Digging deep how the Saints rolled the sleeves up to revive their season

St Kilda spent the first week of their bye in damage control.

They were 13th on the ladder after 13 rounds, with four of their eight losses by margins of nine goals or more.

Back in favour: St Kilda midfielder Luke Dunstan.Credit:Getty Images

Immediately before the bye they had consecutive narrow losses, kicking themselves out of a win against Sydney, before capitulating to Adelaide with an indefensible performance in Cairns that led to a quiet flight home.

That sad state of affairs was compounded when the club sparked a public debate on whether two senior players, Seb Ross and Tim Membrey, should have missed the match against Adelaide to be alongside their newborns and partners, and were then too slow to defend the players’ personal calls that many in the community supported.

Ben Long’s Saints have been on a roll.Credit:Getty Images

Things became so hot that club president Andrew Bassat had to issue a letter pleading for upset members to keep the faith, with eyebrows raised when he wrote they never thought their tightly sealed premiership window would budge open until 2022.

Then, against all expectations, they started winning.

If they win against Port Adelaide they will spend the night inside the eight after a remarkable rebound in which they have defeated Richmond, Collingwood, and the Brisbane Lions in successive weeks.

It’s clear the Saints did not waste the crisis, recognising that, despite having a compliant and disciplined group, their training standards and defensive intent were not at the level of genuine premiership contenders.

The Saints had to find the kink in their hose and straighten it out quickly to close that gap.

“We just cut it right back and had some really hard conversations about what we wanted to do as a team - win, lose or draw - those conversations were the critical part ... they have been very healthy for us,” coach Brett Ratten said.

“Our training performances and standards have gone up a level or two, and I think that has translated to game day.”

The return of Membrey and Ross - who handled themselves with class post-controversy - helped, but a multitude of factors also led to the improved showing.

The most critical was the return of Rowan Marshall to share ruck duties with the evergreen centre-bounce specialist Paddy Ryder.

It bolstered the area where the Saints have an edge on the rest of the competition and lent support inside 50 to young star Max King and Membrey, stretching defences and giving midfielders options.

Since Ryder joined the Saints at the start of 2020, the effect the pair have on results is stark, with the club winning 14 of 20 games with the pair in the team and just five of 15 matches with one or both missing.

Their pairing reversed an unwelcome trend that emerged in the bad losses when the opposition just walked the ball out of the front of stoppages.

Since round 13, the Saints have conceded just 47 inside 50s per game (third ranking in the AFL), a drop from 53.7 (12th) a match before then.

“They [Ryder and Marshall] give our midfield confidence to attack and be proactive in there rather than being reactive,” Ratten said.

Ryder wants to play on next season but the Saints know that, despite his unbelievable form at 33, he is not going to be around forever. How they cover his departure to retain that competitive edge at a key juncture in their rebuild is a critical question on the club’s horizon.

Right now Ratten doesn’t give much thought to whether they are over-reliant on Ryder.

“That would be like asking Melbourne [what would happen] if they didn’t have Max Gawn,” Ratten said.

That shift allowed reliable players such as Dougal Howard and Callum Wilkie to provide the direction they knew was required of a generally quiet and relatively inexperienced group depleted by injuries to Jarryn Geary and Ben Paton.

The results post-bye are remarkable as St Kilda moved from 15th to first for points against, conceding points from turnovers and percentage of opposition goals from inside 50s (repelling almost twice as many entries before a goal was scored).

Although every club has injuries. The Saints lost key players on each line but eventually opportunity began to revive the depth players such as Luke Dunstan, Jimmy Webster and Dan McKenzie, who took their opportunities, and unearth untried talents such as Tom Highmore, Ryan Byrnes and Leo Connolly who have been excellent since the bye.

Dunstan has received 22 coaches votes in the past three matches, with Ratten praising his resilience and attitude.

All of sudden the Saints are moving close to having selection pressure, something absent from the side for some time, with Dan Hannebery and James Frawley two VFL games away from being in the mix again.

They are under no illusions as to where they are at, however. Ratten understands that finals remain a tough ask this season, with five of their remaining six matches against teams in the eight.

But the trend is upwards, and they will head to Perth after the Port Adelaide game with a full complement of players and a reminder of what values on and off the field are important after the bye drama.

“We have always supported the players. Our players are the most important thing at our footy club ... at our footy club, family is first,” Ratten said.

Win, lose, or draw the Saints are in a better spot.

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Peter Ryan is a sports reporter with The Age covering AFL, horse racing and other sports.

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