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ST KILDA coach Alan Richardson says the team must eliminate the wild swings in form which cost it a finals berth last season.
Richardson said the Saints had enough talent to break their six-year finals drought in 2017, but first had to address the lapses which saw the club lose seven games by more than 30 points last season.
The Saints were hammered by more than 10 goals on three occasions, including heavy defeats from finalists West Coast (103 points), Adelaide (88) and Sydney (70).
Richardson praised the recruiting which had helped complete one of the toughest list rebuilds in footy, transforming the oldest list in the competition in 2012 back into one of the league’s most exciting young outfits in five national drafts
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According to Champion Data, Richardson’s men will tackle the AFL’s third-toughest fixture in 2017, only a year after it was handed the league’s easiest run.
They finished ninth, missing finals only by percentage last season.
Richardson said the Saints were drilling down on players’ attitudes and commitment towards training over preseason as part of their bid to become a more consistent outfit this year, under a revamped leadership group led by new skipper Jarryn Geary and fresh faces Seb Ross, Dylan Roberton and Josh Bruce.
Richardson said the response from the players on the track over summer had been pleasing.
“We want to make our people proud of the way we perform, not just every now and again, and that is probably a little bit harsh,” he said.
This is reflected in the change of leadership group to mid-experienced players. We've been relying a fair bit on the aging vets and playing talented babies a bit hence the up and down. Consistency comes from lots of meat and potatoes players hitting the 23-28 age, 75+ game zone. They are the guys who now need to grab the reins firmly and take responsibility particularly when the s*** hits the fan.
When the momentum has swung against us, they need to find ways to neutralise things until we get some mojo back. Win contested ball, make tackles, make a big play, get a goal against play, get niggly, lock it in, don't let the forwards mark, keep possession etc. You can't let a little fire get out of control - stomp it down early. You control them, or they control you.
Ross, Newnes, Carlisle, Savage, Weller, Bruce, Webster, Hickey, Robbo, Members et al, all need to show they can run the show all game, not just when fired up on in the zone or when everyone else is up and firing. And Bilings, Dunny, Acres, Mckenzie, Paddy etc need to show they are genuine AFL level, playing tough and hard all game.
