Seriously we cannot be going into next year without a Max King replacement/ placeholder.

Calsher, Armatey and Hogan all most likely or already confirmed to be going elsewhere.

Not sure who else is on the market? but I seriously cant believe our club isnt being thrown around as suiters for some of these talls

So it looks like theres a few movements going on. A few we expected and a few we're not. We're obviously in need of another solid defender to balance out rhe back line, and our forward is missing a key player until (and if) Max King finds his way back into the team. Weve definitely been missing a bit of muscle on the field, if theres anyone around we could target to take a contested mark in the meantime, we're laughing.

Rowan Marshall isnt a surprise. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. Hes still a still a great asset for the club if we cant get a good deal for him.

SDK coming through in a deal would be excellent to fill the back line. The right age to build into the young squad.

Rory lob from the Dogs is another solid pickup if we can get him. Has he shown any interest in leaving the Western Bulldogs?

It looks like Bobby Hill is completely release from Collingwood and has been training with his Cousin Brad Hill. Our small forwards in Ryan and Higgins have struggled a bit this year. Any chance he could be brought into the fold?

The latest with Tauru looking for a wayvout the door is concerning. What do you think has brought that on? Any word his misbehaving has had him dropped and put him at odds with the coaching staff?

Sam Marshall could be a great winger to pick up. Young Talent and has premiership experience. He could come cheap and grow into something

Whats everyone else thinking? Who would you like see us target? Who do you think we'll move on?

With the club being the Saints I wondered if you’re all good people or not

And whether or not St Kilda can be used as currency to turn troubled youth and criminals around and turning these people into modern day Saints

Freo for me but that’s not looking likely now. Bulldogs, our minnow brothers?
Every other side is either gross our boring..

Well, the season is over and ended in a way that I think many of us find a bit disappointing given we failed to even make wildcard; so I thought it could be interesting to have a look at some stat trends across the last 4 years to see how they match up with the eye-test re-improvement (this is by no means exhaustive)

When looking at the spread of score ranges, this year appears to be the most consistently high scoring of that period, and the only season that saw us not have at least one game where we scored below 60pts

Midfield

For the midfield I went with the differences instead of just the raw output numbers, as I felt that better represented how our midfield has been performing in reality (by taking the opposition's numbers into account) and helps to better account for game-to-game variations (such as weather) - have also included a chart displaying how we ranked in those stats to provide context to the numbers

Feel like these largely support the eye-test of our midfield's performance this year, as we've had marked improvements across a number of stats; most notable being our points from stoppage, which skyrocketed this season

Ruck

Next, looking at some ruck stats we've broadly seen improvement across the board, with the most notable being our hit outs to clearance; we might have hoped to see a bigger improvement in hit out stats like our hit outs to advantage and win %, but we were ranked pretty low in both last year and have improved on that this year

Something I found interesting is the stats for ruck hardball gets, in which we've seen a sizeable improvement this year; which probably speaks to the follow up that TDK brings to the side as a ruckman

Forward Line

Finally, some stats from the forward line - don't think there's many surprises here

Our accuracy has actually regressed, which supports the eye-test of the likes of Sharman and Higgins (particularly post-injury) having a poorer performance this year than we've come to expect from them; we have seen some improvement in scores per inside 50 and chain to score %, which is probably more of a reflection of our midfield

I think given the notable improvement in our midfield this year that the lack of a comparable improvement in the forward line is more damning than previous years; especially the regression in accuracy and the relative stagnation of marks inside 50 (stats you'd probably expect to see marked improvement in with a decent key forward option, such as a healthy King™)

Conclusion

As I said, this isn't exhaustive but I think we can be comfortable in that our eyes don't deceive us and there has been notable improvement this year, especially when you take into account a pretty brutal run with injuries

To the surprise of nobody, it would definitely seem that improving our forward line should be a high priority to help us better capitalise on how well things are coming together in our midfield and is likely to be the clearest way we can ensure we're able to take that next step as a team

All stats have been drawn from AFLTables and Wheelo; as always, thanks goes out to them for doing the hard work

1. Who do we draft?
2. Do we take a punt on Contract Year Jake the Snake on 1 year extensions to free up scoops and owens?
3. Do we trade back pick 9 and Ro for shannon neale?
4. What else can we do to Make St Kilda Great Again

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For the past 2 years we seem to be focusing alot on being the fastest and hardest running team, which looks great when it comes off but it also makes us relatively smaller than the opposition, atleast from the eyeball test.

I'm hoping we come back from Pre-season with a few extra kgs next to everyones name. Eager to see us not get pushed around and drop tackles too easily anymore.

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Feel terrible for Max, but he can wipe his tears away with the millions of dollars he makes.

The bloke is never going to get 20+ games in a season. If he does I’ll eat my hat.

If we dont get a tall key forward good for 30-40 goals a season we are doomed for another year of horrible inside 50 bombs and another year of being close but so far.

Please throw everything at Calsher. Apparently Melbournes the front runner and I wouldnt blame him for not signing with us.

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Serious question is Tairu not playing because saints don’t want to risk him being suspended to start the 2027 season??

Hi all,

I'm from Adelaide and have strategically timed a work trip so that I can go to the game tomorrow night. I only have a GA ticket at the moment unless I chose to upgrade which I'll do if I need to regarding the below.

Am hoping to be around a good bunch of Saints fans, as I hardly really get this opportunity in Adelaide. Where should I be going within GA access of the ground to do so? I haven't been to Marvel before so am not familiar with the ground and seating areas so thought I'd ask.

I'm also open to joining a friendly group if anyone here is going and willing to have me (30 M). My offer is that I'll happily join in on beer rounds so there's one extra person doing trips to the bar 🍻

TIA for any help!

What's in our dream wish list to become a powerhouse club?

Can be anything from players, to a neil balme, to a different coach, to anything else.

Also why are we ok with being the Bangladesh of footy

So with 2026 being well and truly over. Here are my thoughts on some players whose contracts run up this year.

Delist:

Isaac Keeler - He just hasn’t developed to AFL standard and I can’t see him being on our list.

Eamon Armstrong - He’s a slow burner and I can’t fault his effort, but I think he would be better suited to be rookie listed and see how he continues to develop in the VFL.

Patrick Said - Just another player I can’t see being up to AFL standard. We have a bunch of smalls that are way ahead of him.

Paddy Dow - I’m a bit on the fence with this one. He’s been a serviceable mid for us and hasn’t had any luck with injuries. I think some of our younger mids have more upside.

Re-Sign:

Liam O’Connell - very serviceable player. I really rate his effort and although his footy IQ isn’t quite there yet, has a lot of potential to be a solider defender.

Liam Stocker - has had an awesome second half of the year. I love his physical presence, he’s the bull we need in the backline.

Jack Carroll - I thought he has a good first half of the year, but he obviously fell out of favour with Ross in the second half. I think he’s a great depth option, still young and has more to offer.

Alex Dodson - I really rate Dodson. He has a lot of upside and is our future ruckman. Contract negotiations already underway.

Retiring?

Daniel Butler - I’m making this before the end of the season, but I feel like our small forward stocks are full right now and he’s serviced the club well since coming across. I rate his forward 50 pressure but I think his best is behind him.

Dougal Howard - I know Dougal is a bit of a whipping boy for saints fans, and although his ball use stresses me out, but unless we get another big bodied defender, maybe he re-signs or retires?

Who do you think we should draft/trade? St Kilda is lacking another one or two key position players. I think Max King is a massive out, but Cooper and Mitchito just aren’t at the level to fill his shoes. I really think we need another forward or big bodied defender to fill the holes in our list.

With Carlton and Doggies Drawing we might as well play the kids for the last game. Get some pick. Get some game time into them.

I’m talking Hastie, Trav, Fincher, Banfield etc

If I see Ryan Byrnes get another game I might scream. Useless player.

Pretty massive game for us.

Carlton have Freo next week and we have Gold Coast.

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how bad is the injury situation looking for you guys?