St Kilda defender Ben Paton to be sidelined for three months with pectoral injury
St Kilda has received mixed injury news, with an important defender facing months on the sidelines but a recruit dodging what was feared to be a long-term knee setback.
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St Kilda’s rosy outlook with injury has been dented by a three-month pectoral injury to defender Ben Paton.
Paton left the training track on Monday after an innocuous tackle gone wrong and seemed to be favouring his shoulder.
But scans showed that Paton, who has played 39 games in the past two seasons, had instead ruptured his left pectoral tendon.
The Saints do have defensive cover as the likes of Liam Stocker have emerged but with Nick Coffield leaving the club for the Bulldogs it is a poorly timed injury.
The club has dodged a bullet with Paddy Dow only missing the next fortnight with knee bone bruising after initial fears it could be worse.
St Kilda football boss David Misson said it was a tough setback for Paton given his injury history.
With the minimum three-month rehab he could miss the first half of the season in the seniors.
“This is obviously a disappointing blow for Ben,” he said.
“Sadly, this isn’t the first time Ben has dealt with a lengthy injury setback having broken his tibia and fibula in 2021, however he proved that he has the resilience and strength to overcome such adversity.
“Ben will see the surgeon today next and will likely have surgery later this week. We will be best poised to ascertain his return to play timeline after that, however, early indications suggest the rehabilitation period will be at least three months.”
‘BUILDING THROUGH KIDS’: ROSS’ WEAPON TO COUNTER CRITICS
Jon Ralph
Ross Lyon’s toughest critics paint him as a power hungry Bill Belichick-style figure who rules with an iron fist.
For all his successes, they point to his inability to build a premiership list while worrying about an overly defensive game plan.
In a month where six-time Super Bowl-winning coach Belichick lost his power struggle with owner Robert Kraft, Lyon came out on top as St Kilda moved on CEO Simon Lethlean.
At St Kilda the buck now very firmly stops with Lyon and his hand-chosen band of lieutenants and confidantes as Belichick finds himself without a 2024 job.
And yet if Belichick was sacked in part over an abysmal drafting record this past decade, Lyon was a figure of tranquillity at Moorabbin at Monday’s 90-minute training session.
In part those good vibes can be put down to excellent availability, with only Dan Butler (ankle), Paddy Dow (knee) and Jack Hayes (knee) still in the rehab group of his best 25.
Max King is in full training and Tim Membrey is sound of body and mind after an impressive summer, even if Ben Paton left training favouring his shoulder after a tackling drill gone wrong.
But Lyon’s secret weapon for the critics with their loaded guns was on show across the impressive Moorabbin surface.
As one senior Saints leader said: “We are building through the kids”.
THE NEXT WAVE
Lyon might have lost recruiters including Jarryd Roughead and Chris Toce as part of the summer toll but his off-field team have assembled another crop who have regular track watchers giddy with anticipation.
No. 18 draft pick Darcy Wilson is as advertised — a run-all-day midfielder who set the standard by winning a November time trial.
On Friday the club’s No. 28 draft pick Lance Collard added his name to the queue with an electric second quarter including a four-bounce run from defence and a huge nearly-there spekky attempt.
Collard needs to put on muscle and stamina but given Butler’s ongoing ankle issues his sparkling play in the intraclub was well timed.
On Monday the clinical left foot of No. 50 draft pick Hugo Garcia was on show as he broke lines with daring kicks, while second-year ruck-forward Isaac Keeler has been repurposed in defence.
The No. 44 pick battled with knee issues in his debut season but was tasked with taking Membrey in match simulation drills and at 198cm is one to watch.
St Kilda now has three full drafts worth of elite talent to build from the ground up.
By last year’s final, Mattaes Phillipou was exhausted after a superb debut year but fresh from a third finish in that December time trial he is ready for serious midfield time.
Add in Mitch Owens, Marcus Windhager, 22-year-old Liam Henry and there is a critical mass of kids coming through together.
Lyon rails against accusations he plays a low-scoring style but regardless he this year has an array of elite kicks (and elite runners) to allow his team to play an expansive attacking style if required.
Think Brad Hill, Wilson, Henry, Mason Wood, Phillipou, Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera and potentially Garcia at times hitting up King, Membrey, Caminiti and Mitch Owens.
King’s first game was in round 10 last year while Membrey played rounds 6-10 half-fit before returning in round 22.
That pair alone will help out St Kilda’s early prospects even as pundits predict their 2023 finals return is short-lived.
ST KILDA’S NEW-FOUND DEPTH
King is training without restriction and played two of three stanzas in Friday’s intraclub.
While Dow’s bone bruising will sideline him for another fortnight, Brad Crouch (knee) also returned to play two of the three periods on Friday.
Hunter Clark has done every session across summer while Zak Jones has been managed but is in great shape after only four 2023 games.
Neither are guaranteed 2024 games, which only adds to the midfield crunch with Dow and Henry on board and Phillipou moving up from half forward.
RECRUITING SHAKE-UP
St Kilda made official the signing of new recruiter Simon Dalrymple on Monday after the departures of Toce and Roughead.
Toce’s national recruiting manager role was made redundant, while Roughead had been on the lookout for a new role for some time until returning to Hawthorn.
Dalrymple is the highly respected recruiter who helped build the Dogs 2016 premiership list before six years at Sydney, and will officially be the club’s talent identification and player movement manager.
List manager Stephen Silvagni will head up the list team alongside head of talent and acquisition Graeme Allan.
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