AFL 2021: Saints midfielder Luke Dunstan reveals two values are behind the club’s late revival
Will St Kilda offer hard nut Luke Dunstan a contract following a remarkable form turnaround which has helped re-ignite the Saints?
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Luke Dunstan could have dropped his bundle.
To the rest of the competition, his cards seemed marked when the Saints brought in two new hard nuts in Brad Crouch and Zak Jones in the exchange period, and then dumped Dunstan from the side after his first game of the season in the Round 5 shellacking from Richmond.
It was at that that moment that the hard-nosed ball-winner faced his toughest test to resuscitate a career that appeared doomed at season’s end.
But in what would lay the foundation for a remarkable career turnaround that would also help re-ignite St Kilda’s finals hopes, Dunstan simply refused to give up his belief that he was good enough at the top level.
And over the past six weeks, the man who has averaged 27 possessions a game and helped lead the Saints to pivotal wins against Richmond and Collingwood over the past fortnight has most certainly shown he still has a future in the AFL.
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“It would have been easy to give up given the circumstances, but it’s not the person I am,” Dunstan said.
“So I was pretty keen to keep chipping away and work hard when I was down at VFL level.
“It gave me a good opportunity to play high minutes and four quarters of footy together and I guess it has translated to AFL level now that I’m getting an opportunity.”
Dunstan, 26, was injured for the bulk of last year and admitted he didn’t thrive in the hub when everywhere he turned is a reminder about football.
And in the trade period last year when a fresh start beckoned, there was little interest in Dunstan, even if the Adelaide Crows flirted with the idea before swooping on Jackson Hately.
Did he feel hard done by when he was overlooked at selection?
“Maybe a little bit,” he said.
“Probably every player thinks they’re hard done by if they’re not getting picked.
“The way things go at footy clubs, if some people get opinions about players it is hard to change that until you are actually given an opportunity in the senior side.
“I don’t hold any grudges it is just the way footy goes, unfortunately.
“We obviously traded a couple more guys in this year and I knew that would be the case that I would have to bide my time and wait for an opportunity.
“I guess I was lucky enough that the boys weren’t playing well enough that were in the side, so I got my opportunity.”
Over the past month-and-a-half the tables have clearly turned back in Dunstan’s favour.
On Sunday, the South Australian had another 28 touches as the Saints outpointed Collingwood for clearances 40-33 and centre clearances 13-8 as Paddy Ryder and Rowan Marshall took the points against Brodie Grundy in the ruck.
The week before against the Tigers it was a similar story as the Saints pommeled Richmond in the clinches, winning the clearances by 19.
Sunday’s win over the Magpies has put the Saints only two points outside the eight, ahead of a big test against Brisbane.
The club isn’t talking finals yet after a last term fade-out against the Magpies saw Robert Harvey’s men kick six-straight goals and close to within eight points, taking the shine off the Saints’ win.
But from a big picture perspective, Dunstan said the reset over the bye three weeks ago changed the way the club measured its performance, by stripping back its focus to two simple measurements.
Instead of getting lost in all manner of different key performance indicators, the club only looks at two things.
While they were blunt and somewhat uncomfortable conversations at the time, the changes seem to have worked, for the most part.
“We were a bit unclear on what we were valuing, whether or not they were the right KPI’s and what we were putting the focus on,” he said.
“So we have stripped things back now and have two simple focuses on what we base each game on and over the past two weeks that has worked really well.
“It is just based around individually and a collective competitiveness and how much we compete, and doing the team-first things that bring other players into the game.
“They were the two things that came from our discussion that we focus on.
“We have done that pretty well over the past couple of weeks.”
What has changed for Dunstan above the shoulders has also helped elevate his game.
The man who was taken with the No. 18 draft pick back in 2013 has learned to relax, and focus more on his strengths around winning the ball at the source, rather than stress about his kicking.
Even if he isn’t the most polished player by foot, Dunstan still offers plenty at the coalface.
“Obviously (it has been) pretty well documented about my kicking and that sort of thing,” he said.
“I just have to try and work through that mentally and manage that as best as I can.
“At the start of this year Jake Batchelor, the (VFL) coach at Sandy, was really good at backing me in and giving me a lot of confidence to go and win the ball and go and play and I think that has held me in good stead.
“I think it comes with little bit of maturity.
“I’m 26 now and think when you are younger you are sort of hung up on footy as the be-all and end-all and how you go on the weekend dictates your whole week.
“I probably just relaxed a little bit and I’m not really too fussed.
“If I play a bad game it’s not going to dictate my whole week, so I’m probably not as stressed when I’m out on the field, which is good.”
Whether it moves the Saints to offer Dunstan a new deal in the short term is yet to be seen, but surely his strong form will attract a suitor somewhere.
The Saints are tight for cap space and are thinking about the balance of their midfield.
But Dunstan is trying not to worry about what the future holds.
“I haven’t really spoken to anyone,” he said.
“I’ll just wait and see, there are still seven or eight games to go in the season.
“There is plenty of time left and focus on keep playing my role for the team at the moment and helping the boys win games of footy.”
Certainly, Brett Ratten is happy with his recent efforts.
“His work in and around the contest has been excellent,” Ratten said.
“I think those guys really complement each other with (Jack) Steele, Crouch, Dunstan in there and that has really helped our ability to win the ball.”
How Ryder overcame tragedy to guide Saints to victory
St Kilda coach Brett Ratten has lauded Paddy Ryder’s resilience after making a quick dash to Western Australia on Friday for his uncle’s funeral.
The star ruckman played a key role in the win over Collingwood on Sunday and blew a kiss to the heavens when he slotted his first of his two goals in the third term.
The beautiful tribute capped a whirlwind 72 hours for Ryder, who secured government approval to fly back to Perth and then drive to Geraldton under COVID-19 protocols to mourn with family.
Ryder, 33, returned to Melbourne late Saturday night and helped lead the Saints to a nine-point win at the MCG which helps keep the club’s finals hopes alive, despite the Magpies’ barnstorming six-goal comeback in the last term.
Ratten said the late fade-out was confusing but hailed Ryder’s character to play such a significant role in the win despite the family tragedy.
“He’s a fantastic person, Paddy,” Ratten said. “We were a bit unsure whether it would happen and Paddy knew that.
“But for Paddy to take off on Thursday and come home around 6pm last night (on Saturday night) in Melbourne and to pay his respects to his uncle who he loved dearly and be around his mum and dad is really important.
“He said he needed to do it, and he wanted to do it and we helped and supported him there but it’s a credit to him.
“He wanted to get back and play as well so to kick two goals and do the work that he does in the ruck was pretty important tonight.”
The Saints are scheduled to play Brisbane this weekend but Ratten said the club was unclear whether it would be played at the Gabba or in Melbourne.
Ryder, who had 23 hit-outs, three clearances and three marks to go with his two majors, has endured a difficult year which included a break from the club earlier in the season to spend more time with his family.
But the former Bomber and Power tall said he was happy playing footy.
“This my outlet, I always talk to the boys (and) the centre bounce this is my happy place in there, I just love playing footy,” Ryder told Channel 7.
Ratten said Ryder’s continued good form had fuelled hopes he could follow the trend of ruckmen such as Justin Madden and Paul Salmon playing into their mid to late 30s.
But there was some concern about the poor fourth-term when Collingwood fought back from a 46-point deficit to get within two goals of the Saints.
Ratten was scratching his head after the match about the drop-off which took the shine off their dominant first three quarters.
“To have three quarters at a very good standard and then to let the last one really slip away sometimes that leaves you a bit confused where we are at,” Ratten said.
“We know the first three quarters were good enough to be playing consistent footy, we just can’t have those lapses.”
Ratten said they were comprehensively outplayed in the fourth term.
“It’s all phases in the game. We went in to neutral with the ball, we didn’t move the ball with any freedom, so we played pretty conservatively,” he said.
“And we got beaten in the contest and we were pretty good in that space for three quarters and defensively we just did some things that weren’t like us.”
Match report: Agony for fast-finishing Pies as Saints’ finals hope alive
—Ronny Lerner
St Kilda’s unlikely bid for finals footy this year has a pulse after they survived a major final-quarter scare against Collingwood at the MCG on Sunday.
After only managing three goals in the opening three quarters, and falling 49 points behind, the Magpies’ woke up in spectacular fashion to kick the final six majors of the game to trim the margin to eight points.
But Collingwood left their run too late, and the Saints held on for a nine-point win after being the better side for the majority of the day.
A third-quarter blast from St Kilda ultimately proved decisive against a Collingwood team that cut a dispirited unit before the final term.
After a scrappy, uninspiring but tight first half, which saw the Magpies restricted to just 1.5.11 – their lowest halftime score against the Saints since Round 15, 1963 (1.1.7) – the Saints did as they pleased in the third period, cracking the contest wide open with six goals to two. The Magpies barely gave a yelp and played like a side whose season had lost all meaning with a caretaker coach at the helm.
At one point St Kilda kicked seven goals in a row with the Magpies having to wait 93 minutes to kick their second goal.
Collingwood gave up the fight in the third term – their resistance evaporated and they weren’t prepared to take the game on as much as the Saints did on the open expanses of the MCG. St Kilda continued to dominate the territory with double the Pies’ inside 50s (18-9). But Harvey’s men turned things around dramatically in the final term to give the Saints a decent fright.
St Kilda are now just half a game, and plenty of percentage, outside the top eight with seven games to go. Granted, their run home features meetings with top-eight sides Brisbane (away), Port Adelaide, West Coast (away), Sydney and Geelong (away), but where there’s life, there’s hope.
Encouragingly for the Saints, Brad Hill’s speed really stood out in the contested style of game. The maligned big-money recruit’s previous season high was 27 disposals, and he already had 14 at quarter-time, before finishing with 30 touches and 689 metres gained.
STEELE STANDS TALL
Jack Steele already had 11 tackles in the first half, and looked on track to break the record of 19. He would end up with 14 and continued his standout season for Saints with another influential performance which also included 36 disposals (14 contested), eight clearances, three goal assists, seven score involvements.
HUNGRY SAINTS GET IT DONE
Ultimately St Kilda’s superior appetite for the contest, which was apparent mainly in the opening three terms, proved crucial, as they ended up winning the clearances 40-33, tackles 70-59 and contested possessions 142-132.
NOT A HAPPY HUNTING GROUND
For the first time since 1999, Collingwood have lost six games in a row at the MCG. They’ve also lost eight of their last nine at the venue.
GRUNDY CONFUSION
A bizarre moment occurred late in the first quarter when Collingwood ruckman Brodie Grundy took a mark and handballed it away on the Saints’ half-forward flank. The umpire then blew his whistle, prompting Steele Sidebottom to leave the ball on the ground. It allowed the Saints to swoop, and the ensuing chain of possessions ended up with Dan McKenzie kicking a goal.
SCOREBOARD
COLLINGWOOD 1.2 1.5 3.7 8.13 (61)
def by
ST KILDA 3.1 4.5 10.8 10.10 (70)
GOALS
Magpies: Mihocek 2, Elliott, De Goey, Daicos, Thomas, Hoskin-Elliott, Cox
Saints: Membrey 2, King 2, Ryder 2, McKenzie, Higgins, Marshall, Butler.
RONNY LERNER’S BEST
Magpies: Adams, De Goey, Pendlebury, Crisp, Mayne, Quaynor
Saints: Steele, Hill, Membrey, Dunstan, Marshall, Howard, McKenzie
RONNY LERNER’S VOTES
3 — J.Steele (StK)
2 — T.Adams (Coll)
1 — B.Hill (StK)
INJURIES
Magpies: Daicos (finger)
Saints: Nil
Umpires: Haussen, Chamberlain, Johanson
Venue: MCG
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