After finishing 11th on the ladder in 2017, St Kilda finds itself sitting third last heading into the final round of what has been a tough season.
The Saints are striving for their fifth win of the season in a bid to end the year on a high, and after falling agonisingly short to the finals-bound Hawks last weekend, they will be desperate to finish on a good note.
Fresh-faced Saints
The Saints’ team that lined-up against Hawthorn on the weekend is a far cry from the 22 that faced North Melbourne on Good Friday in Round 2.
From the side earlier in the year, there are nine experienced heads that are out of the side for a variety of reasons.
Missing is Nathan Brown (suspension), Dylan Roberton (heart), Jake Carlisle (personal reasons), Shane Savage (hamstring), Koby Stevens (retired), Josh Bruce (leg), Billy Longer (ankle), Paddy McCartin (Foot) and Hunter Clark (illness).
Combined, the Saints were down 856 games of experience on Saturday night, and still managed to push Hawthorn for four quarters.
These vacancies have allowed them to expose a bevy of young, inexperienced players to AFL football.
Hugh Goddard, Bailey Rice, Logan Austin, Ben Paton and Lewis Pierce have all been given an opportunity by coach Alan Richardson to prove themselves, which is making the Saints a fascinating team to watch at the moment.
The raw talent is playing a fearless style of football at the moment, which is catching opponents off guard, and with each player having plenty to prove, they’re leaving little on the table.
Seb-perb form
Despite the overall woes of St Kilda this season, there has been one shining light, midfielder Seb Ross.
Having recently played his 100th game, Ross is fast becoming the Saints’ most impactful player.
The 25-year-old is averaging 36 touches in the last five games, highlighted by 40 and 43 touches in Rounds 20 and 21 respectively.
As you’d expect with numbers like these, Ross leads the Saints in total kicks and total handballs, and ultimately total disposals.
He’s been an impressive user of the ball as well this season, ranked sixth in total effective disposals per game, which puts him among the likes of Collingwood’s Steele Sidebottom and Melbourne’s Clayton Oliver.
High possession game
In what may come as a surprise to some given its ladder position, St Kilda has no trouble winning the ball.
In fact, the Saints rank third amongst the competition in disposals per game, putting them behind top eight sides Collingwood and Melbourne.
The majority of their disposals are via hand, averaging 181.8 handballs per game, which ranks them second in the league.
As a result, St Kilda’s disposal efficiency is high, sitting at 73.8 per cent which is the fourth best in the competition.
With the Saints ticking all the boxes when it comes to ball use, the question remains why they haven’t been able to translate this ball use into big scores.
The answer may be in the quality of their possessions.
St Kilda has the highest average of uncontested possessions of all 18 clubs, but the third least contested possessions.
This proves that the Saints may not be overly damaging with ball in hand, as their lack of kicking prevents them from gaining territory, breaking lines and getting through the opponents’ defensive zone.
If they elected to move the ball by foot more often, they may be able to build on their inside 50 count and add to their goal tally.
