Mick McGuane’s mid-season report card: Pieces are there, Saints just need to put them together

St Kilda won’t play finals in 2024, but they are subtly evolving before our eyes and could play a big role in shaping the top eight. MICK MCGUANE dives into the Saints’ mid-season report card.

The Saints played finals last year, now they sit in 14th spot at their mid-season bye.

There’s been some promising signs, but Ross Lyon’s men have been nowhere near the full package.

MICK MCGUANE reviews St Kilda’s season so far in his mid-year report card.

MCGUANE’S MID-SEASON RATING: C-

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon looks as frustrated as anyone.

His side is doing a lot right, but is struggling to put it all together.

Some weeks, the Saints are strangling their opposition defensively but are struggling to score themselves.

Other weeks they have scored a little more freely, but have had their team defensive structure picked apart.

Ross Lyon’s Saints have had a difficult season. Picture: Getty Images

Lyon’s side scored over 100 points for just the second time this season against the Brisbane Lions in round 15 — but still lost by 20 points.

They allowed the Lions to take a whopping 140 uncontested marks and record a disposal efficiency of 82 per cent.

Numbers like those are not going to see you win many games of footy.

It wasn’t the first time, either, with the Saints also giving up 133 uncontested marks against the Western Bulldogs in a 60-point belting in round 7.

Comparatively, they kept Collingwood to just 64 uncontested marks in a 15-point win in round 2, while holding Greater Western Sydney to 80 uncontested marks in a one-point loss in round 6.

St Kilda is at its best when it is pressuring the opposition and creating a chaos game.

If the Saints allow good sides like Brisbane to play a controlled kick-mark game by failing to read the cues and cut off the next options, they’re in trouble.

Basic fundamentals have also been costly.

Often, players are making the right decisions with ball in hand but are executing poorly and it is taking the wind out of the side’s sails.

The ball is spending plenty of time in the Saints’ forward half each week — which is what Lyon wants — but the side is not getting bang for buck from it because of this poor execution.

They rank last in the competition for scores from forward half intercepts (27.5 points a game) and 16th for scoring shots per inside-50 (40.8 per cent).

Returning from shoulder surgery, Max King made a slow start to the season but has been better in recent weeks.

Even the great Tony Lockett would struggle to kick regular bags of goals in the St Kilda forward line at the moment given the quality of the ball coming in.

One positive out of the Brisbane loss was an improved clearance game on the back of playing two ruckmen in Rowan Marshall and Tom Campbell.

Expect that template to be used more going forward, with the assistance allowing Marshall to spend more time forward where he can support King.

EVOLVING TEAM

This Saints team is subtly evolving before our eyes.

There have been 37 different players used this season — the equal-third most of any side — as Lyon exposes and experiments with his list.

It’s early days but Anthony Caminiti’s move to defence looks a regular occurrence, as a third-tall defender to complement Josh Battle and Callum Wilkie.

I also like the look of last week’s debutant Arie Schoenmaker, who showed enough to suggest he will be a big part of the back-six going forward as a good-size defender with a weapon of a left foot.

Arie Schoenmaker impressed on debut. Picture: Getty Images

The new faces down back put pressure on more experienced players like Dougal Howard and Zaine Cordy and rightfully so.

Long-time mainstay midfielders Seb Ross, Brad Crouch and Zak Jones also look to be playing for their futures amid an injection of youth in that area.

Marcus Winghager has added a better defensive balance onball with his ability to play accountable roles, while Liam Henry has shown he can have stints at centre bounce and add serious speed.

Hunter Clark is also building in that area of the ground after an injury-interrupted start to the season, as is Paddy Dow.

SHAPING THE EIGHT

The Saints won’t make the top eight, but they could be one of the teams to shape it.

Lyon is a winning coach who will be determined to add some more wins in the second half of the season and form good habits.

The Saints should be beating West Coast, Richmond and Adelaide, while they are more than capable of challenging the likes of Port Adelaide, Essendon and Geelong.

Originally published as Mick McGuane’s mid-season report card: Pieces are there, Saints just need to put them together