Marching in February

[Sanctorum]

Following article continues the positive reviews of what's happening at St Kilda, from today's Herald Sun:

"MARCHING IN FEBRUARY

Jon Ralph - Track Watch

Ross Lyon’s toughest critics paint him as a power-hungry, Bill Belichick-style figure who rules with an iron fist.

For all his successes, they point to his inability to build a premiership list, while worrying about an overly defensive game plan.

In a month where six-time Super Bowl-winning coach Belichick lost his power struggle with owner Robert Kraft, Lyon came out on top as St
Kilda moved on its CEO Simon Lethlean.

At St Kilda, the buck now very firmly stops with Lyon and his hand-chosen band of lieutenants.

And yet if Belichick was sacked in part over an abysmal drafting record this past decade, Lyon was a figure of tranquillity at Moorabbin at
Monday’s 90-minute training session.

In part, those good vibes can be put down to excellent availability, with only Dan Butler (ankle), Paddy Dow (knee) and Jack Hayes (knee) still in the rehab group of his best 25.

Max King is in full training and Tim Membrey is sound of body and mind after an impressive summer, even if Ben Paton left training favouring his shoulder after a tackling drill gone wrong.

But Lyon’s secret weapon for the critics was on show across the impressive Moorabbin surface.

As one senior Saints leader said: “We are building through the kids”.

THE NEXT WAVE

Lyon might have lost recruiters including Jarryd Roughead and Chris Toce as part of the summer toll but his off-field team have assembled another crop who have track watchers giddy in anticipation.

No.18 draft pick Darcy Wilson is as advertised – a run-all-day midfielder who set the standard by winning a November time trial.

On Friday, the club’s No.28 draft pick Lance Collard added his name to the queue with an electric second quarter including a four-bounce
run from defence and a huge nearly-there specky attempt.

Collard needs to put on muscle and stamina, but given Butler’s ongoing ankle issues his sparkling play in the intraclub was well timed.

On Monday, the clinical left foot of No.50 draft pick Hugo Garcia was on show as he broke lines with daring kicks, while second-year ruck-
forward Isaac Keeler has been repurposed in defence.

The No.44 pick battled with knee issues in his debut season but was tasked with taking Membrey in match simulation and at 198cm is one to watch.

St Kilda now has three full drafts worth of elite talent to build from the ground up.

Mattaes Phillipou is ready for serious midfield time. Add in Mitch Owens, Marcus Windhager, 22-year-old Liam Henry and there is a critical mass of kids coming through together.

Lyon rails against accusations he plays a low-scoring style but regardless he this year has an array of elite kicks (and elite runners) to allow his team to play an expansive attacking style if required. Think Brad Hill, Wilson, Henry, Mason Wood, Phillipou, Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera and potentially Garcia at times hitting up King, Membrey, Anthony Caminiti and Owens.

King’s first game was in round 10 last year while Membrey played rounds 6-10 half-fit before returning in round 22.

That pair alone will help out St Kilda’s early prospects even as pundits predict their 2023 finals return is short-lived.

ST KILDA’S NEW DEPTH

King is training without restriction and played two of three stanzas in Friday’s intraclub.

While Dow’s bone bruising will sideline him for another fortnight, Brad Crouch (knee) also returned to play two of the three periods on Friday.

Hunter Clark has done every session across summer while Zak Jones has been managed but is in great shape after only four 2023 games.

RECRUITING SHAKE-UP

St Kilda made official the signing of new recruiter Simon Dalrymple on Monday after the departures of Toce and Roughead.

Toce’s national recruiting manager role was made redundant, while Roughead has returned to Hawthorn.

Dalrymple helped build the Bulldogs 2016 premiership list before six years at Sydney, and will officially be the club’s talent identification
and player movement manager."