News 2022 St Kilda Media Thread
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PostmanBish
Club Legend
- Sep 6, 2019
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Fair to say that "The Accountant" balances our books, and gives his opponent a proper forensic auditMy man Wilkie.
Cal the bounty hunter: Underrated Saint taking scalps week after week
Rarely beaten in a one-on-one, Callum Wilkie might be the League's most underrated playerwww.afl.com.au
View attachment 1403471
He’s absolutely pocketed Tex Walker in the past, I wonder if he’ll do so again in 3 days time? Also is Wilkie one of those players now that gets called underrated so often that he’s almost getting the recognition he deserves?
Either way, the man’s a jet.
It'd be a lot of fun to watch one of these. Great show. Fills the hole the rest of the media ignores.
I think he's fine as a rebounder, its just that he always gets a lockdown role.
Dr Spaceman
Brownlow Medallist
Free-to-air threepeat locked in
The latest fixture update has been released and it’s a free-to-air threepeat for Saints fans.
PostmanBish
Club Legend
- Sep 6, 2019
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Free-to-air threepeat locked in
The latest fixture update has been released and it’s a free-to-air threepeat for Saints fans.www.saints.com.au
If we have a good few weeks now, that'll be some absolute blockbusters to try and lock in a top-4 spot, while absolutely scaring the crap out of the fans by trying to $h1t the bed in primetime
goodie23
Tragic Saint
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At least they're Friday and Saturday nights which gives us time to sleep it offIf we have a good few weeks now, that'll be some absolute blockbusters to try and lock in a top-4 spot, while absolutely scaring the crap out of the fans by trying to $h1t the bed in primetime
PostmanBish
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... and here I am being basically teetotal for the year ... SIGH
sammm
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Can anyone get this article?
thewest.com.au
Unsung Saint sings coach’s praises as St Kilda rises
There aren’t many more reliable players at St Kilda than defender Callum Wilkie but he says the key to the club’s success owes to a change of priorities.
thewest.com.au
sammm
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And this
thewest.com.au
Social media pain: Saint reveals toll of form struggles
There were high expectations placed on Brad Hill, and he struggled in his first two years at Moorabbin. He opens up on the impact it had on him.
thewest.com.au
sammm
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Indigenous round, from the inside out
For an Indigenous player, the Indigenous round is showing respect to all players, from the famous to the less so, who made the path easier for those that followed.
- Oct 2, 2010
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And this
Social media pain: Saint reveals toll of form struggles
There were high expectations placed on Brad Hill, and he struggled in his first two years at Moorabbin. He opens up on the impact it had on him.
St Kilda star Bradley Hill on 200 games, overcoming criticism of his form and how becoming a father has shaped him
There were high expectations placed on Brad Hill, and he struggled in his first two years at Moorabbin. He opens up on the impact it had on him.With his “odd pair” Great Dane and French bulldog in tow, Bradley Hill packed up the car and set off for the four-day trip across the Nullarbor from Perth to Melbourne.
His Great Dane, Harry, was too big to travel on the plane and, besides, he didn’t like the thought of putting his canine best friends in the storage hold for the flight.
“They are my odd pair,” Hill said.
“The big fella was too big for the plane and I didn’t want to chuck them underneath on the plane either.
“My dogs are like, I see them as my kids almost …. so I took the four day drive instead.”
The epic trip – that wouldn’t have been out of place in a Hollywood script – marked the beginning of a new journey for Hill at St Kilda, his third AFL club.
Like the size of his Great Dane, Hill arrived at Moorabbin from Fremantle with some big expectations.
A triple premiership Hawk and Fremantle best and fairest, Hill was the headline act in a St Kilda shopping spree during the 2019 trade period.
Joining the Saints alongside Dan Butler, Dougal Howard, Zak Jones and his cousin Paddy Ryder, the acquisition of the star wingman was seen as a key one with his elite ball use and running ability.
But Hill is the first to admit his first two seasons at the Saints didn’t deliver what he had hoped and he struggled with the spotlight on his form.
He averaged 15 disposals a match in a Covid-marred opening season in the red, white and black when shortened quarters played against his running strengths.
Hill’s form was in the gun during a 2-4 start to the year for the Saints last season when there were calls for the big-money star to be dropped.
Then there was the switch to an unfamiliar halfback role from his wing position last year as coach Brett Ratten searched for a way to recapture his best form.
But the biggest issue for Hill was the noise. The outside noise that he couldn’t block out.
It got to the point where he wasn’t enjoying his football and sometimes felt he didn’t even want to go to the club.
“I definitely struggled a little bit early on,” Hill said at Moorabbin this week.
“Probably most of last year was the toughest and then I probably was listening to the outside noise a bit too much and it probably affected me and my footy and everything.
“I was probably not enjoying it. I even said to ‘Ratts’ there were some days I didn’t even want to come to the club, I wasn’t really enjoying it that much.
“There were times where I was a bit over it and probably letting that outside noise get to me and probably affected me a little bit.”
Hill said he confided in Ryder, but he should have spoken up more about what impact the spotlight on his form struggles had on him.
“With Paddy I did, but probably (other) people at the club I didn’t really speak to,” Hill said.
“I just kept it to myself which was probably worse when I look back on it. I probably didn’t let anyone know.”
In the end, Hill had a choice: let the outside noise consume him and his form, or find a way to shut it down.
He conceded social media had played a big part in that.
“To be honest it was probably just social media, just unfollowing or muting those sorts of channels that would have AFL stuff on there and just not listening to any of that and just not seeing it probably helped,” Hill said.
“I would look at stuff people were saying about me and I read comments and let that affect you.
“Whereas I don’t know those people writing comments (about me) so I shouldn’t really let that affect me.”
HAPPY PLACE
Now, more than two years into his journey at St Kilda, Hill is in a much happier place.He is enjoying his football again – and it’s showing as the 6-3, sixth-placed Saints flex their finals credentials.
The arrival of his five-month old daughter, Harriet, late last year with his fiancee, Samantha, has played no small part in this.
“Definitely this year, I am back to enjoying footy and always want to be here,” Hill said.
“I think having the little one has helped with that as well.
“Once my daughter came …. I probably looked at things differently. I just started being a bit happier and enjoying footy and wanting to be here.
“This year, I am really enjoying myself, really enjoying my footy and I am just happier now and us as a team playing better footy as well probably helps as well …. (there is) probably less pressure on me”.
Hill said becoming a father had changed his perspective on football.
“If you have a game where you don’t go that well or have a long day at training, you get back home and you have got your little daughter there and she is just smiling at you,” Hill said.
“You don’t think about anything else and you are just in the moment with her.“
On the field, Hill has been used in a half forward role this year in between stints at halfback.
The move delivered a career-high four goals in Round 4 against his former team Hawthorn. Before that match, he had only kicked five goals in two years for the Saints.
He is averaging an elite 20.4 disposals a game and Champion Data ranks his “money kick” second in the AFL for kicks retained inside 50 (66.7 per cent) and third for marks retained inside 50 (37.5 per cent).
Hill was unsure what his “perfect role” was at the Saints, but relished the switch forward.
“I probably found it the trickiest coming into this side and trying to find that right position for me to play, I still get changed around a little bit,” Hill said.
“Most of my career I have been a winger, so just playing wing and wing only.
“At the moment, I started at halfback and then had a big patch playing that half-forward role and then on the weekend I played in the backline as well.
“I don’t know what I will say my perfect role is. I will probably say one thing and then Ratts will be like, ‘Don’t you want to play here?!’
“At the moment I would probably say I enjoy that forward role more than the backline. I do enjoy playing in the backline as well but I feel like when I play that forward role I can get up high on the ground, use my run and get back going forward.”
MILESTONE MATCH
Hill will celebrate his 200th AFL game when the Saints play the Crows at Adelaide Oval on Saturday, fittingly in the Sir Doug Nicholls Indigenous round.“It’s a cool time to be having my 200th,” Hill said.
“At the start of the year I looked at when my 200th possibly could be and – if I didn’t miss any games – I saw that it fell on Indigenous round and I thought that was a pretty special moment so that’s something I am definitely looking forward to.
“Indigenous round is always a special one for me and to play my 200th is also pretty incredible.”
Hill is hoping to share the milestone moment with baby Harriet.
“She has been to maybe two games and then she will be coming this weekend as well so hopefully I can get her to run out with me,” Hill said.
“She is pretty chilled so I reckon she will be having a big smile when she is running out there.
“I am looking forward to that.”
Reflecting on his journey to 200 games, Hill conceded he was lucky to taste the success he did so early in his career as part of the Hawks’ premiership teams – and probably took it for granted as a young player.
“When I look back on it, I was this young kid thinking ‘How good is this?’ playing every year in finals or Grand Finals,” Hill said.
“I did enjoy those moments. I got into the team at the right time and it was a pretty special team. When I look back on it, I was pretty blessed and pretty lucky to be a part of that.
“Then I probably just expected that to always happen and then I went to Freo and the last couple of years at the Saints and probably haven’t had that success that I had early on.
“Then you realise that it is pretty hard to come across and to win Grand Finals.
“We are going all right this year so hopefully we can keep on the right path.”
Bullish about the Saints’ depth, fitness and youth, Hill is confident the team can again be finals challengers.
“Obviously, we know Melbourne are the number one team to catch but I feel if we keep playing the way we are going about it at the moment, we give ourselves the best chance to play finals,” Hill said.
“I feel like we have got a bit more depth now, there are people fighting for positions which is always a good thing you want at footy clubs and when you play finals you have that.
“Some of the younger boys that are coming through are taking that next step but we are playing some good footy as a team.
“I feel like in our second halves …. we are very fit. When we are close to another team, I feel like we have got that belief that we can run over teams.
“We are building the right way and we have got the younger blokes pushing us older boys along.
“I definitely feel like we are going down the right track with the way we are playing.”
- Oct 2, 2010
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Can anyone get this article?
Unsung Saint sings coach’s praises as St Kilda rises
There aren’t many more reliable players at St Kilda than defender Callum Wilkie but he says the key to the club’s success owes to a change of priorities.
St Kilda defender Callum Wilkie reveals how coach Brett Ratten is driving the Saints’ climb back up the ladder
There aren’t many more reliable players at St Kilda than defender Callum Wilkie but he says the key to the club’s success owes to a change of priorities.St Kilda defender Callum Wilkie believes the pain, but crucial learning, that came with the Saints’ bitterly disappointing 2021 campaign is key to their uprising this year.
And coach Brett Ratten is central to that.
Much has been made of St Kilda’s club-wide, mid-season meeting in Sydney last year, where some home truths were delivered from all directions.
Ratten has admitted since that he, too, wore feedback and set about adapting, with one aspect being a greater emphasis on defence, which suits self-made success story Wilkie.
The 50-year-old remains out of contract but the shaky ground the coach appeared to be on after the Saints’ round 1 defeat to Collingwood is a distant memory as his team sits sixth with a 6-3 record.
“He’s been awesome,” Wilkie said of Ratten.
“He’s got a lot of good people around him and he just understands the game well – but he also understands the players and has good relationships, which is such a big part of head coaching.
“I feel like you’ve got so many different roles within a footy club that managing people and trying to get the best out of them, which I feel like he does, is probably the biggest thing.
“He took a big lesson out of last year as well, in terms of what our pre-season looked like and the messages he gave to us in 2021, and he probably had to reflect on that and it’s given him real clarity on his coaching.”
Wilkie, who was elevated to the leadership group ahead of last season, is doing his bit to encourage his teammates to embrace a defensive ethos with his voice and actions.
It’s working, because only four clubs have conceded fewer points than St Kilda in 2022, after Ratten’s men were middle of the road in that category a year ago.
“I feel like we are a bloody good offensive team and we’ve got a lot of offensive threats and talent,” Wilkie said.
“That comes naturally to a lot of people, like ‘Gresh’ (Jade Gresham), Jack Higgins, Zak Jones – all these players – and I’m not saying they’re bad defensively but I feel like our mindset has changed to, ‘Defend first, win contest’.
“The media likes to talk about how Saints footy is good to watch when we’re up and about, but it’s built a lot on contest and defence.
“You look at the top teams that have won premierships in the last 10 years, and they’ve all been top five, top six defensive teams, so that’s what we’re aspiring to be.”
Wilkie has played all 72 games since St Kilda plucked him from the SANFL and an accounting firm in the 2018 rookie draft, and he’s finished seventh or better in the club champion award in each of his three seasons.
He is on track to keep the trend going after another excellent defensive display in the Saints’ defeat of Geelong on Saturday night, including blanketing Jeremy Cameron and winning 10 disposals in the third term.
Wilkie continues to sneak under the radar outside the club but he’s fine with that.
“I’m happy staying away from the limelight and being the underdog,” he said.
“I don’t have too many flashy qualities about me that the media likes to pump up. I just try to get my role done and help the team get the win.
“As long as the Saints are going well, that’s enough for me.”
- Oct 2, 2010
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'I can't sit still': Saints ball-magnet keeping busy on and off the field
Brad Crouch has a lot on his plate, but it's proving to be the perfect combination for his on-field success
George
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Reimagine Moorabbin
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You ripper!
Gavin Mitchell @ 23:27
One of my favourite Saints in the late 90's...probably remembered more for his late winner against the Eagles in 1998 than anything else but he was a cult hero.
4.11: "Ryding high" ft. Gavin Mitchell
Quickly and easily listen to Unpluggered for free!
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Gavin Mitchell @ 23:27
One of my favourite Saints in the late 90's...probably remembered more for his late winner against the Eagles in 1998 than anything else but he was a cult hero.
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Mitchell was hopeless
Amazing how people love a player who can take big contest marks and kick goals - Max King will make St Kilda the must watch club of the AFL.
Diehard Saint
Brownlow Medallist
Been partying with Fish?
Seriously we should sign him up as a member, he’s becoming our number one fan.
- Apr 24, 2021
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More positive than most of our bigfooty lot and less negative than us too
Was the story that Lethlean overruled the recruiters to go for Max instead of Rozee. Was that meant to be true? Maybe we could then forgive him for Hanners. Although personally I have always thought that was worth a punt.
I always remember a few years before the draft people were talking about the King twins , I never though we would get a chance to secure one - but thank god we did - he will in the end be the best player in the draft.
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