St Kilda must confront ugly truth about goalkicking problems after a horror year
THEY say the first step towards resolving a problem is admitting you have one, writes Jay Clark. In St Kilda’s case, it is the yips.
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THEY say the first step towards resolving a problem is admitting you have one.
In St Kilda’s case, it is the yips.
For all of the talk about war chests and midfield trade moves for the Saints in October, the biggest-ticket item at the club over summer has to be goal kicking.
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Officially, they are spooked in front of the sticks, and the alarm bells ring every way you slice and dice the data.
As much as we lauded Port Adelaide’s Paddy Ryder for his brilliant tap down to Robbie Gray which sunk St Kilda in that last-minute piece of magic a month ago, the reality is St Kilda shot themselves in the foot that night, booting 2.12 late in the second term.
In total, the Saints have slotted more behinds than goals in a league-high 12 games this season.
And there are no excuses, really.
Not only does St Kilda play under the roof in pristine conditions every second week, the Saints have taken the second easiest shots on goal this season, according to Champion Data.
Yet, for all the sitters, they rank 15th for accuracy in set shots (49.2 per cent) and 18th in general play (36.3 per cent).
But that’s not the worst of it.
What should really frustrate and indeed worry ‘Richo’ is the alarming inaccuracy rate from 30m-40m out.
Remarkably, St Kilda has slotted only 29 per cent of its shots, or less than one in three attempts from that range, which is ranked last in the competition by a considerable margin.
Melbourne is next worst (17th) at 40 per cent. The league average is 56 per cent. Fremantle is the league leader at 60 per cent.
Goalkicking is one of the touchiest subjects in club land. Coaches, players and high performance staff sometimes clash over how much time should be spent on it.
Some avoid the issue entirely to avoid piling more pressure on the players who are already burdened by the stress and expectation to kick straight.
Collingwood assistant coach Brenton Sanderson said some players were so worried they prefer to pass the ball off inside 50m.
“It is amazing now players … they actually don’t want to take the shot,” Sanderson said.
For a large percentage, it’s more a mind game than technical flaw.
Senior coach Alan Richardson said last month after the loss to Essendon he was happy with the way the club was tackling the issue, admitting they put as much time and effort into it as any other club he has served.
“Both in terms of the technique and the moment to make sure they (players) can be at their best and be clear of mind to be able to execute,” Richardson said.
But the time for change has come. Whatever program is in place needs a forensic review, and most likely an overhaul. Every player’s routine and technique should be scrutinised.
If St Kilda is to break its September drought next season, it needs to kick the yips.
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