The Saints Are Real
Brett Ratten at the helm. Talented youthful list. They’re getting results. It’s never too late to get on board the Saints bandwagon.
Let’s face it. No-one predicted the Saints’ sharp rise. And really, they haven’t given us any reason to suggest from the previous decade that they’d be here fighting for a Preliminary Final spot alongside Richmond. But that’s modern football for you. Things can happen quick.
Consider this: Port Adelaide turned their fortunes around in the last 18 months and now they’re one win away from a Grand Final berth; In 2016 the Bulldogs broke a 62-year drought as the seventh finals seed that year; and the year before the Tigers broke their 37-year drought in 2017, they finished 13th with eight wins. And now we’re here with the Saints.
It’s hard to know what’s very real during the pandemic and COVID-19. If you try and remember the first week, the Saints lost to the Roos by two points. They blew a 29-point halftime lead and only managed 1.5 in the second half. Then the AFL went on hiatus from late March until the middle of June and when games resumed the Saints had a hulking 44-point loss to the Pies and were 1–2 after three games. Granted, it was a small sample size, but what we saw, was a huge gap between their best and worst. But things shifted.
Head coach Brett Ratten, who was sacked by Carlton at the end of 2012, worked his way back into AFL relevancy through assistant coaching. It’s been a resurrection of true grit, steely resolve and drive. And when you think about the tragic loss of his son during this period, it makes Ratten’s climb to where he is now with his Saints, a remarkable one.
Under Ratten, the Saints showed they could match it with the top AFL teams. They defeated the Tigers by 26 and had an impressive win over Port Power by 29 in Adelaide. But in the same breath, they dropped heartbreakers to the Dockers by 6, Demons by 3, and Lions by 2. Those aside, this year St.Kilda has proven to be more consistent, have played with dare, and they look like they’re having fun.
They had one of their best three-month stretches, arguably of the last decade, between June and August, where the Saints went on a 8–3 run that ultimately catapulted them into finals. I’m not sure finals were ever in Ratten’s plans in 2020, but the team is truly embracing the underdog tag. They’ve been getting the job done with some high risk football, clearances, smart ball use, scoring depth — 70 goals from Butler, Membrey and King — good leaders, and a defence that works. On top of this: they’re connected. Some of these things no-one really predicted.
The Saints will look back on 2020 as season they went 10–7, finished sixth — and who knows how far they can go? Richmond — the competition leader of the last four years — stand in their way Friday night, and the Saints are paying an underdog sum of $3.75 to win that one. But the Pies weren’t given a look in against the Eagles last week in Perth and we know how that turned out — 76 to 75. Ever better news: St.Kilda also know how to beat Richmond and Port Adelaide and that should give Hardwick and Hinkley some sleepless nights.
Ratten’s mob are two wins away from a Grand Final, something they haven’t done since 2010, but win or lose St.Kilda have arrived at a new era of finals football. Confidence is everything and the Saints have it, and have shown it in large doses this year. The Saints will need to stop Richmond’s manic pressure and repeat inside 50 entries and find more avenues to goal, like they did last time. It’s never too late to get on board the Saints bandwagon. Even cows are on it.
