St Kilda CEO Simon Lethlean outlines how he plans to help Saints win second flag

The Saints started 2023 hot and shocked many by making the finals before losing to the Giants, but is that a success? Lauren Wood sits down with Saints CEO Simon Lethlean.

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon and players. Picture: David Crosling

St Kilda has declared its door is open and phone is on ahead of a trade period where it eyes an elite midfield target.

And it is anything but resigned to losing forward Jade Gresham, with chief executive Simon Lethlean saying there is “every chance” the goalsneak stays despite significant interest from Essendon.

In a wide-ranging interview to review the Saints’ season – which ended in an elimination final loss to eventual preliminary finalist Greater Western Sydney – Lethlean recounts his first year at the helm of the club, the state of the club’s playing list, opens up on his relationship with senior coach Ross Lyon, and the club’s determination to continue eliminating its debt.

THE SEASON

St Kilda was never outside the top eight this season, having appointed Ross Lyon at the end of last season after sensationally sacking former coach Brett Ratten in a shock move last October.

While seeing September in Lyon’s first season at the helm was significant, Lethlean maintained that the club was anything but satisfied by finishing in the finals’ first weekend.

“It’s funny how fast you finish when you make it,” Lethlean said.

“That’s the beauty of the bye, I reckon – you get a chance for your fans and members to enjoy the lead-up. Because when you’re out, you’re out quick.

“If you told us we’d finish sixth or seventh this time last year, that’s a pleasing result given we made significant change – not just to the program, but in some ways, the whole club.”

Ross Lyon delivers his final instructions before the elimination final. Picture: Darrian Traynor/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

It was Lethlean’s first full year as CEO, with a virtually entirely new coaching department bar backline coach Corey Enright and new list management team and fitness staff.

“So what’s the wash-up? Made the finals, haven’t done so for a while in Victoria, gave our fans some hope,” he said.

“They supported us and broke the club membership record again. The revenues and the sponsorship of the club are in good shape.”

THE LIST

Lethlean’s greatest positive to come from the season came out of necessity.

With injuries to key players early in the season – forward pair Max King and Tim Membrey were both on an injury list that included some 14 players before round 1 – there was little option but to turn to youth.

That next generation produced five wins from the first six games.

“The main thing for me is the emergence of five or six guys that have got a really big future for the club. (Mitch) Owens, (Marcus) Windhager, (Mattaes) Phillipou, Nasiah (Wanganeen-Milera), throw in King, (Anthony) Caminiti and Cooper Sharman and there’s a really strong core that we can build around,” Lethlean said.

“They probably got their chance at the start of the year, those guys, when we had a big injury list and that was a concern, but they took their opportunity and you look back and we won the most games in that part of the year when lots of good players weren’t available.

Mattaes Phillipou showed plenty in his debut season. Picture: Michael Klein

Mitch Owens has a huge future. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

“It was really pleasing and a great credit to Ross and his coaching staff and the game plan to be able to stand up and really only had two performances that you look back and think were disappointing – Adelaide (round 9) and Gold Coast (round 18).

“We were hard to beat, we played well and the players have bought in to what Ross demands which is high commitment, high standards, work hard, run hard, defend hard.

“It was a very pleasing year from that regard without being content that that’s good enough.”

THE TRADE PERIOD

The upcoming weeks of player movement will see St Kilda “be as aggressive as we can be with every lever that we have got”, according to Lethlean.

So, what does that mean?

“It’s keeping your picks and staying in the draft, and losing players that don’t want to stay or bring you better value, and also assessing the market for who might want to come,” he said.

“That’s a pretty basic answer, but it’s just the truth. You need to be nimble enough to take advantage of whichever lever becomes available to you. We’ve seen from Phillipou, Wangeneen, and to a lesser extent where we got Owens and Windhager in the 30s and 40s, how good youth can be for your future. We’re not going to give away our early draft picks, because we need them.

“How that jigsaw puzzle takes shape over the next six weeks, it’s sort of, ‘Who knows?’. You can’t crystal ball it other than to say you’re available for the conversations and we’re going to try and get better.”

Dylan Shiel could add extra zip to the Saints midfield. Picture: Michael Klein

St Kilda has been heavily linked to Essendon midfielder Dylan Shiel.

Lethlean wouldn’t talk specific names, but was clear in the club’s wish to add some cream to a midfield led by skipper Jack Steele.

“There’s no doubt that matches are won through elite midfielders,” he said.

“We would say we have a strong midfield, but without being disparaging, it needs to be at a higher-end in some of the spots to compete.

“When you play against (Josh) Dunkley, (Will) Ashcroft, (Lachie) Neale (at Brisbane) … and (Zak) Butters, (Connor) Rozee, (Jason) Horne-Francis and (Ollie) Wines (at Port Adelaide), it’s like – you’ve got to be at that level. Our guys have had a good year, Steeley’s had disruption, (Brad) Crouch had a good year. (Seb) Ross and others have been really serviceable for us, but we need to keep getting better there.

“If you stand still there, you don’t get up. No matter how good your current crop are. You’d like to think with Caminiti, King, Sharman, you’ve got some forwards that are solid, and our backs – Wilkie leading the charge down there and some great distributors in Wilkie and Sinclair and Nasiah. We’ve got the runners, we’ve just got to keep adding to the mids and ensuring we have the right pillars at both ends which is critical.”

So what of Gresham, a free agent?

“There’s every chance he stays, but he’s got the right to check the market for what’s best for him,” Lethlean said.

“As do we, and where that lands in the next four or five weeks, who knows? I suppose also, you don’t need to be too scared about losing good players, too. The uproar around the players Collingwood lost a few years ago hasn’t really hurt them.

“It’s not the end of the world, but you don’t want to lose good people. If Gresh stays, for the right reasons, then terrific.”

THE ROSS RELATIONSHIP

Reports of disharmony between Lethlean and Lyon emerged mid-season and were denied by both.

There’s “robustness”, yes, though the long-time administrator reckons that’s just par for the course.

“I don’t even know what the whole thing was … I don’t know who else needed to deny whatever it might have been. Either way, that’s footy,” he said.

“I’m a one-year CEO, and I’m learning more from Ross and how he wants to run football than I’m sure he’s learning from me about how to run a footy club.

“I take from that and a lot of learnings. He and I are getting used to working with each other, too, in a good way – not a bad way. I sat next to Ross at the Brownlow for five hours and chuckled for 4.5 of them about the engaging guy he is, but also the thoughts he’s got on people and footy.

“I’m learning every day. I’ve got no problem with there being some robustness to it.

“If there’s not, then I wouldn’t be doing my job, and if Ross just wants to hear my thoughts and agree with them all, then he’s not doing his.”

Ross Lyon gets his message across. Picture: Michael Klein

But he maintains the pair are “in a good place”, evidenced by their banter at the announcement of the club’s new major sponsor this week.

“We just had a finals campaign off the back of a tumultuous summer, and I just see growth and development here for both of us, but mainly me,” Lethlean said.

“I’m OK with that.”

THE JOB

Lethlean took the reins from long-time Saints chief executive Matt Finnis at the end of last season – his first time in the drivers’ seat at a club after a long stint at the AFL, then time as the Saints’ head of footy and then chief operating officer.

It’s less footy, more business for the former VAFA player, but he remains fuelled by “the thrill of the chase” at the success-starved Saints.

“I will always have a soft spot for the AFL – loved working there, thrilled for Andrew Dillon (who is taking over from Gillon McLachlan as CEO),” he said.

“I’m so happy where I am. The thrill of the chase with the Saints to win … it gets you up in the morning.

“There’s one mountain left to climb in the AFL and that’s the Saints winning a second flag. If I can have any role in that between now and whenever it happens, that’ll be pretty rewarding. That’s where my focus is.

“We’ve got the best AFL facilities, in the middle of bayside Melbourne, with a coach that people respect, playing list that’s up for it and staff that work their backsides off.”

St Kilda CEO Simon Lethlean sits down with Lauren Wood. Picture: David Crosling

The club’s AFL Women’s outfit started the season 0-3 under coach Nick Dal Santo but has notched a quinella of wins in the last fortnight.

“It was great reward for him and (women’s footy boss) Tess McManus, who put their heart and soul in, and to have a short season, you’ve got to get going,” Lethlean said.

“They looked like they were in a bit of strife, but they kicked five in a row and looked really good. It was good reward and a great buzz.”

THE MONEY

St Kilda has a “new player” in its midst, this week signing Chery as the club’s first-ever automotive partner to feature on both men’s and women’s jumpers for the next three years.

“They’re a new player in the market and hopefully they recognise that we’re on the up again too,” Lethlean said.

“We’ve got a finalist team and that hopefully we keep delivering.”

The Saints long had a debt that was upwards of $10 million, with Lethlean revealing the club has reined the $13 million figure in to $6 million and counting, with a “modest” profit forecast for this year.

But he knows it will be football success – as evidenced by Collingwood on Saturday – that will be the ultimate coffer-booster.

“We hosted a game at the MCG in round 3 for our 150th year and got 70,000 people and a million-dollar match return,” he said.

“(To have) 70,000 at the ’G 11 times like the Pies do for $1 million a pop is a good way to live. But we don’t live in that space. We live in a space where we have 20,000 people at Marvel sometimes.

“That is the very appropriate reason why there is competitive balance and variable funding models. They’re not handouts. They’re actually designed to make the fixture more equitable, and supporter bases taken into account.

“We don’t want to be an assisted club, but at the same time we’re conservative and live within our means. We don’t overspend. We’ve got a lean staff. In surplus for resourcing. We do it lean. We’re doing OK and our fans should be proud of the debt that we’ve wiped off in hard times and we keep pushing through it.

“Football success is what wipes debt out. You don’t wipe out major debt not making finals. But having 60,000-plus members helps. We’re going pretty well.”