00:00What about the Saints? Speaking of the path, they're on the right path. The Saints are sinners at the moment.
00:03They were sinners on Friday night against the Hawks. That was a disastrous half of footy. That was the worst
00:08half of footy for the weekend from St Kilda against Hawthorne. Didn't kick a goal, Steve-O, in the first
00:13half. This is a club that's invested heavily in their list and I know they've got some injury problems like
00:17just about every other team in the competition outside your Blues. But they are nowhere at the moment. The Saints,
00:23they're a bang average team. We heard Craig McCray talking about Collingham being pretty bang average across the weekend.
00:28Well, St Kilda, a bang average.
00:31It's kind of stuck in a dead zone, St Kilda, at the moment in that sort of 8-13 mode
00:36and they can't really get away from it. They're stuck in the middle of the comp. Zero goals. Ross Lyon,
00:41I think, sort of tried to spin things. He's been weird in the presses, Ross.
00:44He's had a few moments the last couple of weeks.
00:45He's gone very straight, very morbid. We need the old Ross back. He's trying to say that every side's had
00:50a bad half and we're really impressed with the second half. I take no notice whatsoever of the second half
00:55of footy. That was just pure junk time.
00:57Hawthorne started to fiddle around. St Kilda got a couple of cheap free kicks that weren't there. They got on
01:02a bit of a roll. They tried Silvani forward, which was fair enough.
01:05It worked well.
01:06There wasn't a lot else to like from St Kilda. You couldn't find a single positive out of it, really.
01:11No, no. It was a horrible half of footy. And this is the thing with St Kilda. Where do they
01:15go? What can they do to become a better football team?
01:18Because they're, what are they at the moment? Five and seven with a percentage of 102. So that pretty much
01:22gives you a bang average, less than bang average from a wins and losses perspective.
01:26They needed to come in. They needed to be a wildcard round team at least this year, possibly a top
01:30six.
01:31I think when we go back to our preseason predictions, lots of people would have had them in the top
01:35six, rocketing into top six calculation to be a contender with what they did in the offseason.
01:40It hasn't been able to come through. Max King, they would have planned for him. We haven't seen him at
01:46all through the seniors in the AFL this year.
01:49He's a player that you almost can't plan for these days. He's a bonus player if you get access to
01:54him at some stage.
01:54But you can't be saying, oh, yeah, but Max King's still going to come back. Well, does he? Because we
01:58haven't quite seen him in years.
02:00Yeah, we haven't seen it for that long. Of course, it's nas or bust in many ways.
02:03Yeah.
02:04It was always going to be hard for Nas, I think, to back up after the big contract.
02:07But you've got to be more than that, don't you? You've got to be more than just that one player.
02:10Yeah. And, you know, they're playing a bit banged up. Jack McRae, who I love at the Dogs, he's running
02:16around.
02:16Do they need to maybe squirt him out of the side and bring in some more pace?
02:21They just need a bit more flair, obviously, through there. Nas will help. And Wilson could be leaving, too.
02:26I mean, he could get squeezed out.
02:28They cannot afford for that to happen. Darcy Wilson has to stay at that footy club if they're finished.
02:31Yeah, but they've all gone chips in on Dakine.
02:33Oh, yeah, I know.
02:33And Silvani. Silvani's been a good pickup at the others.
02:36And Philippou's getting a million bucks a year for the next two years, so the report stays.
02:40So Darcy Wilson's sitting there going, hang on a second, I'm pretty good at this.
02:42Yeah. And Windhager got a really good deal as well.
02:47And, you know, he hasn't been great this year, has he? Unless they're missing something.
02:50He hasn't lived up to expectations either.
02:52It would be a list management disaster if Securda lost Darcy Wilson. There's no doubt about it.
02:57He is a player that they have to use as one of the building blocks of any progress they're going
03:01to have in the years ahead.
03:02He absolutely has to be one of those players. So that kind of happened.
03:05And they've got Sydney this week.
03:07Sydney, the Giants and the Bulldogs, next three games for them.
03:10Sydney away, which won't be easy. The Giants at home, all of a sudden they're back on track.
03:14And the Bulldogs, your boys, who I think are a little bit bang average as well.
03:18Oh, I don't know. That was a good game Saturday night.
03:19At Marthal Stadium, both teams playing on the home deck.
03:21So it's a big three weeks for St Kilda.
03:22They've got to win two of the three there to stay alive.
03:25But again, half, and this is the value of the wild card, I'm not sure I like it, but if
03:29you're a team like St Kilda, you're still in there.
03:31I don't think they could make the top eight, but they could play a wild card.
03:34So, you know, that 12 wins sort of gettable.
03:36So it's keeping the teams alive a bit longer.
03:39We'll wait and see on this wild card round what happens when we get there.
03:43But I think you have to finish top six to be any chance of winning a flag this year.
03:47Basically, we've now got a final six.
03:49People say that we're rewarding mediocrity.
03:51Well, we're not.
03:52It's now a top six or bust because the wild card clubs are just there as fodder.
03:56You can't play five games in September and win.
03:58The premiership is effectively what you're saying, which will be a challenge.
04:01Spot on.
04:02Not too many teams have been able to win four outside the top four in recent years, although your Bulldogs
04:06did it.
04:07Of course, the Brisbane Lions did it as well.
04:09So that's to say, it's a wonder how Saints fans are feeling at the moment.
04:11There's a few around here at Zero Hanger HQ that are a little bit frustrated at times.
04:15I'm not even sure even our Saints man's in today.
04:16I think he's that flat.
04:17He's that upset he's not even in.
04:19But good morning to you, Nick, and people watching.
04:29We'll see you next time.
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