St Kilda’s (non) development program …

[Saintmatt]

no surprise here..you only have to look at players we have given to other clubs and watch their rapid improvement.

Banger would be a great development coach.

Like who, Rhys Stanley??
Jack Newnes?

McEvoy comes to mind. Bruce seems to be improving and you are on the money with Stanley, much better than when he was with us, Hickey goes ok too.

The bloke who excellent as much as any - over a long, consistent period - was Tom Lynch at Adelaide.

[Saintmatt]

It's an issue effected by COVID hence the obvious need to make adjustments to meet a unique situation. I'm guessing most clubs are doing the same as it has been very challenging to do any type of development work during COVID and possibly will not only remain that way for a couple more years but the disruption due to COVID could have a lasting effect on development long after the Pandemic is over meaning some careers are going to be cut short and some career may never launch or reach full potential.

I don't think most clubs are in that situation at all. But we certainly are as it turns out. Direct comparison is Melbourne and Mark Williams (https://www.melbournefc.com.au/teams/af ... k-williams). They hire him in December 2020 with the explicit instruction to tidy up their kicking skills - in particular, Oliver and Langdon.

It absolutely astounds me that we have a guy - one guy!!! - PART TIME - who's been responsible for development of the players we recruit and draft. Jesus H Christ. I've long thought that the players we draft who turn out pretty good footballers almost do it in spite of their environment. And here we are.

I'd be interested to know how the other clubs are developing players because you'd think due to the feeder comps being shut down for most of the past 2 years that all clubs are in similar situations.

It's a good question but, re: development what I'm referring to is pure skill acquisition. Not necessarily game style etc which is pretty much only be able to be taught through real live matches and/or match sim (i.e. VFL/SANFL/WAFL) but moreso improvement in kicking, handballing, running technique, leading patterns, decision making. None of that needs playing time in a feeder comp - that's just intensive 1-on-1 training and mentoring.

I've always thought it completely odd that someone like Stewart Leowe - who was as bad a kick as ever walked into a footy club - transformed himself through expert guidance from Peter Hudson and endless hours of hard, dedicated practice - became a very reliable shot from pretty much anywhere inside 45m. And yet - in 8+ years - players like Seb Ross and Dunstan (add Geary, Sam Gilbert too) are still precisely the same shith0use standard a kick as when they first started. FFS - it's a mechanical action that can be trained in. So - ether the players have no aptitude (unlikely); are uncoachable (maybe); or haven't been properly tutored by experts on how to acquire that skill. That why I compare us to Melbourne - they have a full time man in Chocko; and we have part-time Ben McG.

So, my point is - surely there aren't other clubs who've paid such scant disregard to development as we have. I mean - I think we've largely had a very unskillful list for a very long time (post Lenny/Joey/S Fisher). Even Jack Steven - our best player - was a poor kick who remained so for all of his career. And now we know why.

[Life Long Saint]

no surprise here..you only have to look at players we have given to other clubs and watch their rapid improvement.

Banger would be a great development coach.

Like who, Rhys Stanley??
Jack Newnes?

McEvoy comes to mind. Bruce seems to be improving and you are on the money with Stanley, much better than when he was with us, Hickey goes ok too.

McEvoy was good before he left us to go to the Hawks.
Bruce was also good before he left us. His 2020 season was terrible - except against North.
Stanley is neither better, nor worse. Geelong are crying out for a good ruckman and Stanley can't even cement a spot ahead of Blicsavs or Ratagolea!
Hickey is OK but wasn't at West Coast. Is their player development worse than ours?
Given a good run at it as the #1 ruckman is helping him.

[realdeal]

no surprise here..you only have to look at players we have given to other clubs and watch their rapid improvement.

Banger would be a great development coach.

Like who, Rhys Stanley??
Jack Newnes?

McEvoy comes to mind. Bruce seems to be improving and you are on the money with Stanley, much better than when he was with us, Hickey goes ok too.

McEvoy was good before he left us to go to the Hawks.
Bruce was also good before he left us. His 2020 season was terrible - except against North.
Stanley is neither better, nor worse. Geelong are crying out for a good ruckman and Stanley can't even cement a spot ahead of Blicsavs or Ratagolea!
Hickey is OK but wasn't at West Coast. Is their player development worse than ours?
Given a good run at it as the #1 ruckman is helping him.

Sounds about right.
Stanley is exactly the same player he was with us, just older. 1 good game, 4 bad games, 2 weeks injured, 1 good game. Repeat.

[Impatient Sainter]

This. Read it and weep. https://www.afl.com.au/news/676614/sain ... estructure

Wow. Absolutely gobsmacked. FFS - we’re only now just getting ‘round to prioritising development.

I feel sick after reading that. How goddamn amateur hour we are at Moorabbin. And we wonder why the likes of Battle, Coffield, Billings, Dunstan etc just stagnate and become ordinary versions of themselves.

Compare that to Sydney and their academy or, Melbourne getting Chocko in to teach their players how to kick properly. Fu#k. Get in the bin St Kilda - you’ve been taking our money under the false pretence of running a professional sporting organisation.

No one could have planned for the last two VFL seasons destroyed by Covid. A great percentage of development is done during and after players compete in games. How do you suggest the club was meant to fill those gaps with Melbournes lock downs? However I acknowledge that the 1 on 1 development has needed work for sometime, but it seems to be something the club hasnt put a high priority on.

Obviously we then have the cap on the Football Dept and people locked into contracts, doesnt allow for a lot of flexibility. They have identified the weakness and are doing something about it, I applaud Ratten's honesty?

[SAINT-LEE]

Total fluff about nothing....we have a development coach.

Hell....to be with you we grabbed one of the best development coaches in the AFL at the time and made him a senior coach and we still crapped out.

Richardson was regarded by most as the man when it came to ability in developing youth. But instead of hiring him as a head of football or head of development we gave a run at senior.

I've crapped on for years that we need Choco or the like to develop our players....no one including me cares anymore.