Lack of star players holding back St Kilda, writes Dermott Brereton

ST KILDA has come a long way in recent years and the list has depth, but if the Saints want to be a contender they need to produce more game-breakers, writes DERMOTT BRERETON.

THE Saints have always had some keen golfers within their ranks.

And a keen golfer will tell you that anyone with reasonable eye-hand coordination and playing off a 16 handicap can bring that number down to a 12 fairly comfortably if he applies himself.

The next step, 12 into six, requires a lot more hard work. And the drop from six to scratch is the hardest of all.

Because besides all the endless hours of hard work and training, real, pure talent has to shine through, otherwise you’ll always be just an honest toiler.

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The Saints have come from a long way back in recent years and are to be admired for their self-made elevation.

If the two grand finalists are off scratch, then those that end up in the bottom half of the eight are on handicaps of three, four, five and six.

I fear that this current group of Saints will only ever get to a handicap of three or four, at best.

That is still a very good team, but not good enough to win it all.

Jack Steven is one of the few stars the Saints have. Picture: George Salpigtidis

The last time the Saints were off scratch was in 2010 and they made the playoffs — through to our equivalent of the US Masters.

History tells us that they lipped out on the first play-off hole when Stephen Milne copped a bad bounce, yet they stayed level with their opponent.

But they came up short on the second sudden death play-off hole and then began a slide that lasted five years.

The difference between the Saints of then and now is their star quotient — stars who can turn a losing game into a winning game; who separate some teams from the middle tier.

The Saints of 2010 had six legitimate stars and four others who were only the slightest level below them.

The current batch has two absolute stars, and of course one of them is the 2017 St Nick, as opposed to the 2010 Riewoldt.

The other is Jack Steven. He is a bona fide star.

Their problem in 2010 was that their bottom four players were not terribly good by grand finalist standard.

The 2017 crop is way deeper, in fact right down to player No.22. But if the Saints are to challenge in 2018 and beyond, they need at least one more classy, star-type player — someone like Josh Kelly.

The Saints are full of fantastic soldiers, but there is not a lot of difference between what David Armitage, Maverick Weller, Luke Dunstan, Seb Ross, Koby Stevens, Nathan Wright and Jack Steele give you through the middle.

They are wonderful combatants who will give all they have for the cause, but they don’t make the opposition put work into them.

In fairness, Ross has become a very good player and Steele is developing into a midfield powerhouse.

Jack Billings’ situation hurts a bit. The Saints need his elite kicking skills coming from the midfield. Considering he was drafted at No.3 — before Marcus Bontempelli at No.4 — there is a significant investment in him.

The Saints need more class players, such as the Giants’ Josh Kelly. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Billings has so much talent, so much skill, but his “tank” won’t let him run through the middle for very long.

In a perfect world the Saints need him in the midfield for longer periods because he has A-grade star capabilities. He could be a match-winner.

They have shored up their key defensive posts and Dylan Roberton, Jack Newnes and Jimmy Webster are excellent kicks and also can run the ball on occasion.

Captain Jarryn Geary is another good, honest soldier who plays the lockdown role well.

But if Alan Richardson was to take a hard line like some coaches have with their older stars, the Saints’ backline has gone past a need for Leigh Montagna.

He is still a smart player, but so, too, are Webster and Roberton.

Montagna’s kicking lacks the zip of the other backline distributors. He doesn’t run the lines from defence any more and he doesn’t win critical contests.

It is joked around the league that the hardest contested ball Montagna will fight for is against a teammate — to take the kick in after a behind.

Just as the retirement of Sean Dempster has seen Roberton blossom, while Montagna is there the Saints are denying game time to Wright, Sean Savage, Daniel McKenzie and Bailey Rice, who is yet to play a game.

Jack Billings and Seb Ross are honest players. Picture: Michael Klein

Montagna has been a star, so give him a send-off game, give him a Saints knighthood, but be as ruthless as Luke Beveridge, Al Clarkson and Chris Scott would be if they coached him.

The forward line is also well served for hard-nosed, committed players.

Weller is a pressure forward and very good at it. Tim Membrey, Josh Bruce and Paddy McCartin are the keys forwards.

And Jack Lonie, Darren Minchington, Jade Gresham and, especially, Billings are the ground level crumbers with goalkicking talent.

Riewoldt is still a champ with star power, but an opposition player with size and endurance can have an effect on him more than ever now he is rising 35 — the Giants’ Adam Tomlinson is the prototype nemesis.

But it is the form of Bruce that is of most concern. He is a real competitor with an appetite for hard work and running.

While he is winning his position, McCartin can take his time to grow into the role of No.1 key forward. He can also learn from Bruce’s work ethic.

But if Bruce isn’t there because of bad form and Riewoldt is out with an injury, McCartin has to shoulder the brunt of attention. Some day he’ll be ready, but he still needs a couple of seniors riding shotgun right now.

The Saints are well poised and well placed to be a very good team from here in.

But they won’t become a premiership team until they attract a couple of real game-breaking stars and produce a couple more from within.

If they can do that, the next time they go to the Masters they just might wear the green jacket.