St Kilda coach Brett Ratten confident star ruckman Rowan Marshall won’t leave club

St Kilda has swatted away a report linking a star ruckman to a club change and is confident he’s not going anywhere.

St Kilda’s Rowan Marshall is a target for Essendon. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

St Kilda coach Brett Ratten is confident ruckman Rowan Marshall will re-sign “for a very long time” at the Saints after reports Essendon was coming for the young star.

Ratten swatted away the report on Thursday as “part of football”, declaring his full focus was on combating all the weapons he’ll face in Sunday’s clash against reigning premiers Melbourne, with Jack Billings and Zak Jones in the mix to return.

A one-point to loss Port Adelaide in taxing and slippery conditions in Cairns last week was not “all doom and gloom” according to Ratten, who dismissed any suggestion that club’s decision to sell the game interstate was to blame for the defeat

The two teams kicked 9.31 between them and Ratten said missed opportunities was something his men couldn’t afford when they tackle the undefeated Demons.

“As a team you have to be prepared to play anywhere. For us, 61 inside 50s, 22 shots at goal … the numbers there gave us the opportunity to win the game. I don’t think it’s the venue,” Ratten said on Thursday.

“It wasn’t doom and gloom, it was a frustrating day in the box and on the bench to have 61 inside 50s and kick four goals … it was pretty frustrating. We talked about that in the review, how to change that.”

St Kilda coach Brett Ratten said playing interstate wasn’t to blame for the club’s loss to Port Adelaide. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

The players were given Sunday and Monday off to freshen up ahead of the ultimate challenge of taking on the Demons on their “fortress”, the MCG, after not arriving home from Queensland until 5am on Sunday.

Ratten said it was important not to get lost in overanalysing their all-conquering opposition and hoped Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin was as concerned about what the Saints could do.

“When you look at their statistics and they are No.1 for this and No.2 for that, he does this and he does that, it’s true you can get caught up in them,” he said.

“But it can go the other way as a coach when you lose a game. You can overanalyse the next opponent to try and fix things as quick as possible.

“Hopefully they are thinking about what the challenges are playing us and what we can throw at them.”

Jack Billings playing for St Kilda’s VFL side Sandringham. Picture: Darrian Traynor/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

Ratten said Marshall, who is out of contract at the end of this season and sure to be a target for more clubs than just Essendon, was a “significant” player who he hoped would re-sign with St Kilda.

“He’s got this year to go and hopefully he signs here for a very long time,” he said.

“He hasn’t told me he’s not happy. It’s good to get him back this week.”

While Marshall is set to return, Ratten was weighing up whether to bring both Billings and Jones back from long stints out of the side at the same time.

Covid has also hit the coaching staff again, with Brendon Lade to watch the game from isolation, while Corey Enright will come out of his enforced time away in time for the match.