![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
"ST KILDA TO KICK ON by Jay Clark
They have already been dubbed likely sliders in 2024.
The popular theory is St Kilda caught the opposition off guard in 2023 by making finals but are set to come back to the pack next season.
Ross Lyon will love the cynical view from the outside, knowing the fuel it can add to the Saints’ fire.
Internally there is optimism around the growth from the likes of Mattaes Phillipou, Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, Mitch Owens, Max King and Marcus Windhager, plus new faces Liam Henry and Paddy Dow, that will help inject some midfield quality.
Lyon and his coaches will set the right tone, ensuring no player is comfortable after a strong 2023.
The list still lacks star power, but as Ange Postecoglou keeps saying at Tottenham in the English Premier League, chemistry, commitment and discipline count for more than big names on your team sheet.
Under Lyon, you know the Saints will give everything they have – but will it be enough?
What happened in 2023?
The new era dawned at Moorabbin as Lyon instilled a hard-running midfield ethos and new defensive system that choked the opposition.
They won eight of their first 12 games to lay the foundation for a finals berth even without Max King, who hurt his bung shoulder pre-season. Jack Hayes went down as well, and they pulled Anthony Caminiti from the clouds, replacing his waiter’s apron from his family’s restaurant with the red, white and black jumper.
The small forwards put enough of a score on and kids such as Owens and Wanganeen-Milera came on in a big way.
Ticks everywhere.
But Tim Membrey pulled out the morning of the first final and a slick GWS midfield outfit took care of business in the elimination final.
It was a reminder that there is still a decent gap to the top teams – but there is a vision and a new level of consistency driving the Saints.
Where do they finish in 2024?
Rebuilds aren’t completed in 12 months, and the reality is Lyon and Stephen Silvagni knew the list required some big changes to recalibrate the salary cap.
They now have some play space to make some moves.
The spine will be a key focus next season.
Henry adds class, Dow gives them some burst in the middle and if King can play a full season, he has the potential to kick 60 goals and challenge for the Coleman Medal.
But is he hungry enough? Does he have the durability? The accuracy in front of goal? It is a huge season for the full-forward who the Saints need to become an A-grader.
The midfield has plenty of workhorses but is still in a transition phase as Owens and Phillipou look to step up alongside Seb Ross, Brad Crouch and Jack Steele.
Adelaide, the Western Bulldogs and Gold Coast, in particular, will be desperate to take the Saints’ spot in the eight this year.
If Lyon can keep them in the finals (and win 13 games) for a second-straight year, it would be a super effort.
Biggest improver in 2024?
Phillipou is the one. The big-bodied midfield-forward has special traits and can rise up to pluck a mark, or spin out of a pack to lob a goal on the run.
But a long season caught up with him last year as the top-10 pick rounded out the campaign in quiet fashion, averaging nine touches in his last five games.
As his fitness builds – and he has shone on the track so far this pre-season – Phillipou will be given greater responsibilities to lead this new era at St Kilda.
But Lyon will make him earn it with hard work at training and consistent efforts in games.
Phillipou has a huge upside in his game and the Saints need him to become a legitimate star after he gets 100 to 150 games under his belt.
Essendon took Elijah Tsatas over Phillipou at pick five in the 2022 draft, but it was a close call.
Matthew Allison, Josh Battle, Dan Butler, Ryan Byrnes, Liam Stocker, Jimmy Webster, Zak Jones, Tom Campbell, Jack Hayes, Max Heath, Oli Hotton, Dougal Howard, Isaac Keeler, Angus McLennan, James van Es, Mattaes Phillipou, Jimmy Webster, Mason Wood, Tim Membrey, Seb Ross, Ben Paton and Cooper Sharman."
Clark raises a couple of interesting points. Like many supporters, including myself, he questions Max King's "hunger, durability and accuracy in front of goals". There's no doubt that if King is going to be an elite key forward he needs to develop a tank like Nick Riewoldt, and if the latter doesn't go back to the US he could do the club no greater service than to mentor the successor to his #12 guernsey to do exaxtly that in the pre-season.
It's good to know that Clark confirms what supporters have been saying, that Mattaes Phillipou is a potential future star.