AFL 2021: St Kilda will change its ‘boring’ approach as Paddy Ryder poised to return
St Kilda is set to welcome an important inclusion this weekend, as a midfielder reveals how the club plans to improve on its disappointing start.
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St Kilda will look to adopt a more daring approach in Saturday’s clash with Hawthorn and ditch the “boring” style that has so far stifled its season, according to midfielder Seb Ross.
Ross is confident the likely return of big man Paddy Ryder to take on the Hawks as well as a slight tweak to its method can get the club’s season back on track again.
St Kilda sits 16th on the ladder, with only two wins from six rounds.
Tellingly, last year’s semi-finalists have the second worst percentage (at 67 per cent).
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“We have gone away a little bit from the way we were playing last year, particularly that bit of dare,” Ross said.
“We are just a little boring on that side of things and (there are) a few things defensively we are lacking a bit of cohesion and having a few breakdowns.”
“We will get a few personnel back in the next few weeks. Paddy will put his hand up this week and it will be nice to get him back in.
“Paddy is enormous for us. He is such a star of the competition … (he is) someone we have really missed in the first part of our year.
“We all know about his ruck stuff.
“He can jump up and get it down our throats. He is a really tough competitive unit and he gives us so much drive around the ground once the ball hits the ground.”
Ross said the Saints were still working on its symmetry, given the high number of players recruited from rival AFL clubs, with former Saint Leigh Montagna saying it had had a negative impact on the cohesion of the playing group.
“We haven’t quite got that cohesion right and we are not where we want to be,” Ross said.
“This group has changed a lot in the last two to three years and last year was a shortened season. We’ve only played about 25 or 30 games together and that sort of stuff takes time (to develop), but we have to do it really quickly.”
But he maintained the “vibe” inside Moorabbin remained strong, despite heavy defeats to Essendon, Richmond and Port Adelaide in three of the past four weeks.
“We’re obviously frustrated with the way … we are performing on the field, as I imagine a lot of our fans and supporters are,” Ross said.
“Obviously it was an underwhelming performance on the weekend (against Port Adelaide). But we are working hard and we will attack Hawthorn … they are coming off a good win and (we’re) looking forward to running out again and turning the tide.”
DEEP DIVE: SHOULD SAINTS LET STAR FREE AGENT WALK?
-Sam Landsberger
St Kilda has been urged to do everything in its power to re-sign free agent Jack Billings, despite the appeal of a possible top-five draft pick as compensation.
Billings, 25, said this month he was in no rush to talk turkey and was instead focused on playing football.
Rival clubs believe Billings is gettable, although there has only been lukewarm interest in the playmaker so far.
They do not have a second-round pick and only entered the 2019 draft at pick 52 (Ryan Byrnes) and the 2020 draft at pick 26 (Matthew Allison).
However “band one” compensation would only be triggered if Billings accepted a mega contract offer in excess of $700,000 per season elsewhere, similar to Joe Daniher’s deal at Brisbane Lions.
On market value, Billings would probably command around $600,000 per season, which would generate either an end-of-first-round or second-round compensation selection.
The man who recruited Billings at pick No. 3 in the 2013 draft – Chris Pelchen – said his worth to the Saints transcended on-field input.
“Jack Billings is very much a player they can build their leadership group around over the next five or six years,” Pelchen told the Herald Sun.
“I would be hesitant to trade him out even though there would be interest – I know Essendon have had an ongoing interest in Jack – and the fact he’s a player that can be more easily covered than a key-position player like Max King or a Rowan Marshall.”
St Kilda has the AFL’s oldest list and will soon need to replace Paddy Ryder, 33, captain Jarryn Geary, 32, Dan Hannebery, 30 and Jake Carlisle, 29, in their best 22.
Veterans James Frawley, 32 and Shaun McKernan, 30, are also nearing the end.
Dylan Roberton has retired. Pelchen said Billings was needed for a “level of maturity and continuity” when those players exit Moorabbin.
Billings has managed only 14 disposals in the past two heavy defeats and has not hit the scoreboard.
Coach Brett Ratten has played Billings almost as an exclusive forward in that time, after he snapped his plantar fascia on the eve of Round 6.
Before that it was Billings the wingman, a role which has since been given to Daniel McKenzie and Josh Battle, supporting permanent winger Bradley Hill.
HOW RIVALS HAVE WORKED OUT STRUGGLING SAINTS
Brett Ratten has had his game plan unpicked this season.
That isn’t an outlandish opinion, it is the appraisal from St Kilda midfielder Seb Ross after the first six rounds.
“I think teams are playing us a little bit differently this year,” Ross said.
“Last year we were really attacking and getting the ball in deep, and kicking goals from 0-30m.
“Teams are obviously wary of that, so they force us to kick short, which is not something we want to do.
“We’re sort of starving big Maxy (King) of opportunities.”
The refreshing honesty came after the club’s third 50-point drubbing in four weeks. It was on the money.
Last season the Saints were ranked No. 1 for goals kicked inside 15m.
This year they are 10th. Last season the Saints only took 25 per cent of their shots from 41-50m.
This year it is 36 per cent. Last season the Saints were ranked 3rd for converting inside 50s to goals. This year they are 17th.
The Saints generated so many ‘gimmes’ last season that they couldn’t miss.
They were ranked No. 2 in the AFL for accuracy, but that has slipped to 11th in 2021.
King has managed just two goals from 0-30m after five full-length games.
Last season he booted 13 from close range in 18 shortened games.
Likewise, Dan Butler booted 21 out of his 29 majors from near the goalmouth in 2020. How many times did Butler stream into an open goal?
The Saints matched Port Adelaide’s 52 inside 50s on Sunday night, but did not get bang for buck.
“We just don’t get the scoreboard nourishment that other teams are getting,” Ratten examined.
“Our inability to score, which was a great strength of ours from an accuracy point of view and a potency point of view, has dried up.”
It’s shaping up as a dreary year. The Saints rank 17th for goals, ahead of only North Melbourne, and 17th for defence, again, ahead of only North Melbourne.
Their percentage of 67 is the club’s worst since the 2014 wooden-spoon season, and second-worst since 1985.
Former Saint Leigh Montagna said they had played just four good quarters out of 24 for the season.
Nick Dal Santo reckons they’ve “lost their spark” and their “mojo”.
Has Ratten been too forgiving at selection? Paddy Ryder will return against Hawthorn on Saturday although Bradley Hill (Achilles) will miss.
Luke Dunstan’s 46 VFL disposals might be rewarded, but there isn’t exactly a queue of elite, young talent buried beneath the surface.
The Saints have lost centre clearance by 10 in each of the past two weeks.
If captain Jack Steele or recruit Brad Crouch doesn’t win it, chances are the other team does, particularly with Jade Gresham (Achilles) out for the year.
The Saints are ranked 17th at centre bounce, compared to fourth last year.
Western Bulldogs have two of the AFL’s top five centre-bounce players – Tom Liberatore and Jack Macrae – but, outside of Steele, it is hard yakka for the Saints.
“Players are trying to find a way but our style of play isn’t shining through how we’d like to,” Ratten said.
“The season’s a marathon but you’ve got to get going at certain stages or the time will run out.”
The Saints will start favourites against Hawthorn and Gold Coast (Metricon Stadium) before battles against Geelong and Western Bulldogs. They are on the clock.
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