Gary Buckenara analyses the St Kilda list after the 2021 season
St Kilda has traded in more than a dozen players in recent seasons but expert Gary Buckenara says only four have added value to the list. Where do they go from here?
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St Kilda fans are probably getting quite impatient as this group comes together under Brett Ratten.
The Saints have shown some good form in 2021 but they remain inconsistent in their performance and it’s hard to predict which team is going to turn up on any given week.
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To be fair, they have probably not had the best of luck with injuries, losing Rowan Marshall, Jade Gresham, Jarryn Geary, Paddy Ryder, James Frawley and Dan Hannebery at different stages did not help their campaign.
But really all clubs can point out players that have missed as an excuse.
The issue more is the quality of the top-end of talent as compared to clubs like the Western Bulldogs, Richmond, Brisbane, West Coast, Geelong and Port Adelaide.
These clubs cover injuries far better than most whereas the Saints have struggled.
Overall, the Saints were disappointing this season and I don’t think this group as it stands is capable of becoming a top-four team or a serious contender to win a premiership in the next couple of years.
They need some of their development players to become A or B-graders for this to happen. Max King and Nick Coffield look to be the best options of the developing players on the list.
With 17 C-graders on the list – minus a few retirements – it is time for the Saints to look at these players and invest more in younger players through the draft as their stocks of 21 and under players is too low.
They have invested in players such as Jake Carlisle, Hannebery, Bradley Hill, Brad Crouch, Zak Jones, Dan Butler, Jack Higgins, Ryder, Dougal Howard, Dean Kent, Frawley, Shaun McKernan and Mason Wood over the past few seasons and traded picks for them.
I don’t feel they have got the results from these trades and would have been better to add younger players and try to develop them rather than going for depth players.
Only Hill, Jones, Ryder and Howard have really added to the list and if you’re marking list management and recruiting on this, unfortunately, they don’t get a pass mark here.
LIST NEEDS
The Saints need to invest in early draft picks to increase the young talent on the list and get a better balance of C-graders and development players coming through.
TRADE TARGETS
Attracting any top-line free agents is the best way to get some better quality A or B-graders into the club but it is easier said than done as it is a very competitive market.
UNTOUCHABLES
The A, B and development players should stay and the Saints should try to add young talent through the draft.
TRADE BAIT
There’s not much to offer that will attract any early picks. Jack Billings was one that could have attracted interest from clubs but has recommitted to the Saints for four years.
WHAT THE RATINGS MEAN
List management is one of the most important jobs at an AFL club.
Poor decisions can be catastrophic — and Collingwood proved that last year.
Far too many clubs can often hold an overly-optimistic view when ranking their own lists and this can lead to years of mediocrity — like Carlton.
When clubs are rating their lists, they should rank players as: A+, A, B+, B, C+, C and Development.
In this list analysis, I have just done A, B, C and two tiers of development (“future AB players” and “need more time”) because with the younger players it is important to see who is coming through and those that need more time.
The important area for clubs to look at is how many A and B ranked players they have as well as future consistent AB players.
These rankings are my opinions, but they should give supporters a reasonable snapshot as to where their playing list sits now — and how they might look in a few years’ time.
Players 22 and over
A-grade: Elite players on any AFL list
B: Top 10-18 player on most lists
C: An 19-30 player on a list
Developing: Aged 21 or under
Future AB players: These are players that will hopefully develop into an A or B ranked player once they turn 22. They might be playing to this level now, but it takes sustained years.
Need more time: These players would be a player recently drafted that is still developing and therefore will need more time to see if he is likely to develop into an A or B grade player.
RATING THE LIST
Players 22 and over
A-grade: Jack Steele and Rowan Marshall
B-grade: Zak Jones, Jade Gresham, Brad Crouch, Sebastian Ross, Brad Hill, Hunter Clark, Jarryn Geary, Jack Billings, Dan Butler, Paddy Ryder, Dougal Howard, Josh Battle, Tim Membrey, Jimmy Webster, Jack Sinclair, Callum Wilkie.
C-grade: Jake Carlisle (retired), Luke Dunstan, Dan Hannebery, Jack Lonie, Dylan Roberton (retired), Ben Long, Jack Higgins, James Frawley (retired), Dean Kent, Shaun McKernan (retired), Mason Wood, Ben Paton, Tom Highmore, Daniel McKenzie, Darragh Joyce, Paul Hunter, Sam Alabakis (delisted).
Development
Future AB players: Nick Coffield, Max King, Jack Bytel, Oscar Clavarino (delisted), Cooper Sharman.
Need more time: Matt Allison, Ryan Byrnes, Leo Connolly, Max Heath.
MORE GARY BUCKENARA
RICHMOND: Hawk should be among Tigers’ top trade targets
CARLTON: The 19 C-graders who doomed the Blues
COLLINGWOOD: Why the Pies should consider De Goey trade
ADELAIDE: The young talents the Crows need to invest in
NORTH MELBOURNE: How the Roos can become a destination club
LIST BREAKDOWN
A Grade = 2
B Grade = 16
C Grade = 17
Development
Future AB players = 5
Need more time = 4
CRYSTAL BALL
The Saints’ list is poorly balanced at the back-end with far too many C-graders and not enough developing players. Plus their top-end talent is very thin.
They need to limit trading away picks for more C-graders, target a top-line free agent and invest in the draft to improve their poor numbers of developing players and future A and B-graders.
Poor management decisions do bite hard and this is what has happened to the Saints.
They have 18 A and B-graders on the list – and a number of handy C-graders – which gives them some depth.
But the Saints will struggle to retain the quality of players as injuries hit as the standard of their A and B-graders is not as strong as other top teams.
Unfortunately for the Saints, the rebuild has hit some problems but I don’t think it needs to be totally rebuilt again.
They just need to be smarter with their list decisions – target a better quality of free agent and invest in early picks in the draft.
But this is going to take another couple of years to come to fruition if everything goes well.
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Originally published as Gary Buckenara analyses the St Kilda list after the 2021 season
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