Wreck It Ralph: 18 signs Essendon and St Kilda are finally on the right track
Jake Stringer is an intoxicating game-breaking presence at best. When he plays half-fit he is a drainer. It is clear Brad Scott knows that.
St Kilda has provided brief sugar hits since the unrequited premiership campaigns of 2008-10 but they have been a flaky football club for many years.
Essendon has just been downright ordinary.
An AFL embarrassment as it shuffled through coaches and administrators while climbing out of the dark pit caused by the drug catastrophe.
On Saturday night St Kilda and Essendon will meet as unbeaten teams who have dramatically overachieved in the first fortnight.
If you want a comparison of their significant growth in that time use the plight of the Western Bulldogs as a measuring stick.
Luke Beveridge’s savage indictment on his entire club came midway through a press conference in which the Bulldogs coach looked shell-shocked and without answers.
“At the moment we are down on growth, and unexpectedly, and that’s for everyone,” said Beveridge.
Brutal translation?
The Western Bulldogs aren’t being coached well, haven’t shown any on field signs of players development, can’t extract improvement from individuals and are generally stinking it up.
St Kilda and Essendon’s growth is off the charts in all those areas.
Crystal ball the season and both teams probably finish mid-table at best if you were forced into a long-range prediction.
But here are the signs of sustainability for St Kilda and Essendon, tangible signs that both clubs are trying to build foundations from a bedrock of strength.
As Brad Scott said of the Essendon fans in his press conference after Sunday’s win: “I want them to be excited but also keep their eye on what we are building over time”.
1.The Cult of Jake Stringer is over.
Nothing said team over individual at Essendon on Sunday more than Stringer running around in the VFL despite being available for senior selection.
Stringer is an intoxicating game-breaking presence at best.
When he plays half-fit he is a drainer.
A drainer of energy on the field who doesn’t chase hard enough or fully devote himself to the team goals.
Brad Scott is attempting to set his team up for long-term success but it will also help Stringer because he isn’t being set up to fail when playing half fit.
“Jake is a very good player and impactful player but we want to give him every opportunity to be at his best and it’s a message to our team. When you are fit you have to play your part in it,” said Scott on Sunday.
2. Nothing smacked of St Kilda’s selfishness more than Jack Higgins burning teammates last year to hit the scoreboard at any cost.
As Ross Lyon remarked on Sunday, now Higgins, Jade Gresham and Dan Butler are being lauded for their selfless team roles.
As Leigh Montagna showed on Fox Footy’s First Crack, the Saints are pushing those half forwards up the ground to clog up the mid zone in case of a turnover.
It is helping congest the ground as a defensive mechanism but also allows Mitch Owens, Zaine Cordy and Anthony Caminiti room to move as forwards.
Higgins feasted on quick turnovers for Joe The Goose goals at times last year.
As Lyon said, that trio are “sacrificing” their games for the team.
3. Essendon didn’t go out and pay up for a full back last year.
It’s a small sample size, but in 24-year-old Brandon Zerk-Thatcher there are at least signs they have a strong contender to fill that role until Zac Reid’s body shows he is capable of playing AFL football.
He was so effective in keeping Jacob Koschitzke goalless last week his opponent was subbed in the third term.
Against the Suns he kept Ben King goalless in their time against each other.
He releases Jordan Ridley to play on smaller defenders and he also intercepts well – 12 in round one and five on Sunday.
Said Scott: “He was fantastic today playing on a super star really (in King), even though he’s 22. He just competed very well for us. He’s an important player.
“He has probably surprised the competition. One thing we know about him is he’s a genuine competitor so you shouldn’t be surprised when you know they are competitors
“There are other players in the comp who get more recognition but “Thatch” will start to get more recognition if he keeps playing like that.”
4. St Kilda is having a crack.
It is the hallmark of Ross Lyon-coached teams and there is no reason a high-pressure game style can’t be sustainable.
Richmond did it over four years and three premierships because it is infectious and the rewards are so obvious.
This week the Saints were the No.1 pressure side of the round and Brad Crouch, Jack Steele and Seb Ross led the way.
But Brad Hill was ranked fourth for the team and Jack Higgins was fifth. Everyone is buying in.
5. St Kilda is still playing fairly safe football at times with a front-half game that is just reasonable.
It is 13th for points scored, 16th for scores per entry (without Max King or Tim Membrey) and 11th for front-half intercepts.
But there are no surprises the Saints are the No.1 team for points conceded, No.1 for conceding scores from entries and No.1 for points conceded for turnover.
Ross Lyon has delegated many aspects of his game plan to his assistants and in Corey Enright, Robert Harvey and Lenny Hayes he has lieutenants who have coached in high-octane offences like Geelong, Collingwood and GWS.
The Saints are starting with defence and now the question is how many layers they can add to the game plan.
6. Andy McGrath admits he worried too much about being a midfield star and has now accepted his best role is at half back.
In round 1 he kept Connor Macdonald goalless and on Sunday he kept Ben Ainsworth to a single goal and didn’t allow Malcolm Rosas a possession in 32 minutes head-to-head.
He has won 25 possessions in both games, averaged over 400 metres gained and used it well by foot at 72 per cent efficiency.
Nick Hind had 42 possessions in the VFL from half back but McGrath is going nowhere.
He is yet to turn 25 and should hope to play another 150 games in that position for Essendon.
7. Essendon has finally unlocked the secret to Will Setterfield’s game.
Drafted as a centre square mid, he played two games at GWS then was a Minister without Portfolio at Carlton as he was mostly pushed out of the centre square and onto a wing.
He has hit the scoreboard in both games, his pressure is elite, he has averaged eight tackles a game, he amassed 147 ranking points from his 28 touches against the Suns.
Essendon has given up so much trade collateral on mids in recent years but effectively got him for free after handing over a fourth but getting back pick 68 from Carlton.
8. Essendon has gone back to what it knows works in the midfield.
The Dons are third for contested possessions differential and broke even with the elite Suns at clearances but just look more settled.
Setterfield has averaged 25 centre square involvements, Zach Merrett 24, Darcy Parish 23, Dylan Shiel 18 and Jye Caldwell just 1.5 (three in total across two weeks).
That’s it. No one else has been in a centre square apart from the rucks.
Merrett and Parish have been superb.
So the question now is how to integrate Ben Hobbs (36 possessions in the VFL) into the team.
9. The improved depth allows Essendon to take its time setting up Zach Reid and Nik Cox for the back half of the season after injury struggles.
Cox is 4-6 weeks away with a back injury and Reid 5-7 as they approach the conditioning phase of their rehab.
On the weekend Essendon players drafted as top 10 picks by them or other clubs that WEREN’T in the team included Hobbs, Elijah Tsatas, Peter Wright, Reid, Cox, Jake Stringer and Sam Weideman.
10. St Kilda’s No.10 pick Matthaes Phillipou looks a natural footballer.
So far he’s shown he isn’t a one-trick pony.
Playing 95 per cent forward on the weekend he touched the ball seven times, had five score involvements and kicked three goals.
In round 1 he won it 16 times and was perfect by foot.
Four goals in two weeks is some kind of start to an AFL career.
11. Second-year hybrid tall Mitch Owens isn’t far behind.
At just 191cm he has kicked five goals in two games on quality players.
In round 1 it was against Luke Ryan and Brennan Cox and last week it was on Josh Bruce and Alex Keath.
12. Liam Stocker just wasn’t rated by Carlton.
They believed he couldn’t run well enough to play midfield and wasn’t agile enough to play on the small forwards.
St Kilda’s defensive system has helped him but as a small defender he kept Liam Henry and Michael Frederick goalless in round 1.
He backed up by keeping Rhylee West and Toby McLean goalless.
He isn’t an intercept player but he just does his job and at only 23 the hope is he is on an upward graph of improvement.
13. For all the talk about Essendon’s improved defensive system, there is still so much room for Scott to tighten aspects of the game plan.
They are the third-worst side at defending ball movement this year, ahead of only the Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn.
It is a sign they are still getting the job done in other ways but must quickly refine that part of their style before they run into the premiership contenders.
14. Clubs need to maximise their top-end talents.
Hunter Clark was nearly traded to North Melbourne for a bag of twisties but that deal was aborted and now the No.7 pick is easing into the season.
After going at just 17 per cent by foot in an 18-possession round 1 performance, he was much more damaging with 26 disposals going at 79 per cent by foot.
Brad Hill is on his game too, looking engaged playing high half forward.
He is averaging over 20 disposals and over 300 metres gained, a great stat given he isn’t getting easy kicks at half back.
15. Mason Redman has to be an All Australian smoky.
Nick Holman tried to keep him accountable yesterday in 88 minutes head-to-head but he still had 22 possessions, five intercept marks, nine intercept possessions and six tackles.
His first two weeks have been flawless averaging over 470 metres gained and using the ball well (81 per cent and 88 per cent effectiveness).
He is a free agent whose price is going up weekly but Essendon has ample cap space and he has always been happy at the Hangar.
They might need to pay him $700,000 a season and why would he sign a contract now he has significant leverage but the Dons need to lock him down as the season unfolds.
16. Essendon might be worryingly easy to score against, but for the long term they are assembling the parts of their defensive puzzle.
Jordan Ridley has been released from playing on the big talls by Zerk-Thatcher so he can play a more attacking game.
The intercept possessions and marks aren’t quite there – just five intercept possessions a game – but he is going at 97 per cent by foot.
17. Latent talent.
Hunter Clark might be about to come of age and so might Kyle Langford.
After a sixth placing in the best-and-fairest in 2021 he played only nine games through injury last year.
But Essendon has enough of those reasonably high draft picks – Langford was a pick 17 in 2014 – that still have real upside.
As Brad Scott said on Sunday the Dons knew he could be their Mr Fixit when Sam Weideman’s toe injury saw him withdrawn from the side.
“We were keen to settle him down. He played an important role (in defence) last week. It is a sign of his class and maturity to adjust his game and fit into a forward structure that is based around system rather than personnel.
“He goes where we need him but even if you had said to us four weeks ago we wouldn’t have Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, Stringer, Wright and Weideman…. To kick 35 goals in two weeks is a good sign.”
18. Essendon’s off-field issues are still a work in progress but in Craig Vozzo they have a football executive with the on-field as a key priority.
Xavier Campbell saved Essendon from oblivion as he charted a course out of the ASADA scandal but Vozzo is a man for the current times.
He has been tasked by president David Barham with providing an elite program that will bring a flag.
No one believes it is ideal that Kevin Sheedy broke board solidarity to dispute the unanimous nature of Brad Scott’s hiring or that recruiter Adrian Dodoro and football boss Josh Mahoney are not in lock step.
But that is why Vozzo has been hired rather than a bean counter.
To get to the bottom of it and support the program while scrutinising it before more change inevitably comes.
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