Wreck it Ralph: Who will the Saints move on to make room for Tom De Koning and co?

The Saints appear to be big players in the silly season after Ross Lyon’s first “year of exploration” back at St Kilda. So what exactly do Ross and SOS have cooking down at Moorabbin?

Ross Lyon, Senior Coach of the Saints looks on during the 2023 AFL Round 11 match between the St Kilda Saints and the Hawthorn Hawks at Marvel Stadium on May 27, 2023 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Ross Lyon already knew Max King was a “special” talent to build a flag tilt around before he ran himself so hard he threw up at three quarter time in the loss to Hawthorn.

But in a first season at St Kilda he describes as a “year of exploration” he will have already learnt so much about his list in just 11 AFL games.

Last weekend as he drew breath to consider the club’s progress at the mid-season break this much was true in the world according to Ross.

St Kilda has vastly more young talent than the club had hoped even 18 months ago, with Matthaes Phillipou capable of anything, Mitch Owens a gloriously unique talent and the re-signed Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera humming along nicely.

Ross Lyon is learning on the go at St Kilda. Picture: Getty Images

And it has much more depth than it could have believed as Jack Billings and Tim Membrey played VFL while last year’s breakout midfielder Marcus Windhager worked on his deficiencies again for Sandringham.

Now comes the really interesting part for a team that has thrived under Lyon.

St Kilda has delayed a heap of contracts while Lyon and list boss Steve Silvagni assess what they have along with head of talent and acquisition Graeme Allen.

Those out of contract include Zac Jones, Jade Gresham, Nick Coffield, Jimmy Webster, Jack Bytel, Jack Higgins, Oscar Adams, Ryan Byrnes, Tom Highmore and Dan McKenzie.

For player managers patiently awaiting progress on talks for those players and more, it is getting closer to crunch time.

And yet the likelihood will be that St Kilda will play hard ball to create up to $1.5 million of cap space to go after A-grade talent that will actually take it closer to a premiership.

Rather than roll over deals for middle-tier players who have already been handsomely rewarded.

St Kilda has finally shed itself of the Dan Hannebery deal, has Hunter Clark and Nick Coffield on expiring deals of over $500,000, is in the final year of a Zac Jones deal paying him around $600,000.

Jack Billings has two more years and just over $1 million left on his deal but according to Lyon is now clearly a small forward after years of experimentation on the wing.

Jack Billings has struggled in 2023. Picture: Getty Images

Lyon commented with an air of bemusement as he entered Moorabbin over summer that the Saints paid the same salaries as Geelong.

As in: Who are we over-paying given their brilliant output compared to ours?

Coffield is still 6-8 weeks away with recurring calf issues but the backline is well-balanced: Cal Wilkie, Dougal Howard, Josh Battle as the talls and Jack Sinclair, Liam Stocker and Wanganeen-Milera the smalls.

If Coffield does fit into the defence it will come with a significant cost saving on his next deal.

Lyon explained on Saturday that St Kilda’s small forwards were simply outperforming Billings after a limited prep off a broken leg, but with Jack Higgins, Dan Butler and Brad Hill in excellent form it’s hard to see how that changes.

If a rival believed it could get the best out of Billings it would clear $1 million of cap space chase quality talent, even if the Saints didn’t get an early pick back in return.

Quite clearly Jones will take a pay cut if he stays next year, while Jade Gresham is due for pay talks this fortnight but hasn’t shown he deserves a pay rise on a deal that is above $600,000 a season.

By targeted savings - even with Max King’s new deal kicking in while re-signing Jack Higgins and Mason Wood - it is easy to see how much cap space St Kilda has to play with.

The clear list gaps are an explosive mid-forward who wins clearances and kicks goals in a midfield where Seb Ross, Jack Steele and Brad Crouch are so honest yet similar players.

If only Jordan De Goey had not blinked that prayer would have been answered, although Jack Sinclair is just 28 and emerging as a full-fledged star.

St Kilda is likely to be a bidder for Tom De Koning and is interested in Port Adelaide’s Miles Bergman.

Tom De Koning is on the Saints’ radar. Picture: Getty Images

De Koning clearly looks the best of those options given St Kilda’s list needs but Bergman is a halfback who could easily roll up to the opposite wing to Wood or release Jack Sinclair to play permanent midfield.

Rowan Marshall has had a heck of a season playing pure ruck with some help from Zaine Cordy (13 ruck contests a game up until round 7), then Mitch Owens (28 in round 8) before Caminiti helped out in the past fortnight due to Owens’ concussion.

St Kilda could pitch to De Koning the role as King’s clear back-up who also releases Marshall forward, given he has kicked only one goal with his heavy ruck work load compared to 13 in 2020.

Just as Fremantle was able to shed millions in cap space and go after the game-changer it wanted in Luke Jackson, St Kilda’s improvement means it is ready to launch.

Those decisions ahead on contracts will be tough - and likely involve some bruised egos.

But while Lyon has done the early-season heavy lifting now we get to see what Silvagni and Allan have in store.