Robbo: The Saints humiliated the Giants to break their finals drought but just how good are they?
Jack Steele keeps getting better, the Marshall-Ryder combination is firing and Brett Ratten is in charge. But determining just how much of a finals threat the Saints are isn’t easy, writes Mark Robinson.
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Almost a decade of heartbreak and heartache is over for St Kilda.
The Saints on Friday night reached September for the first time since 2011, when they were beaten by Sydney and Ross Lyon was coaching his last game for the club.
Yep, that long ago.
But whether they make October is another story.
They beat GWS on Friday night, in what had the pre-game smell of an elimination final and ended with a post-game stench of humiliation - around the Giants that is.
But to determine how much of a threat the Saints are going forward is not easy.
Adelaide and Melbourne beat the Giants before Friday night’s drawn-out disappointment, so other than qualifying for finals and the belief that comes with that, the jury is out on St Kilda.
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They’re good, but how good?
Of course, there is the immediate sugar hit for the club and their supporters.
That can’t be dismissed for the mob of Saints fans.
Nor could it be missed when watching the players belt out the theme song post-match.
This was momentous for a club too long in the doldrums
Under previous coach Alan Richardson, the Saints part waxed and largely waned for half a decade. Under Scott Watters, who followed Lyon and who coached before Richardson, the club probably doesn’t know how it travelled
But under new coach Brett Ratten, and with an injection of experienced talent to accompany him, combined with talent nurtured by Richardson, the Saints made the finals.
Nobody deserves anything in football, but even the most desperately darkened football fan will be enthused for Ratten. He has overcome Carton rejection and lives every day with personal tragedy and today he is once again a finals-bound coach.
He is one of the uplifting stories of the season.
Fans will be chuffed, even thrilled, because between then (2011) and now (2020), the heartache was real.
They now wait for their opponents.
In a crazy final round of an utterly crazy and, it must be said, a miracle-type season of survival, the Saints could play either Collingwood, the Western Bulldogs or Melbourne.
They are three enticing match-ups.
An even first half was wiped out in the third quarter on Friday when the Saints kicked 3.2 to 0.2.
In the end, it was a comprehensive 52-point margin.
The Giants are the season’s most disillusioned team.
From grand finalist in 2019 to missing the finals this year, the results will likely prompt a review of all operations and a deep-dive into the psychology of some of its players.
Like, what happened to Jeremy Cameron. Like, why the fall away from halfway through the season from Tim Taranto. Like, how can prime movers Josh Kelly and Lachie Whitfield get so much ball, yet the Giants can have poor inside numbers and, worse, poor scoring.
In their past six matches, four times they didn’t score more than 50 points. On Friday night they kicked just three goals and none after half-time
Like, where do they find a ruckman to replace Shane Mumford and Sam Jacobs. Like, what happens to defenders Heath Shaw and Lachie Keeffe. Like, who replaces Zac Williams when he leaves over the coming weeks.
They grew to be worthy contenders over the past four seasons but didn’t come up trumps. The road back to the top won’t be easy, nor is it probably expected.
And, please, can we stop declaring the Giants have the best list in the competition.
They don’t and far from it.
Also, something is amiss between coach Leon Cameron and what he wants and what the playing group delivers.
The low point of the season was the dropping of Stephen Coniglio last week.
He returned last night and was among the team’s best, but there will be residual fall-out about what happened seven days previous.
It’s time for brutal honesty at the Giants.
The Saints destroyed the Giants in the second half, which garners confidence ahead of their first final.
Jack Steele was best afield. He kicked two goals and had 19 disposals.
Steele is an accomplished midfielder. He’s tough, a ball winner and better skilled than many would think.
He will be an All Australian. If he had blonde locks like many of the St Kilda greats before him, he would probably feature prominently on Brownlow Medal night. He might anyhow.
There were key wins for Josh Battle who played on Nick Haynes - which is another crazy revelation, that being a forward on a back - and Max King seems to be playing his best football.
Collectively, Ratten would be pleased with the team defence, and their ability to force the Giants wide.
Ruckmen Patty Ryder and Rowan Marshall are firing, and Marshall as a key forward will scare the Saints’ next opponent. He is a match-winner.
Dan Hannebery’s first game back from injury was a success. He survived and his work rate was strong. He is an important cog in the “Mozz Squad” which remains the key to St Kilda’s chances in September, if not October.
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Originally published as Robbo: The Saints humiliated the Giants to break their finals drought but just how good are they?
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