are huge favorites to beat Richmond. You get 4 bucks thirty something if you back Richmond. A dollar twenny for the Saints.

This means the terrible odds we faced against Geelong have been almost perfectly reversed.

St Kilda Saints vs Richmond Tigers Betting Odds & Predictions | Oddspedia

St Kilda Saints vs Richmond Tigers ❱ 29.03.2025 ❱ Aussie Rules ❱ AFL ✔️Free Betting Tips & Predictions ⚡ Livescore 🏆 Best Betting Odds ⭐ Stats

oddspedia.com

Suddenly, we, the Saints, have gone from bottom two favorites to dominators because we managed to hang on against a Geelong without key players and a young brigade at home.

I think this betting thing is a little sus

 

[bakes10]

The only King stat (and I wish it existed) I care about is % of balls he calls for while standing stationery vs on the lead. Unfortunately I think it’d be 80% calling for it stationery on top of his head. A very frustrating player to watch and don’t get me started on his lack of physicality. I prefer Sharman in the team, a traditional forward and I’m hoping this year he has many more games like the breakout game he had vs Essendon last year.

 

[tomjoad]

There is still this underlying narrative from player managers and the media that players can't achieve the ultimate success at St Kilda. It's a place you go to get an opportunity if you are a fringe player at another club, or you need a few extra bucks and it's your last shot at a decent pay day.

That's why I think it's so important we make finals this year. Suddenly the narrative becomes finals twice in 3 years with a group of young hungry players driving the success and a club that's finally got all parts of the club operating at or near best practice. Miss out on finals and the existing narrative gets perpetuated and the big fish remain elusive for another 2 years at least.

What happens this year has a long lasting legacy (good or bad) for many years to come

On SM-X820 using BigFooty.com mobile app

Agree, we absolutely have a team capable of making the finals now with everything going right. What is it...8 or so wins in our last 11/12 games or something? It's a solid average.
Our depth though is still tested once players go down...especially if one or two of our better players miss. This is being rectified but we're missing a couple of players in the 24-28 age group, which is a casualty of trying restructure our list, whilst still trying to contend, mixed with previous years poor drafting. This will balance in time (King, Higgins, & Sharman already 24/25 for example) as long as we keep getting good youth in (and are clever about it like Geelong and Hawks) we can press forward and make our case to FA's in an intelligent manner, as it is clear and self evident that we have all the pieces in place. At the moment we're probably just short of that hence the alleged insane amounts of money being thrown about to get said pieces. The thing is, we have the money...and other than NAS, I don't think there's many others on our list that warrant obscene cash just yet, so we need to entice. Guys like TDK are a flashy toy to go along with NAS and our up and coming pieces and kids coming through (This doesn't mean I'm for the TDK move, but I can see WHY the club is doing it from a business angle)
As with most things in life... it's about optics. If you look the part, people will suit up for you. We just need someone to put on the suit first, rather than worrying whether it fits or not. We'll tailor it to whatever the client wants FFS.
Unfortunately, we have a double headed media beast backlashing us on being young, and also not being bold enough...as well as being desperate due to being bold, and not getting rid of players so we can bottom out to play youth.
It's not helping one bit.
Narratives can F*CK optics if it's loud enough.
We just gotta keep on keeping on.

 

[TheJackal]

Nothing lucky about Jones' form, did it back half of 24 and all through pre season. The Adelaide game was an aberration in my view.
When fit, he can be a very good outside mid/wing.

Sent from my SM-S908E using BigFooty.com mobile app

He had a good patch at the end of 2024 where he average 20 touches over 7 weeks, probably prolonged his career as he was no guaranteeto get a new contract. Prior to this season he'd played 30 games in 3 years, now he is over 30.

He's not stood out at all 'all through preseason', not even a little bit. He was rehabbing for much of it and has just done the work everyone else has when he's been training.

He's an injury prone GOP who has a good burst of speed and can look amazing in patches but struggles for consistency throughout games. As good as it is to see guys go well, it's guys like Jones who need to be overtaken by kids in form if we are going to improve.

 

[stfan]

Getting rid of a 22yr old who actually has talent is crazy , most players are building body strength and stamina at that age.
We have already picked up Hammer , Stocker who can play , the jury out on Dow and now with this guy we well of could of picked up a very good player -time will tell of course

Hammer was not actually a CFC AFL listed player. He was just in their VFL Program, and so any club could have grabbed him.

 

[Sol Goodman]

Surely we had that forward line at least a couple of times last year?

On SM-T290 using BigFooty.com mobile app

Nothing is guaranteed but just seeing Owens come back fit and confident and improved gives me lots of confidence that there training and recovery is on the right track.

 

[Minga]

There is still this underlying narrative from player managers and the media that players can't achieve the ultimate success at St Kilda. It's a place you go to get an opportunity if you are a fringe player at another club, or you need a few extra bucks and it's your last shot at a decent pay day.

That's why I think it's so important we make finals this year. Suddenly the narrative becomes finals twice in 3 years with a group of young hungry players driving the success and a club that's finally got all parts of the club operating at or near best practice. Miss out on finals and the existing narrative gets perpetuated and the big fish remain elusive for another 2 years at least.

What happens this year has a long lasting legacy (good or bad) for many years to come

On SM-X820 using BigFooty.com mobile app

Well it’s a bogus narrative, we have been as successful as any other club since equalisation. SURE we have the longest draught, but we’ve made a decent amount of granny’s in recent history, and have been there abouts in finals the last 5 years.

It’s nothing to boast about, and teams like Geelong, Hawthorn, Sydney, Collingwood have been exemplars of sustained competitive success in the last two decades, but they will fall off too, and they’re merely 4/18 soon to be 19 clubs.

Our best footy with this team is finals standard. And this team is tracking better and better with every year of development and successful drafting.

Personally, I love going for the underdog, but it’s not like we’re so uncompetitive that we never have a chance, hell, it’s unlucky we didn’t snag a granny win in at least one of our recent appearances, the moments were there. You make your own luck, yes, but it’s not like we were without a chance. Chances will come again.

Honestly, having grown up in private school circles, with lots of AFL representation in the students (now on AFL lists) and the parents (former players, heads of clubs, heads of tribunal, commentators etc) where I WASNT from much of a ‘private school’ home life and barely watched footy but did play on sports with current players, IMO it’s just a cultural thing, and its very much a private school boy league.

To generalise, there is a loud semi-minority of in-afl types, and they all parrot the same things, they all care about lineage, and the sport is just really engrained into them because it’s literally the reason for their family’s livelihood, and pride (ego). With these types, unless you’re from a saints centric area, sure they’re not a respected club because that’s the in-joke. Just like how it’s the in-joke to make fun of Essendon Carlton rn because they have been putrid for 20 years. Saints have longest drought so we’re a ‘joke’ too.

And we have less of that private school thing going on - it’s still very much so there - but a lot of these types just care about class and power, big clubs have big games they can take their colleagues and business partners to and it’s more about the appearance. Saints aren’t in that realm as often as a Collingwood is.

Yada yada yada, you combine all the above with laziness and you get boring media narratives, and by extension, boring and long bigfooty responses like this one. It keeps the world going round and money in their pockets. But it is bogus, and that’s why I turn it all off. I’d wager I’m younger than most on here, and I have completely dispelled of social media. I only go to forum sites now (like a REAL loser) where I can actually interact with real people with real opinions, and use the internet how it was uhhh flipping supposed to be used. **** private schools, **** capital driven lazy media, and **** the AFL. But god bless footy, and you lot

 

[Remboy]

News Flash:

St Kilda are huge favorites to beat Richmond. You get 4 bucks thirty something if you back Richmond. A dollar twenny for the Saints.

This means the terrible odds we faced against Geelong have been almost perfectly reversed.

St Kilda Saints vs Richmond Tigers Betting Odds & Predictions | Oddspedia

St Kilda Saints vs Richmond Tigers ❱ 29.03.2025 ❱ Aussie Rules ❱ AFL ✔️Free Betting Tips & Predictions ⚡ Livescore 🏆 Best Betting Odds ⭐ Stats

oddspedia.com

Suddenly, we, the Saints, have gone from bottom two favorites to dominators because we managed to hang on against a Geelong without key players and a young brigade at home.

I think this betting thing is a little sus

Nothing sus about it. After last week we are the clear flag favourites. Get on board before it’s too late!

 

[Winmar2Lockett]

Kosi didn't seem to be the same after that sicking head knock

Kosi’s influence during our contending years is massively underrated.

He was the battering ram that brought the ball to ground & target for the get out of strife kick. Can’t remember him being out marked very often. Absolutely tore Geelong a new arseh*le in the 2010 semi too.

Not to mention how he changed the game when Gardy went down in the tied GF.

One of my fave Saints of all time.

StK supporters talking him down deserve a sharp uppercut IMO.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Train12]

Morning big footy family,

Any training reports today will be appreciated

Especially a report on if King is running.

If he isn’t, probably means a set back with those media reports the other night.

 

[akaifu]

Keeler holds his spot

 

[SteeleSaints]

The only King stat (and I wish it existed) I care about is % of balls he calls for while standing stationery vs on the lead. Unfortunately I think it’d be 80% calling for it stationery on top of his head. A very frustrating player to watch and don’t get me started on his lack of physicality. I prefer Sharman in the team, a traditional forward and I’m hoping this year he has many more games like the breakout game he had vs Essendon last year.

In Max's defence I think he has been coached in that fashion, because we struggled to stop or slow the oppositions sling shot defence with our shallow forward entries. Finding the balance is the key to Max and hopefully Lyon/Bolton encourage him to get on his bike a lot more when he returns.

 

[SteeleSaints]

Keeler holds his spot

Wow thats great for the kid, I wonder if that means Sharman isnt ready?

Keeler has huge talent he just needs the confidence and drive to reach the heights he projects at. If he could become more competitive in the 2nd ruck role he would give himself a chance of playing a lot more AFL footy this year. Hopefully the ruck coach gets hold of him this week and gets him more mobile in the contests using his leap, rather than propping in front and being a target to be tossed aside.

Hopefully after last weeks game he has realised how much more work he has to do building his body and strength to play at the highest level.

 

[Ducky Tie]

I suspect Sharman will come in and Wood will spend more time on a wing. Ross spoke about us looking short at both ends. Wood's coverage at both ends from a wing will help address that.

 

[akaifu]

Wow thats great for the kid, I wonder if that means Sharman isnt ready?

Keeler has huge talent he just needs the confidence and drive to reach the heights he projects at. If he could become more competitive in the 2nd ruck role he would give himself a chance of playing a lot more AFL footy this year. Hopefully the ruck coach gets hold of him this week and gets him more mobile in the contests using his leap, rather than propping in front and being a target to be tossed aside.

Hopefully after last weeks game he has realised how much more work he has to do building the body and strength to play at the highest level.

I think it means Wood goes back to the wing

Coop Owens Keels fwds

Stocker out - Byrnes potentially 7th defender to make way for Wood wing

Alternatively, bring Arie in and drop Byrnes entirely

 

[TheJackal]

Good to see Ben King joining in at the beginning of the main training session and looking pretty . I mean, surely that's not Max. Kidding... but really, good to see him unhindered. No number on his back so looks like he'll join Dougs and Stocks in the rehab group but it's nice to see him moving better.

Irish went off almost as soon as the session started to get work done on his leg. Hopefully is he is OK.

 

[gringo2011]

I owned a ZD Fairlane in the1970s. A large almost luxurious car at the time; it ran well on eight cylinders. When I first purchased the ZD it had tremendous promise.
Some years later the Fairlane would break down at times , and had annoying niggles and faults on occasions. It was also smashed badly as a result of a collision with a kangaroo on a NSW Highway at Easter time in 1978.

Nevertheless when it was properly repaired and serviced the Fairlane would purr once again and indeed, ended up as a high performance and enduring vehicle overall.

I quite liked the Fairlane and would have written it off at my own peril. Hopefully Max King ends up having a fine career as well, as a high performance player.

He's more like a vintage Alfa Romeo or something. A garage princess that you send off to the mechanics more than you get out on the road but everyone thinks it's impressive when they see it actually moving.

 

[gringo2011]

Agree, we absolutely have a team capable of making the finals now with everything going right. What is it...8 or so wins in our last 11/12 games or something? It's a solid average.
Our depth though is still tested once players go down...especially if one or two of our better players miss. This is being rectified but we're missing a couple of players in the 24-28 age group, which is a casualty of trying restructure our list, whilst still trying to contend, mixed with previous years poor drafting. This will balance in time (King, Higgins, & Sharman already 24/25 for example) as long as we keep getting good youth in (and are clever about it like Geelong and Hawks) we can press forward and make our case to FA's in an intelligent manner, as it is clear and self evident that we have all the pieces in place. At the moment we're probably just short of that hence the alleged insane amounts of money being thrown about to get said pieces. The thing is, we have the money...and other than NAS, I don't think there's many others on our list that warrant obscene cash just yet, so we need to entice. Guys like TDK are a flashy toy to go along with NAS and our up and coming pieces and kids coming through (This doesn't mean I'm for the TDK move, but I can see WHY the club is doing it from a business angle)
As with most things in life... it's about optics. If you look the part, people will suit up for you. We just need someone to put on the suit first, rather than worrying whether it fits or not. We'll tailor it to whatever the client wants FFS.
Unfortunately, we have a double headed media beast backlashing us on being young, and also not being bold enough...as well as being desperate due to being bold, and not getting rid of players so we can bottom out to play youth.
It's not helping one bit.
Narratives can F*CK optics if it's loud enough.
We just gotta keep on keeping on.

As Nathan Buckley said, injury can be a blessing. His final year he had massive amounts of players go down and played a lot of youth already on the list. They set up a premiership off finding a pile of good players that they never would have tried. He reckons that if you can hold up and win a few games with kids in, when you get players back it's like supercharging the list.

Who knows, guys on the fringes like Hall and Collard might not have got a run if Butler hadn't got down. Now he might find it hard to push one out....and even if he does we have ready to go depth desperate for another go.

Sharman literally only got a chance due to injury to King. He looks ready to own a spot now. If we can stay competitive without all our players available we might just set up an incredible second half of the season and find depth that we would have just delisted without giving them a go.

 

[Remboy]

Pou, Clark, Dow and Heath in the gym this morning.

 

[Saintbloke]

Pou, Clark, Dow and Heath in the gym this morning.

Wonder if Max H will ever get a senior game?

 

[TheJackal]

The boys who didn't play last week are absolutely putting their hand up today so far
Sharman is straight in no question, absolutely on fire.

Henry has a spring in his step rarely seen so far this year.

Carroll doing really good things, Tobie has been really clean by foot playing primarily as a half back. TT still getting plenty of RL instructions, as is Hammer.

There's a really good vibe to this session.

Interestingly, Tobes has started the match simulation stuff on the 'a' team with last week's guys (plus Sharmo)

 

[BrutThough]

Interestingly, Tobes has started the match simulation stuff on the 'a' team with last week's guys (plus Sharmo)

hes in!