Many people within the football world have already written St Kilda off as a premiership contender for the 2011 season, however the Saints bouncing back from a seemingly precarious position and then going onto finish in the top four and challenge for the premiership has been a regular occurrence from 2005 onwards.

Since 2004 the St Kilda Football Club has finished in the top four at the end of the home and away season five times out of seven seasons. In each of these five years the Saints went on to make a Preliminary Final including the past two seasons when St Kilda have progressed to the Grand Final and been tantalisingly close to winning that all elusive second premiership.

In 2004 the Saints started superbly to win a then club record first 10 games and in 2009 St Kilda were even more dominant, winning the first 19 games of the season so they were always on track to finish in the top four during these seasons and challenge for the premiership.

The three other seasons in the last decade that St Kilda finished in the top four and were Preliminary Finalists were a far different story however. St Kilda were written off as a premiership contender at least once during the first 13 rounds of each of the 2005, 2008 and 2010 seasons yet in each of these years St Kilda were able to show resilience to fight back and finish in the top four and make at least the Preliminary Final. St Kilda’s most precarious position in each of these three seasons is as follows:

Round 13 2005

Essendon defeated St Kilda by 15 points in a Friday night match at the Telstra Dome causing St Kilda to slip to ninth position on the ladder with six wins and seven losses, two games and percentage behind fourth placed Geelong. The unexpected loss to Essendon sparked the Saints into action and St Kilda emerged as one of the form teams for the remainder of the season, winning eight of their final nine home and away matches to finish in fourth position and then progress to a Preliminary Final which St Kilda led at three quarter time before being overrun by the Sydney Swans in the final quarter.

Round 12 2008

Sydney beat St Kilda by 35 points at the SCG to see the Saints lose yet more ground on the top eight sides. St Kilda fell to 10th position with five wins and seven losses, one game behind eighth placed Carlton and three games and 40% behind fourth placed Sydney with just 10 games of the home and away season remaining.

For the Round 13 match against Fremantle Ross Lyon made the bold move of dropping established senior players Stephen Milne and Nick Dal Santo because they weren’t playing to the St Kilda team principles to the extent required. A St Kilda side featuring three debutants defeated Fremantle by eight points at the Telstra Dome in a critical Friday night match.

The following round after serving a week in the VFL, Milne and Dal Santo were recalled, but there is no doubt that a strong message had been sent to the entire St Kilda playing list in relation to the importance of following team principles. The ability of St Kilda players to stick to team principles and each and every St Kilda player performing their specific role for the club with proficiency developed to become one of the strengths of the St Kilda Football Club after this defining moment.

St Kilda won eight of their last 10 home and away games in 2008 to snatch fourth position away from the Adelaide Crows in the final match of the home and away season by less than a per cent after both teams finished the 2008 season with 13 wins. For the third time in five years St Kilda lost a Preliminary Final to the eventual premiers with this time Hawthorn easily accounting for St Kilda on their way to upsetting Geelong in the Grand Final.

Round 8 2010

St Kilda remained in the top eight throughout the 2010 season with their lowest position being seventh after the 12 point Round 8 loss to Essendon. The previous week St Kilda had been dismantled by a quick Carlton side by 61 points.

From Round 13 2008 to Round 4 2010 the Saints had the formidable record of 35 wins from 42 games, however after St Kilda had three losses and a narrow victory from Round 5 to Round 8 the critics had seen enough and were already saying that St Kilda would be unable to rebound and challenge for the 2010 premiership. St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt was still several weeks away from returning after his hamstring injury and the Saints had been criticised for a negative game style in his absence, ironically this criticism was at his most vocal after St Kilda’s gutsy three point Round 6 win against the Western Bulldogs.

Beginning in Round 9 2010 the Saints went on a seven match winning sequence on their way to third position at the end of the home and away season after having 15 wins, six losses and a draw. St Kilda were able to overcome all manner of dramas on and off the field throughout the 2010 season to progress to the Grand Final for the second successive year.

After trailing Collingwood by four goals at half-time in the Grand Final St Kilda fought back magnificently to briefly hit the lead late in the final quarter before the game infamously finished in a draw. Collingwood convincingly defeated St Kilda in the Grand Final Replay and just as they had the previous season against Geelong the Saints had fallen just short of winning the premiership.

Whilst St Kilda faced different circumstances and obstacles in the 2005, 2008 and 2010 seasons on each occasion St Kilda were able to finish the season strongly and bounce back from the adversity they had faced earlier in these years to record a top four finish.

In 2011 some of the biggest obstacles St Kilda face are covering the loss of inspirational vice captain Lenny Hayes for the season and returning to the outstanding level of intensity and proficiency at implementing their team systems and structures that have become trademarks of Saints Footy in recent seasons.

St Kilda have been disappointing during the first three rounds of the 2011 season and only have two premiership points to show for their efforts, however it is not as though they have been comprehensively outplayed in each match. St Kilda could easily have two wins next to their name instead of having a one point loss to Geelong and a draw with Richmond. In Round 3 Essendon easily accounted for a St Kilda side that didn’t look to be playing with the same hunger that it displayed during the 2009 and 2010 seasons.

From 2005 to 2010 St Kilda only missed the finals once and Essendon didn’t make the finals in any season yet this wasn’t reflected in the head to head matches between the two clubs, with Essendon having the Saints measure during this time and winning six of their 10 matches against St Kilda.

In 2005 and 2010 St Kilda were at their lowest ebb for the respective seasons after an unexpected loss to Essendon and many people began to question whether St Kilda could make the finals, let alone finish in the top four and challenge for the premiership. In both these seasons St Kilda were able to get back on the winners list the week after losing to Essendon and started the arduous journey back up the ladder and into the top four.

Up until the Round 4 Bye in 2011 St Kilda’s skill level and decision making has been far below the standard required of a finalist. The capacity of Saints players to implement team structures and principles has also fallen away from the excellent standards set during 2009 and 2010.

In relation to the loss to Essendon St Kilda coach Ross Lyon said “The general view was all the things that happened were very preventable and we just need to be disciplined and work together. It’s very premature to be giving away the season after Round 3, particularly with the capacity we have.”1

During 2009 and 2010 St Kilda’s game-plan and personnel have served them very well, taking them to Grand Finals in both years and extremely close to a premiership. It is obvious that St Kilda need to make some adjustments after their first three matches of the 2011 season, however it is also abundantly clear that a club doesn’t win 39 of 51 matches in a two year period as St Kilda did in 2009 and 2010 without having sound systems and structures in place and quality players and coaching staff at their disposal.

St Kilda don’t need to overhaul their gameplan or make wholesale changes to their side in order to challenge for the premiership in 2011, however they do need to make some adjustments in both areas and improve the execution of the systems that they have in place.

From 2004 onwards St Kilda have been a momentum team, and whilst on several occasions they have played well below the standard required by a finalist for weeks at a time they have been able to make the necessary adjustments to their game-plan and structures that have enabled them to turn things around very quickly and re-establish themselves as a premiership contender.

Whilst St Kilda have started the 2011 season slowly and have significant ground to make up on the top teams you would be a brave person to write the Saints off at this very early stage of the season, especially given St Kilda’s abilty to bounce back from similar seemingly precarious positions from 2005 onwards and prove their critics wrong by being a premiership contender.