Ratts gets 2 year extension - email from President

[amusingname]

Just hit the inbox

[saynta]

Fantastic

[amusingname]

interesting that he says that they expect debt to be halved this year.

[amusingname]

Dear .......,

I hope this note finds you well.

It is my pleasure to be writing to you this morning to confirm that the club has finalised a two-year contract extension for Brett Ratten as Senior Coach of our AFL team.

As the leader of our men’s program, Brett has secured significant buy-in from his fellow coaches, staff and players alike. In addition to his strong football IQ, our players appreciate his ability to develop strong relationships, which he uses as a foundation to challenge each individual to get better and to deliver their role for the team. This balance, and the ability to unite his coaches, players and staff in a relentless quest for excellence makes Brett the best person to lead us towards our much longed-for second premiership.

We have seen Brett adapt and grow since assuming the position of Senior Coach ahead of the 2020 season. His re-entry into the senior coaching chair has not been easy, tackling two years of COVID interruptions, hub life and the unavailability of players and staff through injury and illness. However, his focus on the continual improvement of not only our players, but his fellow staff and himself has been ever-present.

Over the past four years, changes to our men’s football program have been steady and purposeful. This focus on growth and sustained development will remain at the core of our decision making, now bolstered by a senior coach three years into his journey with the club.

We will continue to be bold and aggressive in our list management decisions via all avenues available to us – trade, free agency and the Draft. In this pursuit, we have brought in some talented players from other clubs – Howard, Hill, Butler, Jones, Crouch and Higgins, to name a few – and look to have found some emerging talent in last year’s Draft – Wanganeen-Milera, Windhager and Owens.

We have invested in our off-field personnel - most recently Damian Carroll as Head of Development, Nick Walsh as Head of Conditioning and Corey Enright as a Senior Assistant Coach - to reinforce the development and levels of professionalism we require. We want our leaders to drive standards on and off the field, making sure our opponents know that every time they face the Saints, they have their work cut out for them.

Our club hasn’t always been in a position to completely focus on and fully invest in football for myriad of reasons. That is no longer the case. Our record membership and sponsorship levels have strengthened our off-field position, and by the end of the year we expect to have halved the club’s historical debt. This all coincides with the establishment of the Danny Frawley Centre back at our spiritual home of Moorabbin at RSEA Park.

We must be unrelenting and embrace each day as a chance to improve. Brett exemplifies this urgency daily, not only through his coaching, but through the transparent and authentic way he draws the best out of those around him. His genuine belief and deep understanding of where we all want this club to go is clear in each decision he makes, and even more so by the way he brings others along with him.

We know this journey won’t be linear. There will be bumps along the way – like our disappointing performances against Essendon and Sydney recently. There will be times when it seems too hard. There will be instances where others will doubt us and our decisions. But, we believe that we are on the right path and with the right people in the key roles to drive this club forward.

Brett and his family embody the spirit of the Saints, and I am proud to have him leading us forward.

Go Saints.

Andrew Bassat

[Saintmike65]

We shouldn’t have a problem with Ratten getting an extension, however Lade and McGlyn continuing would not be smart.

[Vortex]

Now we need to have some success at this year's trade table which arguably will be the most important in the clubs recent history.

[SunnyErnie]

This decision best illustrates why we have been the worst performing club in the history of the game and the laughingstock of the entire competition. Ratts took over from Richo when we were a mid table team. Three years later we are still a mid table team, so what do we do, we reward Ratts with a contract extension.

[skeptic]

Now we need to have some success at this year's trade table which arguably will be the most important in the clubs recent history.

Agree with this wholeheartedly

It’s interesting because this time draws parallels with 2017 (I think).

It was when we had just beat the heck out of Richmond and were a game inside the 8 with 5 or so to go, and seemingly a bunch of certainties in front of us.

Unfortunately we had a really bad loss to Essendon the following week and dropped 4/5 on the way home to miss out.

Whilst disappointing, I actually felt pretty optimistic about the coach and the list at that point.

My impression was that we were doing a lot of good things, had a reasonable list… and were a few quality trades and tweaks to the game plan away from being a contender.

Unfortunately we didn’t get it done and fell away

It’s kind of how I feel now…
Am not particularly in or out on Ratten. On the one hand I love what he’s done with the list, his leadership and demeanour and at times we’ve played and sustained really good football.

On the flip side, the list has a few holes/needs, most prominently another game winner or 2… and there’s just some operational decision making that I struggle to understand at times (which comes with not knowing all the info).

It feels like if we nail this draft, pick up an Amon and De Goey as FAs or some other elite talent… and iron out other parts of our game, we really should be pushing in 2023.

Likewise if we fluff it… or those guys come in and are busts… that’s going to result in a big turnover of the list as a bunch of players will have pbly done their dashes

I don’t mind a 2 year extension as opposed to a 3.

[asiu]

7th june

some (insert descriptive reverence here) -ish dude posted the following

prediction : they'll sign him for 3 years in 4 weeks

looks like our month of shite shite
cost him a year

thats fair

[Ghost Like]

Now we need to have some success at this year's trade table which arguably will be the most important in the clubs recent history.

Interesting that when praising the players brought in from other clubs, one expensive one was missing.

Agree that Lade & McGlynn should be moved on if only to give clear air in the separation from the Richo era & secure fresh IP.

[saynta]

This decision best illustrates why we have been the worst performing club in the history of the game and the laughingstock of the entire competition. Ratts took over from Richo when we were a mid table team. Three years later we are still a mid table team, so what do we do, we reward Ratts with a contract extension.

[SunnyErnie]

This decision best illustrates why we have been the worst performing club in the history of the game and the laughingstock of the entire competition. Ratts took over from Richo when we were a mid table team. Three years later we are still a mid table team, so what do we do, we reward Ratts with a contract extension.

Typical pathetic response...

[CURLY]

This decision best illustrates why we have been the worst performing club in the history of the game and the laughingstock of the entire competition. Ratts took over from Richo when we were a mid table team. Three years later we are still a mid table team, so what do we do, we reward Ratts with a contract extension.

You have no clue.

[saynta]

This decision best illustrates why we have been the worst performing club in the history of the game and the laughingstock of the entire competition. Ratts took over from Richo when we were a mid table team. Three years later we are still a mid table team, so what do we do, we reward Ratts with a contract extension.

Typical pathetic response...

As was your pathetic post.

As curly correctly stated you don't have a clue.

[asiu]

ernie

ffs

the decision makers have moved forward


that 'aspect' of perception ... has been considered
in the TOTAL process of executing their plan /processes

on which they live 'n die


how does your sniping away in the background help ?

[Yorkeys]

This decision best illustrates why we have been the worst performing club in the history of the game and the laughingstock of the entire competition. Ratts took over from Richo when we were a mid table team. Three years later we are still a mid table team, so what do we do, we reward Ratts with a contract extension.

Do you know what a (sic) laughingstock is?
Carlton aren't laughing, Freo, Geelong, Richmond, Adelaide are not laughing.......
Do you know the composition of the entire competition?
You statement is inaccurate.
Brett Ratten is a respected senior coach with an impressive CV. Renewing his contract doesn't seem to deserve your inaccurate hyperbole.
Two additional years seems a fair extension to see whether he can take the team into finals, would have given him a reasonable crack at it.
It could be read as this and next year to get top 8 results and if so great, otherwise one clear full year more and then one transition/last chance year, that might not go full term.
But we all see the world differently.

[Impatient Sainter]

Congrats to Ratts, but I pray the club have made the right decision?

We all had an inclination it had been done over the break, I still question the timing? All Ratts has to do now to justify his signing is keep winning for the remainder of the year? It looks like we have room to drop 1 game and still play finals, so the pressure will be on. If we play finals after losing games to inept coaching throughout the year, he would have gone some where to redeeming himself.

Either way we still need to improve our list, before we can consistently play the footy of a top 4 side.

[cwrcyn]

Happy with this contract extension.

For those attacking it, what is the basis of your criticism?

Because we're tracking according to the quality of our playing list? How is this a bad thing?

Because we have a harmonious coaching panel, administration, and playing group? How is this a bad thing?

Or because the messiah, Clarko, is out there waiting to coach our club. Fantasy

Because Grant Thomas said so? Pfft

[Beno88]

Good news, although I hate this bit...

"We know this journey won’t be linear. There will be bumps along the way – like our disappointing performances against Essendon and Sydney recently. There will be times when it seems too hard. There will be instances where others will doubt us and our decisions."

Why can't this be linear? Why will there be reason for others to doubt us? Why will there be times where it seems too hard?

If we're going to win that elusive second flag, we need consistency, we need to stop the form slumps, we need to erase the effortless performances. You don't just accept them because "there will be bumps along the way". We are sick of performances like that against Essendon & Sydney - they can't be tolerated, and they especially can't be accepted in advance!

Would Geelong, Richmond, Brisbane, Melbourne, etc. write to their members saying "we might get flogged here and there in the coming years"?

[shanegrambeau]

https://www.afl.com.au/news/795109/ratt ... -extension

[asiu]

... they can't be tolerated, and they especially can't be accepted in advance!

nice work

[asiu]

powerful

very true.

[shanegrambeau]

I have no idea if this is good or bad...me thinks good, I like Ratts, and like the general direction.

But, boy, why not wait until seasons end?

The decision now suggests to me (with NO knowledge other than my peanut intuition)
1) Decision was made a month ago
2) Could not announce due to shocking losses that no one can explain away - I mean really horrible losses
3) We get a win against the tide, and a crack of light appears in which the announcement can be made
4) More losses are feared to be nigh, and we had better do it now
5) Ratt's managers and the footy dep't are in cohoots and it is about their agendas, as individuals

We witnessed the Richo appointment thing in '17.
we watched what followed.

Anyhow, have a winny!

And have a win please...!

Against Freo!

Go Saints.

[diddley]

interesting that he says that they expect debt to be halved this year.

Yeah. I was interested in the wording too.
“Historical debt”
Does this mean the debt of a couple of years ago when it was $14-ish million?
Or the $10-ish million of late?
If we can be back to $5-7 million we would be in a much better position I have seen for a long time. Love to get back to $0 soon. That would take the heat off the club, particularly with the Tassie proposal.

[st sandy]

Great decision
Congrats to Ratts, Board & all involved.

"Stability is Gold"
(Great decision from our club who for a lot of its 150 year history has been unstable)