The next four weeks could determine Alan Richardson’s fate at St Kilda, writes Mark Robinson
It’s difficult to know where Alan Richardson stands at St Kilda. The Saints coach has had excuses this year but even a run of wins in the second half of the season might not save him, writes Mark Robinson.
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Alan Richardson is a no-excuse coach.
Yet, it remains to be seen whether St Kilda’s decision-makers will grant him an excuse.
The excuse is Richardson’s team has been ravaged by injuries this season and not once has Richardson bemoaned that fact.
His attitude has been first class.
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His coaching, until the Saints were schooled by Port Adelaide in China, has been close to first class if you consider who’s missing and who has played.
But what Richardson has done with his young team might mean stuff all because the trigger for Richardson to coach in the 2020 is winning a final.
Oddly, Richardson has an excuse (injuries) and the Saints will have an excuse to sack him (a finals win).
At the halfway mark of Richardson’s sixth year in charge, you’d think the Saints would know by now whether Richardson was the coach to take them to their next premiership.
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Clearly, the Saints are undecided because if they believed he were their man, they’d be all in on him already.
And they’re not.
It’s a foreboding time for the coach when his future depends on what plays out in the next 11 weeks.
What plays out in the next four weeks makes it far more urgent
On Saturday, the Saints play against Gold Coast in Townsville.
At 5-6 coming off the bye, a loss to the Suns would be deemed unacceptable.
The next three games are against Brisbane and Richmond at Marvel Stadium, and North Melbourne in Hobart.
It would hardly be marvellous if the Saints went 0-4.
National Geographic documentaries of lions hunting elephants at night are ruthless.
One after the other, lions scratch, claw and sink their teeth into the elephant — and that would be the footy world if the Saints lost the next four.
Richardson would be like a wounded elephant.
Fans would swamp talk back radio. Media would speculate. Reporters would press former players and coaches about Richardson’s position. They would be forced to answer.
It’s called coach-hunting season.
Two coaches have gone this season — Brendon Bolton from Carlton and Brad Scott from North Melbourne — and who knows how many will follow.
There’s no doubt Richardson and St Kilda have a confronting period ahead.
In the meantime, the conversation has already started.
Shane Warne is a Saints fanatic and, he says, a friend of St Kilda president Andrew Bassat.
He said on AFL 360 during the week: “I’m good friends with Andrew Bassat, he’s a very smart man. He’ll get the club running the right way. And he doesn’t tolerate underperformers. The club has to perform in all areas, both off and on the field. If it doesn’t heads will roll.’’
So, what exactly is Richardson’s position?
The Saints won four games in 2018 and have won five this year with a butchered list. That is pretty good coaching.
They’ve also been competitive.
“One thing as a Saints supporter … the effort has been really good, the effort wasn’t there last game for one reason or another. All you can ask for as a supporter is effort,’’ Warne said.
Richardson needs to at least square the next four games and then challenge for the finals when his injured players return.
Paddy McCartin, Dylan Roberton, skipper Jarryn Geary, star midfielder Jack Steven, Jake Carlisle, Jimmy Webster, Jack Lonie, Dan Hannebery, Lewis Pierce and Logan Austin have been missing for large chunks of the season.
Three of them — Hannebery, Carlisle and Webster — will play seniors within two weeks and Lonie, one of the better ground-ball winners inside 50 and the organiser of the forward line, is three weeks away.
Such is the pandemonium with the Saints’ list, they have made seven changes for the game against the Suns.
The team that played Port was at least eight players short of the best 22.
There’s an excuse straightaway.
But will the Saints chiefs accept excuses?
What will happen if Richardson wins five or six of 11 coming home and narrowly misses finals?
Do they invoke the trigger clause and pull the pin on him? Or do they reward Richardson with a contract to coach next year for achieving under tremendous difficulty?
Richardson needs a win against the Suns keep the lions at bay.
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