St Kilda's 2022 review: The Hope, the Hurt and the Clanger

St Kilda fans will be utterly disappointed with the 2022 season of their club, with so much hope and excitement building throughout the year.

With arguably one of the tougher draws heading into their campaign, the Saints opened their account in round two against Fremantle in Perth, as the week before they went down to Collingwood.

In a gusty win away from home, Brett Ratten's men could not be denied, despite starting the game poorly.

That victory kickstarted a five game winning streak, including victims Richmond, Hawthorn, Gold Coast and the Giants.

Sitting 5-1 after round six, the club started to get excited about their prospects, as Max King began taking the competition by storm, having kicked 17 goals and 17 behinds at that point.

A shock loss to Port Adelaide in Cairns by one solitary point followed by a demolition against the reigning premiers Melbourne, it seemed we were seeing the Saints of old.

Leading into the bye, St Kilda managed to flip the script, winning three on the trot, including Geelong by 10 points and sat fourth on the AFL ladder with an 8-3 record.

In typical and disappointing fashion, Ratten's side were not up to the task after the bye, going down to Brisbane, Essendon and Sydney, dropping from fourth to 10th in a matter of weeks.

With the season on the line, the Saints still presented themselves as genuine finals contenders, beating Carlton by 15 points in a Friday night epic and remaining in touch with the eight.

Frustrating for fans, the club went down to Fremantle and Western Bulldogs in consecutive weeks at Marvel Stadium.

Five rounds left to go in the season, the dream was still alive, as West Coast and Hawthorn fell to the St Kilda surge.

Sitting inside the eight by two points after round 20, the task to make finals looked dire and bleak, with matchups against Geelong, Brisbane and Sydney to come.

Punters had the Saints missing the finals and unfortunately for supporters were right.

St Kilda lost the last three games and missed September action for the second consecutive season.

One of the more discouraging campaigns in recent years, the club seems to be in no-man's land.

The Saints are in a spot where they're struggling to compete with the league's best, which is reflected by their three wins from 12 matches against this year's finalists but also not low enough (10th) to gain higher draft picks to secure the best young talent.

The Hope

Max King

Although St Kilda's finish to the 2022 season was disheartening, they should be excited by the prospect of their full forward.

Donning the club-famous number 12, Max King is starting to play like Nick Riewoldt, grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck.

King kicked 52 goals and 41 behinds from his 22 games, the first year he played all games, building that confidence and experience.

The 22-year-old was only goalless twice and slotted multiple majors on 16 occasions, including a six and five-goal haul against Adelaide and Sydney.

King can be compared to some of the modern day greats, having kicked 112 goals in 60 games at an average of 1.87 (1.52 behinds).

Jeremy Cameron kicked 147 goals in that span, Lance Franklin kicked 146 goals, Jack Riewoldt (110), Tom Lynch (81), Nick Riewoldt (72).

King is in good company and is on the trajectory to be one of the game's damaging key forwards.

Marcus Windhager

Pick 47 in the 2021 National Draft, Marcus Windhager was forced to earn his spot in the senior side, waiting until round four to play out his lifelong dream.

Playing the remainder of the year (bar round 18), Windhager was predominantly used as a tagger, with Ratten using him to nullify the game's best midfielders.

Although his stats don't necessarily jump out at fans and viewers, the 19-year-old has taken some massive scalps in 2022 and can take plenty of confidence heading into 2023 and beyond.

Notably, Windhager took it up to West Coast's Tim Kelly and Brownlow fancy Lachie Neale, curbing the pair's influence in those respective games.

Kelly was kept to four possessions in 84 per cent game time, an all-time low for the ex-Cat while Neale couldn't get going, succumbing to the youngster's pressure.

The Hurt

Jack Hayes/Nick Coffield injury

On the eve of the season, small defender Nick Coffield suffered an ACL injury during match simulation.

Coffield has started to cement his side under Ratten and looked like becoming a formidable part of St Kilda's backline but unfortunately wasn't able to add to his 52 games.

They struggled to fill the void that the 22-year-old left which proved costly at times given some crafty forwards were able to get off the leash.

Jack Hayes was a pre-season supplemental selection earlier this year and his dream came true in round one, lining up against Collingwood.

His first AFL game, Hayes kicked three goals from 18 touches and looked to be a steal, with Saints fans excited by his prospect.

However, facing GWS in round five, the 26-year-old injured his knee and the club confirmed that he tore his ACL.

In heartbreaking news, St Kilda lost another to a season-ending injury, with Hayes joining Coffield.

The Clanger

8-3 start to 3-8 finish

There's not much that needs to be said about St Kilda's 2022 season, especially after the way it started.

Beginning the year in stellar form and looking likely to make the jump into the top six sides of the competition, the Saints somehow fell out of contention and rued another wasted opportunity.

The second half of the season was disheartening, although they faced some of this year's genuine contenders.

Like they say, you have to beat the best to be the best and the Saints are just not there yet.

Dan Hannebery acquisition

Joining St Kilda at the end of 2018, former Swan Dan Hannebery came across as a high-prized recruit in the hope that he'll take the club to the next level.

Unfortunately that was not the case for the Saints or Hannebery.

Injuries crippled the 31-year-old to which he was limited to 15 games in four seasons, before retiring at the end of 2022.

Hannebery was reported to join St Kilda on $800,000 per season for four years, which equals in nearly $180,000 per game.

Although the acquisition didn't turn out how the Saints were hoping, this isn't the first time they've gone all in to recycle former great players.

Think of Brad Hill, Zach Jones and Paddy Ryder.

Bringing these types of players in could work, but could also hinder the progress of the majority, that being the youth coming through.

What do St Kilda need?

A matchwinner.

Unfortunately, King isn't doing it enough or maybe he just needs more help.

The forward line looks a genuine capacity to put teams away consistently, with Tim Membrey and Mason Wood popping up every now and then.

Jack Higgins has been in and out of the side and Dan Butler has been out-of-favour at times.

Jordan De Goey would be the perfect fit, as he has the ability to both win the ball in the midfield and go forward with purpose and conviction.

De Goey also has the strength to rest up forward and be just as damaging.

St Kilda has struggled to score in 2022 and needs help in that area.

Stats that reflect this is being ranked 15th in Points For (1703), hitting 100+ points three times.

However, the club scored less than 80 points (AFL average) on 13 occasions.

Players linked to the club

De Goey has consistently been linked to the club, with St Kilda hoping to lure the match winner out of the AIA Centre to Moorabbin. 

De Goey is a proven gun, yet his off-field antics continues to get him in trouble, with the latest Bali incident in the middle of the year looking like being the last straw for Collingwood.

Retirements and Delistings